My mouth snapped shut. I didn’t snap it shut; it just did what it was told.
Oh my God, I repeated in my head, panic overwhelming me.
Relax, my pet. He spoke again, also in my head.
Leave me alone! I shouted, yes, yet again, in my head.
I heard his laughter not with my ears. It was even more beautiful than Stephanie’s. It was so beautiful, it was enthralling. And it wasn’t just amused laughter, it sounded slightly surprised, slightly expectant, even, I could sense, slightly aroused.
What in the hell?
“I can hear it,” Stephanie said softly, tearing me with a start from my nonverbal conversation. “And see it,” she went on and I stared at her. “He’s marked your every movement. Even the slightest movement you’ve made, Leah, he’s marked it. His heart is beating in tandem with yours exactly. Everyone knows, every vampire here that is, they can all hear it, see it, sense it.” Her voice went softer, turning reverential. “Nobody can do that like Lucien. It’s beautiful.”
She wasn’t talking about him speaking in my head. She was explaining what tracking meant.
Still, I was stuck on another point.
“His heart is beating?” I asked her.
She nodded on another smile. “You’ve got lots to learn, honey.”
I was so shocked at this news I forgot that a vampire across a crowded room was speaking in my head.
“Vampires’ hearts don’t beat,” I told Stephanie stupidly, since she was one, she should know.
“Oh yes they do. You’ll see,” she sing-songed, grabbing my hand and moving me around, heading in the direction of Lucien. “I don’t know what he’s playing at but enough’s enough. I’m hungry.”
She was moving us toward Lucien.
No. Really, really, no.
I dragged my feet and hissed, “What are you doing?”
She didn’t answer my question, instead she said, “I figure he’s showing you off. It’s his way which is normally quite interesting but right now it’s annoying. I’m tired of playing bodyguard. Again, no offense but I want to get to Reed tonight.” Her fingers gave my arm an affectionate squeeze and her strength didn’t allow me to drag my feet, powering me ever forward.
I tugged at my arm. Her fingers gave me another squeeze, this one different, telling me I would not get away.
I tried something different. “Listen, Stephanie, I don’t want to be selected tonight.”
“No chance of that,” she told me happily as she drew me ever closer.
I stopped talking when I looked at Lucien. His eyes were again locked on me, marking me, as Stephanie said and finally, I got it.
They were possessive, declaring ownership, bottom line, I was his. I could see this even from a distance.
I could even sense it.
Others watched, swinging their gazes between him and me.
My heart started beating even faster as the people he was standing with noticed our approach and stepped aside, clearing a path to him.
No! No, no, no, no! My mind shouted, my eyes again locked on his.
Yes, he said in my head.
Seriously, stop doing that! My brain yelled at him.
I heard another chuckle in my head.