A crisp, clear cough interrupts my thoughts.
My eyes fly open.
Roslyn Night stands before the couch, her arms crossed, an expression of displeasure across her sharp features. Tonight, shewears a blood-red oxford shirt, its collar sharp, unbuttoned far down her chest to see just the curve of her breast. Her sleeves are rolled up half-way. She’s wearing a gold watch on one wrist, a matching triangular, dangling earring in one ear.
I gaze at her, entranced. I think I’ve forgotten how to breathe.
Sabina pulls away from my throat, snarling. “Can Ihelpyou, Crimson?”
“I’m cutting in,” she announces, brusquely. “This breather ismine.”
My heart drops into my stomach. Sabina rises from the couch, glaring furiously at the other vampire. “Howdareyou,” she hisses. “I was about to…”
“You’re about to leave my sight, and find another living human to terrorize,” Crimson replies, her eyes flashing red. “This one belongs to me, and if I see you evenglancingin her direction, I will bind you in a coffin beside Waylan. Is that understood?”
Sabina’s nostrils flare. There’s a long, tense moment in which they lock eyes, bound in an unspoken battle of wills. I wish I could run away, get out of this lounge and disappear upstairs to my room. But I’m frozen in fear, unable to look away.
Finally, Sabina lowers her gaze. Her lips move subtly, whispering something that’s too quiet for me to hear. Then she stalks out of the room, retreating like a wounded lioness.
It takes me a second to readjust to her absence. I seem to have stopped breathing.
Crimson steps toward me, and offers me her hand. Now my heart starts to pound again, and that ache in my core intensifies.
Summoning all of my strength, I take her hand, but her touch is…strong. Cold, and powerful. She pulls me up easily, and leads me across the lounge. Everyone immediately parts for us. I keep my eyes down, self-conscious that everyone has noticed me with her.
She takes me to the throne, and we step up onto the raised platform. She sits down comfortably upon its velvet seat. Before I can wonder where I’m going to sit, she pats her lap.
“Oh,” I whisper, realizing what she’s asking me.
She cocks her head. “Would you prefer to kneel?”
Blood rushes to my face. For a moment, I imagine what it would be like to kneel before her, and I’m embarrassed to find the warmthradiating lower…
“No, no, that’s all right, I can sit on your lap,” I stutter, before I can entertain that thought any longer. I suppose there’s no other place for me to sit.
And the idea of being so close to her…makes me both nervous and unexpectedly excited. I try not to overthink it too much. I lower myself down onto her lap as daintily as possible, suddenly aware of how short my dress is. I pull it down as much as I can. Crimson notices, and grins.
“You can sit on me properly,” she says, putting an arm around my waist and pulling me closer. “Trust me, you’re not going to break me. I’m a three-hundred-year-old vampire.”
She hikes me up on her lap, and my feet leave the ground. She’s at least a foot taller than me, and she sits comfortably with one arm around my waist, the other pulling my bare thighs closer. Her touch is cold and assertive, sending thrilling shivers through me. I clasp my hands together awkwardly, aware of the rising colour in my cheeks and the fierce pounding of my heart.
I’m acutely aware of the many eyes on us, and I’m equally shy at the intense power of her presence. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.
My voice is shaky, but somehow, I manage to get the words out. “Um, I just wanted to say thank you. For…for intervening just now.”
“Believe me, it was my pleasure,” she responds smoothly. “I was worried that you’d left our employ, after I didn’t see you last night.”
“No, I…I decided to stay.”
“Good.”
She regards me slowly, her grey eyes traveling confidently across my face and neck. From here, I can see the artful curve of her red lips, the arch of her defined eyebrows, the acute jut of her chin. Her short, dark hair is cropped close to the back of her neck. A few strands fall almost cockily into her eyes. Her proximity is overwhelming, and it’s making me feel extremely shy.
But I’m also…oddly relieved. That she could be my first vampire bite. The anticipation heats the air around us. She moves her hand along my trembling thigh, and another heat starts to build. The ache in my stomach is so strong it’s almost painful.
What’shappeningto me?
“It’s your first time?” she asks, an unexpected softness in her voice.
