Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (28 page)

her by surprise. Flirting was hard.

Next to her, a lovely, but much

older, blue faery talked to Thane with a

smile on her lips. There was something

about him that sure attracted the cougars.

A hand squeezed her knee,

bringing her attention back to the satyr.

Not wanting to be rude but also not

wanting to encourage him, she patted his

hand before removing it from her leg and

placing it on his own. All while smiling

warmly, of course.

Ralph's hand then snaked its way

to the exposed skin on the top of her

back, underneath her hair. A shiver ran

down her spine. Instead of shrugging him

off like she was inclined to do, she

picked up her drink and took a big sip.

She forgot the shock of sour that hit her

last time. Her eyes watered as she

forced herself to swallow.

Ralph chuckled as he rubbed

small circles on her upper back. “You'll

get used to it, love.”

She was about to ask him what

he knew about Prince Sebastian when

his arm was forcefully pulled away.

They both spun around to see Garren

holding onto Ralph's wrist.

“Hands off,” Garren said, glaring

at the satyr.

Ralph wrenched his arm away

and stood up to face Garren. The satyr

was taller, but Garren had him beat in

bulk.

“Bugger off. The lady's with

me,” Ralph said. They stood facing each

other in silence. She was about to

separate them, when a beautiful woman

with ebony skin beat her to it.

“Care to dance?” she asked

Garren.

He looked to Ivy, waiting for her

to say something. She nodded her head,

encouraging him to go with the woman.

The woman was a werewolf, by

the look of the scars she proudly wore

on her arm. She led him to the dance

floor where he wrapped his arms around

her delicate frame.

“Who was that bloke?” Ralph

asked as he sat back down.

“No one special.” She peeked

back over her shoulder to see Garren

smiling and laughing with the woman, as

if they were a couple. She ignored that

little twinge in her chest as she smiled

over at Ralph.

“So Ralph, how long have you

been in...”

The mark on her wrist burned

more intensely than it had since entering

the bar. Only one creature still had that

effect on her anymore. A horrible

sensation washed over her that she'd

only felt a few times in her life. It felt

like tiny icicles stabbing her all over her

skin. She went on alert; muscles tensed,

heart sped up and adrenaline coursed

through her veins.

A pale hand tapped Ralph on the

shoulder. “I said…” he started as he

turned, but his next words died on his

lips as he came face to face with the

intruder. Blood drained from his face as

his mouth dropped open. “Well, it... it

was nice talking to you, Ivy,” he

stammered before he slunk away.

Coward.

She

stared

straight

ahead,

counting the bottles of liquor lining the

shelves behind the bartender. Out of the

corner of her eye, a man dressed in

black took the seat Ralph vacated.

He didn't say anything for a good

two minutes as she sat frozen in her seat.

It dawned on her, then, that she didn't

have to stay there. The club was huge

and a girl had to make her rounds, right?

Without a word to her new

neighbor, she moved to stand, when a

cold hand clamped onto hers. She

flinched at the touch and tried to yank

her hand free, but he held on. She finally

turned to glare at the man next to her.

His short black hair and almond

shaped eyes spoke of an Asian heritage,

most likely Korean. He was handsome

and appeared to be older than her by

only a few years, though it could have

been centuries.

Then it happened. He revealed

himself when he smiled. “Hello, Ivy,” he

said, the light glinting off his pearly

white fangs.

Her mind went blank. What was

it? Sourdough? Rye? When finally she

found the word, her voice barely rose

above a whisper. “Pumpernickel.”

Chapter 16

“Pardon?” The corners of his

eyes crinkled as the vampire smiled at

Ivy.

She racked her brain for any

excuse to get away from him but nothing

came to her as she gazed into his black

eyes. She'd never spoken to a vampire

before and she wouldn't be any time

soon if she couldn't get her tongue to

work.

She tamped down her first

instinct to grab the wooden stake she

always kept at her back. It wouldn't do

her any good anyway, seeing that she

didn't have it with her. Trainers had

drilled the 'stake first' mantra into all

their trainees, not that she ever did. The

last time she was around a vampire was

during the last attack, before all hell

broke loose. It wouldn't do to kill him,

though, especially since they were

supposed to be on the same side of the

whole Weed versus Bane feud.

“You don't have to be afraid, Ivy.

I have no intentions of hurting you,” he

said, finally releasing his hold on her

hand.

Her brain finally decided to kick

in and joined the party. “How do you

know my name?”

His voice rang out as he laughed.

It was such a joyous noise, and she hated

him at that moment for not being the

monster she grew to expect of his kind.

“I have these things called ears.”

He pointed to the side of his head. “The

satyr called you that when he left.”

“It hardly seems fair for you to

know my name when I have no clue who

you are.” She didn't know where this

courage was coming from, but she hoped

it lasted.

