Stone Passions Trilogy (5 page)

Taking her other hand, Vaughn held it against his chest and she could feel his heart pounding as strongly as her own. Holding her eyes, he dropped his voice, “I’ll see you later, yes?”

She mutely nodded her head as he reluctantly let her go and returned to his brother’s side. The soft chuckle of Rhys made her realize that she was still standing in the middle of the dance floor and there was a handsome man waiting to dance with her. It was so strange and exhilarating being the center of a gorgeous man’s attention, let alone two gorgeous men. Usually, they flocked to Frankie’s and Vanessa’s side. It had never bothered Melanie because her friends were insanely attractive but now she understood the excitement.

Although only one of the men made her yearn to be a bad girl, if only for a single night.

With a soft smile, she stepped into the Rhys’s arms. Up close his extraordinarily long hair appeared more brown then red. Usually she didn’t like men with reddish hair but it was very attractive on this guy. It probably had a lot to do with how stunning he was and the brilliant smile that graced his luscious lips. His warm brown eyes danced with laughter and his entire being seemed to spark with amusement as he let her look her fill. “Do you like what you see?”

“I am just amazed at how much you look like your brother,” she answered bluntly. Unconsciously running her fingers over his lips, testing the firmness, she shook her head, “And yet, he’s the only one that makes me crazy.”

His low chuckle made her smile even as she blushed. “You haven’t met Armand yet. He puts both Vaughn and me to shame.”

Her lips split into a wide grin and she found herself liking this strange, beautiful man. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Like I said, you haven’t met Armand.” With a wry expression, he looked over her head to where his brothers were standing. His voice held the edge of regret as he continued, “Of course, you may be meeting him sooner rather than later if I don’t do what I am supposed to do, what Vaughn should have done.”

“What was Vaughn supposed to do?” she tilted her head to the side and looked up into his beautiful face, his rich, brown eyes. Once again the bar seemed to fade away but it was different, as if he were taking her into a different realm instead of pulling her into him. As the sounds became muffled and the colors muted, she realized he was talking to her and she had to force herself to listen.

“After this dance, you will have no recollection of me or my brothers,” he crooned in a low, mesmerizing voice. His brown eyes swirled with power and she was reminded of the golden eyes she could have drowned in. But she was with Rhys, at least for the dance and she owed it to him to pay attention to what he was saying. Afterwards, she could ask if Vaughn was single. “You will return home and forget about the castle, your small apartment. It was all a dream.”

She started at him for a long moment before her lips slowly curled upwards in a wry, appreciative smile as she finally heard his words. In teasing gravity, she drawled, “Your Jedi mind tricks won’t work on me.”

The shocked expression that descended upon his face only lasted a moment but it was well worth the price of admission and then some. Recovering quickly, obviously more amused than angry, he grinned. Good god his smile was brilliant, making his already handsome face absolutely devastating. “I see that you are going to be a much bigger problem than we anticipated.”

She laughed, amused by the game, of having someone share her slightly twisted sense of humor, even if she didn’t fully understand the rules. Unable to help herself, she looked over her shoulder and saw Vaughn glaring daggers at her dance partner.

His golden gaze shifted and collided with hers. Melanie stumbled over her feet, feeling the burning heat in his eyes from across the crowded dance floor. Had two strong arms not come around her to keep her steady she would have crumbled to the ground, unable to remain standing with knees that had suddenly turned to jelly. Her response to Vaughn should have scared her, she had never felt anything so all consuming, but it was exhilarating and she wanted to soak up every moment of it. She wanted….

A low chuckle near her ear drew her attention back to Rhys. Warmth flooded her cheeks as she tilted her head back and looked at his face. His friendly eyes were lit with humor, “Oh, this is going to get interesting.”

“Get interesting?” Melanie murmured, catching her lower lip between her teeth, her eyes darting to the Vaughn once more. “It already is.”

“Perhaps you would like to dance with my brother.”

Her gaze snapped back to his and she couldn’t prevent the broad grin from appearing at the notion of being in Vaughn’s arms once again. “I would like that above all things.”

He looked over her shoulder and made a motion for his brother to take over. Bending his head down, his lips near her ear, be breathed, “Close your eyes.”

