Maybe it was because she was a lightweight. Or maybe the pint she’d just tossed back had softened the edges. Either way, it didn’t matter. The impulse took her, and she threw all caution to the wind. She caught Gideon’s hand before it reached his mouth and instead brought it to her own lips.
And ate the piece of popcorn from his fingers.
A vein appeared on the side of his neck, and his jaw ticked as he watched her. She kept her gaze locked on his unnatural silver eyes as she took his fingertips into her mouth to capture the piece of food before releasing him. She couldn’t keep the grin off her face, and honestly, she didn’t really try.
The look on his face was astonishing. It was all at once rage, awe, fascination, adoration, and back again to rage. No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t anger. Just a screaming animal kept in a cage, starving and insane, throwing itself against the bars in a desperate attempt to get free and be fed.
He was a beehive, and she was jabbing at it with a stick. Partially because it was funny, and partially because she wanted to see how far she could go before they swarmed her. She wanted to feel the sting. She wanted to feel his sting.
The stare he was giving her continued in silence as the waiter brought her a drink she assumed was a bramble before leaving. The stirrer was a cinnamon stick, and as she picked it up, she could smell the fresh berries mixed into it. Taking a sip, she let out a hum. “I like it.”
“You…are playing a dangerous game, Ms. Valard.”
Stirring her drink with the cinnamon stick, she watched the blackberries and raspberries in it swirl around with the ice. She didn’t look at him as she let herself enjoy the control she had over the moment.
“Dangerous games are the ones worth playing.”