“Uh, no.” Denny glanced at me. “Are you okay?”
I pushed away from the wall. “I’m good.”
“Can you tell me exactly what happened?” asked Stuart.
I did so, and then added, “Considering he’s so pissed about being punished, I’m not understanding why he’d risk receiving another one.”
“Some people don’t respond to physical punishments,” said Stuart. “They feel the pain, but it doesn’t motivate them to back down. It simply riles them up even more.” He exchanged a look with Denny, nodded, and then burst into molecules. Molecules which then swept out of the hallway and disappeared around the corner. Cool gift.
“Sam and Jared are currently away from the island, but we’ll get Castor to a cell,” David told me. “They’ll deal with him later.”
Castor froze, his eyes flaring. “I am not going back to a cell.”
“Now that’s where you’re wrong,” said Denny before sliding his gaze to me. “We’ll take care of this. David will walk you home.”
The vampire in question nodded and gestured for me to get moving.
“I’m here with a friend, Maisy,” I said.
“If she wants to stay here without you, she can,” said David. “If not, I’ll escort you both to your apartments.”
“Does no one care that she struck me?” Castor burst out. “Do humans not receive their own punishments?”
I whirled to face him. “I didn’t strike you. I didn’t even touch—” And then it hit me. “Is that what this was about? You wanted to provoke me into doing something that would earn me a punishment of my own? You were hoping for a little revenge?”
Denny snorted. “Bad plan, Castor. We saw you cornering her. We heard you insulting her. We witnessed you grab her by the throat. If she had retaliated, not one person would have claimed that you didn’t have it coming.”
Castor sneered. “So women get special treatment round here?”
“No, they get equal treatment,” replied Denny. He then looked at me again. “Go on, Lexi. Head home. We got this.”
Nodding, I turned and walked away with David at my side. Damn, what a night.
(Damien)
Having lost yet another hand, I slapped my cards on Reuben’s dining room table. A gloating Chico greedily grabbed his winnings while Harvey and Reuben mumbled complaints. Rubbing my temple, I lifted my bourbon-flavoured NST and took a long swig.
Harvey glared at Chico, who’d won five times in a row. “Won’t your mate be looking for you? Max, Butch, and Salem headed off to their girls. I’m thinking Jude will be upset that she’s waiting on you.”
Chico snorted. “You’d like it if I upped and left, wouldn’t you?”
“I’d fucking love it,” said Harvey.
“Jude went bowling with a few of her squad, so she ain’t waiting on me.” Chico glanced at Reuben. “Is Ian expecting you at his place any time soon?”
Reuben shook his head. “He’s reading a new book that came out tonight—one he’s been waiting on for a whole year—so he currently doesn’t care I even exist.”
“Excellent,” said Chico, gathering the cards together. “It means I can squeeze more cash out of you before I head home.” Pausing, he eyed me closely. “You seem a little distracted tonight.”
I was. Hence why I’d been playing atrociously. I hadn’t won a single hand. To be honest, my mind just wasn’t in the game.
“It wouldn’t have anything to do with that waitress you’ve been ogling for months, would it?” Chico tilted his head. “Her name’s Lexi, right? A little birdie told me you came strolling out of her apartment earlier.”
Setting down my bottle, I felt my lips flatten. That was the thing about living at The Hollow. It was practically impossible to keep secrets among a population so small.
Not that I’d hoped to keep what happened between me and Lexi a secret, but I didn’t plan to talk much about it either. The last thing I had any interest in doing was telling anyone how insanely good the sex fest had been, or there’d be dozens of males sniffing around her in no time at all. I found myself clenching my fists at the mere idea of it.
Harvey looked at me, his brows lifting. “You spent the entire day with her, huh? I figured you’d make your move soon. I suppose it was a long time coming.”
It was, and it had been a million times better than I’d expected. I hadn’t been able to get enough of her. She excited every one of my senses. Evoked a depth of need in me that was close to feverish. Stirred up a vicious and alien possessiveness in me that compelled me to chain her to my side. Something which I absolutely could not do.
Leaving her at sunset had been … well, I hadn’t liked it. At all. I’d wanted to stay a while longer. I’d wanted to fire more questions at her. Wanted to learn more about her. Wanted to get inside her pretty little head.