by ERIN BEDFORD
Allister snorted and clapped me on the back. "Welcome to love, little brother. It only gets worse from here."
I grunted, but didn't answer.
"How'd you get away from Theresa?" Drake turned from torturing me to Wynn. I was thankful for the reprieve. "I would think you'd be cock deep in her ass by now."
I didn't need to look up to see the pained expression on Wynn's face, since it was all in his head. The moment our master was out of sight, Theresa had plastered herself against Wynn, and tried all but stripping right there in the foyer to get him to come play with her. The woman had no tact or self-respect. Not like Piper. No, she was kind and well, I’d admit, a bit of a klutz, but she also had a fire in her that drew me like a moth to her flame and I didn't give a shit if she burned me to ash. I'd die with a smile on my face.
"You're thinking nauseatingly romantic things again, aren't you?" Drake grimaced, interrupting Wynn from his rehashing of his great escape. The other two looked to me as well.
I shifted in place, scowling. "No."
Allister laughed. "Yes you are. Don't deny it. I can see it plain as the nose on your face."
"Stop it," I growled and gestured to the door. "Don't you have your own room to hang out in? Why must you be in mine?"
To my surprise, Drake stood. "You're right. I do." He moved toward the door and bumped Wynn on his way. "I'm going to go rub one out. Who knew making Piper a servant would make her even more tantalizing?" He licked his lips lasciviously and winked. "Maybe I'll get a chance to taste her next?"
I jumped to my feet, intent on beating his face in, but he was gone, laughing down the hallway before I got the chance. Allister moved around me toward the door. "You leaving too?"
Allister sighed and shook his head. "I better go make sure he actually goes to his room. We don't need any hiccups on this trip. We'll be lucky if we all get out a live at this rate."
"Too true." Wynn inclined his head, moving from his place by the door and folding into the spot Drake had left. "You don't mind if I hide out here for a while, do you?" He didn't really seem to be asking, since he had already stretched out on my couch, his arm tossed over his eyes.
I shut the door behind Allister and went to get my discarded luggage. "You don't think being in my room will keep Theresa away, do you?"
Without moving his arm away from his face, Wynn sighed and answered, "No, but it will take her longer to find me. Plus, she's never had any love for you."
I shook my head and scoffed, "You mean, she doesn't like me picking through her demented head. I know what goes on in that thing and it's enough to give me nightmares." I shuddered, propping my suitcase on my bed. I unzipped it and began the tedious process of removing my clothing from the bag and placing them in the dresser. Usually, Piper or Darren would do this job, but seeing as Piper was otherwise detained—regrettably—and Darren...well, he had disappeared into Antoine's room and I hadn't seen him since.
Wynn hummed and lifted his arm briefly. "What are we going to do about Piper?"
I turned to him sharply. "What do you mean?"
Sitting up from the couch, Wynn's blue eyes locked on to me with more than a curious expression. "Well, you love her..."
Brows furrowed, I cocked my head to the side. "Yes?"
"Is that a question? Don't you know?" Perhaps we were wrong. Maybe he only wants a place to wet his—
"Fuck you." I stomped across the room and shoved a finger at him. "You don't get to judge me. You, the one who is basically more incubus than vampire. And for your information, yes, I do love Piper. Not that I've told her as much yet but there, does that satisfy your inquisition?"
Wynn arched a brow but didn't get angry, he rarely did. "I was simply curious to know how far you would go for her. Would you go against Antoine for her?"
"Yes," I snapped without hesitation.
Amusement twinkled in Wynn's eyes. "Would you defy our master for her?"
"In a heartbeat."
Leaning forward so his face was close to mine, Wynn's voice lowered. "Would you die for her?"
With my jaw set, I made sure my voice carried the weight of my words. "A thousand times over."
Wynn stared at me for a long time and I tried to read his mind, but it was either blank or he was putting up a wall. After what felt like forever, Wynn smiled that infuriatingly smug grin of his and leaned back. "Good, because you might actually have to."
