Chapter 22 Family Ties
I’ll admit, I had my reservations about walking into a vampire party.
There are fangs everywhere I look, but there are also regular people dancing around in the same half-dressed, practically naked getup.
From the front door I could only see so much, and being up close and personal, I’m getting an eyeful.
Between swarthy, painted chests, there are bare breasts covered in paint and plenty of people in just their underwear.
Compared to the rest, Gray and I are actually overdressed.
Besides that, no one is openly ripping someone’s throat out or gnawing on their wrists.
At least, not yet anyway. I’m not so na?ve to assume there isn’t some kind of bloodsucking going on, especially when the dancefloor is crammed with bodies. I can’t even imagine how many rooms there are and what kind of business is going on away from the party. This place is undeniably huge.
Gray squeezes my hip, drawing my attention back to his searing touch.
I’m growing more giddy with excitement. The nearer we get to the dancing, the clearer the silhouettes become against the flashing strobes.
I can see the heated, focused look in every pair of eyes that wander past mine.
Of course, here is where I see the slip of a tongue lapping up blood.
There are more than a few puncture wounds marking sweat-slicked skin.
No one seems to care, though. Between the carnal grinding and writhing between human and vampire, there doesn’t appear to be a single look of fear on anyone’s face.
It’s almost like everyone is under a spell.
“Care for a dance?” Gray leans down, his mouth cool against my ear.
“Don’t we—” But I fail to get the question out. He hasn’t yet told me why we’re here, or if there’s something more he wanted from this visit than just a dance.
“Sure!” I shout.
In the flashing light, I see him straighten.
There’s a mischievous little look on his face that seeps into his smile.
The hand at my waist tightens, pulling me in so I’m flush against his chest. My hands go to his shoulders to steady myself, and I grip the soft fabric of his dark shirt.
Slowly, they inch down to the open part of his button-up, splaying against his exposed skin.
I feel him moving against me, undulating his hips against mine.
Dance, my mind is shouting. Dance!
I only know one way to dance, so I flip around until my back is pressed firmly against his chest. His hands shift to my hips, roving up my curves to bring my arms above my head and around his neck.
At first, I feel my way to the music, then start to move to the beat and drumming bass.
After a while, I’m starting to understand why everyone looked like they were in a trance.
The music is lulling, heavy even, but it’s punchy enough to keep your muscles moving in time with its rapid upbeats.
My body feels relaxed, yet every nerve beneath the skin is a spark that pops to life with the music.
It’s mesmerizing, like I’m possessed.
For a moment, I open my eyes and see bright scarlet specks against the unseen faces of the partygoers.
For every pair of red, there is a sparkle from those who aren’t vampires.
All of them are watching us. Unease coils in the pit of my stomach, and my movements slow.
As if he can sense my alarm, Gray grips my hips and tucks his head into the curved slope where my neck and shoulder meet.
His mouth is planted against me, cool and silky soft.
He lifts his head and whispers in my ear.
“Look at them,” he hums. “They either want to fuck you or taste you.”
That sends a shiver down my spine.
“But they don’t know,” he whispers, one hand releasing my hip in pursuit of the space between my legs. My breath catches in my throat as he lifts the hem of my skin tight dress.
“Know what?” I breathe, sighing at the feel of his fingertips slipping into my panties.
“You’re mine.” He draws out the final part deeply, all while pressing my clit with a single digit. I hiss at the sudden pressure, inhaling sharply when he circles the tender bud. My hips follow the new rhythm, no longer following the pull of the music.
“Am I… yours?” My breath catches in my throat. Uncertainty is a bitch. “Because you said… you said…”
A second digit joins the first, distracting me from the hand he places on my breast. He caresses the warm, wet flesh, then pulses them against my clit. The building pleasure swallows my confusion and doubt. There’s no room in my head for anything, not while I’m melting from his touch.
“Focus,” he commands. My chest and stomach flutter at the power in his voice.
Focus is hard to find when there are so many people watching. Interest has turned to hunger, and I know what they want.
“Bite me,” I beg.
Gray groans, “With pleasure.”
I feel the point of his fangs sink into the delicate flesh on my neck where he was kissing moments ago.
My hands grip his head, threading into his hair with desperation as his caress mingles with his bite.
