“Well, I was saving you from that fucking scum. Now, it’s up to you.”
“Fuck you.” I step backward, swallowing over the lump in my throat. “I don’t need you manipulating my energy, or whatever you’re doing.”
He grabs my wrist and pulls me closer, and my heart skips a nervous beat. He leans in, dropping his voice just low enough that only I can hear it.
“I’m not manipulating anything, sweetheart.” His eyes are dead serious.
For a long moment, our eyes remained locked, and reality sets in. It isn’t his magic calming me from the inside like a balm. It’s him. His presence. Whether I like it or not, Tobias is a safe place, and he’s not going to letanything happen to me. Despite our hatred, despite our differences.
He meant what he said. He’ll keep me safe.
My lips part but no words come out; my thoughts are still trying to catch up.
“Now, should I leave you alone again?” he asks, his eyes darting around the dancing crowd around us. “Because if anyone else touches you, I might actually snap their neck.”
Heat swallows me, and I’m mostly sure it’s the alcohol finally hitting my system. I need another drink, especially to chase off the jitters I currently have, but I don’t want to move. I don’t want to leave the dance floor. I could ask Tobias to go fetch me another one, but I don’t want him to leave either.
I just want to… stay.
“Do you want me to go?” He tilts his head to the side, waiting for an answer.
Yes, go away.
No, stay.
Fuck.
“Dance with me,” I blurt, immediately regretting it. Where the hell did that come from?
“I don’t dance,” he replies flatly.
“Okay, well I do. You stand there and look pretty,” I say, grabbing one of his hands. “I’ll dance.”
I don’t wait for an objection, I just spin around on the spot and press my ass against his pelvis. He tenses against me, but I guide his hand to my hip, hoping he’ll go with the flow. I don’t want to stop dancing, but I think I’m done with creepy fuckboys for the night.
Tobias is the only creep I’m willing to tolerate right now, and he isn’t really a creep. Just a fucking dick. A protective one.
I roll my hips back, grabbing his free hand and guiding it to my other hip. At least he doesn’t pull away. That’s something. But he doesn’t make an effort to move either; he just stands still, like a brick wall, while I move against him.
For a solid minute as the music pounds, I’m convinced this is a bad idea. Tobias obviously doesn’t want to dance, and I’d have more fun by myself in a corner. But then his fingers increase their pressure on my hips and he pulls me back against him. He dips low, his mask brushing the side of my neck, making my eyes flutter.
“You’re walking a thin line, sweetheart,” he warns, that deep, gravelly voice rolling through me like an aphrodisiac. “Are you sure you want to tempt a beast?”
I shudder, my movements faltering as delicious heat spreads through my middle. My breath stutters as he moves my hips with his hands, rolling me against him.
Do I want to tempt a beast? Do I want to be his prey?
My pussy flutters at the thought, and I lean back into him, smiling when I feel the outline of his cock through his pants.
“You’re all bark and no bite, Toby,” I chuckle, knowing he can hear me.
His fingers dig into my hips harder, and I hiss through my teeth. “Famous last words.”
Chapter 17
Tobias
This was not part of the plan.
