“We know,” Eric said softly, and the harm Fen had done to him oozed just under the surface, a festering rot clamoring for release. “So you agreed to test Jason.”
“I did. I was a part of another vampire’s stable at the time, but she was weak, barely able to sustain her holdings. She was in the middle of negotiating an alliance with Remy, the vampire holding Fargo, when Fen gathered his forces and killed her, leaving me and her other surviving pets adrift.”
“When was this?”
“Within two days of Fen showing me those pictures. My bond with my mistress broke in the middle of the night. I didn’t need a phone call to know what had happened. As soon as I mustered the strength, I called Mrs. Bellmont, told her I was concerned about Jason’s grades affecting his ability to secure a scholarship.”
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered.
Mike’s mouth stretched into a wobbly smile. “As a substitute, I had access to all your records. English was never your strong suit, Jason. It wasn’t hard to talk her into it. She knew how important basketball was to you, knew you were counting on playing in college.”
“So you used my ma to get to me.”
“Her concern was already in play well before Fen approached me. I wasn’t the only teacher she discussed your grades with.”
“You were the only one who took advantage of her,” I said, unable to hide my bitterness.
“I would never have touched you if Lisa hadn’t been in danger.” He huffed out a short, hard laugh. “She left me anyway, that same summer.”
“I remember. She found out about us?”
“She suspected I was cheating on her, though she never knew who with. I protected your identity, even when she threatened…” His voice trailed off and he shrugged. “In the end, we discovered we didn’t love each other as much as we’d thought.”
Something cold pressed against my mind and was gone, and Eric grew rigid beside me. “You fell in love with him.”
The accusation exploded into the silence between us, a brittle grenade full of Eric’s rancor and Mike’s quiet acknowledgment. I jerked my gaze to Mike. He met mine evenly, and there it was, the truth I’d never even remotely suspected. He’d been ashamed of what he’d done to me, yes, of falling in love with a teenager on the cusp of manhood, of using me to protect the woman who’d walked away from him, but he hadn’t been able to stop. Fen hadn’t let him, and neither had his heart.
I scrubbed a hand over my mouth. Christ, I’d been a fool to trust him and a bigger fool not to question the whys of his interest. I couldn’t blame him for the love. The heart went where it wanted and fuck anything standing in its way, but I should’ve delved more deeply into our relationship.
“I never wanted to hurt you, Jason,” he said. “When you decided to attend Georgia Tech, I hated letting you go, but I did. Moving there put you well out of Oriana’s reach, and I was glad to help you.”
I shrugged it off. Maybe so and maybe not. That wasn’t the information we were after. It could sure as hell wait until Eric had calmed down enough to deal with another man’s interest in me rationally. “She retaliated.”
“She cut me off. Fen worked me over. I survived.”
“You were lucky,” Eric said flatly. “She kidnapped us on our way into town, tortured me, tried to claim Jason.”
“I’m not surprised. When she heard Jason had accepted another vampire’s claim, she was furious. It wouldn’t matter to her that you’re still human, Master. You violated her prior claim. You’re lucky she didn’t kill you outright.”
“She wanted to punish me first.”
Mike leaned forward and braced his forearms on his thighs. “Rumors float back to me, here and there. I’ve been rotating through other vampire’s stables, searching for a good fit. No luck yet, but pets are always willing to share gossip. Word on the street is, she’s gunning for the two of you, girding herself for war with your mistress and the queen.”
I let my voice go flat and hard. “She can’t have me and she better stay the fuck away from Eric, too. We’re bonded. I’m not giving him up without a fight.”
Mike didn’t quite hide his flinch. Shit. I guess he still loved me, or what he’d known of me, anyway. I should’ve been gentler telling him. He’d been good to me during the two years we’d been together. No matter what had prodded him into testing me, he deserved a little kindness.
“What do you know of Remy?” Eric asked.
