Distantly, I'm aware of gasps. Of someone dropping a glass. Of Derek's voice cutting off mid-sentence.
Kruk doesn't break the kiss. If anything, he deepens it, angling my head to take more. His hand in my hair tightens, holding me exactly where he wants me.
I should push him away. We're in public. At my sister's wedding. In front of my entire family and my ex-boyfriend and approximately seventy-five witnesses.
Instead, I kiss him back.
He makes a sound low in his chest, approving and possessive, and suddenly I'm not thinking about Derek or embarrassment or anything except the way Kruk's body is a solid wall of muscle against mine, the way his hand is cradling my skull like I'm something precious and breakable, the way he's kissing me like I'm the only thing in this entire vineyard that matters.
When he finally pulls back, I can't breathe.
His eyes are molten. Victorious.
"Mine," he says, loud enough for everyone to hear. "She is mine."
CHAPTER 6
KRUK
Her lips taste like champagne and strawberries and something underneath that's justher. Sweet. Intoxicating. The tactical analysis part of my brain, the part that never shuts off, catalogs the information: rapid pulse visible at her throat, pupils dilated, breathing shallow and quick, fingers clutching my jacket like she'll fall if she lets go.
The rest of my brain, the part that's pure instinct and hunger, roars one word:Mine.
I pull back slowly, making sure she's steady on her feet. The sudden absence of her mouth against mine feels like a wound.
Around us, the cocktail party has become silent. Every single person is staring. I can feel their eyes like targeting lasers, but I don't care. Let them stare. Let them see exactly who she belongs to.
Colletta's face is flushed pink, her lips swollen from my mouth. Her curls have gotten wilder, tangled in my fingers. She looks thoroughly kissed, thoroughly claimed, and the sight sends a savage satisfaction through my chest.
I keep my arm around her waist. She's trembling slightly, whether from shock or arousal I can't tell. Possibly both.
Derek's face has gone purple. His jaw works soundlessly, opening and closing like a landed fish. His new girlfriend clutches his arm, her expression caught between scandalized and envious.
"What the hell was that?" Derek finally manages.
I turn my gaze on him. Let him see exactly what I am. Exactly what happens to people who threaten what's mine.
"That," I say, my voice dropping to the register I used to use before battle, "was a warning. You will not speak to her. You will not look at her. You will not breathe in her direction for the rest of this gathering."
"You can't just?—"
"If you continue," I interrupt, stepping forward and forcing him back a pace, "I will remove you from the premises. Permanently."
Silence.
Then Colletta giggles.
It's that nervous laugh of hers, high and slightly unhinged, and it completely ruins the intimidation factor I was going for. Several people flinch. Derek goes pale. Somehow the giggling makes the threat more disturbing, not less.
I don't understand human social dynamics, but I understand the results.
Derek backs away, pulling his girlfriend with him, and disappears into the crowd.
Mission accomplished.
Colletta is still giggling, her face pressed against my chest, shoulders shaking. I can feel her heart pounding my ribs. Her fingers are still fisted in my jacket.
"We should extract," I murmured into her hair. "You require water and a secure location."
