He entered the bedroom and set the suitcase on the floor by the ancient chest of drawers supposedly carried across the pond by one of Pop’s ancestors. It rested against the left wall between the bathroom door and the closet door. The bed, my bed, custom made after I outgrew a regular-length one, was situated along the wall opposite the doorway between two windows. Two more windows were set into the wall on the right. Filmy, white curtains covered all four windows over blinds. They’d barely keep the sun out. Ma probably had thicker ones or we could pick some up in town.
Eric flipped on the lamp sitting on top of a nightstand on one side of the bed. “She took that pretty well.”
“Yeah, for having it laid out plain as day.” I wheeled into the room, then nudged the door shut behind me. “Christ, Eric. I’m the blunt one in the family, not you.”
“She appreciates honesty,” he said mildly.
I gritted my teeth against irritation. “You have a nasty habit of peeking where you’re not wanted.”
He arched a single, dark brown eyebrow. “She was projecting.”
“And that gave you the right to dig through her head?”
“It was better than letting her continue to hope you weren’t gay.”
The irritation bled out of me as fast as it had risen. “Well, shit.”
“You need to explain our relationship to her, Jase.”
I exhaled a weary sigh. “Yeah, I guess.”
He smoothed the backs of his fingers across my forehead. “How about if I lead with my marriage to Gianna? Would that make it easier?”
“Maybe.” Or it might confuse them even more. My folks lived in a black and white world. Straight and gay they could understand, whether they agreed with the latter or not, but how the hell was I going to explain being in a polyamorous relationship with Eric and Gianna, let alone my own bisexuality? “Let’s hit the sack. I’m beat.”
“Me, too.” He brushed his mouth over mine. “Start stripping, Adonis.”
He unpacked our clothes into the chest of drawers and the closet, and helped me get ready for bed, then tended to his own needs while I hoisted myself onto the lumpy mattress and tucked my lifeless legs under the covers.
Part Two: Awakening
And do this understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. –Romans 13: 11-12 (NIV)
Chapter Twelve
Soft, nibbling kisses woke me. I blinked into awareness against the muted light streaming into the room through the windows and skimmed a hand over Eric’s nude back. “Morning.”
He propped himself up beside me and smiled. His eyes were half-lidded and his dark hair stood in spikes around his head. “Morning, lover. How’d you sleep?”
“Like a log.” I yawned and stretched, and tucked a hand between my head and the pillow. “Some way to wake up. You didn’t have to stop.”
He glanced at the closed door. “We should’ve locked that last night.”
“Why?”
The door popped open and my middle sister stuck her head into the room. Charity was tall and sturdy, a balanced combination of Ma’s energy and Pop’s intelligence. Her shoulder length, dishwater blonde hair hung loose around her square shoulders and she was dressed in a silky pair of black running shorts and a ragged t-shirt with the neck and sleeves cut out. Her catcher’s mitt was in one hand and her bare toes were tipped metallic blue.
“Yo,” she said. “Ma said breakfast.”
I discreetly inched the covers up over my waist, hiding my nude lower half and any possibility of a woody. “Thanks, Char. Maybe you could knock next time.”
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re a VIP now.”
“No, because it’s my space and you need to respect that.”
She narrowed her storm cloud gray eyes on me. “So it doesn’t have anything to do with the smoking hot guy in your bed. Were you guys making out or what?”
Eric choked out a strangled laugh and his cheeks flamed pink. “Is the fixation on sex a family thing?”
“We’ve got good taste,” I said mildly. “Cut it out, Char. You’re embarrassing my feller.”
“Jesus God,” Eric breathed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, hiding his grimace. “I thought we were going to ease your family into that.”
“It’s just Char.” I jerked my chin at her. “What’s Ma making for breakfast?”
“What’s it worth for you to know?”
“You tell me and I won’t snatch your diary and share it with Anna Grace,” I retorted.
“No way, bro. Tell me about his scars and I’ll call it even.”
