4 A Dance with Lucien

“I can only think of one man who can beat Lucien at attracting the reporters,” Zak said teasingly to me. I turned to see that Zak was now standing close to my side.

“You mean besides yourself?” I teased back. I didn’t know what Zak thought, but to me his presence attracted as much attention as Lucien did and Zak’s interview responses were much harder to predict which has caused the family trouble more than a couple of times.

“Maybe…” Zak answered vaguely as he grinned at me.

After a short while, Lucien deemed that enough attention was given to the hungry reporters as his bodyguards parted the crowd for him to walk through. Lucien smiled at me as he elegantly strode towards us.

“Natalia…sorry that I’m late. Hi, Zak,” Lucien apologized to me in soft voice before turning to greet his nephew.

“It’s ok. I’m just glad that you’re able to make it,” I replied with a big smile. Now that Lucien was here, I just couldn’t believe it. Talk about a dream come true.

“You two enjoy, I’m taking my leave for the night,” Zak said to excuse himself.

“Are you sure that’s ok?” I asked Zak softly.

“Yeah…I was only intending to keep you company until Lucien turned up anyways. See ya,” Zak said briskly before turning to walk away. I watched after him until his broad back disappeared into the crowd of people.

Turning back, I was greeted with the sight of a regal-looking Lucien offering me his hand.

“Shall we dance?” He asked me with a charming smile. I couldn’t, and I bet my life that no one could, say no to such a smile.

“Yes…please,” I replied as I nodded shyly.

I gingerly placed my hand into his large and warm open palm. To Lucien, this may be a casual dance he was doing out of formality but for me, it was a dream I had waited for so long to come true.

Taking me by the hand, Lucien led me to the center of the dance floor where a romantic waltz was being played by the orchestra. The setting and the mood were so perfectly romantic that I lost sight of all the other couples in the room as I focused all my attention on the handsome man in front of me.

I thanked my dance instructor silently as I began to move my body to the music as led by Lucien. Thanks to my instructor, I was able to master many types of dances including the ballroom dance and waltz. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I was an expert at it, but I was certainly good enough not to embarrass myself or the Rosenhall family, which was saying a pretty something.

“Congratulations on your graduation. I am so proud of you, Natalia…” Lucien whispered just loud enough for my ears as he brought his face close to my ear. I could feel his warm breath against my ear, and it tickled a little.

“Thank you, Lucien…” I whispered back to him.

“If your mother is still here with us, she would be so proud of you too,” Lucien said emotionally.

“You’re right. I hope she will be…” I replied with a sad smile.

“I’m sure she’s proud of you and everything that you do. You’ve grown into a beautiful young woman,” Lucien stated firmly.

It certainly was not the first time that Lucien had called be beautiful but for some reason, how he said it just now made it feel so special. What’s more, this was the first time he had voiced his recognition of me as a woman rather than just a young girl. That made me happier than anything.

“Thank you…” I replied shyly as I felt myself blushing despite myself. I couldn’t meet his eyes anymore and looked down at our feet as we continued to dance.

Suddenly, I felt his arm around my waist tighten, pulling me even closer to him so that our bodies were touching. I sucked in a breath as I felt the warmth of his body through his clothes. Lucien continued our dance flawlessly, twirling me around to the rhythm of the music. He probably didn’t mean anything by it but the hammering of my heart in my chest told me that I thought otherwise.

In time to the music, Lucien twirled me around before pulling me back into his arms so that this time he was hugging me tightly from behind. I felt the hardness of his firm body against my back and my body felt hot all over. All I could hear in that moment was the rapid beating of my own heart and his sweet voice as he whispered into my ear.

“I didn’t know you were such a good dancer,” Lucien complimented, and I heard his voice close to my ear. It was all I could do to stop myself from moaning out loud at the stimulation. My ears are so sensitive!

“It’s all thanks to my instructor…” I replied humbly.

“If I knew you were this good, I would have invited you out to this type of party more often…” Lucien said wistfully.

Turning my head around, I caught sight of his warmly smiling face next to mine. He is so close…

We stared deep into each other eyes as I got lost in the green depth of his beautiful eyes. I didn’t know how much time had passed and neither did I care.

We stayed that way with me locked in his endearing embrace until the song came to an unfortunate end. I wished the long and dance could have lasted forever so that we didn’t need to part; however, that was not how it was meant to be. Every happiness will come to an end inevitably or so I’ve learnt through my own personal experiences.

Lucien bowed and I curtsied politely to signal the end of our dance. I felt that our dance was perfectly in sync although this was our first time ever dancing together. The eyes of so many other people around us that were still glued to our every movement was evidence enough that they also thought the same. I turned to nod and smile politely at our observers to signal that they could get on with their lives now.

--To be continued...