Page 34 of Snowed In with an Incubus

“Well,” she said, almost shy. “Would a dance make you feel better?”

Sam swallowed. He should say no. Should take her home before he really lost it. Should make the most of their last night together:make her come until she told him to stop, drink his fill to make up for the empty years ahead.

Her smile dimmed. The worry was still there, threatening to overshadow it completely.

He grabbed her hand. “Let’s find out.”

Her grin was so bright Sam almost didn’t notice his back spasming, wings twitching under his bones.

She led him to the dance floor and pulled him close. She swayed against him—humming—like he wasn’t about to let his wingspop out in the middle of the dance floor.

“This town is nice,” she told him, mouth blissfully close to his ear. “I get why you like it.”

“It’s pretty great,” he said, strained. He had to stop himself from grabbing her, burying his face into her neck, and breathingdeep. His arms tightened around her waist. Her breath hitched. The chatter and music of the party was suddenly muffled. Theonly thing he could hear was her breath getting heavier the tighter he held her.

He wanted to pin her down right here. He wanted to make her cry with how good it felt and then he wanted to lick her tearsaway and make her hot chocolate. Oh god, what was wrong with him?

His spine spasmed. He ripped away from Jaz and stumbled back, almost bumping into an orc.

Jaz frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he gritted. It didn’t hurt. It would be easier if it hurt. But this felt … right. Even under the deep shame,which was the only thing stopping him from shifting right now, he couldn’t get over how right it felt.

“Are you hungry again? I thought—” Jaz touched his shoulder. She didn’t grab him, didn’t hold him there, but she might aswell have. Sam stilled, vibrating with need.

Jaz was still smiling, small and unsure. “We can go if you need it. It’d be the shortest New Year’s party I’ve ever been to,but we can do a countdown at your place. If we’re not too distracted, anyway.”

He shook his head, heart pounding. How could she be so casual about this? He’d almost gone too far last time, she had to tellhim to stop. What if he hurt her? Everybody said it would take a long time to truly hurt her, but what if he lost control?He didn’t know anyone who that had actually happened to, but what if it happened to him?

“It’s okay,” Jaz assured him. “Hey, it’s fine if you shift! Nobody’s going to judge you! You don’t need to be afraid, okay?Sure, there was one whole second where I thought you started to take too much—”

Sam’s blood turned to ice He stared at her in horror. “What? When?”

Jaz waved her hands dismissively, like this wasn’t a big deal. “When you fed off me at your house. Like I said, it was onesecond, and then you stopped and everything was fine!”

She kept talking, but it turned into static in Sam’s ears. He hadn’t known. How could he not know? What if he’d kept going?

“Sam?” Jaz’s tentative voice cut through his panic. “It’s really okay. You didn’t hurt me.” She reached up. Sam didn’t knowif she was going to push his hair out of his eyes or touch his forehead where his horns were trying to sprout, and he didn’twant to find out. The room was so crowded that everyone would see him, see the monster he was always going to become.

He shoved her hand away.

“Would you stop?” he barked, shaking. “You can’t just … bulldoze me into being okay with this. It’s too much. You’re too much.”

Jaz’s smile dropped off her face. Neither of them moved. Then Jaz’s chin wobbled, and Sam was flooded with guilt so intensethat he momentarily forgot about the appendages trying to get free of him.

Jaz lifted her chin. Her smile came back, watery and stubborn. This was a girl who had stormed out the second she found outher boyfriend was cheating. Who had charged into a tattoo studio after closing to demand a tattoo to prove to herself thather ex was wrong about her—sure she was the sun, and she owned it. She wasn’t going to stand there and let him snap at her.

“I’m going to stay at the inn tonight,” she said. “Happy New Year, Sam.”

“Wait,” Sam said, heart dropping into his stomach. “I didn’t—”

She started pushing through the dance floor. He went after her, ducking around minotaurs and getting slapped in the face bychimera wings, almost stepping on a mermaid’s tail. He ran past Reg, who put down his beer long enough to say, “Whoa, arewe playing tag?”

“Shut up,” Sam said, rushing past him.

“Ooookay,” Reg muttered.

Sam caught her in the front hall next to the coat rack.