Page 18

THREE

Seleme

My vision of what I’ve planned for my pumpkin is secure in my mind as my hands move with precision, but my heart is in my throat.

Maxim is one table away; I can feel him. Smell him. The pull is getting stronger with every passing moment.

The difficulty I’ve had running past his house at night is nothing compared to what’s been happening inside me since he took my hand and looked directly into my eyes.

I shiver, even though I’m warm, my fingers moving automatically on the slick inside of the pumpkin, but all I can think of is the intensity of his eyes. The sheer size of him, towering over me, and the thought that went through my mind: that he is the most beautiful human I’ve ever encountered.

His eyes were like black flame as he gazed at me. His face carved from something ancient and wild, unlike anything I’ve seen before. His thick brow from an earlier age making him handsome and dangerous at the same time. He looked at me in a way I’ve not experienced before. As though he could see me.

Not just the vision of me that most men see. I may be inexperienced, but I’m not naive. I know most men find me attractive. But he saw through that. He saw right into my core.

I lost myself in that moment, wondering if this is what humans feel when they fall in love.

Because I think, in an instant, I’ve done just that.

Only, it cannot be. It cannot.

He is not one of us, and my place is with my kind. My place is with Alberto Messina, my betrothed. My place is creating a child for him on the night of my twenty-first birthday. Or trying to at least. That’s my duty, and I won’t betray it for my own raging hormones and a momentary obsession with a human I can’t have.

If I did, it would mean ruin for my family. The Messinas have protected us these past two decades. Without them, the other vampire families would have certainly killed me to prevent my coming of age, the threat of a vampire as powerful as I might become too much for them to risk.

My own father, strong as he is, could never have protected me from that kind of threat. He hasn’t fed on a human being since he met my mother. That was her condition for staying with him, and he would never break his promise, but it leaves him weaker than most of our kind. We’ve needed the Messinas, and in return, I’ll do my duty to attempt give them a powerful heir.

Simple.

No, not simple.

Those were Anna’s exact words from earlier, but I shake them away. It doesn’t matter what I want. All that matters is the safety of my family. If I betray our pact now, the Messinas would come for revenge, and we are no match for them.

We all have sacrifices to make.

As my mind battles with itself, my hands move deftly, the face of my pumpkin delicately coming into focus. There is a low buzz in the crowd as they watch. Children are laughing and working away on the tables beside me, then something switches. My senses dull, and it’s like someone just pressed the world’s mute button.

Water. Running water.

I don’t know where, but it has to be and it’s close. It is my kryptonite. I glance around me, confused, as a dull crunching sound comes from the darkened ceiling.

There it is again, louder this time.

Feeling groggy, I tilt my head back to look up just in time to see the glint of spotlights reflecting from the thousands of crystals as they plummet toward my head.

Robbed of my fast reflexes, all I can do is watch, unsure what I’m seeing is real, when I’m struck from the side, arms locking around me as the crowd screams, and my senses return just in time for my heart to leap at a shattering sound so loud I feel the impact in the air.

Glass flies all around, hitting my exposed shoulders and sticking in my hair as I land with a thud on the marble floor of the ballroom. My fall is broken by something both hard and soft, and for a moment I just stare at the ceiling where the chandelier was a few moments ago. Then I realize it’s not something I’ve landed on. It’s someone. People are screaming and running, toppling over tables in the chaos as adults clutch children close to their chests and run for their lives.

“Are you okay?” It’s Maxim’s voice in my ear as the lights in the main part of the room come up, and I glance over my shoulder only to fall into his black eyes.

“Yes,” I answer, shivering not because of what just happened, but because I’ve never seen anyone look at me as he is now.

I’ve never been touched like this before. Never been this close to a man besides my father, and even dressed as I am, I feel completely naked under his grasp.

Fire blazes through me as his hands tighten around my waist, pulling me up and into him as we sit together.

For a moment, I’m lost in his eyes, my breathing labored as carnal thoughts run riot through my mind. I want him to rip the dress from me and toss it aside. I want him to bend me over the bench where I’ve just been carving and sink his cock deep inside me. I’m struggling under the weight of my own desires, and it’s like I’m watching myself, knowing that it’s the wrong choice but unable to stop what’s happening.

