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“𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭.” I glance up at him. “𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭?” “𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫.” His mouth lowers near my ear. “𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐩, 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐚. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤.” “𝐈 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐛 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.” “𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦.” My breath catches. Before I can think of something sarcastic enough to save myself, a drunk woman in emerald silk steps into our path and waves a jeweled hand at me. “𝐘𝐨𝐮. 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝.” Heat burns up my neck. “𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭...” Gabriel cuts in before I can finish. “𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞.” The woman blinks. “𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮?” His hand slides from my back to my waist, pulling me closer. Not rough. Not gentle. Possessive enough to make the entire ballroom feel it. “𝐘𝐞𝐬,” he says, voice calm as a blade. “𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞.” The woman’s face drains. “𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧...” “𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭.” His smile is polite enough to be terrifying. “𝐁𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.” She vanishes. I stare at him. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞.” “𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞.” “𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟.” His eyes drop to my mouth, then lift back to mine. “𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.” “𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟.” “𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.” His thumb strokes once over my waist, and my body betrays me so fast I hate it. “𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞.” My pulse kicks. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞.” His mouth curves. “𝐍𝐨, 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚. 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬.” ➜ The Auction, FREE on Kindle Unlimited: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GZ24XLCW