Blair groaned and slumped onto the kitchen table. “I’m never going to get this.”
Ira patted his arm. “Hey, you’ve already gotten better. Don’t dis yourself.”
“But like you said, my nose isn’t going to help me fight.”
“No, but you did shift it. It was close, closer than you’ve ever gotten. I’m sure next time you’ll manage to shift your teeth rather than your nose.” There was laughter in Ira’s voice, and Blair couldn’t help but smile too. “Now focus on shifting back to your human form.”
Blair nodded, closed his eyes, and obeyed. Shifting back was easier, but it left him unsatisfied. He wanted to get this right. He was the only one working with Ira, so he’d be the second shifter to manage to do this, at least within the council. It meant he’d probably be used as bodyguard since it would give him a weapon no one would think about. First he had to manage to shift his teeth, though, and then Ira wanted him to try the claws.
“Want to try again?” Ira asked.
Blair nodded. He kept his eyes closed and thought about the way his Komodo dragon’s teeth felt, about how sharp they were and about what he’d be able to do if he got the results he was looking for.
Something shifted again, and he opened his mouth without asking anything. He felt Ira lean closer, then tap his gum. “Yup, you got it. I’m not sure this is what you wanted, but you shifted the tongue too.”
Blair snapped his eyes open and stuck his tongue out. It was now long enough for him to see a good part of it, and it was forked and yellow. “I an’t iliev I id ikt.” Blair frowned, but Ira just chuckled and shook his head.
“You’ll get used to it. You’re going to have to learn to talk with only the gums or with bigger teeth and a forked tongue in your mouth, but hey, I did it, so you’ll be able to. Ready to go back? I don’t think your mate would be too enthusiastic if he had to kiss you in this state.”
Blair rolled his eyes and shifted back. He smacked his lips, trying to lose the weird sensation he wasn’t used to in his human mouth. “I did it!”
“Yup, you did.”
“So what’s next?”
“Now you continue to train until you can do it without having to close your eyes and focus so hard. It needs to be as easy as shifting your whole body is.”
Blair groaned. “Yeah, I can see I need to learn that.”
“Then we start with the claws. I was wondering if you could sprout your tail in human form, too, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Apart from the fact that it would look freaky, I think it is a good idea.”
“Why?”
“Well, my tail is strong. It’ll probably take a while to get used to having it on my human body, but once I am, I could use it in a fight.”
“I’m not sure your body could stand the weight and length of it.”
“We could try at least once and see if it’s possible.”
“Fine, but don’t come crying to me if you get hurt. I warned you.”
Blair grinned. “I won’t.”
Ira waved. “Now shoo. I’m sure you have better things to do than train with me.”
“Isn’t training the most important thing?”
Ira rolled his eyes. “I don’t see a bite mark on your neck, so no.”
“Delevan won’t be home for a while.”
“Exactly. Shouldn’t you go and get things ready?”
“Things ready?”
“Jeez, Blair. Go shower, get dinner, and light up some candles.” Blair jerked up and hurried toward the kitchen door, Ira’s laughter following him. “See you tomorrow!”
He nearly ran up the stairs and slammed the door to his room open, his phone already in his hand. It took him only a few minutes to order takeout since all the restaurants in Whitedell knew the mansion and delivered at least once a week.
Once that was done, he grabbed a change of clothes, showered and shaved, but his enthusiasm screeched to a halt when he realized he didn’t know where to find candles. He decided Keenan probably had some, so he made his way toward his office, not surprised to find him on the phone, his face grim, purple bruises under his eyes. He still waved Blair in, and Blair sat in front of his desk and waited.
“Yes, I understand that, but none of the council members are available right now,” Keenan said.
Whoever was on the other side of the phone yelled, but Keenan was quick to put the man back in his place and hang up. He closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his forehead, then looked at Blair. “You needed something?”
“Do you have candles?”
Keenan’s eyes glinted and he grinned. “Big night?”
“Maybe.”
