Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1

by R A Baker

  “By the power that gives life to all vampires, you are bound to me forever or until you are strong enough to separate and become a master in your own right,” Haven spoke the words softly but with authority.

  Todd nodded his head and said, “So be it.” I stared at the four of them. They seemed happy, except maybe Haven. I didn’t know him well enough to read his vampire body language. I started to leave when Todd called me back. “Kat?” I groaned and turned to him, raising an eyebrow. “Haven will be leaving with us.” This time I didn’t try to muffle the groan that slipped through my lips. More men, well one more man, but still…

  “Okay.” I bobbed my head up and down and turned. Sven and Thorn were in front of me. “Yes?”

  “Don’t you want to congratulate us?” I frowned. “We’re no longer under Cyril’s lineage.”

  I smiled, hoping it looked happy, and said, “Congratulations, Sven, Thorn. Now, when I kill him, you won’t die, right?” They nodded their heads. Good.

  Trace and Erick stayed back with Todd and Haven. Thorn and Sven escorted me outside. They went absolutely statute still. I was immediately inside and didn’t even have time to process that I had been moved. I blinked at Todd. His expression was grim. “Is it Cyril?” They shook their heads. Who could it be?

  Thorn leaned down and whispered, “Marishka.”

  I allowed a groan to slip quietly from my lips. “I heard that, my queen.” She stepped from the eaves and sauntered over to us. “I see you have changed allegiances, Thorn.” He nodded but kept his hand on my arm. “I just wanted to congratulate Katja on becoming our queen. She has a tough job ahead of her, both as enforcer and queen. Such an unlikely pairing,” she said the last as her eyes flicked from Thorn to Sven to Haven.

  “Thanks for the congrats, Marishka. Was there anything else?”

  She sashayed up to me and whispered, “I’m done, my queen.” I clenched my jaw tightly and nodded. She bowed from the waist, first to me, then to Todd. She clicked her heels for the first time as she left us.

  “Can we go, please?” Todd nodded and we headed out. I skipped ahead to Todd’s side and asked, “When did you get the Durango?”

  “A few days ago. I didn’t want you to take this one out, too. I know you have a habit of killing cars within days or months of getting one,” he laughed and slung his arm around me shoulders.

  I leaned into him. “Only two,” I muttered under my breath.

  He opened the passenger door and let Thorn and Haven get into the rear seats. Todd helped me into the middle seat and then went around to the driver’s side. Trace slipped into the passenger seat and looked back with worry in his eyes. I didn’t know what he was worrying about but I bet it wasn’t whether the ride was comfortable. A moment later, Sven and Erick got in.

  >< ><

  Todd drove us home through a roundabout way to throw off any tails. There weren’t any. We arrived at the house shortly before midnight. We piled out and walked into the house. Charles was waiting for us when we got in.

  “A man called, he said his name was Sal.”

  My heart fled to my feet. “You didn’t tell him we lived here, did you?”

  Charles rolled his eyes. “I may not be from this century, mistress, but I would never give any such information out. When I told him he had the wrong number he huffed and stated that he knew you, mistress, had moved. He wanted to get a hold of you. I just kept repeating the same line, mistress. After some convincing he hung up and hasn’t called back.” Charles looked past me and said, “Hello, Haven.” I turned to look at Haven.

  “Charles.” They bowed to each other and Charles left. I raised an eyebrow at Charles’s back and shook my head.

  What were we going to do about Haven? There wasn’t a bed in either guest room, one had a broken door and the other was filled with an arsenal. I walked into the kitchen and pulled the blinds.

  I turned and found Haven behind me. I let out a soft squeak and edged away from him. “Yes?”

  He blinked at me and his eyes turned ice blue. “Where shall I sleep, my queen?”

  “It’s Katja or Kat, and I don’t know yet.” He bowed his head. I could see his fingers wrap around his cuffs for a moment and then relax. He looked at me with his ice blue eyes and turned away. I breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of the kitchen.

  I grabbed a sandwich and soda from the fridge and started eating. My men slowly filtered into the room. Todd, Trace, and Erick grabbed a sandwich and soda, and sat across from me. Sven and Thorn appeared on the left and right of me. I dropped my sandwich in surprise. They chuckled softly. Haven walked into the kitchen and looked lost. I blinked at him. If he was so strong a vampire why did he look so lost?

