“—picked this year?”
“I heard the same thing! Cal is apparently very interested in the new Acquisitions to the point he—”
“I hope the Witheringtons win. Have you seen their eldest? He’s still a bachel—”
The blood drained from my face. The tips of my ears went cold. I stopped even as Vinemont tried to tug me along with him. “This is some sort of sick competition?”
A couple of masked people near us turned to look.
“Her first ball,” Vinemont said cheerily.
“Oh, my dear, you’re in for a real treat!” A female ballgoer in a sparkling mask with a grotesquely long nose took my other arm.
She and Vinemont walked me up the stairs.
“This year is going to be especially interesting,” the beast at my other elbow trilled. “The three families are really the crème de la crème. Top notch. And Cal is going to be the greatest master of ceremonies we’ve ever seen if his Acquisition was any indication. He really set the bar high that year. Have you heard what he has planned for tonight?”
“Don’t spoil it for her,” Vinemont said with a smile in his voice. “I want her to get the full experience.”
I cursed him silently for cutting off my only flow of information.
We reached the top step and fell in line behind some other couples.
“In that case, I’ll say no more. See you inside. I’ll tell you one thing, though, this year’s Acquisitions are going to be much the worse for wear when it’s over.” With that, she giggled and rejoined her party.
I faltered, my heel catching as the corners of my vision darkened. Blood roared in my ears. Vinemont held me up and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side.
“Keep it together, Stella.” His voice was low.
“Just tell me what’s going to happen.” Desperation colored my words, only hinting at the panic escalating in my breast.
He continued moving me inexorably forward. Panic rose up from within me, threatening to overtake the thin veneer of control I had. I wanted to scream, to run, to do anything but go inside this house with the monster at my elbow.
“Please, Sinclair, please.”
He stiffened as I used his first name. He pulled me to the side and let others pass ahead of us.
“Goddammit, Stella.” His voice was a low growl as his eyes flashed behind the black mask. “Stop asking questions. In fact, don’t speak again until you’re spoken to. Understand?”
“I’ll stop and I won’t speak if you just answer my question. Just tell me.”
He brought me closer to him, pretending we were embracing each other, solely for the benefit of the other ballgoers around us, no doubt.
His mouth was at my ear. “I haven’t told you for a reason, Stella.”
He put a hand to my throat before smoothing it around to the back of my neck in a move of utter possession.
“They will mark you.” He ran his fingers across the skin at the nape of my neck, making a vivid heat tear through my body from the points of contact. “Here.”
His other hand snaked under my cloak and around to the open back of my dress. His fingers played at my exposed skin. “And here.”
I shook so hard that he spread his large palm against my bare back and pressed me to him. “I warned you, Stella. I didn’t want you to know ahead of time. Fear is your enemy. Fear will make it hurt more than it has to. Now, look at you.” He slid his hand up my spine. “Trembling against me, the one who stole you away from your life, the one who’s going to take everything from you. You are cozying up to the spider you detest.”
His lips brushed my earlobe and the strange heat pulsed through me again, scorching a path straight to my core. His evil words weren’t igniting fear in me. They were making me need him, need his wicked tongue to do things other than taunt me with pain.
I knew I should be afraid. I was. But not of him.
He moved his hand around to the front of my dress and teased my hardened nipple with his thumb. He groaned low in his throat. The cloak hid his movements, but I felt every single touch. When he cupped my breast and squeezed, I hitched in my breath.
“You’d let me fuck you right now, wouldn’t you? In front of all these people. Right here.” He released my nape, grabbed my hand, and guided it to the hard length in his pants. “You’d take this.”
My heart fluttered even faster. I slid my hand along him and his hips jerked toward me. I couldn’t think, couldn’t waste my thoughts on fear when he created an inferno that scorched me in my most secret places.
“Yes,” I breathed. “I would.”
“And I’d take you, too. In fact, I will, but not here. Business first. Get through this, and I’ll grant you a reward.” With that, he let me go and backed away. His step was steady but his eyes were wild.