by Lia Davis
“We’ll take care of that tomorrow.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Cassie sat on the edge of the bed. “When I went to the auction house I never thought...” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I mean, vampires, auction houses.”
“It’s overwhelming, but you’ll get used to it. Max and Grant are the most compassionate men you’ll ever meet. They’ve been good to me through the years. They can help you. Just let them.”
“I’m not used to help.”
“I believe there’s a reason you’re here. Give it some time. That purpose will reveal itself when you least expect it.”
“Okay.” Cassie already liked Lea. She seemed calm and caring. “I just need a few days to adjust.”
“I live in the cottage a few feet from the house. If you go out through the kitchen just follow the path. My door is always open.”
“Thank you.”
“There are fresh towels in the bathroom. Take a relaxing shower. That always makes me feel better.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Lea smiled, lulling Cassie into a deeper state of security, but Cassie had to keep her wits about her. She’d been drawn into false hope too many times before.
Cassie waved to Lea before getting up and checking out the bathroom. It was white with dark gray accents. The tiles sparkled and the room smelled of lavender. The clear glass shower stall was separate from the garden tub that could easily seat two people. Cassie had never seen anything like it. She’d never stayed in a hotel before, but she imagined it would look something like this.
Lea was right, a shower did help settle her jitters. It had been a long day. She had to be at the auction house early that morning to fill out paperwork and go over everything that she could expect. Most of the day she waited around to see what her new fate would entail. When Grant moved into her line of sight it was as if everything had stopped. She no longer heard the chatter in the room, or the booming voice of the auctioneer. In that moment the only thing that mattered was the handsome man who couldn’t look away from her. For a split second she hoped he would bid, but everything happened so fast. She was ushered off the auction block and told to wait in a small room. It was the longest five minutes of her life. When Max came through the door to claim her, she’d lost her breath. His custom fit suit accentuated his tall, broad frame. But the detail she noticed immediately was his charcoal eyes. They were in stark contrast to his pale skin. Vampires were attractive. They possessed a beauty and grace that most humans couldn’t compare with, but as intimidating as Maxim was there was no denying his appealing appearance. Whatever dark feelings he stirred inside her couldn’t deter her from the attraction she clearly couldn’t avoid.
Grant was just as perfect as Max. His face was younger, more vibrant than his partner’s. She wondered what their age gap was. His soft spoken voice put her at ease, making her comfortable, but there was something intriguing in his stare. If he was connected to Max in such a strong way why did he look as if he wanted her? Why did she have the urge to touch him every time he looked at her? Would he allow her to?
As she gazed out the window, her new surroundings confused her. She had an amazing view of the wooded lot. Maybe she could go for a walk tomorrow to help clear her head. She had so many questions, but would she be bold enough to ask them? Why had they brought her here if they didn’t need companionship? They could have left her on the auction block for another. Turning away from the window, she picked up a pillow from the chair. Everything was so perfect in the room. Nothing out of place. She fluffed the pillow a few times before placing it back on the chair. The calming vibes from the shower had already worn off and all she was left with were anxious thoughts over her recent choices.
Who puts themselves up for bid? To vampires no less. Andrea swore they were civilized and nothing like what she’d read about or seen on television. Last night when Jonathan offered her the chance to go to the auction house Cassie saw no other way. She’d hit bottom. She proved that when Andrea and Jonathan found her a week ago. She didn’t even want to think about what could have happened to her if Jonathan hadn’t intervened and taken her from that cold, dark ally.
As she stepped back to pull the soft cream colored comforter from the bed she smacked into a hard form. She squeaked when she turned around to find Grant standing behind her wearing nothing but a plaid pair of pajama bottoms. His taunt muscles stretched down is abs and disappeared into his low hanging pants. She swallowed hard, but didn’t say anything as he moved closer to her. Her heart beat thudded between her ears as a chill ran down her spine. His eye were darker, no longer that icy blue she had been drawn to. With his lips parted slightly she could see him run his tongue along his teeth. Were those...
Fangs?
Chapter 3
Max crawled into bed, turned on the lamp and picked up his book. He could hear Cassie walking around in the guest room above him. She wasn’t noisy, but his super sensitive hearing alerted him to her every move. The hot shower she’d taken caused her blood to heat up and seep through the house. If he hadn’t just fed, he would have had a hard time controlling the urge to go to her. He and Grant were civilized and didn’t go after humans on a whim. Their inner beast could be kept under wraps for days without feeding. It was always a challenge when they encountered a new human. That was the reason most vampires kept their distance from people. Getting used to her scent and the sound of her blood flowing through her veins was going to prove a challenge especially with her sleeping above them. Her scent alone would be enough to keep his adrenaline pumping.
Grant stepped out of the bathroom, a trail of steam following him. He often enjoyed a scalding hot shower. He liked the way the water pelted off his frigid skin. Max suspected the way the water warmed him made him feel human even if just for a few minutes.
Grant came toward the bed, his oversized bath towel slung low on his hips, revealing every glorious, muscular inch of his abs.
