Roger’s steps had been an elegant balance, and while that remained at the core, the shift in his stance lent more power tohis movements. Knowing him, knowing the touch of him, Zack let himself be carried away and trusted his body to follow Roger. The first spin was a blur; the second brought a genuine smile to Zack’s lips.
Box step was too clunky of a descriptor for the way they crossed the floor. Zack eased through the long strides and movements. As their rotations continued, Zack realized that the floor had practically cleared except for Seamus and Vincent, the mage and warlock pair, and Candide with Lady Belladonna.
The tattoo on Zack’s hip began to warm. With a quick frown, he caught Roger’s gaze.
“Not me,” Roger whispered. “He’s throwing off an intense aura.”
The crowd had shuffled another few feet back from the main dancing area but remained to watch. Several of the faces—Zack didn’t have time to truly evaluate them—were slack, as if caught in a loop.
Seamus was attempting another manipulation. These were the preeminent members of the supernatural community of Chicago, and Seamus was asserting his authority as a badass vampire. No, he was marking his territory.
And that dug under Zack’s skin and festered in an instant. The party had been lovely, even if it was full of people who could snap him in half with a thought, and he’d been having fun.Seamus can’t help pissing on everything.
“Can you do anything to counter him?” Zack asked.
“I can try.”
Zack squeezed Roger’s arm. “Then do it.”
“I may need a little blood,” Roger murmured.
“Lucky for you, I’ve got plenty,” Zack said with a wink.
Roger smiled at him as if he were made of magic. As they continued to revolve around the dance floor, Roger navigated them closer to the edge. His eyes flared ruby red. He broughtZack’s wrist to his mouth like it was a natural step in the waltz and sank his fangs into his flesh.
It had to be one of the sexiest moves Zack had ever seen in his entire life. He could feel a flush in his cheeks. People were watching. More than watching. Zack gave himself over to the touch of Roger’s power. Desire emanated from him. A want of joy, a touch of love. Basking in Roger’s ability was like being spooned between him and Takashi. Not overtly sexual, but the promise that anything was possible.
Roger was sharing the desire tolive, to truly appreciate all of life’s tiny joys along with the epic ones.
Muscle memory made keeping in step with Roger possible as Zack strove to see the effect Roger was having on others. Gentle smiles greeted him. He and Roger were the crest of a wave, and where there was tension, the crowd itself seemed to sigh as they made their way past. Roger stopped drinking before they made the full circle, but his magic continued to flow. Though Seamus’s cold fear continued to claw the air in the center of the dance floor, Roger had formed a barrier. And as the song drew to a close, and the audience clapped, that barrier flooded into the center and dissipated the chill that Seamus had been laying out.
With a bit of blood and a smooth application of will, Roger had countered a vampire three times his age.
Roger wasn’t just some vampire. He hadn’t been that to Zack in a long time. Yet, in the moment, Zack was taking him in, and beyond the bias love gave him, he saw how special he was. And he tumbled head over heels for him all over again. As the crowd swept in to dance, Zack looked for Takashi and found him nearing them.
Vampires couldn’t cast reflections, but Zack was certain he saw the same sort of light in his soul mirrored in Takashi’s gaze.And that’s not just for Roger. He’s falling in love with both of us.
“You were wonderful,” Takashi said as he offered Zack a napkin.
One boyfriend had already had a taste. Trying not to let the blood spill onto the floor, Zack exposed his wrist again for Takashi. “Want some?”
Takashi’s eyes shifted from deep blue to a vibrant red. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Go ahead.”
Takashi sealed his lips around the wound Roger had created and gently lapped the blood spilling from it. The slide of his tongue along the tender flesh made Zack tingle from his toes to his cheeks, the sensation evolving into a warmth that pooled through him. That longing to get his boyfriends back to their bed and naked remained as Takashi took one last lick and then put the napkin he had brought over Zack’s wrist.
Anyone might be watching, but Zack didn’t give a damn. He belonged to Roger and Takashi, and they belonged to him.The rest of the world can fuck off for five minutes.
Unfortunately, their little bubble didn’t last that long. They’d managed to slip away from the dancing, but that meant people felt comfortable approaching Roger and engaging him in conversation. Compliments flew in, ranging from his grace to his magical prowess.
But there was bound to be someone who wouldn’t want to compliment them. The crowd gathering around Roger seemed to forget Zack existed, which suited him all right. He scanned the party for the real problem.
Long minutes dragged past before Zack finally caught sight of Seamus emerging from a hallway and reentering the party. Other partygoers parted the path for him until he stopped beside an Unseelie man. His pets in their rainbow attire swirled up beside him.
A color was missing. Purple.
Vincent.