I whimper as the pressure in my stomach builds, the telltale that my climax is close.
I’m wet and his fingers are slipping, switching from languid circles to inhuman vibration.
It’s the right amount of speed to push me over the edge, and I moan so loud it almost sounds like a scream.
“Mmm,” Gray hums, coming up from my neck. “Now they all know how perfect you look when you come.”
He’s not wrong about one part, at least. More than what I look like when I orgasm, they know what I look like when I bleed, too.
The vampires watching have somewhat closed in, drawn by the smell of fresh blood.
One is even inching along the floor on his knees, stopping short of my ankle.
Maybe it isn’t just my blood then, because the one on the ground practically jumps for Gray’s hand when he pulls it out of my panties.
There’s a thick layer of my release coating his fingers, and as he pulls them apart, it comes away, sparkling in the light.
The vampire at my feet licks his lips eagerly.
But Gray only chuckles. He brings his hand to his mouth and licks it clean.
“This way.” Gray sweeps me off my feet without warning and blurs us through the crowd with incredible speed.
The dance floor, the vampires, and our little show left behind.
There are couches and other seating littered around the makeshift floor, and he drops me on a couch in one of the darkest corners.
I barely have a moment to pull myself together before I’m pulled onto his lap.
Gray captures my lips, stealing my breath once again.
“Wait, wait.” I pull away, but that doesn’t discourage his actions. His mouth moves hotly to my jaw, then down to the column of my throat. Planting both hands against his chest, I give him a firm shove backward. “I said wait.”
A bewildered, but amused, look crosses his face. “What’s the matter?”
“What was all that out there?” I try to take this time to catch my breath, but talking isn’t helping. My head is swimming between every pool of emotion that’s pressing against the dam in my chest. Arousal, confusion, desire, frustration, all of it mixing into a cocktail of complicated feelings.
Gray’s throat bobs, considering me with a long look. “I was jealous.”
“Of what?” If anyone was jealous, it was every single person he left wanting on the dancefloor.
“Dax,” he admits. “His hands on you, touching you. I was jealous.”
That throws me off. After his monologue the night before about not getting mixed up with mortals, it’s the last thing I expected him to say.
“But you said—”
“I know what I said,” he states, leaning toward me.
There’s pain in his eyes, conflict that’s clear as day, but there’s also want.
Desire. The fact that any of it might even be reserved for me makes my toes curl with excitement.
To want sex is one thing, but to want me is something else entirely.
And this time? It feels like I’m what he really wants.
Still, I have to be sure.
“Jealousy comes and goes.” My throat feels thick as I speak. “I can’t… I can’t get my hopes up if I’m relying on jealousy to steer your choices.”
“That wouldn’t be fair,” he agrees with a light nod.
“Then… what changed?”
Gray’s face pinches in thought, his crimson red eyes wandering to the spots on his chest where my hands still linger. He circles both of my wrists, drawing them together at the center where his collar bones meet.
“Me.” He takes my right hand and curls it in his, bringing my knuckles flush to his lips. He doesn’t kiss them, but hovers, deep in thought. “I realized I wasn’t being fair to you at the diner.”
“You weren’t,” I agree.
“I have a very bad habit of pushing people away. It even happens when I’m trying to protect them.” The earnest look on his face tells me he’s been giving this a lot of thought. “I promise I will do better to listen to what you have to say.”
My cheeks heat, and though I want to turn away, embarrassed by his sincerity, I force myself to be in the moment. “I would appreciate that.”
“Good.” Gray nips at my knuckles. “Besides, I was very put off by your threat.”
“What threat?” I yelp at the action.
“Going our separate ways?” He shakes his head, tsking as he draws me in closer. “I don’t think I could leave knowing now what you taste like or what your scent does to me. You aren’t far from my thoughts, even in my dreams. You’re everywhere now.”
“I don’t want you to go either.” I suck in a deep breath and let it out. “Is that crazy to say? I mean, we barely know each other.”
“I’m old, Millie. Practically ancient.” He smiles, grabbing my hips with both hands as he tugs. I catch myself against his shoulders, inches from smacking our noses together. “I can practically feel the Fates pulling every single thread that’s tangling us together.”