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I lifted the alcoholic beverage to my lips and poured the zipping pink potion down the hatch, hoping the liquor was enough to dim the magic glowing on my fingers before someone noticed.
Cameras snapped. Lights flashed. The blackness around the edges of my vision intensified, and I was seeing stars. The alcohol, the loudness, the crowd—all of it was too much.
Then, at once, relief came. It came in the way of a touch that meant more to me than anything I’d ever known. A grip that was my lifeboat in a sea about to swallow me whole.
Somehow, I knew it was him even before my brain actually comprehended it. As if something in my very soul knew that Dominic Kent had latched onto me, was pulling me to safety, dragging me away from the mess threatening to consume me.
I latched onto the vampire, letting him barrel through the crowd with his broad shoulders, intimidating stature, devilish gaze. The room quieted around Dominic as he pulled me to his chest. My fingers clutched at his shirt like he was the only thing that could keep me from passing out at this point as he lifted me, carried me against his chest.
Honestly, it wasn’t all that far from the truth. I was feeling woozy, my legs wobbling. I leaned into him, hating that I needed him for strength, but knowing simultaneously that letting go would be the kiss of death.
“She said that’s enough.” Dominic’s voice was soft, powerful. Those nearest stopped speaking. Some backed away entirely.
I glanced up, saw that his fangs had descended the slightest amount, leaving no question about the fact that he was a vampire. Mortals might look at him and think that he just had exceptionally pointed canines, but I knew better.
It was with impressive control that Dominic managed to retract those points as he cleared his throat, then spoke again.
“I believe Ms. Gardens gave you her comment, and then she said she was finished.” Dominic glanced around. “So I advise you all to leave her alone.”
There wasn’t an or else. There didn’t need to be. It was implied by the way he had me tucked against his body that he’d taken me under his wing. Anyone who dared cross me would be crossing him. Nobody wanted to cross Dominic Kent.
While I hated to feel weak, to feel indebted to anyone—especially the vampire who was ruining my life—I didn’t have a choice. It was either play along and let him scare off the others, or I’d pass out. Or my magic would blow up and hurt someone. So I just clung to him as he led me away from the group out toward the dance floor.
“Dom—”
“Dance with me.” His voice was a growl, commanding as he set my feet gently onto the floor.
There was something in his eyes that had me curious enough to obey him. I was prepared to push back, to break away from Dominic and flee to the privacy of my room in utter embarrassment, but I felt stuck to him, attached, like I needed to hear him out. Like I owed him after what he’d done for me.
I let the vampire swirl me into his arms, pull me against that tall, firm body as he spiraled me onto the dance floor. The elfin orchestra had been hired to play, a slew of ethereal creatures dressed in white robes sitting on a vaulted stage, ushering in a slow song that pulsed deep in my gut.
The orbs flashed with romantic lighting. The pink drink seemed to fizz and bubble in my stomach, making my head feel like it was about to float away like Lucas’s toupee.
I looked up at the man who’d saved me from the throng of reporters and saw a complicated expression on Dominic’s face. His jaw was set, his lips pursed tightly together as if he was still angry. There was no sign of his sharp fangs, but the image of them was seared into my mind.
I couldn’t stop myself from thinking of those deadly points and what they meant. How they’d feel piercing my skin. But surprisingly, I wasn’t envisioning him biting my throat to kill me—I was picturing him taking from me in lust, in a feverish moment of desire. Feeding from me because I’d let him, because I wanted to share that part of myself with him in the most intimate way.
I expelled a breath, feeling shaky for all sorts of new reasons. I’d never once considered falling into bed with a vampire before. I’d never considered a lot of things before Dominic Kent really, but here I was, thinking it. For some inexplicable reason, there was a bond between him and me that neither of us could seem to shake.
“I’m sorry,” Dominic finally said.
“Sorry?”
“I should’ve been there sooner.” The vampire gave a dark shake of his head. “I heard them approaching you, but I was distracted, and then...”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I’m not your ward.”
Dominic’s hands circled tighter around my back as if he didn’t like that answer. My chest was pressed to him, though our height difference made it so that I could also rest my head easily against his warm, solid chest as we circled quietly, peacefully, to the background of the elfin orchestra switching to an instrumental cover to a well-known pop song.
“I saw your magic,” he said so quietly I could barely make it out.
I tried not to let Dominic see my face, but judging by the way he stiffened, he could feel my racing heart. Sense my breath quickening. One of his hands slid into mine, and he squeezed as he pulled me impossibly closer.
“Was it that obvious?”
“I sensed it,” Dominic said. “I doubt anyone else noticed. But they would have if it’d gone on much longer.”
I expelled a disappointed breath. “I know.”
