~ JESSE ~
I didn't need a drink. Or drugs. Dancing with Cazz was intoxicating all on its own.
I'd been nervous when we arrived, hanging back a little. But he didn't let go of my hand, and he kept the bond open, offering assurances and encouragement, pulling me immediately onto the dancefloor and beginning to move.
'Keep your mental defenses high- against everyone but me,' he sent as we walked together into that sea of feral, writhing bodies.
I'd already been doing the exercises Maya had taught me while we were walking there- envisioning the high walls surrounding me, peppered with gates and doors and windows… examining all of them, making certain they were locked and barred- except for the door that was Cazz.
That one I left wide open.