I braced myself as he reached to push up my skirt, but a knock on the window interrupted.
“If it’s the bloody driver, I’m going to tear his head off,” Julian stormed. There was another knock. He punched a button on the door, and the tinted window slid open. A moment later, a grinning blond peeked inside.
“Mother wants to know why you’ve been parked in front of her house for an hour. She said that if you don’t come into the party, I have to drag you inside–and that looks like a new suit,” he informed him cheerfully. The vampire glanced up and spotted me. His grin widened into a disarming smile. “Well, now I understand.”
“Thea, this is my brother Sebastian,” Julian said through gritted teeth. “He has a death wish.”
“Unfair.” He pursed his lips, attempting to look put out, but it didn’t stick. “I didn’t know you had a date in here.”
“We’re coming.” Julian pressed the button, forcing Sebastian to step away from the closing window.
“That’s your brother?” I asked. The two were as different as night and day.
“Half brother.” Clearly, the distinction mattered to him. “May I?” He gestured to his jacket. “We’ll only be outside for a moment. Next time, I’ll be certain you have a coat.”
“Oh, yeah.” I shimmied it off and passed it to him. His words had turned me into molten lava. I didn’t need the jacket for warmth, but I already missed his scent.
Julian reached between his legs and adjusted something. I stared curiously, trying to figure out what he was doing. He looked up, catching me, and raised an eyebrow.
“What was that?”
He barked a laugh. “Fuck, you really are innocent, pet.”
I frowned as I tried to figure out what was so funny. Then it hit me. “Wait, were you..?”
“Hard,” he finished for me, and I tried to turn away, feeling stupid. “No, don’t. I wasn’t laughing at you. It was cute.” He took my hand and moved it to the hard bulge in his pants. “Do you still think I’m not attracted to you?”
I cupped my hand over his erection and stroked.
“Christ, we’ll never get out of this car if you keep doing that,” he hissed through his teeth.
“What if I want to pleasure you?” I asked in a small voice.
Julian closed his eyes and groaned.
“I don’t really know how...” I admitted.
He gripped my wrist and lifted my hand from his lap. “I will happily show you that, too. But we should go inside now.”
Julian got out of the limo and paused to put on his tuxedo jacket before reaching to offer his hand. Thinking of what lay before me tonight made it easy to take it. But when I straightened, I saw what he’d reacted to earlier. A plush carpet had been rolled from the gate up a set of stairs that circled around to a lavish portico draped with purple wisteria blossoms.
“This is...”
“Extravagant,” he finished for me.
“I was going to say pretty.”
He glanced down at me as he offered his arm. “Stick close to me, pet. You’re too sweet. They’ll eat you alive.”
I swallowed at his words, knowing that he didn’t mean them figuratively. Julian took the stairs carefully like he was afraid I might stumble and plummet to my death. When we reached the entrance, two attendants stood by the door, each with a large silver tray holding a selection of masks.
“Familiars will enter through the salon.” The female held out a tray of masks made of plaster, lace, and painted with gilt accents. “And vampires will enter through the opium den.”
Opium den? I mouthed to Julian. But he was busy glowering at the woman.
“She stays with me,” Julian informed them. The woman with the masks shrank nervously. But the older male attendant shook his head. Judging from his age, he must have been with the family for years. Was he a vampire? It seemed unlikely given his wrinkles. Human? Did he have a choice about his job? Or had they compelled him to serve them?
“Lord Rousseaux,” he said, and my mouth hung open to hear him address Julian like that, “the Rites have been enacted.”
“Like I don’t fucking know that. Isn’t it a little early in the season for this shit?”
The man continued as if Julian hadn’t spoken. Maybe he was compelled. How else could he be so nonplussed by the furious vampire by my side? “Madame Rousseaux insists parties be separated.”
“I’m not a familiar,” I interjected, hoping this might sway them to make an exception.
“The Rites must be observed–”
“Oh shut up,” Julian grumbled and swiped a mask from the tray. Spinning me toward him, he looked deeply into my eyes. “I will find you immediately. Try not to be...overwhelmed.”
“Julian, what kind of party is this?” I tried to sound calm, but there was a hysterical edge to my voice.
He cast one more sharp look at the attendants as if any of this was their fault and then took a deep breath. “Welcome to the Blood Orgy.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
JULIAN
I could kill my mother for failing to mention the type of party she was hosting. Introducing Thea to vampire society was dangerous–for both of us–but this was worse than throwing her into the deep end. It was tossing her into the open ocean. I shouldn’t have told Sabine that she was my girlfriend. Clearly, she was going to force me to prove it.
