Last time, Corinne had been overwhelmed and unsure. Tonight, she was ready.

Corinne made a slow circuit of the ballroom. It was still early enough that most of the people she saw were talking, flirting. Not many had settled in yet to actual sex.

Binding seemed to be the theme of the night—at least in here. As Corinne wandered, she came across a number of people—most of them already naked—in various stages of being wrapped in ropes, fabrics, chains, leather straps, and in one case—which Corinne stopped and watched for quite a while—a tall, beautiful man was being circled by two akashics spinning the nima themselves into a harness made of light.

Corinne made the effort to draw attention. She walked deliberately through people’s sight-lines, kept to the light, lingered until she was noticed. She shivered as each new pair of eyes found her, ran over her with curiosity, interest, hunger.

Corinne was already breathing heavier. Her whole body felt warm, awake. And at the far end of the ballroom, Corinne found the particular eyes she’d been looking for.

A balcony circled the room, nearly invisible in the low light. There was no obvious way to get up there. It seemed empty, except for one person.

Corinne looked up at Lady Snow, found Lady Snow looking down at her. Even in the shadows, Snow was unmistakable. A cloud of soft white, floating above the rest of the world.

Corinne had spent a lot of time thinking the last couple weeks. Dreaming and fantasizing, yes, but also analyzing.

More than a mask kept Snow’s identity secret. With or without her face hidden, her appearance, like Frost’s, had to be a creation of the nima. Which would make her an etheric as well, and either she was a recluse—hidden away from all eyes when she wasn’t hosting her parties—or she was powerful enough to be constantly changing back and forth between this body and whoever she was the rest of the time.

Which probably did make her a Serpent. While none of the gifts were exclusive to any clan, adaptations ran strongest through the clans in which they originated. Certainly all the best akashics were Dragons.

Corinne had studied all the adaptations. It was a basic part of the curriculum at the Academy. To move seamlessly between bodies, to convince the nima to return to the same form, over and over, required an incredibly strong gift. Lady Snow was potentially a better etheric than Corinne was an akashic. People like that tended to end up in positions of influence.

Corinne couldn’t be the first person to try to see through Snow’s secrets, to attempt to figure out who she really was, and it wasn’t a mystery she was likely to solve tonight. So she let go of her questions, pushed away from the analytical part of her mind. Endless questions were only another way of hiding, of delaying the inevitable.

Instead, she focused on the fact that Snow was watching her. Those intense eyes taking in Corinne, running over her body. Corinne licked her suddenly dry lips. The air seemed to grow thick and heavy.

It wasn’t enough. That Lady Snow was watching, that was something, but Corinne wanted to know that Snow’s eyes were seeing what Corinne wanted her to see. She needed to know Snow was thinking what Corinne wanted her to think.

Corinne lifted her hand, touched her fingertips to the hollow of her throat, watched Snow’s eyes follow the movement.

Yes.

Feeling bold and terrified all at once, Corinne ran her finger lightly back and forth across her skin, drawing it slowly down, tracing the v of the fabric all the way down to her waist.

Lady Snow’s eyes moved with Corinne’s finger. Like they were joined for just that moment.

A burst of uncertainty washed over Corinne. What was she doing? Was this okay?

She turned away from the balcony. She needed…what did she need?

“Excuse me.” A soft voice at Corinne’s elbow. She turned to see a couple—a man and a woman, standing near her. They were both impeccably dressed in rich, flowing drapes of fabric, with masks of velvet and crystal. The woman’s clothes were of rich gold and the man’s were of soft silver.

“I’m sorry, but you looked a little lost,” the woman said with a gentle smile. “Are you new?”

Corinne nodded.

“I’m Sun,” the woman said, “and my husband is Moon.” He gave a nod.

Corinne had thought about this, about the name she would use. Something to represent her, like Snow or Frost. Except Corinne wasn’t cold. She was a dragon. She was fire. “Ember. Call me Ember.”

“Well then, Ember.” Moon gave a nod of his head, almost a bow. “We were planning to get a drink and settle in someplace quiet. Would you like to come sit with us?”

Corinne could use a moment of quiet. She liked Sun’s smile, the luscious curve of her lips. She didn’t know how things worked yet, whether this was simply an invitation to sit and talk, or whether there was something more implied. Corinne couldn’t tell which she hoped for.

She let herself be led over to a shadowy nook with a cushioned bench and curtains on either side, although the front was open to the ballroom, so Corinne could still watch the wide variety of activities taking place around her. Moon sat down with Corinne while Sun went off to find refreshments.

