Blood Knot

by Cooper-Posey, Tracy

  Sebastian rolled his eyes and gave the driver instructions to head for Dublin airport. His accent was Irish, and sounded just as genuine, but with a different regional accent from Nial’s.

  “Right ye are, m’lord,” the driver told Sebastian and put the car in gear with a crunch and jerk of ancient metal.

  Sebastian tapped Nial’s shoulder. “Make it a luxury line,” he said. “You can woo me with your baubles for a change. It’s been a while since I got the red carpet treatment.”

  Nial rolled his eyes and turned his head to look out the window, concentrating on his conversation with the desk clerk.

  Winter stared at Sebastian. “My lord?” she repeated softly.

  Sebastian frowned. “They have long memories around here,” he said in an undertone. “Leave it, Winter.”

  The taxi driver clucked his tongue. “Aye, we know how to properly acknowledge a peer, even if ‘e be a English one.” He swiveled his wrinkled, grey head to look at Winter. “Yon laddy don’t want you to be knowing he’s the elder son of the Earl of Knighton and rightwise Viscount Norwood all on his lonesome.”

  “Paddy…” Sebastian said with a sigh. “That was over two hundred years ago.”

  Winter could feel her eyes growing wider. Paddy was a vampire, too? And Sebastian…was a lord?

  “What about that thing you said about more than two of you meeting at a time?” she whispered to Nial.

  Nial pocketed his phone. “We’re not meeting. And there’s only two of us here, technically.”

  She rolled her eyes at him and he kissed her in response.

  Paddy chuckled.

  “Flight details?” Sebastian enquired.

  “A charter to Heathrow and Singapore Airlines to New York.” Nial barely lifted his mouth away from hers to give Sebastian his answer. He kept his gaze upon Winter’s face. “You’ll enjoy this journey, too,” he said softly, just for her.

  Her face flamed deep red. She couldn’t help it, even though for something as simple as this, she normally could control her reactions. The blood flushed through her surface capillaries before she had a chance to halt it.

  Winter barely managed not to look at Sebastian.

  “This is going to be such a fun trip,” Sebastian said dryly.

  Nial grinned and touched his lips to hers lightly. His grin held all sorts of devilment.

  * * * * *

  But contrary to the mischief Nial appeared to be brewing, two hours out from Heathrow, peace reigned and Winter could feel herself starting to relax.

  Nial had behaved himself since they had left Ireland. Nial on his best behavior meant he was a pleasant, good humored and charming man, getting along with everyone and refusing to create waves of any sort. He even defused tension between Sebastian and her in subtle ways that Winter barely noticed until the absence of tension between them drew her attention to what he was doing.

  It hadn’t occurred to her that manipulating people might be used for positive reasons, until now. And damn, but Nial was good at it. She wanted to resent him for it, but the results were so nice.

  Is this what he had meant by enjoying the journey?

  They had three seats all to themselves in a corner. The hostesses set a table for them and a third temporary chair for Sebastian to pull up to the table. Then the graceful hostesses placed meals in front of all three of them. Even Nial had ordered a meal for himself, taking great care over the selection, picking and choosing items with care. Winter had supposed it was part of passing as human. But when his meal was set in front of him she discovered he had a different purpose in mind.

  For now he had two food tasters on hand and Nial intended to take advantage of this rare and idyllic opportunity.

  In between mouthfuls of her own meal, Winter would suddenly find herself confronted with bites of something from Nial’s plates. The first time, she hesitated, then chewed the morsel of duck l ‘orange and swallowed as Nial licked the fork with relish. The next mouthful was creamy mash potato and this time Nial leaned across the small table and kissed her, tasting the residue in her mouth.

  Sebastian watched, astonished, his own forkful of medium-rare steak hovering in mid-air.

  Nial sat back in his chair and nudged the fork towards Sebastian’s mouth. Sebastian returned to eating with a slight shake of his head. “You’ve slipped a few cogs, Nial,” he murmured.

  “I’m enjoying myself. You should try it.”

