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“Andi? Do you understand?” he asks softly, repeating his earlier question.

I gulp, my throat feeling too dry. “Understood.”

He looks at me still with those dark, impenetrable eyes and says, “Good.”

Then he kisses me, and my brain short-circuits.

It’s a soft, chaste kiss. A bare whisper on my lips, like a greeting between lovers. I feel myself respond, shaking a little as I kiss him back. A zing of pleasure races down my spine, and my breath quickens. Then he’s gone, standing up straight and walking away. It takes a moment for my brain to catch up to what just happened.

What the hell was that?

Chapter 11

Julian

I hide a grin as Andi races to catch up with me. I can feel her outrage bristling behind me.

“Julian,” she splutters, “that can’t happen.”

“But it did, Andi,” I retort, heading back to the main stage. That odious blonde from before is screeching, just like I predicted. Her tone is too strident, and she’s trying too hard, making her voice a little harsh on the ear. I wince a little. I certainly hope that not all the performers at La Couronne Bleu sound like her. I suspect that Andi does not.

“Julian!” bursts out Andi, making me stop. I turn and can see that she is flushed most becomingly, indignation in her eyes. It makes me think of her blood, just below the surface, and my mouth waters. Surely now that a few days have passed, the curse’s taste should be completely gone from her. I want to check, but this isn’t the time for it.

“You will come to my house tomorrow for dinner,” I tell her.

That stops her in her tracks. “What? Don’t change the subject!”

“Why not?” I ask. “I know what you are going to say. That we should not kiss, that I should not try to seduce you. That we should keep our relationship professional and platonic. But I don’t want to, and I don’t think you really want to either.”

She splutters again. “How dare . . . what do you . . . how do you . . ?”

“How dare I?” I say, stepping toward her again. “I dared because I saw the wanting in your eyes and felt the same in my blood. What do I mean? I mean that you have been hurt by your bastard ex and are feeling gun-shy about another lover, but you are being of passion and shouldn’t be alone forever. How do I know this? Because you kissed me back, Andi. You know you did.”

Andi gapes at me like an adorable fish. I consider pushing her back up against the wall with my body and kissing her again, really kissing her this time, to show her her own desires, but then I see something behind her loss of words. A hint of fear. And though I often prefer that people fear me, something about Andi’s fear bothers me. I find myself wishing that I had met her before Colton, that he would have never met her and taught her to be so scared of the world. I would have her fearless and passionate in my arms, standing like a queen in confidence. How magnificent would she look like that, I wonder? But that is not how she is now. She is scared, perhaps of her feelings, perhaps of me. I suppose that being human, she is not used to Others, and being a civilian, she is not used to the dark underbelly the Fraternity thrives in. She will need to be slowly introduced and carefully seduced if I want her in my bed. And I do, I decide, want her in my bed, sooner rather than later.

So, I don’t crowd her back to the wall, but I do stand tall over her, making her look up at me and gentle my face with a smile. “Worry not, ma souris. I will let you get used to the idea. But I will not give up. Do not ask it of me because I won’t.”

Her eyes are wide and luminous, the cerulean depths flashing almost violet for a moment. “I might never be ready,” she tells me. “It's a terrible idea for us to get together.”

“We need not be together to enjoy each other’s . . . company,” I say deliberately.

She looks intrigued at the thought, but then her eyes shutter, and she looks away, avoiding my gaze. Pity. I do so enjoy looking into her changeable, uniquely beautiful eyes.

“So, dinner tomorrow?” she asks, now the one to change the subject.

“Yes, ma souris. I shall feed you . . . and you shall feed me.”

Her eyes fly back to mine, startled. “Oh, you mean . . .”

“Yes,” I confirm. “The first feeding will be tomorrow, so that you have your day off to recuperate. Be prepared.”

Andi nods, not looking scared. I suppose she has already been fed on by me once and enjoyed it, though I cannot say the same. Still, I think I shall this next time. I don’t know why I feel so desperate for her blood, but something about her calls to me. I think we will be a perfect blood match.

“I, uh,” she says, looking away from me again. “I need to get back to rehearsal, or Jas will take all my allotted time, and I wanted to add a new song to the setlist.”

“Of course,” I say smoothly, moving out of her way. I’ve gotten what I wanted, anyway. “After you.”

Andi hurries past me, but not before I see the flush on the back of her neck and bite back my grin. She is looking forward to the feeding, I can tell. It won’t be long before we are feeding in my bed.