“My apologies. My name is

Hyong-zoo Lee, but please call me Zoo.”

He presented his hand, which she took

after a second’s hesitation. The coldness

of his skin shocked her, even though he

was just touching her a second ago.

She smiled and nodded politely

as she glanced around the bar, searching

for her friends. Athena was laughing it

up with the pack in the corner. Thane

was talking to a different woman, again,

much older than he was. And Garren sat

across the room, charming a few women,

if the lovesick look on their faces was

any indication. They were all so

involved in their own conversations, she

could be on fire and they wouldn't

notice.

“Well, Zoo,” she said, hopping

off the stool. “It was nice meeting you,

but—”

“I know who you're looking for.”

He was leaning in so close his cool

breath tickled her throat.

She pulled back in shock.
Can he

read my mind?
“What? H-how?” She

gawked at him with her mouth hanging

open.

Zoo smiled and pointed over her

shoulder to Thane. “Your friend isn't

very subtle in his quest for information.”

She sat back down and absently

took another sip of her Poison Apple.

Damn it.
She struggled to keep a straight

face as she swallowed.

By the look of amusement in

Zoo's eyes, she failed. She assumed he

had the information she wanted, since he

brought the subject up, but he wasn't

saying anything. He just sat there,

sipping at his glass with a red liquid

inside. She didn't even want to think

about what it was. Of course, with her

track record with him so far, it was

probably just tomato juice.

Her impatience got the better of

her, so she turned her body towards him

and crossed her legs. “So...”

“So...” He swiveled around in

his seat, his knee grazing against her.

This coy game he was playing grated her

nerves. She didn't know how to drag the

information out of him. If Athena was

talking to him, she'd know everything by

now, including the mystery of boxers or

briefs.

“Well, are you going to tell me

or not?”

Zoo chuckled and reached out his

hand to slowly run it down the side of

her arm. “You have a lot to learn about

using seduction to get what you want.”

A shiver ran down her body from

his touch. He stopped at her hand and

curled his fingers around hers. “Come.

One dance before I give you what you

seek.”

Her body acted on his command

without hesitation, despite the protests

from her brain. He was still very

dangerous, but slightly charming. Quick-

tempered and unpredictable, vampires

were tolerated members of the magical

community— glad to have on the team

when at war with Eradicators, but not

wanted at the victory party.

Is he using some sort of hocus

pocus on me?

Zoo was the perfect gentleman

on the dance floor, keeping a respectable

distance between them as they swayed to

the music. She was sure he noticed the

nervous sweating of her palms and back,

but he didn't say anything.

“So, how do you know where

Prince Sebastian is hiding?” Might as

well get right to the point.

“Well, when you’ve been around

as long as I have, you learn things.”

“And

you’ve

learned

that

he’s…?”

Zoo laughed and twirled her

around like a ballerina. “You’re all

business, aren’t you? I will tell you
after

our dance.”

She caught a glimpse of Garren,

glaring at them from a table full of

women trying to get his attention. He

was mouthing something, but she had no

idea what it was. She was so distracted

trying to decipher Garren's message, that

she never noticed Zoo leaning in until

the base of her neck tingled from the

touch of his lips.

She gasped and pulled away, her

heart pounding.

The smile that he wore since he

sat next to her vanished. “I'm sorry. I

don't know what came over me, but you

just smell so... delectable.”

“Yeah.” She forced a laugh. “I

get that all the time.” She stepped back

to put some much needed space between

them. “I thought you guys couldn’t feed

off witches. Something about our magic

making you sick.”

Zoo chuckled, regaining his

charming composure. “That’s true, but

you might be worth the pain.”

Oh, that makes me feel so much

better
.

“Don’t look so scared. We don’t

need to kill to feed, and most of us

don’t.”

“Most?”

This

wasn’t

new

information, but the way he spoke made

the little hairs on the back of her neck

stand on end.

He settled his hand on her waist

and slowly brought her closer. With his

other hand, one of his fingers trailed a

path down her temple, along her jawline

and down the curve of her neck, causing

a shudder to roll through her body.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe with

me.” His dark eyes captured hers and

held tight. Despite what he said, he

looked like he wanted nothing more than

to eat her up.

Breathing suddenly became a

foreign concept. She swallowed, trying

to compose herself to reply when she

was yanked sideways by her elbow.

Garren gripped her arm and

pulled her behind him. She stumbled into

him but didn’t protest his caveman

gesture. Zoo was starting to creep her

out. But she still needed him to tell her

where the prince was hidden.

Wanting to ease the tension

before Garren bruised her arm, she

smiled and introduced the two men.

“Zoo knows where we can find

Prince Sebastian and was just about to

tell me, weren’t you?”

Zoo broke the stare down he was

having with Garren and his eyes flitted

over to her.

His features softened as he

smiled. “Of course.” But before he could