  “I do. Three times a day.” Sebastian held up his next bite for Nial to see. “Unlike you, I don’t pretend. I do it for real.” He put the steak in his mouth and chewed.

  “If you’re really enjoying yourself so much, why are you so sour about it, then?” Nial asked.

  Sebastian grinned, his green eyes dancing. “You know why.”

  Winter looked at the two. Why? She didn’t know.

  Nial’s answering smile was warm. “Relax. Eat.” And the conversation moved on, giving her no time to explore this new mystery. Besides, the two of them were at peace, getting along, especially with Nial working so hard to ensure they did. Winter didn’t want to spoil the harmony with her own probing of a subject that was obviously painful for Sebastian.

  Nial shook his head. “It is very strange watching you eat, Sebastian. It looks quite natural. But very odd.”

  “Yes,” Winter agreed. “It does.”

  Nial held out a honeyed carrot toward Sebastian, who shuddered. “Not those. They’re disgusting.” He glanced at Winter. “Winter has a sweet tooth. Get her to try them for you.” He glanced at Nial’s plate. “The duck. I haven’t tried that myself yet.”

  Nial cut a small piece of duck and slid it into Sebastian’s mouth. He licked the fork thoughtfully. “You didn’t leave much behind to taste,” he complained.

  “Next time I’ll be sure to spit on your fork for you,” Sebastian replied, deadpan.

  “If I must, I’ll try a carrot for you,” Winter offered, although she was no fan of honeyed carrots, either. “But you can’t afford to disturb you digestive system, Nial. You have to be careful. No sugars, no enzymes.”

  He nodded, a tiny line between his brows. Silently he held out a tiny baby carrot gleaming with dark roasted honey and spices and about to drip on the tablecloth.

  Winter caught the dollop of sauce on her tongue. Wonderful flavors exploded in her mouth and she gasped as her lips closed around the carrot. Nial withdrew the fork and she chewed, aware that she was making sensual sounds and rolling her eyes.

  “I’d better have one,” Sebastian said, watching her with his head cocked to one side.

  “I’m not sure you’d be safe with one,” Nial murmured, his eyes narrowed as he studied her.

  “Fork it over, big guy,” Sebastian said, affronted.

  Winter swallowed reluctantly, delighted at the subtle flavors, spices, and sweetness. “Wow!” she said.

  Nial surged across the table and kissed her, both hands holding her face steady as his tongue explored her mouth, sweeping through it to taste the after effects of the spices, the sweetness.

  He fell back in his chair and licked his lips. “Damn,” he murmured. “That was good.”

  “Fuck, you’re not leaving me out of this one,” Sebastian swore. He stabbed at Nial’s tray, snagging a carrot and eating it. “Oh my god,” he declared.

  Nial grabbed the back of Sebastian’s head and brought it forward to meet his lips.

  Winter’s breath stopped.

  It wasn’t really a kiss, she told herself. Nial was tasting the food.

  But it was. It was a kiss all the same. His lips were pressed against Sebastian’s, just as they would have been thousands of times in the past. She was looking at what would have been.

  Her body grew taut and hot with instant arousal. Just like that her clit was swollen and throbbing with the need to be petted. She ached for attention. To be taken.

  And for a confused moment she wasn’t sure which of the two men in front of her she wanted to have her.

  Or both
.

  And for a split second her mind flashed on the moments in the bedroom in Ireland, when Sebastian had held her pinned to the bed and Nial had been lying next to her.

  Winter’s arousal spiked harder and hotter at the thought.

  Nial sat back with a grin, licking his lips with the satisfaction of a cat who had eaten cream and got away with it. “It tastes different in your mouth,” he said. Then his smile abruptly dropped and he gripped the edge of the table, his gaze unfocused.

  Sebastian frowned. “Nial?”

  Winter reached for Nial’s knee under the table and took a reading. There were trace levels of amylase and polysaccharides. The food had been irritating his salivary glands.

  “Sweet Jesus,” she breathed. “Sebastian, pull the table out of my way. I need a better grip on him.”