Then I spot my father moving toward us through the crowd, fear covering his face, and I come back to my senses. “I said I’m fine.” I fluster, pushing myself away and tugging my legs up under fabric layers of the skirt of my dress, trying to deny the dampness that soaks my panties.

“Seleme.” Papa is on his knees next to me, my mother by his side. His eyes run up and down, inspecting me, and I know if I was hurt his intense vision would pick up on it immediately. I only worry what else he can see. “You are not harmed. Just in shock.”

The relief in his voice clutches at my heart even as my pulse speeds. I'm overpowered by Maxim’s scent. My head is spinning, but it’s not simply from the rush of adrenaline and the danger; it’s him. He’s so close. Too close.

There's no longer any way to deny the effect this human man is having on me, and it frightens me more than my recent brush with death.

Yes, death. Because until my coming of age, my mortality is a yoke heavy upon my shoulders and from the looks on my parents’ faces, theirs, as well.

We all stand, brushing glass crystals from our clothes, and I struggle to cast my eyes anywhere but back upon him.

“Thank you.” My father turns and extends his hand to Maxim, who takes it immediately. My father brings his other hand to cover their handshake as my mother runs her hands down my hair with concern. “How can I ever repay you?”

Maxim looks at me as I shift, and we both move together to stand between my parents. I look around the room and it’s clear at a glance that mercifully nobody else appears to be hurt.

His friend Dimitri rushes over. “Everyone okay? Jesus Christ, that was close.” He glances at the huge chandelier, nearly as big as a compact car laying on the floor next to where I stood, then at the ceiling, and then back to us.

“Yes,” I answer. “It was.”

“That was some accident.” Dimitri’s words are tinged with sarcasm.

“Yep.” Maxim’s eyes are locked on mine. “No way that chandelier just decided to choose this moment to fall.”

My father steps towards Maxim. “Your reflexes are more than impressive. Do you by chance work with your friend’s security company?”

In unison, Dimitri answers yes as Maxim answers no.

My father gives them both a quizzical look before finishing, “The thing is, I agree with you both. What just happened could well have been intentional.” He clears his throat, then turns to Maxim. “I want to hire you. We’ve had some security concerns of late. Seleme is insisting that she be allowed to carry on as normal, but I’m worried for her safety, and after what just happened, I don’t want to take any chances. Your reaction time. I’ve never seen anything like it in a hum—. I mean, name your price and your terms.”

“Papa! I do not need protecting.” I narrow my eyes at Maxim, willing him to turn my father down. “He’s overreacting. I’m sure it was an accident. The estate is aging, things break.”

My father turns to me, shaking his head, then back to Maxim. “My daughter can be stubborn. I can protect her inside our own house, but clearly I need help when she’s out. Whenever she goes anywhere outside, I want you with her. I will be more than generous.” He shakes his head. “If you hadn’t been here…”

“I’ll do it.” Maxim’s voice is grave, and I roll my eyes.

“This is ridiculous.” I cross my arms. “Apparently I have no say. I’m just a helpless waif who cannot possibly make important decisions for herself.”

I know I’m being snotty, but the last thing I need right now is more time with this man. My life is complicated enough without his scent and presence sending my half-human hormones into overdrive.

“Your alternative is to have me with you inside the house and outside. Is that what you want?” My father challenges.

“No.” With a huff, I run my hand down my shoulders, brushing away the last remnants of glass and pumpkin.

“Good. We are all set then. My wife and I will stay here. I need to be sure no one was hurt, especially any children. People need to know we haven’t abandoned them. Take my car and accompany Seleme back to the house, please, and stay with her until we get home.” He reaches into his inside tuxedo pocket and hands Maxim the valet ticket. “Seleme knows the code for the gate.”

I sigh as Maxim looks my way, then turn to follow him, but as we pass my mother, I lean in and whisper in her ear: “Make sure Papa checks for running water. I don’t know how, but I’m sure water was running somewhere. And if that’s the case, it was deliberate.”