My shiny, new teeth hadn’t been a problem since the incident with Gianna. Then, too, I hadn’t tempted myself again. After I’d helped her come, we’d cuddled on the couch, ending up spooned together with the lights turned off as we watched two of the movies I’d rented. The tender protectiveness I’d felt for Gianna had grown fiercely over the night until I’d achieved a rare certainty where a woman was concerned. I could love her, really love her with the kind of intensity and need a man was supposed to have for his partner. Sex was only one factor in our budding relationship and, I was certain, a small factor at that. If it meant giving it up to have her in my life, I’d do it, as hard as that would be, especially now with the intense hormones churning through my body as I slowly turned from human to pet.
Halloween approached rapidly. Devin called the day after my date with Gianna to remind me that attendance at Elizabet’s annual bash was required of all pets, except in extenuating circumstances. I needed a tux and on short notice, so the next Monday, he met me at an exclusive men’s wear shop in Buckhead to help me pick one out.
When he ran his hand up the insides of my thighs to check the fit of my trousers, I looked away and carefully blanked my mind. Outside of Elizabet’s, we were friends. That didn’t keep me from remembering what had happened between us inside her house, nor did it keep me from wanting it to happen again in odd, random moments.
It alarmed me to realize that I was growing used to the idea of taking him as a lover, if only when we were at Elizabet’s, or at least to having a closer physical relationship than was normal between two heterosexual men.
Mine and Gianna’s schedules didn’t mesh again before Halloween, though we talked and texted often. She asked me to go with her to a Halloween party. It killed me to turn her down, but I did it with a promise to make it up to her another time.
My job, I explained, and she didn’t push. I wasn’t sure if it was a lack of curiosity or if she was waiting for me to tell her on my own. Either way I felt bad, but I’d have to get used to it. Missing special occasions with her was bound to be part of my life as a blood slave, but better that than not having her in my life at all.
On the evening of Halloween, I rode with Devin north to Elizabet’s mansion. My nerves stretched taut the closer we got until I was nearly vibrating with tension. Devin kept telling me to relax, which didn’t help at all. How could I relax when I had no idea what to expect?
“Be yourself,” he said. “Don’t agree to sex and don’t let anyone take your blood.”
That sounded simple enough, though if he felt the need to warn me against those things, it might be harder to avoid them than I expected.
Which, predictably, ratcheted my nerves up another notch.
At least I’d remembered to get a haircut this time.
We arrived right on time, so Devin proclaimed as he steered his car into the line wrapping around the curved drive in front of Elizabet’s home. It took a few minutes to make our way to the front entrance where liveried servants were helping people out of their vehicles before parking them. We made our way inside along with other pets who greeted Devin either as an old friend or as a rival. He introduced me around, something we hadn’t gotten around to on my last visit except for a select few individuals, and most of those by chance.
People floated in and out of the foyer and other first floor rooms in sparsely scattered clusters. The ballroom, though, was crowded. A string quartet had already set up on the raised stage at one end and begun playing. A few couples were even dancing. My heart sank as I eyed them. They were doing some kind of formal dance, maybe a waltz or something. I made a mental note not to run the other way if anyone even hinted at dragging me into a dance.
On my last visit, Elizabet and her four vampire daughters had been the only women present. This time, there were many other females, nearly a third of the total, if my calculations were correct. Many wore masks in honor of the holiday, as did several of the men. Devin had mentioned it to me, but I’d decided not to. The penguin suit made me uncomfortable enough. Adding even a simple mask would put me over the edge into freaking-out weirddom.
He escorted me around the room, introducing me to yet more people whose names I’d never remember, try as I might. Some were Elizabet’s pets. A few were obviously other vampires. One, a curvy redhead with a sultry mouth, asked me if I’d like to join her harem of pets. I declined politely.
“Very well done,” Devin said when we’d moved away. “Raquelle is a beautiful vampire and kinder than most, but she goes through pets quickly. Wears them right out.”
