If he went to Marco for protection, he’d probably give it to him, but what kind of man would he be to run to his uncle for help. No, he had to stand up to Casey and tell him firmly he was not interested in him as a mate. He had to look him straight in the eye and tell him to leave him alone, with no assurances Casey would abide by his wishes even if he believed him. He strongly suspected Casey was not going to take no for an answer. The best plan for him was to avoid him if at all possible. He’d stay close to Marco and Nicky tonight and hope Casey would give up and go away. Maybe he was only postponing the inevitable, but he wanted a reprieve for just one night.
Nicky had never looked more handsome and happy. He was dressed in a lovely white robe, the same robe he’d worn for his ceremony to introduce him to the clan and proclaim him Marco’s mate. He and Rory had a knock-down, drag-out argument about him wearing the robe at all. Rory remembered with a smile how Nicky had threatened to beat him up if he made him wear what he called a dress. Nicky thought it looked too girly. Marco had to force him wear it that night, and he really did look nice. He bet Nicky hadn’t objected for their anniversary. He jumped up and gave Rory a hug as he came over to the table.
“Sit down, Rory, and tell me what’s going on with you and Casey. You’ve been avoiding me all day. ”
“I haven’t been avoiding you. I’ve been busy. ”
“Busy doing what? Hiding in your room so Casey wouldn’t see you?”
“Shut up, Nicky. Marco, tell him to shut his mouth, or I’ll shut it for him. ” Marco rolled his eyes and pulled Nicky closer to him with an arm around his waist. “Will
you two stop fighting? Nicky, behave yourself. If Rory doesn’t want to talk about Casey, he doesn’t have to, though I believe Casey said he’d be at the party tonight. ”
“Who cares if he’s at the party? I’m not his mate, Marco, no matter how many times he says I am. ”
“I’m not the one you have to convince. ”
“Don’t look now, Rory, but tall, dark, and dominant just walked in the door, and he’s headed
this way. ” Nicky gazed toward the door and laughed at the panicked expression on Rory’s face. Casey, looking impossibly gorgeous and sexy, made his way with determination across the crowded room. Rory felt like a deer in the headlights, frozen as Casey held his gaze with his eyes, refusing to release him. Rory wrenched his gaze away at the last minute and tried to dodge out onto the dance floor, anywhere to avoid speaking to him, but he was too late. Casey snapped him back by his wrist and drew him into his arms, holding him there with a steely grip.
“Let’s dance, darlin’. I believe they’re playing our song. ”
Both hands against his chest, Rory pushed. “No! I’m not dancing with you. Stop it!” He may as well have been pushing against a stone pillar for all the good it did. Casey drew
him inexorably out onto the floor, and unless Rory wanted to make a scene, bringing everyone’s attention to what was going on, he had to go along with him. Dragging his feet, his face beet red, he hissed at Casey, “You’re embarrassing me, as you well know. I don’t dance with other wolves. ”
“Well, you do now, sweetheart. If you’d stop fighting me, you might even enjoy it. C’mon baby, relax. ”
“I don’t know even know how to do this!”
“What, dance? Or dance with another man? Relax and I’ll lead. ” He put both arms around Rory’s waist. “Now put your arms around my neck, baby. That’s it. See? We’re dancing. ”
Dancing might have been too elaborate a word for what they were doing, which was mostly standing in one place swaying a little to the music. Rory put his head down facing Casey’s chest so he wouldn’t have to see Nicky laughing at him, as he was sure he was. He found himself wanting to rest his head against Casey’s chest, thinking it might be a very comfortable place to stay, and wished he might stay there for a very long time. Casey’s closeness soothed something deep inside him.
As the music played on, Rory decided he’d been missing out on something by never learning to dance. It was really quite nice. Casey began to move him across the floor, and Rory went along with him, still keeping his head down, letting himself relax and enjoy being close to Casey, even if for only a few minutes. Finally he raised his head and saw that Casey was moving him slowly to the outer edge of dancers, toward the dim recesses of the room.
“Oh no, you don’t, Casey. I’m not leaving here with you, so stop trying to pull me out of here. ”
“C’mon, baby. You know you want to be alone with me. Just for a little while. ” Casey bent his head and put his lips beside Rory’s ear, causing him to shiver deliciously. Rory pushed against him again though, and stopped moving anywhere.
“No! Let me go, Casey. You’ve had your fun. ”
“Actually I’m just getting started, darlin’. ”
“Yeah, well, fuck you, Casey. ”
“I’d rather fuck you, honey. Let’s go to my room for a little while. ”
Rory stomped down on Casey’s foot as hard as he could, taking him completely by surprise. The look on his face was almost comical, as he dropped his arms and stumbled back a few steps. Rory jerked away from him and took off across the dance floor, heading not toward Marco’s table, but toward a large group standing by the buffet table. He arrived slightly out of breath, not daring to look back over his shoulder, uneasy at the thought of Casey’s anger at his resistance. He grabbed a plate from the buffet and started down the line, dishing food onto his plate, but barely glancing to see what he’d even selected.
Someone came up to stand at his elbow. Thinking it was Casey, he turned viciously to growl at him, but instead of Casey, a handsome young werekin named Chad stood there.
“Whoa, dude! I was just coming over to say hello. ”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Chad. I thought you were someone else!” Rory ducked his head in embarrassment. “Someone much more annoying. Sorry. ”
“It’s okay,” Chad said warmly, putting his hand on Rory’s arm. “I saw you dancing with Casey. I never knew you liked boys before. I was wondering if you’d dance with me?”