King Hall (42 page)

“I didn’t think it sounded appropriate,” I replied honestly.

A cock of his head. “Why wouldn’t it be appropriate?” Again, he glanced down, then up. Implication clear. He hadn’t liked seeing his son’s fingers down the top of my dress.

“We’re just friends,” I stated bluntly.

He hummed softly. “I didn’t say you weren’t.”

Right. Said friend needed to get his ass over here. Again, I glanced Ezra’s way, and luck was on my side this time because he was looking in our general direction over his mom’s head. Swiftly, I merely met his gaze, and then turned my attention back to his dad, saying, “No. You didn’t. I just thought it needed saying.”

“Why do you think it needs saying?”

My God, he should have been a fucking shrink instead of a King with all of my answers he kept twisting around. Hell, maybe he was one now, when he wasn’t doing his Elder duties.

“May I cut in?” Ezra asked his dad, stopping in a twirl next to us. He nodded at his mom in his arms. “I’m sure Mom would love to dance with you.”

His dad smiled, and I wasn’t able to read it because I didn’t know him, but he released me, holding out his hand to his mate. “Beautiful lady.”

Vivian chuckled, then kissed Ezra’s cheek before taking Cahal’s hand, and was swiftly enveloped in his arms as they began dancing.

Ezra instantly grabbed me and whirled us away from them.

Banging my forehead against his chest a couple of times, I mumbled, “Fact: you should have told me who the hell your dad is. Fact: you should have helped me when I lied to him about the photo earlier if you knew he would know it was a lie. Fact: he didn’t like you putting your fingers down my cleavage earlier. Fact: he is seriously scary.”

Ezra raised his head, looking to wherever his parents were, then spun us even closer to a bulky speaker thumping with music. “Fact: I thought you knew. Hell, we had a test about him in history class.” Three years in one year, enough said. “Fact: I didn’t know you were going to lie about the photo, otherwise I would have stopped you.” His eyes dipped down like his dad’s had, but lingered — ‘cause he was Ezra — before coming back to mine. “Fact: he wouldn’t have been paying attention to where my fingers were if you hadn’t lied in the first place. Fact: yes, he can be scary.” He paused, then added, “Fact: he’s also a Vampire, if you’ve forgotten, so when you say something even remotely close to him, remember he can hear you.”

I glanced at the vibrating speaker. “Unless we’re near something like this?”

“Yes. Our voices won’t carry over the sound.”

As we swayed to the music, I rested my cheek against his chest in frustration, and felt his own cheek rest on top of my head. His chest expanded as he inhaled harshly, and he grumbled, “Guess we can add my dad to the list of people who think we’re having sex.”

I nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I got from him.”

“Perfect,” he muttered. Grunted. “When are they going to get over this shit? We hardly ever touch unless it’s on the damn dance floor. I have sex with other women. You’re picking other men to have sex with. What the hell else do we need to do?”

I shrugged inside his strong, familiar embrace. “I have no clue.” I joked, “We might as well have sex, and enjoy the benefits, if we’re going to be hounded for it.”

“You think you’re funny, don’t you?”

“Definite affirmative.”

Ezra led me off the dance floor two songs later, staying clear of King Kincaid, King Venclaire, and now, his dad. Although, I was pretty sure I saw them watching us as we weaved through the dancing couples. I was starving, and so was Ezra, if his rumbling stomach was any indication. We could see Pearl and Gideon at the buffet on top of the hill, and Jack and Nikki were sneaking behind the row of trees where we had hidden before.

Ezra dipped, taking his hand off the small of my back just as we exited the dance floor, asking, “Do you need to
eat
before the Awakenings?”

I debated that. Blood. He was talking about blood. I really didn’t want another fainting spell to occur, but I wasn’t all that thirsty, since it was only noon and I normally drank before, or directly after, dinner. “I’m not famished, but it might be a good idea.”

He nodded, automatically maneuvering us — without touching me — in a different direction, barely breathing, “I thought about that last night, and made sure I drank double my normal. We can do this before we normally do and I’ll be fine.”

“Thank you,” I said, smiling up at him. “That was thoughtful.”

He shrugged. “Better than having King Kincaid attack me again.”

I snorted as we hurried up the hill to the back entrance of King Hall. “Exactly where are we headed?”

