Blade walked in, carrying a tray filled with food. Cristian followed, holding a pot of coffee.
“Good morning, or should I say good afternoon?” Cristian winked at her.
“How long have I been asleep? And how did you two get in here?”
Blade grinned. “It’s one in the afternoon, and we have passkeys.”
“We brought you sustenance, and then we have something to show you.” Cristian perched on the edge of the bed and handed Joelle the tray. “Eat up.”
“What you do want to show me?”
Cristian chuckled. “Not what you’re thinking. This will help you believe our story.”
Joelle tasted her eggs and bacon then drank some coffee. She would definitely miss the food here when she left. “What makes you think I don’t believe you?”
“No one does at first,” said Blade. “Not that we blame them. It’s a wild story.”
“It’s not so bizarre,” she said. “I told you the first day I met you that I believe in the possibility of supernatural beings.”
“Maybe we should hire you to explain our secret to new staff members?”
“Sure, Blade. I’ll take that job.” Joelle munched on a piece of toast while more questions occurred to her. “Your tattoos…you told me the wings and serpent represented good versus evil. But it seems to me those two symbols have a bit more significance.”
Blade nodded. “Wings for us, the serpent for Lilith.”
“Why did you get tattoos?”
Cristian shrugged. “It’s boss. We all thought it would be a cool thing to do.”
“And the chess set? You said you could trace back your ancestors, but that’s not true either, is it?”
“It’s very old,” said Blade. “Sterling found it on his travels a couple of decades ago.”
“We don’t have ancestors,” said Cristian.
Joelle put down her fork, unable to imagine what life must be like for them. “I think I’m done for now. Thank you for the food. Could you two please wait in the sitting room while I shower and dress? I won’t be long.”
They didn’t protest, and Joelle was grateful. It was too much temptation to have them so close, and she needed more time to process everything before jumping back into bed with them. After she got ready, she left the suite with Blade and Cristian, wondering what they wanted to show her. The elevators opened on the main floor, and they led her toward the front desk but then turned down a hallway she’d never noticed before. It was dim and quiet, lined with closed doors. At the end Blade inserted a key into one and pushed it open. As soon as Joelle stepped inside, she smelled leather and old books.
Cristian flipped on the light, and Joelle smiled. Dark wooden bookshelves lined the walls, without an empty space on any of them. The room boasted several leather chairs and a matching sofa, a table next to each chair, and lamps that reminded her of the ones in the conference rooms where she worked. Intrigued, she wandered over to the nearest bookshelf and ran a finger along the spines at random.
“They’re very old,” said Blade.
The first one she opened had a copyright date of 1748. She closed the book and looked at the cover. “You’re kidding. Is this really a copy of Fanny Hill?”
Blade grinned. “Yes.”
She scanned the titles more carefully and found Les Bijoux Indiscrets from 1748 as well as The Lifted Curtain or Laura’s Education and Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
“This is incredible.” Joelle walked along the shelves, reading the titles. There was erotic literature from every era, up to the present day. “You’re obsessed with smut.”
Blade and Cristian both laughed.
“Some of these belong in a museum,” she said. “Most of them are out of print.”
“We’ve been collecting them for some time now.”
“Some time, Blade? How much time, exactly?”
“This isn’t the first time we’ve been on Earth.”
Joelle nodded, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that they weren’t human and were older than she could ever comprehend. “Is this what you wanted to show me?”
“Not all of it.” Cristian crossed the room to another bookshelf and pulled down a large bound scrapbook. “Sit down, Joelle.”
She sank onto the sofa, and Blade and Cristian sat on either side of her. Cristian placed the book in her lap. “Have a look.”
Joelle opened the book and read the place card glued to the inside: New Year’s Eve Ball 1946. She turned the pages and studied the grainy black-and-white photos. Several people were dressed as animals. She spotted a couple of leopards and several other big cats, complete with whiskered masks. Most of the women were dressed in corsets and shorts, their legs covered in tights or stockings, and their feet in pumps or short boots. Whoever had taken the photos caught a number of candid shots, including a man dressed as a leopard with his paws covering the breasts of a masked woman.
The last few pages featured photos separated by another place card that read Unmasked! Faces smiled into the camera, but a few pictures were of couples locked in an embrace or kissing. As Joelle flipped to the last page, one photograph in particular caught her eye. It showed twelve unmasked men, six standing and the other six kneeling in front, all dressed as animals. Flanking the back row were two men who looked to be a bit older than the others. The rest of the men looked to be roughly the same age as Blade and Cristian. Someone had written names in a neat script under the photo.
Back row: Leonard, Sterling, Blade, Cristian, Hugh, Andras.
Front row: Gregory, Demetrius, Reeve, Nikolas, Emmett, Zachary.
“When was this taken?” she asked.
“1946,” said Cristian. “Three years after Hugh and Sterling became human, and ten years after Leo and Andras did. You can see how they’ve aged and the rest of us haven’t.”
Cristian reached across the book and turned back a few pages. He pointed to a photo of two men dressed as big cats, their arms across the shoulders of a tall masked woman with sleek dark hair. Her smile was bright and carefree.
