by ERIN BEDFORD
Moving over to the chair of my vanity, I sat down and went to work on pulling my stockings on. “So, what are the rules?”
“Rules?”
“You know, what can I and can’t I do tonight?” I finished with one thigh high and went to grab the other one.
Darren picked up my romance novel from my side table and flipped through the pages. His brows raised as he no doubt realized it was a vampire romance novel before answering me.
“The usual rules apply. Be quiet unless spoken to. Try your best to not cause a disturbance.” He moved his gaze over to me with a small, condescending smile. “We all know how hard that is for you but do try.”
I scowled, grabbing my shoe. “I don’t do it on purpose. I’m cursed. I can’t help that the carpet moves or things are not in the place they were in before.” I muttered and cursed as I fought with the buckle of my shoe. Freaking thing was worse than the corset.
“Of course, it isn’t.” Darren snapped the book shut and moved over to my side. He knelt and took the shoes from me. Buckling them with nimble fingers, he had both shoes on my feet before I could blink. “Cursed or not, you do have a penchant for opening your mouth when you should be silent.”
Standing, I fluffed my skirt. “I do not. Okay, maybe a little bit, but they antagonize me. I’m not just going to sit back and take it.”
“In this case, you should not only take it, but bend over and ask them to fuck you please.”
I gaped at Darren’s retreating back, not only at the use of language, something I’d never heard from him, but the instructions. He might be able to just deal with it, but I was not in the habit of laying back and thinking of England. I’d sooner take a stake to bed than let those self-imposing leeches walk all over me.
Quickly following Darren into the hallway and down the stairs, I waited at the front door. He had his own outfit, well, if you call a traditional butler suit with white gloves an outfit. It wasn’t much different than I saw him wear on a regular basis. Maybe the suit was a bit more expensive, and his hair was more carefully slicked back, but really, he looked pretty much the same.
“We wait here until the guests arrive,” Darren instructed, pulling a pocket watch, yes, a goddamn pocket watch, from his vest pocket. “Which should be any moment now. Then the masters will come in, and we will take any coats they have.”
“Coats?” I rocked on my heels, trying to break them in faster. I was going to have blisters on my feet by the end of the night, I was sure. “Do vampires even feel the cold?”
Not missing a beat, Darren told me, “Appearances... and stop fidgeting.” He grabbed my arm, and I stopped. Releasing me, he laced his hands behind his back and continued. “The guests will then be ushered to the drawing room for pre-dinner drinks.”
“Wait, are we talking alcohol or...?”
“Whatever the guests want,” Darren snapped, clearly getting impatient with my interruptions. “Then there is dinner, and hopefully, if everything goes off without a hitch,” he gave me a pointed look, “they will leave, and we can all go back to our regular lives.”
Straightening my back, I nodded. “Sounds good.”
We waited in the foyer for a good twenty minutes without anyone coming. I started to get antsy, tugging on my skirt and then wiggling my rib cage from side to side.
“Stop it,” Darren hissed, his eyes jerking to me. “Be still.”
“Easy for you to say, you’re not bound and fluffed up like an overdressed peacock.” I reached beneath my skirt and pulled at the frilly underwear which had ridden up my butt crack.
“Piper,” Wynn’s voice called out, making me freeze.
Of course, he’d come right when I was picking a wedgie. Jerking my hand out of my skirt and cupping my hands in front of me, I turned to smile at him. Wynn descended from the stairs cloaked in a dark plume shirt and black dress slacks, looking as delicious as ever. His ebony hair was still damp from his shower and curled at his neckline.
“Wy- I mean, Master Durand,” I caught myself and curtsied. “You are looking handsome tonight.”
“Thank you. I have to say you are looking ravishing tonight yourself.” His eyes trailed over my outfit, and a flash of hunger crossed over his face. I’d have to thank Rayne later. I guess all men, vampire or not, had a maid kink.
