Brotherhood In Blood

by J. E Hanson

  “He has never been serious with anyone in his vampire existence?”

  “You’re the first, but he played the field a lot. He never allowed any women, before you in his bed. Instead, he has always slept at their houses. I can promise you that you’re the first one; he has ever let in his huge ass bed. I’m in shock that you’re still holding on to your V-card. You should have been popped by now.”

  “It isn’t like I haven’t been trying to get it popped.”

  “Just lay in his bed naked—or wear sexy lingerie. That should do the trick. He won’t be able, to resist you then. I know if it were me, I would be all over it—and in it!”

  “That’s so gross, Ian! Why do you have to be so vulgar?”

  “I wasn’t trying to be, and I apologize. He’s one lucky man, to have you on his arm. Once again, I’m sorry for stepping out of line.”

  Ian parks at Blaze's Tattoo&Body Piercing. He walks over to my side, and opens the door for me. My head remains hidden, and I make sure, not to reveal a single strand of hair. We stop dead in our tracks, and notice that Joey is in the parlor.

  Ian stops me. “We are so fucking dead—shit!”

  “Hey, buddy! What can I do for you today?” Joey cocks his head to the side, and asks Ian.

  “I thought you were babysitting that chick.”

  “I won’t babysit her until May. I’m covering for River all week. He’s visiting his family, so I’m taking a break from the CEO shit, to run my own shop today. So, what gives? Who is the chick?”

  Ian laughs nervously, and he glances over at me. “I’m going to be so fucking dead! You might as well get it over! Chris is going, to throw a stake at me! He’s going to find out, who you are anyway, and he will call Chris.”

  Joey’s hair is now blonde, but he has a short Mohawk. His hair used to be long. He would have a gorgeous face, if he took all those piercings out, and left the eyeliner off. He looks like Christian and Alexander. Joey seems crazier than Ian is, with all those piercings and tattoos. He looks even more like a pincushion than Ian does. He dresses exactly like Alexander and Christian. Today, he’s wearing a tight pair of blue jeans, an ivory tank, and a canary scarf around his neck. He also has the same slate cowboy boots that Christian usually wears.

  He takes off his shades, to reveal similar bright blues. “I’m not a nark, dude! Why would you even think that?”

  Ian nervously locks the door, and then he jerks my hood down. “This is why, you will nark. She’s Chris's girlfriend, who also happens to be our princess.”

  Joey walks behind me, and he yanks all the curtains down. He flips the sign over to say, “Closed.”

  He politely kisses my hand. “It is so nice to meet you again, Princess. You’re right, Ian. I will have to answer to Chris for this, but I will keep quiet about it. I’m making an educated guess, and say that you either want an unapproved piercing—or tattoo?”

  I nod yes, and he laughs. “I can help you, but only if you tell me what you want. Oh… and this is on the house. I love pissing Chris off. He will always forgive me, but he will never forgive his subordinates. So… return in about fifteen minutes, Ian. You’re free and clear. You also don’t have any knowledge about this. So… what can I get for you today, Princess?”

  I take my jacket off, and he takes a deep breath. “You look amazingly hot, and I can see why Chris is with you. So… what do you want?”

  Joey’s compliment reddens my cheeks. I play coy. “I’m so glad you won’t tell him, but I want a naval piercing, because I lost all that weight.”

  He smiles at me. “No problem, this one is on the house. I can also give you a tat, if you want.”

  I shake my head no, and he gestures me to sit in the lounge chair. I cross my legs, and he lifts up my shirt to reveal my naval.

  “You did lose a lot of mad weight. You did a great job. So… how are you and Chris doing? Did he pop the big question yet?”

  “I get that question a lot—but no.”

  “He needs to, before someone else snags you. Oh wait… you’re a vampire. I assume that you have that wonky blood bond thing going on. Am I correct?”

  “That lovely blood bond we have? Yes… we did that months ago, but only because he had to. He’s supposed to be my guardian—or babysitter.”

  “So… now, he’s your boyfriend. How are you here, and not under his thumb today?”

