Impulse (20 page)
The intention of going to the Gathering was so that I wouldn’t have to live in the shadow of destiny. It was a chance to see how real this kindred spirit thing was. Would it change anything? It wounded me to see him collect these women like pet rocks and throw them in my face for sport.
Simon tucked me against his side and kissed the top of my head reassuringly. We laced our fingers together on the table, and a soft jazz song lifted the mood of the crowd around us. If this were the Olympic games of jealousy, I was going for gold.
The one striking detail about the party was the ratio of men to women. Logan was entertaining a table with four ladies, and that riled up a few of the men standing nearby as jealousy and contempt flared in their expressive eyes.
“So tell me about the success rate, Mr. Cross. You plunk down how many millions of dollars to throw this shindig, and what—maybe a few hookups?”
“She bores me, let’s leave,” the blonde whispered in Logan’s ear. His bright eyes latched onto mine and through his peripheral, he caught Simon’s index finger suggestively stroking my palm.
“You recover from heartbreak rather quickly,” he bit out. A muscle tensed in his jaw, intensifying his bone structure.
I leaned away from Simon. “Maybe staying with our own kind is for the best,” I said regretfully.
A glass lifted. “I’ll drink to that,” Red Dress said.
“Don’t you need to go get spayed or something?” I retorted.
For just a second, I caught Logan’s lip twitching.
The woman in the white suit bolted out of her chair and leaned over the table, pointing her polished finger at my face. “You’re nothing but a low-class Breed. You spoil this party with your presence and I don’t care who the hell invited you. A Mage shouldn’t stick their nose in our world, let alone be sniffing around
our
males. You have tramped around long enough and wasted this male’s valuable time. He bought tickets to the freak show, but it’s time you take your ridiculous carnival somewhere else.”
“That’s enough,” Logan said in clipped words. Anger penetrated his features. “If you cannot hold your tongue then leave this table.”
“Simon, could you pass me a strawberry?” I batted my eyelashes and tried to remain calm, but calm had already picked up the check and left the party.
This was far better than I imagined, and yet so much worse. It was a royally bad idea from inception.
With his fingerless gloves, Simon plucked out the largest berry on the platter. He ran his pierced tongue over his bottom lip—something he often did in chess when he was anticipating his opponents move. He pinched the stem and held it to my mouth so that I could eat from his hand. In Simon’s defense, he didn’t have a clue that he was digging his own grave with a spoon.
The smooth chocolate touched my lower lip, pulling it down in one erotic motion.
Logan’s reaction was explosive and drinks flew across the table.
“You are making a spectacle of yourself!” He leapt to his feet, canines extending. Logan leaned forward and snatched the strawberry, crushing it in his tight fist. Juice streamed between his fingers and he threw the pulp into the grass.
“I’m just the expendable curiosity, so what do you care?” My chair toppled over when I attempted to scoot it back on the grassy surface. “Continue with the orgy you got here; real
classy
. I thought this was all about finding
the one
. These cheap whores don’t look anything like soul mates—more like one-hour stands.”
The girl in the short skirt flew out of her chair and her fangs punched out. Simon held up his hands in a threatening gesture—energy blazing at his fingertips. Woman or not, this was a different world than I was used to and he perceived her as a threat. Some of the men closed in on us and the impulse to run became strong.
Logan’s eyes were two planets that I gravitated toward—bright, powerful, and mysterious.
He paced around the table like a force to be reckoned with and glared down at me with a stony face.
“Come with me,” he said, touching my arm.
As we turned, a tall man with a shaved head pushed his hand against Logan’s chest. “Why don’t you leave some for the rest of us, Cross?”
A staring match began between the two men. I rolled my eyes and was trying to walk off when the Chitah blocked me with an outstretched arm.
Logan stepped closer and the man’s nostrils flared as if picking up a scent. He suddenly took three steps back and pivoted around, rejoining his table. Something passed between them on a level I didn’t understand.
Logan took my hand and we distanced ourselves from the crowd. Crisp white moonlight filtered through the branches of the tree we stood beneath, leaving pale highlights on the ground.
“Did you come here alone to hurt me?” I asked, folding my arms.
“I should ask you the same question. I came to show my support for Levi.”
“Funny. I didn’t see your brother at the table.”
He arched a brow. “I keep polite company.”
“Lending out your leg for dry-humping?”
His lip twitched and he covered it with a fist.
Logan’s amusement fueled my anger. “You could have answered my calls.”
“I was busy,” he said, lowering his hand and tilting his head to the side.
“Doing what?”
He squinted his eyes a fraction. “Did you see inappropriate behavior outside of me sharing their company? Would you prefer if I stood alone in the corner, cursing anyone who speaks to me? It may come as a surprise to you, but my family holds an important status among my Pride. I’m trying to rebuild my reputation. Some of these people I’ve known for years, Silver.”
The top of his white dress shirt was unbuttoned. Logan’s features were riveting—so different from other men. His smoldering gaze alone was capable of holding me captive.
“I was fooling myself,” I said quietly. “We’re not a permanent fixture and I have no claim on you. It doesn’t matter if there’s any truth to kindred spirits because it’s what you believe.”
Logan widened his stance.
My voice cracked beneath the weight of my own words. “You demonstrated that regardless of any promise made, I’m not worth a phone conversation. If your life revolves around finding your soul mate, then who am I to deny you of that chance?” Tears were on the doorstep, so I bit them back and transformed that pain into anger. “But if women are nothing more than a conquest to you, then this is one island that you’ll
never
explore. I don’t belong here.”
