He hasn’t stopped looking at me since I walked in, those dark eyes tracking my every movement like I’m prey. Like the Hunt never ended.
I take another gulp of whiskey, hoping the burn will distract me from the memory that won’t leave me alone—Theo bent over, taking Elliot inside him, those sounds he made...
The jealousy that ripped through me then still sits in my gut like broken glass. I wanted to tear Elliot off him. Wanted to replace him. Wanted...
No. That’s not me. That’s not who I am.
“Victor,” Julian calls from across the room. “Come tell the girls about your part in tonight’s festivities.” His smile is too knowing, too calculated.
I cross the room, deliberately putting my back to Theo, but I feel him anyway—his gaze hot on my skin.
“The twins hear you’re very well endowed,” Julian says, voice smooth as oil. “And wanted to know if it’s true.”
The girls smile up at me, perfect mirror images with their matching blonde hair and ruby lips. Any other night, I’d be all over that. Tonight, I can’t focus on them. Not with Theo’s presence prickling at the edges of my awareness.
I glance at the twins, then back to Julian. “Thought you were busy playing house with your new pet,” I say. “Since when do you worry about keeping anyone else entertained?”
Behind me, I hear Theo’s low laugh, and something inside me tightens.
I take a seat in Julian’s fancy Italian leather armchair, feeling it strain beneath my weight. Everything in this penthouse screams money—from the crystal tumblers to the fucking panoramic view of Ravenwood spread out below us like a carpet of jewels. It’s all so perfectly Julian Frost.
He stands by those vast windows, swirling his expensive whiskey like it’s some religious ritual. I’ve already downed mine in one go.
“Never thought I’d see the day Julian Frost would be domesticated,” I say, watching his face for a reaction. The word feels good in my mouth. Domesticated. Like I’ve managed to take something away from his perfect image.
Julian’s expression barely flickers. “I’m hardly domesticated,” he says, but there’s something off in his tone. Like he’s trying to convince himself.
From the couch, Theo stretches his legs in that deliberately graceful way that makes my skin prickle with—fuck, I don’t know what. Irritation. That’s all it is.
“Says the man who claimed another hunter for an entire year,” Theo adds. “That’s fucking unprecedented.”
Jenson, the Blackwoods’ creepy shadow man, leans forward. “Unprecedented is Julian’s specialty. Though I must say, none of us predicted the art dealer.”
Julian’s face gives nothing away. “Elliot wasn’t planned.”
I can’t help but laugh at that bullshit. “Nothing about the Hunt is ever unplanned with you. You’ve always got some angle.”
“Perhaps this time the angle was simply pleasure,” Theo suggests, his eyes meeting Julian’s in a way that makes something hot and uncomfortable curl in my gut.
“The gallery owner got under your skin,” Jenson says quietly. “Interesting.”
Julian sets his glass down with a clink. “He’s surprising.”
“Must be, to have Julian Frost breaking his rules of not claiming prey,” I say, remembering Xavier’s reaction. “Xavier was shocked you asked for the year with another hunter.”
“I’m surprised he agreed,” Theo adds.
Julian’s mouth curves slightly. “Xavier respects innovation.”
I lean forward, feeling a strange urge to push him, to break through that perfect composure. “So what now? You parade your conquest around town? Add him to your collection?”
Something flashes in Julian’s eyes—something raw and genuine that I’ve never seen before. “Elliot isn’t a conquest.”
The room goes dead silent. Even I don’t have a comeback for that.
My throat burns as whiskey slides down it, a welcome distraction from the tension in the room. I reach for the bottleagain, needing more of that numbing heat. These rich bastards and their games are exhausting.
Then Theo’s voice cuts through my thoughts. “Well. That is interesting.” He stretches like a cat, all deliberate sensuality that makes my skin prickle. “So I take it this means I’m not getting my usual post-Hunt fuck from you tonight, then?”