  “He had an emergency business meeting that even Willow couldn’t handle. He’s normally around me.”

  He chuckles at me. “He needs to be around you. You look like someone, who finds herself in trouble quite easily. So… how is the relationship going? Have you two done the deed yet?”

  My head shakes no, and his mouth gapes open.

  “This is a first. Chris loves fucking. I’m not trying to sound crude—or scare you, but he’s a major fan of sex. I don’t understand how your blood bond works, but he worships the female body.”

  “I would know if he had sex with someone else, but he’s too busy for that. We have that built in lie detector thing going on, and he isn’t screwing anyone else.”

  Joey wipes my naval clean. “I wasn’t trying, to imply that Christian is a player—or anything like that. He’s a standup dude, but he has commitment issues. I think it’s about his mortal wife though. You kind of resemble her, and I’m not trying to piss you off. You look almost exactly like Victoria.”

  Joey picks out a bunch of twenty-four carat gold rings, and some are diamonds. I chose a twenty-four carat gold piece with a dangling diamond heart. “I never knew her name—or that she even looks like me.”

  “I’m sorry for telling you that, and I thought you knew. She died giving birth, to his only daughter. He had eight kids, all together with her. When she died, a piece of him died with her. He went to join a foolish war that night, and the same vampire, who made Reno and Khan—attacked him. Alex tried to keep him from fighting, but they both wound up in some deep shit. An arrow struck Alexander, and a sword struck Christian in the chest. A vampire turned Alexander first. But, she saw Chris lying a few feet away from him, and that’s when she chose, to turn him at the same time. The name of the vampire was Lilith.”

  I gape at him with disbelief as he continues, “Your Papa tried to stop her, but it was already too late. Saber tried to do everything in his power, to help Chris and Alex. He carried the burden of her turning them, but they forgave him once Lilith tried to kill everyone. All of them put their differences aside to kill Lilith. As soon as she died, second place vampire came up for grabs. Khan took over second place vampire; Alexander took over third place; Chris took over fourth place; and Reno took over as fifth place vampire. Lilith made over fifty vampires, after she made Reno. The dudes spent the rest of the time trying, to track all of the vampires down, and end their existences. Unfortunately… when you make fifty, it spreads like wildfire. Now, there are thousands of vampires out. Khan became angry and pissed off. He detests the whole mating with vampires, so he wants to kill every single hybrid in his family off. Khan knew about Saber’s children, but Saber hid his son really well. Khan found his son and killed him, but not until after he had ten other children. Reno joined forces with Khan, and it has been one fucking mess after another. There are thousands, and thousands of vampires on the loose. It makes it hard for even the fairies, to remain here on Earth. We have our own issues with Khan and Reno, because they love the taste of fairy blood.”

  He arms the piercing gun. “You need to hold your breath.”

  I took a desultory breath, and he pierces my naval. “Do you think he loves me for me—or do you think he loves me, for looking like Victoria?”

  The question startles Joey, and he sticks out his tongue. “Has he already told you that he loves you?”

  I shake my head yes, and he smiles big. “I swear to you that he has never told another girl that he loves her. I know that for a fucking fact. I just made a statement, so don’t take it wrong. Does he look you in the eyes, when he tells you that?”

&nb
sp; “He always stares in my eyes, when he tells me that. I know he’s telling me the truth too.”

  “You have nothing, to worry about, but I will expect to be one of his best men, especially if he pops the big question. You had better be glad that you’re part vampire, or I would be chasing you down. Trust me, when I say that sex wouldn’t be an issue. You need to clean out your ring routinely, and don’t take it out either. Not like you can, without one of us helping you with it.”

  I hug him and make him chuckle. “You damn vamp! All of you smell like rotting corpses, and feel like fucking ice!”

  I let go and flash a worried look at him. “Chris always feels warm to me.”

  Joey pats my head. “You smell like a rotting corpse, and you also feel ice-cold. I hate to bring it to your attention Princess, but you feel like a block of ice to me.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing that I’m not around any humans right now.”

