The Hunt (By Kiss and Claw #2) - Melissa Haag Page 0,131

you’ll be fine. Let’s dance.”

“Go find Jenna. She’ll dance with you.”

“You’re stubborn today. I like it.” He moved us playfully. He might have thought he was clever, but I knew what he was doing. Moving led to dancing.

“Stop it.”

He chuckled, the low sound dancing along my skin like a caress. My eyes had been dark until I’d spotted Eugene. Now, they flared to life again.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “That I’m under your thrall. I don’t know how to prove to you that wasn’t what last night was or what asking you to dance is about, other than to promise you that if you asked me to kill someone for you right now, I wouldn’t do it. I’d probably pick you up and try to carry you out of here.” His hand went from my waist to my lower back. The other one snagged my hand and brought it to his shoulder.

“I’m your friend, Eliana. No matter what.”

I thought about what he’d said, and doubt crept in. How many times had he not listened to me? Mom was right. He didn’t act like someone under my thrall.

Rather than fight the dance, I gave in and finally swayed with him. We moved together perfectly. Like we were made for each other.

I itched to pull him closer, to revel in the contact I’d wanted for so long. Instead, I attempted to distract myself.

“If all of what you’re saying is true, and last night was just your chase instinct surging forward, what about what you said? How do you explain that away?”

“There’s nothing more to explain. I believe what I said, and I’ve given you the reasons for my choices. None of them have changed.”

I knew he was being vague because of the crowd around us and appreciated his discretion when I hadn’t been using it myself.

His warm brown gaze held mine, and I wished I could say what I was thinking. That I wanted to believe him but was terrified of being wrong and making things worse. I wanted to tell him that I’d missed him, and I was sorry for the way I’d acted. But again, I wasn’t sure I could trust what he was saying.

“I’d feel a lot better if you just danced with Jenna.”

“I’m sure you would. But, I wouldn’t.”

It was like I’d given some kind of defeat signal because he pulled me against him and dipped me low. My pulse jumped, and my hands automatically grabbed for his shoulders.

“There’s my girl. Now, let’s show them how it’s really done.”

I had no chance after that. As I’d known from the first time I saw Fenris dancing with his girls, dancing with him was divine. He moved me. Not just physically but on levels I didn’t even understand. He got under my skin and into my blood with each brush of his hips against mine and each playful spin.

The dancers made room for us. On some level, I knew they were watching. But I didn’t look away from Fenris to check. I couldn’t. He held me in too many ways. He was supposed to be my captive. Instead, I was his, and just like he’d once predicted, I wondered why I’d waited so long to dance with him.

The heady sense of being owned flipped my thinking around. He wasn’t under my spell. I was under his. The way he moved. The way he looked at me. The way he smelled.

I inhaled deeply, hungering for his sweet scent. He pulled me close again to sway with me, his lips skimming my ear and sending a shiver of need through me.

“Let go and give in, Eliana.”

I turned my head to ask him what he meant, but those thoughts fled when I found his lips inches from mine. We stared at each other. My breath hitched, and he groaned.

“Forgive me,” he whispered a second before he closed the distance between us.

The first brush of his lips against mine nearly brought me to my knees. He was soft and sweet and everything I craved.

I whimpered and threaded my fingers in his hair. His hand tightened on my lower back, pressing me against the evidence of his need for me.

And I needed him too.

So much.

I opened my mouth, and with a growl, he took what I offered. There was nothing gentle about the kiss. His tongue stroked against mine, hungry and demanding everything I had. He tasted like dessert.

My hunger unfurled and demanded its due.

Without breaking contact, I took what was flooding the