  I shrugged and finished my sandwich. “Where shall Haven sleep? We don’t have any beds except the one in our room. The couch isn’t long enough.” I searched Todd’s eyes for an answer but he had his cop face on. I sipped my soda to avoid the sigh that was just so damn close to coming out. Generally, when Todd put on his cop face one of two things happened; I wasn’t going to like the suggestion or the question.

  I studied Haven as I waited for Todd to answer. His spun-silver hair was shoulder length and glimmered in the low lighting, styled just so to flatter his face. His ice blue eyes were staring at the wall as he leaned against the counter, his arms folded across his chest, his long fingers were fiddling with his cuffs again. He absently licked his lips and closed his eyes. When he opened them again they were silver, pure liquid silver. His build was athletic and made him look less threatening than his six feet two inch frame should be.

  He turned his head and caught me looking. His eyes went from liquid silver to ice blue as I watched. His pale skin gleamed and reflected the red of his shirt. I could feel the tingling again. No! Fight this, Kat, you have enough. I averted my eyes and fiddled with my sandwich wrapper. I could feel the blush spreading along my neck as I felt the weight of Haven’s gaze on me.

  I looked at Todd and found him staring at me. My eyes travelled the table and found each man staring at me. I ended my gaze on Haven. I gulped. “What?” I squeaked.

  “Are you okay, Kat?” Todd asked softly.

  I frowned at him. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

  “You seem a bit nervous.” He noticed. I wasn’t angry that he noticed. He was much more perceptive than I will ever be.

  “A little,” I said and kept my eyes downcast.

  “We should talk, Kat.” I gulped and nodded. He stood up and walked over to me. He held out his hand and after a second of hesitation I took it. He walked us outside and into the Durango. He started the SUV and drove off. I turned toward the house and started to protest but stopped.

  When he was a few miles away, he found a small park. He parked the car and turned to me. “You feel it too, don’t you?”

  I felt the blush creep back up my skin. Damn, blushing. No sense holding back the truth, I guess. My voice was harsh as I answered. “Yes. But I can’t. I should fight this, Todd.”

  “It’s not that easy and you know it, Kat.” His eyes shimmered in the console lights. “He’s ours.”

  “Why does he have to be ours? Why can’t he be someone else’s?” I was whining and I didn’t care.

  “He’s the contact from a few months ago.” I nodded and rolled my eyes. Like I hadn’t figured that out. “You saw him?” Surprise caused Todd’s brown eyes to lighten in the dim light.

  “Yes. He screamed vampire when he walked through the club with his unnatural shade of hair and his pale skin.”

  “Oh. I thought I was being sneaky.” He chuckled softly. He sobered quickly when he saw I wasn’t laughing.

  “What shall we do, Todd? Our bed is extremely full. Now, we’re going to add a third vampire to the mix.” He nodded. “We should invite a fourth and that would be one per human,” I said sarcastically.

  “Kat. It’s not like I chose this, babe. He’s powerful and we do need him on our side regardless of the love we feel for him.”

>   “How do I keep all of you happy, hmm?” I struggled to figure out what would happen if Haven joined…not if, when…when Haven joined us. “How is this even a possibility? We better not collect anymore, that’s all I’m saying.” I laughed viciously and started to tear up. I was at my limit now. “Do you ever feel drawn to women?”

  “No. I have yet to find a vampire that has matched the strength of the three men in our house right now.” I felt responsible for this. “Don’t, Kat. I enjoy what’s going on, even if jealousy is a factor. I’ve started to move past the jealousy and into the comfort zone with Thorn and Sven. Now, Haven.”

  “Oh, Todd, what are we going to do if we collect more to us?”

  He gave me a look. “Don’t think like that, Kat. We aren’t collecting any more. I can’t deal with any more.” He leaned into me and gave me a light kiss on the lips.

  “What are we going to tell Haven? He looked so lost when he came into the kitchen earlier.”

