One
Halo
I’D GOTTEN SO wrapped up in Viper’s kiss and the way he held me so tight against his body that at first I didn’t recognize the sound. With the way my head was buzzing, I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was simply the roar of blood in my ears, but as the sound grew louder, I realized it was the outside world intruding on our moment.
Clapping. That was what I was hearing, along with shouts and whoops that I would’ve bet good money came from one of our bandmates.
I smiled against Viper’s mouth, and he took that as permission to angle his head for a deeper kiss, stealing my breath. He didn’t seem to notice or care that the entire party was watching us right now, which was so unlike him that I could hardly believe this was really happening.
“Viper,” I murmured when I came up for air.
He didn’t respond, crashing his mouth back on mine, one of his hands moving up my back to keep me right where he wanted me. But while the last thing I wanted to do was pull away from Viper’s lips—the same lips that had just said he loved me—we needed to take this somewhere more private. Especially judging by the way his arousal grew against my hip.
“Viper,” I said again, chuckling slightly at the way he refused to let go of me. “We’re not alone.”
“So? They can leave.” He started for me again, and I moved my hands to his chest, my smile widening.
“You’re crazy.”
Viper shrugged, squeezing my waist. “You knew this about me and still came around. You’re stuck now.”
“I wasn’t complaining,” I said with a wink, as a hand clapped down on my shoulder. I looked up to see Killian do the same thing to Viper, and then he shook his head, but he was grinning.
“V, man, you always did know how to make a statement, even if your timing is shit.”
As if he was just realizing other people existed other than the two of us, Viper blinked and looked at Killian.
“It’s Angel’s fault. He thought it’d be a good idea to run away from me.”
“What?” I said.
A smirk lifted Viper’s mouth. “I did what I had to do.”
As I opened my mouth to respond, a flash went off in my face, momentarily stunning me, and before I knew what was happening, the wall of partygoers closed in on us, reporters pushing to the front and shoving microphones and cameras in our faces. Questions and shouts came from all sides, and Killian brought his fingers up to his mouth and blew an ear-piercing whistle that had everyone freezing in their tracks.
“All right,” he said. “I know this is a huge surprise for you all, but let’s give these guys some room, huh?” Then he pointed at the reporters. “No questions, no interviews, no photos.” As they began to protest, Killian shook his head firmly. “This is a private party, and we have the right to have security check your cameras on the way out.”
“Look at you, hardass,” Viper said.
“Yeah, well, not too much of a hardass, because the execs over there aren’t looking too fuckin’ happy.” Killian lowered his voice. “You two should probably head out before everyone loses their minds. I’ll take care of things.”
Viper clapped Killian on the back. “I owe you one.”
“Damn right you do.”
As Viper turned his gaze back to me, he held his hand out. “You okay missing the rest of the party, Angel?”
Hell yes, I was. But… Shit. I looked around, trying to find my sister, because I couldn’t leave her. As if she knew I was looking for her, Imogen waved her hands to catch my attention as she pushed through the crowd toward me.
“Im,” I called out, and when she couldn’t get by a couple of stubborn reporters, I reached for her hand and pulled her through.
“Oh my God, this is nuts.” With her eyes bright and shining, she looked between me and Viper, and all I could think was thank fuck I’d told her about us, because otherwise this would’ve been awkward. “You,” she said to Viper. “You and I are gonna talk. Don’t even think about getting out of it.”
Viper raised his eyebrows and leaned into me. “Shit, she’s kinda scary. Should I be worried?”
“With Imogen?” I eyed my feisty sister and shot her a wink. “Definitely.”
She grinned and rose on her toes to kiss my cheek. Before she pulled away, she whispered, “I’m so happy for you. Now get out of here and don’t worry about me.”
I frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Duh. I think I can manage to find my own way home.” Imogen stumbled forward into me as someone pushed her from behind, but before I could do anything, Killian turned around, shoving the crowd back from us with a defensiveness I’d never seen from him before. He was always the cool, calm peacemaker, but it was obvious he wasn’t about to put up with anyone’s shit either.