Page 78 of To Crave Madly
“I don’t dance,” I said curtly.
Her mouth dropped into a perfect little “o” and I could have kicked myself for being too harsh. I was still annoyed over her little night-time adventure to Midnight Sin, but I was a little honoured she’d asked me to be her partner. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was already trying to keep a tight leash on my inner beast and putting him in a situation that reminded him of chasing prey, especially if that prey was Lori, was risky, to say the least. Even now I could feel him pacing, itching to reach out for her and take her to bed. To claim her and make her ours forever.
No one was around. I could just throw her over my shoulder, run up the stairs to my tower and—
“I’ll just have to ask Alec then. I’m sure he’d love to be my partner.”
“What?”
She blinked up at me, those dark eyelashes fluttering against her pale skin. “If you won’t dance with me, I will have to ask Alec. Elissa told me it’s a type of waltz, which I believe is quite an intimate dance.” She gave me a saucy smile. “I’m sure Alec will enjoy that. I bet he’s quite good at dancing.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. I knew what game she was trying to play. Trying to make me jealous of that Hound. Well, it was bloody working. I didn’t want his hands anywhere near her.
“Fine,” I said through my clenched teeth. “I will dance with you.”
She jumped up and down, clapping her hands and grinning delightfully. She’d played me like a fiddle, and she knew it.
Just you wait, little girl. I’ll get you back for that.
“Elissa said to be in the training hall after dinner. She wants to get started right away.” She leant up on her tiptoes and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before skipping off down the hall.
Little minx. There went my plan of trying to keep my distance from her. I so desperately wanted to claim her. It was driving me insane with how much I wanted her to be mine. My soul craved her in a way I had never felt with another being before. My every thought was about her, and it was only getting worse. Especially since we’d shared a feeding.
It was stupid of me to let her feed me. But I had been so hungry, and she was just so tempting. My mouth watered just thinking back to the moment I sank my fangs into her neck. The fact that it was also forbidden just made it all the more salacious.
And then she had let me feed her, which was just as fucking delicious to me as feedingfromher. She wouldn’t understand what that meant to a vampire seeking their mate, but it furthered their courtship, cementing their bond that would one day be unshakeable. I needed to have a conversation with her about all this. She needed to know what she was walking into, but I was too terrified to even have that talk. I wasn’t worthy of her or her love. I was a monster that only deserved the right to bring about the end of my truly miserable existence.
I thought back to the day I first saw her in that club. De Santis had sent me to bring her in, believing her to be part of this prophecy. I knew he had kept tabs on a couple of potential women that he thought would one day waken to become the destroyer of the world, but Lori had been the one he believed in the most. I’d been sitting in the dark depths of that booth and she’d shown the most beautiful smile I’d ever seen. I knew she could sense me and could sense there was something dangerous about me, and I knew she was the one when she’d given me the finger. I chuckled at the memory. She’d definitely shown she’d had balls.
I knew she was my mate, but I didn’t want to coerce her into it. Lucifer had walked her into that soulbond without her understanding it. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake. But as I watched her disappear down the corridor, I wondered how long I could wait before my beast gave up being patient and took control.
***
I had so much other prep to do for this Yule Gathering that standing here learning the Yule Waltz was the last thing I was wanted to be doing. But the thought of Alec putting his hands all over Lori was disturbing. So, I was here instead, trying my best to remember how to waltz and trying not to enjoy the feeling of Lori in my arms. One was definitely easier than the other.
“I thought you said you couldn’t dance,” Lori murmured as she moved through the steps with me.
“I said I didn’t dance. Not that I couldn’t.”
“Well, you do it very well,” she replied smiling. “Anyone would think you’ve done this dance before.”
I lifted her in a spin before dropping her lightly back on her feet and resuming the steps. “I have never done the Yule Waltz, but I have waltzed before. I remember when it was first brought to England. It was all very scandalous.”
She gasped. “Really?”
I nodded. “No one had seen anything like it before. It had always been country dances set in lines with lots of space between partners. It was all very proper and very correct. Then the waltz came along and there was uproar.” There was another spin and a flourish before we could resume our conversation. “Young women had to ask permission to waltz. Can you imagine, you had to keep a certain distance from men at all times, always in the eye of a watchful chaperone and then along came a dance that meant you had to get intimately close to your partner?”
I wrapped my arm further around her waist, sliding my hand up her spine to sit between her shoulder blades and pulled her closer to me. Her breath hitched as her breasts grazed my chest; we were closer than we needed to be now. Her hand moved from my shoulder towards my neck and the music faded into the background. It was just the two of us and all I could focus on was how she smelt. A waft of lavender invaded my senses, and I became very aware of how much of her body was pressed against me.
The pulse in her neck thrummed as her desire grew. I had to focus, had to think about something else. Something other than how much I wanted to take her. Right here, right now.
Thud. Thud.
Her heartbeat called to me. My gaze narrowed on the artery in her neck. I could almost taste her on my tongue. I felt my fangs lengthen and my vision sharpened as my inner beast awoke.
And he was hungry for her.
“Jasper?” she whispered softly. “We’ve stopped dancing.”
