Page 154 of Lessons In Grey

I chuckled, spinning her around, watching the dress swirl around her before I pulled her into me. “I do, Snowflake.”

Her cheeks burned bright red as I tipped her chin up. “Don’t say words like that baby, or you might force my hand.”

My breath caught, my heart thudding. “Fuck,” I mumbled and pressed my lips against hers. She was testing me. Testing my strength. If she didn’t think I would wife her up before the sun rose, she was mistaken. With words like that, I wouldn’t have a choice.

“Hey,” Ash said, and when I ignored her, deepening the kiss, she called out again. “Hey!”

I pulled away from Emily, shifting my angry glare to her friend as Emily’s nails dug into my chest.

Ash frowned. “Donotbe ruining her makeup before we even leave. That shit might be a miracle, but I’ve seen how you two kiss. Save it for later in the night and let’s go.”

Emily turned, leaning back against me as Ash and Syn gathered their purses. “Is Jeremy ready?”

I kissed her head. “Jeremy will meet us there,” I mumbled into her hair. “Go get your coat, Ash is right, we need to go if we don’t want to be late.”

She nodded, glancing to my lips before she pushed away from me and headed back to her room.

Yeah, that dress wouldn’t last the night, neither would that makeup. If I had it my way, we’d go for twenty minutes and then I’d fuck her in the car back home. Perhaps I could persuade heronce we were out of Ash’s line of sight.

Ash eyed me as if she could hear my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my wool coat, the one that drove her crazy. It would be a good night, I was determined to make it so.

~~~

Emily was divine.

She was elegant, every step she took was with a grace I had never noticed before.

I had spent these months studying every motion her body made. Every little twitch and quirk, but I suppose I had never seen her in this kind of environment. In the world her parents had brought her up in.

I had to admit, as I offered her my hand and pulled her from my car, part of me was filled with a near feral wind of jealousy. Now the world would see what she had only allowed me to see as of late. She hid her body away from prying eyes, but I knew how comfortable she was in it. How confident.

I suppose it wasn’t anything new to the people here. It wasn’t like she hadn’t gone to these things before, Ash had confirmed that when they invited her several weeks ago, but this was different. Now she belonged to someone. Now she had me.

She gave me a soft smile before her eyes lifted to the mansion before us. The Resnicks. Good people, nothing horrible they were keeping in the shadows, I made sure of it.

I handed the keys to the valet and turned to her, offering an elbow.

She slid her hand delicately in place and turned back to the building. There was a lit grand staircase before us, stretching up to a pair of double doors that led into a ballroom. Lights flooded the area, people streaming up and down the stairs, many looking our way as we ascended.

Despite her body’s fluidity, I could almost taste the tension rolling off of her. She was doing a good job at not looking at the people whispering about her, but I knew she could see them. She was an observer, it’s what she did.

We checked our coats in at the front and headed for the beverage table, people turning to whisper as the music played softly in the background.

Emily grabbed the first drink she saw and sipped at it, wincing at the taste. It looked like some sort of old scotch. Definitely not her drink. “They all should have something better to do than gossip about something that happened a year ago,” she finally said as she looked around the room. “It’s sad, really.”

It was. Pathetic. Why fill the evening with talk of death when it was clearly a night of giving? “The wealthy get bored far too easily,” I responded.

She held her drink gently, nodding at those who offered her a smile. “So, I wasn’t going to ask,” she began, finding my eyes again.

I knew she wouldn’t, but I also knew if I didn’t bring it up, her curiosity would get the best of her. “Azrael’s heading back this way. He has information he wants to give Malachi.”

She nodded, glancing to my lips. “Was that why you were so sour? Because Azrael’s coming home?”

Azrael didn’t have a home. He was more nomad than any one of us, which was a feat in and of itself. “I was sour because I wanted tonight to be fun for you and I knew that if he showed up, it’d be filled with tension and frustration.”

Her lips edged up at the corners. “I’m frustrated for a lot of reasons.”