by ERIN BEDFORD
“Why the rush?” Drake asked, closing in on me until my back hit the door. “You just got here. We haven’t gotten the chance to get to know each other yet, and I so want you to feel comfortable here in our home. Don’t you?”
His breath felt hot against my face, and I turned my head to the side. Just standing there with a gorgeous, naked man was playing havoc on my body. Now he had to get up close and personal. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep my hands, let alone my mind, to myself.
“Tell me, Piper,” Drake growled, his nose brushing along the curve of my neck, the pulse there beating a mile a minute. “Have you ever been had by a man?”
“W-what?” I gawked at him, shifting away from him as much as I could with the door at my back. The feral look in his eyes scared me and turned me on all at the same time. What the hell was wrong with me?
Drake didn’t seem to have the same thoughts as me and brushed a hand over my hair before grabbing my ponytail, tugging it just enough to make my head bend back to meet his hungry gaze.
“You know what I mean. Have you ever...” His other hand moved down along the outside of my thigh, causing them to press together. “... let a man into your glorious haven?”
I snorted. I couldn’t help it. Glorious haven? Come on now. How cliché was that?
“What?” Drake jerked back from me, a look of confusion making his beautiful face even more attractive.
Shaking my head, I slipped out of his grasp. “Your brother was right about you. You really know how to pull a prank.” Grabbing the door handle, I pulled it open, but it was slammed shut by Drake’s hand.
Startled, I spun around to give him a piece of my mind. Playing with my mind was one thing, but he was pushing the joke too far.
“I’m not joking.” Drake bared his teeth at me before caging me in between his arms once more. “You should not have come here, little girl. Your type tends to get eaten up by mine, especially if you smell like that.” He took a big whiff of me, and a low rumbling escaped from his chest.
Frowning at his manhandling, I shoved at his chest. “Now, you listen to me here. You might think you are the hot shit which, well, you are.” I let my eyes drift down for a moment before catching myself and poking my finger at his chest. “But I’m not some piece of ass you can mess with. I need this job, and I’m not going to do anything that might jeopardize it. That includes getting wrapped up in the likes of you.”
Drake stared down at me for a moment as if he couldn’t quite believe I had told him off. Then he threw his head back and laughed, a sound that I hated to love so much. “Oh, you poor, sweet thing. You think your words will save you?”
“Well, I–”
“If your job is what you are worried about, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.” Drake cupped my face in his hand, stroking his thumb across my lower lip. “Antoine is not the only voice in this house. If I want you to stay, you will stay.”
I found myself frozen to the spot. The dark pools of his brown eyes were so entrancing that I couldn’t look away from them. I was at his mercy, and there was nothing I could do. Part of me started to panic, my breathing coming in as quick gasping breaths and my heart thumping against my ribs. My reaction only made Drake smile wider as if he enjoyed my displeasure.
“Now, stay still while I get a taste of you.” Drake leaned down, his mouth opening wide.
I wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to do. Give me a hickey? Was he one of those people who liked to lick? I could get down with that if it weren’t on my neck. Or my ear. God, people who liked someone sticking their tongue in their ear were just weird.
Oh. My thoughts went quiet at the first touch of his tongue. Oh, my.
The warm wet muscle slid along the line of my neck just as the door behind me burst open. Thrown from the door, I fell to the ground, whatever spell I was under broken. Drake still stood on his feet but was now a few feet away, and his shorts had magically appeared on his form.
“What do you want, Marcus?” Drake asked his older brother calmly as if he hadn’t had his hands and mouth on me.
Marcus glanced to where I now sat on the ground and then back to Drake who had a smug grin on his face. “You know the rules.”
“And I didn’t break them.” Drake held his hands up in front of him. “No harm, no foul. She’s fine.” He turned those eyes on me and waved a hand. “Tell him. I didn’t do anything to you.”
I crawled to my feet, my legs a bit wobbly beneath me. Clearing my throat, I glared at Drake. “You’re such an ass,” I shouted before I marched out of the room and back into the hallway, not waiting to see what they said.
I should have been panicking for calling my boss, well, one of my bosses, an ass, but he’d started it. He’d flashed me and then proceeded to molest me. Okay, so it wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy it but still.
Ugh. Fucking men.
Hushed voices followed me as I moved away from Drake’s door and to his brother Allister’s. I held my breath and hoped that he wasn’t in there as well. If one twin was like that, then the other probably was as well.
Thankfully, Allister was in his bathroom when I entered. I dropped his bag off and darted out of the room before I caught him with his pants down as well. I finished handing out the other bags to Wynn and Marcus, the latter probably still reaming into Drake about breaking the rules.
Fucking deserved it too.
Finally, all I had left was Antoine’s, the one I was least excited to deliver.
I paused outside of his door, contemplating leaving the bag on the floor and making for my room. Come on, Piper. He’s just a man. If you can’t handle being in the same room as them, then you can’t do this job. And we need this job.
Mustering up all my courage, I knocked on the door. The sound so much louder than I expected it to be and I waited for no more than a second before a voice from inside answered.
“Enter.”
