Their bedroom. Would it ever be mine? Did I want it to be? I didn’t know.
Gwen was out that night and the next night. Or rather, she was conscious during the hours of darkness, but without control over her physical body. The second night, she could open hereyes on occasion. The following evening, she rose about an hour later than usual, and she was ravenous. I offered my arm and she tore into it. It wasn’t the first time I’d fed a vampire out of their mind, and I breathed through the pain and sensations.
She came back to herself before she took so much she had tochangeme. I was weak, but I’d be okay. She held me and asked what day it was. When I told her, she groaned.
“Damn. Okay. I need to get some work done. Just check in on things and make some adjustments, probably. It depends upon what’s happened while I’ve been out. I’ll order food for you, and we’ll stay in bed. I can do what’s necessary on my laptop. One of the other guards can bring the food delivery down so you don’t have to leave me.”
She worked about two hours. I ate while she worked, and then she insisted we get into the jetted tub together. I felt better after about five pounds of exceptionally well-cooked beef and a few baked potatoes, but the hot tub was still nice. I’d worked out before she rose, which was good. I wasn’t strong enough to handle weights just then.
I’d taken care of her for days, and now she took care of me. She fed me, she loved me, she held me.
And we had gentle sex. The kind where you connect with each other. Somehow, Abbott’s punishment brought us closer. Gwen’s betrayal no longer mattered. I was hers. She’d hurt me, but she’d be careful to avoid that kind of thing in the future. She wouldn’t want to hurt me like that again.
Chapter Eighteen
Kieran
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived home. They’d had four nights together. Would it make a difference? I’d had weeks with him, but I didn’t want to stay gone that long.
I missed them. Ajax had grown on me. So honest. So forthright. He was a breath of fresh air in a world gone mad.
And my time in and around DC had only convinced me even more that our world was spiraling out of control once more. We were on such a precipice. It reminded me so much of the time before the dark ages, but it also reminded me of the rulers who’d had to be taken down and overthrown before the light could beat the dark back — before we could enjoy the Renaissance. But fuck if we hadn’t had to endure the damned crusades in between. Dark forces overcome by dark forces that finally gave way to light. It’d been a horrible eight hundred or so years. Honestly, this political situation could go either way. Light or Dark. There was no other word butprecipice.
Back then, my kind had been able to go to areas now known as Asia, India, Russia, and even parts of the Middle East to escape the worst of it, but whatever happened in this century was going to be global. There would be worldwide economic collapse if things went bad. There’d be no escape.
But I put all of that out of my mind as Abbott’s private plane taxied to a stop and I made my way down the steps. I scentedAjax before I saw him, and I could sense a difference in him. More confidence. More at home in his skin.
And his wolf was more alert.
Interesting.
I hugged him when I reached him, and he returned the embrace.
“It’s good to have you home. How was your trip?”
“Exhilarating as far as business goes, but I missed you and Gwen. I trust the two of you got along okay?”
“You know, there’s this thing called texting now. It’s an easy way to check up on people who are important to you while you’re out of town.”
I chuckled. Something had happened to grow his confidence. I approved. “Andyouknow I wanted to give the two of you this time to yourselves. You and I had a chance to bond one-on-one. I’m trying to give the same to you and Gwen. I don’t want to leave for several months to give you the same amount of time, but if you feel it’s necessary, we’ll have to figure something out.”
He shook his head. “No. I think as long as we all have alone time occasionally, it’ll be okay.”
He opened the passenger door, closed it once I was in, and then opened the trunk so the attendant could put my bags in.
When he finally slid into the driver’s seat, I breathed him in. Wolf and man andmine.
But there was another scent. Old, nearly gone. Another woman.
“You’ve been with someone besides Gwen?” I went looking inside his head as soon as I asked the question, and I immediately saw him with the girl, and saw his conversation with Spence.
But I let him explain it anyway. I had a feeling he needed to talk about it, and I needed to hear his version. Or rather, the version he chose to give me. Not that he’d lie, but how he told thestory would give me more insight as to how he viewed it. Seeing his memories didn’t tell me all I needed to know.
“You know Abbott ordered me to have sex with someone outside our little group. I let Spence know I was having a hard time following the order, and he arranged for me to have a session with a prostitute. The bikers have this motel, and...” he shrugged. “It was awkward at first, but she’s good. She helped make it feel kind of normal. There’s a lot I didn’t know about sex. I’ve never had it with a human before. I’ve really only been with a handful of women, and I was a slave.”
“Abbott is a wise old vampire. Something else is troubling you?”
A great deal was troubling him. I saw it all in a flash, but I also saw that he was going to let Gwen tell the story. He didn’t feel it was his place. Instead, he told me something else that was bothering him. Not a lie, but not the entire truth. However, I understood why he didn’t want to tell me a story he’d view as tattling. Gwen had been in the wrong and she’d been punished. He was right. It was her story to tell. I couldn’t be upset with him for omitting something important. He knew I’d find out. It wasn’t like he thought they were keeping it from me.