Keenan leaned sideways and opened one of his desk drawers. He rummaged in it and when he straightened, he had a pack of white tea candles in his hand. “Sorry I don’t have anything better.”
“It’s fine. How much do I owe you?”
Keenan tsked. “They’re tea candles. I’m not going to ask you to pay for them. Now go away and make good use of them.”
The phone rang again and Keenan looked so tired Blair didn’t have the heart to argue. He walked to Delevan’s suite and let himself in, wondering if it would be a good idea to move his stuff in it. Maybe he could ask Delevan what he thought about it later. Blair didn’t even know what he expected from the evening, but he hoped kissing would be involved at least. He couldn’t shake the tiny fear that Delevan would reject him liken Ava’s mate had done to her. Blair knew it was rare, but he’d seen it firsthand, and it was scary.
He walked in Delevan’s room and nearly had a heart attack. “Nysys! What the fuck are you doing here?”
Nysys was lying on the bed, looking at Blair, but he didn’t answer. Blair frowned and tried again. “Nysys?”
When he still didn’t get an answer, Blair walked closer. He put the candles on the foot of the bed and lightly touched Nysys’ ankle, jerking his hand away when instead of feeling skin, he felt silicone. “What the fuck?” He poked at Nysys’ ankle, and sure enough, it was silicone.
Blair walked around the bed and looked closer. Now that he paid attention, he could see that it wasn’t Nysys—obviously—but a Nysys-sized doll. It was extremely close to Nysys’ appearance, including the tattoos and the piercings, and it was fucking creepy.
Blair sat next to it and leaned forward, his hands on both sides of the doll’s face. Its stare was fixed, but whoever had done it had really gotten it right. There was only a very faint smell of plastic coming from it. It was impressive.
“What the fuck?” Delevan said from the door.
Chapter Five
Delevan hadn’t expected Blair to be waiting for him naked on the bed with a flute of champagne in his hand, but he certainly hadn’t expected to find him on their bed, laying over Nysys as if they’d just kissed.
Delevan’s brain was trying to tell him there was something wrong with the scene, that it couldn’t be real, but his eyes and his heart were sure of what was happening.
Blair shot from the bed and toward Delevan, and Delevan took a step back. His bag caught on the door and he let it fall, but it had been enough to slow him down and for Blair to grab his hand. He tried to pull it away, but Blair didn’t let go.
“It’s a doll!”
Delevan froze and blinked at Blair. “That’s what you’re going to go with?”
“It’s true!”
Blair wasn’t scrambling to make other excuses, and it made Delevan pause. That and the fact that Nysys should have been talking Delevan’s ears off.
Delevan looked toward the bed. If it was a doll, it was creepy, because it looked exactly like Nysys, down to the clothes it was wearing—hot pink shorts and a neon green tank top. The hair was pink, the tattoos and piercings were there, but there was something missing—Nysys’ personality.
Delevan stepped forward and Blair let go of his hand. He walked closer to the bed, never looking away from Nysys, and sure e
nough, once he was close enough, he realized Nysys wasn’t breathing. That and the lack of words coming out of his mouth made Delevan relax.
He reached out and skimmed a finger over the doll’s arm, shivering at the sensation. “Yeah, okay. It’s a doll.” He slumped his shoulders. “I shouldn’t have doubted you.”
Delevan startled when Blair slipped his arms around his waist from behind and hugged him. He kissed Delevan’s cheek, and Delevan could feel the smile on Blair’s lips. “It’s fine.”
“I should have trusted you.”
“Probably, but I think I’d have reacted the same way if I’d come in to find you leaning over that thing.”
Delevan turned around in Blair’s arms but didn’t move away. “Why were you leaning against it like that?”
Blair blushed. “I wanted to see its eyes.”
Delevan frowned. “It’s freaky enough that I don’t want to see them.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“So, what happened? How did it end up here?”
“I have no idea. I came in after my lesson with Ira and I almost had a heart attack because it was already on the bed.”
