writhing movements with biting strength, somehow snaring me closer, he leans into my chest and destroys the breath in it, leaving behind an accelerated heartbeat. “Come on Božena, don't be like that. Why are you staying when you could be at home, with me, unleashing the wildcat floating in your blood.”
Pressing closer he sniffs softly with his nose next to my eye, “You love a fight, I can smell it.” Placing a kiss on my cheek, his baritone dances with me, “You love the hunt, I know you do. You're a hunter, like me.”
It's all spoken with his skin pressing into mine, chin to cheek, him aiming his low secret into my ear as intimately and quietly as possible. It makes me feel like we're in a veil of seclusion where nothing can save me and no logic will penetrate.
It's seductively clandestine and forbidden.
Bucking off the wall and thrusting both arms violently down to break his hold, I manage to get away from the wall, but my wrists are still caught in his hands.
Stepping further away, contorting myself in the process, I stare up into his now brown eyes and brown hair. “You're delusional Jo.”
“ Am I?”
“ Yes. Just back off or I'm going to start screaming so two demon bouncers can come and kick your ass.”
His grip punishes even more when he reclaims the space between us to flex chest muscles at me, “I'm not delusional darling. We kissed remember? I'm your sponsor in here. And because you exchanged body fluids with me I can hear your thoughts, smell the cortisol flooding your system...” He dips his head and whispers into my ear, “And smell the erotic reaction you're having to a mild display of aggression.” Teeth start massaging my earlobe along with evocative heated breath, “You're hot for me.”
I am horribly horny, but I'm not here for Jo, I'm here for Darise. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
He traces two blunt fingertips down my spine as he stands tall and releases me, giving me an inch of merciful air.
“ When you change your mind, just call,” he winks, turning and vanishing inside the shadows clinging to the walls.
They camouflage him so well it gives me the fear of knowing your stalker is right in front of you if only you could see them.
I sense him there, watching me from his throne of darkness.
Exhaling, running a shaky hand through my hair, I retrace my footsteps to the bar. Pravus has changed a lot in the time I was away from my homeland, but the dim lighting, strange scents, and red strobed lights remain the same. The closer I get to the main area the more lighting is supplied, flashing the muted red light in time to the beat of the music. Black red – black red – black – red.
It's enough to make you feel high when you've had one drink too many. Meandering past couples comprised of supernatural men and human women, I smile. Darise said this place is now owned by a neuri alpha, and all these yummy men are neuri.
This used to be a vampyre bar. It serves their men, not females. Only human women gain entrance, and only supernatural men come here to flirt and fuck their way into human hearts.
I wonder how many women even know this? They probably think they've walked into a supermodel bar with calendar gorgeous eye candy lining the walls and circling like hungry raptors around the dance floor.
We're prey.
“ Everything okay?”
Jarred out of my thoughts, I realize I'm all the way back to the bar which overlooks the dreaded dance floor. It's a swollen pond of doom-black, bathed randomly with the carnelian light that makes everyone's skin look singed and livid; whipped raw with hellish light and grateful to be stripped of the pretense. That dance floor is the cage where the oldest ritual on earth plays out, night after night, after night.
And that's where my focus was, staring at shirtless men hidden in blackout and randomly revealed with each red flashing strobe, shimmering provocatively with sweat and claiming interest with their psychedelic