Raphael’s black eyes went cold, and Christian thought for sure he’d gone too far. But Raphael’s next words proved him wrong.
“You’re right. His offense against your woman is far greater. I relinquish my claim. His death is yours.”
Christian experienced a moment of disbelief, followed by the exquisite rush of pure vengeance. He could already taste Anthony’s blood on his tongue, could already hear his screams. Soon, he promised himself.
“Thank you, my lord,” he said fervently. “His death will be as painful as I can make it.”
Raphael bared his teeth in a terrifying grin that made Christian glad they were on the same side. “Give my regards to your woman,” he said. “And enjoy the rest of the evening.”
Christian bowed slightly from the waist. He’d been dismissed, and he didn’t mind. He’d been away from Natalie for too long, and there were too many vampires on the hunt in this room.
He strode across the room, loosing just enough of his power that the crowd gave way before him. Natalie was exactly where he’d left her, still in between Jaclyn and Cibor, with both their arms around her. They might not be actively trying to seduce her, but it was obvious they wouldn’t mind, either. The wonder was that they hadn’t done so before now.
Christian growled softly, then reached in and slipped an arm around Natalie’s waist, neatly extracting her from the group hug. Cibor stiffened slightly, but Jaclyn only laughed.
“We were taking care of her for you,” she teased.
Christian gave her a knowing look. “Much appreciated, but I’ll take it from here.”
“It is just fine on her own,” Natalie said, with a growl of her own. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.”
“You’re right, chére. I apologize.”
She rolled her eyes, but turned in the circle of his arm and brought her lips to his ear. “Is that Raphael’s mate?” she asked.
He could feel the press of her soft breast and, combined with the lingering adrenaline rush of his promised vengeance against Anthony, it made his dick harden. He wanted to scoop her off to somewhere private, where he could push her skirt up her silky thighs and fuck her until she begged him to stop.
She must have caught some of that in the look he was giving her, because she blushed furiously, and said, “Stop that.”
He grinned at the way her words mirrored his thoughts. “Stop what?”
“You know perfectly well what. So, is that Cynthia Leighton?”
Christian turned his reluctant attention back to the dais where Leighton and Raphael now stood with the other lords and their mates. “It is.”
“Hmmm,” she said, with enough of an undercurrent that Christian gave her a curious look. “Aren’t we a few lords short?” she asked quickly, almost as if she wanted to deflect his attention.
Christian had a moment’s worry, remembering what Raphael had said about Leighton causing mischief, but decided not to pursue it further. At least not tonight. “Three, to be exact. Well, not counting Anthony, who didn’t have the balls to show up.”
“Isn’t one of the lords actually a woman? Is she up there?”
“You mean Sophia. No. She’s missing in action, and the others are actually worried about her. Which, if you knew anything about how powerful vampires interact, is remarkable.”
“Do they think she’s dead?”
He shook his head. “If she was dead, we’d all know it. When a vampire lord dies, the power backlash is strong enough to be felt all over the continent, but especially by the lords. We’d all feel it.”
“Well, that’s good,” she murmured.
Christian smiled bemusedly. “If you say so. I’ve never met the woman.” He lowered his head enough to kiss her lightly. “I think we’ve fulfilled our obligation here, don’t you?” He straightened, and glanced over at Marc. “You ready to blow this pop stand, mon ami?”
Marc laughed at his use of the American colloquialism. “Ready to get out of this tux,” he agreed.
“Time to go home,” Christian decided, then put his lips to Natalie’s ear and purred, “Someone still has a lesson to learn.”
CHRISTIAN DIDN’T waste any time once they returned home. While Marc went directly to the basement quarters, Christian followed Natalie into her bedroom and closed the door behind him, leaning against it as he watched her undress. She started to step out of her heels, but he stopped her.
“Keep the heels.”