Take Me (33 page)

Much slower than she did, Dom stood and righted himself. After glancing at his watch, he winced. “We leave for the ball in less than two hours. I still have work to do.”

Felicity looked down at herself to make sure all of her clothes were on, and on correctly, then she back to her man and wrapped her arms around his neck. His hands wrapped around her waist.

“Your mother says I get to wear a fancy gown. I don’t know if you know this about me, but I happen to love nice clothes, even if I can’t afford them. To say that I’m looking forward to the dress and shoes I get to wear is a gross understatement.”

He gazed down at her with laughing eyes; his thumbs made soft, continuous circles against her lower back. “After we’re mated, you’ll never want for clothes again. Anything you want, you’ll have.”

Felicity batted her eyelashes at him. “You don’t have to buy me, baby, you already have me.”

His hands squeezed her in a slow, meaningful touch. “I’m not buying you, sweets, but I will shower you in everything you could ever want. If that means you want the best clothes in the world, then I’ll get them for you. If that means you want a nice car, or for us to live in a home that we pick out, then that’s fine. Whatever you want, Felicity, as long as you’re by my side.”

Felicity swallowed hard. “Oh.”

A grin lifted up one corner of his gorgeous mouth. “Oh? That’s all you have to say.”

Heart thundering, Felicity pulled his mouth down for another kiss then promptly stepped away from him. “Yes, well, you do have that effect on me you know.” She headed for the stairs before she did something silly like never leave.

She couldn’t hear his footsteps but she could feel him following her.

“What effect is that?”

“To make me speechless.”

Just as she reached the staircase he caught her, wrapping his arm around her. He kissed her neck, tongue wetting her skin and creating a tremble in her body and an ache in her loins for him to taste her somewhere much farther south. Oh god, the man could make her melt.

“Don’t wear any panties tonight.”

She blinked slowly, once. “What?” she said, a ragged whisper.

His arms tightened. “You heard me. I want you bare for me. For when I touch you. Now go.”

She went.

Chapter 20

I want you bare for me
.

A little over two hours later Dominic’s words made Felicity shiver and it had nothing to do with the cool breeze blowing against her. Felicity was dressed, prepped, and looking fancy, if she said so herself. She stood next to Dom, their arms entwined as they arrived at Kensington house for the campaign ball.

And no, she did not wear panties. For him.

She’d left off the scrap of lace at his request; or, demand rather. That she didn’t wear anything between her legs had her blood simmering on the edge of arousal. She had so many questions to ask Dom, but she hadn’t been alone with him long enough to voice any of them. Not even on the car ride here, where bodyguards joined them in the SUV. No way would she ask about his order for her not to wear any underwear in front of a bunch of bodyguards with acute hearing.

Did he plan to check to see if she’d obeyed him while at the ball tonight? Her pulse spiked at the thought. Yes, she wanted that. For some reason, maybe because she was madly in love with him, Dominic brought forth all of her most wicked sexual fantasies; ones she’d never even known she had until she met him. Such as the fantasy she was secretly, achingly, hopeful he’d fulfill tonight—to pull up her dress and make her come with just his hand between her legs in a room crowded with people. Just thinking the racy thought brought a blush to her cheeks.

Felicity and Dom stood in front of a crowd of paparazzi outside of Kensington house. Other politicians with wives on their arms smiled at the flashing cameras, their faces stoic with a smile, before making their way up the stairs to the house.

Heavy-muscled bouncers held the paparazzi back. Some paparazzi human but most were vampires working for
V-Society
. The flash from cameras pointed their way shot a spike of fear down Felicity’s spine. She forget all about her fantasy. The time had come for her to get serious. She had to act the part of a politician’s wife. Inside this ball was the alpha Zeke running for president, the leaders of the
were
and vampire council and nearly a hundred of the most influential names of
were
and vampire families.

Felicity and Dom gazed out at the cameras, as his mother instructed, and let them take the first photos of them as a couple. Their faces would be plastered everywhere especially since Dominic rarely let photographers take his picture.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he said.

