There was something specific about watching it happen to someone else. Something different from when it happened to me. When Kenji looked at me like that, I felt loved and claimed. When the Claws looked at me like that, I felt protected.
But watching the room look at Deja the way the room was looking at Deja right now—that hit different. That was the world finally pausing to acknowledge what I had always known deep in my soul.
A Black woman could shut a room down without lifting one fucking finger.
“Oh.” Hiro sat up. “Isthatthe hairstylist?”
“Yes.” Yoichi gripped his fang in his hand as if needing the charm to ground him. “That’s her.”
Hiro took Deja in some more. “Rin may have competition tonight.”
“No way.” Toma shook his head. “Rin plays dirty. Last time I tried him with a woman, I had the shits for two weeks and I still don’t know how he poisoned me.”
Yoichi shrugged. “I doubt Rin did.”
“He did.” Toma rolled his eyes.
Yoichi chuckled. “Us Fangs would never.”
I turned back to Deja.
Finally, she took two steps forward and I spotted what was in her hand.
Huh?
A sparkling chain led from her hand and ran three feet behind her until. . .
Oh shit.
Rin entered the doorway with a jeweled collar wrapped around his neck.
Oh. . .she’s not holding a chain. . .she’s holding a leash.
In my head, surprise clashed with disbelief. In fact, I felt as though I had been struck by lightning and left trembling in its wake.
The collar sat snug against his throat and was opulent to the point of excess. Thick-set stones crowded the piece, and each one was large and unapologetic. Rubies bled deep crimson. Emeralds burned green next to flashy sapphires. Between them, diamonds sparked in hard, blinding bursts.
With that collar on and Deja guiding him into the ballroom on the leash, Rin looked adorned and claimed.
All the men now sat up and shifted in their seats, even Reo and Kenji. Clearly, they were just as shocked as I was.
Deja continued forward, exuding queen energy.
Several paces back, Rin walked behind her like a good little doggy, and it was kind of sexy. . .as well as comical.
Rin washuge.Over six feet of broad-shouldered muscle stuffed into a crisp white tuxedo cut so sharp it had to be custom-made. The white fabric fit tight across his chest and shoulders, broke at his thick thighs, and ended over polished white shoes.
This was a body that would trigger fear in any person with common sense.
Yet. . .the poetic contrast between this huge man being led by this curvy woman was. . . intoxicating.
Pure white surrendered to sizzling hot red.
Even more. . .tonight for the first time since being introduced to Rin, I finally got to see his hair out of that braid. And it was a sight to behold. The long black hair hung loose down his back in curls.
I grinned.
Deja has definitely been playing in his hair.
