Min's Vampire (53 page)

“
The screw up of the
family?”
Just taking a shot in the dark
here
.

“
The warrior type, I was
going to say.”

Warrior?
“So you’re into hostile takeovers?”

Micah snorted. “War is always
hostile.”

“
You’re in the armed
forces?” Lucy asked with more disbelief than she’d intended. Micah
just didn’t strike her as the soldier type.

“
Not exactly, but you’ll
find out soon enough.” A song sprang from the open door to the
ballroom. It was fast and very vibrant, and a chorus of applause
erupted from the room of dancers and party guests. Micah winked.
“Time to get you back inside. The natives are just dying to get a
piece of you.”

Micah jumped up and pulled
Lucy along to the doors.
This can’t be
good.

Chapter 11

THERE WAS NO ESCAPE. Every person in
the room was forming a huge circle, all eyes seemingly on Lucy.
Across the way, looking very uncomfortable was Gabriel. But
uncomfortable or not, he looked great. Handsome, beautiful,
sexy…

Lucy shook her head, trying to catch
her breath as her heart raced on with ferocious speed. Why was she
feeling like this? Weeks had gone by and the most she’d felt for
this man was irritation, loathing, and a touch of pity. And now she
was feeling like her flesh was going to burst into flame every time
she looked at him.

I must be a better actress
than I thought. This must be what it’s like with method actors.
It’ll pass… just go with it for now… it’s just a job… nothing
more.

Suddenly Gabriel caught her attention
from across the room. The heated charge to his gaze was anything
but professional. And for a horrible moment Lucy felt naked and
exposed, and as if they were the only two people in the room. And
then the person on either side of her grabbed her by the hand. One
was Micah; he leaned down and said into her ear, “This isn’t hard
to learn. Just follow everybody’s lead, and try not to impale
anyone’s feet with those heels… especially mine.”

“
I’ll try,” Lucy mumbled.
She could do this. She was a former cheer squad captain, and she’d
taken ballet for almost ten years. She could handle some sort of
folk dance.

“
Oh, and one more thing,”
Micah said as everyone moved slowly to the right. “He must really
like you if he lets you call him Gabe.”

“
I just started calling him
that because I knew he didn’t like it,” she confessed.

“
Nobody gets to call him
that… well, I do when I’m looking for a fight, but that’s usually
when he goes all Mighty Mouse on me.”

“
Mighty Mouse?”

Micah smiled wickedly, and then the
crowd really started to move. Lucy found herself having to
concentrate to keep up. And then the music spiraled and everyone
separated, weaving in and out of each other. Someone caught Lucy’s
hand and pulled her into the fray, and with a confused laugh she
fell into step and zigzagged her way through the dance. Now and
then everyone stopped and the man next to her twirled her around,
and then the whole thing started again… but a little
faster.

Everyone was having a hell of a good
time, including Lucy. And without even noticing it, she’d instantly
fallen in love with the entire Enoch clan. She saw Micah fly by,
and then she was suddenly dancing with Luvici. His face was rosy
and he was sweating, but he looked happier than she’d ever seen
him. Obviously being with his family did that to him.

Lucy felt a short, sharp pang of
misery as she flashed on the last time she’d danced with her
father. It was at a stuffy old Christmas party almost two years
ago, but she could recall that moment with utter clarity. The way
he’d smelled, the room, the song, the way he smiled at her and told
her what a beautiful young lady she’d become. “His little
girl.”

With a brutal jerk Lucy was back in
Luvici’s arms, and she felt like she was about to start crying.
Luvici picked her up and spun her around once, setting her down
effortlessly, and making her squeal with unintended delight. And
then just as suddenly he swung her around and she crashed right
into a man’s broad, tuxedo-clad chest. The music stopped and the
room fell instantly silent.

Lucy looked up and found Gabe looking
down at her. He wasn’t smiling, and he didn’t look particularly
happy, but he was looking at her like he wanted to devour her. The
heat in those brown eyes was enough to burn down a house, and now
that she was staring into those beautiful eyes, she felt like she
was drowning in them. Her hands were against his chest, feeling his
breath heave in and out of him.

She felt a twinge of fear…
what was she doing? What was
he
doing? Was this just part of the act, or was that
lusty look really coming from him?

She stepped back.

Suddenly the room erupted in a wave of
boos and cat calls. The room was vibrating with the Enoch clan’s
bottled up energy. But Lucy still couldn’t take her eyes from
Gabriel’s. She could stand there forever and stare into those
melted chocolate eyes.

“
Kiss her!” a voice that
could only be Micah hollered. A short burst of laughter, whistles
and applause broke out. And then more voices started to chant.
“Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!”

Gabriel gazed down at her with genuine
affection, his mouth curling on one side in a crooked smile. “We’ve
been set up.”

Lucy peeled her gaze from Gabe’s eyes,
taking in the fact that every pair of eyes in the room was
anxiously waiting for them to kiss. She caught sight of Jonas and
Vivian, and Vivian looked like she would’ve bet her best jewels
that they weren’t going to be able to do it. Or was that a look of
disgust, like when you take a bite of spoiled shrimp?

“
We didn’t practice this,”
Lucy whispered.
We really should’ve
practiced this! We didn’t even talk about it. How stupid are
we?

The roar of a ballroom full of people
whooping and clapping their hands and stomping their feet
ricocheted around the room. Were some of the guests actually
howling?

Lucy’s startled gaze swept the room,
giving her a slight dizzy feeling as she turned her attention back
to Gabriel. Abruptly the crowd fell silent, as if they were in
their own little bubble. All she knew was that Gabriel was suddenly
the most beautiful man in the world, and she could feel herself
falling into his dark, hungry eyes.