Corinne was both reassured and disappointed by the careful distance between her and Moon. At this point, she was so worked up, she wanted…she wasn’t even sure. She just wanted.

“It was easier for Sun and I, our first time,” Moon said. “We came together. It’s hard when you’re new and you’re alone. All these people and they all seem to know each other, and you don’t want to intrude, but you don’t want to spend all night watching from the outside, either.”

“Yes, exactly.” It was a little awkward just talking in a room full of sex. Somehow, Corinne had never imagined talking when she’d thought about what this night would be like. As it had when Frost had been explaining the rules, it seemed to drain a bit of the magic from the air. But it was also comforting. Both the normalcy of it and the fact that Moon understood what it was like for her.

Sun returned with a tray of drinks. Both water and something more colorful. “Wine punch,” she explained as she set the tray down on a little round side table. “I like to have something sweet, and not too strong.”

She sat down on the other side of Corinne, handing Corinne a glass of water when she saw Corinne reaching for it. Their fingers brushed as the glass exchanged hands, and the contrast of cool glass and warm skin sent a ripple through Corinne.

Sun watched her drink, then leaned in, lowering her voice to ask, “So tell me, Ember, what is it you’re looking for?”

It was tiresome how Corinne was still struggling to find the words to answer this question. She wished she knew. She wished she had some signal to give that would magically communicate the desires she felt but couldn’t articulate. The best she could manage was the quiet plea, “Touch me.”

Sun’s lush, dark, lips spread into a smile. She tilted her head forward, close enough Corinne could feel the warmth of Sun’s breath against her lips. Corinne waited, heart beating wildly. And waited.

It was as though time had frozen as Corinne sat breathless, desperate for Sun to complete her movement forward. Corinne realized that in this moment of nothing but anticipation she was more aroused, more excited than she had been at any stage in any previous sexual encounter. Sun hadn’t even made contact yet.

And didn’t. “I’d like to help you, Ember,” she whispered, still holding that fractional distance. “We both would. Will you let us?”

“Yes,” Corinne breathed. “Please.”

“Good girl.” The words ran through Corinne like electricity. Then Sun’s lips touched hers.

The kiss was soft, barely there. Corinne leaned forward and Sun pulled back, keeping her touch no more than a whisper. Making Corinne whimper with need.

“We saw you come in.” Sun’s lips moved lightly over Corinne’s cheek, along her jaw. “I watched you explore. You like having people watch you.”

Sun dipped lower, a breath against the sensitive skin of Corinne’s throat. Corinne tilted her head back without thinking, granting access. “What were you thinking about?” Sun asked, her words punctuated by light kisses. “Was it just their eyes? Or did you imagine their hands touching you, exploring you?”

Another whimper escaped Corinne. Sun smiled again. “I thought so.”

A slow caress down Corinne’s spine made her gasp. Then another set of lips pressed against the back of her neck. Moon, behind her.

Corinne closed her eyes as two sets of hands and two sets of lips took possession of her. She let her head fall back against Moon’s shoulder as his tongue traced a delicate line up the side of her throat. She sucked in a breath as Sun’s hands slid up her sides and lightly traced the outer curve of her breasts. Moon’s hands were on her hips, holding her steady with gentle pressure as Sun kissed along the line of her collar bone.

Yes, this was what she wanted. What she had come here to find.

Sun ran her finger under the edge of Corinne’s dress, pulling it back an inch, kissing the freshly revealed skin. “Please,” Corinne begged, still not entirely sure what she was begging for. She reached for Sun, pulled back, unsure what she should do with her hands. Moon caught them, wrapped them in his own. A gentle constraint that was, again, perfect.

Sun tugged more at Corinne’s dress. The fabric rasped over her sensitized nipple, and Corinne arced up into the touch. Sun circled a finger around Corinne’s breast, her light touch swirling inward with agonizing slowness.

This was pure, hedonistic pleasure. Raw, and physical and…

A shiver ran through Corinne and her entire body went cold. Everything was suddenly too much. The hands, the kisses. She was suddenly awkward, uncomfortable. “No, stop. Stop. Shadow.”

Sun and Moon both released her, pulling back. “Ember? What’s wrong?”

Something about the concern on Sun’s face, in her voice—Corinne couldn’t deal with it. “I’m sorry.” She stood up, backing away. “I’m sorry.”

She fled.