I’d worn panties but not a bra, and I was completely bare. The broken strap, the flash of creamy skin, and Severn seemed to lose his capacity to think. He was suddenly a feral thing, and I was some fluffy little animal who had walked right in front of his famished mouth. He lowered his lips to my breast, nipping at the skin so hard it was painful.
I repeated, “Put me down!”
But he didn’t. He ground his hips against me, squeezing my breast too hard, and my pulse started throbbing not from desire but from fear.
“Severn, stop!” My sharp tone snapped him out of his trance, and he blinked a few times as though coming out of a spell. He straightened, though his eyelids were still heavy with lust. “What’s wrong?”
“What’swrong? I said I didn’t want to do this in public!”
He looked confused at my anger. “I got carried away.” He looked sincere as he lowered me to the floor. My heart was raging. I was still caught somewhere between lust and desire, anger and pain over his attitude.
Too rough.
Too possessive.
For a second there, I’d seen something that bordered on frightening. I knew Severn would never hurt me, but he was a different species. Fae didn’t have the same ideas as humans about control, intimacy, permission—subjects that could get easily tangled and overstepped in the human world, so add in a fae, and it was a complete mess.
Holding the broken dress strap up to my shoulder to cover myself, I shook my head, trying to calm down as I leaned my weight back against the door.
Then, I heard a creak behind me.
It took a moment for my thoughts to realize what was happening. The doorknob near my hip turned, and the door swung open.
Shit!
Losing my balance, I fell backward through the open door. Severn lunged forward to try to catch me, but he wasn’t fast enough. I crashed to the lobby floor and smacked hard on my ass, wincing.
For a second, I stared up at the lobby ceiling and the crystal chandelier blinding me with hundreds of reflected glimmers of light, utterly dazed.
Then, a brighter light flashed.
I shielded my eyes, blinking, and then went still with dread. A camera snapped again in front of me, then pulled back to reveal a grinning familiar face. Black-rimmed glasses and a hipster goatee.
Phone Dude.
Phone Dude chuckled darkly as he checked his camera feed, whistling low when he replayed the picture.
“Trouble in paradise, eh, Mr. Wilde?” he asked. “Sounds like you were having quite an argument in there. Amongother things.” He looked down at the panties around my ankle and took another picture.
How did he get inside the building?He was one of the paparazzi outside, not the gala’s professional photographer. And how had he known we’d be here, in the coatroom? That smug grin made me think heknewhe was going to catch us in a compromised position.
While I was still searching for words, he gave me a long once-over and said, “Willow O’Dell, nanny with the golden…well. What exactly happened to get you upset? Severn get too handsy? Rip your dress? Should I call the cops?”
Severn growled as he stalked out of the coatroom. Phone Dud’s heavy camera was too cumbersome for him to easily get away, and Severn grabbed his shoulder roughly.
“Give me that camera,” Severn snarled.
Phone Dude had clearly been in altercations with celebrities before and knew exactly how to play his hand. He grinned as he held up his palms innocently. “Hey, hey, just doing my job, man.”
Severn suddenly shoved him up against a column, knocking the wind from his lungs.
“Severn!” I cried, clutching my broken dress so I wouldn’t flash the small crowd that was gathering in the lobby, drawn to the shouting. I pushed to my feet and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Just leave him alone.”
Phone Dude coughed, then chuckled again once he caught his breath. “Do that again, and I’ll sue. I can get a few million in an assault case.”
He was intentionally baiting Severn; anyone could see it. But Severn was more agitated than I’d seen him before, his eyes wild, blinded to the man’s manipulations. He couldn’t cast a spell on Phone Dude without sealing it with a kiss, and for obvious reasons, he didn’t want the people gathered in the lobby to see him kiss a random photographer; he’d have to erase their memories, too, which would mean kissing each ofthem. Impossible. There were too many people at the gala.
Too many witnesses.
