“What is this?” she asked, moving closer to the bed.
“Well, we thought that on the minuscule chance that you were to stay here, you might want something different to wear,” Sebastian said as she ran her fingers down the pale green sweater. The material was softer than anything she owned. Cashmere or something more expensive.
Her independent streak wanted to balk but she wasn’t an idiot. The women in the cheesy romances she read would fling the sweater at Sebastian before stomping out, dignity bruised. And as much as she loved those novels, she was more of a realist. She probably wouldn’t accept the car, because that was way too much, but the clothing was a necessity. The phone was important.
So, damning her pride, she looked up and said, “Thank you.” He gave a brief nod and she wondered if he could tell what she was feeling. He answered that unspoken question with his next words.
“We know that none of this is easy for you. This isn’t your home nor your belongings. You have a life away from us. But we will do whatever we can to make it easier for you.” He moved over to her chair and sat, crossing his leg over his knee.
“It’s amazing what a few days can do,” she said softly. She sat in the chair across from him. The one he used when he hated her.
“I can’t apologize enough for that night.” He leaned forward and held out his marked hand. Without hesitation, she took it in hers, staring at the blue light. It was so much dimmer now.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I know why, and honestly, knowing what I know now, I would have been pretty pissed as well.” She looked back at him. “Do you think it’s going away?”
“I don’t know.” He squeezed her hand before letting go. “But we’ll find out, I suppose. Now, go take your shower before I drag you in there myself.”
Standing, she laughed, voice husky. “Well, it’s big enough for two.”
She winked at him before turning and walking away. The swing of her hips begged him to follow and he had to catch himself as he started to stand. No, no time for that. The others would be gathering soon, and he still needed to eat. But damn it, the thought of her in there, with the water sliding over her skin, was like a punch to the gut. The brilliant red of her hair would darken, look more like the blood in her veins, covering her body. He growled low in his throat and fought his body, his mind.
He was stronger than the flesh. Stronger than desire. Stronger than hunger.
Finally, the door opened, and she came out, wrapped in towels.
Shit!
He didn’t think about that. If she did to him what he did to her…
Eve almost laughed at the look on his face, the set of his jaw, the gleam in his eyes. “Relax, Sebastian. I’m not as mean as you. I know we have things to do. And not the fun things I want to do.” She walked to the bed and picked up a brand-new pair of leggings and the sweater. With a laugh, she held up a matching set of underwear. “Thought of everything, eh?”
She waved the lacy bits at him and he closed his eyes, not opening them until he heard the door close.
He stood abruptly, stalking his way to the door. She was wrong. She was as big a sadist as him.
She grinned when she came back out and found him beside her open door.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
#
They entered the study that appeared to be their favorite. Gideon was already there, but he was alone. “The others will be with us shortly,” he said as she looked around.
Taking a seat, she was grateful for them being gone. While she was okay, well, more than okay, around Sebastian, the idea of so many of them around her reminded her of the fear she was supposed to be feeling.
She looked up at Sebastian. “Are you going to join us?”
His face had taken on a distant look that she was familiar with. Her smiling, laughing Sebastian was gone. He looked down at her and touched her nose. “I need to do something first. Gideon will look after you.”
“Okay,” she said, tension increasing. She glanced at her palm. No Micah mark yet. She took a deep breath. “Hurry back,” she told him as she looked up. There was a slight softening around his eyes.
“As you wish.” He disappeared.
She knew it was coming, hell, she told him to hurry. It still made it no less shocking.
Gideon came to her and sat in a chair beside her. “How are you holding up?” he asked.
“Well, I was fine.” She eased further back into the leather. “I let myself be distracted but now I have to think about it again.”
“May I?” Gideon asked, holding his hand out.
Gratefully, she took it. “You never have to ask to touch me, Gideon,” she said, meeting his hazel eyes squarely. “So long as you’re not afraid, that is.”
His smile was kind, comforting. “I’m terrified.”
She laughed at him as her fingers tightened on his. “It helps, you know.” She looked down at their hands. “Being able to touch someone I trust. Helps keep my heart from pounding out of my chest.”
“I’m grateful for that trust.”
She took a deep breath. “So, what’s on the agenda for tonight? Sebastian didn’t want me to be alone. I’m guessing there is a reason?”
A warm finger touched her chin, lifting her head. “We are going to talk about what Fallon showed me last night.”
“So, it was important then?” His thumb stroked her cheek and she let the feeling slide into her. Distraction at its best.
“Very important.”
His voice took on a different inflection. One that she could feel. “What are you curious about?” she asked.
“I had almost forgotten you could do that.” He smiled. “You. I’m curious about you.”
His thumb did that thing again and she almost leaned into it as she closed her eyes.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” she murmured.
“Doing what?” he asked.
“Distracting me.”
“Maybe.” His stroked her lip and she parted them. “Is it working?”
Her grip on his hand tightened. “Too well.”
“I suppose I should stop then.”
