Page 48 of Mated to the Enemy
Jess couldn’t quite contain her smile at his blank tone. Klaue was trying to sound like he understood, but she knew better. Still, it was cute that he was trying.
Oh, what the hell, it can’t do any more damage.
Stepping ever so slightly closer to Klaue, she rested her head on his chest and let the huge shifter guide her around the floor, relaxing into the song. Another one came on afterward and she just kept swaying in time with the beat, one of Klaue’s massive hands holding hers, the other around her waist, a calming pressure. She’d resisted getting this close at first, but the truth was, Jessica no longer knew if she wanted to resist anymore. How could she, when it felt so nice to be close to him?
“I was wondering something,” he rumbled after a bit.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Will you come watch again tomorrow?”
Jess lifted her head so she could look up at him and meet his eyes. There had been an uncharacteristic amount of desire in his question. This was something Klaue wanted badly. “Watch what?”
“The next fight.”
She tensed. Watch him go fight? What if he got hurt? How was she supposed to deal with that? Still, the manner in which he’d asked—and the fact he’d asked, not assumed!—meant this was a big deal to him. The idea of watching him beat another man with his fists in some sort of ritual combat didn’t appeal to her in the slightest, but if Klaue needed her support, could Jessica even deny him if she wanted to, after all he’d done for her?
“Okay,” she said at last. “But you had better not get hurt. I don’t want to see you like that, got it?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said with a chuckle that they both knew meant he couldn’t guarantee a damn thing.
They fell silent after that. The music continued, a smooth change into another slow song. Some couples drifted from the floor, others who’d arrived as formerly single guests paired up under the soft, dimmed lighting.
At one point, her eyes closed and she let herself go, giving in completely. There was something different about Klaue compared to his fellow shifters, but she couldn’t quite identify just what it was. He was more attractive, of course, but Jess was old enough to realize that could just as easily be subjective as reality.
Klaue’s chin came to rest against her head, turning her mouth into the Sahara instantly. Somehow, the added contact was different from having her head leaning on his chest. It was another layer of closeness between them. Once again, Jess was reminded of how he’d kissed her forehead in the fight against the mage.
Something so brief that it could just as easily have been washed away in the chaos of the moment, was still stuck with her. She couldn’t remember how his lips felt, but she vividly remembered the moment. His hand wrapped around the back of her head as he pulled her in close, the magic exploding around them. It was fierce and intimate all at once.
The memory sparked an increase in her pulse. Or was that because Klaue was sliding his hand up her side? He didn’t touch her inappropriately, but his knuckles did drag across the exposed skin of her upper chest and across her collarbone.
“Jessica,” Klaue said softly, his voice sending chills down her spin as he cupped her chin.
Holy shit, the girls had been right! What should she do?
Don’t panic. Keep calm, maybe it’s not what you think.
“Yes?” she asked nervously, immediately panicking. It wasn’t purposeful, but the idea they might share their first kiss there on the dance floor had her heart skipping a beat. It was extremely romantic.Ifthat was what happened.
Klaue lifted her head, tilting it back so she looked up at him. Neither of them spoke, still swaying to the music as their eyes darted back and forth, looking into each other’s gazes. The cold arctic glare normally present in his eyes was gone. Instead, it had been replaced by a tropical blue. Hot. Like a sauna, twin circles of heat bore deep into her, stealing her breath and jumpstarting her heart.
She melted into him the second he bent down and covered her mouth with his own. Warm tingles raced along her fingertips as she dug them deep into the arms of his suit, gripping the fabric tight as they arched backward slightly. Klaue’s arm slipped around her waist and held her tight, lifting her slightly off the floor.
Weightless and soaring, she kissed him back with an eagerness that surprised them both. It was her tongue that playfully teased at his, deepening the moment between them as they carried on oblivious to anything going on around them. Jessica’s breath returned in a rush as they parted for a brief second to ease the lightheadedness before practically launching back at one another.
The hints of lust crept in around the edges. Her hands grabbed at his arms, feeling the huge biceps, and Klaue’s hand dipped a little lower on her dress, but neither of them gave in. Jessica because she wasn’t ready, and Klaue because…well, she figured it was because they were in public. Her brain wasn’t quite thinking straight just yet, so there could have been other reasons, but they didn’t matter.
“Klaue,” she said softly as they broke apart, resting one hand on his chest again, even as the other snaked up around his neck, holding him close. “I—”
The words she was going to say were cut off as the DJ chose that precise moment to spin the music through a transition into a louder, faster beat of a popular pop-country song she vaguely recognized. Girls all around her shouted and made a beeline for the center of the floor, many of them shouting about it being “their song!”.
Natalia swung by and grabbed her arm, the rest of the bridal party inserting themselves between the couple like a saw. “She’s ours now, Klaue, keep your hands off!”
Jessica was swept up in the tidal wave of dancing women, pausing just long enough to give Klaue a helpless look before giving in and throwing both hands in the air.
To his credit, the big shifter just tossed his head back and roared with laughter at her predicament, until a moment later, a horde of shifters descended upon him and began forcing him to sing along with the female artist.
Then it was her turn to laugh.
