Authors: D'Elen McClain
“
Exactly. I can dance, but
I’d prefer that we do it in the privacy of our home for the next
hundred years or so.”
She buried a soft smile against his
shoulder. “I promise to only dance with you.”
“
Harrumph. Your liege
thinks differently.”
“
He’ll survive. You dance
beautifully, Honey.” She laughed as he twirled her
again.
“
Can we go now?” he
grumbled.
She pulled slightly away from his chest
and gave him a sensuous smile. “We’ve only begun, and I want to see
all your moves.”
“
I have some, but I’ll
only show them in private.” His hand traveled across her hip and he
gently squeezed her bottom before moving his fingers back to her
waist.
Honey’s muscles suddenly tightened, and
when she turned slightly, she saw his gaze shooting daggers at a
stupid human who stared at her swaying butt. The man’s eyes
traveled up her curves, but he obviously discovered Honey’s glare
because he quickly turned away.
Mandy’s teeth found his earlobe and she
bit down gently before admonishing him. “Control yourself, mate.
This is supposed to be fun.” Her tongue came out and lathed the
small indent her teeth left behind.
“
Grrrr.” The growl left
his throat with a steady rumble, continuing deep in his
chest.
Mandy knew she walked on thin ice and
decided to get him off the dance floor for now. “I’m thirsty. Would
you mind if we had a drink?”
“
That’s the wisest thing
you’ve said all night. No alcohol.”
“
Grrrr.”
He laughed at her sweet imitation of
his growl and she felt his body relax. Honey ordered an appetizer
and two bottles of sparkling water. “Bring wine glasses, please,”
he told their waitress.
“
Is the wine glass
supposed to make me feel better?”
“
No, but it will hopefully
make the patrons here think you’re twenty-one. I owe Dmitri a favor
for letting you in as my guest.”
“
I’ve been to plenty of
dance clubs and no one’s ever known I was too young.”
“
I doubt that. They just
wanted to watch you dance and threw the rules out the
window.”
She couldn’t help her full-out laugh.
“Where were you when I was a gangly teenager with oversized
teeth?”
His eyes drilled into hers and her
breath caught. “Thank the goddess I was far, far away.” He took her
hand and brought it to his lips, but then pulled back. “I can smell
Dmitri on you. Too bad the vampire can take me out with one swipe
of his arm or he’d be nursing a busted nose right now.”
She tried pulling her hand away. “I’ll
go wash up.”
He kept a tight hold and very carefully
ran his tongue over the spot Dmitri kissed, his eyes never leaving
hers.
She could barely speak, but finally
managed through her ragged breathing, “You’re doing this on
purpose.”
His eyes completely melted her desire
to dance.
“
What? This?” His tongue
came out again and glided across her knuckles.
“
We can leave now,” she
said in a tiny voice.
His low laugh sent chills along her
skin. “You’re easy. I’ll remember that. If my mate wants to dance,
I’ll let her dance… but only with me.”
She couldn’t help giving him her
warmest smile. “Thank you, Honey.”
Chapter Thirty
Honey had no idea why, but his mate’s
teeth sinking into his earlobe instantly calmed him. When he’d seen
her get dressed in the revealing piece of barely there material, he
almost tied her to the bed and kept her home. She’d begged him to
take her dancing, and her soft, pleading eyes finally did him in,
though he knew better. Dmitri pushed Honey’s barely controlled
temper when they arrived. Honey realized the vampire did it to see
how well Honey could control himself, which wasn’t well, but at
least he wasn’t ripping out a human throat… yet. Rufus would slow
him down for a few seconds, but Honey also realized Dmitri could
have put more than one bouncer on him. Maybe the vampire wasn’t as
smart as Honey gave him credit for.
Their appetizers and drinks arrived.
The waitress poured the water into the wineglasses before leaving.
They nibbled and drank while listening to the music. Mandy moved
closer after her last bite and then he felt her hand travel to his
thigh. He placed his larger hand over hers, stopping her
progress.
She scooted a little closer, bumping
her hip to his, and spoke loudly in his ear so he could hear over
the music, “Where did you learn to dance?”
“
It’s required in order to
work at the club.”
Her eyes grew perplexed.
“Why?”
He couldn’t help his grin. “So the
women always have someone to dance with.”
Mandy’s fingers curved and her nails
dug into his thigh. “You dance with the women that visit this
club?”
“
When I’m not working as a
bouncer.” Payback was more than fair and he could feel her body
tense as she thought about what he said.
“
You’re a paid
dancer!”
That made him laugh and he leaned in
closer. “You could say that.”
Mandy took a deep breath and then
slowly released the air. “You will dance with no one but me. If you
come back to work, it will only be as a bouncer.” She shook his
hand off and moved hers to his inner thigh where she applied steady
pressure.
“
Yes, mate,” he said with
a low rumble, trying not to laugh again. He used his entire upper
body, pressing her back against the booth and stopping his lips a
hair’s breadth from hers. “Would you like to dance
again?”
She gave him a seductive smile. “I
thought you’d never ask.”
He pulled her from the booth and then
looked to Rufus. “Stay close.”
The techno-mix was good for only one
kind of dancing, so Honey let his knees relax when he grabbed
Mandy’s hips and pulled her in while moving a leg between hers. She
followed his lead and they steamed up the dance floor with hot,
sexy moves. One blast of music blended into another and he enjoyed
every minute of Mandy’s sighs, laughter, and gasps when she managed
to grind her lower body against his.
He couldn’t help his low growl when he
felt the tap on his shoulder. Rufus looked away, so Honey had a
good idea who would dare. “Go away, my liege.”
Mandy laughed into Honey’s eyes, but
then turned her attention to the vampire. “I’m sorry, Dmitri, but
all my dances are spoken for.”