Delevan turned again and eyed the doll. “What do we do with it?”
“We should probably give it back to Nysys.”
“And let him win so easily? You do know he’s doing this because you don’t want to tell him when you first met, right?”
“Oh, I know. That means I need to take my revenge.”
Delevan cocked his head at Blair. “Oh god, you’re as bad as he is. You hide it better, but you are.”
Blair pressed his lips together, but Delevan saw his lips twitch in an almost-smile. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“My instincts are telling me to stay out of it, but then I think of how sweet revenge would be and I want to help you.”
Blair beamed and kissed Delevan’s lips. “Think of it as a couple’s activity. Now, what can we do with this thing that Nysys would hate?”
Delevan walked back to the living room, because he could feel the doll’s eyes on him and it creeped him out. He slumped onto the couch and Blair sat next to him, taking his hand and playing with his fingers as he talked.
“It needs to be something Nysys wouldn’t do. Something he’d be ashamed to be seen doing. We could undress it and put it around the house. Then we wait for people to find it and take it back before they can do anything.”
Delevan gave Blair a horrified glance. “Why would you want to undress it?”
“Aren’t you curious to see just how accurate it is?”
“No! I don’t want to see Nysys’ dick, thank you very much.”
Blair grinned. “You think it’s that accurate?”
Delevan thought of the doll. “If I remember it right, I think I saw a bulge when I looked at it, but I have no intention of checking what’s under those shorts.”
“Would you mind if I do?”
“Would I mind if you ogled Nysys’ naked bits? Yes!”
Blair pouted. “But what can I do to it, then?”
“How about you put a mouse-brown wig on it and dress it with the most boring clothes you can find?”
Blair’ eyes lit up. “Something he wouldn’t be caught dead in. Mmm, I think I have a pair of old black sweat pants in my room.” He grinned. “They even have some holes in them.”
“Go and get them, and I’ll see if I can find a way to fix the hair. I don’t think we can find a wig this quickly, but a brown beanie should do.”
Blair was off the couch and out the door in a handful of seconds. Delevan leaned against the back of the couch and looked at the ceiling. “This is so not the evening I was expecting.”
He hoped things would go back on track after they were done with this. He wanted to spend some time with Blair, even if they didn’t have sex. Sex would be a much appreciated bonus, but Delevan could do without. He just wanted to talk to Blair over dinner and cuddle together.
He snorted. They wouldn’t get to do any cuddling if they didn’t take care of the thing in the bedroom first. Delevan couldn’t even see it, and it still creeped him out. He was sure he could feel its eyes on him, and he couldn’t wait for it to be gone.
He got up and went to the bedroom, carefully avoiding looking at the bed. He took out a dark brown beanie from his closet and a new set of sheets, because there was no way he’d sleep where the damn thing had been. He also took out a dark gray long sleeved T-shirt and put it on the bed next to the doll’s feet.
Sighing, Delevan started to dress the thing. It felt weird, because it looked like a person, but it didn’t react when Delevan pushed the T-shirt over its head and mussed its hair. Nysys would have had his head if Delevan had tried to do something like that to the real him.
Once the T-shirt was on, Delevan added the beanie, making sure he covered all the pink hair. When he was done, he sat next to the doll, wondering where Blair was. How long did it take to find a pair of sweat pants?
Delevan eyed the bulge he’d noticed earlier. It was definitely there, and damn, he couldn’t believe he was curious enough to peek. Not to check Nysys’ dick out, but to see if it was dick shaped or if it was just a sock or something.
He looked at the door, then back at the doll. Blair didn’t have to know. It was probably a sock anyway.
Delevan reached out and pulled the shorts down the doll’s groin. His eyes widened when he saw the half-hard very good replica of a silicone dick snuggled there, and he pulled the shorts up again. He was traumatized. For life. He was sure of it. He’d never be able to look at Nysys in the eyes. He’d never be able to look Nysys without wondering if that was what his dick really looked like.