Felicity’s lips twitched with a smile. It was the eighth time he’d said so in less than an hour. She wore a navy blue colored gown that rested off the shoulder. Her dress was made from a mixture of lace and silk and shimmering stones that covered her upper body like a corset and set apart the rest of the gown. Her shoulders and neck were completely bare, and Edwardo had taken her curls and used a clip made of beautiful white feathers and pearls to clip her curling hair atop the back of her head. The curls draped down across her back. It looked gorgeous and she knew it.

The material that covered the shell of her bodice turned into something much softer for the rest of the dress. The material rippled down her body, or at least that’s how it was sewn to look. The dress clung to her curves showing every dip and bend so she could hide nothing. Luckily the dress did something that made her butt look elegant and not huge. It even managed to hide the not-particularly slender belly she sported.

At her knees the dress flared out to form a round circle around her ankles so that the dress swished and moved with her as she walked. It was beautiful and timidly sexy compared to some of the other gowns she’d seen so far. Most importantly, she looked like a politician’s
bruid
. Edwardo had done her makeup giving her a smart but beautiful glamour. Her skin was bare of jewelry save for Dom’s heavy ring on her finger. And without a bra and panties, she was completely bare in her most private parts.

Dom still managed to outshine her. He made her look like a girl going to prom in a Wal-Mart dress in comparison. He wore a dark gray suit that had hints of navy in the lapels and seams. Just enough color so that they matched in a subtle way. His crisp shirt underneath was impeccably white, his bowtie navy and perfectly creased, and a cream handkerchief was tucked into the pocket of his coat. All of this he wore with a black overcoat.

They headed toward the stairs of the Kensington mansion but Dominic turned them to face the camera. This was it. With a practiced smile, he faced the cameras and put his hand at the back of her waist in a gentle touch. She put on her own, close-lipped smile as white flashes from the camera jolted in her face like little snaps of lightning.

“Dominic, any word on how your campaign is going?” one reporter shouted, trying to push past the large bodyguards that formed a wall to keep them out.

“Mr. Blackmoore is it true that alpha Zeke made an attempt on your life?” said another reporter.

“Is it true that you only recently met Ms. Shaw and that she’s already sharing your blood? Is it true she’s the reason you broke off the engagement with Lady Julianna Greenwich?”

At that, his hand stiffened at her side. His eyes followed the sound of that voice to land on a slim man wearing rounded spectacles. At the force of Dominic’s glare the man took a step back. He must have changed his mind because he stepped right back up, speaking even louder over the dozens of questions launched by the paparazzi.

“Ms. Shaw, how did you meet Mr. Blackmoore? Is it true you slept with him while he was still mating with Lady Julianna Greenwich? How does that make you feel? Are you using Dominic Blackmoore for his wealth?”

The hand at her waist tightened into a nearly bruising grip. Dom jerked her toward the steps and walked her into the house. She stumbled over her heels trying to keep up with him.

As soon as they were inside she hissed at him. “What is wrong with you? Are you trying to make me look like a fool?”

Dominic looked down at her and at once she saw the full force of his anger. “I wanted to kill him. I still might,” he said as an afterthought.

“What?”

“No one talks to you that way, Felicity. No one.” His jaw clenched and jerked as he worked out his anger.

“Oh, baby, it’s okay. Really, with you here,” she shrugged and smiled up at him. “I’m just happy.”

The lines around his mouth relaxed, slightly, and then he leaned down and kissed her. It was chaste and left her wanting something much deeper, warmer.

“Come on we have people to meet.”

Dominic led her down a short hallway where two sets of doors were open that led into an old-fashioned ballroom. The house itself was quite old. If Felicity remembered correctly, the house had been in the Kensington family for more than two-hundred years. Over time they had continued to make renovations on the home. What had started out as a ten-bedroom house now was a mansion the size worthy of the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.

The ballroom took her breath away. The floor looked handcrafted, like it was made of marble in cream and chocolate colors that formed a diamond shape that covered the entire floor. Up above the ceiling towered in a mighty dome where not one but three opulent chandeliers hung. Pieces of crystal hung beside the lights causing a shimmering effect across the walls and ceiling. Felicity couldn’t help but wonder how they dusted the chandelier.