“He holds the area around Fargo, all the way up through Grand Forks and to the outskirts of Crookston.” Mike glanced at me, then down at the floor. “He wasn’t happy about Oriana trying to steal you out from under his nose.”
“Is that how you got that limp?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Fen did that when he took Oriana’s frustrations at your escape out on me.”
Eric frowned. “Why haven’t you healed yet?”
“I told you, I rotate through stables, mostly those of weaker, newer vampires.”
“We’ll find you a better one,” I said. Eric jerked his head around, and I firmed my mouth. He could be pissed all he wanted. Mike didn’t blame me for what had happened to him, but I blamed myself. If I’d known what was going on, maybe I could’ve helped him somehow. At least I could’ve stopped him from taking a punishment over me the way Eric had. I had a chance to fix that now. “What about Trilly?”
Mike’s eyes widened and true fear sifted to me from him. “Trillium the Mad, the queen’s assassin?”
“Former,” Eric said. “She needs good pets around her right now. Her favorite’s blood is strong enough to heal you.”
“I would have to think very hard on that.”
“Of course. In the meantime, you will service me until Jason and I leave for Georgia.”
“Eric,” I hissed.
He slashed a pale, narrow hand through the air. “That is my price.”
Mike’s head bowed. “Will I service your favorite, too?”
“You will never touch him again.”
I chafed under the chill of his voice. Christ, Eric really needed to get a grip on his jealousy.
Not with him, ever again.
The precise words pounded into me, and I winced away from the blows. He means nothing to me.
A lie. Eric calmly trained his gaze on Mike. “You will begin today. When we’re finished, you will call my mistress and her favorite and detail everything you know about Oriana, Remy, and the other vampires in this area. I’ll see to it that you’re amply rewarded for the information.”
“Yes, Master.” Mike slid carefully off the recliner and knelt, then touched his forehead to the floor. “I will serve you faithfully.”
“Submission isn’t necessary, Mike, only your loyalty.”
Mike eased upright. “You have it.”
“Good. I’d hate to have to kill the second pet I ever took.” Eric stood and nodded toward the hallway. “There’s a bathroom in the guest bedroom at the end of the hall. Prepare yourself.”
“Yes, Master.” Mike gingerly pushed himself into a stand, then limped around the coffee table and stopped beside me. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I said. “Don’t regret it, either. I don’t.”
“You were too young.”
“Legally, yeah. Otherwise, forget it. I knew what I was getting into.”
He sighed and walked past me into the hallway, his footsteps slow and not quite even. As soon as the bedroom door opened and shut, I said, “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Jase. We need what he knows.”
“Adonis,” I corrected. “You’re supposed to call me Adonis when you’re trying to soften me up and bend me to your will.”
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“Since you’re about to have sex with my former lover without me, yeah.”
His mouth brushed over mine, tender, honey sweet, a butterfly kiss. “I’ll treat him well.”
“I never doubted that for a minute.”
He skirted a
round me, and I caught his hand, unwilling for him to walk down that hallway without smoothing things over a little first. “You know what’s in my heart, right?”
“I know, Adonis, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
I let him go and listened to him walk away. My husband and my former lover in the same bedroom together? That ought to be interesting. Just to test it, I slid into my bond with Eric. His humor washed over me, but he opened, inviting me into the love fest about to take place in the bed we shared. I flipped on the TV, cut the volume down, and settled in, ignoring the talking heads bantering back and forth on the news program as Mike’s soft gasps drifted through the closed door, and Eric’s desire mounted and was shared through our unbreakable bond.
Anna Grace’s birthday party was scheduled for the next weekend, the Saturday after the last day of school. Ma spent the entire week leading up to it in a cleaning frenzy and roped me and Eric into helping. I cleaned everything within my reach, Eric took care of everything else, and the two of us bagged party favors, ran into town for last minute supplies, and generally served as her party slaves.
Pop endured her fuss with a twinkle in his eye and a bounce in his shambling gait.