He was quiet, then whispered, “Under the bleachers in the gym.”

I choked on a laugh. “That’s your hiding spot? Isn’t that a little cliché? How many women have you taken back there?”

His lips curved, drawling, “If it ain’t broke…”

I snorted, and then started jogging, glancing over my shoulder. “Race you?”

He grinned and sprinted after me.

Quickening my pace, running as fast as I could without my Vampire speed, I laughed when I stopped abruptly and tripped him on the grass. My only way of beating him. I shot off again, hearing his fake growl where he had landed. I made it to the door before I was picked up off my feet — no one could see us there — and I shrieked as he raced us inside and down the hallway with his Vampire speed to the gym.

The place was silent and dark, but lights weren’t needed with our glowing eyes, and he set me on my feet. He bent going under the bleachers ahead of me, but I didn’t need to duck the bar there, following him easily. Traveling to the middle, he stopped, his spring green, glowing eyes roving over my dress. “Hike your dress up a little, so you can wrap your legs around me.”

Blinking, I glanced about and realized he was right. There was no way to do this unless he got down on the dusty floor, because I was so short, and that wasn’t happening with his black attire. I hiked my dress up until modesty could have been threatened if I took it another inch, and he lifted me easily.

Wrapping my legs around his waist, he moved so my back was against the wall, then leaned heavily against me, asking patiently, “You know you can’t send me what you normally do, or I’ll fall, right?”

I paused.
Shit.
“What do I send you?”

“Whatever you can manage without making me hit the ground.” He grinned. “I fall, you fall.”

“Great,” I muttered, biting my lip, tiny fangs already descended. “Joy?”

He nodded. “That should work.”

My eyes moved to his throat, and I gently tilted his head back and to the side, careful not to mess up his spikes. Placing my mouth against his throat and inhaling softly, I sighed quietly. He didn’t smell like food, even though his blood was delicious. He smelled like my best friend. Like Ezra. Against his heated skin, I whispered, “Thank you.”

He pressed against me harder, holding me in a tighter embrace. “You’re welcome.”

I licked over his pulse slowly, feeling the pounding against my tongue. Rubbing along it, I found the exact place I wanted. I tilted my head a smidge more, and gently sank my fangs in. His hot, dark spice blood ran over my tongue and I moaned, gripping the back of his neck. I sent him emotions.

It made his body start to go slack, so I stopped.

He straightened immediately, murmuring, “Try again, but hurry. We need to get back out there before the guards start searching.”

Trying again, I started sending him the usual serenity, but pushed through the haze of his dazzling blood when I felt him react the same way. It was hard, and I grunted with the effort, but I knew immediately when he felt joy instead, his body pressing against me harder than before, straightening.

He whispered deeply, “That’s good. Perfect.”

In answer, I hummed delicately, and then I let myself go back into the fog of dark spice. Gripping the back of his neck, my fingers pressed on his muscles just a smidge, holding tight as one of his hands ran up my back and in my hair, gripping it and pushing my mouth against his neck as he sighed. He seemed to like it, so I knew I was doing a good job.

Moaning at the taste, I rubbed up him for higher positioning, his blood spiced a little different with the joy I was sending him, instead of the serenity. It was scrumptious. Really damn delicious. His other arm slid down under my behind, lifting and giving me the added boost I needed to really get a good pull, and I sent him a heavy dose of joy. In return, he held me tighter.

Two more pulls, because he was that tasty, then I ran my tongue over the wound and leaned my head back, gently massaging his nape and watching his eyes slowly open.

He smiled, and it was a sloppy, happy one. “I like that one better than the other.”

“Same here,” I agreed, scrutinizing him. “You feel alright?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Just need another second.” He rested his forehead against my shoulder, and I continued massaging his neck.

A minute later, his head lifted, and he cracked his neck both ways, his eyelids no longer drooping. In fact, humor etched his features as his lips twitched. “Sweetheart, you aren’t wearing any panties.”

Blinking, I belatedly realized what that meant. His arm under me was touching my private bits. His shirt didn’t even cover it because he had rolled his sleeves up his forearms earlier. Not moving an inch, because that would make it worse, instead I stated factually, “I couldn’t. This dress shows underwear lines.”

