Chapter Seventeen
Scepter knew he’d beenacting like an ass.He didn’t understand why she wasn’t claiming him.Hell, he’d never allowed another being to bite him, especially not a female.
“I don’t know what the theme is or how everyone is dressing.Oh my god, I feel totally out of my depths.How many of your people will be there?”she asked, pacing away from him.
He puffed out a breath before moving to intercept her.“Starla, you could wear a sack and look better than every other female there.Plus, I’d kill anyone who looked or even if it were in their mind, thought anything wrong about you.Fuck, I probably should stay home.Yeah, we should stay home and have sex.Lots of sex and lick chocolate off of one another.It’s safer all the way around.Savage would be pissed if I started killing people at the club for reasons he didn’t deem appropriate.”He ran his hand down his face.
She gave a dry laugh as he finished his word vomit.But the fire was back in her eyes.Scepter didn’t like it when she got all somber and shit, especially when it was he who’d put that look there.
“You’re not going to kill anyone.You need to stop all that pacing, or you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”She stopped in front of him.“Seriously, can you show me what years that passed were like?Are they pretty much the sameish?”
He closed his eyes, trying to recall what others typically wore in the past, but it didn’t matter, since each year’s theme was different.“This year it’s the Masquerade Ball.So think fancy, and everyone will probably be wearing a mask.”
She clapped her hands.“Oh, that sounds truly decadent.Are we going to do a couple's costume?”
Scepter lifted his chin, loving the blue fire that lit her eyes.Her wolf was riled up.Good.He’d been riled up since he’d first laid eyes on her.“Over there are the masks I had commissioned for us.If you don’t like it, we can get different ones.”
“Oh wow.Those are.Are those made of silver?”she asked, her hand reaching for the shiny masks.Her hand jerked back, making him chuckle.
“Anima Mia, I would never risk harming you with something like that.They are made of very thin platinum, so they’re easy for you to wear.See?”he asked, lifting it toward her face.The beautifully sculpted mask seemed to shift and fit her as if it had been formed precisely to her face.
“It was magically created to mold to your bone structure and no other.”He placed the male version over his, showing her how the mask did the same with his.
“That is so unbelievably cool.Okay, now I know what I want to wear and how I want to do my makeup.Now you need to go so I won’t be distracted by your smexy maleness.”She kissed his lips and turned to head toward the bathroom.
“How am I supposed to concentrate when I know you’re going to be naked and rubbing that raspberry lotion stuff on your body in there?”he asked, doing his best to look innocent and hopefully get asked to help her rub the moisturizer on her.
She shook her finger at him.“You’re not going to win me over with that look, mister.You and I both know if you come with me, what will happen.”
He wiggled his brows.“Yeah, I’ll becominginside you, and you’ll becomingon me.I think that is a win, win, my love.”He emphasized the word coming each time he said it, knowing she’d find it funny or arousing.
Starla’s joyful laughter filled their home as she shut herself inside their en suite.
He turned from the closed door, needing something to do to fill his time.
Usually, he’d open a mind link to Savage to ask about safety protocols for the evening, knowing the male would’ve pulled out all the stops since his female would be in attendance.Scepter’s mind wasn’t on business, though.Starla took up so much of his mental space.Before her, he’d been overseeing products coming in from the docks and missing shipments.
Starla only understood a small part of their lives.They provided security in exchange for a cut of the profits for dozens of businesses up and down the East Coast.Some of those businesses were allies who never balked at the cut, while others were growing balls and thought they didn’t need the Familial Jus Sanguinus protection.If they knew what Jus Sanguinus meant, they’d understand the levity behind the oath they’d taken.They were The Right Of Blood.The Club Jus Sanguinus, owned and run by Savage, was their stronghold, or their headquarters.If you didn’t toe the line, one of the enforcers brought you in, and you’d visit the lower levels where most never made it out.They also owned many properties around the world that they leased, making considerable profits.Being over five hundred years old gave them many advantages.
Still, some who thought they could get away without paying for protection or paying to run their businesses through Savage’s territory were getting bolder.Those fools learned the hard way what happened when they were no longer under the Club Jus Sanguinis umbrella.It wasn’t a good place to be.As the second in the Family, he was known to be the hammer.Savage was the blade.Neither of them left an enemy living to speak about.
Wolves pissed on shit they claimed.Vampires burned the bodies of those who fucked them over, claiming anything and anyone they chose from the chaos left behind.He’d never claimed a female like many other members of his clan.While Savage led and claimed their Family through ties that bound them, Scepter only allowed the familial bond because he respected the other male.With Starla, he couldn’t fathom not having her want him in every way, shape, and form.Shit, he was whipped.
A buzz in his mind made him wince.Shit, he’d blocked Savage and the others earlier, not wanting them to interrupt him and Starla after he’d created the link.
‘What’s up?’he asked Savage, shooting for nonchalance.
‘We have a problem at the Upper East Side.I need you to see to it before the party this evening.Ask if Starla wants to come here and get ready with Aurora.’Savage’s tone was more a demand than a suggestion.
