He laughs, throwing his head back and making a show out of it. At least someone in this fucked-up family of theirs has a sense of humor.
“You’re a funny one, Ms. Elliot,” he says. “And strikingly beautiful. I would want to keep you around just on that alone. Although I’ve never known my brother to have much of a humorous bone in his body. He can be very dull, don’t you think?”
So far, I don’t see what trouble Santiago could pose. Besides being a bit arrogant and a big flirt, he seems harmless.
Maybe Lucian is just the jealous type.
“I…I don’t know.”
Santiago’s eyes fall to my choker, and he smiles. “Maybe he’s just sentimental in some ways. Vampirism should have strengthened him, but it’s mad e him weak.Fuckinghumans, sure. But falling in love with them? Absurd.”
Something about his words strikes me as odd. “He’s done quite well for himself. VMR is the biggest media company in the country, maybe even the world, so I’d say he’s doing something right.”
I don’t know why I’m defending him, but I can’t stop myself.
“I suppose so,” Santiago says. “But you are so unlike him. You shine. You have the lust for blood, the streak for violence that entices. It’s exciting.”
“I think that’s Vittoria you are describing.”
“She’s a hunter, yes, but she’s…loyal.” He makes a face that’s like disgust. “You’re still young enough, new enough to make your own decisions, and I suspect smart enough to know who’s worth your time and who will only ever waste it.”
“Andyouare worth my time?” I press.
He laughs and leans against the building. “All I’m saying, Ms. Elliot,” he says, practically purring, “is to choose your ship. If it were me, I’d take the sleek new one and not the old sinking one.”
“I don’t think VMR’s going anywhere.”
“He should watch his back. Changes are coming.”
“From you, Santiago?”
Once more, he smiles wide, his fangs sliding out of their sheaths and reminding me a bit of the Cheshire cat inAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland. “You should work for me. I could use fresh blood, a sharp mind.” He holds out a card.
I’m about to take it when he leans in close to me and slides the card into the bust of my dress. His palm brushes against my breast, over my puckered nipple, and I have a feeling that seemingly innocent touch wasn’t meant to be an accident.
Like Lucian, Santiago doesn’t seem like the kind of vampire who does anything on a whim. I guess the brothers share that trait.
“Don’t go down with theTitanic, Ms. Elliot,” he whispers, his breath feathering over my face. He’s that close. When his gazedrops to my lips, a sickening feeling stirs in my stomach. “I can help you rise above?—”
Santiago goes flying backward midsentence, narrowly missing the firepit, and crashes into the chairs set up across the patio. The few humans left outside scramble out of the way, rushing back inside to the party.
My blood surges, hot and hungry. Lucian stands in front of me, his entire body vibrating, and I don’t need to see his face to know his fangs are out. The air around him feels charged, like the moment before a storm breaks, and it moves through me like a thrill.
“Touch what’s mine again, and I’ll finish the job I started years ago,” Lucian snarls, sounding more like a savage beast than a man.
I’ve never seen him like this before. This is something raw and unrestrained, all instinct and possession. And my body reacts instantly. A throb of need shoots straight to my pussy.
Santiago laughs as he rises to his feet. “Yours? I don’t see your name on her anywhere.” He pauses. “How’s Penelope?”
Lucian leaps on him, and my stomach drops as his fist connects with Santiago’s face and the sharp scent of blood wafts on the breeze. My hunger ticks up a hundred notches, and I can feel fangs pressing against my lips.
I take a shaky breath. I hate how fast my instincts want to take over. I know Lucian said this constant appetite will dull as time goes by, but I don’t know how. Drinking the richness of blood being pumped from a living heart is all I can think about. And while there are moments of distraction, like being on my knees with Lucian’s cock in my mouth or attending this party, the moment the scent of blood hits my nostrils all other thought is gone.
I don’t want to be a slave to it. Idon’t. But when the shadows stretch across the street and a dark figure breaks into arun toward the park, something animalistic stirs inside me. My hackles rise, and a low growl rumbles in the base of my chest, the predator in me wanting to chase, pounce, and feed. My vision sharpens and the sound of the man’s footsteps thunders in my head.
I glance at Lucian and Santiago, still locked in their standoff, threats snapping back and forth like teeth and each trying to land a hit wherever they can. Santiago’s laughter echoes across the patio, and it only seems to push Lucian closer to the edge.
Then my focus snaps back on the fading human shape hurrying away. My pulse syncs to their footsteps. My mouth waters, and the world reduces to one thing.