I had no idea what to say to that, though it did send a shaft of misapprehension through me. Could vampires really wear their pets out? How did that even happen? All of Elizabet’s pets seemed hale and hearty. Some were even beginning to look familiar, so surely she didn’t go through them that quickly.
A few introductions later, I had the shock of my life. Devin brought us to a stand beside a tall thirty-something man who turned feral, ice-blue eyes on us. His features were chiseled, his dark hair unruly, and I noticed with equal envy the muscles filling out his tux and the lack of a tie.
I ran a finger around the inside of my collar. Why hadn’t I thought of that?
“Eric, this is Darien,” Devin said. “He’s the leader of the Greater Atlanta area werewolves.”
I stuck my hand out automatically and shook Darien’s hand, surprised by its rough feel, as if the other man worked with his hands frequently.
“Technically, I’m the Alpha, Dev.” The words came out in a menacing growl, though Darien’s lips twitched with laughter. “Still miffed because I made a play for your darling girl, I see.”
“If she wanted you, she’d be with you,” Devin said mildly.
“Ouch.” Darien stuffed his hands in the pockets of his trousers and turned his intense focus on me. “So you’re the new pet. How’s Elizabet treating you?”
“She’s been very good to me.” I resisted tacking a sir onto the end, which was my first instinct.
“We should go for a run together some night.”
Devin snorted. “Cut it out, Dare. He’s too new to know you’re asking him to be the prey.”
Darien grinned wolfishly. I’d always thought the adverb was an exaggeration thought up by romance writers with overactive imaginations, but no. There it was, right in front of me, and though I thought Darien intended his smile to be friendly, it sent a chill of fear down my spine.
“No harm in trying,” Darien said.
“Elizabet would skewer you if you laid a hand on him.”
Darien’s grin turned speculative. “So it’s like that, huh. Lucky you.”
I bounced a glance between the two of them. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t mind him.” Devin took my elbow and steered me away. “He’s just jealous because we get to have sex with Elizabet and he doesn’t.”
“I heard that,” Darien called over the crowd between us.
Devin waved a hand over his shoulder at the other man.
I dropped my voice to a low whisper. “He’s really a werewolf?”
“Yeah. Good guy, but don’t run with him, especially on a full moon.”
“Are there, ah.” I struggled to find a way to form my question. “Other creatures?”
“The word you’re looking for is monsters, and yes.” Devin pulled me through a stand of ferns into an alcove. “A few are here tonight.”
I peeked nervously out of the alcove’s entrance. Was that why masks were optional tonight? Was some hideous creature hiding behind one, waiting for an opportunity to pounce?
“Relax.” Devin pulled me away from the entrance until we leaned against the back of the alcove’s curved wall. “You’re under Elizabet’s protection. No one will bother you.”
“Then why are we hiding?”
“Selena was heading our way.” Devin leaned in until his face was about half a foot from my neck and sniffed. “You smell great.”
“Ah, thanks.”
My voice came out breathless and a flush crept up my cheeks. A tingly sensation vibrated through my skin near where his face was and my dick reacted, stirring behind the fly of my trousers. I eased back as subtly as I could.
Devin’s expression lightened into a wry grin. “Still scared of getting close?”
“No,” I said, which was true, though maybe our definitions of close were different. Devin as a friend I could handle. Devin as a lover? Maybe a bit more than I could swallow, at least when my mind wasn’t clouded by sex.
He ran a finger down my chest, then unbuttoned the coat of my suit with one hand. “You want me.”
I rolled my eyes. “Weren’t you the one who told me things were different here?”
“So the only time your dick salutes me is when we’re in this house?”
I hesitated long enough for triumph to cross his features.
“I thought so.” He pinned me against the back wall and pressed his hips against mine. I could feel every inch of the hard on he sported, sliding against me through our trousers and underwear. “I want to fuck you, Eric. One day you’ll want it, too.”
