Page 4 of Another One Bites the Lust
The show was going great. The crowd was into it. But thenshepeeked in.
The woman from last night. The stunning vampire with sleek black hair and pale blue eyes.
My heart jolted. My jaguar stirred, wild and restless, eager to sprint over to her.
She scoured the room, her gaze skimming over faces until it found mine. For a few heart-quaking seconds, our eyes locked. Recognition flared in hers, and a sly smile curved one corner of her mouth. Then she nodded and turned, slipping out of the lounge.
Ouch. Total rejection. My stomach sank like an anchor.
I was used to drawing crowds, not having them take one look and walk away. And this wasn’t just any woman. This wasthewoman. The one I had to find again so I could ensure Maribelle’s curse was gone.
Although plenty of hot women were in the audience and I would have been flirting with them from onstage, they stirred zero interest in me tonight. I was too distracted by the dark-haired vamp.
Damn Maribelle.
Once the show ended, I did the usual rounds—chatted with people, smiled—but I didn’t dare flirt. Fortunately, I didn’t quack or spout rhymes, so that part of the curse had been lifted.
Then again, I wasn’t trying to flirt with them.
Where was the vampire?
Find her,my jaguar urged.
Yes,I agreed,that’s the plan.
I headed out of the Nocturnal Lounge and searched for her scent. Through the haze of colognes and perfumes, it was hard to isolate, but then I caught a hint—just the faintest trace—and it hit me like a boulder. Jasmine. Moonlight.
Mate, my jaguar insisted.
No, you’re wrong, I told him.That’s Maribelle’s curse.And that was what I meant to prove.
But I couldn’t deny how my pulse sprinted. How my skin was clammy. How I was desperate to find this woman.
I followed the subtle trail, weaving through the corridors of the cruise ship, but the competing scents kept throwing me off. I was ready to tear the place apart just to find her.
Twenty minutes later, I picked it up again—stronger this time—on the upper deck. I lost it briefly by the outdoor pool, but once I stepped into the Celestial Lounge, it surged forward.
She had been here. Recently.
I tracked it up to the gargoyle’s perch on the top level, an open space beneath the stars.
And then—I saw her.
Her midnight hair fluttered in the sea breeze. My heart shot up to my throat. My jaguar strained to run over.
A man stepped up to her and she turned to face him. My hackles raised as a possessive streak flared through my body.
But then my heart dropped like an anchor.
Had someone already claimed my mate?
That would be—devastating. I tried to decipher if they were together from their body language. Then I realized I was standing there gaping at them like some creep. I was about to turn away before they caught me staring, but too late, she saw me.
Crap. Caught.
She raised her hand and waved at me. “Darling, I’m over here!”
CHAPTER 4
