23. A Wardrobe Malfunction with the Hot Guy
23
A Wardrobe Malfunction with the Hot Guy
You
You cover yourself with your hands as best you can, kicking with your legs to stay afloat, but you’ve never been very good at treading water.
You’re sinking.
And so is your bikini top as it floats down toward the deep, further and further out of reach.
Panicked, you turn and look to Ziros for help, but—he’s not there! He was standing over by the table just a moment ago, and now he’s gone. No! Just when you thought your luck couldn’t get any worse!
This is so embarrassing.
You could scream for help, but then you’d just be calling attention to your, uh, situation . And you can’t use your arms to paddle without revealing yourself.
You’re trapped!
You cough, chin sinking under the water. Maybe you can covertly signal Corrine for help. But before you can spot her through your panic, the water rises up over your mouth and you find yourself coughing. It’s too late.
“Help!” you try to call, but you’re already underwater. Is this how you die?
What a way to go.
And just when you’d won an awesome prize, too.
Just as your lungs start to burn, strong arms circle your bare waist, lifting you easily back to the surface.
And a low voice growls in your ear, “Are you trying to make me jealous?”
It’s Ziros.
He pulls his shirt over your head before scooping you back against the heat of his hard chest.
One moment you’re in the pool.
The next you’re in the hall leading to the stairwell, the penthouse front door swinging shut behind you as Ziros carries you away.
You can only imagine the look of shock on Corrine’s face as you disappeared.
Poor Corrine.
Looks like your time at this party might be suddenly very over.
But…it’s hard to be too disappointed.
Not when Ziros carries you into the stairwell, pressing your back against the cold wall as you wrap your legs around his waist, staring up into his steel blue eyes. There’s something fierce about his gaze, something hungry.
Leaning in, he growls in your ear, “Push me away, human. Tell me to stop. Tell me to stop, or I won’t .”
Ziros
I want her.
I want every inch of her: blood, body, and soul.
I’ve never wanted anything or anyone so badly in all my damn years—especially not a human.
Her scent is intoxicating, surrounding me in a delicious haze. I can’t think. All I can hear is her heartbeat pounding behind my ears, all I can feel is the heat of her body against mine.
I want to rip that tiny little bikini bottom off and take her right here in the stairwell, passerby be damned.
My shirt looks good on her. No, not just good. Hot .
Mostly because it’s damn-near translucent, and with nothing underneath, her breasts strain against the too-thin material, impossible not to look at.
I’m way too damn intoxicated for this.
I may look like the alcohol didn’t affect me, and I’ve got higher tolerance than any human, but my self-control is out the window.
Screw being a gentleman.
I want to bite her. I want to sink my teeth into the base of her neck while I—
Oh, hell . What the hell is wrong with me? I haven’t bitten anyone in ages. Centuries.
I don’t even like the taste of blood.
Not normally.
But this is different.
Everything about her is different.
“ Goddamn it ,” I mutter, holding her jaw in one hand, lifting her chin like I intend to kiss her. “Push me away,” I growl in her ear. “Push me away, or I’m going to bite you. I’ll claim every damn inch of you, and I’ll make you mine. This is your only chance: Push me away right now, or I’ll never let you go.”
Have I taken it too far? Probably. But holy damn, my head is spinning, and all I can see is her.
I have about point-five seconds before I give in and bite her anyway.
But to my surprise, she doesn’t push me away. No. This damn amazing human, she leans up and kisses me .
Again.
This is the second time she’s kissed me.
Not that I’m complaining.
I growl into her mouth, kissing her back harder, pressing my body against hers where I pin her there against the wall, every inch of me hard and ready and hungry for more.
She’s panting when I pull away, staring up into my eyes like she wants more.
And I shouldn’t.
I shouldn’t do it, but I can’t help it. I can’t hold out any longer.
Every inch of her is so damn sexy.
I glide one hand over her soaked shirt, feeling the curve of her breasts fit against my hand, and I love the way she moans softly into my mouth as I kiss her again, pinching her nipples between my fingers.
With one hand, I grab her jaw again as I pull away, but this time, I don’t kiss her.
I can’t hold out any longer.
I tilt her chin up to expose her neck, the sweet, thick scent of her blood rushing around me as I glide my fangs down her skin, sucking the base hard enough to leave a mark.
