Stephan's Monster

by Shelby Rhodes

  Stephan bit his lip. “Jayden, are you all right?”

  “What an excellent question. It actually brings me to what I wanted to discuss next. You need to gain better control of your walls, Jayden. I’m assuming that’s what is bothering you now. I need you to be able to function in crowds. And while you may not have to live here, my basement will be your, ah…workroom. I’ll be setting you up with a teacher that knows more about mental abilities than even Liam.”

  “Maybe we should go somewhere else…” Stephan suggested hesitantly.

  “Yes, great idea, young man. Why don’t we take a tour through your new house? It’s empty and it will be easier to talk there.”

  * * * *

  That night

  Two people sat on the couch in front of him, and neither of them looked pleased to be there.

  Lily Wolfhart’s arms were crossed, her lips pressed tight together, and her green eyes glared at him. At six foot three and built of lean

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  muscle, Dante’s second-in-command could look rather intimidating at times. Right now was not one of those times.

  With Lily’s long black hair fanning out around her shoulders and the floor length red silk robe she was wearing, she looked like a woman ready for bed—or sex. Dante wasn’t sure if he wanted to know what Lily had on under it. Though, considering the copious amount of bare flesh she flashed each time she crossed and uncrossed her legs…probably not much.

  Sin Draven, the boss of the Draven Zaytari group, sat next to her.

  Looking as sophisticated as always, he wore a tailored suit, his shoes were polished, and his short black hair was expertly swept back. His light baby-blue eyes, however, were tired.

  “Well, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to know why I just spent five hours on a plane.” Sin tapped his fingers against his crossed legs. “Not that I haven’t enjoyed sitting here silently for the last five minutes, of course,” he drawled sarcastically.

  Dante laughed at the man’s grumpiness. “Believe me, what I have to tell you will be worth the trip.”

  “If you say so,” Sin said dryly.

  “Dante, it’s late, and at this very moment, I have a naked man tied to my bed waiting for me. Can we get on with this?” Lily snapped.

  One of Sin’s perfectly arched eyebrows rose at her announcement.

  “I concede, you have more reason to want to leave than I do, dear Lily.” A smile danced on the man’s lips, his eyes sparkling with unreleased laughter.

  The growl the woman released belied the vampire she was—Lily would have done well as a wolf shifter.

  “Everyone is so impatient.” Dante sighed. “You guys always ruin my fun.”

  “Dante, Asa is waiting for me. I don’t give a damn about your fun.

  Now hurry the fuc—”

  Dante held up his hand to stop her tirade and told them everything that had happened. By the time he finished, their irritation had fled.

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  Sin was the first to break the silence that followed his findings.

  “Well, it appears you were correct. It was worth it.”

  “Are you sure it’s safe to allow him to join us?” Lily asked.

  “Yes.” Dante had known Lily would question his decision. She always did. It was why she was his second-in-command. Having one that would never question him would have been useless. Those who followed blindly never looked for a better solution—it was dangerous.

  “I think you’ll like him. He’s as blunt as you are.”

  “If you say so.” She stood. “Well, I’m going back to my little muffin.” With that, she walked off.

  “Do you think she’s wearing anything under that?” Sin asked, staring after her. The look in the man’s eyes wasn’t sexual—it was curious.

  Dante chuckled. “Probably as much as her little muffin.”

  Sin smiled. “Yes, well…while I do trust your judgment, Dante, no one is perfect. I ask that you please keep me informed. Have you contacted Gabriel? I’m actually surprised he wasn’t at this meeting.

  Some of Jayden’s ‘victims’ were from his territory.”

  “I’m wondering if it’s necessary. Gabriel refused to help with the investigation. He let his personal feelings toward the ‘victims’ get in the way of his responsibilities.”

  “I see your point. Whether he is contacted or not, I’ll leave that for you to decide.” After standing, he smoothed down the wrinkles sitting had created and buttoned his suit jacket. “Now, I have a plane to catch.”

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  Chapter Seventeen

  Stephan rocked on his feet. His body buzzed with unreleased energy as he waited for Jayden outside the movie theater.

  He was going on a date! They were going on a date! Together!

  Stephan couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. It was his first date, ever. On top of that, his mind kept wandering to what they had done in the bathroom.

  Would it happen again? Was that where their date would end?

  More importantly, would Stephan be able to build up the courage to…to suck Jayden, as well?

  He was sure they would do something when it was over. It was a date after all…isn’t that what people did?

  Stephan lowered his brows—was it what people did? Maybe it was only for one-night stands…wait, that wasn’t right. One-night stands were just about sex, right? But hadn’t first dates turned into one-night stands for some? Maybe…

  But that wasn’t what they were doing. Did that mean they weren’t going to do anything? Were multiple dates required? If so, they had messed up the order.

  Oh, hell, he didn’t know. Stephan was completely unprepared. His heart began to drum in his chest as he worked himself into a panic.

  Ugh, why did he always do this to himself? It seemed being nervous was never enough for him—why be nervous when he could just panic? Who wouldn’t want to experience a hyped-up heartbeat, cold sweats, and dizziness? Panicking was obviously a better choice, Stephan thought with self-disgust.

