Unbound (43 page)

“Oh. Why do you think they will want to dance with me?” Great, she really didn’t need anyone else’s interest. She had enough trouble already. She wished fervently that Cayden would suddenly show up. He would dance with her all night and dare the others to interfere. Dani was willing to bet her new Prada bag she’d be back in Chase’s arms before the night is out.”

Gage was on his cell phone telling Cayden what a lovely evening he was missing. He was informing him of Chase’s presence and her assumed full dance card for the evening. She never would have taken him for an instigator but he seemed to be enjoying provoking his son.

“Don’t be silly, Danielle. You’re the most beautiful maiden here and not yet bonded, not to mention powerful beyond anything we’ve seen. You’re quite a catch. Gage shouldn’t be torturing Cayden like that. He’ll be sick with anxiety all night. He’s waiting for Gage to call him back after the dance request cards come around. I h
ope those heels are comfortable,
” Koren retorted with no fear at all of Dani being stolen away from her son.

The newly mated couple was enjoying their first dance and soaking up all the love and joyful energy left on the floor by the mated couples that had danced before them. The mothers of the newly mated couple went through and made dance cards for people with requested partners. After dinner was served, the music kicked up again and the groom’s mother began passing out the dance requests. The mother of the groom stopped at their table and beamed at Dani.

“Are you Danielle, the warrior?” She nodded grasping the warrior pendent that rested in the hollow of her throat. “Our family owes you a debt of gratitude for your presence this evening. You are the maiden that has brought the new mates a small fortune. You will be called to the floor very soon.”

She handed over the dance card and hugged Dani tightly. She handed it to Koren, not even wanting to see what was on it. Koren’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline before she handed it to Gage. Gage shook his head and handed it to Darren before retreating to the hall, she assumed to call Cayden. Koren followed scolding him. Darren examined the card and cursed a blue steak under his breath and handing it over. She had sixteen dance requests. Chase wa
s her first dance and he’
d also secured three more dances after that throughout the night. Darren was the second dance. He must have paid a pretty penny in an attempt to be first and wasn’t happy at being th
warted. It was worse than she’
d imagined. Darren had turned his chair in the direction of Chase’s table and was shooting flames from his eyes across the room. Chase was leaned back in his chair smiling and fiddling with his phone. Dani’s phone chirped. Oh, shit. She had a text message.

“Tell him there’s no room for another warrior in your life. You’re upgrading to a man that can out bid him. He shouldn’t have interrupted us, Lovely. He’s your guard, not your boyfriend or your mate.”

“I assume that message is from him?” Darren inquired still trying to ignite Chase with his eyes.

“It is. Why are you behaving this way? Why would you pay to dance with me, Darren? How did Chase know you would?” she stiffened.

“Did he send a message for me?” He avoided answering by asking another question.

“It doesn’t matter. Please, answer my questions.” He snatched her phone off the table and started hitting buttons. She tried to take it back but he pushed her hand away.

“You have no right to mess with my phone! It’s an invasion of privacy!” Chase stood on the other side of the room, watching the exchange and sending Dani telepathic question marks.

“I am seei
ng to your safety, little Wrath,” Darren
growled
. He
gave back the phone
only
after looking at all her recent text messages. “I requested a dance because I enjoy your company and was sure if I asked you would give it to me freely. But this is a bonding celebration and I am a man of tradition. So I paid for the right to dance with the loveliest maiden here. I am behaving in a protective manner because it’s my job,” he insisted.

She didn’t have time to respond to that load of bullshit before she was called to the dance floor to meet the bride and groom. Darren shadowed her to the floor. The male that was called for the tradition dance, having brought the couple the most money, was of course, Chase. The sound that came from Darren behind her was not friendly. He stayed close all the way across the floor and introduced himself to the happy couple after they were introduced to Dani. They obviously already knew Chase. The music started and Chase twirled her around Darren before he had a chance to leave the floor. She was really sick of testosterone-filled vampires. It was a waltz and Chase seemed surprised that she had no trouble keeping time and danced with grace.

“You’re a wonderful dancer, Lovely,” he praised her.

“I guess the warrior class can hold their own after all,” she retorted.

“Stop that. You know that comment wasn’t a shot at you. Darren was way out of line.” he explained.

“It might as well have been a shot at me. You do realize the warriors are actually above me in social standing, according to your people. So how do you think that makes me feel?” Embarrassment and stress colored her cheeks.

“Here we go with ‘your people’ stuff, again. Lovely, there will never be anyone above you. Just ask every man here clamoring for a moment of your time. Hell I’m not even going to tell you what I paid to have the honor of your time.”

“Shut up and dance, Chase. I am tired of hearing people tell me how special I am. You people have no idea who I am. When this danger passes and I know no one else will be hurt because of me, I’m leaving. I’m transferring to a school someplace far away from this bullshit,” she snapped in mid spin.

“You don’t mean that.” He stopped dancing and looked at her in disbelief.

“Hell if I don’t! I’m sick and tired of being hurt by people who are supposed to care about me. You claim to love me but you don’t. You don’t have any idea what it means to love, Chase. I have begged you to stop doing this to me. It hurts me to be near you. I fight the urge to come to you every day, because in the end I’ll be nothing but
a memory to you. I won’t be
bonded any time
in the near future. In my world
people don’t do that until they’re in love and old enough to deal with the ramifications. My people don’t have a magic ceremony that forces two souls together. We have to find our spouse’s soul and hold onto it with love and hard work. So when you head happily off into the sunset with nightmare Barbie, I’ll still be feeling the feelings you’re going to forget. I’m trying to move on with my life now instead of waiting for you to forget me.”