Gabriel reached out and took hold of
her shoulders, his hands gentle yet scalding hot, his palms burning
her bare shoulders. His breathing came hard and fast through his
mouth, the look on his face was actual hunger, which just amazed
Lucy, made her feel like her heart was about to ignite in flames.
Gabriel looked not only hungry for her, but downright
shocked.

Happily shocked?
Lucy wondered.

But she didn’t have to wonder long.
Gabriel’s hands slid from her shoulders as he pulled her to him,
the cool smooth fabric of his suit sliding against Lucy’s flesh,
giving her goose bumps and making her gasp. The feel of his strong,
muscular body as he wrapped his arms around her and crushed her
against him made her tremble.

Oh… my… god…

And then his lips captured hers.
Smooth soft lips and a most indescribably delectable taste engulfed
Lucy’s senses. A shock, a current, a freaking lightning bolt surged
between and through and around them. Gabriel’s arms pulled tight
around her, clasping her to him—her own arms entwining about his
neck

Okay, this is
nice…

Standing there, being kissed
by a man she couldn’t stand a few weeks ago, she forgot her own
name, why she was there, or that there was even one other person on
the face of the earth besides him
.
Him.
No longer Gabriel, no longer Gabe
(just to annoy him), but
him...

Lucy felt every molecule in her body
move toward Gabriel, wanting nothing more than to get closer to
him. Some white hot flame had been ignited inside her chest, in her
head, at her core, and she could feel it searing her from the
inside, hotter even than Gabriel’s touch or even his lips against
hers.

The only sound Lucy could hear was her
own heartbeat clamoring in her head, its rhythm thudding in her
chest. She could feel Gabriel’s heart beating through his chest
against her own.

They’re almost in
sync.
And that little thought tore Lucy
from the seemingly endless rapture she’d found in Gabriel’s arms,
and she pushed away from him and gasped for breath as their lips
parted. Her entire body shook and her legs wobbled as she tried to
pull away from him.

I hate this guy!
She clenched her eyes shut.
It’s all just a job, a way to get my life and future back.
That’s it… that’s all!

And yet when she opened her eyes, she
noticed the way Gabriel stared at her, how his arms still clung to
her.

The world pushed back in on them as
Gabriel’s family rushed toward them, cries of relief and happiness
replacing the silence, and Lucy found herself surrounded by legions
of partygoers, all of them kissing her cheek and giving her
heartfelt hugs. Gabriel was besieged by slaps on the shoulders,
handshakes, and smiling/crying women congratulating him with more
kisses and hugs.

Inexplicably Lucy felt like she was
about to burst into tears. She was so confused. What the hell just
happened? Why did she feel so shitty about all these people
congratulating her?

And… why do I care so much
for all these strangers?

If any of them knew, they
would hate me…

She saw Gabriel through the
crowd. He looked happy.
He never looks
happy! What the hell’s going on here?
She
caught sight of his eyes, and there it was again, the one thing she
hadn’t ever expected to see in his eyes: need, want, adoration…
love?

No…

Lucy turned away as tears spilled from
her eyes, rolling in streams down her cheeks.

I have to get out of
here…

Lucy tried to move through the crowd
without causing a scene, but she knew that if she didn’t get away
from them all she was going to fall apart. She couldn’t let anyone
see her like that. She refused.

She took some deep breaths, swiped the
tears from her eyes and plastered a smile on her face. She pushed
urgently through the throng of party guests until she saw an EXIT
sign glowing red in the distance. It seemed to take forever, but
she finally made it through to the mahogany wood door, grabbed the
knob and thankfully found it unlocked.

~*~

The cool night air felt good on Lucy’s
skin, and even though it was rancid with the aromas of garbage and
decay, breathing it in helped steady her as she stepped haltingly
out into the alley behind the club. She let the door click shut,
cutting off the ebb and flow of the celebration, leaving her in
peace and silence. The only sound was her breathing and the click
and scrape of her heels on the cracked pavement of the
alley.

I’ve so screwed this all to
hell…
Lucy held her hands to her face. Her
flesh was so cold.
What was I
thinking?

Lucy expected her bitchy inner voice
to chime in with her two cents, but instead she was struck by a
terrible, potent feeling.

She didn’t know how she knew, she just
knew—something was there. She felt it. Somewhere in the darkness
that surrounded her, something was watching her. She looked around
her and backed up toward the door a step.

I’m going to die...
she heard an inner voice say.
That’s comforting.
Another voice
said,
Quiet... can you feel
that?

She
could
feel it. It was cold and dead
and absolutely wanted to kill her. And no sooner did she think
this, than it rushed upon her, unstoppable. A flash of golden
blonde hair and the whitest teeth—or were they fangs? It grabbed
her by the throat, picked her up in the air and slammed her back
against the cold bricks of the wall.

As her feet dangled in thin air she
fought to take a breath. She tried to pry the hand from her throat,
but it was so strong. She looked down and felt an instant shock.
Staring up at her, eyes frosty blue, long blonde hair blazing in
the wind, stood a girl no older than she, and not a bit bigger. Her
lips peeled back to bare the whitest set of fangs.

A fire erupted in Lucy’s
head—she was pissed.
What does this chick
think she’s doing?
She grabbed hold of the
girl’s wrist and glared down at her.
Let me
go!

For just a moment Lucy felt something
prickle across her skin, then it seemed to flow into fang chick’s
wrist.

The girl’s arm shook, and she lowered
her captive about six inches before pushing her back up into the
air. The look on her face was still seething bitch, but something
flickered in her eyes, if only for an instant.