Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1

by R A Baker

  I chuckled as the thought of two men who had tried to kill me on a number of occasions were now sharing the bed with me and my men. My chuckle got raised eyebrows. I let them in on my thought. Sven and Thorn chuckled only mildly but the others laughed hard.

  I put their minds at ease. “Don’t worry, guys, I won’t toss you out unless you do something more than take my blood without permission.” Though, I had been set on killing them both before I got to know them.

  I stood up and tripped over dust. I was intoxicated. I giggled and caught myself on a chair. I attempted to walk a little further but was afraid to let my chair go.

  “Kat, are you okay?” Todd said as he got out of his seat to help me. I ‘mmm hmm’d’ and sat back in my seat. “What did you need?”

  “Nothing. I just wanted to walk around and see how tipsy I was.” He chuckled and sat across from me. “I’m pretty damn tipsy,” I slurred out. I stood up again and waited for my equilibrium to match my movements and went to the counter and grabbed a brötchen, then made my way back to my seat. I ate the roll and leaned back in my seat.

  I could feel the alcohol being absorbed by the bread as I relaxed. Todd said, “Thorn?” I assumed Thorn nodded or responded in some way because Todd asked, “How long will you be with us?”

  “As long as you will have Sven and me because I will not go through what I went through again.” I tilted my head and looked at him. His liquid brown eyes were shining gold as he looked at me. I sat up straight in the chair.

  “Are you trying to tell me something, Thorn?” He blinked slowly, unnaturally for a human, but he wasn’t ‘human’.

  “Yes. I refuse to be separated from Sven again.”

  “I did apologize for that.” I groaned as I thought about how I could let one, but not the other, in.

  Sven patted Thorn’s hand and said, “You’re with us now, that’s what matters, Thorn.” He kissed Thorn’s cheek softly and looked at me. He was smiling. I looked away.

  Todd, Trace, and Erick were looking at me. The predatory look was back. I guess they hadn’t had enough orgasms to make them tired. I flashed a smile at them and the look turned from predatory to seductive in the blink of an eye. I purred in my throat as I looked at them. That got them out of their seats and to my side in a second. Todd lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bedroom. The others followed close behind. I hadn’t meant to cause such a flurry of activity but now that we were in the bedroom…

  Todd pulled at my robe and opened it enough to show my skin. He placed his mouth between my breasts and kissed me. I ran my hands up his chest and to his neck. I pulled him to my lips and kissed him softly. He breathed a laugh as my hand ran down his side and between us. I could feel him hard and ready for me through the jeans. He shook his head as I reached for his zipper. “Not yet, Kat,” he whispered against my mouth.

  “Why not?” I whispered back.

  “Because as much as I want you this second, I kinda have to clean myself off.” Oh. I thought of Sven bringing him. Damn. I whispered a moan. Todd helped me sit up. The guys, all four of them, were looking at me with dreamy eyes. My heart stuttered in my chest.

  “I suppose you each need to clean up?” They nodded. “Well hurry up then.”

  They smiled and all walked into the bathroom together. I didn’t know if the shower would hold all five of them plus me. I walked into the bathroom a moment later. They were standing around buck naked. I licked my lips as I looked at them.

  Thorn was the only one that was new and he was just as yummy. His pale skin was just a little duskier than Sven’s and he was a natural brunette. Thorn’s piercings gleamed with the light from the mirror lights and I noticed that he had nipple rings as well.

  “You’ve come to join us, Kat?” Todd asked, breaking into my thoughts.

  “Yes, I have.” He chuckled and took me into his arms. I could feel his body against mine and just how happy he was. He slipped off my robe and the room went silent.

  My eyes widened as I looked at them. “What? Haven’t you seen me naked before? Except Thorn, that is.”

  “Kat, where did you get that tattoo?”

  I started to freak out. The only ‘tattoo’ I had was on my right arm. “What tattoo?” I was afraid to look as Todd pointed to the left side of my stomach. I gritted my teeth and looked down. The room swam in darkness. The tattoo was similar to Todd’s, as in a dagger in all black but with one subtle change, mine had a dab of blood red on the hilt.

