Page 15 of Tempting the Dhampir

I look up to see Everett exchange a worried glance with Adelbert, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.

My pulse starts racing, and I turn my gaze to the rest of the room. Everyone is inspecting their bodies. I’m too nervous to check mine.

Slowly but surely, the women begin sharing about their own fresh ink. They all seem to have the same design but in different spots on their bodies.

“I have one on my wrist,” Cordelia states.

“Me too.” Erik walks over to Cordelia and compares their wrists.

I think he said he’s a selkie—I had mistakenly thought him a merman before.

Damn, now they would make a cute couple. Both are tall, blonde, and athletic, their sun-kissed skin making them look like they spend all their free time surfing.

Adelbert moves to the front of the room and raises his voice above the din.

“Could each of you be so kind as to please voice if you have discovered a new marking and said marking’s location? I would like to ascertain if a counterpart could be paired.”

I can’t explain why, but once again my eyes travel to Everett as he scans his body, peeking down the collar of his black button-down. A lead weight drops in my stomach at the thought of him finding a matching tattoo with one of the other ladies.

Spurred on by this unexpected emotion, I double my efforts, craning my neck this way and that to scrutinize every visible inch of my body. I copy some of the other girls by getting up and looking at the backs of my legs even.

Nothing.

“Dede. There.” Cece points to my right leg.

“Where?” I walk my feet apart and shift my right knee outward.

Suddenly, Everett is in front of me—on his knees—inspecting my inner thigh with his eyes only, hands hovering as if wanting to touch me but not quite daring to. Still, I can almost feel his phantom touch.

He smirks up at me and licks his lips lasciviously. “I bet next time I’m down here, it’ll be for a different reason.”

Before I can gather my wits to think of something snarky to reply with, he’s gone, no trace of him in the room with us.

Good thing too, because he’s not wrong.

I look at the symbols on my inner thigh. “This tattoo is actually cool. I don’t think I would’ve thought of this spot for myself, but I love it. Kind of sexy.” Turning to my sister, I ask, “Cece, have you found yours?”

“Yes,” she whispers, eyes darting around the room, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth.

“Where?”

Before she’s able to reply, Everett has zoomed back into the room. Stalking over to me, he leans into my personal space, leveling his jade-green eyes with mine.

“Looks like we’re a tattoo twosome, sparkles.”

Chapter eight

Everett

As soon as Florence asked Sadie about her tattoo, I had to see for myself. There’s this invisible tether to her—like I’m constantly aware of where she is in a room.

It would be highly inconvenient, but she intrigues me. She’s brave, witty, and unbelievably beautiful. And she has claws. I wonder what they’ll feel like scratching down my back as I pin her down, drawing out screams of ecstasy…

Finding her tattoo compelled me to inspect my inner thigh. I rushed to the bathroom to check if the fates could possibly be kind enough to give me its twin.

Spoiler alert, they’re the kindest.

I swear relief flashes in her eyes before she carefully covers it with a nonchalant expression and pops her hip. “Well, aren’t you lucky?”

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