Page 48 of Heritage of Fire

An hour goes by, and Luna still isn’t back. The women have gathered a group of other patrons around them. Mostly men in suits, plus a few other women. My mind begins to shut out the talking around me in favor of watching Luna. I nurse my fourth drink, watching her head snap back and laugh at something a tall man with black hair just said—a clone of Luka.

I shift, angling my ear to see if I can pick up on her laugh, but nothing.Ihaven’t heard her laugh, and this joker has made her laugh twice in the past twenty minutes. I continue to sip my drink, eyes boring into the man with this cheap suit and twitchy hands.

Luka says something to me, but I only catch the last half.

“—think, Nikolai?”

“Uh, yeah.” I shift to stand. “I’ll be right back.”

Without seeking permission, I stride to the bar. The waitress from earlier passes by me, smiling for attention. I barely acknowledge her.

Dragging my hand through my hair and then shoving my hands in my pockets, I slide up to the bar behind Luna and Dipshit McGee. I pin him with a scowl, watching as he occasionally moves his hand to where he can purposely brush Luna’s arm. When he finally notices me standing there, he narrows his eyes. I smile, giving him a small wave.

Luna turns around, looking for whatever is distracting the man. “Nik?”

“Who’s your friend?” I ask.

“Ah, this is Pavel.” She turns back to Pavel and smiles. “Pavel, this is Nik.”

I reach across her, knocking her back in her stool, and extend my hand to shake his, telling him to get lost and to keep his damn hands to himself—all in Russian, of course.

His nostrils flare and his eyes widen before backing away. Luna rotates to face me, and my body hums with satisfaction now that I have her full attention. Her eyes are glassy, and her cheeks flushed. I bet she’s feeling as tipsy as I am.

“Where did he go?”

“Bathroom,” I deadpan.

“Huh.” She picks up her champagne and downs the rest. Setting the flute back on the bar, she starts twirling the stemwhile chewing at her lip. At the same time, the bartender places a napkin in front of where I’m seated. Good. I definitely need another drink.

“So, you come here often?” I flash her a wide grin. The noise level in this place has dialed up, and I can barely hear myself over the chatter and music.

Luna snorts. “Nice.”

“What?”

“Nice line. I bet that works well for you.” She pulls her lips into a tight line, clearly agitated, and her knee starts to bounce, causing the silky fabric of her dress to ride up her thigh.

“Luna,” I say going serious. I cradle her knee, pressing down to stop her fidgeting. “Luna…”

I hold her gaze, my drinks emboldening my touch—my need. Her eyes flutter as my fingers make small circles on the inside of her thigh. Her skin is pure silk, smooth and tantalizing. It takes everything in me not to plaster my hand there and grip her.

“Do you want to take a walk?” I ask. Desire throbs through me. The drinks mixed with stupid Pavel are getting to me, but I want her alone.

Her chest rises and falls, faster than before, and I start to fantasize about things I have no business thinking about. Alluring visions conjured by my need to hear her laugh and a primal need for my …

This is ridiculous. I only have one finger on the inside of her thigh—I’m screwed if I ever get my hands on her.

I level her with a smirk, getting ready to push away from the bar and take her to a secluded area, but she shakes her head.

“I’m sorry.” Her sharp tone snaps me out of my less than innocent thoughts. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

She pushes off her stool, knocking my hand from her leg, and strides back to our table. I watch her go, my eyes landing on Luka while she takes a seat.

He grins and raises his glass.

Chapter 20

Luna

---