Prisoner of Darkness (Whims of Fae Book 2)(19)

Had he meant the drink or her? She giggled. It didn’t matter.

Her shoulders wavered to the bass. The colors of the strobe light sprinkled through the room like rain, their brilliance hypnotizing Scarlett as she lost herself in the music.

Oh, how marvelous she felt. Scarlett finished her drink.

“Where’s the ladies’ room?”

Kaelem pointed.

Scarlett’s legs shook as she stood. The twirling of the lights added to her dizziness.

“Would you like help?” Kaelem asked.

“I can manage.” Scarlett pulled down her skirt. She wasn’t a twelve-year-old. She was perfectly capable of going to the restroom alone.

She concentrated on each step as she walked. Her skin tingled. She’d been drunk as a mortal, but whatever she’d just drank had her cares high in the clouds. As she entered the restroom, she bumped into a short fae in a plaid skirt.

“Watch it,” the fae said.

“Sorry.” Scarlett giggled as she hurried inside.

After she relieved herself, she washed her hands.

Next to her, a slender fae woman with lavender hair ran her hand down Scarlett’s arm.

“Mmmm. You’re exquisite. Have we met?”

A thrill slid through Scarlett’s veins. “I don’t think so.”

The fae’s icy eyes pierced Scarlett.

Scarlett sensed the lust pouring from her, which both flattered and intrigued her.

“Here, let’s walk together,” the fae said as she locked her elbow around Scarlett’s. “I’m Kira.”

Kaelem’s eyebrow rose as he saw Scarlett and her new friend. “Who do we have here?”

Kira tensed as she realized who Kaelem was. “You’re with him?”

Scarlett didn’t see what the big deal was. Sure, Kaelem was attractive, but everyone regarded him as a god. He wasn’t that special.

“I’m sorry, my king.” Kira released Scarlett’s arm and stepped away. “I didn’t know.”

“Please, join us,” Kaelem purred.

The lust radiating through Kira shifted to terror. “A kind offer, but my friends are expecting me.”

“Very well.”

Scarlett slipped back into the booth, another drink waiting for her. She sipped it, just as delicious as before. “You sure scared her away.”

Kaelem placed his hand on Scarlett’s thigh. “She realized she’d tried to claim something she thought was mine.”

Not that again. Scarlett belonged to no one but herself. She was going to tell Kaelem exactly what she thought about being his, but as the drink swam through her and his fingers grazed her bare skin, it seemed unimportant.

A new song began, its bass line booming throughout the room. Scarlett’s shoulders swayed to the beat. What had she been thinking about? Suddenly, any cares she might have had vanished, and as she finished her second drink, nothing but that moment mattered.

A few minutes later, the waitress returned. “Refill?”

“I think we’re good for now.” Kaelem grabbed Scarlett’s hand. “We’re going to dance.”

Dancing sounded spectacular.

Kaelem rested his hand on Scarlett’s back as they walked to the dance floor. She stepped carefully down the stairs, afraid she’d fall over in the wedges she was wearing.

They danced and danced, then danced some more as the DJ transitioned from one song to the next. Bodies pressed into Scarlett as more people entered the club, pushing her hips against Kaelem’s. She didn’t care. She drank in the energy around her as she gyrated to the beat.

Kaelem’s hands moved lower with each song. Scarlett slung her arms around his neck, his warm breath on her face. She inhaled the lust emanating from him as his hands explored her body.

As a dubstep beat took over, the bass shook the whole room. Everyone on the dance floor jumped. Energy pumped through Scarlett. She’d never felt so carefree.

A slow song played next. Kaelem tugged Scarlett’s body into his, their pelvises pressed against one another. The effects of the Twisted Pixie were wearing off, but her body so close to his gave her a new high. He was sending his lust to her. She felt herself subconsciously absorbing it.

With no mental shields in place, her mind fell prey to his ganacanagh gift.

He watched her as she stared at him, his mouth parted. If she stretched onto her tiptoes, her lips could reach his. A slight twitch in her bond with Raith stopped her.

“You belong here,” Kaelem said to her, his face inches from hers.

Scarlett had always felt out of place in the mortal world. Growing up, she could never explain why she always seemed an outsider, a square in a world of circles. Making friends was always easy, and guys flocked to her like dogs to a bone, yet her soul sang a different song. She thought it was because she hadn’t had much of a childhood. Her mother’s illness forced her to grow up too fast. But now she wondered if it wasn’t because she saw the world for what it really was: complicated and messy.

She’d always wished to be normal, but now she knew she would have never felt ordinary in the human world because she wasn’t simply mortal. Even before she knew of her fae nature, she experienced it, so attuned to the emotions of those around her.

Here, as she inhaled the array of emotion around her, she felt whole.

Scarlett ignored the voice in her head screaming Kaelem was dangerous. She leaned her head on his shoulder and let him lead her to the music. When the song ended, she stepped back. “We should go.”