by ERIN BEDFORD
I tossed my head so my hair fell over my shoulder, before grabbing the brush to start working on it. "Well, you can keep your pleasure and your pain. I don't want it."
Wynn sighed and moved closer to me. He moved slowly as if he were afraid to spook me. I didn't blame him, right now, I was spookable. Reaching for the brush, he gestured for me to turn around. I almost didn't let him. I was seconds away from taking that brush and smacking him over the head with it, but then one look into those big, beautiful blue eyes and I saw the pain and regret in them.
I handed the brush over and turned. My breath held as I waited for him to touch me, but he didn't try to take advantage. Wynn smoothed the brush through my hair over and over again in a soothing manner that had me closing my eyes. "You're good at that."
Making an amused sound in his throat, Wynn mused, "I've had centuries of practice. I used to brush my sister's hair."
"You had a sister?"
"Multiple. They were the light of my life...probably why I've spent my whole life trying to find pleasure and give pleasure to women. I never had a good male role model, if you will." Wynn paused, and then continued brushing. "Before I joined Antoine, I'd been a bit of playboy. I seemed to always find my way into some one's bed, male or female, married or not. Probably why our master wanted me. I was pretty and could easily attract new prey for him to devour."
I shuddered. "What changed?" When he didn't answer me, I elaborated. "I mean, why don't you do that anymore? Why did you all leave?"
Wynn stopped brushing my hair and set it down on the desk. Taking his place once more, I felt his deft fingers twist and weave my hair. Wynn was so quiet I thought he wouldn't answer me, but then when he finished pulling my newly braided hair over my shoulder, he murmured, "Because of Rayne." Spinning around, I faced him, and I didn't like the sadness on his face. "What about Rayne?"
"Not my story to tell." Giving me a sad smile, Wynn lifted his hand and reached for my face. I hated that I flinched away from him, and when he dropped his hand, I grabbed it, bringing it back to my face. "I'm sorry. For everything. I didn't mean to cause such a mess."
"You didn't, lovely." Wynn cupped my cheek and wrapped his other arm around my waist to draw me closer. "Never think that we regret hiring you or bringing you into our lives, because every single one of us would die for you."
I blinked up at him, astounded by this information.
"Don't look so shocked," he chuckled lightly. "You have quite a way about you, Miss Piper Billings."
"Durand," I corrected him with a grin. "I'm one of you now. Remember?"
"That's right," Wynn agreed, and then gave me a wolfish grin. "Well, I should probably repent, because I don't think any of us think of you as a sister." My face heated.
"I hope not." Then something came to me. "What about Marcus? Surely he doesn't feel the same way."
"You'd be surprised what Marcus thinks and feels. He hides it well, but there's a big marshmallow inside that imposing exterior."
"Pfft. I don't believe it." I shook my head and leaned into Wynn's arms, feeling safe there and less like I might fall apart at any moment.
"Believe it." Wynn rubbed his nose against mine. "He's been guarding your door while you sleep."
"He has?" I tried to move out of his embrace to check, but Wynn held on tight.
"If he hadn't been, I'd have snuck back in here before to finish what I'd started." The husky tone of Wynn's voice caused me to stop in place. My body warmed and I could feel the beginnings of his powers teasing me.
"We can't," I murmured, though I was slickening between my thighs already. "Antoine..."
"Antoine can fuck off." Wynn's hand drifted down to my butt and pressed me firmly against his front, where his hardened cock poked my stomach. "I owe you an orgasm, don't I?" My mouth dried and my breathing quickened. I tilted my head back, my lips ready and waiting for Wynn's kiss. His mouth didn't so much as take mine but coaxed it, like he did everything else. He teased me with his lips, his teeth, and his tongue. I was a puddle of goo in his arms and had to cling to his neck to keep my feet under me. When he lifted me up to wrap my legs around his waist, I moaned, rubbing myself against him. I'd waited for this forever. I cursed myself for taking so long to get to this point with him. I really should have made him my first out of them, but no regrets. I was here with him now.