She forced her eyes open and met his. “You could kiss me instead.”
“No. I couldn’t. Because I wouldn’t stop until I was inside you.”
Her breath left in a rush as his words set fire to her veins. She gave a shaky laugh as she squeezed his hand one last time before letting him go. “You don’t pull your punches, do you?” She ran damp palms over her thighs. “But… one day.” She dared to give him a wink and his smile was dark and woke all sorts of thing inside her.
“Be careful making promises, beautiful.” There was a sexy threat in his voice, and she shivered.
Safer subject. Something that didn’t make her want to tackle Mr. In-Control in his chair and have her way with him. Not that that would be a bad thing. But not something she wanted to do with the looming arrival of the others.
She cleared her throat “So, what about me has you curious?”
“You already answered that,” he said with a half-smile at her obvious back-down.
She frowned. “What was it?”
“If you were really be attracted to all of us.”
Despite her resolve to not be embarrassed by that, she could still feel heat in her face. “I can’t help it,” she said after a moment. She would not look away, damn it.
“I wouldn’t want you to,” he said, and she could feel his honesty. “You are who you are.”
There was a new feeling, a trickling of hostility that gained intensity with every second.
“Fallon.”
“What about me?” his voice cut across the room and once again, she was surprised at how… sensual it was, even when he held tight to his hatred.
“I just… I knew you were coming.” She glanced at him before turning away. Her anxiety shot up and she instinctively reached for Gideon. A quick check of her hand and she could see her bond with Micah glowing faintly.
; Fallon threw himself in a chair, leg over the arm, looking as excited about being there as she was for him to be there. Her desire for him, for the danger that practically screamed at her, let her off kilter. How could she want him?
“Micah and Alex will be here in a few. Sebastian is still hunting.”
She frowned. Why would Sebastian be hunting? Hunting? Vampires. She could feel the blood pool in her feet as she realized what that meant. Killing. He was killing. She squeezed her eyes closed as Gideon’s fingers tightened painfully around hers.
“Fallon,” Gideon’s voice was harsh, but she was more focused on breathing. The burn in her palm flared.
“What?” His words held a trace of amusement and she wanted to throw something at him.
“Eve. Slow your breathing.”
She heard Micah’s voice as he took her scorched flesh. But she couldn’t. Raw fear was back, and with it, the overwhelming rage that wasn’t hers.
“What in the hell did you say?” Alex said from a long way away.
“Eve. Listen to me.” Micah’s mouth was beside her ear as he coaxed her into listening to him. “Breath with me,” he said as he held her hand to his chest.
She felt his inhales and exhales and was finally able to slow hers to a more natural rhythm.
“I told her what her lover was doing,” Fallon said, but the amusement was gone now. There was a lowering of his hostility. Concern touched his emotions before it disappeared.
“Gideon, why is he here?” Alex asked and she was finally able to raise her head.
“It’s okay.” She would be stronger than this. She had to be. “I’m the one that shouldn’t be.” She would be stronger, but that didn’t mean she had to look at him.
“What am I interrupting?” Sebastian asked and she whipped her head around to look at him.
The fear was back in her eyes and he knew exactly who put it there. Before he could lock it away, a cold fury washed over him and he found himself holding Fallon against the wall by his throat. “What did you do to her?”
Fallon just laughed at him.
Sebastian couldn’t see his eyes, but the smile enraged him. He flung the man on the ground and he heard a scream from somewhere behind him.
“Wait, Sebastian.” Fallon held up his hand.
“What?” he growled, feeling his teeth descend.
“You might want to reconsider ending me here,” Fallon whispered.
“Why?”
“I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that what you are doing is far more unsettling than me telling her you were hunting. She recovered from that.” Fallon didn’t need to say the rest.
Sebastian closed his eyes. No, she probably wouldn’t recover from what he just showed her. She wanted to know why he locked his emotions away. This was the answer.
Fallon slowly stood up. “There’s a good boy.” Patting Sebastian’s shoulder, he sidestepped the stricken vampire and returned to his seat. “So, where were we?”
Sebastian couldn’t move. Couldn’t take turn toward her or leave the room. Would he ever be able to make her feel safe with him again? Make her see him as something as more than an animal?
“Sebastian?”
Her voice was hesitant, and he took a deep breath. The scent of her fear was overwhelming. How could he answer? He did that to her.
“Sebastian?”
“What?” he made his voice empty. Emotionless. The same way he was going to be. No more.
“Are you alright?”
Her softly spoken question had him facing her. She was on her feet, hands held by Gideon and Micah. He could see the glow from Micah’s mark blazing. Her eyes were wide, frightened, but her gaze held steady.
“How can you ask me that?”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Fallon muttered.
“Shut up,” Alex said.
“Because I care about you,” she said.
“After what I just did?”
She didn’t flinch, but her face went a whiter shade of pale. “Yeah. That was pretty horrifying. I’m not going to lie.” She glanced at her and Micah’s joined hands before turning her attention back to him. “But you did it because you thought I was in trouble. And despite how big of a dick he is, I didn’t want to see you hurt your friend.”