“Master Durand.” Darren stepped forward, a stern frown on his face. “The guests have not arrived—” The doorbell rang out through the house, cutting Darren off. “Never mind. It seems they are here. Excuse me.”
Darren took the few steps to the door and pulled it open without looking at who it was behind it. Not waiting to greet them, he opened the door completely and waited beside it for the guests to come in. “Welcome, we shall start with drinks in the drawing room. Please hand your coats to Piper, she will be happy to take care of them for you.”
Wynn gave me a small, encouraging smile before heading into the drawing room. My head moved from him to the door where one of the most beautiful men I’d ever laid eyes on entered. I mean, really, he could give Wynn and the others a run for their money.
Light brown hair curled on the top of his head, the sides buzzed but with enough stubble to melt into the scruff on his chin and cheeks. Pulling his jacket off, he tossed it in my direction. I caught it even though I was taking in the pin striped suit that clung to his swimmer body form. His milk chocolate eyes skimmed over me briefly before turning away.
Not bothered by his dismissal, I took the jacket and laid it over my arm.
“Valentine Moretti,” Antoine exclaimed, moving down the stairs in a slow and graceful stride. “How wonderful to see you again.”
“What’s it been? Fifty years?” Valentine grinned, but the smile was not a pleasant one. It made my stomach twist into knots for some reason I couldn’t describe.
“Forty-six, but who’s counting?” Antoine gave Valentine a tight smile, obviously no happier for him to be here than Valentine. Just as I thought they might go into the drawing room, a breathtaking woman entered.
Long black hair fell down her back in waves of curls, just stopping at the swell of her butt. She flung her fur coat in my direction without so much as a how do you do, revealing a silver, tight-fitted silk gown that looked more like a nightgown than something you’d wear to a party. Her heels were spiked and at least four inches tall. I’d have fallen on my face wearing them.
“I can’t believe you made me take a cab,” the woman griped, holding the matching silver clutch in her hand. “I could smell the driver all the way in the back seat. I’d have eaten him, but I fear he’d rub his disgusting scent all over me.”
“Theresa.” Antoine nodded to the woman, not once looking in my direction. “Looking as lovely as ever.”
Theresa flipped her hair, even though it did not need flipping, and gave him a sultry smile. “And you’re just as stiff as ever. Where’s your brother? Where’s my Wynn?”
I stiffened. Her Wynn? I suddenly had the urge to burn the woman’s coat in my hands. My fingers curled around the fabric, twisting it beneath my hands as I watched them walking into the drawing room.
“Breathe, Piper.” Darren reminded me, taking the coats from my hands and laying them across the stair’s railing. “If you can’t handle a few snide comments, then you won’t last the night.”
I forced myself to relax, wiggling some of the tension out before looking to Darren. “Better?”
“Much, now for the drinks.” Darren inclined his head toward the drawing room. “You find out what they want, and I’ll prepare them. Then you can bring them back out. Think you can handle that?”
I swallowed thickly, my heart racing in my chest. “Yes. I think so.”
“Good. Now, come, before they start getting antsy. A hungry vampire is never a pretty sight.”
Following closely after Darren and into the drawing room, I kept my eyes down but peeked around me as I passed by. Wynn sat on one of the tall back chairs, one leg crossed over the other and a pleasant expression on his
face. I wanted to think he was trying not to throw Theresa, who had taken up residence on the arm of his chair out the window. She was pawing him like she owned him, her hands dipping into the open neck of his shirt and her mouth skimming his ear.
I was watching them so closely that I almost tripped and fell into Rayne’s lap. I caught myself at the last moment, my hand on the back of his chair. I muttered an apology before hurrying after Darren.
The twins sat side by side on one of the couches with Antoine on the opposite one. Marcus stood behind and off to the side of Antoine’s chair, his arms crossed over his chest. His dark eyes scanned the room as if he expected trouble at any moment.
