Chapter 22 #2
It was close to midnight when Analise went downstairs, drawn by the sound of music, laughter, and the clink of glasses.
The Canem Club was closed so who were all these people?
She lingered at the bottom of the stairs, smoothing her hands over her clothes—a plain cream blouse with short sleeves and a dark grey skirt.
Not really party attire, but she’d tidied her hair.
Lira spotted her, pushing her way through the crowd to shove a drink in Analise’s hand.
Grateful, Analise took a sip, the whiskey setting a fire in her stomach as Lira told her this was an Order of the Dawn party.
There were at least thirty people in the bar.
Maddog was in the middle of the group, entertaining them with the story of what had happened tonight.
A cigar dangled from the corner of his mouth as he spoke, smoke clouding his face.
‘I still can’t believe Maddog Pierce is your uncle,’ Analise muttered. The crowd hung on his every word. Ezra’s name caught her attention—she spotted his blond head as someone dragged him to his feet.
Lira grinned. ‘Can’t choose your family.’
‘What are we celebrating?’
‘Our witch-hound-come-demon-hunter. According to Jem, despite being scared out of his mind, Ezra did well. Even Tobias agreed. A high honour indeed. But, Ezra dealt the kill shot, so the celebration is warranted. We give credit where it’s due.’
Analise hadn’t known Ezra killed the demon. His expression was relaxed, happy, and he was smiling, clearly enjoying the attention as Maddog slung an arm around his shoulder. Analise noticed a beautiful dark-haired woman standing close to Ezra. Her eyes were pinned to him.
Jealousy surged with all the force of a fire.
It was a knee-jerk, territorial reaction that made no sense to Analise, as a possessiveness she had no right to feel licked at her insides with a barbed tongue.
The sudden, tangible sharpness of it made her bite the inside of her cheek and cringe. She had no claim to him, none at all.
So why did it hurt to see him so close to someone else, to watch a beautiful woman look at him?
Maddog finished his story, and Ezra moved to the bar, the woman following him.
Analise took a gulp of her drink, but instead of dousing the flames, all the whiskey did was add fuel to the fire.
She shivered, but was unable to stop looking at Ezra, who hadn’t noticed her at all.
‘That’s Samira,’ Lira said, following Analise’s gaze. ‘One of our best hunters. She’s spent a week in the field tracking demons. We’ve been trying to find their nest.’
‘Nest?’ Analise repeated, watching as Samira threw back her head and laughed. Her body was angled towards Ezra. Analise’s fingers tightened on her glass.
‘Demons always have a nest,’ Lira explained. ‘A place they live, if you could call it that. We’ve found smaller ones, but Samira is convinced there is a larger, more central one.’
‘Hmm.’
Lira sighed. ‘Go over there, shove her out of the way, and kiss him, Analise.’
‘What?’
‘There is too much tension around here. Either kiss him, or sleep with him, or move on. It’s not good for either of you.’
Analise shook her head, though her heart fluttered. ‘I don’t care about him.’
‘Your face says otherwise.’ Lira touched her arm and moved away.
Analise found herself another drink and sat at the nearest table.
She felt eyes on her and she wondered what they saw.
She let her gaze scan the room as surreptitiously as she could.
Men, women, all dressed in black. All of them were smiling, and seemed to know one another.
She was the outsider here. They were probably wondering who the hell she was.
Her eyes drifted to Ezra again. He could screw who he wanted.
It wasn’t her business and she didn’t care.
She wasn’t interested, even if he kissed her like he’d been born to do it.
The relief that flooded her when he’d walked back into the office after the hunt had taken her by surprise.
It wasn't until she’d practically run away and taken a deep breath that she’d realised she’d been worried about him.
She tried to tell herself she’d been worried about Jem—Maddog and Tobias as well—but sitting in the bath, staring at the patterns the candlelight made on the water, Analise had to admit that seeing Ezra come back, shaken, alive, made her want to throw her arms around him. She’d left so she didn’t do that.
She shouldn’t care about him. She couldn’t.
Analise finished her drink, deciding she’d rather go to bed than sit here, drinking alone and wondering whether Ezra …
She was halfway up the stairs when a voice made her pause.
‘I was hoping you’d have a drink with me.’
She turned, heart racing as Ezra came up the stairs towards her, a drink in each hand. His hair dangled in his eyes, and she clenched her fists to stop herself from pushing it aside. He held a glass out for her; Analise hesitated, and then took it, careful not to let their fingers touch.
‘Are we drinking on the stairs or are you going to come down?’
She sat.
‘Not a people person—I forgot,’ Ezra said, but instead of leaving like she expected him to, he sat with her. They drank in silence for a while, and when her glass was empty, Analise sighed.
‘You’re missing your own party.’
He shrugged, reclining on the stairs casually. His sleeves were rolled up, the dark ink of his tattoo curling around his forearm, and his shirt was partially unbuttoned, a glimpse of smooth chest visible. He smelled like soap and water and whiskey.