“That’s Caleigh with Hugh and Sterling,” said Cristian. He flipped back a couple more pages and pointed to a photo in which a man dressed like a lion danced with a masked blonde woman. “Blair and Leo.”
Joelle studied the rest of the photos while Blade and Cristian pointed out the owners in each one. They took down more scrapbooks from other years and told her about each photograph. Thirty-one years of history was in these books. Blade said they’d started the resort as a way to indulge in their fantasies and thumb their noses at the archangels who’d had a hand in their punishment, but as Joelle flipped through each scrapbook, it didn’t look like that. It looked like their lifeblood. They were trapped here, but they’d made the best of it and built a unique thriving business. And she’d be damned if she’d watch someone as shallow and narrow minded as Scott ruin it.
Everything Cristian had told her as they walked around Pine Lake came rushing back, along with guilt. She should have told Cristian she knew Scott. She should have told them both already. “You’ve trusted me with a lot of secrets. Thank you.”
“Thank you for not being upset with us,” said Blade.
They had trusted her with the biggest secret of all. It was only right that she now trust them with hers. “I have something to tell you two, and you’re probably going to be upset with me.” Joelle closed the book in her lap and clung to it as if it could give her strength. She glanced at Cristian. “The day we walked around the lake and you told me about Scott Malloy…oh, Cristian. I don’t even know how to tell you both this.”
Joelle’s heart beat so quickly she felt sure she was going to pass out. Why the hell hadn’t she said anything earlier? She placed the scrapbook on the table and hugged her knees. Keeping her gaze on the table, she took a deep breath. She could do this. Just say it, and then deal with the fallout.
“I know Scott. I didn’t know what he was trying to do, although I did know that he has big aspirations, and he sees himsel
f as some sort of political crusader. But I swear to you he never mentioned this place to me, and I had no idea he’d even been here or knew about it.”
The room was so quiet Joelle swore she could hear the blood pounding in her veins. She was afraid to look at either of them.
“Know him?” asked Blade in a voice as cold as steel. “How, exactly, do you know him?”
Joelle swallowed. “He was the man to whom I was engaged.”
“What? Scott Malloy is the ex-fiancé you told me about?” Cristian’s voice was full of hurt and anger. Joelle blinked back tears as she nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew him that day at the lake?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “I was afraid to.”
“What exactly did you tell her about him, Cristian?”
“I told her we planned the second set of horse trails around Pine Lake, but were running into opposition from city planners in Chicago, especially an alderman named Scott Malloy. That he was using our cutting down trees to make room for the horse trails as an excuse to dig into this place. His real target is our moral indecency, as he called it. Not the damn trees.”
Joelle finally risked a glance at Cristian and recoiled at the disbelief and anger on his face.
“You said nothing. In fact, you asked me more questions, and then even after I told you his name, you said it wasn’t fair or right what he was trying to do. You sympathized with our plight, but you didn’t say you had been engaged to him. How could you do that, Joelle?”
“Cristian, I’m so sorry. I broke up with Scott months ago. I didn’t think it mattered now.”
“You didn’t think it mattered? Are you insane?”
Blade’s voice was as hard as nails. When Joelle dared to look at him, she couldn’t hold back the tears. He didn’t even flinch as they ran down her cheeks. “It’s the truth, Blade.”
“How long were you engaged to this moron?”
“Three years. I broke it off over six months ago. I don’t have any interest in his political aspirations, and I swear to you I had no idea what he was trying to do to this resort.”
Blade jumped out of his seat and slammed his fist against the wall. Joelle flinched, watching him carefully.
“Dammit!” He turned around and glared at Cristian. “And you fed her ammunition. You walked around the lake and told her what we planned to do.”
“It wasn’t like that, Blade.” Joelle stood. “Please don’t blame Cristian for this. I should have told him I knew Scott as soon as he mentioned his name.”
“It was exactly like that. You’ve been playing us both for fools, Joelle. I want you out of here within the hour. We’ll refund your money, of course.”
“Blade, please, listen to me. I made a mistake. I should have told Cristian I knew him. Please don’t send me away for that.”
Blade’s gaze faltered for just a second. “Joelle, that man is trying to shut down this resort. We can’t have his cohorts staying here as guests.”
“I swear to you I am not in league with Scott.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Joelle swiped at the tears coursing down her cheeks, but it didn’t matter. They flowed faster than she could keep up. There was no way to make this right. She couldn’t blame either of them for not trusting her right now. If she were in their shoes, she’d have jumped to the same conclusions.
All the fun and passion they’d shared came crashing down on her in a matter of seconds, and she had to fight to keep from passing out. None of that meant anything to them now, but it meant the world to her. This was all her fault. That bastard Scott had ruined her vacation and broken her heart, simply because he existed and had dared to target this resort.
But why? Why would he care so much about this place, and how had he found out about it?
“You said he’s one of your father’s clients,” said Cristian. “How can you ask us to believe you’re not working with him?”
“That proves I’m not working with him. My father is a partner at one of the most conservative and well-known ad agencies in the country. Do you honestly think I’d take a chance on anyone in that firm finding out I came here? My roommate Peggy is the only other person who knows I’m here.”
