Page 56 of Death Deals

The seduction of the song seemed to stir something dark within me, something I didn’t even know existed. I glided back up and helped his hands find my hips, and then the high slit of my dress. His finger slid inside, touching the lace of my panties. My heartbeat skipped with anticipation.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Blackwell.” He half-growled the warning near my ear. “Are you ready to go down this path with me?”

His words sent chills over my skin.

Was I ready—finally ready?

I guess the better question was, did I know what I was getting myself into?

To give him my answer, I seized him behind the neck and made his lips meet mine for an unexpected but steamy kiss. As our tongues wrestled, I felt his fangs descend. His body vibrated against me, and I knew I was testing my luck. He was nearing a place of no return. His self-control was splintering.

Still, I didn’t stop.

His fingers grasped my inner thigh, his nails biting into my flesh, the pain sudden. I gasped.

When Andre tore himself away, chest heaving and breathing ragged, I was staring up at all-consumed, jet-black eyes.

Kill me or fuck me. I didn’t know which one he was considering at this point, and it terrified and thrilled me at the same time.

Andre’s hand was in mine suddenly, and he was hauling me off the dance floor and through the crowded theater. He said nothing as he led me through a side door and down an unlit hallway, toward the back of the stage.

Uneasiness skated through me as we followed the turns, passing stock areas, going deeper backstage. I doubted we were allowed to be back here. Especially since the Omaris used this place as their home. A DeMonte sneaking around wouldn’t look good.

Before I could question it, Andre stopped at a door labeledStaff Onlyand twisted the handle with such strength, the gears whined. As he threw it open, he shoved me inside first. I stumbled, hitting into a rack of hanging costumes and props. The musty smell of age clung to the air. He had brought us to a storage closet.

The click of the door closing jolted every nerve-ending awake. It was pitch dark in the small, densely packed room, but I could feel his presence hovering near me. The lack of light wouldn’t bother him, but I was basically blind.

My heart thundered as I tried to sort through the blackness. My ears strained to track his movements, but nothing rose over the sound of my own scattered breathing.

A soft rasp came from my right, and my head whipped that way. “Andre?”

He said nothing.

I wasn’t so sure about this anymore.

Another sound—a faint rustle of fabric—on my left, and I spun, but it was too dark to make out anything in here. My anxiety growing, I stepped back, the clothes pressing into me.

Light flared above, making me blink. A single lightbulb hung from the ceiling, its glow dim but just enough to help me make out my surroundings. Shadows clung to every corner, and although Iknewhe was in the closet with me, I couldn’t see him.

The ear-grating scrape of the metal hangers moving made me spin on my heel. There was Andre, pushing the costumes aside to reveal his hiding place. Even though his eyes had returned to their normal stormy-gray color, my pulse didn’t slow. The darkness, the hunger, still shone in his gaze.

As he took a step toward me, he appeared taller somehow, more intimidating in presence and stance. Even with my boots on, he seemed to loom over me. I swallowed.

“Je vais te réclamer ce soir,” he said in perfect French, despite his fangs pressing into his bottom lip. Even though I’d never taken a class in the language before, his words echoed in my head in English and I shuddered all over.

I will claim you tonight.

Oh, God.

He didn’t mean in the vampire claiming sense. He meant in the ‘fucking you until you can’t walk anymore’ sense. That was clear from his tone.

Then, he pulled something out of his suit jacket—a red handkerchief, it looked like—and wrapped it around one of my wrists in a blur of speed.

“What are you—” But my sentence was cut off when he used the fabric to yank me closer. I smacked against his chest.

“I’m going to tie you up. Bind your hands. Objections?”

I was shaking my head no before I knew it, eagerness swelling in my chest.

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