  Todd caught me before I fainted completely away. He smiled down at me as I cleared my eyes. “That’s the mark for my queen.”

  I gulped loudly and struggled to get away from him. Hurt flashed through his eyes. “I’m sorry, Todd. I hadn’t really thought about being ‘queen’, I was just trying to be me.”

  “Don’t apologize, Kat.” He smiled softly at me. “I’ll have to bring a meeting together to announce you officially as my queen.” My heart squished in my chest at the thought of being ‘queen’ to the vampires. Great.

  What did that mean for me? What will that mean for Sven and Thorn? They might have been sweet with Todd, their king, and everything, but what would that mean if both of us are fucking the vampires? Will all of the vampires line up to audition for our attention? Will that bring more bad guys at us if we refuse them? So many damn questions and no damn answers.

  Todd kept his arms around me and kissed me gently on the neck. He let me up and announced me right there as Queen Katja. I rolled my eyes and blushed when they all kneeled before me. “I am not queen when we live together, I’m just Kat or Katja. Please stand up.” They didn’t, of course. Todd moved a little and bowed at me. I groaned and grumbled under my breath.

  “Stop it, all of you. Stand up. I’m not queen yet. I may have the damn tattoo but I’m not officially queen until Todd announces it to the general public. Right now, we’re the only ones that know about this and I’d like to keep it that way. So, please, stand up, and let’s take a shower. Maybe the tattoo will wash off in the shower.” I smiled a little. Here’s hoping.

  They stood up and each one gave me a kiss on the cheek and hopped into the shower that Todd had started.

  The shower held all of us and had numerous water features, more than the other house. Waterfalls, rain, misting, body sprays, shower heads that misted, rained, or massaged. All water features were on except the body sprays. We didn’t want to get too clean since we were going to get dirty anyway. Dirty in a good way.

  Todd pulled me to him and ran a soapy fluff down my body. Erick poured some shampoo in his hand and ran it through my hair. Trace ran a soapy fluff down Erick’s body, causing Erick to harden against my back. I sucked in a breath as Todd flicked his fingers across my groin and Erick kissed my neck. They finished washing me and Erick and stepped away.

  Sven came up to me and gave me big kiss and then bit my neck. I arched into him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He ran his free hand along my rib cage and just under my breast. He didn’t play around with his bite. It was more of a feed than to pleasure me which I didn’t mind at the moment. He pulled back and smiled big enough to flash his fangs at me.

  He stepped back and wrapped his arms around Thorn who bit his neck and brought him screaming. Thorn pulled back and laughed joyously at Sven’s reaction and that of us. We were standing and watching. My lips parted as Sven looked at me with a slight blush on his pale skin. I had never seen him blush before and it took my breath away.

  Trace stepped up to me and ran his tongue lightly across my lips. I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my upper body against him. His arms wound around my back holding me in place. He nibbled on my bottom lip. I felt someone come up behind me. I couldn’t pull away to look since Trace had my bottom lip between his teeth.

  “I want you now, Kat.” The voice belonged to Todd.

  Trace flicked his eyes to Todd and let my lip go, only long enough to whisper, “Not yet. She’s mine.” Trace went back to nibbling on my lips.

  Todd stayed
where he was and ran his hands to my hips, holding me still. Trace let my lips go and licked down to my collar bone. He bit my neck hard enough for me to cry out and claw lightly at his back.

  Todd lifted me up and Trace slid slowly inside me as Todd let me down gently. Trace pressed me against Todd who supported most of our weight. Trace and Todd worked in tandem to shift me up and down on Trace. Todd’s teeth scraped against the back of my neck catching the spine lightly with his teeth. Trace and I cried out softly as the orgasm took us. We held each other for a few minutes and then Todd lifted me off Trace and set me on my feet. He held me steady while I quivered from the orgasm.

  Todd’s hands were on my stomach and his mouth was nibbling on my neck. He turned me quickly in his arms and lifted me. I slid on top of him. He pressed my back against the shower wall and moved in and out of me while whispering my name and ‘I love you’. I bit his ear and whispered the words back. I really needed to say the same to Trace and Erick. We made love slowly, lovingly.

