Darren pinned in place, his hand around his throat. A few heads turned, but the guards at each door didn’t move to intervene at the sudden violence.
“Hear me, asshole.” A piercing jolt of power vibrated from Devraj. I whimpered and gripped the table, his magic a terrifying force in the room, pouring into the wide-eyed vampire pinned to the booth. “You will be at Barrel Proof two Saturdays from now. At precisely 10:30 p.m., you will text your fucking friends that you have the perfect target. At 10:35, Isadora will slowly head toward the parking lot. You will make sure that you are her handler until we arrive. You’ll stall the exchange to Bellingrath for as long as possible. And you will fight to the death to ensure no one hurts her, bites her, harms her in any way.”
“No one will hurt her,” he spit out quickly, fear seeping from his pores. “We don’t hurt the girls.”
Devraj released him and stood above him. “You’ve hurt every fucking one of them, you prick.” He backed up a step. “Is Blake’s brother Adam in on this ring?”
He shook his head. “He hasn’t ever said so if he is.”
Devraj stared him down for another few uncomfortable seconds before growling, “Get out of my fucking sight.”
Darren immediately launched himself out of the booth and headed for the door. The few heads looking our way swiveled away, the room returning to the normal murmur of voices and low laughter.
“Was it necessary to punch that much persuasion into him?”
Devraj’s gaze snapped to mine, his eyes liquid silver. “Yes.”
I stood, glancing toward the door, suddenly nervous at his burst of violence and fury. “I should probably get home.”
I took a step, but Devraj gently clasped my hand, the anger having rolled away. I froze. He leaned over my shoulder from behind, whispering close to my ear. “Dance with me.” When I didn’t answer right away, he pleaded more softly, “Please.”
Nico strummed his guitar, now singing a heartfelt rendition of Johnny Cash’s “I Walk the Line,” his eyes closed, lost in his own music.
With a stiff nod, I let him guide me onto the small dancefloor. Devraj swept me into his arms, one of my hands in his, his other on the small of my back. He pulled me so close our bodies brushed together with our slow sway to the music. I had no words at the moment, sudden flashes of our night together penetrating my thoughts.
Possessive hands, roving mouth, talented tongue, him moving inside me.
Gah, stop! I squeezed my eyes shut for a second.
“Hey,” he whispered against my temple. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I opened my eyes and met his concerned gaze. “Fine.”
“You sure?” He swallowed hard, a soft expression pinching his brow. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just… I had to be sure the persuasion spell was strong enough.”
A small laugh bubbled up. “I think it’s strong enough.”
His obvious concern for me made me want to press closer. I could easily fall for this man. And what a mistake that would be. To fall for a world-traveling Stygorn who would be leaving New Orleans as soon as the Bellingrath case was solved.
I swallowed against my desperate attraction to him. I tried to convince myself it was only because he gave me mind-blowing orgasms. A night with Devraj would scramble any woman’s brains and make her dream of a heated romance. Even a long-term one. But I was too rational to let that sweep me away. Like Tia had said, he was rarely seen with the same woman twice.
“Really. I’m fine.”
“You look a little…untethered.”
I laughed. “Maybe.”
“You having second thoughts about playing bait? If it scares you too much, I can get someone else.” He squeezed my hand completely enveloped in his.
“No, no,” I assured him. “I want to help these girls in any way I can. I need to.”
He smiled in that tender way that made my tummy flutter. “I understand that need. That’s why I asked you to do it.”
Angling my head to get a good look at him, I realized he saw strength in me that not everyone did. His only hesitation for asking me to play bait was my safety, not that he didn’t have confidence that I could do something dangerous to help catch these guys.
“I’m happy you asked me,” I added, giving his shoulder a squeeze, suddenly remembering how it flexed beneath my fingers when he was coming inside me.
Stop it!
I was completely hopeless.
As if he knew where my mind wandered,