  “They will feel how ice-cold you are, and know something is up. My advice for you, is to do the head nods—or handshakes. Make sure that when you shake hands with mortals, you wear gloves. That will freak people out, more than you’ll ever know. I can tell the big difference from the first time I met you—to now. You’re much colder now, than when I first met you. I have no idea what’s so different now.”

  “I had to ingest blood, so my fangs would stop hurting. The blood made my fangs descend. The pain was too much for me to handle, so I’m leaning even more towards the vampire side now. I can tell that my pulse has even dropped too.”

  “I hope that I’m not scaring you away from him. I feel like you need to know everything, than what they’re willing to tell you. They want you, to remain oblivious. I feel that it’s wrong, for you to stay in the dark. You need to know both sides of the story, because you don’t know, if it could hurt you—or even kill you.”

  “You said his daughter died during childbirth, but he has a painting of a little girl hanging over both his office and bedroom mantles. Are you sure that he doesn’t have a daughter?”

  Joey shakes an index finger. “That’s his dream daughter. I think he has been carrying around so much guilt, when both Victoria and his daughter died. He had seven sons, and having a girl was what he always wanted. He loved his sons, but he wanted a little girl that resembled her mom. He feels that he should have been a better father, over a war hero back then. Therefore, he keeps a painting of his daughter, to remind him of what he has lost. He has no daughters either.”

  Ian rejoins us. “Did you get her to change her mind?” he asks.

  Joey hands me a bag of solutions. “Nah, man... I enjoy pissing Chris off. This is on the house, so don’t worry about it, man. I got your back, dude.”

  Ian looks upset. “I was hoping you would convince her, to change her mind. It is time to take you home, chick,” he opens the door for me.

  I wave goodbye to Joey, and he flashes a huge smile at me. “Try not to be, so rough on Chris, and good luck!” he yells as we leave.

  We left the parlor and I quickly slide in Ian’s car. Ian speeds off for home, but my phone rings. Ian looks at my phone nervously, and he mutes his stereo. I touch my phone, and answer his call.

  “Hi, baby… what are you up to?” Christian asks, and I look at Ian. Ian glances out of the window nervously.

  “Nothing much, but I miss you terribly,” I give him the truth, and this should keep him off the trail for now.

  “I will be home in about ten minutes. I want to know, if we can talk about a few things.”

  I give Ian plenty of notice. “You will be home in ten minutes? What things do you want to talk about?” I nervously ask.

  Ian gapes in horror, and he quickly passes ten cars on the road.

  “I know I have been an ass about the woman in the forest, so I want to have a conversation with you, about her. I also believe that you want to see your bedroom too, since it is ready,” he says as it sounds like an apology.

  “Are you kicking me out of your bedroom, already? I didn’t think I was that bad of a roommate,” I tease.

  “I would love, to keep you as my roommate, but you have clothes that need to go somewhere else. Since, my closet is not adequate for both of our wardrobes, it is only fitting that you have your own closet space. I will see you in a few.”

  “I love you, Chris.”

  I love hearing his voice repeat those words to me, “I love you too, my Princess.”

  We say our goodbyes and Ian drives like a racecar driver. “Great… that’s just fucking great! I will be so fucking dead!” Ian whines.

  We make it home in seven minutes flat. Ian drops me off at the front door. Butler Tony looks at me with amusement. I have three minutes, to make it upstairs and change, before Chris comes home. I wish I were a full vampire. I threw my heels off and run. I type my numbers into his keypad, and glance at my cell. It says I have exactly one minute left. I dart for the closet, and shake out of my sexy outfit. I’m frantically changing into a pair of blue jeans with a shirt. I realize that my shirt barely covers my midriff. I can feel him through me, and I realize that he’s here. I couldn’t find another shirt fast enough. The door opens and I know it’s Christian.

  “Where are you?”

  I’m out of breath. At the last second, I found a shirt that covers the new ring in my stomach. “I’m trying, to figure out what to wear right now. I’m sorry, for the out of breath sounds.”

  Chris laughs and I’m praying that he doesn’t ask me any more questions. He sounds like he’s standing right outside the closet. “It is just me, and I am not expecting perfection from you. I love you, no matter what you wear.”