Chapter 4
Antoine
Behind the safety of my bedroom walls, I jerked at my tie with more force than necessary.
Things were spiraling out of my control. I was the head of my household, I should have a better grip on things than I did. Worse yet, the moment my master stepped in, I was back to being at his beck and call. It was like I hadn't made a stand all those years ago.
I let my tie hang loose and worked on my cuffs as I stared hard at the bed. My bedroom was the same as it had been fifty years ago. Same comforter and sheets in a dark crimson color—one I had made sure never graced my bedroom back at Durand manor. The mahogany bedposts taunted me with all the dark and awful memories from this room. One would think that being my master's favorite would save me from his depravity, but it only seemed to make him more set on molding me to be like him.
Back then, I'd done a fine job pretending he was changing me. Warping me the way he had warped Valentine. Though, I had a feeling Valentine was already fucked up before he was turned.
I didn't want to be back in this room. I certainly didn't want Piper in here with me. I let out a dark chuckle, thinking of how she was going to react when she realized she had to share my room with Darren and me. Darren was used to it. We bonded because we wanted to, not because I was forced to. I certainly didn't think Piper would take sharing my room in stride the same way Darren did.
My human servant in question moved around my room, putting up our things without a word. His emotions were harder to read today, but I had a feeling he was holding back his feelings more for my benefit than anything. Piper sure as hell wasn't.
From the moment I bound her to me, I knew she was going to be different. She felt everything so much...more. Every emotion was heightened to the billionth degree. Her confusion and hurt at my not being there when she woke, to the anger at my blatant dismissal of her, was broadcasted loudly. I didn't want to hurt her. It wasn't my intention, but I had to build a wall between us if either of us were going to survive this visit. My brothers already showed their feelings for her too easily. Boris had no doubt picked up on it the same way he had picked up on my mark on her. After thousands of years, I would think that he would have lost some of his strength, but if anything, time had done nothing but make him stronger and his outsides more grotesque.
Hands touched my shoulders and I allowed Darren to help me shrug out of my jacket. I worked on the buttons of my white shirt while Darren hung my jacket up to be cleaned later. My eyes followed him around the room, waiting for him to say something. I knew he wanted to. He might keep his opinion to himself in front of others, but behind closed doors he didn't usually wait too long to let me have it.
"You need to talk to her." Ah, there it was.
"Why?" was the only response I gave him. I knew my reasons, but I wasn't going to tell him. He might seem like the obedient servant, but Darren defied me more than anyone knew. He was just good at hiding it.
Darren paused in his smoothing of the jacket’s sleeve, his gloved hands hovering in midair. He had taken to wearing them after we were bonded. Darren had told me the change had made everything feel different, more, just more. It was hard for him to cope with the new sensations and so I bought him a pair of gloves to deal with it. I thought eventually he would stop wearing them, but it seemed to have turned into more of a habit than anything else.
"I'm sure I do not need to tell you that Piper is confused and hurt by your behavior toward her." Darren slowly turned around to face me. His face a mask of indifference although his words were laced with disapproval. "I remember how
it was when I changed. I couldn't imagine what it would have been like if you had treated me the way you are treating her."
My lips ticked up at the sides. Oh, I remembered as well. Almost the moment after he woke up, we found ourselves with an appetite for each other we couldn't quite slake. I felt it for Piper as well, my cock hadn't softened since the moment I'd been inside her, both fangs and cock. Remembering how she felt, how she tasted, and how she sounded as I took from her and then poured myself into her was torture. All I wanted right now was to find her and drag her back to this room to take her again and again, until I could get her out of my damn mind and veins.
No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't. She wasn't mine. Piper had my mark and to everyone who wasn't us, she technically belonged to me. But she didn't, not really. She was ours. My brothers and mine. If anyone had claim to her, it wouldn't be me.