Eric’s gaze dropped and his arms folded over the fading scars cutting across his torso. I smoothed a hand over his bare hip, comforting him. Christ, we were a fucked up family if we added hurt on top of what he’d already suffered.
“Come on, Char,” I said. “Don’t be nosey.”
Charity tucked her hair behind an ear and scuffed the sole of her foot along the room’s tan carpeting. “Sorry. I was just curious.”
Eric cleared his throat. “It’s fine. We were attacked not long after we landed.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, oh.” I glanced pointedly at the hallway behind her. “Are you finished ogling him yet?”
She grinned. “He’s kinda hot. Too bad he’s gay.”
“I am not gay,” Eric said.
“If it looks like a duck…”
“I’m married, to a woman. That makes me not gay.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Charity waggled her blonde eyebrows at me. “Ham and eggs, applesauce, and a coffee küchen.”
“God, I love being home.” I held an arm out to her. “Come give your big brother a kiss.”
She bounced across the room and planted a big one on my cheek, then leaned across my torso toward Eric. “You, too.”
He shook his head. “Forget it, kiddo. I’m not kissing you.”
“So you’re really gay.”
“How old are you?”
“Fifteen, why?”
“You’re too young to kiss a man my age, that’s why.”
She sighed and rocked back on her heels. “It was worth a shot.”
Eric cut his hazel eyes toward me. “Where have I heard that before?”
I grinned. “Scram, Char, so we can get dressed, and no, you can’t watch.”
She whirled around and flounced out of the room, muttering under her breath. The door slammed shut behind her, and I eased my hand down Eric’s hip onto his thigh. “Where were we?”
“Getting dressed before another sister descends on us.” He flipped the covers back and slid out of bed, fully nude. “I have the sudden urge to cover every inch of my skin in at least three layers of clothing.”
“We’re not that bad.”
“She’s a female version of you. God help the world when she grows up and there are two of you out there.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were both dressed and ready to face my family. Eric followed behind me as I wheeled through the living room into the kitchen, a huge room my parents had expanded after Ma learned she was pregnant with me. Counters, appliances, and a long island took up one side. The other held a massive china cabinet, filled to the brim with family heirlooms, and a large, solid wood table, big enough for all of us plus a few.
My parents had always wanted a large family and they’d gotten one. Sometimes, I thought Pop might’ve hoped for more than one son, but he never mentioned it, never complained about being surrounded by women. It helped that Charity loved working the land with him, especially since I’d had other dreams.
He was already seated at the head of the table, the latest issue of the Minnesota Farm Guide open in front of him. Diana, my oldest sister, was seated to his left, apparently absorbed in the flicks of her carefully manicured fingers across her phone.
If Charity was my
twin, Di was Pop’s spitting image, in everything from personality to looks. She’d inherited his mousy brown hair, though she slicked hers back into a complicated braid. His leaner build was elegant on her, and she took full advantage, in the way she dressed and cared for herself. Half the time, she looked like she’d just stepped off the runway. Nobody wanted to mess with her the other half of the time, when her looks failed to meet her ideals of perfection.
The biggest difference between them was in the way they carried themselves. Pop was a hard man, but he wasn’t a bad one, and he was straightforward about whatever popped into his head. By contrast, Di was secretive and coy, and slyness pinched her features as often as not. Growing up, we hadn’t sniped at each other much, but we hadn’t exactly gotten along well, either. Ma always said we would when we were older. I had my doubts.
Charity was helping Ma put the finishing touches on breakfast. She waggled her eyebrows at Eric. “Dibs on the new guy.”
“Charity,” Ma said. “Be polite.”
“Well, he’s cute and I want to sit by him.”
Di deigned to drag her attention away from her phone and peer at Eric down her long nose. “He’s average at best, Char, though I’d hardly expect Jason to have good taste in men. I don’t know why he even bothered bringing this one home.”
My bond with Eric tingled. Ouch.