With my nerves already on edge, I slowly opened the door. Antoine stood by his window, looking at some papers. The drapes were pulled back for once so that the night sky could be seen. It was a beautiful sight but paled in comparison to the man before me.
Someone shouldn’t look so good in just slacks and a white button-down shirt. His long blonde hair was braided down his back, and his pale eyes intensely stared at the papers in his hands. He didn’t even look up from them when I entered the room.
“I have your laundry.” I held the bag up lamely.
“Put it over there.” Antoine gestured his hand flippantly to the dresser.
Nodding, I moved over to the large dresser and sat the bag down. I was surprised they hadn’t asked me to fold and put up their clothes as well, but as Darren had informed me, they were each particular about their things and didn’t want me snooping.
Ha! Me? Snoop? I didn’t care a flip about these bastards. I just wanted to do my job and get paid. Maybe once I saved enough, I could get a different job and my own apartment.
One could dream.
I made my way back to the door but stopped, my eyes going back to Antoine who hadn’t moved or looked up from his papers. Should I say goodnight? He had told me not to speak unless spoken to which I had already messed up when I entered his room. So, I couldn’t very well get in any more trouble by being polite. Right?
“Good night, Master Durand.” The words had barely left my mouth before Antoine called out to me.
“Miss Billings.”
“Yes?” I turned back to him to see his eyes locked onto me. There was burning anger there that threw me back and put me in fear for my job.
“Since you seem to have a complete disregard for my rules, let me remind you. This is your job, not someplace to get your jollies on.”
For a second, I thought he was talking about how I masturbated in the shower this morning. How the hell did he know I had done that? Did he have cameras or something in there? Out of all the outrageous things he could have done.
“Are you spying on me?” I snapped, horro
r filling my face. “How dare you? Just because I have to live here didn’t mean you have the right to watch me in my private moments. Of all the fucking disturbing shi—”
“Enough.” Antoine held a hand up. “I can assure you I have no idea what you are talking about. I couldn’t care less about what you do in your private time. I’m talking about the rules you have been breaking.”
My face burned for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He hadn’t been spying on me while I rubbed one off to the thought of his brother. In fact, I had just told him I’d been doing just that thing. Then my embarrassment turned to anger when I understood what he was implying.
“Wait a second,” I started again, realizing what he was talking about. “I’m not the one who’s been trying to get their jollies on. I’m just doing my job.”
“And breaking rules,” Antoine shot back, “or did you not speak to me when you entered before I spoke to you?” He arched an elegant eyebrow, and I wanted to punch him in the face.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I frowned. “Well, excuse me if I find it common courtesy to let someone know what they are doing in their room. I’m only human.”
Antoine’s eyes scanned over my form, and he seemed to relax slightly. “Yes, so you are. However, in the future, I expect you to be seen and not heard. Preferably unseen as well. Then we won’t have any of issues of boundaries being overstepped. Am I clear?”
My fingers curled into fists, and I pressed my lips together tight. Forcing back the rude remark that was dying to come out, I simply nodded.
“Good.” Antoine turned his eyes back down to the papers in his hands before adding, “Good night, Miss Billings. Make sure you lock your door tonight.”
As I left his room and headed back to my own, Antoine’s words worried me. Were his brothers so hard up for female companionship that they would come into my room at night? Or was I being protected from something else? Either way, this job was getting weirder and weirder by the second. However, I was determined to be able to last until I could find another one.
If I could find another one.
Chapter 8
Drake
“You wanted to see me, brother?” I asked as I stepped into Antoine's office, having a feeling I knew what this meeting was about. Marcus was nothing more than Antoine's lapdog most days. Of course, he'd run to him the moment that delicious maid escaped my room.
Antoine sat behind his desk, his eyes down on the papers in front of him. He always had endless paperwork as the head of the house. I never knew what he actually had to do it all for. Antoine never offered up any information, so I never asked. Paperwork wasn't exactly my idea of a good time.
“Marcus has informed me of an incident with Miss Billings.” The sharp tone to his voice told me it was a statement, not a question.
I dropped into the chair in front of his desk and threw my feet up on the edge of it. “I was just playing with her.”
Antoine glanced up from the desk, his eyes going to my feet. Immediately, I dropped them to the floor with a thud.
“Regardless, didn't we make the agreement to leave this one alone? How is playing with her following that agreement?”
I scowled. “I didn't agree to anything. You told us to leave her alone. Besides, it's not like I used my powers on her or anything. I used my natural-born looks.”
“Of that, I have no doubt.” Antoine sat his pen down and steepled his fingers together. “I don't believe I made myself clear when I said no interference whatsoever. I meant to say that there will be no magical or physical shenanigans. We don't need another lovesick maid sneaking into the basement while looking for a bit of attention.”
I grimaced. The last maid we had fell head over heels for Allister. She'd broken down the basement door and climbed into Allister's bed while we were sleeping. We didn't know she was there until dark had come.
My brother had a voice that could compel even the straightest man into dropping to his knees for him if Allister so much as whispered in his direction. Sometimes, I envy his abilities. They were much more effective than mine.
