“What would you do if I did?”
A low growl rose up from my chest. If she ran, it would only make the hunt that much more fun.
A familiar voice laced with amusement suddenly cut through the fog of desire clouding my senses. "Well, I guess I didn't need to come looking for you. Seems to me you're doing just fine."
I spun around, automatically placing myself between Esme and Dae-Jung, who stood not thirty feet away with his hands stuffed into the front pockets of his jeans, his bare chest peeking through the opening in the jacket I was sure someone insisted he wear. It was just for show. If it wasn't for the humans lingering in The Quarter, he'd run around half naked all the time. The cold didn't affect us like it did them, and Dae had no issues showing off his body.
He held his hands up, palms up. “It’s just me, man. Chill.” Though his tone was calm, he didn’t try to come any closer.
That was good, because I tracked his every movement as though he were a threat, my muscles tensing and my senses now on high alert. Giving my head a little shake, I fixed him with a hard stare. "Following me now?" I growled, my voice low and menacing.
Dae shrugged. "You snuck out. Wanted to make sure you weren't getting into trouble." His eyes slid to Esme, and he smirked. "But clearly, you are."
"It's not what you think."
"No?" Dae's eyebrows rose and his smirk widened into a full-on grin. "Because it looks like you're about to feed from—and possibly fuck—a human on a public street.” He rocked back on his heels. “Killian is gonnalovehearing about this."
Heat rushed to my face. He was right—I'd been on the verge of doing both of those things. “This isn't any of your fucking business, Dae," I said. I wasn't really worried that he would tell Killian. I knew he wouldn't. I just wanted him to fucking leave.
"True." Dae shrugged unapologetically, trying to see around my shoulder. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"
"No."
But Esme stepped around me and walked toward Dae, holding out her hand. "Hi, I'm Esme."
He met her halfway and took her hand in his, raising it to his mouth and kissing the back. I nearly lunged at him, checking myself just in time.
"Yeah, I've seen you around the club. Dae-Jung," he told her. "But you can call me Dae."
I shifted uncomfortably as Dae held onto Esme's hand a moment too long. His eyes flicked to mine. "Shedoessmell good."
A possessive growl rumbled in my chest before I could stop it, but he just laughed. The fucker.
"Marcus is back," I told him, drawing Dae's attention away from Esme.
His eyes snapped to mine, and the teasing grin fell from his face as his eyes narrowed in warning. He dropped her hand. "What?" he asked carefully.
"She knows what we are, Dae. It's okay."
He glanced between the two of us, but gave no indication that he knew what I was talking about.
"He killed her family in Mexico,” I continued. “That’s why she came here. Which probably wasn't the best place to end up, because now he's back."
"Wait," Esme interrupted. "Back? What do you mean by 'back'?"
Dae's playful demeanor vanished in a heartbeat. "You're sure?" he asked her.
"Yes," Esme told him. Then she turned to me. "What do you mean, he's back? He's been here before?"
"Yes." There was no reason not to tell her that much, at least. "Not for us. Because of some acquaintances of ours." Anything more wasn't my story to tell.
"When did this happen to your family?" Dae asked her.
After a moment, she tore her eyes from mine, and I didn't need to read her mind to know we'd circle back to this conversation later. "Right before I showed up here in New Orleans," she told him. "I'd just arrived in the city the night I first came to your club."
"And how do you know he's here now? Did you see him?"
"I can feel him."