The day of the party dawned bright and clear, and promised to provide perfect weather through most of the afternoon. Eric and I sat at the kitchen table decorating dozens of cupcakes while Ma took care of the cake and Di peeled and sliced fruits and vegetables. Charity was upstairs with Anna Grace, overseeing the birthday girl’s bath, their squeals and giggles a pleasant punctuation to our work.
The screen door screeched open and Pop stomped his boots off on the outside steps. “Yard’s finished.”
Ma glanced up from the cake. A sly smile spread across her face. “Thank you.”
“Least I could do,” he said gruffly. He stepped inside and swung Ma into his arms, frosting covered butter knife and all, and kissed her soundly on the mouth.
Di rolled her eyes and turned back to her work.
Eric ducked his head, hiding a grin. We should offer to babysit so they can have a night out.
I shot a horrified look at him. I’m not babysitting Di.
Not her. Charity and Anna Grace.
A series of possibilities flashed through my mind in rapid fire succession. A simple supper, card and board games, popcorn and a movie, and after my sisters’ bedtime, necking on the couch.
A tingling warmth stole through me, settling into some very interesting places. A little one on one with Eric? Now, that I could handle. “Hey, Pop. Stop kissing your woman for a minute. Eric has an idea.”
Eric snorted out a laugh and bobbled a cupcake, nearly losing his grip to his humor.
Pop set Ma down and turned his hard stare on me. “Better than kissing?”
“It could lead to more kissing. When was the last time you and Ma went on a date, just the two of you?”
“Around September two thousand four,” Ma said promptly. “I love my children, but I don’t want another little accident like the one we had that night.”
Pop coughed into his fist, completely failing to disguise his laughter.
Like he didn’t love the accident they’d had. Anna Grace was the best of us. We all knew it.
I waggled two fingers at her. “Two words. Birth. Control. Are you interested in a night out or not?”
“Interested,” Pop said. “Are you babysitting?”
“Charity and Anna Grace. Di has to take care of herself.”
Di sniffed and dropped her paring knife into the sink. “I have practice for graduation, thanks, and a date after.”
Whoops. I’d forgotten about her graduating from high school in two days. Maybe that’s where she’d been disappearing to over the past couple of weeks. I’d played a lot of hooky my senior year, as often as I could, and had been known to disappear a time or two.
I’d have to drag Eric out shopping, though. Anna Grace’s birthday present had been a no-brainer, but what the hell was I supposed to get for Di, the Queen of Luxury Snob?
Eric’s hand covered mine. Relax. I’ve got it covered.
Right. Thank God for Eric, my better third by far. He was way better at that shit than I was.
“What time do you two lovebirds want to leave?” I asked.
“Oh, please,” Di muttered.
“Six, on the dot,” Ma said. “Oh, I wish I’d had time to plan. We could’ve made a reservation at a really nice restaurant and made a night of it.”
Pop swung her around again, this time into a smooth two-step. “We can still make a night of it. You and me, the moonlight, and a bottle of wine.”
Di plopped her elbows on the island’s counter and dropped her face into her hands. “Oh, God, please kill me now.”
Eric snickered as Ma whipped around and pinned a stern glare on her eldest daughter. “What was that?”
Di pushed herself away from the counter, her features smoothed into the picture of pure innocence. “I’m going to my room, where the sane people live.”
She flounced out, her nose pointed into the air, her ballet shoes slapping sharply against the linoleum.
Eric set his decorated cupcake on the platter and selected another one. “Jason and I can feed the girls. If there’s any trouble, we’ll have you and emergency services on speed dial.”
Ma broke away from Pop and ambled over, stopping beside Eric. She patted him on the shoulder and said sweetly, “I’m not worried, dear, as long as you don’t leave Jason alone with them.”
“Hey,” I said. “I’m responsible.”
She leveled her best skeptical-Ma stare on me. “Like the time you snuck out to smoke pot with Jimmy Pritchart under the bleachers?”
“Um.”
