“And what makes you say that?” The quietness of the question didn’t hide the edge beneath it.
Which was why I shifted slightly, suddenly very aware that the answer might not be one he particularly enjoyed hearing.
“Well… from what I understood, it’s forbidden for one of your kind to be with a mortal,” I said carefully, glancing down atmy hands where they twisted nervously in the silky material of my skirt.
A slow breath left him.
“I see the demon has been quite informative.” The faint, bitter tone in his voice made me lift one shoulder in a small shrug.
“It’s a good job he was,” I replied honestly.
“Otherwise, I would still be completely in the dark about everything happening around me.”
“He was wrong,” he stated firmly, and for some insane reason, I very nearly lifted my hand to smooth the tick in his jawline. And maybe he was holding himself back from doing the same with me, as the firmness of the statement made my brow crease slightly.
“Wrong?” I asked, my heart pounding.
“In this case…most definitely,”he said sternly, which was a sharp contrast to the warmth of his fingers as they brushed slowly along my arm. As though the movement was entirely absent-minded.
I opened my mouth to question that further. However, before I could speak, he gently redirected the conversation with a smoothness that made it clear the subject was no longer open for discussion.
“Let us not speak of it now,” he murmured, his voice lowering near my ear again. Which was precisely when he dropped his next bombshell on me.
“You wouldn’t wish to ruin the first date I’ve ever had, now, would you?”
At this, my jaw dropped, and before I could stop my runaway mouth, I blurted out the most embarrassing question of all…
“Oh, my Goddess…”
“…Are you a virgin?!”
8
THE DATING GAME
For several seconds after the words left my mouth, the world seemed to freeze. The horror of what I had just said crashed over me with brutal clarity. At the same time, my brain finally caught up with my tongue, and a wave of delayed panic made my stomach drop straight through the floor.
Oh no.
Oh no, no, no.
My hands flew to my face before I could stop them, palms pressing over my mouth as if I could somehow shove the words back inside where they belonged.
“What, is wrong with me?”I muffled behind my fingers in pure mortification. But for a moment, there was nothing.No response. No movement. Just a horrifying silence that stretched long enough that I risked peeking up through my fingers.
Wye was staring at me.
Not angry. Not offended. Just…stunned.
His pale blue eyes widened slightly, and the expression on his face was so thoroughly taken aback. For a brief, terrifying second, I wondered if I had just said the singlemost inappropriate thing ever uttered in the history of demon nightclubs.
But then…he laughed.
Not the quiet, amused sound I had heard from him before.
Not the low chuckle that rumbled against my back when something entertained him. No, this was different. Very different, and a sound I had never heard from him before.
The rich, deep sound burst out of him suddenly. A laughter so unrestrained, I was left gaping at him. It was the kind of genuine joy that seemed to catch even him by surprise as his laugh spilled into the air between us.
