Chapter 1 #2
Gerald beamed—as much as a vampire like him could.
He brushed one of the tendrils of hair from my face, dragging a finger along my jaw.
My skin itched and I took a deep breath, counting the seconds of my exhale.
Lord Azad watched me so intently, I wondered if he sensed I wished to pull away from the touch, even as I tilted the corner of my mouth up and leaned into it.
“You are generous with your flattery, Lord Azad,” I breathed, ignoring the vampire at my side, who was all but pissing on my leg.
“Mademoiselle Valois deserves more than just flattery,” Gerald chimed in while the hand traveling down my face gripped the nape of my neck.
A muscle ticked in Lord Azad’s jaw and he tilted his head to the side in the way I’d seen wolves size up their prey, but it was Jules who answered with a small step forward. “Mademoiselle Valois is also a skilled dancer and singer, with a penchant for languages and the pianoforte.”
I suddenly felt as though I were cattle up for auction, but I dipped my chin demurely.
“One of the finest ladies bred from the upper class of Oylen,” Gerald added.
Madame Searah smiled blandly at the immortal.
Never once had he been told such a thing, but, like so many within this city, he assumed with my beauty and education I came from human nobles.
If he knew where I’d come from, who my family was, I was sure Gerald would have instead given me the same treatment as a gutter rat.
Lord Azad gave a noncommittal sort of hum, but his attention roved across my face as one might study a map.
My breathing hitched and the heat in my cheeks snaked down my throat and across my chest. Beautiful men had given me attention before, but never like this, never with that worshipful gaze and openness I did not often see in males.
And then all at once he took a step back, giving Gerald another bland smile and nod.
“It is an honor hosting you and your companion this evening, Lord Montag. If you have need of anything, please do not hesitate to ask.”
A lump formed in my throat and I struggled to swallow it down. Why was it I wanted to reach for him as he clasped his hands behind his back and looked away?
“If it is not too much trouble,” Gerald started carefully, lowering his voice, “I would appreciate very much a private place for Mademoiselle Valois to…attend to my needs.”
Lord Azad’s nostrils flared, the gold in his eyes flashing.
But Gerald did not seem to notice, or perhaps he misinterpreted it, for he only grinned conspiratorially at Jules.
Lilith, however, leaned back, attempting to catch my eye.
I fixed my gaze resolutely on the floor, the warmth from only moments ago winking out and leaving ice in its wake.
“There are plenty of rooms available for your needs,” Lord Azad answered, his voice as cold as I felt. “Madame Searah or my man Bernard will be happy to escort you.”
I looked up in time to see him gesturing to Lilith with an open palm and moving past us onto the dance floor.
My friend hastened to follow, slipping her hand over my elbow with a soft squeeze before she fell into step with the ancient immortal.
Before I could so much as watch Lord Azad dance—and something told me he would be a beautiful dancer—Gerald tugged me along in Jules’ wake toward a set of double doors on the opposite end of the ballroom.
As we settled into the opulent parlor outfitted with a plush velvet couch and roaring hearth, my mind wandered. I barely heard Gerald’s excited chatter as he guided me to sit, brushing back the hair from my throat.
“Perhaps I may call on him now,” he mused, settling beside me. “Do you think Lord Azad would be interested in joining a hunt?”
But for all he cared for my answer he could have been asking the chalice of wine on the table beside us. I did not answer, but I struggled to imagine Lord Azad mounting a horse and galloping through the wood before I remembered that vampires hunted in a very different way to humans.
Gerald’s hands wrapped around my waist and he all but tugged me onto his lap, pressing his lips to the artery that called to him.
I could not find it in me to give him the quiet smile, to wrap my arms around his shoulders and guide him toward my throat.
Instead, I could only think of what Lord Azad would look like prowling through the forest.
How it would feel to know he was the predator and I his prey.
Teeth pierced my throat and a low moan slipped through my lips.
In my mind it was not Gerald, but the lord of the house.
Citrine eyes flashing in the dark. Black hair flying behind him as he ran.
A thrill fluttered through my belly and heat pulsed through my core.
His body pinning mine to the forest floor, a snarl in my ears so low only I could hear.
“You’re mine,” he would say before he bit, before he fucked, before he claimed.
Before he ruined me for anyone else.
My hands clenched into his hair, but the texture was wrong. When I opened my eyes, it was to realize it was Gerald holding me, his hips grinding up into the silks of my skirts.
I had always thought it would be a danger to be indebted, as my parents had been.
But now I knew it was nothing in comparison to the danger Lord Azad represented.
It was one thing to be indebted to another and wholly another to be possessed by them, to be owned—to willingly give up your freedom, your mind, your life.
I knew, in that moment, if Lord Azad had asked for my life I would have given it to him without question.
I would have allowed my wings to be clipped, my song to be quieted.
The desire I felt for him was too great.
That could not happen. It was a relief to know I would more than likely never see the immortal again, except for perhaps in passing. Gerald had staked his claim on me, however feeble it might have been, and that was for the best.
The last thing I wanted was to be a bird in a cage.