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extreme, and I hope you’ll allow me to make it up to you.” At his gesture, Chantel came forward with a pair of immense silvergoblets, tarnish dark in the hollows of their heavy embossing. He took them from her and offered one to Dmitri. “Drink with us, and let’s all be friends.”
    “Friends?”
    “Why not?”
    Why not indeed. Dmitri hadn’t lacked for dancing partners nor, for that matter, invitations to a more intimate dance. That he’d declined all of the latter, having no interest in frenzied fumbling with total strangers, only seemed to put him in greater demand. Although he never would have admitted it, while he enjoyed being the center of attention, he was lonely. He missed having a group of people his own age he could spend time with.
    But friends? With this lot? The toothy one offering the drink had insulted his brother.
    Almost as though he’d read Dmitri’s mind, Yves murmured, “Your … brother, is it? Your brother won’t mind.”
    Dmitri followed the direction of Yves’s gaze and saw Aurek by the tall windows that led out to the terrace; Louise Renier was standing so close they were probably breathing the same air. No, Aurek wouldn’t care what he did.
    Why not be friends with this lot? His fist closed around the bulky stem of the goblet. They looked as if they knew how to have a good time. Besides, he reasoned, taking a long swallow of the sweet wine, no one else seems to be offering.

    Aurek had had a single objective for attending the party: acquiring permission to search the ruins. Had he been willing to leave Dmitri alone in such company, he’d have left immediately upon obtaining it. As he was obliged to stay, he found Louise’s attempts to attract him diverting. Well aware that any other man would havebegged her to accompany him to a more secluded area after the first few moments of such a lascivious assault, he wondered how long she intended to throw herself at him. It was an interesting problem: how long would the apparently irresistible force continue to waste her time on the immovable object.
    As a coquettish movement lifted a silken cluster of curls, he also wondered who’d bitten the chunk out of her ear.

    The wine was stronger than what Dmitri had been drinking, thicker, sweeter, and the moment he drained the goblet, one of the identical twins filled it again. “Aubert?”
    Lips twitched back off long yellow teeth. “No. I’m Henri, the good-looking one. That ugly thing there is Aubert.”
    Dmitri blinked at them, trying to clear the fog from his head. “But you look exactly alike.”
    When they all laughed, he laughed with them.
    As Dmitri swayed where he stood, Yves leaned forward and dropped his tone to a conspiratorial whisper. “Are you finding it warm in here?”
    “Yes, a little.”
    “Come on.” Yves linked his arm through Dmitri’s, easily holding him upright in spite of their difference in size. Indicating that the other five should follow, he steered him around the edge of the dance floor toward the windows. “Let’s go outside and get some air.”

    There was something familiar about Aurek Nuikin. Distracted by desire, Louise couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was.
    Eyes locked on his face, searching for a response, Louise realizedthat nothing seemed to be working. She fought the urge to snarl and, instead, wet already moist lips. “You’re the first Borcan noble I’ve ever met.”
    “I’m afraid we’re merely a minor house.” And were considered nobility only because Ivana Boritsi, who owned everything in the domain, had created a class suitable for her to socialize with.
    “Have you left a wife back in this minor house?” Determined to have him, Louise moved closer, laid her hand lightly on his arm, and was amazed to feel the rigidity of the flesh beneath the cloth.
    “My wife is dead.”
    “I’m so sorry. How long ago did it happen?”
    “Not long enough.” He plucked her hand off his sleeve. “Your pardon, mamselle.”
    Louise