Page 44 of Summertime Hexy
“She’s notmy—” Hazel starts, then falters.
I step closer to her. “You’re touching her.”
Thandor lifts a brow. “Am I not allowed to admire beauty when I see it?”
I bare my teeth.
“Derek,” Hazel says, warning in her tone.
But I’m not listening.
Because something primal is roaring in my chest, something ancient and dark and utterly possessive. It crawls up my throat and bursts out before I can stop it.
“She’s mine.”
The words land like thunder.
Hazel’s eyes go wide.
Thandor tilts his head. “Interesting claim.”
“It’s not a claim,” I growl. “It’s a fact.”
The air crackles.
Hazel stares at me, stunned, silent.
Then slowly she smirks.
“Wow,” she says, stepping between us. “Okay. Big dick energy, vampire edition.”
“Hazel—” I start, but she turns to Thandor.
“Thanks for the chat,” she says lightly. “You’re charming. Really. But if I stay here another minute, one of you’s going to end up hexed, and I don’t want to fill out that paperwork.”
Thandor bows again, a little more formal this time. “As you wish, my lady.”
She grabs my sleeve and yanks me toward the cabins.
Once we’re out of earshot, she rounds on me.
“What thehellwas that?”
I don’t answer.
Because I’m still shaking.
Still burning.
She takes a breath. “You can’t just—say stuff like that.”
“It’s true.”
“Iknowit’s true, but that doesn’t mean you get to go all vampiric alpha when someone flirts with me!”
“He touched you.”
“I let him.”
