Gypsy watched as he listened attentively before making his excuses and moving away.
“Is everything okay?” she asked Rule, knowing that the almost invisible little earbud communicator he wore would ensure that he knew every little detail of every little thing going on.
He nodded easily enough, but she could see the look on his face as Ray and Maria moved from the ballroom.
“Is Claire here tonight? Or Liza?” She hadn’t seen either girl for weeks and realized she’d missed their steady, friendly presence as she met up with them a few nights a week.
“Jonas and Stygian didn’t want to risk their safety for a party.” He shook his head. “They’re secure for now.”
“Are they allowed visitors?” She needed to see them, to reassure the Unknown they were indeed fine and content with their security.
He glanced down at her. “The three of you are good friends, aren’t you?” he said softly.
“I like to think we are,” she replied. “I’ve missed them.”
“I’ll discuss it with Jonas later,” he promised, and then the formal introductions to the alphas were made.
Callan Lyons and his wife, Merinus, seemed more relaxed and at ease than Wolfe and Hope Gunnar, while Dash, Elizabeth, and Cassie Sinclair gave the appearance of indulged amusement at the pomp and ceremony the Navajo Council had insisted on.
Well, not the Council, she’d heard. One of the president’s aides had informed her the night before that it was Ray Martinez who insisted on pretending he had the same bearing and presence of any foreign dignitary. But then, Ray had always thought himself far better than others in the same social class as himself.
Shay Anderson, Raymond Martinez’s presidential aide, and a close friend of Gypsy’s, had stopped by the apartment before Gypsy had left for the evening, furious at some of the president’s comments where the Breeds and tribal chiefs were concerned. Those comments nagged at Gypsy. Bothered her for some reason she couldn’t put her finger on.
“So, have I made up for Jonas forcing you to wear your special dress?” he leaned closer as he asked the question, a hint of laughter in the rough voice.
Gypsy flushed at the reminder of her comments regarding the ball and how it interfered with her plans for the one she’d had her dress designed for. “I owe you an apology for that.” She sighed as he took flutes of champagne from a passing waiter. “I didn’t mean anything offensive. Rightfully so, whenever the Breeds are present, attention focuses on them. It’s just that my parents have worked so hard to draw attention to their image consulting firm—”
“Enough, sweetheart.” The grin that curled his lips was far too sexy. “According to Callan’s sister, Dawn Lawrence, it was indeed a sacrifice you were making.”
Her eyes widened in horror. “You told her what happened?”
She had actually met Dawn Lawrence several times when she’d traveled to Window Rock with her husband, Seth. Dawn was quiet and amazingly astute and possessed such a dry wit that she and Gypsy had gotten along wonderfully during the two hours the other woman had spent in the candy shop.
“Not hardly, she would have hit me with something,” he snorted. “I merely proposed a hypothetical situation and she looked at me as though I were to be pitied while informing me of what a colossal ass a man would be to allow such a thing to happen.”
Yeah, she could see Dawn telling him exactly that.
“I was angry with you,” she informed him. “You can be amazingly arrogant, Mr. Breaker.”
And so very wickedly sexy.
She hadn’t been able to forget his touch, or the pleasure she’d found in it. That didn’t mea
n she wasn’t very well aware of the decision she would be making by becoming his lover.
She was twenty-four years old, and in the years since she’d caused her brother’s death and made her bargain with the Unknown, she’d never desired a man more than she desired atoning for the life she’d helped those Coyotes to take.
Each time she’d considered taking a lover, guilt had swept over her. If the Unknown learned of it, she would be forced out of the small circle her brother had been a part of. She would no longer be able to continue his dream to help ensure the Breeds’ survival.
And if she wasn’t there, picking up the information it seemed others missed, then there was every chance it would result in a death somewhere, somehow, because she had once again cared more for herself than for those at risk.
If she ignored the need burning inside her any further, though, then it might well destroy her anyway. It was like a flame she couldn’t extinguish. A hunger she couldn’t ease. And she knew—to the depths of her soul, she knew—that she wouldn’t be able to deny him tonight.
For the past week her need for him had taken on a life of its own. A craving she couldn’t seem to shake for the taste of his kiss, the touch of his hands. At times, she could actually feel her womb tightening, tensing with the need to find release from his touch again. And no matter how often she’d tried to masturbate, suddenly the touch of her own fingers was completely ineffective.
Rule turned her on to the point that her body hadn’t stopped burning since the second she had laid eyes on him two months before.
Finishing the champagne, Gypsy set her empty glass on a nearby tray, watching as Rule talked to his brother and Diane.