Tatum lingered close, watching with interest as I set up and I beckoned her nearer as an idea came to me.
“Dance for us, baby,” I commanded, pointing to a spot before the fire which was right in Monroe’s line of sight. “Give our newest Night Keeper something to watch while I work.”
“Seriously?” she huffed, clearly unimpressed with being told what to do as usual.
“What’s the matter? Do you disapprove of your newest master?” I teased.
“I’m not exactly thrilled to have three assholes who boss me about and now I’ve got four,” she replied icily, giving me a death glare.
“Well get used to it, baby,” I said with a shrug. “Besides, I’m only asking you to dance for us, it’s not that much of a hardship. Don’t you wanna see if you can make him look at you the way the rest of us do?”
“What way is that?” Nash asked, his gaze locked on our girl.
“Like we’re all dying men in desperate need of a drink and she’s a cool, blue lagoon in the centre of a desert.”
“You’re so full of shit, Kyan,” Tatum huffed. “If that was how you felt about me, you wouldn’t be such fucking dickheads.” She folded her arms as if she meant to refuse me, but the smile she was trying to hide said she didn’t mind the idea of Monroe looking at her that way so much.
“Don’t make me go all asshole on you,” I begged. “Because you know I’ll have to punish you if you don’t follow my commands. Besides, I’m pretty sure a distraction like watching you dance in that particularly fuckable outfit will keep him still while I work. Won’t it Nash?” I slapped Monroe on the arm and he grunted as his gaze raked over Tatum in that eenie weeny bikini.
“She’s my student,” he muttered as Tatum scowled at me, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
I barked a laugh and directed her away to start dancing. “Whatever you wanna tell yourself, brother. There’s no rules against looking though.”
“I’m pretty sure there is,” Monroe replied, but his eyes remained glued to her all the same.
Mila pushed her way through the crowd, greeting Tatum with a bottle of tequila and a hug as they began to dance together. I watched Tatum drinking from the neck of the bottle with desire shifting beneath my flesh like hungry ants.
“I bet that tequila would go down real smooth right about now,” I murmured and Monroe turned his head slightly to glance at me like he wasn’t sure if he should speak freely or not. But he was our brother now. He could tell me anything and I’d stand by him. Admitting Tatum Rivers was hot enough to set a forest fire blazing in his dick at all times really wouldn’t shock me. And the monster in me quite liked the idea of him vying for her attention just like the rest of us were. It felt right. Like she should possess each of us equally. Torment us equally. Drive us to insanity with desire in all the right ways.
“Tequila’s too bitter for her,” Monroe said slowly, like he was choosing his words with care. “She’s sweeter than that.”
“Naw,” I laughed darkly. “She’s really not. That girl might look sweet, but she’s got as much poison as sugar in her.”
“You think she’s lethal?” he asked.
“Yeah. In the best possible way. I’d die with a smile on my face if I overdosed on her.”
“I can think of worse ways to go,” Monroe agreed as she started dancing.
The tattoo gun hung limply in my hand as I watched her moving her body in time with Mila’s. Every flex and thrust of her hips to the powerful beat of the drums sent an earthquake of need pulsing through me until I was sure that my heartbeat had fallen in line with the bass that surrounded us.
She was captivating in the most deadly way and I knew I was falling prey to her. I just didn’t have a single urge to stop it from happening. And if I ended up bleeding out at her feet in the end, I doubted I’d have any regrets about it. That girl was mine. And she’d claimed me right back. Perhaps she didn’t fully grasp the gravity of those words yet, but I’d imprinted them on my soul.
The feeling of eyes on my skin made me turn and I found Deepthroat watching me from the centre of the group who had clustered close to watch me tattoo our latest Night Keeper.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” I snarled at her, her dark eyes widening as she managed to gain my attention. “Get the fuck away from me before I drown you in the lake like the mutt you are.”
“Kyan,” she breathed and I bared my teeth at her as she dared address me.
“If you don’t fuck off, I’ll pin you down and tattoo the word deepthroat to your fucking forehead,” I threatened and I fully meant it too.
Her eyes blossomed with tears and she darted away before I could follow through on that threat.
“What the fuck was that about?” Nash asked.
“She’s a dead girl walking,” I muttered. “She just doesn’t realise it yet.”
“I don’t-”
A whoop of excitement rose above the sound of the music half a second before Saint leapt over the bonfire with Blake right on his heels. The crowd of students cheered and roared their names as the tips of their cloaks caught alight and they ran through the packed bodies, laughing their asses off as they raced towards the lake to douse the flames.
Someone started up a game of dares and more and more people joined the throng of dancers
