A Legacy of the Damned: Daughter of Astaroth

Chapter 29 - Caught

Terrible techno music is playing and the beat of the bass is vibrating in the walls and floor, carrying it straight through my body. The sound of laughter sporadically rises above the sound of the music. Smoke drifts in the air, carrying the smell of cigarettes and weed, intermingled with the stench of sweat and booze.

I was dancing on the table with Juniper with everyone whooping and egging us on a while ago. Most of them either drunk or high, or both. Now Juniper is nowhere to be seen. Probably she's with someone or passed out somewhere.

Juniper lives in a nice brownstone near Hudson Square with her older sister, Sorrel. Currently, Sorrel is somewhere in Brazil, hence the wild party.

The makeshift dancefloor in Juniper's living room is almost packed with swaying and writhing bodies. I close my eyes and move my body to the music without any care, truly letting go. Once in a while, my thoughts wander to Sacha, missing him. The longing for him is an ache in my chest but I force them away and keep dancing.

Bodies touching, hands groping, one dance partner melts into another. I'm never short of a dance partner, so when hands land on my waist, I lean back against a warm body grinding against mine from behind. Warm breath tickles the side of my face before it lands on my skin, pressing a kiss on the curve of my neck. "Hello, darling."

I gasp in a sharp breath and my nose is greeted by a familiar scent. "Nico?" My eyelids fly open and I twist around to meet his grinning face.

"My cousin never told me that you're going to be here," he says. "But I'm glad to see you. I missed you."

He missed me? I don't believe it for a minute.

"Where's your harem?" I ask him, looking around. Sure enough, there are two girls standing together at the edge of the dance floor, staring at us, pouting.

"You know they mean nothing to me," he says, gripping my hips to pull me flush against him. I automatically place my palms flat against his chest to create a little room between our bodies so that we're no longer squished too intimately together. "Darling, my mother is threatening to go ahead with the wedding by replacing you with Gabriella," he adds, not taking his hands off my hips.

"That makes sense. She's booked the venue, hired the caterer and everything. She might need to replace my name with Gabriella's on the cards though, and the gift registry..."

"Dani, I'm serious!" he exclaims.

So am I. I think that's very practical of her.

"Sacha Gauthier returned the engagement ring to me," he continues. "That's not right. Darling, you're still my fiance. We should still go ahead and get married."

"No." I have no intention of marrying Nico now.

"No? Why not?" he asks, sounding offended. "We've agreed..."

"Nico, you're killing my buzz," I complain, pushing at his chest. "I'm not here to talk. Either you dance or get out of the way so I can dance with someone else."

Nico only slides his arms around me, holding me tighter.

I sigh, frustrated. "Honestly, Nico. I can't stand your mother." And it's more work than I realized.

"So? I can't stand her either," he replies. "Come on, darling, after the wedding, you only have to see her once or twice a year," he cajoles.

Even once or twice a year in the company of his mother is too much for me and I doubt it's going to be just once or twice a year. She's going to bug us all the time and pretty soon, she'll be demanding a baby from us. I shudder at the thought. I don't want a baby to tie me down and I especially don't want a baby with Nico.