Page 20 of Bite
She’smybest friend, but whatever.
“If anyone wants to feed from you and you consent, it’s five hundred more per donation,” Audrey continues. “Plus tips.”
“Wait.” I blink. “Theytip?”
“Sometimes,” Bex shrugs, lazily sipping her champagne. “Especially if they like you. Especially if it’s, you know…” she trails off with a suggestive wink.
My heart thunders in my chest.
“Yeah, I… didn’t wind up making any changes to my donor profile,” I admit, heat creeping up my neck.
“Pussy,” Bex laughs, loud enough for a few nearby guests to glance our way.
“The money’s good enough as it is,” I mumble defensively, taking another sip of champagne to hide my embarrassment.
Then it hits me– a subtle chill skimming the base of my spine, the unmistakable sensation of being watched. I freeze mid-swallow, pulse spiking as I lift my gaze.
Across the room, a man stands at the top of the stairs leading down from the second floor balcony, backlit by the chandelier above. He radiates authority in a deep black suit that’s custom-fitted to his broad shoulders and lean, powerful frame, white-blond hair swept back from his severe face. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about him; almost otherworldly. Shadows accentuate his sharp cheekbones and strong jaw, pale blue eyes like shards of ice trained in my direction.
He’s watching me.
My breath catches at the realization, pulse taking off like a rocket.
“Don’t look now,” Audrey titters, voice hushed and reverent, “but that’s James Devereaux.”
Too late.I’m already looking, and I can’t look away.
“He holds the title ofSanguinis Rex, the vampire king of the northeast,” she explains quietly. “Ancient. Gorgeous. Unbelievable in bed– or so they say. Nobody on our side knows much beyond that since he never feeds from the same human twice.”
“He’s looking right at you, girl,” Bex adds excitedly, poking me in the ribs.
I swat her away and try to look anywhere else, but it’s like my gaze is drawn back to the man by gravity itself.
He starts descending the stairs purposefully, moving like smoke, elegant and untouchable. Each step down the staircase is deliberate, his eyes locked on mine like he’s already made a decision and I just haven’t caught up yet.
The crowd at the base of the stairs parts for him instinctively, as if compelled by some invisible pressure in the atmosphere. He doesn’t acknowledge any of them. It’s like he only sees me.
The air thickens, heavy and charged, taking on a pulse of its own. My chest constricts, fight or flight instincts going haywire. Though my mind’s screaming at me to run, to hide, to look anywhere but at him, Ican’t. I’m trapped in the intensity of his stare, completely captivated by this handsome stranger. His attention is a heavy, intoxicating thing that makes every nerve in my body hum with some strange mixture of warning and longing I can’t even begin to make sense of, and I’m not even sure I want to.
He’s close now. Ten steps away. Five.
One…
Chapter
Seven
James Deveraux is even more devastating up close. It’s as if his presence bends everything around him to its will, warping the room until it blurs at the edges of my vision. The chandeliers dim, the crowd recedes, and all that’s left ishim. Suit blacker than shadows, hair white as snow, eyes like shards of ice that cut straight through to my soul.
When he steps into my space, I’m forced to tilt my chin upward to hold his eye contact. I’ve always considered myself tall, but this man is a monolith– at least six and a half feet, broad-shouldered and immovably solid. The sheer scale of him makes me feel small in a way I never have before, and instinctively, I want to shrink even further. Something in me registers that a predator has locked me in its sights, but that defiant, reckless part of my brain forged through years of survival refuses to cower, even as his imposing shadow swallows me whole.
He doesn’t smile. His expression is carved into a mask of calm control, but there’s a hint of something simmering beneath the surface.
Curiosity, maybe.
Hunger, definitely.
A faint scent clings to him– cedarwood and snow, clean and cold, a whisper of winter cutting through the heat of the ballroom.