  “What the hell?” But he obeyed. He jumped out of his chair, folded it up and shoved it out of the way. Then he gripped the table and heaved with a slow, controlled burst of strength.

  Nial’s hand fell into his lap. He sat quiet still, staring ahead like a lifeless dummy.

  “What’s wrong with him?” Sebastian demanded in a soft voice designed not to carry.

  Winter pushed between Nial’s knees, opened his shirt and placed her hand over his heart. She explained about the amylase and the salivary glands. “His systems are dormant, Sebastian, they can’t provide the saliva we would in response to the stuff he was tasting. But they were trying to and his body was rebelling and locking down on itself.”

  Sebastian pushed a hand through his hair, spilling locks around his face. “Locking down?” he repeated. “What does that mean? I’ve never seen one of us do this before.”

  “I bet you’ve never seen one of you flirt with food before, either,” Winter replied. “You’re the computer expert, Sebastian. What happens when two programs get into a head-lock?”

  “Doesn’t happen these days,” Sebastian said.

  “What did you used to do, then?”

  “Reboot,” he said. Then he grimaced. “I get your drift. These days we restart the program. What are you going to do?”

  “Shut down the human program,” she said. “Give me a moment.”

  Sebastian’s hand settled on her shoulder. “What can I do?”

  “Nothing,” she said shortly. Then she reconsidered. “No, you might be useful. I’m still learning vampire biology, Sebastian. It’s black in there. Stay with me.”

  She closed her eyes and probed.

  “Can I talk?” he whispered.

  “Yes. Just don’t touch me. It’ll screw up my reading. And I might be slow answering. This takes concentration.”

  “I bet.”

  Winter found Nial’s salivary glands and set about shutting them down and repairing the inflammation and damage.

  “You really let Nial coax you into his bed with a line as simple as ‘I’ll be honest’, Winter?”

  “No.”

  “Then how did he get you there?”

  “Do you want to outline for me how this is any of your business, Sebastian?”

  She heard his little hiss. Impatience? Frustration.

  “We were friends once,” he said. “I’m not sure what we are now except that we’re utterly dependent upon each other for our lives. But I’m still…concerned about you. You did save my life twice over in Singapore, Winter. I owe you for that in ways I can’t begin to count. So when Nial, the master manipulator, moves in on you…yeah, I guess I feel I have a right to ask.”

  Winter absorbed Sebastian’s words. They sounded sincere enough. She suddenly wished she could touch him and measure his honesty. After all, Nial had trained Sebastian in the fine art of confidence scams, hadn’t he?

  Nial’s salivary glands shut down and dormant once more, Winter turned her attention to getting his body to re-absorb the amylase and polysaccharides, and soothing the inflammation. Once the inflammation had subsided, she suspected Nial would “wake”.

  Winter opened one eye to look at Sebastian. “Nial didn’t have to coax me into his bed, Sebastian. I wanted to be there. I wanted him. I told him an honest seduction would get me into his bed, but all his professional seduction techniques would repel me. So he settled for honesty, and he got me as promised.”

  Sebastian pushed his hand through his hair, mussing it again. “How on earth did you arrive at such a profound conversation in the first place?” he said, sounding astonished, pissed-off and amused all at once.

  Winter smiled. Sebastian sounded like a big brother, protective and aggrieved.

  “I asked her, Sebastian,” Nial said, sounding very tired. He leaned back in his seat with a sigh and Winter’s hand lost contact with his chest. “You should try it sometime. The straightforward question often gets you surprising answers.” He picked up Winter’s hand and kissed the back of it.

  “You heard all of what we just said,” she told him.

  “Yes. I couldn’t speak a word, but I could hear everything.”

  “Fabulous,” Sebastian said dryly, shoving his hands into his pockets.

  Nial smiled. “Hearing is passive for both human and vampire systems. You might remember that if ever there is a next time this happens, Sebastian.”

  “You’re not going to keep tasting food, are you?” Winter said, alarmed.

  Nial shook his head. “Once is enough. But there might be future uses in this lesson.”

