He leans into her once more, and I realize I have to move. Now.
I quickly step over the man still sleeping quietly on the dirty club floor. With a casual stride, I walk toward her. I never take my eyes off of her. And finally, she looks up. Shining, green eyes like jewels meant for royalty meet mine.
The man still whispers in her ear, but the smile on her lips is a ghost of amusement. He touches her, he talks to her, he wants her... while she watches me.
I pass the two of them, our gazes still locked with a magnetic feeling that pulls deep inside of me even. There’s a thing called heartstrings: a feeling of hearts pulling to be near one another. It’s a bullshit mortal idea of what love is supposed to be. But that’s what it feels like between us right now. My smile isn’t forced this time. It pulls at the corner of my lips, and I want badly to finally speak to the girl I’ve followed around this city all night.
I find a spot at the bar instead.
I hate to do it, but I look away from her. I feel her lost pang of disappointment when I do. It sinks into me in a strange way that only confirms that she is who I think she is.
The bartender goes to pass me for a group of young girls at the end of the bar, but as soon as he meets my eyes, he stops dead in front of me.
“Uh—” he stutters, his body not even his own at the moment.
“Whiskey.” I nod to him, and he rushes to fill a glass.
I smell her long before I see her. It’s a warming scent that fills my chest. I close my eyes slowly to take it in. Like fresh honey and a warm Sunday afternoon.
My eyes open, and she’s standing there in front of me.
She’s smaller than I realized. Delicate. Breakable.
She doesn’t paw at me like the other woman did. She stands with wide eyes and hesitation. She isn’t uncertain or unconfident. It’s something else. It’s her body telling her she shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be falling into the predator’s trap.
And yet, here we are: the predator and the prey.
She seems to fight with herself. She wants my attention, but she knows she shouldn’t. They all know they shouldn’t.
Run away, little Pet. While you still have a chance.
“Dance with me.” She doesn’t say it like a request. It’s a command.
And fuck if I don’t follow her right out into the middle of that disgusting throng of people.
“Sir, your drink,” the bartender says.
“What the fuck?” the man who previously had her says.
But she isn’t his. She isn’t mine either.
Both of us fucking know it. But she turns, and her back arches against my chest. Her ass presses against my hips. And my hands slide down her body to the perfect curve of full, lush thighs.
For a single moment, what I came here to do isn’t even on my mind. There’s an energy between us the moment we touch. It washes out the dirty feel of the club. It washes away everyone and everything that isn’t this intoxicating girl.
She turns slowly, and I don’t even flinch when her warm fingers slip around the back of my neck. The feel of her soft curves pressing against me has too many sensations buzzing through me.
Who is this girl, really?
She pulls back slightly and lifts her hand. Smoke rolls across her lips like dark magic that I know too well. Thunderous bass shakes through my chest, the room filling with pulsing music and possibilities. Hooded, green eyes look up at me with lust and curiosity shining in the neon lights.
She’s as gorgeous as they said she’d be.
But there’s something more inside her. Something heady and captivating. She looks fragile and human, but something inside her lures me closer... something very much...nothuman.
The space between the girl and me becomes less and less. It disappears entirely when she leans into my chest and lifts the joint to my lips. Heat flares to life, sparking where her warm fingers brush along my cold throat. In her sharp features, there’s a fearlessness that I can’t look away from. She’s enchanting. Mesmerizing.
With a deep inhale, the terrible flavor of the drug stings my lungs.