Wynn walked us over to the bed and lowered me down until my back was on the mattress. I latched on to him, keeping him from moving too far away from me. With a smirk, Wynn released my lips and trailed his mouth down my neck. I moaned as he brushed Antoine's mark, sending new, hot streams of desire through me.
I tried to pull at his clothing, but he caught my hands. "Slow down, pet. We have all the time in the world."
My mind cleared enough to ask, "What about Marcus? He can hear us."
"He's gone off to bed now. As have the rest of our people. Now, do you really want to talk about where everyone is, or do you want to come?" He cupped my hot heat over my pants. I arched into his touch, not wanting him to stop. "I thought so."
Returning his lips to my neck, Wynn made a path over the exposed skin until he got to the neck of my shirt. His hands pushed up the bottom of it until it stopped at my armpits, but he didn't pull it off. Humming in his throat, Wynn caressed my bra-clad breasts, giving special attention to each peak. "I have dreamed of your perfect breasts. Are they as wonderful as I imagined?"
I gasped and pushed myself into his hands as I scrambled to unsnap the bra. I wanted nothing more than to have his hands on my breasts. I was anxious for it. Then, my stomach growled, the traitorous bastard.
Wynn lifted his head, his eyes crinkling at the sides. "Hungry?"
"No," I lied, trying to bring him back to me. "Not at all. Keep going."
Shaking his head, he moved away from me and offered me a hand. "As much as I regret saying this, I'll have to find out how great your breasts are another time. You need to eat. I should have remembered that."
"No, I don't." I didn't move from the bed, hoping I looked alluring enough to draw him back to me. "I can eat later. I need you now."
Chuckling, Wynn stared down at me with amusement and not as much heat as I wanted. "Yes, you do. You've lost a lot of blood. Antoine's blood can only do so much. Besides..." He leaned down and traced his fingers along the line of my underboob, leaving me quaking beneath his hands. "I don't want you passing out while I ravish you."
"Okay," I squeaked, and jerked my head up and down quickly. "But something quick. Like a sandwich or something. I don't need a lot." I redid my bra and let him lift me up from the bed, while he laughed quietly at my eagerness. I'd have been embarrassed, but I was too damn turned on to care.
Wynn escorted me out of my shared room and into the hallway. My eyes drifted over to a spot to the side of the door and my feet stopped on their own. My heart sped up and any desire I felt dried up like a prune.
That was where Valentine attacked me. Where I almost...I swallowed thickly, my eyes drifting down to the carpet. I didn't see any blood on the runner, but that didn't mean there wasn't any. If there was, my heightened senses were too dull to catch it. Wynn could probably smell it. I almost asked him, but then he wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulders and drew me toward the stairs.
"Come now, pet," he murmured soothingly into my ear. "No need to dwell on it. He'll get his, never you worry."
My head jerked toward Wynn's stoic expression. "What do you mean?"
"Shh, not here. Later." His eyes moved around as if to tell me others were listening.
I nodded reluctantly, but I was impatient to know what they planned on doing to take care of the problem and if I could be part of it.
At the bottom of the stairs, we met with Rayne. He shot an accusatory look at Wynn and announced strangely, "It's my turn."
Wynn lifted a shoulder. "You were busy. I'm taking Piper to get some breakfast. You're free to join us."
I cast a look between the two of them, wondering what the
hell they were talking about, but neither of them elaborated. Instead, Rayne huffed and nodded before taking up the empty space on my left. Now, both vampires escorted me through the foyer and down the hallway. We passed the drawing room and library doors, and bypassed the dining room completely to head into the kitchen.
Darren, completely in his element, moved around the kitchen with the other members of the household. Namely, Fauns and a small Asian woman who could have been eighteen or eighty. I couldn't tell one way or the other.
When we stepped into the room, Fauns and the woman stopped what they were doing and dismissed themselves. Darren stayed and went about preparing what smelled like bacon and eggs. I might have said I wasn't hungry, but the moment I smelled the delicious aroma of food, my stomach grumbled once more.
Wynn chuckled beside me and led me to a chair at their breakfast nook. "Not hungry, huh?"
