Taken at Dusk (17 page)

He leaned a bit closer until she felt the warmth of his breath against her ear. “Yeah.”

She shivered a little. “So I really didn’t cause it?” she asked, feeling a bit disappointed.

A light smile tilted his lips. “Oh, it’s all your fault. It only happens when I’m … captivated by something or someone.”

She returned his smile. “Then I’m glad I captivated you.”

The smile in his eyes suddenly vanished, and she could swear she heard a light growl rumble from his throat.

She barely had a chance to wonder what could be wrong when Perry stopped right in front of them.

He nodded at Lucas as if making a point that he wasn’t the least bit afraid of him. “You want to dance?” he asked Kylie.

She was so surprised, she wondered if she’d misunderstood his question. Then she felt Lucas tense beside her. “Uh, not now,” she said, trying to keep her tone light. “But thanks for asking.”

Perry disappeared into a group of campers. When she looked back at Lucas, he scowled into the cluster of people. “Am I going to have to teach a smartass shape-shifter a lesson?”

“No.”

“I can’t believe he actually hit on you when—”

“He wasn’t hitting on me.” Kylie looked back at the crowd and found Perry standing away from the others, watching Miranda, who was surrounded by a group of boys. For a second, Kylie felt bad. Perry had probably wanted to ask her something about Miranda and she’d brushed him off.

“I don’t buy it,” Lucas said, his tone deep.

“He only has eyes for Miranda,” she said. “Look at him, he’s green with jealousy.” And literally, his eyes had changed color to a bright green.

“Yeah, right.”

“It’s true. Believe me; he’s not into me.”

He dipped his head closer. “And you’re not into him?”

She grinned. “Are you jealous?”

“No.” He sat up straighter. “I’m just … possessive,” he said as if the two traits were somehow different. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m not into Perry,” she assured him. “We’re just friends.”

“Fair enough. So, who are you into?” he asked, and those blue eyes captured hers.

“I’m sort of falling for a jealous werewolf at the moment.”

He grinned and quickly brushed the back of his hand against her forearm. “Well, don’t tell me his name, because I’m likely to whip his jealous ass.”

They both laughed and then sat and stared at each other until it got awkward. Not awkward because looking at him felt strange, but it just seemed as if one of them should lean in and finish the moment with a kiss. But neither of them seemed to want to take the initiative. Kylie suspected his reason was the same as hers. Too much of a crowd. She just hoped it wasn’t because of his pack.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, did you get the answers from Holiday about the whole bird thing?”

Remembering the bird’s little visit this afternoon, she felt frustration tickle her mind. “No.”

She took a sip of soda, focusing on the music, and tried to push all the negative stuff back. Unfortunately, it kept coming at her. “Did you know the FRU has a library of books on everything supernatural?”

“Yeah, I heard about it. Why?”

“Do you know why they don’t let us read them?”

“I think some of them contain government documents.”

“But why would they need to hide anything?” she asked.

He shrugged. “The same reason the U.S. government hides things. Some things might skirt the ethics line, or if certain information got into the hands of the wrong people, it could be detrimental.”

The music changed to a slow song. Kylie looked up and saw several couples moving to the center of the dining hall to dance. Helen and Jonathon, holding hands, were among the first to make their way to the empty floor space. They wrapped their arms around each other and started swaying to the music. They didn’t even appear to be dancing, just holding each other and occasionally doing a small side step. Not that it looked dorky; it sort of looked sweet.

A few other couples moved to the dance floor and started to sway to the beat of the music. The lyrics of the song spoke of love, being close, and kisses. Someone turned down the lights, and since Kylie didn’t think the lights had a dimmer switch, she suspected it had been one of the witches using a touch of magic.

Maybe they’d even added a bit of romance potion to the air, because Kylie felt it. Suddenly, she wanted to be out on the dance floor, too. She wanted to feel Lucus’s hands on her waist while she rested her cheek on his shoulder.

She glanced at Lucas, leaned in, and asked, “Do you want to dance?”