“I was hoping you would have joined me in there.” Grant crawled toward Max like a predator getting ready to pounce.
“I thought after that invigorating session in the reserve you might need a few minutes to regroup. I know how much you enjoy a hot shower.” Max cupped Grant’s chin in his hand when Grant leaned in for a kiss. “I showered down the hall.”
“You didn’t need to do that.” Grant nipped at Max’s bottom lip. “I never need to regroup after we’re together.”
“Maybe not physically, but mentally I wanted to give you your space.” Sex could be intense when Max was in a dominating mood. Grant never complained, but Max wanted him to have his own time. They were always together and that worked for Max, but he didn’t want to smother Grant.
“You’re too thoughtful.” Grant straddled him. “The only space I need is the one that includes you.”
Max ran his hands along Grant’s stomach, smiling when his length poked through the towel. “Excited?”
“Eager.” Just as Grant moved in for another searing kiss, the soft footsteps of their new guest could be heard above them. His muscles tensed as he looked up at the ceiling.
I was wondering how long it would take for our human to distract you.
“She smells divine, doesn’t she?” Max stroked Grant’s face before placing a chaste kiss on his lips. “The shower heated her blood.”
“It’s overpowering.” Grant suppressed a growl, but Max heard it deep within his chest.
“It’s going to take some getting used to especially if we’re not going to feed from her.”
“We’re not?” Grant inhaled. “I mean, I guess we’re not.”
“It’s too soon to know what we’re going to do with her.” Max tried to calm Grant with his touch, but with each step Cassie took he grew more impatient. “We’ve never had a food source living in our home.” Max had to consider the possibility that neither of them could handle the temptation.
“She seems restless. Is she pacing?” Grant slippe
d off Max’s legs. “Do you think she’s unsettled?”
“Perhaps.” If these arrangements were going to work, Max would have to be flexible with his lover. He would have to let Grant make the decisions when it came to this human. Max wasn’t sure how that was going to work out since he had always been the one in charge. “This is going to be an adjustment for all of us.”
Grant nodded as he exhaled. Vampires could go hours without taking a single breath. Grant was taking unnecessary breaths to control his urges. Perhaps a food source in the house, sleeping above them, would be too much for him. Deep down Max knew it wasn’t just her blood Grant was after.
“Go to her,” Max said.
“What?”
“You told her you would once she was settled.”
“She doesn’t sound settled.”
“She’s human. They can’t sit still for long periods of time.”
“She’s anxious. I can sense it.”
The only way Grant would be able to sense her emotions was if he had connected with her. They were only in one another’s company for a brief time, but Max saw it at the auction house and again in the kitchen. The longer Grant was in Cassie’s presence the stronger their bond would become. It was inevitable.
“You have my permission to comfort her anyway she needs,” Max reassured him.
“Why can’t we both go? We could both comfort her.”
“Because she’s still uneasy around me. I’m sure you can sense that too.”
“Like you said it’s an adjustment for all of us.” Grant’s voice held an apologetic tone, but Max couldn’t be sure what he was sorry for. Cassie being frightened by Max or that Grant couldn’t control his feelings for her. “She’ll get used to you.”
“She’s here because we vowed to take care of her. You’re going to have to do that tonight.”
“I’ll just go check on her.” He stood from the bed. “I won’t stay long.”
“Take as long as you need.”
“I love you.” Grant leaned down and kissed the corner of Max’s mouth. “I’ll be back soon.”
Max couldn’t deny what was happening between the love of his life and the unfortunate girl who was now under their roof. They were destined to cross paths. Once Max took Grant to that auction house, his lover’s fate was sealed. His creation had finally found his human soul.
As Grant walked down the hall to the guest bedroom, he was torn. There was never a reason to leave Max for another. He hadn’t experienced this kind of pull to any other person. Max had always been his fate. His reason for existing. He never doubted that his creator was his soulmate. He still didn’t, but there was another force at play today. One he couldn’t understand, but there he was, standing in the archway of Cassie’s room, fighting a strange battle.
“Beautiful,” he whispered, but it was too low for human ears.
Cassie fidgeted by the window for a few minutes before picking up a throw pillow from the chair by the bed. She rearranged it a couple times and then abandoned it completely. As she stared at the huge bed, Grant wondered what she was thinking. Did she not like it? He’d fix it. Get her anything she needed.
When she reached across the bed to pull the covers back, the tiny blue shorts she wore crept up, revealing the bottom of her backside. In an instant he stood behind her, breathing in her sweet scent. Intoxicating. The blood swished as it coursed within her veins. He had fed not more than an hour ago, but the urge to pierce her soft flesh consumed his every thought. She stepped back, bumping into him. He had startled her, but he couldn’t find the words to excuse his indiscretion. Her heart rate increased as she looked into his eyes. Was she afraid? He wanted to break their connection as he tried to calm his inner demon. Too late. His fangs were already visible.
“I’m sorry.” He shielded his mouth with his hand. “I’m usually better at controlling it. Today seems to be an off day.”
