Page 59 of To Crave Madly
I propped my elbow on the table and rested my head on my hand. “Then how do you know it’s disgusting if you’ve never tried one?” He just scowled back at me in response. Or at least I think he did; he was starting to look a little bit blurry. “You’re no fun, Shadow Fiend.”
“With all due respect, Mistress, I am not here to have fun.”
Emboldened by all the alcohol streaming through my system, I took advantage of my one-on-one session with Torsten and my sudden lack of inhibitions.
“What do you do for fun?”
An eyebrow arched above his golden eye. “I hunt.”
“Hunt what? Deer?”
“No.” A malicious grin spread across his full lips. “Souls that try to escape their punishment.”
Was it me, or did it just turn chilly in here?
“Okay… that doesn’t sound fun, Torsten. That sounds like torture.”
He leant closer and dropped his voice to a whisper. “That’s why I like it.”
My heart lodged in my throat at the enjoyment that seemed to spread across his face. No one should enjoy torture that much. Fuck. No one should enjoy torture at all. “Who are you?”
“I am a Shadow Fiend.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Never forget who I am, or what I am capable of.”
I shuddered at his touch. He was a lethal killing machine and his tender gesture made me completely and utterly uncomfortable. He was right. I had started to forget who he was. I was so used to him just being around and protecting me that thoughts of him being a monster had faded from my mind. Well, consider me duly reminded. I instantly pulled away and put some distance between us. He wasn’t my friend, and I should do well to remember what Rae had told me. That he was lethal to a fault, vicious and soulless.
Well, the tension here just got ridiculously awkward. “I’m gonna go and dance.”
I stood and quickly departed the booth, hoping to leave the weird sinking feeling in my stomach behind. But nope. It still lingered there, churning away while I felt Torsten’s cold stare burning two holes on my back. An involuntary shiver crept up my spine and I took a quick glance over my shoulder at the Shadow Fiend. He was still sitting there. His eyes resolutely fixed on me. It was creepy and off-putting and yet I felt strangely drawn to those eyes. I held his gaze, the noise fading away around me until all I could focus on was him.
“Lori!”
A deep male voice shouted angrily right by my ear and jolted my attention back to the chaos of the club. All thoughts of Torsten fled as I turned around and found myself looking at a very pissed off Fenris.
Oh, shit.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing here?”
My anger rose and blew away the chill left behind by Torsten. What the hell was he doing here? Of all places?
He grabbed my arm and pulled me off the dancefloor into the corridor that led to the bathrooms. At least it was quieter here. The noise had dulled to a low thud that vibrated through the floor.
“Are you insane?” he shouted. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is out here?”
“Of course I do!” I folded my arms across my chest defensively. His eyes dipped to the low-cut dress I was wearing and lingered for a moment. Shit. I’d forgotten I was barely wearing any clothing. I’d borrowed a dress from Saskia. Well… I say dress. It was more like a scrap of material that was held together by some string on my shoulders. It was green, covered in sequins, barely covered my butt and dipped in a low V almost to my navel. The heels were fucking awesome, though; thigh-high black boots with laces all the way up the back. I looked sexy and, clearly, Fenris appreciated my outfit. A little too much, judging by his sudden loss of voice.
“Torsten is here, and I have a witch and fire sprite for company. I can’t imagine what harm will come to me.”
My words seemed to jog his tongue back into action. “We have got no idea who we are up against. That might not be enough to protect you. I can’t believe—”
The door to the corridor opened and a couple of drunks fell through the doorway. Their conversation stopped as they looked our way and giggled behind their hands. They clearly knew I was getting a telling off and now I felt embarrassed.
“Bathroom’s that way.” I pointed down the hallway and gave them my best fuck-off stare. They got the hint and stumbled off in the direction I’d pointed.
Once we were alone again, I turned back to Fenris, noticing for the first time he was dressed to come to the club. His hair was tied back in a sexy man bun and he wore formal trousers and a button-up shirt. He looked good. Dammit.
“Why are you here?” I spat the question at him, hoping to distract him from interrogating me.
He blushed and a sheepish look crossed his face. “Elissa wanted to spend some time together. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other.”
