Chapter 1 #2
“Does he even like men? I’m sure he’s straight.”
“No idea,” I gritted out.
Which would make me the fucking idiot. Potentially lusting after a man I couldn’t have.
I had a strong sense of loyalty to Damyr.
He gave me a place when I needed one, and I’d do anything he asked of me.
Even if that meant leaving the little witch alone.
“Besides, Damyr said not to touch him. He didn’t say I couldn’t watch him. ”
“You’re crazy,” Acheron mumbled as he sipped his bright pink drink.
I cocked my eyebrow at him, but the fucker didn’t even wilt. “You know the term ‘crazy’ could be considered offensive.”
Acheron snorted into his cocktail. “Yeah, like you give a shit.”
The wizard was right. I didn’t give a shit. I wasn’t mentally wired with the capacity to give a shit. So, I sat there, drinking my bourbon and watching Wilder barely interact with the other guests.
He was really pretty and every time I looked at him, he held my attention completely—which was never a good thing.
His hair was the colour of chestnuts caught in the sun and fell around his jawline in choppy waves.
Normally, he decked himself out in a band tee and the baggiest jeans on the planet, but today…
I hissed in a sharp breath. Today he was in a wine-coloured three-piece suit, and it hugged him in all the right places.
It nipped in at his waist, was tight across his shoulders, and I bet if he turned around it would be hugging his ass like a second skin.
“You’re drooling,” Acheron sniggered as he swiped his thumb across my chin.
I batted his hand away and threw him a cold stare. “Touch me like that again and I’ll cut your finger off.”
“Sounds fun,” he replied with a waggle of his eyebrows.
“Dismembering is always fun with me.”
“Weirdo,” he chuckled as he spun around next to me, crossing one long, elegant leg over the other and leaning back against the bar. “But Wilder is pretty.”
I hummed in agreement as Wilder finally looked my way, as if he could sense my gaze from across the room.
His eyes were mesmerising. Two pools of violet haunted by pain and suffering.
It made him look vulnerable, fragile, and it called to the darkest part of me.
The predator that wanted to hunt him as prey.
A soft blush flushed across the apples of his cheeks, and Wilder turned away from me, a scowl pulling at his dark brow.
“I don’t think he likes you,” Acheron taunted in that sugary-sweet sing-song voice of his.
“Fuck off.”
“Nope. I’m having way too much fun winding you up.”
I chose to ignore him and took another sip of my bourbon, all the while watching Wilder chat away with Vlad and the other vampires. He was actively avoiding looking back at me, and I found it amusing.
“Poor, poor Wilder,” Acheron mused aloud, echoing my own thoughts. “The boy won’t know what’s hit him.”
I downed the rest of my drink and slammed the glass on the bar. “I think Vlad needs me.”
“If you say so,” Acheron laughed. “Remember Damyr said no murder or stabbiness of any nature on his wedding day.”
I wasn’t going to murder anyone. At least, not unless they absolutely deserved it. And even then, I’d drag them somewhere else. I didn’t want to spoil Damyr and Benji’s wedding day.
See, psychopaths could evolve.
I cut through the crowd and straight over to Vlad and Aleksey. I usually spent most of my time with one of these two, but they weren’t why I was gatecrashing this little chit-chat. Nope. My entire focus zoned in on Wilder Rowan and the way the muscle twitched under his left eye.
Fuck, I could smell him and it was making things worse.
Hints of sandalwood and something earthy and raw, like the moment before a thunderstorm, filled my lungs as I dragged the scent of him inside me.
There was something so enticing, something so soft about him despite how powerful he was that I wanted to wrap him in my arms and never let go.
“Would you be soft for me?” I asked him, my voice a little breathless. Hmm, that was odd.
Wilder flinched back. “The fuck?”
“You’re so weird, Byron,” Aleksey groaned and dragged his hand down his face. “You can’t say things like that.”
Wilder’s eyes darted between mine as I held his gaze unrelentingly. I could sense apprehension building beneath his skin. Was he going to run?
I dearly hoped so.
I turned to Aleksey, giving Wilder a small reprieve.
