Footsteps. Claude blinks, finally focusing on my face, and then someone behind me.
“Is everything alright here?” Benjamin asks.
Claude shakes his head—whether in response or to clear it, I’m not sure—and guides me into an upright position. My body still feels weak and languorous after that bite, but I force myself to stand on wobbling legs. I’m suddenly all too aware of what just happened, what I justfelt, and the fact that we were very much in public. It’s a thousand times worse than being caught with a copy ofFangs, which until recently was one of my biggest fears. I’m sure my face is stained bright red, broadcasting my filthy thoughts to everyone in the room.
Benjamin slides an arm around my waist, providing subtle support. I lean into him, grateful.
“Get a hold of yourself,” he whispers.
I shoot him a baffled, offended look, but he isn’t looking at me. He’s looking at Claude, who is still staring at me, a dazed look in his dilated eyes.
At Benjamin’s chastisement he finally looks away, dropping his gaze to the floor. He lifts a thumb to rub over his lower lip and says nothing.
Benjamin urges me back one step, and then another, before he turns us around and leads us away. He takes us to a quiet corner of the ball and pricks his thumb on his fang before pressing it to the puncture marks on my wrist.
I look up at him, trying to shake off my sluggishness and read the troubled expression on his face. “Is everything okay?” I ask.
“I believe so.” He studies my wrist until the wounds heal, and then drops it and looks me in the eyes. “Are you well?”
“I’m fine,” I say. Better than fine, really. That bite left me with a pleasant, tingling sort of wooziness, as though I’ve had a few glasses of wine. It felt good when Benjamin bit me, but that was something else entirely. “Did something happen?”
“No, but it nearly did.” Benjamin glances at the crowd around us. “That expression on his face… I know the look of a man on the verge of losing control to his bloodlust, and he was very, very close.”
Bloodlust? I think back to that moment, the way he held me and looked at me, and can’t make sense of the word. “Are you sure? He was so gentle with me.”
“I’m sure,” he says. “And that makes it even more dangerous. Vampires like that…” He shakes his head. “He could have drained you past the point of safety before you realized something was wrong.”
“Well…” I wring my hands, uncertain what to say. I have the strangest urge to defend Claude, even though just minutes ago I was uttering the wordsanyone but him. “He didn’t hurt me. And if he had really been a threat, I’m sure you would have stopped him.”
Benjamin chokes out a sound that might be a cough, or a startled laugh. “Your faith in me is admirable, but misplaced, I’m afraid.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “What? Surely you’re stronger than him. He’s so…” I shrug, unable to even find the words for it. His perfect curls, his blue eyes, his long, pale fingers that gripped me so gently. Even if Benjamin hadn’t told me he was an artist, I would’ve known it at a glance. That’s how he seems. Sensitive, almost vulnerable.
“He’s nearly one hundred and fifty years old,” Benjamin says, shocking me anew. “Which is quite a bit older than I am. Trust me on this, Nora. Even without the backing of his court, and my lack thereof, I would have trouble handling him.” Benjamin’sexpression is grim, but as he turns to me, it softens. “In any case, I’m glad you’re safe. No harm done. Shall we?”
I take his arm and let him lead me back to the party, my skin still tingling from the ghost of Claude’s mouth.
Chapter Seven
It seems impossible to return to the ball as though everything is normal after what I just experienced. I let Benjamin lead me around, smile and nod when it’s required of me, but my mind keeps wandering. Every time I see a vampire entwined with another human on a chaise somewhere, my knees go weak with the memory of Claude holding me on that couch. My eyes keep searching for a sign of dark curls and blue eyes in the crowd, but I don’t see Claude anywhere.
Until I turn around and he’s right in front of me.
Benjamin stiffens at my side, pulling me closer. “Lord Claude,” he says, making it sound like both a warning and a question.
I study Claude in silence, trying to see the apparent danger that Benjamin sees. I still can’t; he seems too pretty to be threatening, though maybe his apparent insouciance is a deliberate mask.
“I would like to apologize,” Claude says, and inclines himself in a low bow. Benjamin looks startled, and several nearby heads turn in our direction; clearly, someone like Claude bowing to someone like Benjamin isn’t commonplace.
“I accept your apology,” Benjamin says, though there’s still tension in his voice.
Claude straightens. “I’d also like to request another slot on Nora’s blood card.”
I’m glad he’s looking at Benjamin instead of me, because I’m pretty sure my face shows about five different emotions in the span of two seconds.
Benjamin is silent for a moment. Maybe he’s waiting for me to weigh in, but I’m flabbergasted.
“I don’t believe that’s the best idea,” he says, after a moment.