Vampires naturally had a charm to them, a compulsion if you will, that drew humans to us like moths to flames. My charm happened to be stronger than others, and I couldn't exactly turn it off. So, in close quarters like I'd been with Piper, it was easy to manipulate her into giving into me. However, since using our abilities on her was a big no-no, I'd had to rely on my other 'gifts.'
“Fine,” I huffed. “I'll keep my gifts and every other extremity to myself.”
“That's all I ask of you.”
“Can I go now?” I stood even as I asked it.
Antoine waved me away, turning back to his papers. If there was a hell, then I knew I'd be filling out papers for eternity when my time came. Bless the poor bastard.
Before I made my escape, Antoine called out, “How did she take it?”
I hummed, turning back around. “Take what?”
“Your charm?”
I scrubbed a hand over my jaw and smirked. “Well, before your dog came barreling in, I almost had her.”
Antoine quirked a brow. “And after?”
“She called me an asshole and stormed out.” I chuckled and shook my head. That maid sure had a mouth on her. I didn't think much was going to spook her.
“Hmm.”
“That's it?” I asked, my brow furrowed. “That's all you can say?”
Brushing his long braid over his shoulder, Antoine picked up his pen once more. “The donors will be here a bit later tonight than usual, so try not to make a spectacle of yourselves while waiting.”
I puffed out a breath of air. “Fine, whatever.”
Without permission, I threw open his office door and headed back to my room. Half way there, I detoured into my twin's room instead. I opened the door without knocking and found Allister reading a book. He was so engrossed by it, he hardly noticed me enter.
Coming up behind him, I snatched the book out of his hands and turned it over to read the cover. “The Art of Body Language? Really, Al?”
Scowling at me, Allister grabbed the book from my hand and scrambled for his page. “It's not easy seducing someone when your best feature is also the only way you know how to communicate.”
I laughed and tossed myself onto his bed, lacing my hands behind my head. “You could pass notes? I'm sure she could decipher your chicken scratch if you were determined enough.”
Allister snorted. “Easy for you to say, you don't have to speak to women to get them to fall for you.” He nodded his head toward me.
“We're twins, dumbass. Any advantage I have in looks, you have as well.” I leaned up on my elbows and stared at him. It was like looking at a mirror sometimes with our features were so exactly the same. However, years of comparing ourselves has made it easy to find our differences.
Where Allister had dimples in his cheeks, I had only the single one on the left side. My chin pointed a bit sharper compared to my brothers, and if I do say so myself, I had the bigger cock.
The subtle differences between us didn't stop there either. Even as children, before we became vampires, we had different tastes in everything from music to women. The fact that we both were interested in the maid was pure luck.
Or maybe it was our competitive nature? It was that competitive nature that had made us choose to be vampires in the first place. We were constantly trying to outdo the other. So, when we were busy showing off our strength and charm to the ladies of the seventeen-fifties, our sire found us.
He told us, “I am in need of a new companion, but I cannot bear to break up such a perfect set.” And the rest was history. I doubted our parents ever expected us to live for as long as we did. They always thought we'd end up dying from some stupid dare or another.
“Do you ever think about our parents?” Allister asked out of the blue. It was freaky when he did that, like our minds were in tune with one another.
“I just was actually.”
Allis
ter clucked his tongue. “I wonder sometimes. If we hadn't been made into vampires, would we have lived much longer?”
I chortled. “I doubt it. You'd have dared me to jump of a bridge and—”
“Knowing you, you'd be stupid enough to do it.” Allister smirked at me, then turned back to his book flipping through the pages.
Jumping off the bed, I smacked him on the back of the head. “Then you're even more of an idiot because you'd follow after me just to show you weren't a coward.”
Laughing with me, Allister thunked his book down and collapsed back into his chair. “So, what did dear old Antoine want now? Did he give you a right talking to for playing with the maid?”
I leaned against his desk, not bothering to ask how he knew. “Pfft. Antoine has a stick so far up his ass, he'll need surgical assistance removing it.”
“I think he just needs to get laid.”
Pursing my lips, I thought about it. When was the last time I'd seen Antoine happy? It's been at least a decade or two. “He hasn't gotten any since that orgy in Prague.”
Allister frowned. “It's been that long? No wonder he's wound so tight. Maybe Marcus should help him out a bit more than just being his lap dog.”
Shaking my head, I shifted on the desk. “I don't think things have been that way between them for a while. Not since...” I trailed off, trying to think of when I'd last seen them touchy feely around each other.
“Dallas, I'm pretty sure,” Allister answered for me.
“Really? That was fifty years ago. Surely they've bumped uglies between now and then?”
Allister shrugged. “I don't know. I make it a point to not be in either of their bedrooms. I prefer the company of women only.”
“Thank fuck for that.” Allister and I shared a laugh, before I paused with a thought. “Do you think this new maid would be against having brothers? Twins, specifically?”
Arching a brow, Allister asked, “Is this your way of saying you want to double team her?”
“Hey,” I smirked, giving him a wink. “It can't hurt our odds.”