Page 76 of Ahelno
“Yes, yes, we’ve been through this,” I said. “You need to get a hold of yourself.”
“It’s because he feels insecure,” Kashtinela said to my left. I hadn’t seen her walk over to us, but I guess she saw what was happening and came over to check us out.
“Insecure about what?” I said.
“You. Your relationship. He knows that you have not fully accepted the mate bond. Therefore, every male is a challenger. He cannot help it, not really. Until you fully acceptthe bond, he’s going to feel aggressive towards any male you encounter.”
“Yeah, I guess I’ve seen that. Sorry, big guy, it’s going to take me a while to get there, I think.” I sighed.
“Mate,” Dakleth declared.
“I’m mated to a caveman,” I chuckled.
“Everything ok here?” I heard Leo on my other side.
“MINE,” Dakleth barked at him.
“Yeah, she’s yours. Believe me, we all know. Besides, I have my own mates here, remember?” Leo laughed easily. He was much more relaxed than Malvonic and Robnar, both of whom were slowly backing away from the whole scene.
Leo’s easy declaration seemed to calm Dakleth. “You do not want my mate.”
“Nope,” Leo smiled. “I’ve got my own partners, over there,” he said, pointing to the other side of the ballroom. “Gafand’s keeping his distance, no offense.”
Kashtinela laughed. “Well, we cannot blame him for that. Andie, you were beautiful dancing with my brother. It was a joy to watch.”
“Yes,huera,” Leo said. “You looked good together. Made me miss dancing salsa with my mom.” He smiled wistfully.
“I’m sorry, I promised to record some songs with you and dance! Things have been so busy, I completely forgot.”
“No worries, brighteyes, I’ve been busy with the delegation, too. Maybe we could meet up tomorrow and do some recording during your normal piano practice.”
Dakleth growled.
“I don’t have designs on your girl, man,” Leo said. “You can come, too.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, Dakleth, get a grip.”
He reached out and grabbed me around the waist and hauled me against his chest and smelled my hair.
“What the hell, Dakleth?” I yelped.
“What is wrong? You told him to grip you,” Kashtinela asked, puzzled.
“I think there was a translation error,” I giggled. “I need to go harder on my language lessons so I can turn this translator off.”
Leo laughed. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it,” he said. “See you at practice tomorrow.”
CHAPTER 55
Andie
The next couple of weeks were a flurry of activity spent mostly with Leo. King Akapa had complimented me on my dancing at the Charonu ball and had convinced Leo and me to perform some Earth dances at the conclusion of the trade talks. It had been a long time since I’d actually rehearsed for a performance. Dakleth had found two hand drums similar to a double bongo, and I was impressed with Leo’s skill. Leo was pleased to be able to take the drums back home to Coromonn.
Working out our material on the piano and guitar took quite a bit of time and effort. I didn’t actually know that many Latin songs by heart. Fortunately, Leo did, and he would sing them and play on his bongos to give me an idea of how the songs went. I could fill in with the piano and then guitar. He could generally sing inbetween the lyrics, telling me, now the horn section comes in and plays - “Da do da DAaaaa, da do da da daaaaaa,” and I could rough it out from there.
Dakleth took all this in with a bemused air, but I could tell after a while that he found our slow progress a bit boring. He would come see me at the beginning of the lesson, give me a quick hug or kiss on top of the head, and then leave forhis other duties. Within three weeks we had a set list of four songs - Brujeria, Amor de Conuco, Guantanamera, and El Costo de La Vida. I didn’t know all the artists’ names. Leo told me, but I forgot. I recognized Celia Cruz, but that was it. They were all different styles, which I liked. Leo and I played through them together. He taught me the words, and I was able to harmonize with him on the choruses. Leo was a decent singer for the melodies, but not able to harmonize, so we stuck with what we could do in the short timeframe. We recorded the songs (several times, because we messed up quite a bit), layering the piano and guitar in through separate tracks, and then worked on the dancing.
I loved dancing with Leo. I could follow anyone’s lead, thanks to my dance training, but good male leads in the wild were hard to find. Leo was a great dancer and a great lead. The first time I settled my back into his hand, and he held the frame firm, finding the right tension, I knew we would dance well together.
