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I laugh again, pleasure and outright happiness bubbling through me. Behind me, I spy Seff and Seldon dancing together, platonically grinding on one another.
“I told you, brat.” I have to lean down awkwardly to yell into his ear, but the way he shivers makes it worth it.
I kiss my way down his neck until I can’t reach any further, my teeth finding the sensitive skin there, biting and sucking until I know that I have made my mark there. Branded him so every one of the lecherous eyes on him knows he ismine. When I pull back, Theo’s eyes are soft and dreamy, and he spins again so his back is pressed to my front, and we dance together wrapped up entirely in ourselves.
More than once, someone attempts to join us, but they all leave disappointed, Seldon happily collecting any that take his fancy. Late in the evening, after what feels like hours of dancing, our bodies sweaty, our thighs fatiguing from the constant grinding, one brazen man—a fae I am guessing from their black eyes and flat face with strangely sharp cheekbones—tries to getin betweenus.
The being’s hand slides around my front, boldly slipping between us, trying to pry us apart to slide on in. Before I can react and remove the offending appendage, Theo spins, his curls flying as his head snaps to see who dares to intrude on our fun. His eyes narrow and darken, a crackle of energy flying through the air. The being jumps, withdrawing his hand as if he’s burnt, cradling it against his bare chest.
“No need to be a bitch about it.Gods.” His voice warbles, almost like he is talking under water, but he turns on his heel and stalks off through the crowd before either of us can reply. Theo watches him go, murder in his eyes, until the being finally disappears into the crowd.
“What was that about?” Seff spooks us both, coming up on our other side, making us jump.
“Fuck’s sake, Seff. Guy was just being a dick.”
We hardly leave the dance floor—the lines are too long to bother waiting for shitty overpriced cocktails anyway. By unspoken agreement we dance together, Seff and I sandwiching Theo between us, Seldon lost to the crowd, having disappeared somewhere with someone. A flash of worry spikes in my mind. He is an employee, and fast becoming a friend, too. But then I remember he’s a big boy who can more than handle himself and once more lose myself to the music, to the feeling of being pressed into the crowd and, most importantly, Theo.
We dance for hours, Seldon drifting back and forth to our group, Seff dancing with others for a song or two but always returning to us, almost like we were a refuge from the groping hands pulling at him.
Something is off with Seff though, he looks a little too… wolfy. It’s a big no-no in the club to be so obvious as a predator type, but his wolf-self is simmering just below the surface, his body primed and ready for… something.
“You alright?” I mouth at Seff over Theo’s head, and he waves me off. But then he only gets worse. The change is shimmering all over him, his body tense and covered in a sheen of sweat. I can’t tell if he’s excited or about to go completely feral. I don’t know if he’s going to start throwing punches or puke.
Really concerned for him now, I get Theo’s attention. He takes one look at Seff with his shallow, fast breaths, and then frowns up at me.
“What the fuck?” I shake my head at Theo, and we both try to gently shake Seff to attention. He stares blankly at us as we question what the fuck is wrong with him.
People press in around us, bumping us as they grind against us. One guy behind Seff is essentially using him as a wall to dance against at this point. He goes tumbling when Seff’s attention snaps suddenly, spinning his body to face… I can’t tell. He’s looking at the balcony overlooking the dance pit, but with the sea of beings I can’t tell who he’s focused on.
Theo tugs on Seff’s giant bicep, trying to pull him back to us, yelling his name.
“I’m fine guys. I just gotta…” At least he is gentle when he bats Theo off, so I don’t have to thump him. But then he’s off, moving through the crowd, like he’s on the hunt.
Or being hunted.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement on the balcony, a man dashing in the same direction as Seff.
“What’s up with Seff?” Seldon yells into my ear over my shoulder. I can only shake my head with a shrug because I havenoidea what we just witnessed.
Tugging Theo close to me, the three of us edge our way through the crowd until we find them.
Talking.
It was the guy I saw, but Seff certainly doesn’t seem threatened by his presence now. Just the opposite. Or maybe both?
The man is tall but not as tall as Seff. Nor does he seem to match him for strength, either. But he has Seff held in place, almost lazily so, with a simple hand on the shoulder. Even in the miasma of the club, you can sense the tension rolling between the two as they lean in to talk to each other.
When Seff looks in our direction, neither Theo nor Seldon let the moment pass with dignity, hollering and flashing rude gestures in Seff’s direction. It only gets substantially worse when Seff indicates that he’s leaving with the guy.
“Should we, I don’t know? Stop him?” Theo has to yell to be heard, his head tilted back against my chest. Seldon and I exchange a look because yeah, that was all weird as fuck. But we’d both seen Seff on the pull before. And there are some things that you just don’t interfere with. My knowing is telling me this is one of them.
I shake my head down at Theo, tugging him close as he turns in my arm so we’re chest to chest. “Nah, he’ll be fine. I feel like it’s a shifter thing.”
Seldon murmurs his agreement, rolling his eyes as Theo’s hand snakes up to my shoulder, squeezing the juncture of my neck.
“Ugh, you two are gross.” Seldon slugs back a drink he got from who knows where - honestly, he needs to stop hanging out with Edith - and puts it on a nearby table before slapping us both on our shoulders. “If Seff’s gone, I’m out.”
Theo twists enough to look at Seldon properly without removing himself from being plastered against me, our bodies swaying as one to the music. “You sure?”