Fallon laughed.
The glow of their hands dimmed. She gave Micah a smile before letting him go. After doing the same for Gideon, she took a step toward Sebastian. Then another.
He wanted to go to her. Wanted to hold her and breath her deep into his lungs. But he didn’t deserve that. Barely stopping himself before he ran from the room, he watched as she approached him. When she reached him, he closed his eyes as her arms circled his waist. Unable to resist, he pulled her close and inhaled her scent.
“It’s okay, old man,” she whispered. “I’m going to be afraid sometimes.” She smiled as he tightened his arms around her. “Now, come sit down so we can get to the new scary stuff.”
“You win.” He pulled back and she winked at him.
“And I always will.”
#
Gideon gave his seat to Sebastian and Eve settled between him and Micah.
Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to use their mark again. She was good with the drama that had already happened, but with the look on Gideon’s face, she had a feeling more would be coming.
“Gents, if we could keep the fighting to a minimum, please. We can get this over and on with our lives, as such.” Gideon stood in front of them, looking very much in his element.
“Is this about the marks?” Alex asked.
“Yes.” Gideon strode to the side desk, slid out a tube then returned to them. On the round table, he emptied the tube then rolled out the paper.
Eve leaned forward. It was a map.
“This is our property.” He traced the outline and she was stunned to realize just how much land they had. “And these blue dots are where the marks were found. The ones we found anyway. I’m going out again in a while to see if I can find more.”
“What kind of marks?” Eve asked, thinking about her hands.
“We don’t know. I don’t believe in coincidences, so I’m going to go with them being related to yours.” He gave her a quick glance before going back to the map.
“Do you think that maybe whoever tried to kill me knows I’m here?” her voice was soft in the silent room.
Gideon was quiet for moment. “They have to.”
“Fantastic,” she muttered.
Gideon’s lips twitched. She couldn’t see Sebastian’s face, but he reached for her hand. She took it.
“You won’t find anymore,” Sebastian said, turning the map toward him. He stared at the dots. Why did it feel like he had seen something like this before? The same with the mark on his hand. He knew what it was, knew what it did. But how?
“No?” Gideon asked.
Sebastian shook his head. “No.” He couldn’t remember, but the locations meant something. He looked up at the others. “Were any of the markings brighter than the others?”
Micah nodded. “The one over here.” He pointed to one of the dots.
“Yeah,” Fallon stood, bending over the map. Eve pushed back into the seat cushion and looked away. Even still, she could hear his low laugh. “Right here.” He tapped another spot before resuming his casual lounging. Sebastian marked them both.
“Anyone else?”
No one spoke.
Sebastian let go of Eve’s hand and stood, staring down at the spots. He knew what this was. Had seen it before, very early in his vampire life. Why couldn’t he remember? His kind didn’t forget.
“The marks outside somehow coincide with what is going on with these.” He held his palm up. The red was almost gone. “But I can’t say how or why. Not yet.”
“Do you know what would happen if I somehow brand you all? Light up all of these places?” Eve asked. “Because I’m guessing that is why some of them are brighter. It matches.” She took his hand in hers and traced the
disappearing lines. Compared to what happened the first time she touched it, this was a feeble glow.
Sebastian shook his head.
“Okay, so, they are indeed connected.” Gideon glanced around the room. “I feel that there is a very real threat out there. Who made the marks?” He glanced at Sebastian. “I believe we need to be on guard.”
“I agree.”
“What do I need to kill?” Fallon said, sitting straighter in his chair.
Eve managed to hide her shiver.
“Fallon,” Gideon growled.
“It’s okay,” Eve said and to her surprise, she realized it was true. Ironically, it was because of the crazy one across the table. “Thank you, Fallon.”
“For what, princess?” There was a twist of lips showing beneath the hair he kept over his face and between a gap in the black strands, she could see a dark, gleaming eye.
“For what you’re doing.” In his own way, he was helping her. Desensitizing her to their world. To the things that made them different.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She could feel the lie before he said it. “Whatever,” she said.
He laughed and she shook her head. “If you all will excuse me, there is a long overdue call I have to make.” She stood, taking her phone. “You all make your plans and fill me in later.”
Gideon gave her a smile and she left them too it.
#
She wandered aimlessly through the house and found herself beside the atrium. There was no passcode on the phone, and she swiped her thumb across the screen. Someone had already set it up. Mostly likely Gideon.
The feeling of eyes on her made her turn and she watched as Alex came closer.
“I’m not stalking and I’m not listening,” he said, holding up his hands. “But we can’t let you be alone yet. Not until we know what’s going on. The house should be safe, but… We don’t have a clue what we are up against.”
She made a face before asking, “Would I be safe in there?” She motioned toward the tropical enclosure.
“As long as I can see you,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said before slipping behind the glass walls. “I’ll try to be quick, but it won’t happen.”
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