Even without Julian here, heat lingered on my skin. I’d felt it since he kissed me in the atrium. I’d barely heard a word Sabine had said downstairs. Even now, I couldn’t pin down a single thought. I threw off the blanket he’d given me and let the night’s breeze cool me.
I could only think in sensations. How it felt when his lips grazed along my jaw, the shuddering pleasure as they brushed over my breasts, the warm glow of his palm resting on my ass.
I wanted more.
No, I needed more.
With each second that passed, I felt his absence more acutely until it became hard to even breathe. Every gasp of air I took flooded me with new sensations that surged down until they rooted between my legs and began to grow. And grow.
And grow.
I stood on trembling legs and tried to shake myself free, but the swelling desire only intensified. My foot caught the leg of the lounge chair and I nearly wound up in the pool. But I straightened and pressed forward. I needed to find Julian. Now. I didn’t care if I had to pass a thousand hungry vampires. I couldn’t wait for a second longer.
I’d only made it a few more steps toward the door that led back into the house when it swung open, and two figures stumbled onto the roof. I froze, waiting to be discovered. But the couple wasn’t interested in me. My heart pounded in my chest as I watched the man lift the woman off the ground. His hands pushed her skirt to her hips as he slammed her against the door they’d just come through. I opened my mouth to call out, but my warning died at the sound of her first moan.
I had nowhere to go. I darted a bit closer to the pool, where a slab of stone was fashioned into a spectacular fountain. I couldn’t hide behind it without winding up in the water, but from this angle it was harder to see them. That meant they might not see me. But there was another problem.
It started in my stomach. Hunger seized control of my body. I felt hollowed out. Empty. Every inch of me was desperate to find relief. Without thinking, I took a step away from the fountain toward the couple. Then another. Before I realized what I was doing, I was standing a few feet from them. There was nothing to hide behind now.
But they were too preoccupied to notice. Not that I could blame them. I’d gotten a few glimpses downstairs, but this was entirely different. I’d been too embarrassed to look then. Now I couldn’t tear myself away. It was like watching a play on my own private stage. The man’s hands slid up the woman’s bare thighs as she wrapped one long, perfect leg around his waist. He was buried inside her, blocking any view I might have of the action. It was too dark to tell if they were both vampires. Every familiar I had seen while waiting had been beautiful and polished to the point of being nearly indistinguishable from their hosts. These two were no exception.
The tick between my legs morphed into a throb that refused to be ignored. In this dress, there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn’t even certain where to start. Julian was right. There was no longer any question in my mind. I’d never experienced anything like the desire coursing through my veins now. All I cared about was finding a way to relieve the tension I felt. I closed my eyes, hoping that I could break whatever spell had taken hold of me. Something was wrong. This wasn’t normal. I hadn’t spent my entire life barely interested in sex to suddenly become some type of crazed animal.
“Well, well,” the woman called out, and my eyes snapped open to find her looking directly at me. “It appears we have an audience.”
“I’m sorry,” I squeaked as the man’s head swiveled to look at me over his shoulder. Something dark dripped from the corner of his mouth and there wasn’t a hint of white left in his eyes. They’d gone completely black.
Yeah, he was definitely a vampire, and I’d interrupted his feeding.
That should scare me. Somewhere deep down there was fear. I was certain of it. The trouble was I couldn’t scrounge up enough of it to trip my survival instincts.
His nostrils flared as he breathed in the air. “A human. Interesting. Are you a guest or an appetizer?”
I swallowed. “A guest.”
“What a shame,” he said thoughtfully. “Do you need us to move from the door? Or would you rather join our party?”
Was he suggesting what it sounded like he was suggesting? I stared for a moment, trying to think of a polite way to say no. But my brain wouldn’t cooperate. It wanted me to stay and accept his invitation.
“I think she wants to join us,” the woman said with a breathy giggle. She beckoned me with a finger.
I tried to shake my head, but once again my body refused to comply.
“Come here,” the vampire demanded. His words hit me like a magnet, pulling me toward him. I was powerless to resist and somewhere in my hormone-soaked brain I wasn’t certain I wanted to resist at all. But a few steps from them, he held up a hand. “Wait. It seems you’re spoken for.” He inhaled deeply, his chest expanding, and I realized he was smelling me. “Rousseaux should know better than to leave his belongings lying about, especially when he’s been feeding them.”
Feeding me? What did that mean? My brain was too fuzzy to make sense of any of it. But the pull toward him that I’d felt moments ago evaporated. The lust lingered, however.
“Rousseaux?” the woman repeated. “Surely, he wouldn’t mind if…”
The vampire chuckled darkly. “She’s drenched in his scent, sweetheart. He’s made it clear to stay away.”
“But like you said, he left,” she argued.
“And you need to do your homework,” he told her, dropping her onto her feet. He smoothly fastened his trousers and began to buckle his belt. “I thought they prepared familiars better these days.”
“I’ve been preparing since I was seven, you condescending switch,” she hissed.
For a moment, his shoulders went rigid before they relaxed again. “Find another vampire to get you off. It’s not worth my life to piss off Julian Rousseaux.”
“If I’d known you were–” she began.
