Next month she would be living out her purpose as a wife. Kadence’s skin crawled at the reminder of her impending nuptials. Logan was a good, strong, capable man, but he was more like a brother to her than a husband. There was no spark between them, at least not on her end.
She had no idea what a spark with a man felt like, but she’d read about it in some of the romance novels in the stronghold. In those books, a spark was extremely important. But those were books and this was reality, and in her reality there were no sparks with her soon-to-be husband.
Because her father had been the leader of the hunters and her brother now was, she’d been paired with the strongest available hunter. And as Nathan’s second-in-command, Logan was one of the best.
Kadence blew out a breath as she watched the unmoving line. She had no idea what one had to do to get inside, but she hadn’t managed to escape the stronghold to be deterred now. It had taken a lot of planning to break free. She hadn’t been prepared for this, but she would figure it out.
Thrusting her shoulders back, Kadence brushed her braid over her shoulder and slipped from the shadows. The January air chilled her cheeks as she approached the mountain of a man holding the rope. At first, his chestnut eyes ran dismissively over her, but then they became more leisurely in their perusal of her. Kadence frowned at him before waving her hand after where Nathan and the others had gone down the steps.
“Nathan is my brother,” she said.
“Is that so?” the man inquired with a smirk.
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you enter with him?”
Kadence grappled to come up with a response. Glancing down the line of people, she noticed most of them were focused on the phones in their hands. A few were watching her, some with interest, others with hostility.
“I forgot my phone at home and couldn’t call to let him know I was running late. He probably assumed I’d changed my mind about meeting him here,” she lied with ease and flashed the man her best smile.
The man’s eyes ran over her one more time. Kadence stilled her fingers when they fidgeted with the edges of her sleeves. She was so far out of her element here, awkward in a way she’d never been before. If she’d been a human woman, she would be comfortable with talking to this man, she would know what to say, but all she knew was what she’d been raised to know, vampires, marriage, babies.
Fresh resentment shot through her. Life could be worse. She told herself this a thousand times a day, but it had yet to fully sink in.
She should be grateful for all she had, instead of resentful of everything denied her. Still, she wanted to push this guy out of her way and stroll into the club instead of standing here like a moron with a growing group of humans peering curiously at her.
“Next time, come with him,” the man said and lifted the rope before he stepped aside.
“Oh, come on! This is bullshit! Nathan is my brother too!” a chorus of voices shouted from the line.
Kadence ignored all of them as she hastened down the steps toward the thumping beat coming from behind the closed door below. Before she could open the door, it swung inward to reveal a woman holding it for her. The woman smiled at her as the music increased to the point where Kadence’s head pounded in rhythm with it.
“You can check your coat,” the woman said and waved her arm at a window behind her. A man stood there resting his elbows on the wooden windowsill, but he straightened when he saw Kadence.
“No, thank you.” Kadence pulled her coat closer against her as she turned away from the woman. She didn’t know much about humans, but her books, her family, and other hunters had told her enough about the human world to know the weapons tucked into her coat would not be welcome here.
Hurrying down the hall, she walked toward the music. She worried Nathan would discover her here, but she couldn’t deny the thrill of excitement running through her at being free and finally seeing something of the human world.
Granted, it was for the worst reason possible that she was out of the stronghold, and she had no idea how to interact with this world, but she was free.
Stepping out of the hall, she found herself standing at the edge of a dance floor. Kadence gawked at the spectacle of all the humans moving and jumping around before her. She and her friend, Simone, had spent a lot of time dancing in each other’s rooms over the years, but she’d never seen anything like this.
The complete inhibition, lack of clothing, and energy of the place fascinated her as much as it unnerved her. The aromas of sweat and alcohol intermingled so completely with each other that she could barely separate the two. There was nothing like this in the stronghold. Simone would be in absolute awe when Kadence went back and told her what she’d seen here.
Went back…
Kadence shook her head to clear it of the sadness creeping through her at the thought of returning to the stronghold—a place that was a beautiful prison for her and so many other women. Granted, most of the women there didn’t think of it that way, but she’d give anything to spread her wings and break free of her gilded cage.
Not the time, she told herself sternly. You are here for a reason. Her gaze scanned over the crowd as she searched for the vampire who had murdered her father. She also kept an eye out for her brother.
Ronan’s gaze honed in on the woman who emerged from the hallway to stand at the edge of the dance floor. Her silver blonde hair, dangling in a braid over her shoulder to her left breast, reflected the colors flashing over her in an array of reds, blues, and yellows. The lights played over her delicate features and lit the awe on her face as she stared at the humans.
A smile tugged at the corners of her full mouth when a group danced close by her. Many of the people below displayed more flesh than they covered, but Ronan found his gaze riveted on her fully clothed body in its form-fitting black pants, which were tucked into ankle-high, black boots. Her calf-length, black coat pushed back as she settled her hands on her hips to watch the crowd. Beneath the coat, she wore a black turtleneck that hugged her breasts, slender waist, and rounded hips. She looked to be a good five inches shorter than him at about five-seven.
Her smile slid away and her hands fell from her hips as she surveyed the crowd with a far more serious eye. Then her head fell back, her gaze locked onto his, and he was treated to a full-on view of her striking beauty.
The image of her body, naked beneath his and moving in a sensuous dance against his sheets, caused his cock to harden. He felt like he had when he’d been twelve and first discovering the joys of the female body, before the enjoyment of sex had faded away over the many years of his death-filled life. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d desired a woman, but it had never been with this intensity.
For the first time in centuries, he lusted after a woman, and he would have her.
CHAPTER 3
The air rushed out of Kadence’s lungs when she spotted the man above. Though his eyes were shaded with sunglasses, she knew he was focused on her. Butterflies fluttered to life within her stomach as she drank in the details of the man.
Not handsome, she wouldn’t define him as that, but definitely intriguing. Her fingers itched to trace the contoured planes of his high cheekbones and the stubble lining his square jaw. His sable eyebrows drew together over the bridge of his roman nose as he watched her. She had no idea why he was wearing sunglasses inside, but she would give anything to pull them off and reveal the color of his eyes.