I slid a glance at him. Aren’t you glad you met Charity first?
My ego is.
Pop glanced up. His tanned forehead wrinkled and his hard, gray eyes studied Eric. “Jason’s friend is welcome here, same as yours, Diana Faith.”
I held a hand toward my father and sister, in turn. “Eric, this is my father Henry and my oldest sister, Di.”
Eric nodded politely, though his fingertips dug into my shoulder where he held me. “A pleasure to meet you.”
Di sniffed and turned back to her phone.
Pop’s gaze flicked to Eric’s hand. “Kathy tells me you’re a grad student.”
“Yes, sir, at the University of Georgia. I’m working toward becoming an astrophysicist.”
“Jason was always interested in space,” Pop said, his voice gruff. “Between that and basketball, we were lucky to get a lick of work out of him.”
Ma whirled away from the stove and scowled at Pop. “Henry!”
Pop winked at me and his mouth stretched into a rare smile. “Gotta keep that one’s ego down.”
I rolled my eyes at Eric. “Yeah, my ego. He’s just trying to goad me into helping him out.”
“Barn needs a new coat of paint,” Pop said.
“That’s a hint if ever I heard one.” Eric shifted his grip to my nape. “We’ll be happy to help wherever we’re needed, as long as we can do it in the shade.”
Ma lifted a platter heaped high with ham and stepped around the island. “Oh?”
“I’m allergic to the sun and Jason’s medication prohibits him from being out in it.”
Pop arched a skeptical eyebrow. “Is that so.”
I rubbed a hand over my mouth. The part about the medicine was true enough. There were medications that could cause a bad reaction if the user was exposed to prolonged sunlight, but I wasn’t taking one. And Eric wasn’t exactly allergic to the sun. More like it would kill him if he stayed out in it too long, one of the few negative side effects of feeding on a vampire.
“I can give you the printouts as soon as I get them from the pharmacist. They were stolen along with our luggage.” His fingers tightened on my nape. “We need to replace that today.”
I slid an arm around the back of his thighs and hooked my hand on his hip. “We need to do a lot today.”
“Barn can wait until the first of the week,” Pop said, and he folded the Guide shut and set it aside.
Ma bit her lower lip as the corners of her mouth tilted up. Her eyes met mine across the room and shared humor passed between us. Sure, the barn could wait, like it had been since I’d gone off to college.
“Somebody call Anna Grace down,” Ma said. “I swear, that girl could sleep through a tornado.”
Charity snagged a stack of plates out of the cabinet and dropped them in a clattering heap onto the island’s granite surface. “I’ll get her, Ma.”
She was nearly to the door when Anna Grace bounced into the kitchen, her dimpled face wreathed in a sunny smile, her blonde hair pulled into a messy, stubby ponytail.
Eric’s knees gave out and he sagged into me. Emily.
Emotion twisted through me, regret and longing, loss and heartache. Gianna’s baby sister had been killed in the same attack that had nearly taken Gianna’s life, and had killed their parents. I’d gladly watched Selena roast under the hot, Southern sun for what she’d done to them. If I could bring her back from the dead and kill her all over again, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Anna Grace bounced to a stop in front of me. She’d grown since the last time I’d seen her, nearly six inches, looked like. Christ, I’d missed too much of her life. A year was a lifetime at the grand old age of seven. It was a wonder she even remembered me.
She climbed into my lap and laid her head on my shoulder. “Ma said you’d be home today.”
I cradled her close and kissed her pert, little nose. “And here I am, munchkin. What’s this I hear about a birthday party?”
She wiggled away from my shoulder and grinned, showing off the gap in her smile where she’d lost a tooth. “It’s in two whole weeks. I can’t hardly wait, neither. You’re still gonna be here, right?”
“We wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Her guileless, cornflower blue eyes shifted to Eric and something odd stretched between them, grazing my mind as it passed. “Hello.”
“Hi,” he said, his voice a scant whisper. “I’m Jason’s friend, Eric.”