She walked away as the song ended and everyone was invited to join the dance. She left the hall, going straight out the front door and around the side of the building to a patio area. Dani needed to get away from the crowd and Chase before she made a fool of herself by having a public meltdown. The air outside was clear and cold. It felt good on her temper-heated skin. She realized Darren was watching from a safe distance but he didn’t approach, so she ignored him. She imagined Gage had already called Cayden to tell him she was upset with Chase, not that anyone could have heard their conversation on the floor but her expression when she passed gave her away. Cayden would feel better knowing she’d had an argument with Chase. Men are that way, enjoying it when another man upsets you so they can soothe you and prove to be a better man. The men in her life had been playing a game of one-upmanship for months. Now, for some reason, Darren seemed to be joining the party. She wasn’t strong enough to live in this world. For a girl with so many admirers, she was very much alone.

She made it through the rest of the evening uneventfully, performing all her required dances with the exception of the ones with Chase. He never came back to claim his rewards for donating such a price to the new couple. He wordlessly danced with the string girl that requested his attention before he disappeared. Dani was polite and spoke socially
with her dance partners. They’
d paid for it after all. When she was ready to leave, Darren had a car take them back to the
Enclave
before Gage and Koren. He was wise not to speak to her in the car.

When they reached her room he said, “I’m sorry for ruining your evening. It wasn’t my intent.”

She didn’t respond before shutting the door in his face.

* * *

Chase was stunned by Danielle’s intentions to leave the area. Talk about your double-edged swords. She all but told him she loved him but she was going to leave because of him. Chase hadn’t meant to hurt her. He just couldn’t help getting excited when he realized Cayden wasn’t there to ruin the evening. He’d held her twice and that would never have happened if Cayden had been around. He could have had lots of time with her, but after her speech, he didn’t have the nerve to approach her again. He should have. What if she left and he never saw her again? He would regret being a gentleman then, wo
uld
n’t he? To know he’d never hold her again, would never smell that delicious scent of hers again or hear her soothing voice would kill him. To never again see those ice-blue eyes surrounded by rich
,
dark hair with flashes of the proof of her natural power. The thought put a cold spot in the center of his chest. He wanted her so badly but all he seemed to be able to do was hurt her.

She danced so elegantly. He could still see the proud length of her slender alabaster neck, her hair all up and nude shoulders daring him to taste them. The way the red light was playing off of her skin was amazing. Watching her dance with all those other guys was maddening. He guessed they had decided to take advantage of Cayden’s absence also. She smiled and spoke politely to the would-be suitors, thanking them for being so generous to the new couple. Chase on the
other hand, was rude and too
focused on what Dani was doing to even speak to the ladies he danced with. After all the time she’d been away from him, he was trying to absorb everything he could without getting close enough to upset her again. Like a damn junky trying to get a fix, he’d hung on her words, her
expressions, the way she moved. He
fixated on the way her lips
moved when she spoke and waited
anxiously for glimpses of pale blue when her eyes turned in his direction. He was so whipped. He could have any girl crawling all over him. Instead, he was in bed alone, thinking about what it was like to have her pressed against his chest in the dark, giggling in his ear and happy to be with him. But those dreams would never come true. She was going to leave because of him.

* * *

The phone in Cayden’s bedroom rang and he answered on the first ring. It wasn’t Dani. Oddly enough, it was Chase. The last person he wanted to talk to this morning. His parents told him of an apparently awkward exchange between him and Dani that resulted in him forfeiting the many dances he’d paid for. When Cayden’s shift was over, he went to Dani’s room. She told him she needed to be alone for a few days. Cayden had no idea what had happened but it had hurt her to the point of needing solitude to get over it. She’d been beautiful and smiling earlier in the evening. She allowed him to touch her in ways he hadn’t had the pleasure of yet. Cayden’s mouth still burned when he thought of how her breasts had tasted. When he reached her room after the ceremony, she looked defeated and wouldn’t open the door more than a crack.

“What do you want, man?” Cayden asked rudely.

“I wanted to know if she’s alright today. She won’t answer my calls so I started worrying. You know how she loves to go missing.”

“Why do you think her well-being is your business? I don’t know what you did to her, but she is holed up in her room refusing to see anyone.” Cayden spoke around gritted teeth.

“It was more of the spat between me and Darren that pissed her off. After that, she was angry. You need to watch him closely.” Chase was trying to keep his cool and not react to Cayden’s attitude. He had a point to make.

“What do you mean? What was up with Darren?” He was interested now.

“Danielle and I were talking in a side room. I guess Darren was too busy watching the grass grow to notice her leaving. When he finally realized she was gone he came running with his gun drawn.”

“Yeah, well like you said, she likes to go missing. It’s his job to watch her.”

“That wasn’t the strange part. The strange part was the way he grabbed her up and held her to his side like it was the most natural thing. Then in the hall, he straightened her clothes and played with her hair. He touched her face and inspected her for injuries while she looked at him like he had two heads. He took her hand and pulled her down the hall, acting more like a boyfriend than a guard, and she looked almost afraid. Then I heard Elliot’s new mother-in-law talking about how much Darren had paid to ensure himself the first dance with Dani and it pissed me off. It was like he was making himself her real date for the evening and forcing her to go along with it in the name of tradition and his guardianship over her. He was staring a hole in me because I out bid him for the first dance.  So I made a jab at the warrior class over a text she was supposed to relay to him. It pissed her off. Then Darren snatched her phone and went through her messages while she struggled to get the phone back. I was ready to cross the room after him. Warrior or not, what gives him the right to invade her privacy?” Chase huffed.