Page 33 of Wicked Dove (Institute Thirteen #1)

“Another?” Ocean asks, pulling me from my observations, and my nose crinkles with uncertainty.

“Maybe we need some water too?”

She pouts, but sighs. “You’re right. Give me two seconds.”

“Thank you!” I yell after her, hating how it feels to not offer anything in return except my presence. I tamp it down, refusing to berate myself when I promised to have a good time.

She’s back quicker than I expect, winking as she places two water bottles and four shots on the table. I should have known.

These ones look different. One has a pink hue to it, while the other is dark on the bottom with a creamy layer on top. “Do I even want to know what this is?” I ask, and she beams at me.

“This is some strawberry special, but this is the bartender’s specialty. He’s Irish, you need to talk to him later, his accent is to die for, but it’s not as good as this,” she insists, getting giddier with every word.

“What is it?”

“A baby Guinness, but don’t worry, there’s no Guinness in it. I think it’s a dark coffee liqueur on the bottom and an Irish cream on top. Regardless, it’s so good, and you’re going to need it for when I get you up dancing.”

In sync, we reach for the baby Guinness shots first, sipping them down with ease. “Holy crap,” I gasp, running my tongue over my lips to savor every drop, and she grins.

“Right?”

“It’s so good, but for real, it’s going to take more than this to get me up dancing in that,” I state, pointing at the dance floor, and she laughs, the sound easing the tension from my shoulders as the song changes.

My eyelids fall closed as the song takes over the room.

It’s slower, but the kind that makes you sway your hips whether you like it or not.

The type that leads to sex. My thighs clench at the thought of coming to this song and I feel my cheeks heat with the reminder of the last two orgasms I chased, both at the hands of assholes.

Totally worth it.

“Oh, looks like we’ve got company,” Ocean whispers against my ear, and I pry my eyes open to follow her line of sight.

I gulp, watching in awe as Kael, Rion, and Thorne step inside. I don’t know where to look first.

My gaze latches onto Rion, eager to make sure he’s alright.

He’s wearing a fitted, short-sleeved, stone-colored shirt with a pair of jeans.

Everything fits snug against his muscles, but it’s the curl of his lips as he glances around the room that makes me breathless.

Kael stands a few inches taller to his right, wearing a blue t-shirt molded around his biceps with a pair of dark, denim jeans.

It’s sinful. Thorne is standing to the far right of them, dressed head to toe in black.

He screams regal, even in a shirt and jeans.

It’s just the air he carries around him. It’s intoxicating.

The three of them glance around the crowd as if they’re looking for someone and my heart rate spikes at the idea that it might be me. Ice runs through my veins, however, as Willow saunters toward them.

I can’t hear them from here, and I’m too far away to even read their lips, but the sneer that tips Kael’s mouth up is undeniable, and five seconds later, Willow is storming off into the arms of Tiran.

He doesn’t pay the three of them any mind, though, not even Rion after today, and I can’t help but find it odd.

He looks like the type to seek revenge, but he sure is sheepish now.

Maybe it’s just girls he likes to give a hard time to.

The comment of being Kael’s pet ripples through my thoughts, but I squash it down, refusing to let him get under my skin.

I need to pretend they’re not here and enjoy my night, but the second I think it, Thorne’s gaze lands on mine and the three of them stalk toward me in the next breath. I can’t tear my eyes away, watching them eat up the distance between us until they’re crowding round our table.

Rubbing my lips together nervously, I consider whether to call it a night, when Rion places his hand on my waist as he leans in. “Petal, you look stunning,” he breathes, and I shiver as his breath runs across the shell of my ear.

“Are you okay?” I ask, leaning back to check on him, and he shrugs, his eyebrows pinching slightly as he rakes his gaze over me.

“Never better, why do you ask?”

I frown. Is he insane? I blink at him, waiting for the joke, but he looks confused. It’s like he forgot what happened earlier. Shaking my head in disbelief, I glance past him to Thorne, who remains as silent as ever, but I don’t miss the way he glances down at my gloves.

They definitely don’t go with my outfit, but I’m wearing them regardless. I’m too scared of what I might do if I don’t.

Daring to look at Kael, I find his eyes already fixed on mine.

Without looking at Ocean, he hints for her to move, and she does.

I try to grab her arm to stop her, but she moves too quickly, stepping into the space he vacated so she’s nestled between Thorne and Rion, grinning at me like a maniac while Kael looms over me.

“Elodie.”

“Kael.”

The tension from earlier feels thicker now, consuming me just as it did then, and I instinctively take a side step toward Rion, but the vampire follows me.

“We should play pool,” he blurts, making my eyebrows rise to my hairline in surprise. But before I can say a word, Ocean pats him on the arm.

“Ladies don’t play, they dance,” she insists, and Rion grins.

“I don’t see any ladies around here,” Rion mutters with a growing smile.

I glare at him as my lips twist, but that only seems to make him grin wider. Instead, I dig my elbow into his stomach, but that only gives him the opportunity to drape his arm over my shoulders.

Surviving them won’t be an option if we stay here. I’m already breathless. Glancing around the room, my eyes latch onto the archway that leads into the separate area, which looks a lot quieter and seems to have more space for me to breathe. “Actually, pool sounds like fun.”

I nod in that direction, but when I try to side-step them all to get a head start, Kael reaches for my waist, stopping me before I can go anywhere. With his hand on my side and Rion’s arm around my shoulders, combined with Thorne’s forever-intense stare, I feel like I’m going to self-combust.

“Before we start, we should make a wager,” the vampire says, and my eyebrows pinch with uncertainty as I look up at him.

“Why?” I dare to ask, and he shrugs.

“Because it’s fun. You and me. Each of us gets a prize on the line if we win,” he offers, the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him. It must be a disguise, but even if it is, I’m intrigued enough to want to know more.

“Like what?” I breathe, but before he can answer, Ocean slaps her hand on the table.

“If Elodie wins, she gets a new cell phone,” she hollers, and my back stiffens as Rion strokes his hand over my bare shoulder.

“What’s wrong with the one you’ve got?” he asks, tilting his head at me, but Ocean beats me to a response again.

“She hasn’t got one.”

I glare at her, but she only smiles proudly back at me.

“You don’t have a phone?” Kael asks, his jaw ticking as his eyebrows furrow, and I sigh.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” I murmur, trying to worm my way out from between them, but Kael’s hand flexes at my side.

“No, it’s a great idea,” he insists, and I rub my lips together nervously.

“And if you win?”

Something shifts in his eyes, but it’s gone before I can decipher it. “I get to take you for a ride on my motorcycle.”

I frown. “Why would you need one of those here?” I ask, but he shrugs.

“Are you in?”

His question hangs in the air as I consider my options. All I have to do is play a game of pool. If I win, I get a cell phone; if I lose, I get to take a ride on his motorcycle. Both options sound fun.

Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I hold out my hand, which he takes.

It seems I’m agreeing to every deal tonight.