  I laugh nervously, and found a large sweater that covers my knees. I’m wearing my favorite tennis shoes too.

  I left the closet with sweat rolling off my brow and he notices. “You surprise me with what you wear for me, and I love what you pick out anyway. Are you ready, to see your new bedroom?”

  “I’m as ready as you are,” I answer in an out of breath voice, and I’m so glad that I hung my sexy outfit in time.

  The horror starts, when Christian's phone rings. “How are you doing, Joey?”

  The cases of the nerves shoot off in different directions. The fear creeps in; when I realize that, he’s talking to Joey. Any minute, he will rat me out.

  “I am about to show Jeannie, her new bedroom right now. No, she is not pregnant. No, we are not getting married. You will be the first one to know, if that changes. We are getting to know each other right now.” Christian glances at me smiling. I relax when he continues, “Yes, I love her, and I promise that she is not pregnant. No, she is not having my eight babies. I agree with you also, about that. No, we have not done that yet.” I can feel the embarrassment, and I know that they must be talking about sex. Chris continues to talk to him as he glimpses over at me, “There is nothing wrong with either of us, and I am working on it. I am sure the feeling is mutual. Oh really, I will stop by later. I need to get off the phone, so I can show my girlfriend, her new bedroom. Goodbye, man.”

  Christian shakes his head, and he turns his phone off. We walk to the end of the hallway, and stand outside a set of double achromatic doors. Christian hands me my password. I carefully type it in, and place my thumb on the touchscreen. The doors open, and I gasp. My room is in a Greek-style similar to his, but it’s livelier than his room is. I have sweeping ivory curtains over double French doors on both sides of my room. On the wall facing the hallway, I have a huge fireplace with an achromatic and gold mantle. My bed sits on a platform. The platform is alabaster with gold trim. My bed is canopy and it has ivory sheer curtains. There are gold ribbons fastening the ivory sheer curtains to the alabaster canopy posts. I have a built-in desk that looks exactly like Christian's desk. My new laptop now sits on my desk. My television drops from the ceiling, to reveal a 3D television set. The television set is about sixty-four inches wide. I have two nightstands and more shelves to put pictures on. All of the Enforcers start, to assemble in
side my room. I open the closet doors, to find all my clothes are hanging neatly.

  Sam grins, and he pushes a button. “You’re obviously a girl, so we realized that you need more closet space than the rest of us. I built a rotation bar, for all of your clothes to move out, so that you’re able, to select the outfit you want to wear. You have the biggest shoe rack in the world, and some of your shoes are hidden here.”

  He presses a button, and my shoe rack reveals even more shelves with additional shoe racks. Many shoes come from Sean, but Sean knows about my horrible shoe fetish. There are heels of every color, and every style. I also have boots of every kind. I actually have a couple of diamond glass heels, just resting on a shelf. Papa certainly didn’t buy all these shoes. I immediately call him out. “I don’t believe that Papa bought me all of this.”

  Christian walks behind me, and he confirms my suspicions. “I chose, to go shopping for you, and ordered shoes for you. I knew that you love shoes, so I bought everything you need.”

  Instead of shooting him, I kiss his lips and want him to take me to bed. The Enforcers laugh, when they found out that he’s the one behind the huge spending. My clothes mysteriously quadruple in size. The wardrobe is expensive-looking, and there are additional fashion designers that I’m unable to run through. Sean Fierce designed majority of my wardrobe. Chris shows me a built-in armoire to reveal jewelry. There are diamonds, ruby, pearls, gold, and my birthstone sitting there. I have tennis bracelets, watches, and even more necklaces.

  “You really shouldn’t have done that!”

  “There is nothing that I cannot afford. I have no problems with splurging on my girlfriend every now and then. After the hell you have been through, you deserve every single piece. Saber, also footed the bill for some of it. You will also have to lecture as well.”

  “You have already done enough for me, and you can stop now!”

  Christian rubs my ass, and he clenches my hips to his. “I will never stop surprising, the woman I love very much. I have even more stuff to show you, so you better grow accustom to it, my Princess.”