Valentine had taken a seat next to Antoine though it seemed neither of them wanted to be there. It made me wonder what the point of tonight was if none of them like each other.
“Gentlemen and lady,” Darren addressed the room, nodding toward Theresa. “Please let Piper know what you would like to drink. We have all manner of alcohol as well as several blood types on hand.”
All eyes locked onto me as Darren finished, and I stood there frozen for a second. It took Darren giving me a discrete shove forward before I started moving. Deciding it best to start with the guests, I stopped beside Valentine.
“What can I get you, Master Moretti?” I surprised myself by how demure my voice came out as I kept my eyes down to not show how freaked out I felt.
“Aw, look at this one. So precious. She’s shaking. Please, pet, call me Valentine.” He chuckled as I nodded. “I’ll take red wine mixed with AB positive. You still have some, don’t you, Antoine?”
“Of course.” Antoine’s voice came out clipped but courteous. At least one of us was good at hiding our feelings.
I went around the room and took the drink orders, feeling more and more discouraged when none of the brothers gave me a passing glance. In fact, it seemed like they were trying their best to ignore me altogether.
“How are you holding up?” Darren asked when I came into the kitchen with their orders. He began to fill them as I tapped my fingers on the counter.
“Okay, I guess. Nervous.”
“As I would expect. Just keep your mouth shut and your head down unless spoken to otherwise and you’ll be fine.” He began to fill a silver tray for me and then added, “I wouldn’t listen too closely to what they talk about. Better not to listen to them at all. Think of yourself as one of those Queen’s guards in England.”
I licked my lips and tried to think like them. Really, it couldn’t be that hard. Think tall, reserved, a big fuzzy head. Okay, not that far. I could do this.
Keeping to my mantra, I made it through the first round of drinks before I had a reason to break my character. I mean, it was a good reason. I couldn’t really be blamed for what I did. Valentine more than deserved it.
A bit drunk on wine and blood, the vampire turned their discussion from work to more personal matters.
“So, tell me, Antoine. Does this one taste as good as she looks?” Valentine flashed me his fangs, clear hunger in his eyes. He didn’t wait for Antoine to answer before continuing to cut me down like a piece of steak he was perusing over at the supermarket. “Is she a virgin? You know virgin blood is the sweetest of them all.” Valentine kissed his fingers in my direction.
I regretted my decision to stand there within arm’s reach of this disgusting creature. Pluto wouldn’t be far enough away from him. My hand tightened around the silver tray, and my horrified expression landed on Antoine who didn’t so much as blink an eye.
“Come now, Valentine. We all know Italian nuns are the best,” Wynn announced with a jovial laugh, causing the other vampire to glance his way and thankfully taking his putrid gaze off me.
“You aren’t wrong.” The visiting vampire chuckled, but then he moved back to me. “However, Italians are so protective of their convents as of late. I remember the days where you could walk into any church and with a bit of charm here and a cut throat there, you could be drinking nun for the month.” He leered at me, his hand reaching out to tug on my skirt. “This one, however, is much too pretty to be a nun or a virgin really. Come on, darling, tell me. Do you like it rough?”
Unable to hold back any longer and since my employers, all fucking six of them, seemed to have forgotten how to speak at that moment, I had to take matters into my own hands. Giving him a nasty grin, I snarled, “If you wanted a stake to your heart, you only had to ask, Master Valentine.”
The room quieted. Visible tension could be cut like a knife, and for a moment, I worried for my life. Then the woman, the dark-haired beauty hanging all over Wynn jerked a finger in my direction.
“Are you going to let her talk to him that way?”
I glared at her, wanting nothing more than to throw my tray at her head. Hopefully, it would cut her pretty little head off, silence her and still those roaming hands of hers for good.
The twins stayed where they were, looking imposing and ready to jump up in case a fight did break out. Though I doubted they could reach me in time if Valentine decided to take his anger out on me.
