The shadow whispered as if talking more to himself than to her. “My mother was born in the hills...” Those same words had been whispered to her before, long ago. She knew the story, knew how it went and how it would end, but she had never grown tired of hearing it, of learning about her shadowboy.....

“My father was Irish. He traveled across the sea when he was a boy to find a new life in the Americas. I’m named after him. William.”....

She closed her eyes and ran her hand across the thick comforter, remembering the feel of the pink quilt that used to adorn this old bed, the precise stitches, the puffs of fabric that edged the corner of it. ....

“I lived in the hills after my mother’s people left. I stayed there,” Liam went on. His voice was inconsistent, sometimes garbled and childish, at other times strong and manly.....

“The world has changed, Rainee. I fear it.”....

She opened her eyes, trying to let the haunting memory slip away. This has to be a bad dream. It can’t be real. He was never real. Was he?....

He paused again; his fingers stopped. She wanted them to press into her skin again, to soothe her, to heat her through and through. "Do you remember when you found me? You were catching lightning bugs.” His hands moved again, the feel of his palm against her heel and then the ball of her foot so much like her mother's touch that it was eerie. Maybe it hadn’t been her mother massaging her feet. Maybe it had been Liam all along. “I cried the day you left. I’ve been here ever since that day…waiting.”....

“Waiting for what?” she asked, falling under his spell.....

“To die.”....

Rainee pushed the thick comforter back and pulled her feet away from his hands. She stood up, and felt across the bedside table for the flashlight, but the batteries were dead from leaving it on all night. She edged to her duffle and fished around in it until her hand met the cold wax of the Christmas candle she’d snatched from her closet. She lit the wick with a match from the small box in her bag and raised it up to see.....

The candlelight banished the darkness. She turned in a circle, but there was no one in the room but her. Goose bumps prickled her skin as she called, “Liam?”

He pushed himself down from the fence and approached her. “I’m Lars. Welcome to Caderwir Village. It’s not much of a place.” He nodded to the hills beyond. “But it’s green and crops grow well here.”....

She tossed her hair over her shoulders and nodded. “Far more green than where I was born.” She grasped his hand and held it tight. “I’m called Rajiid. My people have come to dance and trade with yours.” She giggled at him. “Do you like to dance?”....

Heat flooded his cheeks. “I’ve never tried. Too busy watching the sheep or tending the fields for my parents.”....

“Mm.” She walked in a circle, leading him by the hand. “I’m a clan dancer. I’ll teach you to dance if you want to learn.”....

His attention strayed to her round, ripe breasts exposed above her dress and pushed up by the laced corset she wore. He blushed worse and tried to keep his eyes on hers. They were dark brown and searching him as well. “I couldn’t try it in front of anyone. They’d all laugh at me. Men in Caderwir don’t dance.”....

Her grin turned sideways. She nodded at the hills. “If you would show me the wilds, I would show you how to dance so well that no one will laugh at you. Even the men would stand back in awe.”....

He whistled a signal to stay to the dog. Then Lars and Rajiid walked hand in hand along the fence and away from the caravan and village. Her hand warmed his. He felt connected to something new and unexpected. As the high grass closed around them, he wondered what more they would do besides dance. He had only kissed a girl once, and it was a hurried affair behind her roundhouse. She had married someone else seven days later, so he knew he had meant nothing to her. The thought of kissing Rajiid made him anxious and nervous.....

“Do you have any brothers or sisters?” she asked. Her feet made whispering sounds in the grass. His boots crunched the grass in time with her steps.....

“No. I’m the only child. It was a hard birth according to my mother. What about you?”....

She laughed. “So many I sometimes lose count. My mother has three husbands and each demands a son, but she keeps having daughters. I am her seventh child.”....

“Three husbands?” He couldn’t imagine how that would work out. “Do they fight?”....

“Sometimes. They are all loyal to her. It’s not usual for a woman to take so many. Two is enough, even one if he is headstrong.” They paused beside a small stream. “I only want one.”....

He cleared his throat.....

She faced him and took up his other hand. “Are you ready to learn?”....

“No, but you’re here, and I’m here. I don’t think anyone can see us.” He glanced around, uncomfortable.....

She nodded. “Then we start with a basic dance. One you do when you find a woman you like.” She winked at him before she ran her chest across his and stepped back. He knew he must have been bright red from her coming so close to his body like that. ....

“Think of animals. When they seek a mate, they touch—like this.” She pulled his hands over her head and twisted. Her backside rubbed against his crotch. “Or this.” She leaned her head back so that their cheeks touched. Then, before he could relax into the unexpected closeness and breathe in more of her alluring scent, she pulled away and released his hands. ....

Lars watched her dance around him, her fingers drawing symbols in the air. Her hips swayed, and each step she took she balanced on the balls of her feet. Rajiid was pure seduction. Each time she came close to him, she dragged her fingers over his exposed skin. First, his forearm. Then his neck. A caress to the cheek. A swipe of soft fingers over his lips.....

He wanted to keep up with her. He followed and copied what she did although he was not nearly as graceful. He mirrored her daring touches. His fingers trailed across her forearm and up to her shoulder. He withdrew. She advanced.....

Her voice hummed a smooth song that matched their movements. Her body blurred at times. Her touch grounded him. They danced until he became short of breath and backed away.....

“You’re magic,” he said.....

“A little. Sometimes, a little is enough.”