My friend sighed—and relented, hands flying a mile a minute. “The bartender came down with a sudden case of food poisoning, and Raleigh had to leave for a few minutes to feed Evie and leave her with the sitter, and?—”
“Where do you want me?” Shi asked, shrugging out of their jacket.
“I—” He froze. “You can read sign?”
“Yep,” they said, rolling up their sleeves. “My aunt’s deaf. Shiloh, they/them, and also a half decent bartender.”
“Angel, he/him,” he returned. “Follow me.”
And they were gone. James and I could only stare at each other before dissolving into relieved laughter.
“Did that really just happen?” I asked.
“I think it did—but I’m glad Shiloh came.”
“Me too, but I think we need to keep a close eye on those two. You know what they say about the quiet ones.” Snickering, my head spun and I swayed on the spot. The champagne was taking a toll.
“Let Raleigh worry about his husband.” James placed a hand on my lower back and led me away from the bar. “We should find you something to eat.”
After James swiped a couple chocolate pastries from the kitchen, we spent the rest of the cocktail hour exploring the stunning venue. The lights in the trees had sprung to life, casting an ethereal, golden glow over the sprawling green grass. Somewhere, crickets chirped. The reception area lit up the night, neon lights dancing over the black and red decorations. We paused to watch the setup and once my food was gone, I tugged James into me.
“Thank you for this,” I said, ghosting my lips across his. “This was the best day.”
“I agree.” James’s tongue darted out, licking a stray smear of chocolate off my lips. “Couldn’t have gone better. I’msoglad you agreed to marry me. You keep me on my toes, Ryder Clark.”
“And you keep me grounded, James Campbell.”
Our lips met, weakening my already questionable knees. James caught me with an arm around my waist and guided me backward until my back hit the rough bark of a mesquite tree. I groaned, letting him hold onto me as his thigh wedged between my own.
“How long do we have?” I asked.
“Not long enough. You’ll just have to hold out, love.”
I’m not ashamed to admit that I was panting, but James swallowed my whimper. Bracing himself against the tree above my head, he licked into my mouth and ground his hips against mine. He quickly broke off the kiss to nuzzle into my neck, shoving my collar out of the way and nosing along his mark. The venom throbbed under the skin, reminding me what happened when he put the ring on my finger. I began to ask about it, but James suddenly slapped a hand over my mouth, silencing me.
“Someone’s here,” he mouthed, scanning the tree line. My heart thundered—and my cock throbbed. James’s eyes must’ve landed on something, because his mouth dropped open in surprise.
“Very slowly,” he said, almost too quietly for me to hear, “glance over your left shoulder. And stay quiet.”
Slowly, I rotated to follow his line of vision. At first, I didn’t see anything, but then my vision adjusted to the darkness. Two people stood just beyond the tree line, though it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began. The taller of the two pinned the smaller one against a large tree trunk. Hands roamed bodies, and shirts were tugged free of pants. The smaller one’s head fell against the wood, and the taller turned his attention to the other’s neck.
“Who do you think it is?” I asked, amused.
“I know who it is—so do you.”
James took my hand and spun me around until my hands instinctively flattened against the tree. I studied the two writhing bodies in the darkness, looking for any sort of recognizable features. My husbandmoved in close, molding himself to my back until I moaned, feeling the hard ridge of his erection grinding into my ass.
“Still can’t see?” he said into my ear, drawing goosebumps across my skin.
If focusing on the shapes was hard before, it was damn near impossible now with the way my eyes threatened to shut. Then the taller one withdrew, and something glittered on his lip.
Blood.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered.
Gabriel dove in for another taste and the human—it must have been Luke—cried out, knees buckling.
Fuck, that shouldn’t have been as hot as it was, and the thrill of knowing that they could look up and catch us watching at any moment? Well, that only made me harder. James wound a hand around my hip, grasping the bulge between my thighs.
