Burning heat

A lilting melody was being played by the live band tucked away into the corner of the ballroom. The classical music was sweeping around the large open room, where hundreds of people were already drinking and mingling.

The ballroom was on the third. floor of a luxury hotel and was decorated in dazzling lights and white and gold décor. It was much too bright for my taste. Of course, I would always prefer working in the darkness compared to the light. It wasn't in my nature to seek the light. Not anymore.

Movies always make it seem like such a hard and difficult task to sneak into events like these. The highbrow charity events and parties where the rich can flaunt their money. However, that wasn't the case at all. Even easier when the event is held in a hotel where anyone could book a room.

Book a room for the weekend and learn the layout of the third floor. Easy.

Most of the security was bodyguards for the celebrities among the rich. It wasn't their job to check who could and couldn't get into the ballroom.

Most of their eyes had been on my chest when I'd waltzed in any way. The floor length red dress was cut into an almost scandalously deep V-neck and my entire back was exposed. Not one person had even attempted to look me in the eye yet.

Even if they did, they wouldn't be seeing the real me. Brown contacts and a shortcut blonde wig made up my look for the night. My usual disguise as it contrasted my natural looks.

I took a glass from a passing tray and tipped back a full glass of champagne. My nose scrunched, and I nearly regretted taking the drink, as it was far too bubbly for me. Yet the alcohol was more than welcome to my system.

The room began buzzing as new guests came into the ballroom. I hadn't seen Apollo yet and the new arrivals had me casting a side eye in the entrance's direction.

There were too many bodies in the way, and my nose scrunched with irritation as everyone began floundering around one another in greeting. Yet something in the air had changed. An electric buzz was sparking over my skin and I knew for a fact it wasn't the glass of champagne. I found the feeling wasn't an unpleasant one.

Despite the cool of the room, I was feeling warm.

A new song started, and couples moved onto the dance floor in sudden waves of bodies. They blocked my view of the new arrivals and swarmed like moths to a flame.

I slipped through the dancers and made my way to the drink table next to the ballroom entrance, where there was chatter and laughter almost as loud as the music. The closer I got, the warmer I felt, and my heart rate was spiking.

And then the crowd parted, and my target was revealed.

My breath caught in my throat, and suddenly my feet stuck in place. My entire body froze, and I riveted my sight on the most glorious man I'd ever laid my eyes on. The pictures of him didn't do him justice.

He was as tall and as wide as a mountain in a dark navy suit that seemed barely able to contain his muscle and height. His hair was so dark brown it was almost black in short waves on top and shorter on the sides. However, a few curly strands fell onto his forehead and my fingers twitched with the desire to brush them away. Short facial hair coated his jaw, and it was slightly thicker along the mustache, which was more than his most recent photos had.

His dark and broody blue eyes were scanning the room and his smile didn't seem to reach them as though he wasn't fully interested in what was being said to him by the crowd swarming around his hulking frame.

Apollo Mathison was taking up the attention of the room as though he was the sun, and they were the no more than fleeting asteroids to be burnt up in his path.

Still, I couldn't move while I observed him. My heart was pounding in my chest like a horse trying to gallop away from me almost painfully. I was being drawn to him and I trembled at the heat crawling up my body.

As I watched him, I could pick up on the subtle signs of a werewolf tracking. His eyes scanned the room, his nostrils flared, and his jaw was ticking with the effort not to frown while he stood stiffly. Not one of his companions seemed to notice the grim line on his face wasn't anywhere near a smile.

But I couldn't stop watching him. It was like seeing the sun for the first time when I had spent my life living in darkness. And I had.

When Apollo's wide shoulder stiffened, and his head whipped in my direction, I shook as though a ghost had spooked me. His dark eyes were directly on me and my breath stopped in my throat.

What is happening to me? The crowd parted for Apollo easily and I felt as though we were both in a tunnel slanted towards one another on a collision course. We would crash. And maybe we would burn. But there was no stopping it.

And suddenly he was in front of me. His chest heaved a deep breath as he came to a stop just inches away from me and the heat radiating off of his body was drawing me in.

"May I have this dance?" Apollo's voice ran through me like a shot of smooth whiskey, warming me and sending delectable shivers running through me. Before I could respond, my hand was leaving my side and falling into place within his massive grasp.

Our hands touched, and the world fell away as sparks of white-hot lightning flew over my skin where we touched. A gasp flew from my lips and I looked up to see Apollo's eyes, now glowing gold with a soft rumbling coming from his chest.

I was in his arms and he embraced me with a delicate yet firm grasp as he swept us across the dance floor in the expansive ballroom. My head was empty, with nothing more than thoughts of the powerful werewolf carrying me across the dance floor in his arms. I was burning with heat and felt my skin growing more flushed by the second.