"I am doing what is best for us all," I finally replied to Darren, before taking a seat on the bed to remove my shoes. Darren beat me to it, kneeling before me to unlace my dress shoes. My cock twitched in my slacks at the sight.
"Best for her? Or best for you?" Darren didn't look up from my shoes as he removed one and then the other. My socks were next, but he didn't move from the floor. His hands moved up my legs until they rested on my thighs. Those dark eyes met mine with an intensity I hadn't seen in a long time.
My mouth watered at the same time that my brows furrowed. "You care for her?"
Darren's face softened. "I would be remiss if I didn't."
He shifted to leave, but I grabbed his hand, keeping him before me. I held him by the wrist and pulled his glove off one finger at a time, loving every gasp he let out as I released him from the white cloth. "Do not try to hide from me, Darren." Tugging him closer by his hand, until he was a hairsbreadth away, I searched his face. "I see you." My mouth captured his, causing him to grunt but not in protest. He pushed back just as fervently, his teeth nipping at my lips. The first time we'd kissed like this he'd bit me, and I had ended up rolling on the floor laughing, unable to continue. For a human to be the one to bite during a simple kiss had been too much for me. Even now it made my lips twitch.
"Stop it," Darren grumbled against my lips, his hands going to my shoulders before pushing me back. I fell onto the bed, and the mattress sunk, air puffing up around me from the lack of use. Darren straddled my lap, his hands going to where my shirt, previously unbuttoned, fell open. Using his teeth to remove his other glove, he settled his hands on my stomach. My abs twitched beneath them. "You forget, I see you as well."
I groaned as Darren rolled his hips, our cocks rubbing against one another. I was too close to the edge already, and without much more stimulation and I would burst.
Placing one hand in the middle of my chest, Darren leaned forward until our noses brushed. "You are scared."
"N—" I tried to argue, but Darren pressed his finger to my mouth.
"I'm talking."
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. Darren was not a top. He'd never be one, but when he wanted something, he definitely knew how to play the part. So, I waited for him to get to the point so I could sink my cock into him.
"Piper makes you feel things you've never allowed yourself to feel before." He paused for a moment, a pensive look crossing his face before he continued, "Even for me." I stared up at him, looking for some kind of hurt in his expression, but there was none, even the feelings he was projecting were content. The way he was acting made me think he was going to act like a jealous lover, but it seemed I didn't quite know my servant as well as I thought.
He ground his hips against me again. "You want her." I grunted but didn't deny it, setting my hands on his hips and encouraging him to keep going. "More than you want to admit to yourself. But from the moment she walked into our house, you couldn't keep your eyes off her. Even now. This," he reached between us to cup my hard cock in his hand, "isn't for me, it's for her. The bonding might have been made to protect her, but you wanted her and felt for her long before you sank anything into her soft flesh." There was something in the way he said it that made me pause and really look at him.
I opened my mouth to comment on what I saw, but Darren had pulled me from my slacks and jerked his hand up my length. My eyes closed briefly, and my hip thrust up into his hand. I was strung too tight. Hard for too long. I exploded into his hand after only a few strokes.
Darren moved to get off me, but I grabbed him by the lapels of his perfectly ironed suit and pushed him down onto the bed. With a fang-toothed grin, I growled, "My turn."
Chapter 5
Piper
I was sweating buckets and I was sure that Count Boris Whatchamajig could smell it with every step I took. The master vampire had moved his arm from around my shoulders, thankfully to escorting me by the arm like a real gentleman. Not that I would ever use that word in the same sentence as Boris. He might act the quirky foreigner, but from my masters' caution of him and his rapid punishment of Theresa, I wasn't fooled. He was a monster. A killer. Everything I had expected my masters to be and more.
He'd made Valentine after all.
Then again, in that line of thought, Boris had made all of my masters. Does that mean they were evil in some way as well? Or are they good despite their upbringing? Ugh. My head hurt.
"And this would be the drawing room." Boris waved an arm at a room with chairs and no art equipment whatsoever.
