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happened if I wasn’t here?”
    Cheyne merely snorted then worked his way through the maze of people into the kitchen. He seemed to have his eye on a tall blonde. Cameron looked to Tanitha and Tanitha looked back with wide-eyed innocence. Seleena and Christian were nowhere to be seen. This disconcerted Tanitha a little. She wondered where they had got to, or even more importantly, what they were doing. Cameron broke into her thoughts.
    “Care to dance?”
    Tanitha hesitated a little before nodding her acceptance. What harm could one dance do? He took her hand and, as they moved, Tanitha could feel the muscles gained by exercise working easily.
    The song changed to a slower, more placid beat and suddenly Christian’s face was there. Tanitha breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.
    “ Mind if I cut in?” He asked Cameron before whispering to Tanitha, “You still owe me one anyway.”
    Cameron shook his head and went to find and dance with Seleena. Tanitha smiled nervously up at Christian. They moved closer together and found the slow rhythm with their footfalls. Christian sighed, rolling his eyes slightly. It was clear that he wasn’t going to take advantage of the closeness and Tanitha was glad for that. She knew Cameron would have tried something.
    “You know how annoyingly obnoxious that Seleena is?”
    Tanitha giggled, relaxing, as she was always able to do in Christian’s presence. It felt so much easier to be able to dance without living in fear that you were going to be kissed.
    “No, fill me in.”
    “ She talks too much.”
    He pulled apart from her and flicked the hair out of his face. He batted his eyelashes and said, “Hi, you wanna go to bed with me?” in a high squeaky voice. Tanitha laughed.
    “And the loser she hangs out with, don’t even get me started on him.”
    Tanitha’s grin dropped but Christian was unconscious of that fact. With him, once he started something, it took a lot to stop him.
    “What’s wrong with Cam?”
    “ Oh, everything. Mister ‘I’m too big and arrogant to hang out with commoners’. Get my drift?”
    Suddenly Tanitha was pushed roughly aside as Christian was shoved. Christian tripped, nearly falling, but was able to hold his precarious balance with acrobatic ease. He faced Cameron, who was standing there with a steady scowl on his face. Christian seemed unfazed but Tanitha could see the cold sweat that had broken on his untainted forehead.
    “If you think you’re so man enough, why don’t you say it to my face?!”
    The angry rain cloud that had settled now marred Cameron’s once handsome face. With his expression so dark and thunderous, Tanitha hardly recognised him. She knew that he wasn’t pleased and was voicing his intentions clearly.
    “Hey, man, can’t you take a joke?” Christian said, trying to sweet talk himself out of it. Drifting stragglers had now crowded themselves around the two fighters, eager to view all the upcoming action. The two guys in the middle and Tanitha slightly off to one side didn’t take any notice of the group that had formed a circle around them like a pack of wolves waiting overeagerly for the kill.
    “ Obviously not.” Cameron retorted, his eyes glistening with an uncontrolled fury. He shoved Christian harshly again and Christian stumbled backwards but held his ground firmly, not wanting to reveal that he would come out as the weaker of the two. Cameron was built for action; his muscles solid from countless hours of training, making his body all the more impressive. Christian was slight of bone and couldn’t seem to get the weight on. He ran a hand through his hair.
    “ Now, we don’t have to get all uptight about this…”
    Cameron’s punch was expected. His intentions were quite clear in the way his muscles bunched in his left arm, for he was left-handed, and in the way his eyes scanned Christian’s body in search for the most vulnerable area. Tanitha clapped her hands over her mouth, barely smothering a