Alex embraced his good fortune. Elaina’s eyes had widened after she’d spoken, as though she hadn’t meant to say the words, but he wasn’t going to give her a chance to change her mind.
He slanted his mouth over hers and tightened his arm across her back, cradling her closer. Her lips, warm and soft, gave in to him.
She moaned, echoing his pleasure. The vibration traveled through his body, blazing a trail of arousal. Unable to hold himself back, he stopped any pretext of ballroom dancing.
His tongue flicked over her lips, demanding. She gasped and opened her mouth. Her fingers twisted into his hair, tugging him to her.
He obliged and swept his tongue inside. A sweet-spicy flavor hit his senses, and he was starving for more of a taste. A whole feast in fact. Intoxicated by their connection, he crushed her against him. The pressure was all that contained his rapidly beating heart.
Another second, and they’d be putting on an indecent show for the crowd.
A cheer shrieked from the other end of the ballroom. Elaina pulled away and focused on his tuxedo lapel.
He scanned the room. At least they weren’t the center of attention. Mrs. Boyce’s joy at having her necklace returned to her by his security team had captured his guests’ interest.
“It’s okay,” he murmured into Elaina’s hair. “No one noticed.”
She peered up at him and swallowed. “How could kissing be like that? Was that normal?”
“Nothing about you is normal.”
He’d almost forgotten they had an audience, and he had forgotten to care about the potential repercussions from that.
He admitted, “That wasn’t normal for me either.”
“Oh god, Alex.” She laid her head and palm on his chest. “I didn’t know.”
He stroked her back, wishing he could feel all of her against him. “That better be a good reaction. I will be kissing you again.”
“Yes, it was good. So good it scares me.”
He knew what she meant. Losing control wasn’t an option, but something about her made it seem like a good idea. At the thought of experiencing that sensation with her in bed, his fingers moved to her shoulder blades, following the curves along her spine.
She shuddered against his touch and straightened. Her gaze darted away. “I need to go. Now.”
The compulsion he’d felt all evening to hunt her down and keep her close concentrated into this moment. He couldn’t let her leave.
“Look at me.”
She did as he asked, but her expression didn’t explain her sudden request. Her eyes shone with an emotion he couldn’t figure out. Embarrassment? Confusion? Fear?
“I know I promised, but I can’t stay any longer.” Her lips rolled into a tight line. “Please, let me go.”
He ached to fist his hand in her hair and restrain her, force her to stay, force her to do what he wanted. Against his will, his imagination played out the scene. The images soured, his dominant nature becoming dangerous. Brutal. Unforgiving.
Chills spread from his heart to his disloyal fingers. He’d made his vow to maintain control for a reason. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—force her to stay.
Movement along the wall near the musicians caught his eye. Several guests huddled around a cell phone, which disappeared as soon as they noticed his spying.
Goddammit. A camera phone. Apparently, his behavior with Elaina hadn’t escaped detection after all. With the display he’d put on, he couldn’t blame Baxter for missing one. The man had probably had his hands full.
At least she hadn’t observed the group behind her. Given her current mood, if she saw the camera, she’d take off without leaving him a way to track her down again.
Behind her view, he signaled Baxter to go after the photographer and mouthed the word delete. Then he led her away from the intrusive guests. “I’ll have my driver take you home.”
Another guard took Baxter’s place at his side, and he texted his driver, James, to meet him at the garage. But as soon as they left the dance floor, crowds surrounded him again. It took him a half hour to break away from the mob. She remained subdued at his side, not saying a word even after they reached the calm outside the ballroom.
During their trip through the winding hallways of the mansion, he kept his distance, his arms stiff at his sides. No matter what he wanted or how badly he wanted it, this was not the time to test his self-control.
Once they reached the garage, he pulled James aside. “Don’t leave her alone until she’s safely inside her house.”
James’s dark eyes flicked to Elaina and back, the muscles around them tight and alert, and he gave a strong nod. As Alex’s de facto bodyguard off the grounds, he probably assumed he’d been given the task of protecting her. Alex let him believe that. It was better than admitting he simply wanted to learn where she lived.
He returned to Elaina and clasped his hands behind his back, where they wouldn’t be tempted to do any damage. “Don’t worry. James will get you home.”
She stretched and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be in touch.”
James escorted her away, and Alex tried to ignore the instincts ripping him in two. The only thing keeping his adrenaline from spiking into the danger level was the knowledge he would see her again. As though his life depended on it, he swore this was not goodbye.
Elaina didn’t bother turning on the lights inside her apartment. Her night vision allowed her to make it to the kitchen chair, where she collapsed.
Her skin still tingled and quivered at the nexus Alex had unintentionally stroked, right where her wings would eventually emerge. She rubbed her spine against the back of the chair, as though she could scrape away the disconcerting feeling.
God, what the hell had happened tonight? The whole evening had set off unfamiliar sensations in her body, and his touch had awakened parts she’d never heard from before. The sensory overload was way more than she could handle.
If she hadn’t left... No, she wouldn’t let her thoughts go there.
But she couldn’t stop all her thoughts, too many of which were nothing more than a jumbled pile of conflicting desires and needs. Like the fine chain of a pendant so hopelessly tangled she might as well get used to the new length.
Because the truth was—she was an addict.
In the years since fleeing across the ocean, she’d become so complacent that she’d forgotten the strength of her instincts. Forgotten the dangerous excitement of the constant near misses with her father. Forgotten how adrenaline had been a comforting presence after her mother’s death.
The rush from her acquisitions tonight was beyond anything she’d ever experienced, and not just because of the energy surge. The danger junkie she’d unleashed inside her wanted more.
Forget abandoned pieces. Forget the guilt issue. At the party, part of her had become convinced that stealing treasure was the only way to go.
And then she’d discovered an even bigger rush: embracing danger.
Literally.
The threatening vibe radiating from Alex kicked her addiction to a stratospheric level. And embracing him—kissing him—intensified that buzz by a thousand. A million.
That was bad. Very bad. She could easily lose herself in him and forget her goals. He was incredibly dangerous to her, even though he wasn’t a knight.
On top of that, if she let Alex draw her into his world, with photographers and gossipmongers reporting on his every move, the chances of her father tracking her down became a question of when and not if. The last time her father had gotten close, thousands of acres in Europe had burned to the ground in a supposed forest fire. If he found her here, all of Chicago would become a smoking monument of destruction.
At her kitchen table, she flipped Alex’s money clip over in her palm. Her thumb caressed the dragon shape on its surface, and her forehead thumped onto the tabletop.
She really was an idiot. A huge, almost overpowering part of her wanted to return to him.
And then what? Even in the best-case scenario, without the threat from her father, they’d have a hard time making things work between them. They’d argue about her taking jewelry. Or worse, she’d capitulate to his human laws and stay weak forever, unable to ignite her heart and change form, constantly on the verge of death.
No, it was better this way. Love wasn’t possible for dragons, and it didn’t conquer all anyway. Her mother had paid the price for that fallacy.
Elaina needed to stick to her plan, or she’d die by her father’s hand as well. She sat up and once more ground her spine against the back of the chair, attempting to erase her body’s reactions along with any thoughts of Alex.
Besides, for all she knew, kissing anyone would give her the same rush.