  “We’ll tell him the truth. The guys already know what’s going on and have accepted the situation. Trace is nervous about adding a third vampire but he’s adjusting. Erick’s a bit reserved about adding the new vampire but will adjust if necessary. Thorn and Sven are thrilled. They get to enjoy their new ‘master’, together, separately, however Haven wants to do it. I’m adjusting slowly to the thought of adding Haven to our group. And you?”

  “I’m not adjusting. I don’t want him even though every cell in my body screams to touch him, just once more. He’s even more powerful than Sven and Thorn, I mean, the pull from him. It’s the same pull that I feel from you. I want to, need to, touch you as much as I can. Trace and Erick are about equal with Thorn and Sven. I’m not downplaying the attraction. I crave their touch as well, I just crave yours and, now, Haven’s touch more.” I stopped talking. His mouth was parted and a strange expression was on his face. “What, Todd?”

  “I…” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t think you felt that same craving to touch me as I feel for you.”

  “Oh, yes, Todd. I feel it like…like much needed water or something.” I stopped talking. I leaned over to him and ran my fingers over his lips and neck, curling my hand behind his neck and pulling him to my lips. We kissed once, then pulled back.

  “We should go home.” Todd turned in his seat and drove away from the park. We took a roundabout way home again and parked by the door.

  We walked into the house and found the guys, all five, talking at the table in the kitchen. They turned and watched us walk up to them. Todd had his arm around my back and held me possessively. I leaned against him. Haven’s ice blue eyes flashed with disappointment and turned silver. The silver seemed to hide his emotions.

  I ran my hand over Todd’s rear and patted. He smiled and let me go.

  I went to the fridge and grabbed beer for all of us, including the vampires. I passed them around and went back to stand beside Todd. I handed him a beer and popped the metal cap from mine.

  I sipped the lager and looked at Haven. He twirled the beer bottle in his hands and then popped the metal cap. He took a sip and sighed, a smile spreading along his lips. I caught a hint of fangs and almost dropped my beer. Todd grabbed the bottle and chuckled. He had seen the same thing I had.

  I took the bottle back from Todd and bit my lip. Should I? Oh, what the hell. I gave Todd a kiss and walked the room, kissing each lightly on the lips and stopped in front of Haven. He stared down at his beer, running a finger along the glass lip.

  I put my hand on his shoulder, feeling his muscles tense through the wool fabric of his suit coat. I bent down and kissed the back of his neck. He sighed softly and turned toward me. His eyes had bled back to ice blue. I inhaled sharply as I looked into his eyes. The room faded down to his eyes.

  I blinked a couple times and shook my head. The room came back into focus. Oh, boy, I was in so much trouble.

  Haven leaned forward and when his lips met mine, I was done for. I could feel my limbs tingling like I had been shocked by high voltage.

  I pulled back quickly, running my fingers over my lips. They were slightly numb from the shock. I noticed Haven was doing the same thing. My eyes traveled his body. I blinked the numbness from my brain and turned to look at the guys. They were staring at us. I wondered if they felt what I felt.

  Todd’s finger was running slowly along his bottom lip. I walked back to Todd and ran my hand over his back. He leaned against me and pressed his lips to my temple. I leaned into Todd and whispered, “We’re going to need a bigger bed.” I figured that’d give the vampires a nice surprise. I was right. When I turned to look at Haven, his eyes were wide and the icy blueness of his eyes was startling. Sven and Thorn were smiling as they took in Haven’s shock. I nodded at Trace and Erick, their eyes widening ever so slightly. A smile tugged at the corners of Erick’s mouth and Trace bit his lip but found a small smile.

  Todd whispered, “We sure will,” against my neck. I shivered and curled my hand in his suit coat. I felt like celebrating but I didn’t know what to do. I looked at the wall clock and saw that it was past one in the morning. I sighed, hugged Todd, and walked over to the fridge. I looked in and found a tray of cut fruit and a bottle of wine. I took them out and set them on the table. I bit my lip and then grabbed the wine glasses from the cabinet.

  I looked at the little table. All seats were full. I grabbed the fruit tray and wine and walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room. I set the tray and bottle on the table, nodded, and felt much better about this than the crowded kitchen table.

  I turned and gasped, my hand flew to my throat, as I bumped into Haven. “Don’t do that,” I said after a minute of trying to relearn how to breathe. He smiled and flashed fangs. Heat shot down my chest to my stomach.