I had started to walk off when Logan backed me up against the tree and flattened his hands on the trunk. Splinters of bark showered in my hair and he leaned in close enough to kiss.
His eyes shifted—one minute radiant and piercing and the next, drunk and heavy with lust. It was like staring at something wild and unmerciful.
“Do you want him?” Logan drew in a deep breath through his nose and I shivered.
“What I have with Simon is platonic. You cut me out of your life over a text message. You’re older than I am, and these are childish games we’re playing.”
“What do you want, Little Raven?” he breathed against my cheek. “Why can’t you say it?”
His knee parted my legs and he pinned me to the tree with his entire body. I sighed from the immediate warmth. Logan was a pounding heartbeat of energy and at nearly six and a half feet—that was a lot of energy. While I couldn’t see what he was doing, I knew that he licked his lips because his tongue grazed my cheek.
“
Say it,
”
he beckoned, sliding his leg further between mine.
“Maybe this wasn’t meant to be,” I said in an unconvincing voice.
Skin rubbed against skin as he moved even closer and kissed the tender spot on my neck. “This is one argument that I won’t let you win. You’re wrong.”
I peered around his shoulder. The red dress with the plunging neckline was moving our way like a devil’s parade.
“Logan, come keep me company.” Her beady eyes narrowed on mine as she analyzed our position. “It’s so dull in there without you; I want to hear more of your stories. Don’t let the Mage steal away the time you could be spending with a Chitah.”
“Your harem awaits, Mr. Cross.”
He pushed himself so hard against me that all I felt was body heat searing me through his clothes. When my fingers smoothed up his neck, a seductive vibration rumbled against my entire body from neck to hips. I should have complained about the bark chewing into my back, but all I felt was his knee moving between my legs. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was doing that on purpose.
“You outshine all those females,” he said in a softened whisper.
“I don’t need you to tell me that; I know what I’m worth.”
He brought his head around and spoke against my lips. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to kiss me,” I breathed against his mouth. The tension was an electrical storm as each brush of our lips set my body aflame.
Logan licked his lips and mine. “Then don’t. I’ll stand here and tell you everything I want to do to your body until you crave nothing but my kiss. And then I’ll withhold it until your body aches for my touch.”
“That’s arrogant,” I murmured.
His leg shifted and I sucked in a sharp breath at the pressing ache between my legs.
Logan’s mouth was the next breath I drew in. His tongue insisted its way in—moving in such a provocative motion that every stroke devoured me. His strong arm slipped around my waist, but I wasn’t going anywhere because he caged me to that tree with every inch of his body.
My fingernails lightly clawed the skin on the back of Logan’s neck and his lips peeled back.
“Do that again and I’ll lose control,” he growled in a rough voice against my ear.
Logan’s hands lazily slipped beneath my shirt and gripped my waist possessively. I groaned when his hips circled against mine. Energy swirled within me as I became the kerosene and he was the fire. His lips found that sensitive spot below my ear—kissing and circling his tongue until a shudder racked my body.
“Am I forgiven?” he whispered against my skin.
My impatient fingers pulled at his shirt and I heard the soft pop of buttons coming off. He tasted indescribably wonderful as I kissed his chest, keeping my focus on leveling my energy down.
Red Dress didn’t exist anymore.
When Logan pulled back, the look he gave was synonymous with raw sex. Anticipation widened his pupils and soaked me in.
“I’m not like your women,” I pointed out. “You won’t miss that?”
“They have nothing I desire. You’re an intriguing, stubborn, lovely Mage, and I would have you no other way.” He straightened his back and despite the cold air, an inferno blazed between us.
“Did you want to stay here a little longer and mingle?”
“I’ve seen enough,” he said, tenderly stroking my cheek with the back of his hand.
I smirked when I noticed his disheveled shirt and my pale brown lipstick smeared across his chest. I liked the idea of marking him—a secret I kept to myself.
“Did that woman really turn you on?”
Logan laughed and reached over his shoulder, tying his hair to the nape of his neck with a small band he had fished from his pocket.
“No, Little Raven. I picked up your scent at the table beneath all the heavy layers of emotions. I never thought you would be jealous over me and I must admit… I like it very much,” he said with a sardonic smile.
“Say the word and I’ll go back and turn you on some more. Would you like me to kick her bony ass by the lobster table or in front of the ice sculpture?”
I walked past him when he swung me back around and playfully spanked me. I laughed and bravely ran my hand over his firm backside.
“Careful, Mr. Cross. I hit back.”
“And I deserve it,” he said, levity absent in his tone. “Would you have allowed Simon to feed you that berry?”
Hand-feeding was a sign of trust among Chitahs, but I knew it was something far more intimate that wasn’t done with just anyone.
“If that’s what it took,” I said coolly.
Before I knew it, he had snaked his arms around my waist and leaned down as if to kiss me.
“You play dirty,” he said against my lips.
Logan backed away, strutting across the lawn like a man who just won the lottery. “I’ll go tell that date of yours that you’ll be leaving with me,” he yelled out.
No matter which way I sliced it, if I accepted him in my life, then I would always be the woman he settled for. The other thought that ate away at me like a parasite was that I had my whole life for him to find his soul mate and leave me. I was already planning our failed relationship. Even more disturbing was the phrase “my whole life,” because now my life was a lot longer than it used to be.