Descent (Black Heart Romance)

When I slid into her DMs to get myself invited, she thought she had.

One of us was right.

Even though it means circulating on Kira’s arm at cocktail hour and waiting for my next glimpse of Hallie, I’m glad I came. I can get a bit single-minded sometimes, and right now I’m living for the next chance I’ll have to see my pretty little plaything.

When she finally finishes taking pictures with the bridal party and enters the reception area, I’m flooded with two distinctly different sensations.

Pleasure because she’s here, and now it’s only a matter of time until I can get her alone.

But also a streak of possessiveness that catches me off guard, because when she walks in, she’s on the arm of someone else.

She can’t possibly have a date, can she? Do maids of honor bring dates? Maybe they do, I have no idea, but she clearly wasn’t seeing anyone last night. Did she scrounge up a date? Is she only hanging around that man because I’m here, and she believes she has protection from me if she stays by his side?

That thought is fucking laughable. If she thinks there’s a single soul in this room who can keep me from her when I want to get to her, she’s in for a rude awakening.

I’m such an asshole I decide to find out, even if it makes her uncomfortable. I grab Kim or Kira or whatever the fuck her name is and haul her with me toward Hallie and the man she’s standing next to as she subtly scans the room for me.

My date hurries to catch up and happily settles in next to me as I drape an arm around her waist.

“Do you know them?” I ask.

“Hallie and Steve? Yeah, of course. She’s Charity’s best friend. He’s a friend of the groom’s.”

“Are they a couple?”

That’s an odd question, so she hesitates. “Um, no, I don’t think so.”

The oddest sensation occurs in my stomach. If I didn’t know better, I might think I’m… nervous.

Impossible.

Shoving away the idiotic thought and stomping on anything resembling a butterfly, I move closer to Hallie, but I can’t deny that with every step I take, I feel fuller somehow. Brimming with something I can’t put a name to or understand. I’m not even sure it makes sense, but I’m so damn happy to see her.

When her gaze lands on me, I see that feeling is absolutely not reciprocated. Her porcelain skin pales instantly. Her lips part. Her big, expressive eyes glint with something that resembles fear, but I don’t enjoy the taste of it as much as I normally do. As I approach, her chest rises and falls laboriously, as if the sight of me has made it harder to breathe.

My gaze flickers to the necklace I bought her, dangling from her lovely neck. I’m certain she doesn’t know it’s from me or she wouldn’t have put it on, but it looks perfect on her, just as I imagined it would.

She takes a step back, everything within her screaming to flee, but she doesn’t. She catches herself and stops. Looks around, anxious about how it might look, perhaps even trying to locate the bride to see if she would witness her reaction.

Her gaze lands back on the man beside her—Steve, apparently. This time when she looks at him, I don’t see relief. This isn’t a man she trusts and feels she can be herself around, it’s someone she decides to put a brave face on for, when I could have sworn a moment earlier she was clinging to him for protection.

Interesting.

Kira did say Steve is a friend of the groom’s. Hallie clearly hasn’t told Charity what happened—there would have been indications, some sort of protectiveness from the bride, plus then Hallie would know she could run straight to Charity right now and have me thrown out, but she doesn’t do that. She squares her shoulders, lifts her chin, and does her best to achieve a brave face as she prepares to face me.

I could tell last night Hallie Meadows was too considerate for her own good, but I’m curious to see how far she’ll take it.

“Hallie,” I say warmly, establishing myself as a friend or acquaintance before she can speak. I grab her hand, an intimate smile on my face, and draw it toward my face. Her first instinct is to jerk away from my touch. She almost does it on impulse, but I tighten my grip before she can, keeping her from escaping.

Panic registers on her pretty face, but it’s immediately doused by the logic that catches up to her, reminding her that if she pulls away from me like I’m a serpent, Kira and Steve will be confused and want to know the reason.

My pleasure grows as I watch her surrender unfold. Her whole body tenses when she realizes what I already knew when I grabbed her—she has to let me finish.