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My neck arches as he slides his fingertips into my hair, bringing our faces close again. His lips ghost across mine, leaving phantom sparks in their wake.
“You can trust me, Raven. I’ll keep you safe.”
Unmistakable determination shines from his eyes, a promise that I feel inside my soul. I nod, the two movements almost languid in their intensity as I let his words expand until they’re pushing out some of my fear and anxiety.
My eyes well up without permission, and the corners of my mouth tick upward in a watery smile. “Okay, Aries. Okay.”
He flashes me a smile, the expression a stark contrast to his normal seriousness. “Let’s go.”
I let Aries tug me behind him. I have a sneaking suspicion that I’d follow him anywhere.
I’m not surprised by all the eyes that still seek out Aries, his magnetic pull is overwhelming in the best way. What is surprising is the way they all flit away almost immediately. No one approaches us or attempts conversation.
A trio of women in short white lace dresses whisper behind white nails, each stealing glances around the hallway. Any second, their greedy gazes will gobble up the enigmatic man next to me. I tighten my hold on his hand instinctively, the hot flash of jealousy taking me by surprise.
He’s good-looking, mysterious in a way that highlights his charm. I tell myself that it’d be weird if people weren’t stealing glances at his six-two frame. But tonight his dirty smirks and charisma are nowhere to be found. Instead, there’s a darkened, pulsing aura around him, thick with the promise of violence. It’s the feeling of anticipation, an instinctual red flag everyone is born with. Something for our brain to fire synapses, shouting danger.
I glance at Aries as we walk down the darkened hallway. Backlit from the wrought-iron sconces, his face looks harsher, the angles deeper. By all logic, I should be wary of the menace rolling off of him, but I’m not. His anger feels oddly protective to me.
I spare another second to wonder if there’s something wrong with me. My reaction to him—to them—feels authentic and true unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. And yet, my logic keeps intruding, demanding I view everything through a lens that’s been forced down our throats for longer than we ever realized.
Authority lines his body, his long strides eating up the distance until we’re out of the house, away from the prying eyes.
I’m sure we’re not the only ones trying to go by unnoticed, but I’d bet these people are skulking to hook-up with someone and not slipping out of the party for anything as dire. It’s too early for the real debauchery to begin.
The urge to look over my shoulder presses against me, but I resist it and blow out a breath. Those people don’t know anything. They don’t know what happened or where we’re going. They’re only looking because Aries is so goddamn alluring.
We slip out a side door and walk along a rough-stone paved path that curves around the side of the house. The air is thick tonight, cicadas singing in the distance. Something about the noise triggers a figment of a memory, the idea just outside of my reach.
A shiver skitters down my back and lifts the hair on the back of my neck. I lift my fist with the balled-up material of my dress and quicken my pace so I’m a half-step ahead of Aries.
He runs his thumb along the back of my hand. “You good, Raven?”
The soft touch steals my focus, and I shake away the feeling of being watched to look at him. “Hmm?”
“Did you see something?”
“No, I just—it’s nothing. Just anxious to leave. To get to Leo.”
He untangles his hand from mine and steps behind me to my other side before he takes my other hand in his. His broad back faces the yard, effectively blocking me from prying eyes. The move is done so swiftly and without fanfare that it takes me a moment to realize what he did.
Once again, I find myself reveling in the feeling of safety Aries provides. He asked if I trusted him and against what some might even say is my better judgement for someone I've barely known, I find myself trusting him implicitly.
He's not an island, of course, there are other people I trust. One of them was just taken away by four very scary looking men with malice in their eyes and rage in their postures.
Aries heads straight toward the valet podium on this side of the driveaway. An average-looking guy in his mid-twenties stands at attention in his all-black outfit. It’s a stark contrast to the white party, a detail I’m sure is done with purpose. Everything those kinds of people do is with purpose, even if it’s something as simple as causing pain and suffering for their own fucked up entertainment.
I blow out a breath at my swirling thoughts, despair tangling with my anxiety and pulling me into a downward spiral quicker than I would’ve thought.
Without letting go of my hand, Aries extends his other hand toward the guy like he’s going to shake his hand. The valet clasps his hand as Aries leans in and says something too low for me to hear. I take in his perfectly pressed uniform and slicked-back dark brown hair, and his name tag—Hank.
Huh. He doesn’t look like a Hank, but that could be a fake name tag, for all I know.
“No problem, sir. I'll be right back with that.” He doesn't spare me a glance as he turns on his heel and follows another winding path around the other side of the house.
“What was that?” I make sure to keep my voice quiet as I look around. I'm not sure what I'm expecting to find. Maybe another set of men in coordinating outfits and scowls. Maybe the senator or someone else equally snakelike instead of the wind rustling the leaves. Laughter and soft music carries on the breeze, the only signs of the party going on in the backyard.
Aries slides his free hand into his pocket as he scans the yard, ever the appearance of nonchalance. “Nothing to worry about, Raven, just offered our friendly valet a little incentive to bring us Leo's car.”
