Page 27 of Unveil

“How much of this have you had?” he growls, almost to himself, but the emotion behind it makes me shiver.

“Maybe a sip? Why?” I grimace. Hedidbuy it for me.

“Maybea sip?”

“Ugh, okay, you got me. None of it alright? I’m sorry, but it smelled like rotten cotton candy and overly sweet drinks aren’t my style.”

His lips purse, but the tension in his forehead eases, his voice gentling. “And this is the only one I’ve gotten you?”

“Weird question,” I say, barely resisting being a sassy bitch. “But yeah, Ozias. That’s the only drink you bought me.”

He blows out a deep breath and nods.

“Good.”

Then he chucks the damn thing into a nearby trashcan.

“Hey!”

“Don’t worry.” His smile returns, fully carefree and wide this time. “If we have time, I’ll get you another one after our dance.”

“You really want to dance with me?” I ask, a little starstruck by the way the twinkling lights highlight the excitement flickering in his eyes.

“Yeah, Luna, I really wanna dance with you.” His gloved hand finds mine, not letting me stall anymore and laying the bouquet on the table. “We can grab them before we leave tonight.”

I frown at the wording, but then the music shifts into a sultry, slow beat as he leads me onto the dance floor. In the crowd, I see Brylie and Benoit dancing together, and Nox twirling aroundtwo girls I’ve never seen before, both of whom he’ll probably take home. Lucy’s nowhere in sight, but we’re in the safest bar in New Orleans, and my dad is literally stalking us all from the corner…

Wait, where is he?

Zy wraps his arm around me, spinning me to the beat, and catching me off guard. I giggle as he pulls me into his chest and leads me away from Dad’s usual corner booth. One gloved hand slides into mine, and the other rests on my lower back. Even through the fabric, my skin tingles underneath his warm palm, radiating a flush of desire through me.

Nowhe decides to pull out the stops? I exhale through my nose and can’t help my scowl, allowing myself to daydream about throttling him for turning my mind and body into an emotional wreck for the past few hours now. It’s not like he’ll see the expression through my mask.

He glances down and his lips quirk before he rumbles, “Don’t look at me like that, Luna.”

Oh God, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, has my name eversounded that sweet off his tongue? Like he’s tasting it slowly, savoring it. Pressed against him, I can feel every syllable vibrate from his chest and into mine. I want to curl into him until what he said hits me.

Oh.

Could he tell I was scowling at him?

Oops.

I swallow and ask hoarsely. “Like what?”

His head dips, brushing featherlight lips along my cheek.

“Like you can’t decide if you want to make love to me or hate-fuck me right here on this dance floor.”

My eyes widen, and I freeze, but his hands just tighten around me as he twirls me again. I glide with him, my body flowing in his embrace like we’ve danced for years, all while my brain short-circuits.

“I… I don’t want to hate-fuck you.”

“Not yet anyway. We’re young. It’ll happen eventually.” A sinful smile graces his full lips. “But the alternative sounds damn good to me.”

Any response I could have disappears in my watering mouth because…

Oh.