Page 10

“It’s pretty. I like the fire dancers.”

He takes a step closer, and I instinctively take a step back.

His brow knits. “Are you afraid of me?”

He asks the question like it’s absurd that I would be. A strange man cornering me in a dimly lit garden.

“I don’t know you at all,” I say. “And you’re invading my personal space. I asked you where the bathrooms are.”

Now he looks like he’s barely holding back laughter. He shakes his head as he sets two fingers under my chin. “You didn’t ask.”

His touch sends a tingling warmth into my belly. As if I’m under his spell, I lift my chin as he examines my face. “You look like a doll,” he says under his breath.

My head grows fuzzy. “A doll?”

“Yes.” Those blue eyes grow heavy-lidded. “You have a sweet face.”

He lowers his head like he’s going to kiss me.

And that’s when I snap out of it. I yank myself away, stumbling against the stone wall behind me.

“No, thank you,” I say when I’ve regained my balance. I dart down the stone path, and I’m startled when I hear him laugh.

“Goodbye, little doll,” he calls out.

I don’t stop moving until I finally find the bathrooms. They’re tucked away behind one of the outer courtyards, dimly lit and mercifully empty. My hands shake as I pull up my dress and plop onto the toilet.

Did he really almost kiss me?

I shudder as I wash my hands after I’m done, forcing my breathing to steady.

It was nothing. Just a moment. He was probably toying with me.

I should have stayed with him longer. Should have asked him questions about Thornecroft. Isn’t that what I came here for?

But I couldn’t.

He got too close for comfort, and I chickened out.

When I step back outside, Rhett is waiting for me. He’s probably been hunting for me ever since I left. His expression is tight. “Where the hell have you been?”

I can still feel Damian’s fingers under my chin, his voice curling through my mind like smoke.

I shrug. “I got lost.”

He doesn’t look appeased. He grabs my hand and squeezes it as he guides me back to the party. “You’re not leaving my sight again.”

I smile. His overprotectiveness warms me now instead of grating. He’s the big brother I never had, and I’m shaken after that encounter with Damian.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“To meet my friends.”

Why does he sound angry, like I’m making him introduce me to his friends at gunpoint? I didn’t beg him to let me come to this party, and I certainly?—

My thoughts scatter when my gaze drifts to one of the castle’s lower balconies and I see a figure.

Damian Cross is impossible to miss.