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  He always panicked, so why the hell hadn’t he planned for it? He should’ve read a book or something. Seriously, what had he been thinking going in blind? At the very least Stephan should have discussed it with Liam. No doubt his godfather would have given him some useful advice.

  Wait, did Liam even date? Now that he thought about it, Stephan couldn’t remember the man ever dating. The man was over five thousand years old. Surely he’d dated at one point.

  The rumbling of a motorcycle pulled his mind away from Liam’s love life. His gaze followed the man as he parked. Jayden moved like a predator, his gait slow and steady as he started toward Stephan.

  Jayden placed a kiss on Stephan’s lips the second he was in range, and rumbled, “Hello.”

  “Hi,” Stephan giggled. He blushed at how smitten the word had sounded.

  “Ready to go in?”

  “Yep!” After linking his arm with Jayden’s, he dragged Jayden into the theater.

  * * * *

  Absently sipping his pop, Jayden stared mindlessly at the screen.

  God, the movie was so boring—some romantic touchy-feely bullshit.

  Which meant lots of crying, kissing, hugging, and declarations of love.

  It. Was. Awful.

  But he could get through it…for Stephan. If only for the fact that the man had bought out the whole theater for today, just so Jayden wouldn’t be bothered by the voices. Other than them and two workers, there wasn’t a single person in the whole building. Therefore, he could fucking get through it.

  “This is so bad.”

  “It really is,” Jayden agreed.

  His monster whined, “There’s no blood!”

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  “There isn’t.”

  Well, as long as he had his monster’s attention, he might as well ask a few th
ings he’d been wondering about. It wasn’t as if Jayden was paying attention to the movie anyway.

  “Where do you go when you’re…not here? I mean you’re here, but you’re not here , here, so where do you go?”

  Did that question even make sense? Probably not.

  “I’m always here.”

  “Yes, but I can’t always see you,” Jayden pointed out.

  His monster nodded. “Nope, you can’t.”

  “Okay…so where do you go?”

  Blinking, he smiled and said, “Deeper.”

  “Deeper where?”

  Shrugging, he waved at the darkness around him. “Deeper.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Jayden snapped.

  His monster’s face scrunched up into an almost childlike pout, and then he poofed away. Well, shit—apparently his darkness hadn’t liked Jayden’s tone. Note to self—upsetting his entity when he wanted answers was a stupid idea.

  Sighing softly, he peered at Stephan.

  The corners of Jayden’s mouth twitched—well, at least Stephan was having fun. The man’s eyes were glued to the screen. His expression changed multiple times in a matter of seconds as he stared forward. It was adorable.

  Midway through the movie, Jayden felt like stabbing himself just to end his suffering. When the movie’s credits finally began to roll, he had to hold back the sigh of relief that tried to slip out.

  The disaster of a movie had been two fucking hours long—thank God it was over.

  At the thought of leaving, Jayden began to relax, until he realized that he probably had an unimaginable number of these crappy romantic movies in his future.

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  And there to make his anxiety about his future suffering worse was Stephan, babbling on about what he enjoyed about the movie.

  Considering Jayden spent most of the last two hours staring at the man, he was forced to remain quiet and nod in agreement.

  “You didn’t pay attention at all, did you?” Stephan giggled.

  Without feeling even a twinge of guilt, Jayden admitted, “No.”

  Pushing aside his worries, he absently wondered why they were still sitting in the theater.

  “I figured you wouldn’t…but hopefully, you’ll like the next movie.”

  Jayden blanched. “Next movie?”

  Stephan started giggling harder. “Don’t worry. There’ll be blood in this one. It’s called Dark Love. I heard there’s actually a few murders.”

  Jayden sagged in his seat.

  * * * *

  A few hours later

  Stephan felt perfectly happy walking hand in hand to one of his favorite places to eat—Jib Hot Dog Shop. The food was mouthwatering, but nothing fancy.

  Actually, it was probably only a step above fast food, but Stephan loved it anyway. Wealthy or not, food was food. As long as it tasted good, who cared how much or little it cost.

  “Where are we going?” Jayden asked.

  Stephan hummed. “You’ll see.”

  “And we had to walk, why?”

  He admitted shyly, “I wanted to hold your hand.”

  “Ah.” Jayden grinned, squeezing Stephan’s hand lightly.

  A minute later a brick building with a dull blue roof came into sight.

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  He squealed, “We’re here!”

  Jayden raised his eyebrows as he eyed the building. “I have to say, this was not what I was expecting.”

  “I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s good. I promise. I mean, I haven’t been here in a while, but I’m sure everything is still good.

  Well, none of it is good for you, but it tastes good.” Stephan worried his lip.

  He probably should have asked Jayden what he wanted to eat—or if he even was hungry. Maybe the man had planned to go home after the movie. Stephan just assumed they would eat.

  “If you want to go somewhere else, though, that’s fine. I probably should have asked what you wanted. Sorry, let’s go, we’ll find someplace we both like. Or maybe you’re not hungry. We could just go home. Whatever you want, I’m fine with it.” Stephan smiled weakly and tried to pull the man away, but Jayden didn’t budge.