“Or the time you set the barn on fire experimenting with rockets?”
I peeked at Eric out of the corners of my eyes. If I didn’t acquiesce now, she’d air all my dirty laundry. A man had to have some secrets from his lover, didn’t he? Or at least maintain a semblance of dignity. “Ok, I promise I won’t let him leave your irresponsible son alone with your youngest daughters.”
Eric arched his eyebrows at me. “Sounded like she was just getting to the good part.”
“I’ll tell you all about it later, when I show you every embarrassing childhood photo I can dig up.” She patted him again, dropped a kiss to my cheek, and pivoted away from us. “Henry, keep an eye on these two. I need a few minutes to pick out my outfit for tonight.”
As soon as she was gone, Pop dropped heavily into the chair next to me. “God save us from women sorting through their closets. Next thing and she’ll insist she needs to run into town and buy a new whatsit.”
No kidding. “You can always call the date off.”
He yanked his ball cap off and resettled it on his head. “And miss out on the first date we’ve had in years? Hell, son, I’m not a fool.”
No, he wasn’t, not by a long shot.
We finished the cupcakes under Pop’s supervision, then the three of us retreated to our bedrooms to get ready for the upcoming party, each of us dwelling on the promises offered by the night ahead.
Anna Grace’s party was a madhouse of children, parents, and food. I was apparently the best party favor. My sister’s friends crawled all over me, demanding a ride in my chair, like it was a special treat instead of a curse. I didn’t tell them any different. They could learn how hard life was from somebody else.
Di left about halfway through, citing graduation exercises as an excuse to avoid dealing with the noise, the small talk, and the inevitable cleanup. As penance, Pop had her run an errand at the farm supply on her way through town. For once, Di didn’t argue. Maybe she was growing up. More likely, she knew when not to fuss.
Eric snuck out not long after to meet Mike. It had only taken me about two minutes to decide not to interfere. Eric was more important to me than a former lover, no matter how much that relationship had meant to me in the past. I’d enjoyed Mike, the sex, sure, but our friendship, too. I
loved Eric. There was a huge difference between the two. I wasn’t willing to risk losing Eric over anything, let alone another man. So I kept my mouth shut and my heart open, and let Eric do his master vampire thing.
He slipped into the house two hours later wearing a small, satisfied smile and made a beeline straight to me. His eyes were bright and his cheeks were flushed, and damn, he looked like he’d had a good time.
I wheeled out of the living room, away from Pop and Charity sitting on the couch, engrossed in a baseball game, and led Eric into our bedroom. “You look like the cat that ate the canary.”
“Mmm. You could say that.”
He shut the door behind us, then wrapped one hand around my nape and pulled me into a deep, thorough, scorching hot kiss. I flicked my tongue into his mouth and teased it along the points of his fangs, and he shuddered and moaned and tightened his grip on my nape.
When he broke the kiss, we were both panting. His eyes were hot and wild, exactly the way I liked them, and his dick jutted against the fly of his jeans.
I stroked the backs of my fingers over that rigid length through the stiff fabric. “Let me take care of this.”
“Later. Your parents are about to leave and the girls need supper soon and…”
I tucked two fingers into the waistband of his jeans and brushed my fingertips over the velvety head of his erection. “He didn’t satisfy you?”
“Oh, God, Jase. That’s so good.” Eric’s eyelids slid shut and he bowed his head. “I don’t want what I’m doing with him to come between us.”
“It won’t,” I said gently. “I know what sex with Mike is like. I’m surprised he left you this way.”
“He didn’t. No, really, he treated me well. It’s…” Eric blew out a breath and unfastened his jeans, inviting me to touch him. “The whole time, I couldn’t help but wonder how it had been between the two of you, how much you’d enjoyed it, how he’d enjoyed you. It wasn’t a jealousy thing, more of a regret that you weren’t there with us so I could watch y’all be together. You’re so beautiful, so powerful. I love watching you.”
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