Page 35 of Blood Moon Heat

“Well? Which dress do you like best?” she asked.

I eyed the dresses she’d laid out and lifted a deep pink lace one, the color of the peonies that had filled the flower boxes outside Mina’s bedroom window. The gown had been cut short, but the sleeves had been left long. I’d be able to see peeks of her skin through the lace. “This one.”

I held it out, and she curled her fingers around it. Instead of releasing the fabric, I tugged her forward. She stumbled closer, and I slid my fingers into her long blond hair, tilting her head back. Her breath rushed from between her luscious, cherry-colored lips.

“You know there will be a price to pay for this, don’t you, little doll?” But not just for her defiance—for her plan to try to escape me tonight. Why else would she have removed her jewelry from its box on her dresser? Why else would she have every piece stuffed into that little bag. If she brought it with her tonight, I’d know I was right.

Her tongue darted out, sliding across her lower lip, and my abdominal muscles tightened. “Yes,” she whispered.

Her eyes were wide, but they glittered with anticipation. Did she really think she could escape me? That I’d ever let her leave?

I took in her lovely body. Oh, yes, I’d enjoy tearing those flimsy scraps of lace from her later when she was panting and sweaty, when her pussy was dripping and her skin was smeared with blood.

This night just got a lot more interesting.

“Be ready in twenty minutes,” I said and walked out.

There were preparations that needed to be made.

Mina sat fidgeting beside me. Her fingers were twined around the drawstrings of that small bag stuffed with jewelry that sat on her lap, and she kept crossing and uncrossing her legs, which was impossible to ignore.

“Nervous?”

Her gaze shot to me. “No,” she lied. “I’m with my bonded. What do I have to be nervous about?”

She watched me with wide lavender eyes, daring me to contradict her. I couldn’t. She was right. I would protect her—every instinct in me roared to do just that—and hearing her say it, despite her plan to run. For some reason, my chest felt warm and strange. Even if she was lying, even if her words were more a dare than anything else, hearing her say it made me feel—well, I wasn’t sure I could name it. But it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

We finally reached our destination. The large parking lot was all but empty at this hour but was always watched closely.

Pretender pulled the car over. “Wait here,” I said to Mina and got out.

I strode across the lot toward the main doors and had just pushed it open when I heard Mina running after me.

“Wait for me,” she called.

I spun back with a snarl. Pretender was chasing after her, and by the look on his face, afraid for his life. As he should be.

I strode forward and grabbed her arm, my gaze sliding to Pretender. “Go back to the car and keep it running.”

He nodded and rushed back, and I pulled Mina into the building with me. I gave her a shake. “I allowed you to disobey me back at the apartment because it amused me to do so. When we are out in the open like this, you do not ever defy me, do you understand?”

She tried to pull away from me, her fear real and not mixed with anything else, not this time. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“Your sorry is meaningless.” I took her chin in my hand and tilted her head back. “I am one of The Five. There are beings, not just fae, who would love to discover I have a weakness. You, Mina, are a liability, and running after me the way you did, out in the open for anyone to see, puts us both at risk.”

“The lot was deserted,” she said, blinking rapidly.

I could smell her threatening tears. The scent of these ones was bitter, not delicious like the ones she’d shed last night while I played with her. I didn’t like the scent at all or that she found the need to shed them. “There are cameras all around us,” I said through gritted teeth when the urge to snatch her up and take her out of here grew almost impossible to ignore. But doing that would only make this situation worse. Showing how strong my protective instincts were toward her would only show how weak she made me.

She blinked up at me, confused.

“There are members of our race who would love to control me, Mina, and if they thought they could do that by using you, they won’t hesitate.”

“Oh,” she whispered.

That frightened, befuddled look on her face made me want to suck her lower lip into my mouth, to nip it and lap up her blood, to hold her warm soft body against mine while I filled her and fucked her and—

With a growl, I took her hand and led her across the deserted foyer to the elevators. The doors slid closed behind us. It was hard, but I didn’t look down at her. We’d be watched in here as well. “Once these doors open, don’t speak unless spoken to, understand?”

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