Feeling only slightly ridiculous, Melanie stood in anticipation of being held by Vaughn, of breathing him in. Her face hurt from smiling so broadly and excited energy made it difficult to remain still. A warm, broad hand wrapped around her upper arm and she was dismayed to find that the current of energy that had arced between them earlier was absent.

“May I cut in?” His voice was wrong, too; softer. Darker.

With a slight frown, she opened her eyes, the disorientation showing in her expression. Until she saw that it was the dark one, the black haired man. Armand.

She glanced at her former dance partner but he was laughing and already returning to Vaughn’s side. Plastering a smile on her face, she lifted her head and met cold, green eyes, harsh in their beauty and chilling her to the core. Her knees wobbled but she was held securely in strong arms. Unfortunately, she couldn’t seem to be able to tear her eyes from the green gaze, as blackness began to consume her.

“I am Armand,” he murmured in a voice that oozed sex and power, demanding to be obeyed, making her brain temporarily shut down. From a purely aesthetic observation, Armand was, in a word, dazzling. He would have been the dream of any artist wishing to paint the angel Lucifer, just after he fell and was experiencing lust for the first time. There was something so primal, so elemental, about him that separated him for the lesser beings and elevated him to the level of a minor deity.

He was cold in his perfect beauty and while Melanie found him attractive, she wasn’t attracted to him. She preferred the molted heat of Vaughn’s golden eyes to the wintry chill of Armand’s glacial green glare. But he was staring at her and she realized that she had let her mind wander.

Shaking her head to clear it, feeling bolder than her normal, everyday self, she lifted her chin and met his hard gaze. “Are you hoping to convince me that I have only dreamt you and your brothers? My apartment?”

The corner of his beautiful mouth curved upwards in what some might consider a smile, though it didn’t reach his harsh, green eyes. He was truly breath-taking; no man should be allowed to be so devastatingly gorgeous, let alone three brothers. It wasn’t fair to the rest of the gene pool. “Do I need to do such a thing?”

She smiled brilliantly, “No… no, of course not. It’s just that Rhys had said something… odd. But, you see, I love my apartment. It's amazing and perfect and within walking distance of my job and I doubt that there is anything you can say or do that will change my mind.”

His brows drew together and he scowled briefly, which only enhanced his beauty. It was an expression Melanie was pretty sure he was more comfortable with. He quickly donned his neutral mask, a slight smile curving his perfect lips. “And if I told you the building was haunted?”

Her eyes widened and her mouth spread into a huge grin, “Really?”

His scowl returned, deeper this time. “It’s not true.”

She frowned, sadly disappointed. “Oh.”

Before he could speak again, she cocked her head to the side, the thing that was niggling at her mind for a few minutes finally stepping forward. It probably would have been there sooner had she not been overwhelmed with such perfection of face and form, times three. “How do you know about my apartment and the building it’s in?”

Her eyes widened in alarm and she came to an abrupt halt on the dance floor with sudden realization. Holding onto his forearms, his hands at her elbows, she breathed, “You’re my neighbor, aren’t you? Oh, god, I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to go through your apartment but I couldn’t find any other way of getting on the roof and there is this gargoyle up there and I swear I would never break anything. Please, I didn’t mean to trespass and I didn’t cause any harm, but…. What is it?”

He silently stared down at her, practically holding her up by her arms. Pressing his lips together, he let his eyes roam over her face, lengthening the silence, making her incredibly uncomfortable and anxious. Tightening his jaw, he narrowed his gaze, as if willing her into submission. She did not go easily. It wasn’t until he tightened his hold on her and gave her a demonstration of his superior strength that she finally relented just a little, relaxing just a bit.

When she lowered her chin, still holding his gaze, he finally spoke, “My property is off limits, mademoiselle.” She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. “You are to refrain yourself from using my apartment to gain access to the roof. You are to refrain yourself from visiting the roof at all or I will have you evicted.”

Impossibly, her wide eyes widened and her gaze darted to Vaughn for a moment before returning to him. In a breathless whisper, she asked, “You can do that?”

She could almost hear his teeth grinding together as his nostrils flared and he glared. “I can and I will.”

