Page 18 of Bloody Temptations

“Hrm, how about no?” I try to make it playful, because my first reaction is to tell Lusce that I will cut him if he tries to horn in on Kai. I may not be great at making friends, but I know that’s definitely not how to do it.

“Naw, don’t be like that!” Lusce laughs, leaning back in his chair, wrapping an arm around Willan. I don’t think Lusce’s caught on that there is something going on with the mage. Or if he has, he's purposelyignoring it. Willan is rigid as a board under Lusce’s arm. “Oh! I know! A group thing! How about that?”

That seems to be the end of it for Willan, who shoves Lusce off the end of their side of the booth. It’s too rough to be considered friendly. “You’re disgusting. Get out of the way. I’m going to the bathroom.”

Lusce manages to right himself, and we all watch Willan stalk away, forcing the crowd to part with his magic, black coat swirling around his thighs in his anger.

“What was that about?” Bedeer asks, pulling his mouth off Jesminda. Poor Jax has them falling into him on the other side.

“No idea.” The big guy says, sliding down further into the booth, taking me with him when he does. “No idea at all.”

Between the drinks and the thudding bassline, the moment passes. Once it does, the group is dragging me onto the dance floor with them.

We lose Jax pretty quickly when he spots some orcs he knows. He gives us a half-hearted apology before he’s enveloped in the group. They look like giants on the dance floor. It never fails to shock me how big orcs are. Like, individually it’s fine, but when they are all together like that, they become one giant force. It’s weird. At least these orcs seem more chill than the ones I’m used to back home, especially Jax. Most of the orcs I’ve met are from the clan that live in the Whisper Woods. It’s always a rowdy time when they come into the Black Stump Tavern.

Almost as weird as seeing Jax happily grinding between a very pretty woman and her boyfriend. Well, I think they are a couple. They are getting pretty handsy with each other, with Jax happily sandwiched between them.

With Jax occupied and Bedeer and Jesminda once again sucking face, that leaves me with Willan and Lusce. I’m already uncomfortableenough when I’m dancing—nothing I do with my arms ever feels natural—and dancing with Willan isn’t exactly helping.

I have nothing against the mage, but we haven’t really clicked so far. He looks just as awkward as I feel dancing stiffly in front of me, as far apart as the crowded dance floor allows, looking everywhere but at me. His long black hair is tied up again with incredible intricate braided patterns along the sides. I wonder if he does them himself or if he needs someone else to do it? I couldn’t imagine doing them on my own.

As we bob and side step together in something that resembles dancing, his dark eyes scan the nightclub, returning to the bar again and again, lips pursed tightly. A muscle in his jaw flexes like he’s grinding his teeth.

“Are you okay?” I ask eventually, rising on my toes and leaning in close to yell in his ear over the music. I have to brace myself with a hand on his chest and I can feel his little jump of surprise at the touch, the hard thump of his heart under my hand.

Quickly, I pull back. I’d forgotten, for just a moment, that most beings don’t like vampires getting that close to their necks. Even those that are otherwise cool with us.

Willan’s eyes cut to me, his frosty demeanour turning more thoughtful. He dances a little closer, which is more than a little unnerving, especially when he’s eyeing me like he is. Like I’m being weighed and measured for my worth.

“You come here a lot, don’t you?”

The ends of his ponytail brush my shoulder, but it’s his voice in my ear that tickles my neck. It makes me feel like I need to sneeze. When he pulls back, I realise he’s moved close enough that our chests brush when we dance. I have to tilt my head back to look him in the eye which makes it harder to nod.

“I’ve been a few times recently. Why?”

“You know Kai and Nikolo?”

I frown at his question. On the one hand, I don’t want to reveal myself as the creepy-stalker-slash-groupie l’ve become—though I’ve stopped watching their videos before bed quite as much. It feels weird now that I know them as real beings. But on the other hand, is he a creep-stalker-slash-groupie?

Like, I know my interest is innocent. But is his?

I try to give him the same intense once-over inspection that he gave me, but obviously I suck at it because he just raises one elegant eyebrow at me, a smirk pulling on his lips.

Honestly, he would make a much better vampire than me. He’s all mysterious and elegant and beautiful. He’s got the role down pat.

At the end of the day, I consider, he’s friends with Bedeer and Bedeer may be a bit of a weirdo, but I trust him. I mean, he can literally feel people’s emotions. Surely he’d know if Willan is secretly some murderous vampire killer or something.

“A tiny bit. I haven’t really spoken to Nikolo. I’m not like, friends with them or anything. I just hang out here some nights. Because of you know, the vamp thing and all that.” That was far too many words to say over the music which has gotten progressively louder as the evening’s gone on. I think he only managed to hear every other one. He still gets the gist though.

He nods thoughtfully for a second, not giving me even the slightest clue what he’s thinking about.

“Cool,” he eventually says, a smile breaking over his face. It’s a shocking revelation—like the sun breaking through the clouds and thawing the frost.

Whatever I’ve said, and whatever he’s taken from it, has changed something and he seems significantly happier. The smile stays on his face as he grabs my hand and, out of absolutely nowhere, spins me, pullingme properly against him so we are dancing together. No, not dancing. It’s grinding. He’s grinding on me now, my back to his chest, his hips forcing my ass to move in time to the music for once. Not that I’m complaining, but it’s a mighty quick change from his behaviour earlier.

I catch Lusce’s eyes where he’s swaying seductively on his own. Somehow he’s managed to secure the only clear patch on the dance floor—complete with its own spotlight. But with his seductive body rolls and the way he moves his slim hips in his dangerously low rise black jeans, I think it might be his magic playing tricks.

His closed eyes pop open to catch my bewilderment. His eyes are glassy, almost trance-like. Lusce has completely given over to the free flowing magic in the air, rolling with it like the waves of a tide. He winks at me, his laugh smothered by the sounds of the club.

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