When Linda spun back
around, she noticed that Hank and his daughter had already disappeared. She
could see them dancing in the middle of the dance floor. He must have led her
away pretty quickly—most probably before Mike had a chance to ask any more
questions. Hank definitely didn’t like being interrogated. She’d learned that
earlier during her very unpleasant encounter with him at his shop.
While Linda watched the
perfect guests dance and mingle, she realized that the party seemed to have a
dire purpose behind it. There was much more going on behind the scenes than
what appeared on the surface. There was a grave seriousness behind all the
gaiety.
She noticed an exchange of
pointed looks pass between Sam and Todd. Todd responded by pulling her against
his side, announcing out loud to their companions, “We are going to dance. Have
fun! See you later!”
She didn’t want to be used
as a pawn in Todd’s new game. As she tried to ease away from his strong hold on her, his grip became even tighter. He led her around the dance floor, dancing past Sam, who was also leading Shana through
the eerie statues and the circling dancers.
“Maybe I don’t want to
dance,” she said, stomping on his toes with the high heel of her shoe. Todd’s
only response was to continue dancing and twirling her—as if he hadn’t felt the
hard jab from her sharp heel. She eyed him, wondering if he ever got hurt. She
sensuously slid her hand up his arm, which seemed to tremble slightly from her touch. Her
hand continued to travel up to his neck, touching his soft skin, until he
grabbed her hand to move it away from his body. Her eyes slowly met his. His
eyes, appearing darker than usual, were smoldering with emotion and maybe even desire.
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her wrist very gently, causing it
to tingle and throb. On the other hand, he might be human after all.
She glanced up into his
pensive face as he turned to check out the room. His attention was now riveted
on the other dancers, ignoring her again. She couldn’t hold his attention for
more than a brief minute. How he could be immune to her, when she felt like she
was being held both physically and mentally by him? She never could escape from
his intense stare; even in her dreams she visualized his dark eyes boring holes
deep into her soul.
Todd broke into her gloomy
thoughts. “It’s a dance. Of course you want to dance.” He drew her against his
hard body. She felt hypnotized by the smell of his cologne and the feel of his
strong arm holding her against him. She ran her hands across his muscular back
and into his dark hair. Todd looked deep into her eyes and brought her under
his spell. She felt herself losing herself to him. Oh no! Not again! Abruptly snapping back to reality, she told
herself that she couldn’t lose control.
“I don’t want to dance
with you!” she said, pulling away from him.
“Of course you do. I can
read your mind; I know what goes on in there,” he said, playfully tapping her
forehead with his finger, bringing her back into his arms.
Todd’s reply made her
nervous: she hoped that he really couldn’t read her mind; she also hoped that he wasn’t using her for
some nefarious purpose. What had he seen right before he’d dragged her onto the
dance floor? She searched the room, but
didn’t notice anything unusual.