With her arm tucked over Dominic’s she followed him into the room. Her stomach squeezed tight as he led them towards a group of older men. Gently inhaling she recognized them as vampires. At once, she put on her unimposing smile that Lady Blackmoore had taught her then quickly scanned their faces. She recognized them but her memory chose that moment to mash all those names and pictures of faces together. Her pulse fluttered. Panic surged. Breaths struggled to stay normal.

Just breathe, Felicity.

The one on the left had silver hair and a heavily lined face against pale skin. His name was Montgomery or maybe Charles. Shoot, she didn’t know. Her eyes quickly went to the man in the middle. He had dark, ebony skin with a smooth head and lovely brown eyes with a golden center. She struggled to place a name...David, Daniel, or was he Montgomery?

Panic built inside her as she searched the next two people’s face and only came up with more names but none of them seemed to fit the faces. Dom glanced down at her with an unreadable expression before he stopped her right in front of them. No, she wanted to say!
Don’t take me to these men whom I can’t recall John from Joe. I’ll embarrass you.

“Gentleman, let me introduce you to the woman who strolled into my life and nearly wrecked it, Felicity Shaw.”

“Ah, right before the election. Pushing it a bit close, aren’t you Blackmoore?” said the dark-skinned man with kind eyes.

Dominic shrugged .

A blush colored her cheeks. She sent Dom a withering glare. “I hardly wrecked it,” she muttered then quickly sent the gentlemen a smile. Remembering Lady Blackmoore’s council, she bent her knees in a little bow.

The gentlemen chuckled at her sharp retort making her color even more. Surely she looked like a strawberry about now.

The man on the right wore his brown hair loose around his shoulders. He was tall and slender with a trimmed goatee around his mouth. “How are your numbers looking, Dominic? If you don’t pull this through, I’m going to have some very unhappy people on my hands.”

Felicity could feel the tension enter Dom’s body at the man’s question.

“Better. I’m going to win this.”

The man with the heavily wrinkled face took a step forward but didn’t bother to lower his voice. “Why is the Alpha still alive? He should be dead by now.”

“Rightly so, Montgomery. However, he has very well trained guards protecting him and he’s great at masking his scent. The only way we can find him is by tracking him to where we think he is then simply attacking to see if he’s there. I’m trying to keep the body count down, so I’ve told Grayson and Vas to make sure they know where he is before they attack. As you can see, he’s far too good at hiding.”

The dark-skinned man frowned, his eyes growing hard. “You have two days left. Two days, Dominic, and from what I’ve been hearing he’s going to take the presidency by a landslide.”

“I won’t let that happen.”

“You can’t stop it,” the man replied. “No one can alter the votes without penalty of death. If he wins, he wins. He plans to allow same-sex matings Dominic, even between different breeds. Can you imagine the blasphemy? Male vampires and
weres
rutting together, sharing the most sacred of blood bonds in the world. It will be devastating.”

Felicity bit her lip to keep from speaking. It was not her place to tell this man how wrong she thought he was.

When she first heard the commotion coming from behind her she almost sighed with relief, but when she turned toward the sounds of gasps and excited chatter her blood froze over with ice.

Helena was here.

The stunning redhead with perfect, creamy skin and her pointed chin and upturned noise stood at the entrance to the ballroom with a smirk on her face. She met the crowds’ eyes in a personal challenge as if daring them not to let her enter.

She wore a daring black gown that looked glued to her body. How else could it stay up by only her breasts? The dress fell to the floor with a length of material trailing behind her. That length split to reveal one long, creamy leg clad in a black high heel that shimmered with stones.

After posing for an entire minute for everyone to take notice of her, an incredible man strode to her. That was the only way Felicity could think to describe him—incredible. Of course, she could only see him from the side and back but there was something too catching about him, a magnetism that fueled her blood in a way that only Dominic did. He had blonde hair with darker streaks that fell to the bottom of his neck in a wave. That wasn’t what had caught her attention. No, what had caught her attention was the way he moved...like a predator. Realizing that actually sent a spike of fear into her. This man could kill you. He would walk up to you as he was to Helena in that same, long-limbed, deadly grace and then he’d kill you with his bare hands. She could almost see it in her mind.