I bumped him with an elbow before taking my seat. I glanced from the table and then to where Darren was, and asked, "Is there—"
Darren turned and brought me a cup of steaming hot coffee before the words even exited my mouth. He sat down the cream and sugar before me as well.
"Thank you," I told him, as I filled my cup with both cream and sugar.
"You're welcome." Darren spun back around, returning to his pans on the stove. Rayne and Wynn took the seats on either side of me, and watched as I drank my coffee. It was a bit unnerving, but I was too happy to have caffeine to care.
"Here." Darren sat a plate in front of me without me asking. It was piled up with meat, eggs, and toast. He also placed a large glass of milk in front of me with a pill. "That's vitamin D and iron. You'll want to take one every day for the next few days, and any time you donate blood afterward."
"Donate," Rayne scoffed, his eyes narrowing. "She didn't donate blood."
Wynn tut-tutted. "Not the time, Rayne." Gritting his teeth, Rayne didn't say another word, but sat there brooding while I shoved food into my mouth.
Darren didn't make a plate for himself and I frowned. "Aren't you going to eat?"
"I already ate." Darren took the last open seat across from me. "That's for you."
Not needing anymore explanation, I continued to eat. Groaning with every bite, I savored the flavors and couldn't believe how good it tasted. Most mornings, I’d usually forgo breakfast and just stick with coffee, but today... Today, it tasted like Nirvana in my mouth.
"Better watch it, love. I'm getting a bit jealous of fried pork."
I paused mid bite to meet Wynn's gaze, and then a quick glanced over at Rayne who had the same kind of intense expression on his face. I flushed and lowered my fork. Picking up my glass of milk, I drank a healthy portion of it before looking across to Darren. He was a safe place to look. Darren at least didn't look like he wanted to be the one eating me.
"So, how do you know so much about what I would need?" I inquired, and then wished I'd swallowed my own tongue. Shaking my head, I smacked my forehead. "Sorry, I blame the blood loss. Obviously, you know what to do. You've been with them long enough you've probably donated your fair share of blood."
Darren's lips twitched. "Not as much as you would think. However, I have had to pick up after the masters for quite some time." He gave a sly glance over to each vampire. "Help keep their leftovers from collapsing on the cab ride home."
I choked on my bite of food, hitting my chest with my fist before reaching for my glass again. When I got the food down, I croaked, "Leftovers?"
"He makes it sound so unsavory." Wynn grimaced, lounging back in his chair. "It wasn't like that at all."
"Wasn't it though?" Rayne countered with a self-satisfied grin. "Did you even know the names of your...donors?"
"Did you?"
Rayne blanched at Wynn's question and then ducked his head. "Most of them. We didn't exactly exchange pleasantries before the donor service."
"Precisely," Wynn pointed out with a nod, before turning back to me. "Before the modern age caught up with us, we had to find our meals the old-fashioned way. In bars, on the streets, and even on occasion..." He paused for dramatic effect. "Hospitals."
I hummed, not wanting to think too much on where they got their food supplies or if they'd killed anyone before. I was pretty sure I wouldn't like the answer, and right now I needed them to be the handsome masters from home and not the monster under the bed. I already had one of those. One that I hoped to slay soon.
Chapter 15
Marcus
This was ridiculous. I was a powerful and mighty vampire. A creature of the night. Not some guard dog. Certainly, not to a puny human woman. I glared at the back of the human maid's head as she walked through the enclosed garden. The flowers were all ones that thrived in the dark at night. There were prim roses, Casa Blanca Lilies, Queens of the Night, which only bloomed once every year, and my favorite, Chocolate daisies that filled the air with its namesake. There were several others that I didn't know the name of but were equally as exotic. Boris's reach was far and wide. He never skimped on the good stuff.
We'd been walking down the path for a half hour now. Piper had to stop at every single flower to sniff it and give it a good, long look. It was just a fucking flower. How interesting could they be?
"They smell so different than before I was bound," Piper commented, glancing back at me. Her smile wilted at my frowning figure, but I didn't change my stance for her benefit. "You know, you don't have to follow me. I'm perfectly fine with Darren. You can go to bed."
