"Probably not," he admitted, and watched her display with a rare, mild grin at the corner of his mouth. An older couple who had been drifting beside him exchanged a knowing glance, and the woman caught his attention by nodding to Violetta across the ice.
"She's lovely," she said, her voice soft and kind, like they were conspirators on some great secret. Dante seemed surprised by the intrusion and eyed the woman shrewdly before relenting a single nod of agreement. Had he been sober, he might have told her to go skate on thin ice. Hell, if he was sober, he definitely wouldn't have even been here to begin with. But here he was. And there Violetta was. And she was lovely.
The moment was short lived as she came skating back to him, demonstrating a stop that made his brows furrow. Nope. He was gonna just go until he lost momentum, he decided then. But he had to smirk at her comment, a suggestive look shadowing his already-onyx gaze before she had him by the hands and was pulling him along with her. "I do like friction," he admitted, and fell into the easy, gliding pace she set, letting his fingers envelop hers. He gave her a soft tug to pull her in closer, and in a rare demonstration of public affection he kissed her.
It was sweet. It was picturesque. Until his hands grabbed her ass. The same elderly couple from before gave them an enthusiastic thumbs up as they slid past in another round. "What?" he said defensively. "Don't give me that look. You should be enjoying this." There was a hint of something sad and serious in his look when he added, "While it lasts, anyway."