“I know.” She tilted her head to the side, all sweet smiles and little girl innocence. “You’re glowing on the inside.”
I did a double-take and gaped at her, keenly aware of Di’s curious cat stare absorbing every detail of our . “What?”
“He’s glowing, right here.” She patted her flat chest over her plain, bright pink t-shirt. “Can’t you see it?”
Uh-oh. I shot a panicked glance at Eric.
He shook his head slightly. Later.
Ma bustled up and hauled Anna Grace off my lap. “Stop teasing Eric and go wash your hands. Breakfast is ready.”
She swatted Anna Grace’s bottom, scooting her off toward the bathroom, and I tucked my baby sister’s insight away. Yeah, we’d talk about it later, all right. If she could see Eric’s inner glow, the hallmark of a beacon, she was probably one, too. That wasn’t exactly the life I wanted for her, not after the hell I’d gone through in the short time since learning I was one.
We gathered around the table for breakfast, and it went about like I thought it would. Charity and Anna Grace bracketed Eric on one side of the table, Ma and Di took the other, and me and Pop sat at the head and foot. Di got in her share of licks at both of us, but Pop didn’t poke at Eric or even comment on the casual way we treated each other. It was coming. I didn’t fool myself into believing it wasn’t, but the longer Pop put off the inquisition, the more time I had to prepare for it.
Charity flirted the only way she knew how, with the subtlety of a hammer spiking a nail. I really needed to work with her on that. Otherwise, she was liable to scare away every boy for miles around and would be completely dateless until she went off to college in another two years.
Not that she was old enough for boys. Hell, no. The first one that laid a hand on her was dead meat.
Eric played along like the trooper he was, blushing when she was too frank, drawing a line he refused to step over when she pushed too hard. For being an only child and never having spent a lot of time around kids, he handled her pretty well.
Anna Grace was a different story. Eric’s voice softened every time he spoke with her and he treated her with the kind of deference I’d only seen him exhibit with one other person. Emily
had stolen his heart the same way her big sister had. To him, she hadn’t been a sister-in-law. She’d been the sister he’d always wanted. It had nearly broken him to lose her.
I pushed my fork through the last few bites of eggs on my plate. No, it had nearly broken both of us. I had my sisters, yeah, but Emily was special, a part of the woman Eric and I loved. When Gigi woke up, and God willing, she would soon, what would it do to her to learn she hadn’t been able to save her family?
Ma’s hand covered mine. “Full already?”
I mustered a smile for her. “Just thinking.”
She lowered her voice. “About him?”
“About his wife, Gianna. I told you about her.”
“She’s still in a coma?”
Eric lowered his gaze to his plate and his hand knotted into a fist on the table.
Ma’s expression melted into sympathy. “Is there any chance she’ll come out of it?”
I flipped my hand over in hers. “We’re hoping she’ll wake up before the baby gets here.”
Pop’s fork clattered onto his plate. “What baby?”
“She’s pregnant,” Eric said softly. “A girl. Her name is Willow.”
Anna Grace leaned her head against Eric’s arm and smiled up at him. “I get a baby cousin?”
Eric’s lips twitched. “If fate had dealt a different hand, Willow would’ve been your niece. How would you like that, munchkin?”
Di snorted. “There’s a woman alive who’d breed with either one of you? Unbelievable.”
Pop’s hand slapped onto the table and his eyebrows snapped down over a glare, and Ma smacked Di on the shoulder.
Eric stood slowly, his eyes dark and piercing, unwavering on my eldest sister. “Be very careful how you speak of my wife, Diana.”
She sneered and opened her mouth, then froze.
I set my fork down and eased my hand away from Ma’s. “What are you doing, Eric?”
“Teaching her a lesson.” His cold gaze bored into hers, pinning her in place, and the weight of his fury slammed down around us. “She may say what she wishes about me, but she may not cast aspersions on Gianna.”
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