Chapter Four

Kelly

I closed my mouth and stared up at him helplessly. Sympathy was revealed in his gaze as if he knew I was prone to such stupidity and was perfectly okay with it.

“You can nod. I promise you, I will understand,” he murmured. The slight twist to his lips made me blush, and I nodded.

“She’s a mute, but she wants to dance with you,” Sara said snidely, issuing a discreet push towards him that I hoped he couldn’t see. She suddenly pulled me back again. My eyes went wide in surprise from being treated like a yo-yo. “He is perfect. Use him, and don’t be a prude. Hell, you could do it on the dance floor.”

I rolled my eyes at her eagerness. I knew she meant well, though it didn’t prevent my annoyance. She had just inadvertently decided my dinner for the night. Now that she said it, I had to listen to exactly what she said, but no more.

It was a strange relationship between a master and her puppet. Sara and I had a very special, unshakable bond, one we couldn’t change no matter how much we wanted to do otherwise. At least we hadn’t found a way yet.

When Sara had dragged me from the wreckage that killed my parents, she’d panicked. In a rush to save my dwindling life, she messed up and created something we had no idea how to fix, and now, for the rest of my life, I had to do whatever she said, with my consent or not. She had somehow fused our souls together or something like that. Being the more dominant one, she had won out and had control over me that few others could claim over another person.

I turned back to the tall man when he slipped his hand into mine and tugged me gently forward again and away from my friend.

“My name is Marcus. What’s yours?” He smiled encouragingly at me as his eyes raked my body and made my cheeks burn again.

He seemed so predatory and dangerous. The thought made me laugh in my head, where he couldn’t question it or wonder why I had. If one of us were a hunter, it wasn’t him. “Kelly,” I said.

He brought my hand to his lips with an aching slowness.

My body warmed at the sight of him bent over me. He was almost possessive in the way he looked at me, and I was shocked when he completely ignored a particularly fabulous brunette dancing beside us. She eyed him right in front of me, not attempting in the least to hide it.

“A pleasure to meet you,” he said just before his lips touched my knuckles, his eyes rolling up to meet mine.

“Same,” I whispered, looking at Sara for guidance.

This was a specimen I had never encountered before. Was there precedence for how you dealt with such boldness? Sara would know, but she just shook her head and threw me into the deep end yet again.

Fine, I will get over my shyness alone then, I thought. I just hoped that I didn’t make a fool out of myself first.

“Are you having fun?” He watched my poor rendition of the dance around me with light amusement, but he kept his rhythm just fine.

“Oh, loads,” I snorted. I was having a more challenging time maintaining eye contact than I thought I should.

“Loads, hmm?” he repeated as if testing the word. Suddenly, his face was almost next to mine, though he was too big a man to make it down without bending nearly double. “Let's see if we can change that, shall we?” he whispered. I could feel his breath on my ear, and I shivered.

The gleam in his eye turned from humor into something far more sexual. I couldn’t help just how my heart was beating erratically or how my breath came out in shorter bursts of anxiety.

“Kelly,” —my name rolled off his tongue, so sensual I closed my eyes at the sound— “you are a very intriguing woman.”

“Thank you,” I replied. What else could I say to that?

Marcus twirled me around and brought me back to his chest, not following the pretense of the music anymore. His warm hands rested on my lower back. I could feel the heat of him in every part of me, making me relax. Somehow, I resisted the strong urge to sink into him.

I knew I would go to bed tonight thinking about the way he smelled. Everything about him made every nerve-ending sizzle in a way I had never before experienced. I felt the heavy tightness in my stomach, and I couldn’t believe my reaction to the man.

Never had I contemplated a one-night stand with anyone, yet my thoughts kept drifting back to that. Men like him didn’t look for anything more in women like me. No amount of makeup, clothes, or hair spray would ever cover the fact that I was average in every sense of the word. My hair, my conservative mannerisms and clothing preferences, and my attention to proper etiquette in all forms labeled me as something this man should have never given a second glance to.

Yet he did.

And I had never looked a gift horse in the mouth.

I looked for Sara, only to see her talking with one of Marcus’s friends. The other had disappeared into the crowd.

When I looked back at Marcus, he was staring at my throat hungrily. His pupils were dilated, and his breath was coming in harsher gasps than they had a minute ago.

If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was experiencing the same bloodlust I was. I just seemed to be better at hiding it.

But that was impossible. Sara had told me, and I knew she would never lie to me, that the two of us were the sole vampires on earth.

Her Maker, whom Sara had succeeded in killing some time after her abrupt conversion, had said he was the last of his kind.

Marcus painstakingly came back from whatever dreamland trance he had been in. His eyes focused on mine once more, his pupils receding as I watched.

“I need something to drink, and so do you.” Marcus turned his face away from me, grabbing my hand and nodding to his friend, who then steered Sara towards the bar, weaving through the dense crowd.

Marcus bypassed the line altogether, leading me around the waiting people without a glance at them. The bartender came to him the moment he approached the highly polished, black countertop that ran the length of the entire east wall.

“What will you have?” He smiled slyly at Marcus, who grinned back. It was apparent they knew each other.

“Beer, of course, four of them.” Marcus seemed to think about it before continuing, smiling widely. “Give us the honey ale that Max just got in, and tell Kev to stop trying to be the DJ because it isn’t working for him.”

“Yeah, right. How about you tell him he sucks or get Corrine to. Paying?” The bartender snickered. The sarcastic smirk on his face made me wonder how often they’d had this conversation.

“Ryder, when do I ever pay for anything? Tab, boy, and be quick about it this time.” Marcus reached over to pat Ryder’s head, much like one would do with a dog that had been good.