  The others faded as Todd kissed me unhurriedly just as he slid in and out of me slowly. We climaxed at nearly the same moment, kissing and moaning softly. He pulled back and looked at me. I smiled and gave him a kiss. He let me slide down his body but kept me pinned to the wall. His strong arms wrapped around my shoulders. He bent to my ear and whispered, “I don’t want to let you go, Kat.”

  “You don’t have to, silly. I’m here, right?” He nodded but wasn’t relieved. He kissed me deeply and sighed against my neck. He slowly let me out of his arms and ran his fingers along my stomach. The water turned cool against my skin. Sven and Thorn didn’t seem to mind since they were in the corner together. I turned my eyes from them. I still believed in giving privacy even if we weren’t necessarily in private.

  That left me staring at Trace, Todd, and Erick. They were looking at me with definite love in their eyes. “I need to get out of the shower if I’m going to stay smooth skinned.” I held up my hands and found that they were wrinkly from the water. They chuckled and nodded. Sven and Thorn moved from the corner and turned off the water.

  We stepped out and grabbed towels. Sven grabbed me about the waist and kissed me hard, hard enough to draw blood and little squeaks of pain. He sucked at my mouth.

  I was surprised when he let me go abruptly and stepped back. I frowned at him but found he wasn’t looking at me but at Todd.

  “Todd?” He looked at me but didn’t seem like he was seeing me. “What’s up, Todd?”

  He blinked and said, “My jealousy got the better of me for the moment.”

  I sighed and left the bathroom. I walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen and dropped into one of the chairs. Todd walked a few moments later and sat beside me. He slung his arm around my shoulder and leaned into me. “I’m sorry, Kat.”

  I smiled, hoping it was reassuring. “It’s okay, Todd. I know what you mean. I couldn’t even watch you with the female vamps.”

  “You couldn’t?” Todd asked in surprise.

  “Of course not.” That seemed to make him feel better about the whole jealousy thing.

  “We should go back into the bedroom and have our fun before I make the announcement.” I could feel the blood leave my face and my heartbeat sped up making me dizzy.

  “You don’t seem thrilled to be announcing that you’re my queen, Kat.”

  “It’s new. I, uh…” I stopped talking and chewed on my bottom lip. How did I tell him that I didn’t want to be queen? How do you say you don’t want your birthright or whatever it is the tattoo signifies?

  “You don’t want the job, do you?”

  “Is it a job?”

  He smiled and kissed the corner of my mouth before saying, “It is and it isn’t. You’ll be around vampires more than you are now. You’ll have royal guards, if you choose. I’ll be the ‘leader’ and ‘lawmaker’ for the vampires and you’ll be my queen.”

  “What exactly does that mean? Will I have power or something?” I really didn’t want that power. Todd, I knew, could handle that kind of power but I wasn’t ready to deal with that. I could deal with being a vamp killer but not a ruler.

  “You’ll have power befitting a queen, Kat. I won’t ask you to be just my queen. The two tattoos state otherwise. You will be my enforcer, but first, and foremost, you will be queen.” I frowned at him. He wasn’t smiling but stating everything as fact and business.

  “Will we have to marry?” Again, I added silently.

  He smiled and kissed the top of my head. “No, Kat. We don’t have to marry again. If you don’t want to, that is.”

  “Not that I wouldn’t mind marrying you again but we’ve been down that road before and we’re better for it. We actually see each other and spend time together which was something we didn’t do when we were married.”

  “I know, Kat. As much as this is hard to admit, I don’t want to marry you either. I’m happy with the way things are now. Even if I do get a little jealous now and then.” He stood up and pulled me with him and into his arms. “Come on, let’s get back to bed. I’m sure they’re doing something that’ll make you all hot and bothered.” I rolled my eyes but smiled at him.

  We walked into the bedroom and sure enough, Sven and Thorn were feeding off of Trace and Erick, respectively. Sven and Thorn looked at us and then went back to feeding.

  I couldn’t get into it. I was worried about what this new tattoo thing meant for me, for my guys, for Sven and Thorn as our vampires. Would we be targeted more frequently or less? Would they use Todd against me like they used me against him? Probably. Would they target my men to get to me, including the vampires? All the questions in the world were distracting me from the lovely scene on the bed.