Dmitri’s eyes grew intense. “That poses
a problem, and Honey owes me a favor.”
Honey suddenly turned Mandy so her back
was to the vampire and Honey could look him fully in the eyes. “I
have little control and this is not a good idea.”
“
I can handle you and I’m
officially calling in my marker… bear.”
Honey looked down at Mandy and saw the
concern on her face. He turned her toward Dmitri and disengaged.
Bending slightly, he kissed her cheek when she started to protest.
“Dance with him, but think of me.”
“
Always.” The huskiness in
her voice was tinged with anger, but she managed a small
smile.
Honey backed away and then turned and
went to their table. He eyed Rufus, but the bear again looked away.
He had a feeling Rufus wasn’t sure about getting in between Dmitri
and Honey, which made him a smart bear.
He sat down and glanced at the dance
floor. Dmitri touched Mandy’s hand with minimal contact to her hips
as he guided her in intricate leg moves. Honey relaxed a fraction
as he watched Mandy spin and dip. His liege was pulling Honey’s
strings and the damn vampire knew it. He had a wicked streak a mile
long and Honey sometimes wondered why Dmitri didn’t settle down. He
never even had a steady woman at the club.
The tempo of the music changed. Dmitri
turned Mandy so she faced Honey and then placed his hands on her
stomach while whispering something in her ear. Mandy’s eyes grew
dreamy and Honey exploded from the booth.
***
“
Your mate has a room here
at the club. Take advantage of it and you won’t be disturbed,”
Dmitri whispered.
Mandy concentrated on Honey and then
jumped slightly when he charged from the booth. The vampire gave
her a slight push forward and she found herself in Honey’s arms—his
rumbling chest against hers and his fingers digging into her
skin.
“
He’s playing with you,
mate.” She whispered against Honey’s ear, hoping to soothe
him.
“
He’s playing with
fire.”
“
He says you have a room
here?” Her teeth found his earlobe again.
Honey stopped moving and then released
Mandy, though he managed to grab her hand. She tripped along behind
him because he walked off the dance floor in long strides, not
seeming to care that her heals slowed her down. He took her out of
the main club area and down a long hallway. He punched in a
security code at the last door, opened it, and then walked in. He
turned right and started to pull her up a long narrow
stairway.
“
Honey, I can’t keep up.”
She struggled until he released her hand.
He turned, growled deeply, and then
picked her up over his shoulder. He took the stairs two at a time.
“That damn vampire knew exactly what he was doing.”
Mandy didn’t dare laugh, because Honey
was right. Dmitri had told her what he was up to as soon as Honey
returned to the booth. Honey walked down another long hallway then
opened a door and entered. The room held a bed and dresser with a
door to the side, which was obviously a bathroom. Small, but
efficient, if all you needed was a place with a bed, which she
landed on when Honey tossed her off his shoulder.
He unfastened her shoes, threw them
against the door, and then slipped his hands under her dress and
quickly disposed of her panties. His pants were unzipped and around
his legs a second later, and then he buried himself deeply between
her thighs.
“
Honey, please,” she
managed to moan.
“
Please what?” he said and
withdrew, only to thrust forward again.
She didn’t speak after that. There were
no words, and, thank the goddess, no interruptions. She finally
cried out while sinking her nails deeply into the skin on his ass,
because that’s all she could reach that was bare. He lowered his
arms so his body lay fully on hers, and then after two more
thrusts, he shouted his completion.
A few minutes later, he got up from the
bed, removed his pants and shirt, turned off the light, and
snuggled back in with her. It was impossible to keep her eyes open
and with a smile, she fell asleep.
Chapter Thirty-One
Honey scratched his nose
because the ceiling fan ruffled Mandy’s hair and it tickled across
his face. It was the middle of the night or very early in the
morning and he lay holding her, his nose twitching. His heart froze
for a moment and then a grin, unseen in the dark, lit up his
face.
Dmitri… you damned blood
sucker.
Honey wanted to laugh out loud, but he
didn’t take a chance of waking his mate because she’d never get
back to sleep. He shut his eyes and managed to fade away until
Mandy wiggled from his side and made her way to the
bathroom.
He didn’t have long to wait. The
bathroom door burst open and his mate launched herself across his
body, delivering kisses over his neck and face.
“
You did it, Honey! You
did it!”
He didn’t need to ask what, because
he’d scented her pregnancy when he woke up earlier.
“
Can you smell it? Please
tell me you can.”
He rolled over so Mandy lay beneath
him. “Yes, my love, you’re pregnant, but I think you had a little
to do with it, too, and maybe a meddling vampire.”
“
How would a meddling
vampire have anything to do with me being pregnant?”
Honey had to laugh at the disgruntled
sound of her voice. “He, my love...” He placed a soft kiss on the
tip of her nose. “…obviously decided we think too much and have
been trying too hard. Last night, neither of us considered the
possibility of creating a child and it happened.”
“
I’m giving him the
biggest kiss the next time I see him.”
“
I don’t think so,” Honey
growled.
Mandy’s arms wrapped tightly around his
back and her next words were breathed into his ear, “Silly
bear.”
He gave a husky laugh before kissing
her. When Honey squeezed her breast, she began wiggling to get
away, so he stopped, looking down at her in question.
“
We have too much to do
today and we need to get started.” Her face showed an eagerness he
obviously didn’t understand.
“
Do?”
“
Yes, Honey, we need to go
shopping, buy things for the baby, and then go and tell your
family. The other clans need to be notified that we have
successfully mated and preparations need to be made. I plan to
carry in wolf form and if I stay that way, my gestation is
fifty-nine days and we will be holding our first pup in two
months.”