What could I say? He was probably right. The longer I knew him, the more I liked him, and the more I liked him, the more lust pulled at me. I could feel it building in me now, much sharper than it had been the last time. It didn’t panic me as much, but I still wasn’t ready for it, and probably wouldn’t be for a long, long time.
I hoped. Wasn’t my life complicated enough without adding another lover?
The ferns rustled as another man came in, one of Elizabet’s other pets, I thought. Devin peered over his shoulder with a scowl, then turned back to me and dropped a hard kiss on my mouth. Before I could protest, he pulled away and moved to face the other man.
“Eric, this is Zane, my former protégé.”
“I see you’re wasting no time breaking in the new pet.” Zane’s voice held a surprising bitterness. “Has he fucked you yet? That’s how he pulled me in.”
“Give it a rest, Zane.” Devin rested his hand on my waist, searing my skin with its heat through my clothes. “Elizabet gave you a favored position when she rearranged the roster.”
I watched them carefully, trying to grasp the dynamics, and had a sneaky suspicion that I was Zane’s replacement not only at Elizabet’s but in Devin’s life, and potentially in his bed, Cassie notwithstanding.
Zane gave a half laugh. “She gave me to Selena.”
“Not every time.”
“Often enough. There’s no comparison.”
“It’s past time you took your place as a full pet, Zane. With Selena, you have a chance to become the favorite, something you’ll never be with Elizabet.” Devin’s hand tightened on my waist. “If you don’t like it, you can always break the contract.”
“Any man who did would be a fool and you know it.” Zane turned to me, his face livid under its dark tan. “You’ve had a taste of the benefits. Shared them with your little mulatto girlfriend, too, I bet.”
Before Zane’s comment had sunk in, hell, before I could even react to it, Devin jerked Zane forward by the collar. “You say one more fucking word about Eric’s personal life and I’ll kill you myself.”
Zane let out a strangled yelp. “You won’t risk Elizabet’s anger over a pet’s side pussy.”
Devin yanked against Zane’s collar with enough force to sling the other man’s head back. “She’ll thank me once I tell her you threatened Eric’s girlfriend. You know the rules, Zane.” Devin let go with a shove. “Leave before I change my mind.”
“Think you’re the BMOC now, huh.” Zane straightened his tie and smoothed down the front of his tux. “We’ll see who has the last laugh.”
Zane left, not angrily as I expected, but with a cool stare that cut right through me. A shiver of foreboding ran up my spine.
“Is G…” I stuttered, remembering I wasn’t supposed to mention her name, something Devin had drilled into me during the ride up. You know, in case someone overheard and targeted her. Oh, right. Too late. “Is she gonna be ok?”
“I don’t know,” he said in a low voice that still carried an edge of anger. “You need to pay your respects to Elizabet and then I’m putting you in a cab home.”
“That bad, huh?” My heart dropped into my stomach. I’d put Gianna at risk by courting her. Why hadn’t I considered that she’d be a target before I’d gone after her? “What if we stopped dating? Would she be safe then?”
“I don’t know. Probably not. Sounds like Zane’s already scouted you out.”
“Great.”
Dammit. Why had I been so blind? So I was new to this whole pet thing and didn’t understand all the politics and rules and etiquette yet, but some of this I should’ve anticipated. Devin’s former pets, for one. I knew he'd brought others into Elizabet’s harem. He’d told me so himself. I hadn’t questioned it at all, hadn’t considered the ramifications or thought I’d be dropped into the middle of a rivalry.
Note to self: From now on, question everything.
“You’ll call her as soon as you’re safely away, check on her. Go be with her, if you want.” Devin pulled me around so suddenly I stumbled. His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper. “It’ll be weeks before we can do this again.”
And then his mouth was on mine, teasing me. I opened for him, like a dummy, and kissed him back while hot need swirled in my blood. His tongue met mine in a taste so brief I thought I’d imagined it, and then he pulled back abruptly.