  I turned around and walked out of the bedroom. I leaned against the wall right outside the bedroom and slid down, laying my head on my knees and tried to stop the questions from smacking into my brain. It didn’t work well. The quiet was deafening. Todd came out and smiled at me but he left me alone.

  I was still leaning against the wall, a few minutes later, trying to stop the questions from entering my mind. Sven and Thorn appeared beside me and this time I didn’t flinch, scream, or hiss out a breath. I smiled at them and snuggled against Sven, who wrapped his arm around me. Thorn leaned into me and gave me a light kiss on the cheek but made no further move.

  Sven breathed against my neck making me shiver and my heart pound in my groin. His lips whispered across my skin giving me feather light kisses. A moment later his teeth slid through my skin. Immediately passion filled me and I turned into him, pulling at his bite, opening the wound further. He pulled back and changed position. I straddled his thighs and knew he didn’t need to feed but was doing this for my benefit.

  I could feel Thorn come up behind me and wrap his pale arms around my stomach also straddling Sven. Thorn bit the other side of my neck. I could feel the metal stud play along my skin. They sucked on my neck and brought me time after time. They pulled back but stayed sitting.

  Sven smiled at me and gave me a deep kiss. I could taste my blood in his mouth. Thorn rubbed his lips against the back of my neck. He pulled back and whispered, “I want you now but I also want to try something.” I swallowed hard because I had a really good idea as to what he wanted to try.

  I whispered, “I haven’t been with him yet. I’ve only seen him naked.” Sven smiled and kissed me softly. “I can wait if you want to, uh…” He chuckled at my expression. I was staring at him and a blush had spread along my neck and into my cheeks.

  Thorn sank his fangs into the back of my neck causing me to arch and cry out softly. Sven told him to stop. “Don’t coerce her into something that she might not want at the moment.” A small warning but immediately heeded. Thorn took his fangs from my neck and licked the wound. I hadn’t wanted him to stop but I was glad that Sven had given the warning.

  Thorn pulled me off Sven and set me on my feet. Sven got off the floor slowly, running his hands along my legs. They each gave me a kiss and escorted me into t
he bedroom. Todd, Trace, and Erick were lounging in chairs to the side of the room and talking quietly.

  I pulled away from Thorn and Sven and sat on Todd’s lap with my legs over the armrest. Todd wrapped his arm behind my back and settled his other hand on my hip. Thorn and Sven took the one open chair with Sven in Thorn’s lap.

  Todd continued to speak with Trace and Erick as I ran my finger lazily along his ear and neck. Todd nodded to something but I couldn’t follow the conversation. “What are you guys talking about?” I interrupted.

  Todd smiled and said, “We’re talking about my jealousy, Kat.”

  I frowned. “And?”

  “And…apparently, I’m not the only one who gets jealous.” I turned to look at Trace and Erick. They smiled sheepish smiles at me and nodded.

  A hint of the emotions that Beatrice had brought out in me reared their ugly heads. Todd felt the change in me. I had stopped running my finger along his neck and sat up straighter on his lap. “Don’t, Kat.” The warning was clear but I didn’t want to listen.

  I thought back and found that I was rarely jealous of anything Trace or Erick did. Todd was the only one I couldn’t stand to watch with another woman. Well, that’s stupid, Trace and Erick haven’t been around women since I’ve known them, at least intimately.

  What if they weren’t happy with this arrangement and were only staying in it for me? What’s so damn hot about me? Why would they sacrifice their happiness just to stay with me? What would I do if they decided to leave for a happier life? That question alone brought tears to my eyes. I could answer that one. I’d die a long and slow death. They made my life happier and better for being in it. I’d go back to work and never stop until I was too old to work and then I’d want to die from the loneliness. Selfish? Maybe.

  Todd pulled me closer and whispered against my neck, “Don’t, Kat. We’re happy here. Please don’t put yourself through this.” He kissed my cheek and pulled me tighter against him. I heard the others come up to me. Even Thorn came over to me.