Page 63 of Taken By the Fae

Oliver throws his arm around my shoulders and gives me a half hug, laughing.

Max shrugs, still looking at me. “It’s karaoke night.” He tilts his chin in the general direction of the stage. “Hope you can hold a tune.”

“Aurora can sing,” Oliver assures him.

Glancing between Max and Oliver, I say, “Fine, I’ll sing, but you’re buying my next drink—and coffee for the next week.”

Max lifts a brow at me, then shrugs. “Deal.”

I have a feeling he’s hoping to watch me embarrass myself. I chew on my bottom lip, take another sip of my drink, and then head for the stage. When the music guy looks at me, I lean away from the mic and ask him to play Zoe Wees’s “Control” before clearing my throat. Tapping my hand against my thigh to catch the beat, I start singing when the music comes on. My voice echoes through the room, getting louder as I go into the chorus, and the audience claps along. My eyes shut, and the lyrics flow through me. I grip the mic with both hands and sway to the music.

When I open my eyes, I almost stumble going into the last chorus. My eyes lock with Tristan’s, where he stands with Max, Skylar, and Oliver.

When the hell did he get here?

The song ends, and the room fills with hooting and hollering. I walk toward the stairs to return to our table, and the thick heel of my ankle boot catches on a cable attached to the stage. Everything happens in a blur. I’m heading toward the floor—I’m going to fall right off the damn stage—but then Tristan’s arms are there, catching me. He hauls me up against him with an amused glint in his eyes.

“Shut up,” I mutter, hyperaware of his arm wrapped securely around me.

He dips his head, his lips close to my ear, and murmurs, “I think the words you’re looking for are ‘thank you.’”

“Not likely,” I shoot back, an annoyingly breathless quality to my voice.

“You’re feisty tonight.” His arm tightens around my waist, and parts of me like thatwaytoo much. I should pull away, but the heartbeat between my legs is begging me to press closer. Tristan guides me to the side of the room, sliding his hand to the small of my back, as another person takes the stage. “I’m surprised you left with Sky and Max.” His lips brush the shell of my ear, making my skin tingle, and I have to force my eyes not to flutter shut.

“They kidnapped me,” I mumble. “That seems to happen a lot around you guys.”

His breath tickles my skin when he chuckles. “That’s because we like you,” he says in a low voice. “Let me get you out of here.”

“I can’t. Skylar wants me to work in the morning. We still have a lot to do for the gala.”

“You’re going to spend time with Skylar on a weekend?” The glint in his eyes makes it look as if he almost doesn’t believe me, and I’m not entirely sure how to deal with playful Tristan. Seeing him outside of the office, away from the constant fae issues he’s forced to deal with, is nice. Normal. I’m attracted to the mystery of him, but I crave moments like these where I can look at him without seeing a knight of the seelie fae court and just see Tristan.

“I am.”

“Stay at the hotel. You’ll be closer to the office in the morning.” He squeezes my hip, making my breath catch.

“If I say yes…” My voice trails off.

“Say yes,” he whispers.

Part of me is nervous, but another part feels I owe it to myself—the constant thoughts of Tristan, the way my body responds to him—to explore what this might be. My cheek grazes his chest as I tilt my head up to meet his gaze. “Okay,” I say.

He slips his arm from around my waist and grabs my hand, lacing his fingers through mine as we approach the table.

“You done feeling her up?” Skylar quips.

Tristan smirks at me. “Not nearly.”

“I’m going to head out,” I cut in. “Tonight was… fun.” I give Oliver a quick hug.

“You better be in the office by nine,” Skylar grumbles.

I mock salute her. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Call me that again, and not even Tristan will be able to save you from my wrath.” She says it with a smile, which only adds to the menacing tone.

Max barks out a laugh as Tristan leads me away from the table. By the time we step outside, my heart is like a hummingbird trying to escape the cage in my chest.

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