He made a funny face as if she’d asked him to stand on his head or something. “I … no. Sorry.”

“I guess that might upset the guards too much, huh?” She looked over at the pack of weres watching them.

“It’s not that.” Lucas released a deep breath. “Come on.” He took the plastic cup that held soda from her hand and set it on the floor beside their chairs. He caught her fingers and pulled her up. For a second, she thought he meant to take her out on the dance floor, but instead he headed to the front of the dining hall.

“Where are we going?”

“Outside.”

He pulled her through the crowd so fast, Kylie didn’t have time to ask his reasons. When he stopped, they stood outdoors and off to the side of the dining hall.

Alone.

The music, while only a distant humming, could still be heard, and it seemed to play along with the night sounds. Crickets and a few birds sang along with the lyrics.

“Isn’t this better?” He took her hands and placed them around his neck and then set his hands around her waist as if to dance.

“So the pack won’t see us?” she asked, insecure.

“No,” he insisted. “Did you see one were out on that dance floor?”

She had to think, but then she shook her head. “No.”

“We don’t like drawing attention to ourselves in public.”

The air was warm, but not as warm as Lucas’s hand pressed against her hip. Kylie glanced up and saw a half-moon offering the night a minimum of light. Not that it was all that dark outside; the stars appeared to be working overtime. No clouds hung in the heavens, so the sky seemed sprayed with stars. She could hardly find a piece of sky that didn’t have a tiny diamond shape twinkling and adding a silver glow to the night. Slowly, he started moving to the distant music.

“But in private, that’s another matter.” He didn’t just sway but danced. And he obviously knew how, because his steps encouraged her feet to follow the same pattern his were making.

With scents of pizza and blood no longer perfuming the air, Lucas’s own scent stood out and mingled with the woodsy scent of the night air.

She looked up at him again. “Who taught you to dance?”

“My grandmother. She told me it was the way to a woman’s heart,” he said, his voice a light whisper against her ear. His head dipped down and his lips brushed against her cheek. “I personally believe when two people get this close, it should be in private.”

His words made her realize how close they were standing to each other. She gazed again into his eyes, and his mouth met hers. They danced and kissed for what seemed like forever. Not that she was complaining. She felt as if they were floating, lost in a moment. His kiss didn’t push for more than she was ready to give. It was just a soft meshing of his mouth on hers, with an occasional slip of his tongue across her bottom lip.

The kiss finally ended. She placed her hand on his warm chest right beside where her head rested and listened to his heartbeat, which was very fast.

“Is your blood still rushing?” She raised her head, rested her chin on his chest, and smiled up at him.

“More than before.” His tone rang deeper than it had been. He adjusted his hands on her waist and she could feel the racing of his pulse where his wrist touched the bottom of her rib cage.

“Feel it?” he asked.

“Yeah.” Leaning her head back on his chest, she decided she could stay there forever with his breath stirring against her hair. Closing her eyes, she enjoyed the closeness and the sensation of being held, of being cherished.

With her ear again pressed to his chest, she heard a soft humming, almost a purring. The sound filled her head and she felt as if it pulsated inside her. She sensed he’d pulled her closer, his nearness warmed her inside and out, and the floating sensation returned even stronger this time. Leaning into him a bit more, she longed to be closer still.

His fingers pressed against her waist, making tiny little shifts up and down. The light touch tickled and caused a fluttering sensation deep in her belly. Then his hands glided up her sides, almost to her breasts. The slightest warning whispered in her head, but she pushed it back. This felt too good to—

He inhaled, sharply, and she thought she heard him swear, then he yanked his hands from her and stepped away.

Without his support, she almost felt dizzy. She gazed up at him confused. “What…?”

“We should … we should go inside.”

When she met his eyes, they glowed a brighter blue. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No. It’s … just safer inside.”

“Safer from what?” She looked around, thinking he’d seen something. Had the eagle or deer returned? It could even be the blue jay, back to—

“From me,” he said, and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’m low on willpower tonight, Kylie. About a week and a half before the change, I tend to run more on instinct than logic. And right now, my instinct says to pull you in the woods, find a soft spot of grass, and have my way with you.”