  I sidestepped Haven and started for the kitchen, when the others came in carrying the wine glasses and chattering. Trace had found a tray of cut meats and cheeses.

  They placed the stuff on the table and circled around me. My heart beat faster than when Haven had surprised me. The vampires’ eyes turned all vampire-y. I stepped back and bumped the table. I put out my hand to steady myself and leaned back. “Uh, guys, really?”

  They smiled and moved back. I slid around them and sat down. Todd took the head position with Haven on his left, I was sitting on his right. Thorn and Sven shared a seat with Sven on Thorn’s lap. Trace and Erick sat across from each other.

  Todd poured wine and handed me a glass and passed the rest around. Plates were passed around and food was dished out. The vampires watched as we ate. I felt like I was on display.

  I looked up and found Haven staring at me with his ice blue eyes. The food I had between my fingers slipped out and plopped on the table. I was still staring into Haven’s eyes when I heard a throat clear. I blinked and looked over his shoulder. Beatrice and Ardeness were standing in the doorway.

  “Beatrice, Ardeness, come in. Meet Haven.” I stood up and held out my hand in Haven’s direction. He stood up politely, flashing fangs as he turned his head away from me, and bowed to them. They smiled and bowed back. “Did you want to join us?”

  “No, thank you. We only wanted to know if we had plans tomorrow.” Beatrice stopped speaking and stared at Haven. He wasn’t standing anymore and wasn’t looking at them, his eyes were for me only.

  I gulped and turned my eyes back to the girls. “We don’t have any plans at the moment.” They nodded and Ardeness pulled Beatrice out of the room. I sat back down and tossed the cracker and cheese onto the plate. I could feel them staring at me.

  Ignoring the stares I started eating again. I grabbed my wine glass and set it back down. I looked up and turned to look at each of them. They were looking at me. “What?” Todd chuckled. “You keep looking at me. Your stares make me self-conscious. Can’t you talk about something…uh, that isn’t me? You know, taxes or something.” They chuckled.

  Todd whispered, “Taxes are boring compared to you.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed my glass. I drank the wine down
in two gulps and grabbed the bottle. I poured another glassful and drank half of it before placing the bottle on the table. I couldn’t help thinking that maybe I was turning into an alcoholic and they weren’t helping.

  “I know, how about Haven entertains us. He can tell us all about his life.” Haven’s eyes turned silver. “Okay then, stop looking at me like I’m on display.” They turned and shared a look. I sighed and grabbed my glass of wine. I finished it and poured a third. “If you keep staring at me, I’m leaving the room.”

  Todd chuckled and said, “If you do, we’ll just follow you, babe.” I grumbled loudly and plopped down in my chair. “Don’t be self-conscious, Kat.” He held out his hand and when I took it he squeezed gently, reassuringly.

  I sipped the wine and looked at each of them. Trace was leaning into Haven as he grabbed a piece of fruit. Haven pressed closer to Trace. I wondered what Haven’s story was. Did he have a wife? Was he beaten? Was he loved? Did he know what he was getting into? I wanted to ask him all those questions and more but didn’t.

  Erick was leaning against Thorn and Sven, running his fingers through Thorn’s hair. Sven leaned back and placed his mouth on Erick’s neck. My eyes widened in surprise. Erick moaned quietly as Sven’s mouth worked on him. I could feel Todd’s hand tighten in mine. I turned to look at him and saw that Haven’s silver eyes were transfixed on the scene unfolding to the side of me. Todd was running his tongue along his lips and his brown eyes darkened.

  Thorn dipped his head and slid his fangs into Sven’s neck. I heard Todd and Haven suck in a breath as they watched. I drank some more wine. Erick blushed as he caught Haven’s eyes. His emerald green eyes turned to me and stayed. I smiled and ran my tongue along my bottom lip. He let his eyelids slide closed and gave himself over to Sven’s bite.

  Sven bucked as Thorn sent him over the edge and then Erick cried out. They stayed together for a few moments, thrashing and moaning. Thorn pulled from Sven’s throat and then Sven pulled back from Erick. They slumped in their chairs and had lazy smiles pasted on their faces.