Rayne was the only one who surprised me. Unlike his older brother, Antoine, who had done nothing but sit with a bored expression on his face, not being more useful than a statue, to be honest, Rayne’s eyes bore into Valentine. I couldn’t figure out if the fiery hatred in his eyes were for my sake or just the vampire himself. Either could have been valid.
Valentine, however, didn’t react the way his companion did. He stared at me for a moment as if unsure he had heard me right, and then threw his head back and laughed. It was a sound that ran through me and made me ill.
“It’s quite alright, Theresa. I like my women with a bit of sass. It makes them taste all the better. I do so like a good fight.” His eyes zeroed in on me with a cruel grin, and I’d had it.
With a liquefying look around the room, I spun on my heels and stomped from the room. Antoine called after me, but I ignored him and the laughter trailing after me. Fuck them. Fuck them all.
Chapter 28
Drake
Fuck, what a drag. I’d rather have my fangs pulled out with pliers than sit there and listen to Valentine and Theresa brag about how lovely it was at the main house.
Screw them.
They seemed to forget that we lived at the main house for years, and we left as soon as we had the chance. Being in a large house full of vampires like them who didn’t care for human life like we did made you forget your humanity over the years.
It was easy to think you aren’t losing it when everyone around you was acting worse... or even egging you on.
Valentine was the worst of the instigators. Valentine loved to find virgins, sometimes not even old enough to have bled yet, and spend his time breaking them in before tossing them to someone else if he didn’t kill them first.
Theresa wasn’t any better.
When she wasn’t trying to jump on Wynn’s dick, she liked to cause pain in the most unusual manners. I remembered a time she had used a feather duster to bring a man to the point of orgasm and then killed him with it midway through.
The very thought of it made me wince.
“Stop with the walk down memory lane,” Rayne growled lowly, crossing one leg over the other as him grimaced.
“Sorry,” I muttered, darting my eyes away from him and back to the vampire guests. They did didn’t care about the rest of us, only Wynn and Antoine. In most cases, I wouldn’t care. Better them than me.
However, Valentine had already crossed a line with Piper.
Rage had been simmering inside me ever since his beady gaze trailed over her skin. I wanted to pluck his eyes from his head and shove them down his throat for even thinking of touching her. Then he had to the audacity to put his hands on her and even went so far as to treat her like she wasn’t a person. These were the kinds of people we had to deal with at the main house.
“The visual isn’t helping either,” Rayne reminded me, running a hand through his hair, his teeth
tightly clenched.
I was about to apologize again, but a nasally voice stopped me.
“Wynn,” Theresa whined, her hands pulling at his shirt as she was still trying to undress him right there, “why don’t we go find somewhere a bit quieter? I’ve missed you.”
Allister snorted.
“What?” Theresa snapped, her eyes jerking up from Wynn.
“I don’t see why you need a room. It’s not like you’ve needed one before,” Allister reminded her with a disgusted growl.
“Allister.”
Antoine’s warning tone made my brother clamp his mouth shut, but he didn’t tear his glare away from the piece of trash who called herself a lady.
“It’s good to see you haven’t lost your handle on your boys.” Theresa let a sly grin slide over her face as she snuggled into Wynn even further. The poor bastard just took in stride, but I knew him well enough to see the tick by his eye brow. If holy water worked on us, he’d be bathing in it right after this.
“They are hardly boys,” Antoine reminded her, leaning on the arm of the couch. One would think it was a natural position, but it was most likely to keep as far away as possible from Valentine as he could.
Theresa’s eyes dipped down to Wynn, her tongue sneaking out to wet her lips. “That they are not.”
Ugh. Fuck me with a blunt stake. I envied Piper a bit. I wished I could stomp out of here because I was offended.
“Ditto,” Rayne muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.
“Where did that lovely maid of yours run off to?” Valentine asked, his eyes moved around the room far too eager to find a victim to sink his teeth into.
“Working elsewhere,” Antoine bit out.