  Winter stood up and stepped into the aisle. “I need a shower. Can you two not tear each other’s throats out for twenty minutes if I leave you alone?”

  Nial waved his hand. “I don’t have the energy.”

  Sebastian sat in her seat, studying Nial. “You’re going to have to feed soon,” he judged, speaking softly. “That took it out of you.”

  Nial nodded.

  Winter paused from reaching for her overnight bag. “We’re still five hours from New York. If you feed on anyone here, they’re going to notice.”

  “Use me,” Sebastian said.

  And Nial’s gaze flickered to Winter.

  Her gut wanted to tighten in alarm, but Winter couldn’t see where the danger lay. She pulled down her overnight bag, making herself moved casually. “That seems sensible,” she said. “As Sebastian is human now, you may as well take advantage of the fact. Either Sebastian or me, and I’m not familiar with how it works yet. I might screw it up and for right now you don’t need that.”

  “It’s not you who might screw it up,” Nial growled. His eyes seemed darker. The irises were smaller. Consumed by the pupils that were dilating.

  Sebastian nodded. “And I’m physically stronger,” he added.

  Winter shuddered. “I don’t think I want any of that explained. Not now, not with Nial looking like that. Go and feed him, Sebastian. I’m going to take a shower.”

  She grabbed her bag and sought one of the hostesses to arrange a shower for herself. The shower was strictly timed. Only five minutes, but she was allowed time to primp and change afterwards and just being able to wash away travel stains and change her clothes was a luxury beyond compare. She lingered, stretching and enjoying the first time she had been alone with her thoughts since Nial had appeared in her work shed four days before.

  Only four days…

  Or was it five? Because she had crossed the international date line at least twice now she wasn’t sure exactly how many days in her personal time line had passed. The official calendar said four days had passed but somehow she had squeezed an extra day in there by virtue of spending most of that time hanging higher than 20,000 feet over the globe and hopping time zones.

  Winter packed up her bag and headed back to the far corner of the section where they were seated, feeling fresh at last and happier than she had for a while. Nial seemed content to keep the peace between everyone, instead of stirring things up, and now even Sebastian had thrown out the first glimmer of an olive branch between him and herself. If she could follow up on that, perhaps they could bridge the yawning gap between them, too.
>
  Winter realized she was feeling happy and optimistic because for the first time in a long time she had hope. It was a good feeling to have.

  She stowed her overnight bag in her locker. Nial’s seat, next to her, was empty. The table next to it had been cleared and removed. All signs of the meal had gone.

  “I don’t understand how you could do it, Bastian.”

  It was Nial’s voice, whispering along the wall. Winter looked around, frowning. Then she glanced down along the side where her seat hugged the curved wall of the aircraft. There was a faint susurration of air-conditioned, cool air running along the port-holed wall. Air…and sound.

  Nial and Sebastian must be sitting in Sebastian’s suite.

  Her heart hammering, Winter deliberately sank onto her seat.

  “Do what?” Sebastian said, his voice soft.

  “Fall in love with her,” Nial replied.

  “That? Falling in love with Winter was the easy part. You know, Nial, in so many ways, she’s a lot like you. And then she’s so not like you. She’s like me. And then she’s so unique. So surprisingly…warm.”

  Winter moaned and buried her face in her hands, but Sebastian’s voice went on relentlessly and she knew she had to hear it all now. She had chosen to listen, after all.

  “It was the being in love with her that killed me. All those endless men. One after another, after another.”

  “You could have left at any time, Bastian.” Nial’s voice was soft, full of sympathy.

  Sebastian sighed. “Couldn’t,” he said simply. “I just couldn’t. So I fucked men, women, endless, faceless hoards of them, to try to drive her and the men in her bed from my mind.” Another heavy sigh. “And now you.”

  Winter pressed her fingers to her temples. Her head was about to explode.

  “This is just a temporary aberration with you, Bastian. It always is. She’s mortal. You get into a muck sweat over a girl every century or so and cry about what might have been, but eventually they die and you come back to me. You always do.”