“Phil Coulson,” Ross corrected her.“Although I suppose Men in Black work.”
“Ahhh.But really, why that costume?”
“I had to choose something I could move in.”
Annabella nodded thoughtfully.“Yes, probably wise on your part.”
“Ross.”
Ross turned to see Glenn hailing him from a few feet away.His boss stood directly next to the hall entrance, which was blocked off by darkness and red velvet curtains.Because Glenn had a warped sense of humor, he was dressed up as Count Dracula, top hat, sweeping cape, and all.He should have looked comical, or cute.And he did on some level.But the tuxedo suited him perfectly, flattering the man’s trim build.Something about the way he stood, poised and confident in the dim foyer, hearkened back to an earlier time.Like a lord waiting on a party to begin.Ross had the oddest urge to walk up and ask if Glenn would suck his blood, please and thank you.
Clearly an indication he’d been buried in Halloween too long.
Crossing to him, Ross asked, “Problem?”
“Only a minor one,” Glenn answered, mouth tucked up in amusement.“Come, my lovely.”
“That was a perfectly dreadful accent.”
“My Transylvanian needs work,” Glenn agreed cheerfully.“Now, hold still for a moment.You’ve glitter on your cheek.”
Ross obediently held still, enjoying the warm sweep of a thumb across his cheekbone.And he might be standing closer to Glenn than was actually necessary, but Glenn encouraged this by letting a hand rest on Ross’s hip.Even after that swipe, Glenn’s fingers brushed against his face, a warm smile lingering.
“However did you get glitter on you?”
“Your vampires, for some reason, insist they must sparkle.I helped slather them up.”Ross’s instincts were at war.He liked Glenn’s hands on him, all too much, and the impulse to capitalize on it was strong.But another instinct held him in check, reminding him of all the sensible reasons to not do what his libido urged.
Glenn’s smile at him wasn’t helping, because while it looked gently amused on the surface, a hint of hunger lurked there—or maybe it only felt that way because of the heat in Glenn’s golden eyes.This wasn’t the time or place.Plenty of people watched, and they were literally minutes away from opening the doors.But a selfish part of him wanted to step in, take the invitation in Glenn’s smile.
Glenn shook his head slightly.“They’re so silly.Ever since those books came out, they’ve been like this.You’re not running yourself hard, I trust?”
“You ask that question as if there’s a threat involved.”
“There is.”Glenn’s voice dropped in tone to a rough burr, his hand tightening on Ross’s hip.“I never want to see you that exhausted again.It alarmed me thoroughly.If I need to put fear back into them to manage that, I’ll quite happily do it.”
“I kind of want to say yes.Just to watch the show.”Ross had never seen a room full of adults so abashed before.After the incident with Dunham getting turned into the pound and Ross’s subsequent passing out from exhaustion, Glenn had decided to havewordswith the clan.Even Ross had felt guilty, and the lecture had mostly been for his sake.Glenn hadn’t been happy Ross hadn’t put his foot down before that point, but he mostly blamed his clan for not acting like the adults they were and being responsible.Their habit of shoving most of the responsibility onto Ross had irritated the master vampire and he’d had many, many words to say about it.
Glenn edged in closer by a few inches, eyes burnished gold in the dimmer lighting.“Is that right?Did it so amuse you?”
Ross found himself leaning a little in return, wetting dry lips as a soft thrill chased its way under his skin.Glenn’s gaze dropped to follow the motion, that hint of hunger deepening.
“Amuse isn’t the word I’d use.”Ross had been incredibly touched, in fact, that Glenn thought so much of him to be that angry.That protective.And seeing Glenn in full orator mode had given Ross chills again.He’d had the worst time stilling the urge to grab Glenn, haul him into some deserted room, and ‘thank’ him properly.Alpha males really were his weakness.
“Stop flirting, please!”Annabella called to them.“We’re past time, let’s open the doors!”
Glenn’s smile flattened into a Not-Amused-Frowny-Face.“I will do something evil to her later.”
“I’ll help.”Ross felt just as irritated.“But for now, let’s get those doors open before we have unhappy people outside.”
Glenn’s expression was resigned.“If we must.Annabella, the doors!”
The first group through was the usual mix.There were the horror junkies, eager for a thrill.With them were the scaredy cats who had somehow gotten dragged into this.A few were on dates, the guys eager for the girls to scream and jump into their arms.Ross saw one gay couple holding hands in a death grip and looking at each other as if they weren’t sure whose idea this was but it suddenly looked like a poor life decision.
Probably just as well Ross had an EMT crew standing by.
After they paid their entrance fee, a group of four approached the curtain.Glenn fell into character and intoned, “Welcome.For those brave enough to enter, approach the curtain.”
Ross stepped to the side, as if to draw the curtain back.
