Page 30 of Blood Moon Bound

Because softness was never meant for me.

I was a warrior.

Eventually, I would have to return to that life.

The alternative was a fantasy, and something I couldn’t allow myself to even contemplate.

Nine

DELPHINE

I walked through the garden, admiring the roses and breathing in their perfume. I’d been able to venture out here the last two days because the sun had thankfully stayed firmly behind the clouds.

I loved it out here. Music drifted from somewhere in the garden, though it was the kind of music Douglas had forbidden me from listening to. I followed it, rounding one of the larger rose beds, and found John. He was pulling weeds, the music coming from a cylinder-shaped device nearby.

“Good afternoon, John.”

He jolted and looked up. “Mistress, I didn’t see you there.”

“Sorry if I startled you. I heard your music and couldn’t help but follow it.”

“I shouldn’t have had it so loud. I can turn it off. I don’t want to disturb your walk.” He reached for it.

“No, please, leave it. I like it.” It was upbeat and made me want to move.

He smiled. “My work seems to go a lot quicker when I’m listening to my favorite songs.”

“Do you dance to it?” I asked.

He chuckled. “I’m not much of a dancer.”

“Me either. I’m afraid I’m not very good at it. It wasn’t something I was permitted to do.”

He stood, brushing his dirt-streaked hands on his jeans. “That’s a crying shame, mistress.”

“Please, call me Delphine, or Del. Mistress makes me feel, I don’t know, odd.”

“If that’s what you’d prefer.” He grinned. “And dancing’s as easy as moving to the music, I believe. There’s no right or wrong.”

The next song started. It was a little faster, and I did as John said and let the melody wash over me and began to sway. “Like this?”

He nodded. “Yeah, just like that.”

I lifted my arms with a laugh and tilted back my head, reveling in the warm breeze and the wonderful music filling the rose garden, so happy in that moment I couldn’t contain it. “What about this?” I asked.

He chuckled. “That’s good as well.”

I spun around, laughing and moving my hips and throwing out my arms, letting my body take over as a feeling of freedom, the kind I’d never known before, filled me. It was marvelous.

I opened my eyes and John was studying me.

“Am I doing something wrong?”

He shook his head. “If you’re enjoying it, how can it be wrong?”

I smiled wide. “Dance with me?”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”