“Joelle, we just can’t take that chance. Especially not now, after we’ve told you…”
Blade’s voice trailed off, and Joelle hated the flash of fear that crossed his eyes. He cut his gaze to Cristian, and she didn’t need to ask. She knew Blade blamed him for having to tell her their secret. There was no way out of this. They weren’t going to believe her, no matter what she said.
Joelle lowered her gaze back to the table. This wasn’t her fight. She could walk away today, without having lost any money on top of it, and let Scott ruin the damn place. She had no stake in it. Except for the fact that when she lifted her gaze again and looked into Blade’s blue eyes and Cristian’s gray ones, she knew that was a load of horse manure. She had a huge stake in this place—an emotional one.
Blade and Cristian were the two most handsome, adventurous and exciting men she’d ever met. She didn’t want to go home this soon. And she didn’t want to see this place fall prey to a witch hunt, led by Scott of all people. She’d rather eat glass than let Scott win.
“Scott is a bastard.” She wiped away the last of the tears. “He hurt me. He belittled me, and he insulted everything about me, from the way I laughed to the clothes I wore. He was boring in bed, and the biggest prude I’ve ever met. But I never knew until now how dirty he played, and I won’t stand for that.”
Cristian stood up. “If this guy treated you so badly, why did you stay with him for so long?”
Joelle threw up her hands in a gesture of frustration. “I’m thirty-two years old. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be a single woman that age with parents whose social calendar is filled five years in advance and who measure their self-worth by the number of acquaintances they can boast who are also members of the Biltmore Country Club? They’ve been trying to marry me off since I went through puberty. Scott was everything they planned for me. Well-bred and rich. They pushed him on me, hard.”
“Did you love him?” Joelle had to look away from Blade’s intense gaze. He’d gone straight to the heart of the matter with one question.
“I was dazzled by his lifestyle, and he was interesting to talk to, but I wasn’t in love with him.”
“Then why did you agree to marry him?”
Joelle took a deep breath and looked into his eyes again. They’d lost some of their coldness, but she craved the tenderness she’d seen in them earlier. “You’re not a woman. You couldn’t possibly understand this. Most women my age have kids in high school by now. Peggy and I have been called spinsters, old maids, and some other unsavory names for holding out this long. My family thinks something is wrong with me. My other friends are envious that I’m not stuck in a kitchen with an apron tied around my waist.”
Blade’s gaze became penetrating and deep. “But what do you want, Joelle? Forget what’s expected of you. What do you want?”
She swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat. No one had ever asked before. Everyone she knew, except Peggy, had assumed Joelle wanted a husband, two children, a dog, and a professionally decorated home on a quiet street with a white picket fence in the front yard.
“I want to have fun. I want adventure. I want to have the kind of sex I’ve had with you two. I want to laugh and play and not be judged by the clothes I wear or the car I drive.” She looked from one man to the other.
Cristian’s gaze softened. “I’m sorry you felt so trapped with him, Joelle.”
“That’s it, Cristian. That’s exactly the right word. I felt as though I had no choice but to go through with the marriage.”
“Three years is a long engagement,” said Blade.
“I refused to set a date. I knew that once I did I’d have to start making plans, and then it would just cascade until I found myself standing in a church saying
‘I do.’ I just couldn’t take that first step. I kept telling Scott I wanted to establish myself in my career a bit more, and of course he kept saying I’d be too old to have children if we waited much longer.”
“Don’t you want children?” asked Blade.
Joelle shook her head. “Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t hate kids or anything, but I never saw myself as the mothering type.” She looked from one to the other. “That’s terrible, isn’t it?”
“Of course not,” said Blade. “At least you know what you want and aren’t afraid to say so.”
“But I am afraid. At least, I am outside of this place. The only other person who knows I feel this way about marriage and children is Peggy.”
“Joelle, I hear what you’re saying, but it’s just too much of a shock.” Blade’s voice had turned hard again, and Joelle was out of things to say to try and persuade him. “I still think it’s best if you leave. I’ll send a bellhop up to your room.”
As Blade brushed past her, his scent tickled her nose, and Joelle nearly collapsed at the pain coursing through her body. Cristian followed Blade, but not before he gave her a long, searching look.
Chapter Sixteen
Blade stopped at the front desk and told Janice one of their guests had been asked to leave early and to send a bellhop to Joelle’s suite immediately. Then he and Cristian went to Zach’s office and asked for a meeting with all the owners as soon as possible.
As he and Cristian waited in one of the meeting rooms for the others, Blade alternated between an urge to run up to Joelle’s suite and beg her forgiveness, and to drive to Chicago to find Scott Malloy and punch his lights out.
He wanted to believe her. Wanted desperately to believe she’d simply been afraid to tell Cristian she knew Scott and that she had nothing to do with what Scott was trying to do to the resort. But her being here was too much of a coincidence. And Blade couldn’t get past the fact she’d hidden the details of her broken engagement from them for nearly a week, even after Cristian had told her what Scott was trying to do.
Her Wanton Ways [Notorious Nephilim 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 12