"Doesn't matter. He clearly said he wanted to pause the scene." His fingers tightened. "And on top of that, you threatened to drain him. That's inexcusable, Carnassial."
He dropped Carnassial to the floor like a ragdoll.
"Get him out of here and tell my sister what happened," the pink eyed vampire ordered. Glaring at Carnassial, he added, "You are forbidden from setting foot on my property ever again."
His property?I thought.
Carnassial groaned as the women hauled him to his feet. "Come on, Malachi, I wasn't actually going to do it!"
"I don't care."
Carnassial shot Malachi a disdainful glare as he was escorted out of the room. But Malachi didn't spare him a single glance.
He was staring atme.
I didn't know why, but a wave of relief flooded me, washing away all my anxiety.
The unease Carnassial instilled in me ebbed like a receding tide. A moment ago I'd been so nervous that my heart felt like it would explode from my chest. Now it calmed to a regular rhythm.
That was odd. Normally I wasn't calm around strangers, especially not incredibly hot, intimidating and powerful strangers. It took me a while to warm up to new people, but Malachi felt both novel and familiar.
Malachi sharply broke his gaze, staring at the intricate wallpaper. He let out a low sigh and dragged his hand through his inky black hair. It flowed like silk in his long, pale fingers. All the vampire roleplayers in this club were attractive, sure, but there was something different about Malachi.
Either that or I was developing a stupid little crush on the guy who just saved me. That was equally likely. I tended to do that with handsome alphas, but it was never reciprocated and they eventually faded. Sometimes it was just fun to pretend.
Malachi strode towards me. His movement was so smooth it looked like he was literally gliding across the floor.
"Are you all right?" he asked. He didn't waste time waiting for my reply. His pink eyes were already boring into me, roaming my body to check for harm. It was kind of sweet.
"I think so," I said, then felt dumb for giving him a wishy-washy answer. "Sorry, yes. I'm a bit flustered. Not because ofyou, but the whole... situation."
Oh god. Did my very first words to the hot vampire roleplayer have to be so embarrassing? Why couldn't I talk like a normal person?
Malachi's gaze hardened, two shards of rose quartz. "What situation? Now is not the time to be shy. Tell me exactly what that fool did to you."
"Uh..."
My tongue refused to cooperate. Malachi was so well-composed, so strikingly handsome, and—holy shit, he was standingsoclose to me. When I realized there was barely a foot of space between us, my heart writhed like an inflatable doll in a used car lot.
I mustered up enough brain cells to form a sentence. "He didn't actually do anything. He didn't touch me, or pretend to bite me."
Malachi's shoulders relaxed.
"But when I told him I wanted to pause the scene, he got annoyed," I said.
Malachi stiffened. He radiated fury.
"It might've been my fault," I added quickly. "It's my first time... doing something like this. So I don't know all the rules or social obligations or—"
"This isnotyour fault," Malachi cut in. "It is everyone's responsibility to play safely. The second you expressed hesitation, he should have stopped. Period."
"But I didn't know the safe word," I admitted.
His words were sharp and icy. "It makes no difference. He should have taken your comfort into account. It was an utter failure on his part and now he must deal with the consequences."
Malachi was so vehement that it flipped my perspective, and I realized what Carnassial did wasn't cool. It was nice to have an outside opinion confirming what I felt all along. That was why I wanted Spencer to come with me, to help me learn.
But honestly, I was starting to think I preferred Malachi's company to Spencer's anyway.