“I should’ve warned you about that,” he said without a hint of regret. “Other pets have intimate relationships with their roster mates.”
“Are you saying it’s inevitable?”
“No.” He brushed his thumb across my lower lip and pinned his gaze there on my mouth. “I’d love to have more time with you tonight, time to explain and build our bond. Next time.”
Next time was just two weeks away. What would I do when he kissed me again?
I shuddered as image after image rolled through my mind, of me and Devin locked in one intimate embrace after another, and then snapped a wall up to hold the tide back. Two weeks was a long time. Maybe by then I’d have my sea legs under me, but tonight, I needed to take care of Gianna.
Chapter Five
Elizabet was surprisingly understanding that I had to leave, and a little…miffed that Zane had been following me. Apparently, it was verboten for one pet to invade another’s privacy that way, though I gathered it was more to protect a pet’s family than an attempt at maintaining privacy.
I sure as hell didn’t appreciate the invasion, especially since it put Gianna at risk. There was a reason no one used last names here. It made us a little harder to track, so Devin had explained when I’d cornered him with questions.
True to his word, he called a cab for me. Good ol’ Dev, the very reason I’d been tempted into this mess in the first place. On the other hand, if he hadn’t brought me to Elizabet, chances were good I’d have never met Gianna. I weighed that thought as the cabbie drove me toward Atlanta and I tried to get hold of Gianna to check on her. I’d already made the decision to invite her to stay at my apartment that night, just to be on the safe side. I didn’t know what would happen to Zane, if anything, but I didn’t want to take the chance that he’d set up a nasty surprise for her, something that could be triggered without him being present.
Why I even thought that was beyond me. What had Zane said that was so threatening? I ran the conversation through my mind over and over again, but couldn’t pinpoint why it made me uneasy aside from the implicit knowledge that he’d broken an important rule by following me.
That was enough.
Gianna texted me back when I was still an hour away with the address of the party she was at and an assurance that she was ok. I gave directions to the taxi driver and sat back, strumming my fingers against my thigh with impatience and anticipation.
Would she be in costume? She hadn’t mentioned one, but I imagined her
in something skimpy that barely covered her luscious curves. My dick shot to half-mast before I could blink and I grimaced.
You’re not a horn dog, doofus.
But of course I was, and had been since that fateful night at Elizabet’s nearly two weeks before.
I shoved it away. Protect first. Think about sex after.
When we arrived at the party, I paid the cabbie with cash, then shrugged off the weird feeling that came from knowing I had that kind of money in my wallet. That hadn’t happened since I’d started college. It was a whirling, sucking leech, sapping fresh-eyed students of their energy and their savings by dangling the carrot of a promising future in front of them.
Man, I thought on a laugh. I really needed to get out more if all that came to mind when I thought of school was a giant, money-hungry leech. Tech was a good place, one of the best, in fact, and I was lucky to be there, studying in a field that meant something to me.
From the safety of the sidewalk, I shoved my hands in my trousers and studied the ginormous house Gianna had directed me to. It wasn’t Greek; she’d let it slip that she was GDI, same as me, with no intentions of pledging, but who it might have belonged to otherwise was a mystery. Music from the radio or maybe a sound system spilled out of an open window on the first floor and dozens of people shifted through the front door onto the porch then back inside in a continuously moving current. It reminded me of the atmosphere at Elizabet’s, except here, I was pretty sure everyone was a normal human, in spite of the beacons I spotted in the crowd.
Gianna pushed her way through the door and bounded down the stairs toward me, her long legs eating up the distance in a flash. Much to my disappointment, she was wearing jeans and a faded sweatshirt, but since she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me before she’d even said hello, I let the dream of her in a skimpy costume die a cheerful death.
I rested my hands on her hips and smiled down at her. “Hey, you.”
“I thought you were at work.”
“I was. Company party,” I said when she fingered my bowtie. “The penguin suit was not my idea.”
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