But he only said she couldn’t go through his apartment, he never said anything about not visiting the roof. She could find another way up. Bit by bit, she began to speak, “So, if I were to find another way to get up there….”

“There is no other way,” he ground out.

“If I find another way,” she repeated, stubbornly, staring up at him with slightly narrowed eyes. “I can go up there?”

He let out a long-suffering sigh and closed his eyes as if in pain. “If, and it is a very unlikely if, you can find a way, you may go up. But only during the day.”

A delicate eyebrow arched upwards at that strange concession. “Why not at night?” A mischievous smile curved her lips and lit her eyes and she looked up at him through her lashes, “Do you have drunken orgies up there at night? Something too carnal for my delicate sensibilities?”

He huffed out an unexpected, dazzling laugh and Melanie sucked in a breath at how it transformed him into a major deity. Clearing his throat, his face quickly returned to the stern frown. “No, there are no drunken orgies, or ghosts, or virgin sacrifices. You just shouldn’t be up there at night. That is, if you can get up there at all.”

“That’s too bad.” She stuck out her lower lip before her expression melted back into a teasing smile. This guy wasn’t so bad; he was just a big old teddy bear.

“Don’t go getting any funny ideas about the type of person I am, mademoiselle,” he said ominously, eerily echoing her thoughts. She held his green gaze as he lowered his head and cradled the back of her skull in his broad palms. It never occurred to her that he was going to kiss her because he didn’t seem to be interested in her in that way. But, suddenly, warm lips were covering hers, demanding submission.

She tried to jerk her head away but he held her motionless with his hands and deepened the kiss. Heat poured into her body and she reluctantly relaxed in his grip, feeling his tongue tease her lips, feeling the strength of his erection against her belly. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands so she left them on his chest, not quite pushing him away but not letting him get any closer. In spite of her effort to resist, her eyes drifted shut and she fell into his kiss.

Within moments, she no longer felt his lips on hers and everything seemed oddly frozen. Slowly, very slowly, he released his hold on her and she looked around the room: it was like she was in a waking dream. Everything was silent, everything was still. The lights were muted and everything was slightly blurry, like she was seeing the world through a soft focus lens.

Her attention returned to the black haired man holding her in his arms. His lips were moving but all she understood were the words, “Brother” and “Apartment” and “Forget.” He really was too beautiful, even as self-contained and unapproachable as he was. But it was Vaughn in all of his golden glory that made her heart race and her knees go weak. It was strange that three men, three brothers, could all be so blindly attractive but it was only one that made her blood boil.

The thought made her smile. She finally found someone to make her blood boil. How strange. Was he someone she would be able to consider a friend as well as a mate? Why was she already plotting out a long term relationship? She had shared one dance with the man; it wasn’t enough to base an entire future. Hell, she was just kissing his brother! Sometimes, her over-active day dreams even disturbed her. Whatever. It was still fun to imagine what-if, even if nothing were to come of it. She would tell Jenna about her strange and wonderful New Year’s dance with the impossibly gorgeous Vaughn and the two of them would giggle about it. Jenna would tease her for her infatuation and after they finished giggling they would find Ferris and have a bowl of ice cream while watching a cheesy romance.

And if she were to occasionally dream of Vaughn at night, she would do so with a wistful smile, wondering what if?

Armand was done speaking, a smug, self-satisfied half-smile on his wicked lips. She blinked a few times and the world came whooshing back as sight and sound assaulted her senses and the floor was once more beneath her feet. The music was blaring from the speakers and the people were talking over the noise. The whole thing had been quite a rush!

Shaking her head to clear the remaining cobwebs, she smiled up at him, “Whoa, I’m sorry, I must have spaced out for a second. What were you saying about the apartment and your brother? I’m assuming we’re talking about Vaughn, right?”

He stared down at her, anger and astonishment twisting his perfect features. She had a feeling that surprise wasn’t something he was familiar with. When he continued to just stare at her, she glanced over his shoulder and saw Rhys laughing. Next to Rhys, Vaughn glared at Armand, the rage apparent on his handsome face. Even furious he was gorgeous and she didn’t think she would ever tire of seeing his many different moods. Hey, if his brother was her neighbor, there was a good chance that he visited and maybe….