She gasps as I bite down, letting my fangs pierce her skin, relishing the sizzle of her blood on my tongue as her surprise turns to pleasure and her gasp fades into a moan.
Everything about her is magic. She’s more intoxicating than every damn drink I had tonight, better than anything else I’ve ever tasted. Better than anything I’ve ever felt.
I suck harder, lost in this moment as she tilts her head back, moaning softly, then louder, and I don’t even care if we get discovered.
I don’t give a damn.
Let someone walk in, I don’t care. I’m not stopping.
I want her.
I want more than her blood, and I push her tighter to the wall, only my shorts and her tiny little bottoms between us as I bite her neck harder.
It takes all my damn self-control to pull away.
“You…” she pants, breathing hard as she stares up at me, wide-eyed. With one hand, she reaches up to touch her neck, like she’s still trying to process what just happened. “You really are a vampire.”
I can’t help but smirk.
Her reaction is almost as delicious as her blood.
“ Half ,” I say, tilting her jaw again, and she moans before I even bite her this time, like she’s already anticipating it. Is the pleasure that good? “I’m only half vampire.”
I’ve heard skilled vampires can make their prey revel in ecstasy while they’re bitten, but it’s not supposed to be easy.
So hearing her moan is the highest compliment.
Maybe it’s that damn magical connection again, linking us together. Maybe that’s why just the sound of her breathing drives me wild, why just hearing her moan makes me want to sink into her up to the hilt.
And I don’t mean just with my fangs.
She’s supposed to set me free.
I want her to.
I should want her to.
But right now, in this moment, all I want is her.
All of her.
Forever.
I glide my fangs back across her neck, where the first bite is already healing, and I’m ready to bite her again—when from somewhere behind us, a heavy thunk draws me back to my senses. I’m dimly aware of the stairwell door opening.
And footsteps echoing down.
Ha. An audience won’t stop me, but she tenses like she’s scared.
And that’s the last thing I want her to feel right now.
“ Hold on tight, little human ,” I growl in her ear as I sweep her back into my arms.
Maybe it’s the heat of fresh blood coursing through my body, but everything feels lighter. The damn link restricts my powers to a fraction of my true abilities, but not right now. Right now, everything feels different. Better .
Instead of restricting me, it’s like I’ve been set free.
It must be her blood.
Her blood gives me power.
No wonder that big blue bastard Vincentius wanted her. She may be a weak little human, but her blood is strong.
The stairwell blurs around us as I let my powers free, gliding us down so fast, anyone we pass would only feel a slight breeze and maybe catch a blur out of the corner of their eye.
We arrive at her apartment in no time at all.
It isn’t until I set her down outside that she looks at the doorknob and her face falls.
“Uh, oh.” She glances up at me with worry in her eyes as she says, “Um, Z? I don’t have my key.”
That’s when I realize my mistake.
She’s always carrying a bag with her—a purse. That’s where she keeps her phone and keys and whatever else.
It’s all back at the party.
I mutter a curse.
And to make matters worse, footsteps echo up the hall toward us.
I’m shirtless. She’s wearing only my shirt. That and her tiny little bottoms—and though the shirt is a lot drier now, I don’t want anyone else to see her like this.
Yeah, so I’m selfish. Fine. I’ll admit it.
I want her all to myself.
She’s damn hot, and I don’t like to share.
And based on her panicked look, I get the feeling dressing like this when not standing beside a pool is frowned upon in today’s society.
“ Someone’s coming ,” she hisses, eyes darting down the hall. “What do we do?”
I frown, glancing at the locked door again.
I could break it down, but that’d just cause a mess. And even more of a scene.
But her magic is still flowing through my body. Maybe I can use that to my advantage.
“Relax,” I say, sounding way more confident than I feel. “Watch this.”
I set one hand on the doorknob, letting her magic flow back through my palm and out through the keyhole.
She could probably do this herself if she knew the first thing about her own powers.
Instead, she gasps in awe as golden light flashes through my hand and into the lock, clicking it open just in time. I smirk. “Easy,” I say, like I had been confident in my ability the whole time.
Then I scoop her back into my arms and carry her through the door just before the footsteps reach us.
As soon as the door shuts, I throw the deadbolt with one hand, still holding her in my arms with the other.
“Now,” I say, setting her down on the edge of the bed with a smirk as I take her jaw in one hand again. “ Where were we? ”