As they talk, a uniformed server swaps out your drink, and you start in on the next fruity margarita without pausing to think.
Ziros narrows his eyes. “But if you win?”
Hot Blond Dude grins openly, and instead of looking at Ziros, he stares straight at you. And you swear for a second that he has fangs.
Then you blink, and he’s just got a normal smile again. Of course he does. It must be the sparkling light reflecting off the pool and playing tricks on your eyes.
Or maybe you’re feeling the alcohol more than you realized.
You’re midway through another sip as he lowers his voice, still staring straight at you as he says, “If I win, thenIget a night alone with her.”
You choke, spitting your drink ever-so-glamorously all over the pristine wooden pool deck as everyone stares.
Oops.
“Sorry,” you say, wiping your mouth on a plush napkin that a uniformed server presses into your hands without delay. “But don’t you thinkIshould have some say in this?”
“My bad,” Hot Blond Dude says, throwing an arm around your shoulders as Ziros lets out an actual growl. “You’re right. How about you join in our little contest.” Giving your martini glass a nod, he says, “If you can down two more of those and still walk a straight line, you get to name your prize.” He grins, spreading his arms wide—lifting his arm from around your shoulders just in time, because Ziros starts to get up. “Anything I can give you for a night, you name it. It’ll be yours.”
Now it’s your turn to give him a hard look.
“And if I lose?”
He grins, and there’s those pointed teeth again, glinting in the low lights.
Only this time, you’re certain you’re not imagining it.
Fangs.
Hot blond dude has actual fangs.
And his voice echoes in your head as he says,If you lose, then I get to drink your blood.
Oh.
My.
Lord.
This guy really is a vampire.
Which, come to think of it, probably explains how he’s managed to down so much booze without falling over.
And same with Ziros, who also still hasn’t actually explained what he is, but never did deny being a vampire himself, now that you consider it.
Ziros pushes back from the tall, round table where they’ve been drinking.
“No way,” he says with a growl, rounding on the blond guy. “I know you just said something to her. If you can’t say it out loud, then the answer isno.”
The blond guy just laughs.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says to Ziros. “I didn’t say anything.”
That’s what he says, but he winks at you.
Ziros glares at him. “Yeah, right.”
“Come on, it’s a great deal,” the hot blond vampire says. “If you win, you two get my superyacht to yourselves for the night.” Turning to look at you with glinting red eyes, he lowers his voice, and your stomach tightens in the strangest way as he repeats the stakes. “But ifIwin, I get her.”