"I have orders," I countered, not giving her room to argue. Except she did anyway.
"Then you can go back to Antoine and tell him to change them. I don't need someone glowering over my shoulder for half the day." She waved me off with a small hand before turning her back to me.
Against my will, my eyes drifted down her small form to hover over her butt. The jeans she wore clung to her curves and would make even the strongest of men fall. I wasn't one of those men.
"I will not." I marched after her with growing irritation. "If you would stay in your room, or any room, I wouldn't have to follow you around."
Piper laughed over her shoulder. I wanted to say the sound of it ground on my nerves, but it was just as lovely as she was. Jesus, fuck.
"Well then, next time I'll just stay in the library. But I need to be outside. I'm human and we need sunlight, even if it's through double paned glass." She frowned up at the ceiling of glass around us. "Besides, walking is good for you. I don't exactly know all the rules of being immortal or whatever, and I'd hate to get fat and be stuck that way forever." She smiled sweetly at me over her shoulder and I felt myself melting.
Forcing a scowl onto my face, I crossed my arms and jerked my head. "Then get walking. You'll need it."
She gaped at me and flipped me off before spinning on her heels and marching away. I grinned at her back, my eyes once more lingering on her backside. I could have told her she needn't worry. Her figure was perfect and would remain that way for the rest of her days.
With heightened senses and quick healing also came a faster metabolism. So, she could eat as much as she wanted and lay around all day, but she'd never get bigger than she was right now. In fact, from the few times I'd seen her eating meals, she could probably eat more.
I strolled along behind her at a close distance without crowding her. I didn't need any more of her intoxicating scent in my nose than I already had now. How Antoine spent time in the same room with her so often baffled me. I didn't consider myself one of the most self-restrained vampires, but I was better than most. However, even I was having a hard time keeping myself from giving into my baser urges.
"Fuck," Piper cried out, holding her hand out in front of her.
Instantly, my fangs ached. The heavy scent of her blood filled the area and I found myself taking a step toward her before I caught myself.
Piper glanced back at me. One look at my face and she stiffened. Her eyes widened and her breathing sped up as she shook her head back and forth. "No, no. Go
away." She clutched her bleeding hand to her chest as if that would help the smell.
"Stop panicking, you're making it worse," I instructed, walking toward her.
With wary eyes, Piper let me come toward her but put a hand up before I could get too close. "Stop there. Please."
I stared down at her. Was she dumb? "I need to see it."
"No, you don't," she argued, her lower lip poking out as she cradled her hand closer to her chest. "I'll get a Band-Aid from Darren and it'll be fine. Just stay back."
It finally dawned on me what was wrong. I closed my eyes and focused, taking deep breaths of her scent before opening my eyes once more. "See, I'm not going to go on a blood craze. Now stop being a baby and let me see."
Piper didn't offer me her hand, but she didn't stop me from taking it either. I slowly took her hand in my much larger one and peered down at the cut. It wasn't that deep, barely bleeding.
"What did you cut it on?" I glanced up from her hand to see her point her a finger toward the bush next to her. One of the many night blooming cacti. Of course she'd want to touch that one. "I suggest not touching any others."
"Obviously," she scoffed, glowering at me. "Can I have my hand back now?"
"No," I growled, and then pierced my finger with my thumbnail. Blood welled up at the end of my finger and I started toward her cut.
"Hey now, what do you think you're doing?" Piper tried to pull her hand away, but I held on to it.
"It'll clean it and heal faster."
"So? Doesn't mean I want your blood in me."
I arched a brow. "Is it the fact that it's blood or that it's my blood that's the issue?"
Piper chewed on her lower lip before shoving her hand at me. "Fine. Get it over with. I'm not getting any younger."
I rolled my eyes and reopened the closed cut before tracing the wound on her hand. She hissed and glared at me the whole time, but let me do the job. When I was done, I held her hand and waited for the small cut to close up. Satisfied with her healing, I released her hand and took a step back.