The vampire had long, bright blonde hair, which he usually wore in a scruffy bun, but today it was up in a half ponytail with all these fancy braids woven through it.
It made him look even more like an elf than usual.
He’d be pretty too if he weren’t scowling all the time.
“Why can’t I say things like that?” I asked him. I knew why; I just liked winding him up. I had all the tools to pass for a normal person, including keeping my mouth shut when I had to. I didn’t think I needed to do that here.
“Because those are thinking thoughts, Byron,” Aleksey said with a shake of his head. “Not speaking thoughts.”
I shrugged and turned back to Wilder. He was watching me warily, and he seemed twitchy. Like he was ready to run at a moment’s notice.
“Did you enjoy the wedding?” I asked him with a smile.
Wilder took a small step closer to Vlad, who winced at my face. Oops, I guess I didn’t quite hide the creepiness from my smile there.
“Yeah, it was great,” Wilder replied, but his mouth was pinched and his brow dipped. Something was wrong. Wilder wasn’t always the happiest person, but he was the type of person to enjoy a wedding. So why did he seem upset?
“Are you okay?” I asked Wilder.
His dark, jagged eyebrows shot up his face. “Um, yes?”
I stepped closer, leaning into his personal space and stared deep into his bright violet eyes. I brushed the creases between his brows with my forefinger. A flicker of his magic brushed against the tip of my fingertip, and he instantly recoiled. “Are you sure?”
He batted my hand away and stepped back. “Boundaries, asshole.”
I smiled again, but I held my ground. I wanted to be close to him, so that’s where I would be, boundaries be damned.
“This is too fucking weird for me,” Aleksey grumbled before slinking off to the bar.
Vlad pursed his lips and instinctively put himself in front of Wilder. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure the big guy knew he did that. He always put himself in the role of protector, but he was a fool if he thought he could protect Wilder from me.
The vampire—yes, called Vlad, ironic, I know—was built like a tank. All muscle and intimidation with the heart of a fucking teddy bear. He was Damyr’s number two and currently ruling the roost while the boss got hitched to his little ray of sunshine.
“Byron,” Vlad growled, low and threatening. “Behave.”
“You know that voice doesn’t work on me,” I sassed back.
He rolled his eyes skyward and took a deep breath. “What would Bishop say if he were here?”
Fair point.
Although it pissed me off that everyone always pulled the ‘Bishop card’ out to keep me in line. It was the only downside to having my twin so close.
I begrudgingly took a step away from Wilder, and Vlad chuckled at me.
“Don’t make me cut an eye out or something,” I snarled at Vlad, my fingers tracing my trusty butterfly knife beneath my suit jacket.
His eyes narrowed as he tracked my movements. “Please tell me you haven’t got a knife hidden in there?”
I grinned widely. “I haven’t got a knife hidden in my jacket.”
I totally had. As well as in my boot.
And the waistband at the back of my trousers.
“Byron,” Vlad sighed with a touch of disappointment, although why he was disappointed is beyond me. I never left my house without a knife. “The wedding is supposed to be neutral ground.”
I pointed to Wilder. “What’s his excuse?”
“Ex-fucking-scuse me?” Wilder gasped, his pouty mouth dropping open.
“It’s not like he can leave his powers at the front door, is it?” I said with a huff. “Don’t you consider him armed?”
Vlad cocked an eyebrow. “We can trust him to behave.”
Wilder pinched the bridge of his nose and then dragged his hand through his hair, mussing up his orderly locks. “I’m not drunk enough for this conversation.”
Then he left. Turned on his heel and walked away from me.
I went to follow him, but Vlad stuck his hand out and planted it firmly on my chest.
“Leave him be,” Vlad said softly.
My eyes burnt a hole in Wilder’s back as he disappeared into the crowd.
His shoulders were up by his ears, his hands deep in his pockets, and I had the insane urge to try to make him feel better.
I didn’t even know where that thought came from.
The only other person who ever made me feel anything was my twin, but there I was, watching Wilder and wanting more.
I looked up at Vlad and stared deep into his eyes. “I can’t.”
And I think that might have been the most honest thing I’d said all day.