“Don’t.” A jolt of energy invigorated him when she placed her warm hand over his and guided it away from his lips. “I don’t mind.”
“I frightened you.” He tried not to let her aroused nipples, that insisted on straining through her thin shirt, distract him. It wasn’t working.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“I can be extremely quiet.” He dropped his gaze to her tattered t-shirt. “What happened?” He took the ripped hem of the shirt between his fingers, examining the damage.
“It’s just old.” She shrugged. “Most of my things are.”
“Make sure you let Lea know what you need tomorrow.” A stunning woman like her shouldn’t be in old, dingy clothes. How had she ended up in such a situation?
“That’s very kind of you.”
“It was Max’s idea.”
“You two seem very close. Are you and Max... I mean... are you?” She sighed, but didn’t continue.
“Gay?”
She nodded.
“No.”
“But I thought you two were a couple.”
“We are.” He motioned for her to sit on the bed. She scooted up and leaned against the headboard. Grant sat on the edge, being careful to give her space. “We don’t label what we are. I was drawn to Max from the moment I saw him. He was a professor at Oxford and I was taking one of his courses. I had never been attracted to another man before. The strange thing was I didn’t question it. I just went with it.”
“So it was just meant to be? He would be your...” She thought for a moment. “What is he considered?”
“Maxim is my soulmate, my creator and my true companion.” Max was everything to Grant. “Without him I wouldn’t exist.”
“You chose this life?”
“With no apprehension or hesitation. It was my destiny.”
“That’s really cool.”
“I think so, but we didn’t use that word back then so...”
“Your fangs.”
“What about them?” He laughed as he watched her study his mouth.
“They’ve disappeared.” When she touched his lips with her fingertip, that strange energy radiated through him again. Almost as if his heart had started beating. That wasn’t possible. Was it?
“Your touch.” He backed away because he wasn’t sure what to make of it. “It’s electrifying.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He took her warm hand in his. “It’s just that most humans don’t freely touch my kind. They usually fear us. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she declared with certainty.
I’m afraid of you...
Max lie in bed waiting for Grant to return to him. He couldn’t help but overhear the two of them. Even if he didn’t want to eavesdrop, it couldn’t be avoided. If he went outside he’d still hear them. Perhaps he could put on his head phones and listen to some music to drown out the conversation. Stop putting himself through such torture. He wanted to believe the love he heard in Grant’s voice through the ceiling when his partner spoke of the two of them.
“Maxim is my soulmate, my creator and my true companion.” Always.
“Without him I wouldn’t exist.” I wouldn’t exist without you.
“You chose this life?” Cassie asked. What choice did he have? What choice did either of us have?
“With no apprehension or hesitation. It was my destiny.” It’s our destiny or at least I thought it was.
“That’s really cool.”
“I think so, but we didn’t use that word back then so...”
“Your fangs.”
“What about them.” Grant laughed. You’re so at ease with her.
“They’ve disappeared.” Because Grant is comfortable now.
“Your touch.” She touched him? “It’s electrifying.”
“I’m sorry,” the human apologized. You should be.
“Don’t be. It’s just that most humans don’t freely touch my kind. They usually fear us. I’ve never felt anything like that before.” I have. Every time you tou
ched me when you were human. It’s how I knew we were made for one another. That you would always be mine.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
You should be afraid of me, little human.
Max reached for his headphones, plugged them into his phone and shuffled his classical music playlist. Closing his eyes, he tried to calm himself. Grant was his. He had always been a loyal companion. This human would not come between them. Max wouldn’t allow it.
* * *
Oxford, 1895
Three classes a week for over two months with the handsome younger man, and the older vampire could no longer resist him. He was an eager student who insisted on sitting in the front row. He paid attention, but not just to the lecture that Max had carefully prepared each evening. There was something different in the vibrant human’s eyes. A perception that couldn’t be ignored. Max had been alone for years, waiting, hoping a companion would come to him. No other human had ever intrigued him the way Grant Bellow’s had.
Grant made sure to ask questions and keep Max in the lecture hall longer than necessary each night. He indulged the student, knowing that some humans were attracted to his kind even if they didn’t understand why. Max secretly wished that Grant knew why.
As Max made his way down the long, dark corridor of the history building he heard the footsteps that followed him every evening, but never approached him. The human had a curiosity that couldn’t be satisfied because he was too afraid to face it. Grant was drawn to Max. There was no denying it. Max sensed it every time the man stared into his eyes. Max was a patient man. One had to be when they were cursed with immortality.
Once Max turned the sharp corner and headed toward the wooden doors, Grant’s heart beat quickened. His pulse more rapid than a few moments ago. The blood in his veins heated to a pleasurable temperature. Max had to control the urge to feed. Not yet. Grant should be savored. Taken slowly, carefully in the privacy of Max’s home. No more waiting. Tonight was about beginnings.
Max used his speed and agility to become the hunter. In a mere second he stood behind Grant who had already decided to abandon his pursuit of Max. The vampire couldn’t take this game they had played night after night. It was time to help the human accept his suspicions.