“Careful what you say next,” he cut her off. “You insulted me once and I took it like a gentleman. Call it a courtesy since I just fucked you six ways to Sunday. But my patience is wearing thin.”
She looked as though she was about to say something else. Instead, she released a frustrated shriek and began adjusting her clothing. She threw one furious glance over her shoulder before she wrenched open the door and started back to the party.
The fight had been enough to distract me for a few minutes, but now the overwhelming sensations crowded inside me again. I took a step forward, swayed unsteadily, and started to topple. Strong arms caught me before I hit the ground and an instant later, I was resting comfortably on the chaise lounge by the fire. My vampire savior watched me from the other side of the outdoor hearth.
“When Julian smells me on you, would you mind telling him I was being chivalrous?”
“What?” I asked. None of this made any sense and now my head was swimming. I tried to push up and get to my feet. “I should go find him.”
“If I let you leave like this, he will definitely kill me.” There was a blur and suddenly he was standing at the end of the lounger. I startled and fell back into the seat.
“He wouldn’t.” But wouldn’t he? I’d seen him kill another vampire already. What would he do if he found me out here with one now?
“You’re not in the best place to think rationally, so I’ll let that go.” He remained nearby, guarding me with watchful eyes. “Where did he go anyway?”
“He was summoned to a family meeting.” I pressed an index finger to my temple. My head had started to pound and despite the coolness of the night, I was so overheated that I wanted to rip my clothes off. I wrapped my arms around myself, hoping I could cling to control until Julian returned.
“And he just left you up here?” He shook his head with disapproval. “He should have known better than to bring a human here tonight. I imagine he’s being reminded of that as we speak.”
I couldn’t take it any longer. I bolted onto my feet, but my new vampire friend blocked me.
“Just wait here for him.” His eyes, which had returned to normal, contracted as he spoke.
The compulsion to find Julian dissipated. Now I was just left with a piercing headache and the same gnawing hunger I’d felt since he’d left me here. I needed something to occupy me until he returned. “Who are you anyway?”
“Bellamy. Pleased to meet you…?”
“Thea,” I said softly. “Are you a Rousseaux?”
“No.” He laughed as if the idea was preposterous. “I’m unaffiliated. Just a poor wayward switch.”
“Switch? That’s what she called you,” I said, remembering the way her lips had curled disdainfully around the word as it left her mouth. “What does it mean?”
“Just that I’m a poor vampire bastard. I have no idea who turned me. It’s just a nasty way of pointing out that I was made by someone who didn’t want me.”
“Oh. I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.” I felt bad for prying, but Bellamy shrugged.
“Don’t be. That’s the lottery of life. I could have just as easily been born to the Rousseaux family and been treated like a prince.”
“A prince?”
“You haven’t noticed?” Bellamy grinned at me. “Julian is pretty much vampire royalty.”
“What does that even mean?”
“You know how kings and queens have all sorts of money and land and crowns and shit?” he asked, and I nodded. “They’re not half as wealthy as the Rousseaux family and not nearly as powerful.”
I stared at him, wondering if he was pranking me. “You aren’t serious.”
“As a stake through the heart,” he said, drawing an X over his chest for good measure. “I’m surprised you didn’t know.”
“What does that mean?” I narrowed my eyes.
“Things must be serious between you two,” he said, bypassing my question and circling around to answer it in a roundabout way. “I can’t imagine he would ask you to brave meeting Sabine otherwise.”
I couldn’t admit that Bellamy was right without admitting to my ruse with Julian.
“Have you known Julian a long time?” I needed to steer this conversation in a different direction.
“A couple of centuries.”
Would I ever get used to answers like that? Would I ever fit into this world? A sudden surge of dizziness answered for me and I nearly fell off my seat.
“Are you okay?” Bellamy was at my side, kneeling to check on me.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I murmured.
“I do,” he said grimly. “You should lie down.”
I didn’t have much of a choice since I could barely stay upright.
Bellamy stayed crouched next to the chaise. “Once Julian gets back, he’ll make it better.”
“How?” I moaned. My skin felt too tight. I wanted to rip it off like I’d nearly done to my clothes earlier.
“You really don’t know, do you?”
“Are you a sphinx or a vampire?” I grumbled. “Just tell me what he did to me.”
“Well, when a girl and a vampire meet,” he began in a teasing tone.
“I think you covered the birds and the bees earlier when you were making love to…what was her name?” I couldn’t remember.
Bellamy snorted. “Hell if I know. But I would hardly call that making love.”
“I was being polite.”
“Polite doesn’t really belong at an orgy, princess.”
“Do you call every woman you meet by some cutesy name?” I muttered.
“Only the ones who hate it,” he assured me.
My body began to tremble. Shivers rolled through me like waves battering a shoreline. Bellamy stood and took off his jacket. He placed it over me, looking worried. “Maybe I should go find Julian.”
I tried to agree but my teeth began to chatter too hard for me to get a word out.
“I could kill him,” Bellamy said with a sigh.
“You could tr–” An inhuman growl drowned out the rest of my response. I sat up, dropping Bellamy’s jacket in the process. He didn’t notice because he’d turned in the direction of the voice, too.
“Julian…” I trailed away as he prowled closer and I got a good look at him–and his jet-black eyes.