‘Won’t someone miss you?’ she mumbled before she could stop herself.
A little smile played on his mouth. ‘Maybe, although she isn’t really my type.’
Analise’s cheeks warmed. It’s the whiskey, she told herself. It had nothing to do with the way Ezra was looking at her, or how his leg was pressed against hers in the narrow stairwell.
‘Analise—’
‘I need to go to bed,’ she said quickly.
‘I’m not interested in her.’
‘It doesn’t bother me, Ezra.’ Analise stood; as did he, and her breath caught at how close they were. The stairwell was dark and the sounds of the party were suddenly miles away. Ezra took her glass, setting it, along with his, on the step below them, not taking his eyes from hers.
‘I think maybe it does bother you.’
‘Your arrogance knows no bounds, does it?’ Analise twisted her fingers in the fabric of her skirt as he moved closer.
‘So, if I were to bring her back to my room, which shares that ridiculously thin wall with yours, and you had to listen to me fuck her for the rest of the night, you’d not have a problem with that?’ Ezra asked, his tone so casual that it made Analise clench her teeth—and her thighs—together.
‘I wouldn’t have a problem with that,’ she managed.
‘Your cheeks go red when you lie.’ He moved even closer.
She stepped back until she was pressed against the wall, his arms caging her in.
She should knee him in the balls, but her leg refused to move.
Ezra hadn’t touched her, but the heat of him slid inside her and set her ablaze.
She wanted to put her mouth on his skin at the same time as she wanted to shove his head through the wall at the very idea of him touching someone else.
Butterflies assaulted her stomach as he slowly closed the gap between them, and she readied herself for the feeling of his hands on her body, the softness of his lips, the warmth of his mouth. She readied herself to come completely undone as he bent his head towards her.
Ezra’s lips grazed her jaw, teasing and promising at the same time.
His mouth trailed down her neck and every nerve ending and blood cell in Analise’s body was screaming.
She almost moaned but trapped the sound behind her teeth, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he affected her.
He knew anyway. The smile against her flesh told her that, and she wished she could take this moment back, start again, be the one in control, the one making him moan.
Analise tipped her head back, unable to help it.
Ezra’s arms slid around her, pulling her against him as he trailed fire along the length of her throat, his lips brushing her jaw.
Her heart was pounding furiously, and her hands were pressed against his lower back. She couldn’t remember deciding to touch him. Her body was responding to his touch, his smell, the heat that radiated from his skin and dragging her along for the ride.
Ezra’s lips finally ghosted over hers, light and teasing.
They hovered there for a second, before he groaned and pressed his mouth to hers, as if he couldn’t help it.
It was a hard, furious kiss; Analise wound her hands in his hair and pulled him closer as he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth.
This time, there was no hiding the moan that escaped her.
Her clothes were too tight, and her toes curled in her boots.
She wanted to explode and take him with her, even if it was only for one night.
Analise breathed his name. She was lost, so lost, her brain filled with fog as his hand closed over her breast. Pleasure spiked between her thighs.
Please, she begged silently, please touch me.
She wanted him more than she had before.
His lips trailed down her throat, so slowly, as if he knew just how much he was stoking the fire building inside her.
‘I can’t get the taste of you out of my mouth,’ he murmured against her neck. ‘If I could, I’d have you on your back again with your legs spread while I fucked you with my tongue.’
Analise trembled from head to toe.
‘I want you,’ Ezra continued. ‘God, I want you, Analise.’
The way he breathed her name turned her insides to liquid. Her fingers trembled as they threaded through his hair. She dragged him closer, pulling his head up and smashing her lips against his. His tongue swept into her mouth, his breath her breath, his fingers curling against her spine.
The sound of shattering glass jolted her back to reality as a cheer echoed through the club, followed by raucous laughter.
Ezra chuckled and kissed her again, but the spell was broken.
‘Stop,’ she breathed, placing her hand on his chest. His heart pounded beneath her palm. ‘Ezra, this isn’t a good idea.’
His shoulders shook, then he stepped away until he was leaning against the opposite wall.
His hair was a mess and his shirt was partially untucked.
He cleared his throat and straightened his clothes, running a hand over his face.
When he met her gaze, the longing in his eyes pinned her to the wall with the force of it. ‘I fucked everything up, didn’t I?’
Analise tried to collect her shattered thoughts.
Shame burnt in her blood, mingling with the strength of her desire.
She licked her lips and took a deep breath.
‘You were right before. I was being a hypocrite. I can forgive you for lying to me, but I don’t think I can forgive you for what you were, Ezra. ’
‘I’m not that person anymore.’
‘But you were that person, and that’s what makes this hard,’ she argued. ‘Because I want you to touch me, I do, but I can’t let you. I can’t let myself feel anything for you.’
Ezra stared at her for a moment longer, then collected their glasses. ‘I like you. I shouldn’t, but I do, Analise. I really do.’ He gave her a sad smile before returning to the life and warmth of the party.