Page 53 of Stalked By Seduction and Shadows

I pursed my lips, dragging a hand through my hair as Seraph shot us another mean, pointed stare. “I appreciate the honesty, Snow.”

“Always.”

“Will you, uh, still go with me to the opera?”

She grinned. “Duh. He can get fucked, but I’m keeping the pretty dress.”

Was that why Rune ignored me in public? Because he didn’t want to associate me with him? I hadn’t even considered that before. That was probably why he couldn’t go with me to the opera, either.

Snow was right. My mission was to save my sister. I should’ve been exploring my other options to that end, cozying up to more turned vampires and eavesdropping on the born. I shouldn’t have been putting all my eggs in Rune’s basket.

His depraved, toxic, fucked-in-the-head basket.

As if Helia had instantly answered my prayers and thrown me a bone, a pair of young, flawless unmarked vampires waltzed into the space. The woman had short brown hair, the man shoulder-length black hair and a crimson shirt left unbuttoned. Her dress was the same color, short and slinky. They were just as quick to find my eyes as I was to find theirs.

At the same time, Rune entered the space from downstairs. And whereas before, his captivating, terrifying figure emerging from the annals of his underground sex dungeon might’ve merely piqued my curiosity, tonight it made me feel something foreign.

It was a strange sinking sensation burrowing deep in my gut, twisting my organs, and making my heart slow and skip out of tune. It cut right through the delicious haze of the room’s collective desire, this web of pleasure that swept us all together. It wasn’t anger, this feeling that hollowed out my chest.

Was I…

No. I didn’t get jealous. I made men jealous.

I quickly looked away as my body surged with the familiar heat of his dark eyes tracking me. I plastered a smile on my lips, wide enough to be innocently human but not big enough to make me appear too pitifully enthusiastic.

The born were some serious, cold fuckers. That much I’d learned. I didn’t think I’d ever seen them laugh at anything other than some unfortunate soul’s pain or humiliation.

“Can I bring you anything to drink?”

The woman gave me a quick once over, her cruel amber eyes narrowing on my pulse. She rubbed the man’s chest with her slender, pale fingers before whispering something in his ear.

“How much for you?” the man asked softly. His eyes were even darker than Rune’s, almost as pure black as his hair. His sharp, beautiful features twisted with hunger.

I’d gotten mostly used to the difference between human sexual desire and the vampiric desire for both blood and sex, often at the same time. The intensity of their yearning still threw me off my game from time to time, especially paired with their otherworldly beauty.

“For the night,” the woman added, revealing her fangs as she ran her tongue slowly against their pointed tips.

I forced myself not to flinch, not to show fear. I got the sense these two wanted a formidable opponent, not easy prey.

“I’m just a server,” I said. “I’ve never been fed on before.”

The man groaned, his eyes rolling back as the woman stared at him hungrily. “A virgin,” he whispered.

My words were very intentional. I’d established my boundary, but I hadn’t said I couldn’t be fed on. It was likely they’d heard about me from the other born who’d come to Odessa just to taunt the enemy, who were all enthralled by the fact that I was a human fresh from dry lands. Apparently, that made my blood even more delicious, like I was some kind of special health food for the wealthy. I also got the sense vampires preferred it because they saw humans from forbidden territory as more innocent and vulnerable.

It was all nauseatingly disgusting. But I had to hide my true feelings as I met their rabid eyes.

I flipped a switch, deciding to shed some of my innocence to play into the contradiction between my virgin blood and vixen behavior.

That was another key ingredient to any great seduction: creating contradictions. Contradictions drove people wild. It was deeply erotic to tease the presence of a quality that didn’t belong, that undercut assumptions. We all loved to be surprised. It was the mystery, the unanswered questions, that kept readers turning the pages.

“Two elixir spritzes, with a hint of pomegranate essence,” the woman said, her voice now chocolate smooth as she watched me. She flicked her eyes back to the man. “There’s something different about her, isn’t there, Frederick?”

He squinted at me. “Mm. Bring us an appetizer, too, doll. The loveliest, most expensive one available.”

The way they talked about humans had my dagger heating up under my black dress, burning into my skin. They had to know something about the slave trade. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were directly involved, considering the way they spoke. Not to mention, if they were ballsy enough to show up to taunt Rune and the turned, they must’ve been powerful enough to afford themselves some semblance of protection on enemy turf.

I had to squash my revulsion and play it cool. I needed to disarm them before I could pry for information. The group of men who’d been in here before had made for poor targets. There were too many of them, an abundance of performative masculine energy, and they’d been too distracted by the courtesans. They’d wanted to humiliate me, but they’d been too arrogant and lazy for a proper game of seduction.

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