  “Whoa, hold up. I’m not picky when it comes to food, you know that. And if I wasn’t hungry, I would have said something. Come on, sweetheart. Let’s eat.” Jayden wrapped his arm around Stephan’s waist and pulled him toward the building.

  Smiling softly, he nodded. “Okay.”

  When they walked in, the place smelled of French fries, cheese, grilled meat, coffee—anything but healthy. In other words, delicious.

  It appeared as if the restaurant had recently been renovated. There was barely a creak as Stephan slid into a vacant booth.

  When the waitress bustled over, Jayden ordered a chocolate milkshake, four hot dogs with chili and cheese, two cheeseburgers, and a large fry that the man had informed him he had no intention of sharing. Not being able to consume nearly as much, Stephan only ordered a vanilla milkshake, two hot dogs with cheese, a small fry, and three cups of cheese.

  Once the waitress was gone, Jade asked with a raised eyebrow,

  “Three cups?”

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  “I like cheese, and you have no room to talk, Mr. I’m Not Willing To Share My Fries.”

  Jayden grunted.

  “So…admit it, you liked the last movie, didn’t you?” Stephan hummed.

  “It wasn’t bad,” Jayden agreed grudgingly.

  The reviews hadn’t lied. There had been plenty of blood to keep Jayden occupied. Stephan personally thought part of the storyline was similar in ways to their own lives.

  “The deaths were too quick.”

  “If you say so.”

  A smile pulled at Stephan’s lips—it was just like Jayden to want those he deemed evil to suffer more.

  Well, at least he’d enjoyed the last movie. Stephan knew the man had hated the first. Truthfully, the first movie hadn’t been perfect—a bit too sappy even for his tastes. But they were having fun. That’s all that mattered.

  Wait, was Jayden having fun? Stephan was, but maybe Jade wasn’t. Well…watching a movie you hated didn’t really qualify as fun. What the hell had Stephan been thinking? He should have asked the man what he wanted to see.

  Stephan’s chest tightened with worry—had he ruined their first date? He’d thought it had been going so well. Apparently, Stephan had been fooling himself. Oh, what did he do now? Was there a way to salvage it?

  “You’re doing it again.” Jayden’s deep voice interrupted his thoughts.

  He blinked and looked up at him. “Doing what?”

  “Overthinking things.”

  Stephan flushed. “I wasn’t.”

  “You were. Your eyes got this far-off look, and your face scrunched up. You were also mumbling and nodding to yourself.”

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  Crossing his arms, Jayden asked, “What were you panicking about this time?”

  “Are you having fun?”

  Jayden slowly tilted his head to the side. “I’m with you. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  The uncomfortable feeling in his chest vanished. Stephan beamed.

  “I have fun when I’m with you, too.”

  Jayden rubbed his neck and gave Stephan a lopsided smile. But it soon waned, and a serious look overtook his face. The man was thinking hard about something—something dark.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I want to te—” he started, but stopped when their waitress came over with their food.

  Once she was gone, Stephan asked, “What were you going to say?”

  “Let’s eat first.”

  “Okay…”

  He wanted to push, but he wouldn’t. Whatever it was, Jayden would tell him when he was ready.

  Stephan picked up one of his hot dogs, dipped the end into a cheese cup, and took a bite. He moaned as the flav
ors hit his taste buds—oh, it was so good.

  There was a comfortable silence as they ate. Once his plate was empty, Stephan leaned back and rubbed his stomach. As he waited for Jayden to finish, he found himself gazing longingly at what remained of his cups of cheese. Just a bit of the gooey substance clung to the sides. The thought of licking them clean came to mind.

  Stephan wouldn’t, though, that would be weird. Oh, but he really wanted to. Maybe he could…just a little. No, no, doing something like that in public would be…well, Stephan would never live it down.

  “If you want more cheese, just order another hot dog.” Jayden chuckled.

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  Stephan reluctantly dragged his gaze away from the temptation and focused on Jayden. The man had finished.

  Face flushing, he mumbled, “I’m full.”

  After paying, they started walking back to where they’d left Jayden’s motorcycle.

  Remembering that Jayden had been trying to tell him something, he asked, “What were you going to say earlier?”

  Jayden’s eyes shifted to him and then away. The man suddenly looked uncomfortable, uncertain. “I just…realized how little you know about me a—”

  Stephan cut him off. “What are you talking about?”

  “Let me finish. Stephan, I know about you, about your past. Yet you know almost nothing about mine. It’s funny, the only other person who knows everything is Dante. But it should be you. You accepted my monster, so—”

  “You’re not a monster. You’re just a little unbalanced!”

  Jayden let out a barking laugh. “Even if you deny it, you know it’s the truth. But you accept me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have contacted Dante. You would still be trying to stop me. And despite me having a voice in my head, you don’t fear me. I’m a monster, but I’m your monster. So…I want you to know.”

  Eyes widening, Stephan didn’t know what to say. That Jayden would want to tell him about his past, it was something he had never dared to hope for—or ask for.