She moved in and placed a hand on his chest. “I know you well enough to know that you would never force me to do something I didn’t want to do.”

He pulled her palm from his chest and held her hand gently in his. “I would never force you, Kylie. Never. But I’m not above trying to persuade you. And…” He tilted her head back with his other hand as if to make sure she knew he was serious. “Werewolves have a knack for persuading. And that’s not how I want this to happen.”

She blinked and tried to understand what he was saying. Her insides still felt like liquid, and she missed his warmth against her. She tried to move closer to regain what she missed, but he took another step back.

He pulled her hand to his lips, and after placing a quick kiss to her knuckles, he tightened his grip and gave her a tug back toward the dining hall.

She took a few steps. Then, still trying to process what he’d said, she put on her mental brakes. “What do you mean by a ‘knack for persuading’?”

Chapter Fifteen

Lucas didn’t answer. Instead he just tugged on her arm, and she let him pull her back inside the dining hall. But the more she thought about what he’d said, the more she wanted answers. For a minute back there, she’d felt almost drunk with … passion. Did werewolves, like faes, have the ability to manipulate a girl’s feelings so she would … give him anything he wanted?

Kylie stared up at Lucas, who was holding her hand and leading her back to the place where they’d sat earlier. Mentally, she sorted through her emotions.

She wasn’t angry at Lucas; she didn’t even regret their slow dance in the moonlight. On the contrary, she’d loved every second of it. So, what was the problem?

A tiny internal voice answered the question. The problem was she didn’t want to think that someone other than herself could persuade her to do something that she might not have done otherwise.

And yet, another little voice whispered, wasn’t that what passion and seduction were about? All the magazines talked about how women wanted to be seduced. So was it a bad thing?

Okay, so she was confused. She looked at her hand where Lucas’s fingers locked with hers and tugged her along. She followed him through a small crowd of campers to get their seats. Finally settled in their chairs again, she wondered when any of this was going to get any easier.

“You want something else to drink?” he asked, having to raise his voice for her to hear him over the music and the crowd of voices.

“I’m fine.”

“Pizza?” he asked.

“Not now.” She almost asked for an explanation about what he’d said earlier. Then she realized that the noise and the crowd would make having a lengthy and private conversation impossible. She glanced at Lucas and found him studying her, staring deep into her eyes—almost as if he were trying to read her thoughts.

He leaned in and rested his forehead against hers. “Are you upset with me?”

“No,” she said honestly, and meant it. It wasn’t anger she felt, just uncertainty, confusion. Because even if Lucas had the ability to seduce her to do certain things, he hadn’t done it.

Blinking and offering him a smile, she decided tonight, at least at the party, might not be the time to talk about this. However, before she did any more moonlight dancing or make-out sessions by the creek, she needed answers.

She recalled Holiday’s words weeks earlier when they were talking about boys and sex:
What I’m asking is that when you decide to do something, that it’s something you’ve thought about and decided to do. Not a spur-of-the-moment decision that you might regret later.

Did Holiday’s words of wisdom have more meaning to them than Kylie had guessed?

*   *   *

An hour later, they’d indulged in pizza and drunk enough diet soda to drown an Italian fish. The number of couples dancing had dwindled; now, almost everyone was eating and mingling. Even the lights had been brightened. When people started stopping by to chat, Kylie had expected Lucas to disappear, but he hung in there and was even very friendly, which was so out of character for a werewolf. He was doing this for her, and she appreciated his effort.

Both Della and Miranda had stopped by and said hello as they got drinks and pizza. Kylie wanted to ask them if all “pact” things were going well, but she couldn’t find a way to do it without being overheard, so she decided to wait until later to get an update.

As soon as the pizza disappeared, someone lowered the lights again and several couples started making their way back to the makeshift dance floor. As Kylie’s vision adapted to the change of light, her eyes lit on Della being led to the dance floor by … Chris.