Page 88 of Wicked Bite
People next to me began to stare and I let them. I could smell their attraction and feel their eyes on me. I would be that deadly flower. So beautiful I needed to be touched, but if they did, they’d get hurt. Something in me liked knowing how dangerous I was, and I gave myself over to the feeling.
A guy came up to me and began dancing. “Hey.”
I didn’t say a word. I just got closer and placed my hand on the side of his neck and pulled him to me. I let my hips rub against his in time with the music. In the distance I heard my name being called, but I ignored it. I was here. I was hunting. The burning would end soon.
He moved his hands to my hips and smiled down at me with that silly frat boy look. “You’re hot.”
“Am I?” I met his gaze and held it. Atlas called for me again, but he was so far away on the other side of the room. He couldn’t get to me without drawing attention to himself and that was a no-no in vampire land.
“So hot.” He was dopey-looking with short black hair, brown eyes, and a too tight royal-blue shirt.
I ran my finger over the side of his cheek, and he leaned into it. “Want to get out of here?”
Without a second of hesitation, he nodded. A smile spread across my face, and I leaned into him. “Oh good.”
I knew this wasn’t me. I knew I was hunting. But the hunger drove me forward. I needed blood and I needed it now. In my mind, I knew this was bad, I knew I shouldn’t be doing it, but the desire was too great. I sniffed the air and found the back way to the outside. I hurried my dinner through the crowd before Atlas could get to us. I shoved through a metal door and out into the cold night air. The guy followed blindly after me. The door slammed shut behind us and I pulled him down the alley in the back of the club and behind a dumpster. With a little kick, I sent the dumpster skidding in front of the door, blocking it completely.
“Strong. I like that.” He dug his hands into my hips and pulled me close. He leaned down low and tried to force his lips to mine.
I tilted my head to the side, avoiding his lips. Instead, I licked up the side of his neck, tasting his skin. I flinched back. Something didn’t taste right. But the burn in my throat demanded I taste. I peeled my lips back and let my fangs drop down, ready to strike.
“You don’t want to be doing that, Princess.”
I jumped back from the guy. My eyes widened and I popped my fangs back into my mouth. “Theon?”
“At your service.” He melted from the shadows and smiled at me in that perfect way of his. Strands of his blond hair fell around the sides of his face to his chin, and even in the dark of night his sage-green eyes were visible. He sniffed the air and shook his head. “Something off about that one, there is. Can you not smell it?”
I took a whiff and recoiled. “What is that?”
“Drugs.” Theon sniffed the air. “Ecstasy, to be exact.”
The man looked from me to Theon. “Look, back off, lad. She chose me.”
“If you’d like to keep your bollocks firmly intact, I suggest you leave . . . now.” When the man made no move to leave, Theon got in his face so fast he was a blur. Then he bared his fangs and hissed. “Leave.”
The man tripped as he ran away down the alley. “Freaks!”
We were completely alone, and I contemplated biting Theon and seeing what he tasted like. He chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not going to taste good to you either.”
“How did you know I was thinking about it?”
“When one is being circled and sniffed at, one gets a hint of what’s to come.” He strolled to the side and leaned against the wall, completely unafraid.
I froze and straightened my stance. “I didn’t realize.”
“Of course you didn’t. Looks like someone hasn’t been taught anything yet.” He shook his head. “Tsk tsk. I can teach you.”
I hesitated.
He offered me his hand. “Come with me, and I’ll show you a world you haven’t seen yet.”
A banging sound came from the metal door. “Piper!”
Atlas was nearly here, and if he found me, it was back to the castle I went. But the animal in me didn’t want to be caught. It wanted to be free and hunt. Hunger tore at my insides and up my throat. It wasn’t the madness from before. No, this was the controlled need to drink. I could be smart about it. I took his hand, and he yanked me closer to him, wrapping his arm around my waist. He bent his knees and we shot into the air and landed on the roof of the building. Theon pulled me down behind a ledge and pressed his finger to his lips just as the dumpster flew across the alley and dented the wall. Atlas marched out the door. “Fuck.”
He pulled the phone from his pocket and dialed. “Gray, we’ve got a problem. Yeah, I lost her.”
He sniffed the air and groaned. “There’s a familiar scent with her . . . Theon.”
