While Darius’s man watched him with a sharp eye, I used the heel of my shoe to slice the top of my left foot.
“Thank you so much,” I said, playing the damsel in distress.
I started to turn and stumbled so he’d catch me. We both looked down at my bleeding foot, but I made sure to keep our body contact nice and tight.
I lifted my gaze with an amorous look in my eyes. “Will you help me to the bathroom? My Creator is going to be furious if this beer stains my dress. And my shoe is covered in blood—he spent so much money.”
This simple little statement conveyed two things. One, that I was a Mage—the main reason he’d find me attractive. Two, that I was still under the care of my Creator, which meant I was new in the Breed world and a little more na?ve. Mage men didn’t get excited over the prospect of sex so much as binding—the exchange of sexual energy through holding hands.
The man eagerly hooked his arm around my waist and led me to the bathroom. “You’re a Mage?”
“Just last year,” I said. “This is the first time he’s let me out with no escort. He wants to see if I’m ready to be independent. If I go home like this, he’ll never agree to it.”
“Maybe I can lend you a little of my light.”
I gave him my best doe-eyed look. “I’ve never taken light from a stranger. Do you think that’s okay?”
I could practically hear him growling with anticipation.
Viktor had given me a brown contact lens for my blue eye so my mismatched gaze wouldn’t become a distraction, but it was annoying the shit out of me. I kept winking as if I had some kind of facial tic.
“Do you live with your Creator?” he asked.
The crowd thinned in the hallway, and we chose the private bathroom instead of the public one.
“I’m in the same building, but I have my own apartment. He’s slowly weaning me from being so dependent on him, but he still likes to lavish me with gifts,” I said with a coquettish smile. “What’s your name? I’m Bella.”
The private bathroom door closed behind him, and without looking, I knew he was hard.
“Owen.”
I lifted his sunglasses and tossed them into the sink. “Is that with a big O or a little one?”
I nestled my body against his and wrapped my arms around him in an embrace so that I could unlock the door for Christian, wherever he was.
“Your light’s so strong,” I moaned against his chest, silently turning the lock. “I like the way it feels on me. Do you have a car?”
“Uh…” He drew back.
“I don’t care about this dress anymore, but I was hoping that maybe… Well, you know. I’ve never done anything spontaneous like this, but I can’t do it when there’s a toilet three feet away.”
“What exactly do you want to do?” he asked, a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
Binding energy with another Mage was highly erotic, but I’d heard that doing it while having sex was otherworldly.
I rubbed up against him like a cat and whispered, “Everything.”
Owen trembled, cursing under his breath as he leaned back. There was a peculiar look in his eyes that I couldn’t discern. “Devon’s going to kill me, but fuck it. He gets all the fun. Come on.”
Before I knew it, we were moving out the back exit. He opened the rear door to a dark sedan, and I climbed in.
Owen slammed the door and got into the driver’s seat.
“Don’t you want to come back here?” I asked warily.
The plan was to get him out of the building so his friends wouldn’t be able to corner us in a bathroom if they came looking. Usually men didn’t go searching for one another, but since these guys worked together, it might be a habit, and we couldn’t take any chances. Viktor had suggested either inside a car or in an alley near the building, just so long as we could make a quick getaway if caught.
When he started the car and backed out, my throat went dry. I crawled into the front seat and searched the parking lot for Christian as we sped away.
“Where are we going? My car is still back at the bar. Just pull over here; the alley is fine.”
Ignoring me, he stepped on the gas even harder, and we sailed around the curve of the road. Buildings soon turned into trees.
Just a slight detour, I told myself.
What I didn’t understand was why we were going so far out. Viktor had given both Christian and me a stern warning about causing a scene and tipping off his men. No bloodshed. Well, given my current situation, at least his friends were out of the picture.
Without Christian to charm him, I was going to have to work out another plan to get information. I was used to thinking on the fly, so I kept my cool. “I saw the guys you were with. I don’t think you get half the respect you deserve.”
There are two things that all men like stroked: their cocks and their egos.
He veered off the road, and my heart finally slowed down.
Owen shut off the engine and turned to face me, his eyes dancing with mischief. “Ready to play?”