"Where's the drawing stuff?" I inquired, before I could stop myself and then stiffened as Boris quieted.
"You know...I never quite thought of that. I suppose it wasn't always called a drawing room. Once, it was called a withdrawing room, some place to go with your guests to have privacy. Even to meet with the king, but that was then." He leaned in close to me as if we were the best of friends sharing a secret. "We must come up with a new name for this room before you leave. Yes?" I nodded quickly. "Good. Now, where else can I show you? Ah." He turned toward a set of double doors. "Here is the library. Do you like to read?"
I opened my mouth to answer, but Marcus grunted behind me. I shot a glance to him, but whatever message he was trying to convey with his Neanderthal grunts was lost on me. I turned back to the count and said, "I admit I don't read as much as I should. Mostly, I read lighter things, like—"
"Romance?" Boris finished for me with a twinkle in those blood-red eyes. The amusement on his face made me almost forget who he was and where I was, but then one look at those long fangs and I remembered.
Swallowing thickly, I nodded. "Yeah. Yes. Romances. I was never the best student."
Boris laughed and patted my hand. "Never fear dear, your secret is safe with me, and of course Marcus. Isn't that right, boy?" He glanced over his shoulder at Marcus who was three of Boris put together. The very fact that Boris called Marcus—the behemoth of a man—a boy, wasn't lost on me. It was hilarious in an ironic, dark sort of way. One that I didn't want to think about much right now.
Marcus didn't grunt in response as I expected, but in a low, gravelly voice that did weird things to my insides, replied, "Yes, master."
"See?" Boris turned back to me with a grin. "Perfectly safe." His lips dipped down for a moment as Marcus pulled open the library door for us. "However, I do not think the kinds of romance I have would suit your needs. Most of my collection are from my travels and many aren't even in English. You know, I have one of the original copies of A Midsummer Night's Dream written by the Shakespeare himself."
My mouth dropped open in surprise and I couldn't help the excitement that filled me. "Really? Did you meet him?"
"Oh yes." Boris inclined his head with a joyful look on his face. "William was quite the poet, but also a drunkard. He never could get his words out right because of all the drink he'd indulged in the night before. If not for his friend Francis, he would never have gotten anything out at all."
Astonished by the story, I wondered at the ability to have actually been places and met people who no one could say they knew. I could jus
t imagine going back in time and meeting my favorite singers and writers in the prime of their life. To have lived for so long and to have met so many people...I envied him and his long life. Then, I remembered mine was long now as well. A hundred years from now, if Antoine still lived, then I would still be exactly as I am now. I could see history change right before my eyes.
"You don't sound Russian." The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could think better of them.
Amusement filled Boris's eyes before he led us into the library. "I'm glad you say so. I have worked hard to perfect the modern American accent. It makes blending in with the local populous so much easier."
I stared at him for a moment, wondering how to ask the next question. But there was no need. The look on my face apparently said everything and Boris laughed once more.
"Do not look so skeptical, Piper. People believe what they want to believe." I didn't like the way the master vampire said my name. It felt like worms twisting inside of me, trying to get out.
"And what do they believe?" I glanced back at Marcus. He walked closely behind us, but not close enough to help if Boris suddenly turned feral.
"Here, let us rest." Boris brought us to a sitting area in the middle of the library and offered me a seat. I happily released his arm and sat down, only to wish I was standing once more when he sat beside me, his thigh pressing against mine. Marcus didn't sit. Nor did Boris ask him to. He stood there like a handsome statue waiting for his next command.
"In this modern age, it isn't unlikely for someone such as myself to wander down the streets." Boris gave me a full-fanged smile. "Society has learned to not question the weird or unusual lest you offend someone. They're more worried about getting sued for questioning me than for their own safety." He laughed in such a way that my feet shifted beneath me, urging me to run. "They'd call my unique features a fad. Or maybe even a deformity. Some might even say I was trendy." He used air quotes, as if it were the most normal thing for a thousand-year-old vampire to do.