His lips twitched again, but he nodded studiously. “The dreaded underwear lines.” He glanced to his right, the way we had come in. “We better go out another door, just in case anyone’s out there.”

“That sounds about right.”

He unclenched the hand he had in my hair and dropped his other arm, keeping pressure on me with his body so I wouldn’t fall. His hands grabbed my hips, which were completely bare by this point with my dress rucked up to my waist. Stepping back from the wall, he held me, and I loosened my legs from around him. Gently lowering me, he kept his gaze on my face, which I was grateful for until I was able to lower my dress.

We ended up taking the gym’s back exit directly outside.

Glancing around, Ezra picked me up, and then moved with Vampire speed, going down through the trees and behind the dance floor to the tree line at the edge of the tables and food. Lowering me, he motioned for me to go on, and then he disappeared, blurring through the trees surrounding us, to enter from another direction.

Sidling around a thick tree trunk, I moved covertly, giving the impression I was just winding my way through tables, trying to appear innocent of any wrongdoings. Absently, I ran my fingers through my hair, since he’d had a hand in it and the wind had blown it. Now I knew why he used so much gel. While trying to work tangles out, I waggled my free hand’s fingers at Jack and Pearl where they sat to the right…and slammed right into a table. Biting my tongue, I barely withheld a curse, my hip bone jarred with the impact.

Jack and Pearl saw it, and I could hear them laughing from all the way over where they sat. At least Gideon and Nikki weren’t busting up, too.

Apology on the tip of my tongue, my attention swung to the occupants of the table, and the words stalled inside my throat, my mouth slightly parted.
Sweet baby Jesus. Did this seriously have to happen right now?
Out of all the tables on the lawn, I had rammed into King Venclaire, Ezra’s parents, Antonio, King Kincaid, and Fi’s table.

Flustered, I chuckled, unfortunately sounding damn guilty as I tugged my fingers out of my hair — getting that last fucking tangle out, of course, right when they saw it — and pointed to the food across the way. “Sorry about that. I’m just going to get lunch at the…” I jabbed my finger again at the…
what the hell was the word?

“Buffet?” Antonio’s golden brows rose as he leaned to rest a crooked arm on top of the table, his chin on his palm with a balled-up napkin covering his mouth.

“Yep,” I snapped, swinging my pointed finger at him. “That’s it.” I started walking backward…and my ass slammed against another table that was, like, a foot away. I didn’t even look at that one, for fear of who might be sitting there.
Why the hell did they put them so close?
“Food. Yeah, at the…” I pointed once more.
Shit.

“Buffet,” Antonio offered again, his napkin still covering his mouth suspiciously.

“Honey, are you alright?” Concern clouded Fi’s expression. “Your face is flushed.”

Oh, Lord, have mercy.

I squeaked, “I’m good.” A point to the food. “I’m going to the…”
Shit
. “Over there.”

King Kincaid stared. “Come and eat with us when you’re done at the
buffet
.”

Instantly, I hitched a thumb over my shoulder. “I was going to sit with—”

“I would prefer it,” he clarified, interrupting me.

Oh, God, no.

Out of the corner of my eye…I glanced that way, and saw Felix and Aros storming toward me, all types of pissed.
Uh-oh.
No time to argue. “Okay.” I looked back at the table, their heads swinging toward me, following my head movements. “Be back in a minute.” My feet pedaled as fast as they could without the appearance of running until I got to an area where there were no tables — I watched where I was going this time — and went a few feet more, then stopped and waited.

“Where the hell did you go?” Felix loomed over me.

“Won’t happen again.” I paused. “Sorry to worry you.”

Aros growled, “We can’t protect you if you run off like that.”

“And with a fucking Vampire,” Felix hissed on a mere breath.

“We were just running up the hill,” I muttered. “We both needed to get away from all these people for a few minutes.”
Truth to all.

Both inhaled heavily, then shut their mouths, cognizant of when to push and when not to.

Good elite guards. I was the boss. End of story.

Still, I apologized once more, “I’m truly sorry for worrying you both.”

They nodded slowly, and stepped back, giving me space, so I moved on to the
buffet
.

Ezra was already there, on the other side of the table farther up the line, giving me a raised eyebrow once-over, most definitely having heard the conversation with his gifted ears, and even seen it, since there hadn’t been any trees in the direction I’d had to run.