I wasn’t the sole curiosity, being new to this crowd.
It was also Lucien. In fact, it seemed to be mostly Lucien.
It was like we were movie stars…
No.
It was like he was a wildly famous movie star, I was his arm candy and we’d gone out to a regular club amongst the common people.
The second thing was what I’d felt at The Selection. The weird drugged feeling. The feeling Stephanie explained was him tracking me, marking me.
“Are you marking me?” I whispered.
His arm at my waist slid up, his hand stopping at the side of my breast, his thumb stroking the skin over my dress there.
I felt his head move, his mouth no longer at my ear but his lips were against my neck.
“Yes,” he answered.
I forgot our audience, who were now getting a show, turned slightly to him and his head came up.
I got close to his face and asked, “What is that?”
He answered without delay. “I’ve tuned myself to you.”
I didn’t know what that meant.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“You know I can hear your heart?” he asked in return.
I nodded.
He hesitated before he went on, “You know I can control your mind?”
I swallowed before I nodded again and asked, “Are you reading my mind?”
“I can’t read your mind unless you’re speaking to me with it.”
Wow. That was a relief.
“So what are you doing?”
“I’ve adjusted you to me and me to you. At the same time I’ve attuned my senses to you, so every breath you take, every slight movement, I know it almost before you do it.”
I didn’t get it but whatever it was, it was freaking me out!
“What does that mean?”
“It means our hearts are beating in tandem. It means I’m anticipating your movements. It says to the vampires in this room who can hear it and feel it, that you’re mine.”
“Don’t they already know that?”
“Yes.”
“Then isn’t that overkill?”
For some reason his face got hard before he replied, “No.”
“Don’t you think you holding me pretty much sends the message?”
“Holding you is a message I’m sending to the mortals.”
I was surprised at that answer. “What do they care?”
“I don’t give a fuck if they care. I care. But it says I’m not here to feed. I’m not here to play. I’m not here to fuck. I’m here to be with you.”
Oh my God.
What did that mean?
I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to know.
And why did my heart skip a beat when he said that?
I didn’t even answer myself.
Instead I asked something far, far more stupid and definitely more dangerous. “Do you do this with all your concubines?”
Then I got the answer to my very stupid, very, very dangerous question.
“I’ve never done it with another concubine.”
I felt my mouth drop open. I knew I was gaping at him and I knew I had an audience. I was just too shocked to care.
Finally, I squeaked, “Why me?”
“You’re Leah.”
He felt this was an answer. I didn’t feel the same but I decided not to push it because I sensed innately that I wouldn’t want to know the answer to that either.
Even though I really wanted to know the answer.
My eyes skittered around the room and came back to him. “Is anyone else doing it?”
“No.”
“There are no other vampires here with their concubines?”
“Yes, there are.”
“But they aren’t doing it?”
“No, Leah.”
“Why not?”
“Because they can’t.”
I felt the martini glass slipping through my fingers but I didn’t notice he caught it by its stem before it even cleared my hand. It also didn’t register that he placed it and his on the bar and he turned me full-frontal into his arms.
I tipped my head back to look at him, put my hands to his chest and stared.
Then I asked, “Why can’t anyone else do it?”
“Very few vampires have the capacity to mesmerize. Those that do don’t have the control I have. None of them, or none that I know, have anywhere near the potency of my ability.”
Oh my God!
“This is crazy,” I whispered.
“You’re correct, in a way. What I can do is very unusual.”
“I’ll say!” I cried.
He grinned at my outburst. I ignored his grin.
“Is that why everyone is staring at you like you’re a movie star?” I blurted, his head cocked and he examined me inquisitively for a long moment.
Finally he asked, “You noticed that?”
“It’s hard to miss.”
He leaned back against the bar and pulled me with him so I was on my toes, my body flattened against his. His hand came up and twisted in my hair like he did when we were alone, not like we were the focus of hundreds of eyes and mammoth amounts of vampire extra sensory perception.
Then he spoke. “It’s part of it.”
“What’s the other part?”
His hand twisted deeper into my hair and his mouth came to mine. “We’ll leave that for later, shall we?”
I wanted to say no, we shall not.
But far more agreeable, acquiescent, hopefully annoying Leah wouldn’t have demanded an explanation.
And anyway, I didn’t get a chance.
He kissed me.
He did this too in the same way he’d do it when we were alone.
In other words, it was a deep, open-mouthed, tongues tangling, make me breathe heavily, fiery shot right between the legs kiss.
Further, there was something different about it, better, more intense, almost overpowering but in a really good way. I knew intuitively it was because he’d marked me. I knew it was because our bodies were attuned. I didn’t know how and I didn’t understand what that meant, I just knew it affected me physically in a way that shook me to my soul.
When he lifted his head, I found I was hanging on, beyond my toes, straight to my tiptoes. My front was pressed deep to his, the fingers of one hand curled on his shoulder, the other wrapped insistently around the back of his neck.
“I fucking love the way you kiss,” he growled again like we weren’t in a jam-packed, vibrating, vampire club. The almost feral rumble of his growl slid through me, making my toes curl.
That’s when I felt it, the buzz, the undercurrent that was focused on us had shifted, intensified, become rapt. I felt eyes on us now and I knew they weren’t furtive.
The heat hit my face just as the danger permeated my consciousness.
“Something’s wrong,” I breathed.
His face took on that inquisitive look again as he studied me then he replied, “Yes.”
“What is it?”
His eyes lifted, moving across the room.
I registered impatience, frustration then stony resignation in his expression before he answered, “It’s time for me to be good, pet.”
This made no sense whatsoever but before I could ask another question, he’d moved us again to our original positions, his hand with my glass coming in front of me.
I took it, lifted it to my lips and sucked back a healthy sip mostly because I needed it.
I should have taken a larger sip because his mouth came back to my ear and he asked, “Do you want to dance?”
My eyes shot to the writhing dance floor and my legs wobbled.
There it was. To be Obedient Leah, I was going to have to do something I really didn’t want to do.
“If you want to.” I tried to sound respectful and subservient like his wish was my command but I wasn’t sure I accomplished this feat.
My fears were proved correct when I felt his body move with his chuckle at my back.