“No, just keep distracting me.” I pulled her close and inhaled her sweet cherry blossom scent. Kat was both balm and blaze to my soul. I’d gone to wanting to kill her to revering her above all. She nodded and scooted closer. Her body was plastered to mine as she moved against me. I didn’t know how the other males in this building weren’t salivating with the woman against them. Maybe they did not feel for the women like I did for Kat. While I danced with her, I gave into the music and feel of her body.
“You’re a natural dancer,” she complimented me, and I ignored it. I could learn anything at a fast rate if I cared. She cared, and I liked having her against me.
“Your dancing makes me want to take you into the shadows and lick every inch of bare skin you tease me with.”
She shivered against me, and I scented the arousal radiating off of her. She wasn’t immune to dancing with me like this, either. But the question lingered.
What would we do about it?
Chapter Twenty- Eight
Katsumi
I’d been so comfortable around Tatsou lately that I forgot how dangerous he was to the general public. I’d brought a vampire to a club full of hot bodies rubbing against each other. I asked him what it felt like to crave blood and he described it as your throat being on fire. I couldn’t empathize but I tried to imagine the one time I had strep throat times ten. I didn’t try to imagine it after that moment.
“Let me spend time with Romi, then we’ll leave. Is that okay?” I asked, and he nodded with a scowl. His angry expressions had lost their effect on me after I’d watched him groan my name. It was a sorry/not sorry situation. I was falling fast for him and now his grumpiness instantly made me want to kiss him. We found my sister sitting at the bar with Takeo, a huge smile on her face.
“I knew there was something there,” she teased me and pointed at Tatsou. I shrugged, and she laughed. Romi could know, I trusted her. Takeo wouldn’t betray her by telling our father about me being intimate with my guard.
“Let’s dance.” She pulled be to the dance floor, leaving the guys behind. We jumped and did our slickest moves while they watched, arms crossed over their chest. After four songs, I’d been surprised that no men tried to sneak into our little duo but both Takeo and Tatsou acted like guard dogs. Any man who stepped toward us got an evil stare and growl. My vampire’s eyes glowed, and I knew it was time to leave. His patience teetered on a dangerous edge, and I had to get him out or he’d be likely to have a human snack.
“I think we’re gonna go,” I hollered to Romi, and she nodded.
“Takeo is gonna stay in our room tonight. Since you and your scary man are together, would you mind staying in their room?” She waggled her eyebrows, and I nodded.
“You idiot. Of course, I’ll sleep somewhere else. I don’t wanna hear the bed a rocking while I’m sleeping in the same room. Gross.” I loved my sister, but we weren’t those type of sisters. I did not need to hear or see her with her boyfriend like that. We both strode to the guys and said our goodbyes. I nearly dragged Tatsou out of the club as fast as possible and intertwined my fingers in his, which he allowed without so much as a flinch.
“Romi claimed the room for her and Takeo tonight, so I need somewhere to sleep,” I stated awkwardly, and it wasn’t lost on the vamp as we walked back to the hotel.
“Sounds like you’re going to be uncomfortable sleeping in the hall tonight.”
“Seriously?” I stopped walking and stared at him. He watched me, keeping his face completely void of emotion until the tiniest of a smile appeared on his lips.
“You jerk.” I lightly smacked his arm and stomped toward the hotel, but his hand lashed out and grabbed my arm. He walked us toward a dark spot between two buildings and wrapped his body around me. I wondered what he was up to, but then I felt that oh-too-familiar tingle. I jerked to get away, knowing he was pulling us into the shadows. It hurt last time, and while I trusted him, I didn’t exactly want to do it again.
I blinked as my sight blurred, Tatsou tucked me in further and darkness took over. My muscles ached, and I squeezed my eyes closed. I felt my hair whip around and waited for the intense pain that seared me to come again, but it didn’t.
“Open your eyes, Little Flower.” His soft voice beckoned me, and his clutching arms loosened. I squinted one eye open and saw floor-to-ceiling windows. I also saw my sofa, my table, and my messy sewing room to the left. He’d brought us home through his shadow trick, and I felt okay this time.
“If you can do that, why would you travel any other way?” I stepped out of his arms to turn on a light. I wanted to see him in clearer detail than in moonlight shining through the windows. He stopped me before I could reach the switch.
“No lights. You’re not supposed to be here.” He growled against my cheek, and I nodded. Good point. The guards who stayed on the premises would rush to capture any intruder. Lights would be a giveaway something was happening here. I twisted around to see him and understand why he brought us here. I couldn’t see any hints on his face, and my curiosity demanded to know.
“Why are we home?”
“I didn’t want to lay in a different bed with you. It would be uncomfortable.” He released me and walked to the glass. I wanted to laugh. Out of all the things he could have said, he said that.
“Who knew vampires were so picky about where they rested. All right. I’m gonna jump in the shower to clean myself off, then I wanna soak in the spring before bed. My feet are killing me from being in those heels for hours.” I had hoped we’d fool around a little tonight, and if I was being honest, I wanted more than I had before. But maybe he wasn’t on the same page as I was. I quickly jumped in the shower, brushed my teeth, and wrapped a towel around myself. A swift breeze greeted me as I opened the slider and found Tatsou already in the spring. His bare skin glittered in the moonlight, and I smiled. The towel dropped, and I walked to the water in the nude, thanking the forethought to add bushes for privacy. If there were any guards, they wouldn’t see me, and I’m confident Tatsou wouldn’t have let them look. I groaned as I took a step in the hot water and shivered slightly as I sank down to my chin.
The vampire watched me, his eyes slightly glowing as I found a place to sit across from him. This spring held a few heated memories between us. I’d wanted to know so much about him then, and he’d refused to open up. Now, I could ask him anything and more than likely he’d answer.
“Is your tattoo for your family?” I moved my hands in gentle movements in the water, then lifted one red manicured foot out of the water for a second to stretch. His hand snatched it and brought it over to his lap, making me slip off my stone seat and dunk under the water. When I rose up and gasped for air, I stared him down and tried to pull my foot away. He maneuvered me to sit next to him with my foot in his lap.
“What are you—oh—mmm.” I wanted to let him know I wasn’t some water toy to toss around but then his fingers dug into the meat of my foot, and it felt so good. The warm water and the foot massage lulled me to relax against the stone wall.
“The tattoo was for my family. Tattoos were for criminals, but I liked the idea of remembering them for all eternity. Over the years, people knew me as the Wisterian Vampire.”
His words soaked into me with the heat. I liked that he loved his family and still held dear to their memory centuries later.
