Chapter Fifteen

"I'VE NEVER BEEN TO a club before."

Etienne simply stared at her. "Of course you have."

Her lips twitched. "Let me rephrase that. What I mean is, I've never been inside a club before." And to give the billionaire credit, it took less than a second for realization to hit, with the way a deep flush instantly darkened the bronzed panes of his face.

Etienne was mentally kicking himself in the head. Fuck. Being Caro, his memory was near faultless, and he could easily recall all the times he had made Spencer drive and wait for him for hours while he dined and wined his dates at the hottest clubs.

Spencer touched his arm. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," he grated out. "You're—-"

"Kidding!" Spencer snickered at the look of disbelief stamped over the billionaire's face, which was almost as pricess as the chagrined expression he had worn earlier. "I'm not sorry at all that I made you feel bad. Payback, you know."

Etienne could only grunt when the brat even stuck her tongue out at the end of her words. She got him good, alright, but it didn't bother him at all. If anything, the fact that he also found her pettiness fucking cute only made him realize just how different she was from all the other women he had gone to bed with.

And as the night wore on, the way she was a cut above the rest became even more obvious. He had always enjoyed her company, Etienne mused, while one reason he had preferred to take his dates to clubs was because the loud music discouraged any lengthy conversations. The few times he had tried to talk to any of his dates, they had bored him in seconds, while the brat, on the other hand...well, they often ended up wanting to murder each other, but at least it was never boring.

Not all things, however, remained the same. He had never taken the time before to observe how other people saw Spencer. But he did so now, and he was mentally kicking himself in the head for caving in to her impish smile when she asked if she could wear her dress from last night.

He should've said no, dammit, even if it meant having to tolerate an entire night of grumbling. It would've been mildly annoying, true, but it would still be better than having to see men stare and leer at his woman with blatant desire.

Spencer started in surprise when Etienne suddenly took his jacket off and dumped it over her shoulders. "What—-"

Etienne shot her a deadly look of warning when she made a move to take it off. "Keep it."

Spencer could only think of one reason for him to do this, and she asked gleefully, "Are you jealous?"

"Every man in this club is watching you and just waiting for your breasts to fall out of your dress—-"

A gurgle of laughter escaped her.

"So you tell me."

Spencer's heart skipped a beat.

"Do I have any reason to be jealous?"

"I..." Oh God, her panties were all wet and twisted at seeing those jealous sparks in his eyes. "I...um, need to go to the ladies." And then she was off, not daring to look back because she could still feel his gaze following her, and she was terrified of how those smoldering dark eyes of his could make her forget everything about her little plan.

Etienne was about to go after Spencer when a new email notification flashed in his mobile phone's screen, and he was forced to sit back down upon seeing Riyu Delicazzi's name labeled as sender. The message, as was typical from their race's future Minister, was short and succinct.

New results on sangferia experiments have just come in. Among other things, we've found out that conversion rate can be further straightened if you drink your mate's sangnastri.

He almost choked at the last word. Sangnastri, in their native language, translated to childbirth blood, and the moment he thought about this, a vision suddenly formed in his mind: Spencer, naked in his arms, and her belly round with his child.

Fuck.

Etienne swiftly shoved the phone back into his pocket. It was insane to think of such things, not to mention premature...or was it?

Like him, Luka's weakness was for pleasures of the flesh, and when Etienne had shared with him about the potential of sangferia , the younger man had immediately set out to conduct a series of experiments based on both his blood profile and that of his partner's. And as for the results...

'You have to be fucking kidding,' Etienne had exploded the moment Luka revealed the preliminary findings of his own tests.

'I told you, didn't I? You're likely to find my results questionable, but I stand by them nonetheless.'

'You're saying my formula is basically Cupid's formula as well?'

'Only as far as Caros like you are me are concerned.' The younger man's tone had been pragmatic.

'And you are certain...you are absolutely certain I have no choice about this? That I am more or less doomed to fall in love with her?'

'Doom isn't exactly the word I'd use,' Luka had qualified, 'but that is where all signs are pointing, yes.'

Etienne's lips tightened as his mind dwelled on the consequence Luka hinted at. It wasn't that he couldn't see himself falling for Spencer, but it would've been better if he had a choice—-

A sudden change in the club's music, with a distinct drop in tempo, distracted the billionaire from his thoughts. They were playing a Childish Gambino song, and when the club's spotlights swung and focused on the ledge, his gaze absently followed in its wake...and Etienne sucked his breath at the sight that greeted him.

What the—-

It was Spencer, one hand curled around a dance pole, and as soon as their gazes met, a vixenish smile slowly curved over her lips just before she started to dance.

Fuck.

It was the hottest little number he had ever watched: every flip of her hair had his cock twitching, and when she started snaking her legs around the pole and danced to it, with it, and around it like it was a twelve-foot dick of steel she was about to make love to...

Fuck, fuck, fuck .

The moment the lights shone down on Spencer, she had been petrified by fear, but all her insecurities instantly disappeared the moment she saw the look on Etienne's handsome face when she started to dance. The way he was looking at her made Spencer feel like she was J. Lo and Shakira combined, and oh, when he suddenly came to his feet and started walking towards her...

His presence exuded so much danger and power that it had the kids around him quickly jumping out of his way, and she had to struggle not to laugh when even those who were obviously already high with recreational drugs sobered up quick and stumbled back at the sight of him.

Etienne reached her just as the song ended, but even as thunderous applause rocked the club, she forgot everything else, her eyes only seeing him. By the way he had his jaw clenched tight, she had a feeling he was doing his best to keep his fangs out of view, and the knowledge that she affected him so made her feel heady.

"Hey stranger." Her own need for him made Spencer's voice unnaturally husky, and she couldn't help licking her lips when her gaze dipped to the extremely visible bulge behind his pants. "I'm guessing my dance made you happy?"

Etienne didn't even answer. He simply opened his arms, and she didn't hesitate, jumping off the ledge and straight into his powerful embrace. It had the crowd hooting and cheering for them, and when someone yelled for them to kiss, Spencer couldn't help but laugh and turn pink when everyone raucously joined in and began chanting in unison.

Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!

She turned to him, intending to tease Etienne about it, but the moment she did, the billionaire had already lowered his head. His mouth descended on hers in an instant, and everyone around them cheered even as cellphones went up and started taking photos and videos.

It was the briefest of kisses, but because he had this obscene power to make her instantly horny, it was still enough to make her toes curl and her heart clench. When he lifted his head, people chanted 'more' , and although the way his kiss had her body aching made Spencer want to beg for the same thing and ask for more , when her lips parted, the words that came out were something else.

"I love you."