I was so lost after what had happened in that room, so shocked after what Trent and his goons had done to me. There was a fire under my skin: a bright pit of sensation buried deep in my core. The only reason I was at this place right now was because I had to get away, had to leave my friends and seek an easy source of prey.
I sensed him as soon as I crossed the threshold, my head tilting in his direction, oblivious to the other partygoers: the careening, boisterous frat boys clutching their plastic cup of cheap beer, the women at the party hugging their chosen men close, already lax enough to allow a grope here, a lifted skirt there. I had chosen my entrance well; there would be enough ambient lust to sustain me for a while.
None of this mattered to me. All I could see was him. His scent came to me, the vulnerability in his eyes drawing me in before he even looked at me. I took but a moment to focus on blending in, knowing what he would expect from our relatively long period of association. Here was the guy I saw in class, in the halls of the college, and he would only be confused if he glimpsed the predator within.
"Looks like everyone had the same idea." I said as he became aware of my presence. I had drawn close, only allowing him to perceive me just as I stepped within his comfort zone, into that vital zone of intimacy, where the thoughts of men and women alike began to turn to more primal things.
"Yeah.. This is definitely the place to be tonight." His voice held the weight of his smile as his expression turned from cautious to delighted and warm; he had apparently been ill at ease in such a situation. He drew me into a hug, the gesture seeming almost automatic, and, fool that I was, I let him do it.
Immediately, I knew what my body had tricked me into. His inherent caution, his naturally shy personality... Here was prey. He was all the more attractive because of his familiarity with me; I would know exactly how to draw him in. It would be easier and more filling than flitting about these strangers for the night.
"I don't know anyone else here..." I heard myself say, taking the hug and turning it into a caress, my nails catching on the material of his jacket. This was bad. I couldn't force myself to move in that moment, couldn't let go of him even if he'd burst into flames at that instant. I was trapped within myself in a ritual that was older than this society, this plane of existence. I was at the mercy of my need.
"I came with some friends, but they're off somewhere. I think I'm going to have to play designated driver."
I wasn't really listening to him at this point. I could feel the warmth emanating from him, could read his body as well as any of my more malevolent colleagues. The artery in his neck was beneath my lips, and that excited me too, though I was no vampire to open it and drink from his lifeblood. I was already deciding how I was going to do this: all I needed now was the opportunity. The party was big enough and loud enough to mask any noise, but even I wasn't good enough to feed deeply in the public eye.
"Are.. Are you okay?"
I froze as his hands grasped my arms at the elbows, my eyes widening as he drew closer of his own free will, his scent changing subtly from vulnerability to calm, quiet strength. It was as if his entire aura changed, and mine clung to it, drawing from it the means to snap me out of the hunting trance, This had never happened before, not with a human. I backed out of that embrace, and I knew my eyes were wide with shock.
His were full of questions, and his face held a puzzled expression, his mouth quirked in a very peculiar way. I stared at those lips, and mine almost drew back from my teeth, very nearly sending me back into that trance. The strangeness of his aura surrounded me, and I used that to force myself to step back, even as his hands tried to keep me from leaving him. I couldn't afford to talk to him, not now, not when I still ached. I'd do it later, when I was more in control of myself and the situation.
I fled upstairs, where some guests had entirely left the action downstairs for a party of their own, where I could depend upon young adult vigor and hormones to stave off the worst of my need. Only when I felt that I could face him without being hypnotized by the strength of his aura did I venture back downstairs, praying that he'd have left already.
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