Delevan groaned and flopped on the bed, squeaking when his head landed on the doll’s thigh and jumping up. He looked at the doll and ran to the living room.
* * * *
Blair put the last touch to the masterpiece he’d created and stepped back. Delevan snickered behind him and Blair grinned at him. The evening might not have gone like Blair had expected it to, but Delevan was laughing, and he looked happy. It was good.
“How did you get everyone to stay in the dining room?” he asked as he straightened the doll’s hat.
“I bought takeout for everyone.”
Blair chuckled. “How many guys had to come?”
“Four. And the one who usually brings us the food told me to call another restaurant next time.”
Blair moved the empty beer bottle closer to the doll’s hand and stepped away. “What do you think?”
Delevan grinned. “Perfect.”
Blair had sat the doll on one of the kitchen stools, in front of the counter. He’d folded its back so that its face was pressed against the counter, created a small puddle of drool with some water, put the doll’s hand on the counter, and wrapped it around a beer bottle. The doll was wearing a gray T-shirt, black sweat pants with holes, a brown beanie, and military green sandals. It was so not Nysys, it was funny.
“Where’s Nysys?” he asked Delevan.
“I asked my father to keep him in his office for a while.”
“And he went with it?”
“Sure. I had to explain why, and I think he found it extremely funny. He even smiled when I explained your plan.”
There were several screeches of chairs being moved, and Blair knew they were out of time. He wished he could somehow close the doll’s eyes, but it wasn’t possible, so he hoped no one would notice it—not too soon anyway. He stepped away and snapped a few pictures, then followed Delevan out onto the porch outside the kitchen. He left the french doors open, and when Delevan leaned against the outside wall next to it, he pressed himself against him.
For all anyone who saw them would know, they’d spent the entire dinner time making out on the porch. Delevan wrapped his arms around Blair’s waist, and Blair decided they needed to look more sexed-up than they did right now, or no one would be
lieve them.
He cupped Delevan’s cheeks with his hands and kissed him, going right for hard and dirty. Delevan answered in kind, one of his hands sliding down to cup Blair’s ass, and they were so focused on each other, Blair nearly missed the voices coming closer.
When the kitchen door opened, Blair moved away from Delevan, gulped down some air, and peeked to the side. Delevan didn’t move the hand he had on Blair’s ass, but he turned slightly sideways so that he too could see.
Keenan was the first one to enter the kitchen, and Blair couldn’t have planned it better. Keenan screeched to a halt as soon as he saw the Nysys doll and screamed like someone was trying to kill him. Everyone bustled in the kitchen when they heard him, and they all stopped just inside the door, their eyes wide, their mouths open, looking completely lost.
“Erm, what happened?” Jayden asked, for once looking almost speechless.
“That’s Nysys,” Keenan said, looking like someone had killed his cat.
“I see that, but is he drunk?”
“Certainly looks like it,” Jonah said from Keenan’s side. The plate Keenan was holding looked ready to slip from his hand and Jonah took it. “Maybe you should go to him and see what’s wrong.”
“Look at his clothes!” Keenan wailed. “What happened to him? He doesn’t even drink!” Everyone looked at Keenan and he corrected himself. “Well, he doesn’t drink beer.”
“Don’t you know anything?” Jayden asked.
“No. The only thing that could reduce him like that would be Morin dumping him. Oh. My. God. Morin dumped him!”
Blair buried his face against Delevan’s neck to muffle the laughter. Delevan shook against him, laughing just as hard. Blair looked again when Keenan sobbed. He wasn’t crying, but his eyes were huge, and Blair suddenly felt guilty. He hadn’t thought someone would think Morin had dumped Nysys.
Keenan reached out with a trembling hand and touched the doll’s cheek. He screeched. “He’s dead! Oh my God, he’s dead!”
Chaos erupted in the kitchen and Blair yanked himself out of Delevan’s arms. He ran inside and grabbed Keenan before he could fling himself on the doll. “Hey, calm down. It’s not Nysys. It’s a doll.”
Delevan Page 8
