Darknight(43)

“I’ll be fine,” I said, and hoisted my plastic cup in his direction. “You just gave me a refill, remember?”

“Right.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled down at me, and he bent and kissed me quickly, a soft touch of his lips at the edge of my mouth. “Don’t eat too much, though. I don’t want you so full that we can’t have a repeat engagement when we get back to the apartment.”

“Not a problem,” I said. “I’ll have, what, a whole twenty minutes to digest even if we left right now?”

He shook his head and moved away, heading toward a hall I’d noticed earlier, although I didn’t know which rooms branched off from it. The bathroom at least, obviously. Or one of them, as a place this big had to have at least three or four.

I took a few steps toward the fireplace. This room had its own hearth, not as grand as the one in the living room, but still imposing, made of more stone and reaching up to the wood-paneled ceiling. The crowd had ebbed away, most people seeming content to let the food they’d eaten settle a bit before they came back for seconds or thirds.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Damon Wilcox’s voice. Something in those silky tones sent an icy shiver down my spine. My fingers tightened on the clear plastic cup I held, and I had to tell myself to relax before I crushed it and spilled wine everywhere.

I took a breath, then forced myself to turn around. He stood a few paces away, watching me, black eyes hooded. He wore a gray houndstooth jacket over a white button-down shirt and jeans, an outfit that seemed calculated to present the perfect image of a college professor relaxing at home.

“Very much,” I said coolly. “You have a beautiful home.”

“You like it?” he inquired. “It could have been your home as well.”

My heart thumped uneasily, and I told myself it was fine. He couldn’t do anything to me here in front of all these people.

What, the same people who stood by and watched while he tried to force the primus bond on you? my brain mocked me. All right, maybe the presence of the Wilcox clan members wasn’t as big a safeguard as I’d thought.

But Connor had just gone down the hall and would be back at any second….

“I’m fine with Connor’s apartment, actually.”

“Are you?”

I paused, then forced myself to meet those piercing black eyes. He can’t do anything to you now, I reassured myself. You’re bonded to his brother. You’re useless to him. He’s just messing with you because he can, and because he’s still pissed that he didn’t get what he wanted.

“More than fine. I mean, I have everything I could possibly want. My consort has turned out to be the man I’ve been dreaming of for years. What girl wouldn’t be thrilled by that?”

His lips thinned. “Sometimes dreams can be nightmares.”

“I know that,” I retorted. “Because you sure did your damn best to screw up mine, didn’t you?”

At least he didn’t try to deny that he’d been meddling with my dreams. “It was an interesting experiment, that’s true. Dreams have…a fascinating energy.”

At that moment I saw Connor approaching from behind his brother. Judging by the look on his face, Connor was not exactly thrilled about the primus swooping down on me the second I was left alone. “Damon,” he said, his voice tight.

Damon allowed his gaze to linger on me for another second before he turned to greet his brother. “Oh, hello, Connor. Angela and I were just having a nice chat.”

Jaw tight, Connor moved past Damon to stand next to me. “Were you?”

No way was I going to challenge Damon here on his home ground. Besides, I’d always been taught that causing a scene at a family get-together was in extremely poor taste. “Oh, yeah,” I said airily. “I was just complimenting Damon on his lovely house. Wasn’t I, Damon?”

Instead of looking annoyed, he merely smiled and said, “Yes, you were. Connor, it seems your little prima here appreciates the finer things in life. You might want to reconsider that cramped apartment of yours.”

Hearing this, Connor looked irritated enough for the both of them. “Actually, I think we’re fine where we are.”

“Oh, definitely,” I chimed in, and wrapped my arm around his waist, snuggling up against him. “I wouldn’t want a place so big that I didn’t have this guy within arm’s length at all times.”

That shot seemed to have found its target. “Oh, so now you’re in love, are you?” Damon sneered. “Well, enjoy it while you can.”

He left us to stew over that as he stalked off toward the living room. As I watched, I saw a young woman around Connor’s age approach him and smile. She stood out amongst the Wilcoxes, her hair a warm honey blonde, unusual in this crowd of brunettes. Damon glanced down at her, seemed to hesitate, then offered her a smile before reaching out and winding his arm around her waist.