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Conversations halted abruptly Heads turned fro quintet in the gallery overhead seeathering They played on, Mozart’s spirited Serenade Number 13, an odd acco across the main floor of theclose behind hied specifically for the wealthy patrons asseht "Carys Chase!" he bellowed "Daht at Aric’s heels Nathan reached for hi down hard on Aric’s shoulder to halt him in his tracks "This is not the time or the place," he warned his co Breed warrior out of there bodily before things got any worse
He would have But at that saed fro
Not Aric’s sister, Carys
Jordana Gates
Tall, slender, wrapped in a gown of sheer, pale blue fabric that floated around her body like a silken cloud, she stepped away froed elite and met Nathan’s eyes across the several yards that separated theuessed to be surprise at first--then confusion--beneath the complicated twists and delicate spirals of her upshite-blond hair
The gauzy dress she wore hugged the swell of her breasts and her tiny waist, ski, like a vision from an enchanted other world And she was nervous, not because of Aric’s furious disruption of her swanky society party but because of Nathan
Because he was standing there in front of her now
Even at this distance, he could see the way her pulse kicked harder in the hollow at the base of her creamy throat as she looked at him He could practically feel the acceleration of her heartbeat as he held her in an unapologetic stare, drinking her in froain, soft lips crushed against his in a startling kiss he never would have allowed A sweet, reckless kiss that never should have happened
Not with someone like him
No, Jordana’s anxiety wasn’thi in the days since then, she damned well should be nervous around him
"Carys!" Aric called oncevoiceup to her throat in alarether The ape at Aric’s spectacle, though none of the tuxedoed er to play hero and take on the threat of a seething warrior froain and tried to shake loose of Nathan’s hold
"Not happening," Nathan said, digging his grip deeper into the ht behind hi for his orders "Come on," he said to Aric "You need to cool down Let’s take this outside All you’re going to do is piss her off--"
"Aric?" Carys Chase rushed through the un crowds, panic in her norantly as Jordana and the other woed forward to eoown "What are you doing here? What’s wrong?"
While Jordana’s beauty was diaht and icy fair, Carys Chase was earth and fire coence, and her cara around her face and shoulders like liquid bronze
Of course, the differences between the two females went beyond the physical
Where Jordana Gates was a Breedenetics that made her different fro rarer still She was Breed, and a daywalker at that
The same as her twin brother
"Aric, are you okay?" she asked hilanced at hi him in a quick instant Her shrewd eyes narrowed "Where have you been tonight? Why is your shirt torn?"
"We need to talk," Aric snapped at her
Carys blinked "Now? Can’t you see I’m in theout of Nathan’s grasp to grab hold of his sister’s aronna let it wait"
He tried toin her five-inch heels and stood her ground in front of hio ofin her eyes When she spoke, Nathan glis "For God’s sake, Aric You’re e me"
Across the room, Jordana started to move away from the others, toward her distressed friend She was prevented fro any closer by a man who stepped up behind her now He was Breed, tall and attractive, with clear blue eyes and golden hair
One of the shiny people who belonged in this place
The male’s hand came to rest protectively--possessively--at Jordana’s waist as he gathered her to hied with the , even if his blood spiked with an unwelcome jolt of disdain for the male who touched Jordana like he owned her
He stared at her, watched her cheeks flalanced down and refused to look at hiain
Was this the source of her nervousness in front of Nathan tonight?
Not ht, but his presence when she was in the company of someone else
This man, whose hand had drifted froers idly caressing her even as he retrieved a comm device from his tuxedo jacket pocket and held it at the ready to aze never lifted, not even as the conflict rose to troubling heights between Aric Chase and his sister
"He’s using you, Carys Can’t you see that? Trash like that will only hurt you in the end"
She scoffed, exhaled a curse under her breath "What are you talking about?"