“It was your first day out of training.”
Theo sniffled.“Still.Fuck, I should’ve run the other way when you saw me at the library.”
“As I recall, I compelled you to get into my car, Theo.”
Theo swallowed hard, and his eyes teared up again.Peter braced for more snot.He’d have to get a new dressing gown.
“Right.”Theo looked at Peter, and a single tear ran down his cheek.“If you were human, you’d be short an eye now.You’d be in pain.And it would be on me for thinking…for thinking I could have this.”
Peter perked up.This was progress.If Theo had thought about being able to have “this,” then he wanted “this,” and hopefully “this”was, at a minimum, falling asleep on Peter’s shoulder while watching old horror films, at best falling asleep in Peter’s bed after sex.
“Theo, it’s selfish of you to assume that you are alone.You’re not.I assume you were when you first left Bernard, because I’ve seen your fearless streak.You were brave then, my precious one, and now you need to be brave again.You need to trust me.”
Peter heard movement in the foyer.
“All done.We’re showing ourselves out.Thanks for the food,” Sage hollered.The front door fell shut a few moments later.
Theo smiled at Peter in a sort of placid way.It was the kind of smile that came when someone picked an unwinnable battle and accepted it.Peter had first seen it ages back when he’d still been human, when his human lover and brother-in-arms had told Peter he loved him.
Peter, back then, had not been able to reciprocate the emotion.Yes, they’d shared countless nights alone under the moon, countless moments of pleasure, but Peter hadn’t been able tolove.He’d lived through the battle, and his lover hadn’t.After, he’d mourned the man, mourned how incapable he’d been of giving him what he’d deserved.
“You know what?”Theo nodded to himself.“You really are a good vampire.Even if you lied about my blood.”Every alarm bell Peter had started ringing like a boxer’s ears after a knockout punch.“I’m actually glad I met you.”
Peter nodded.“I’m glad to hear it.And I hope you manage to hold on to that.”He didn’t hesitate.The moment Theo looked at him, Peter caught him in the thrall of his compulsion.“You are not going to run away,” Peter said, the binding strength of his compulsion making the words law to Theo.“You are not going to deal with Bernard by yourself.You are not going to turn yourself into a sacrifice.”The compulsion took easily, and Peter saw on his face that he’d hit at least one of the courses of action Theo had just decided on.
“No…” Theo’s voice cracked with emotion.“Why did you do that?”
Peter stood.“Do you really have to ask, Theodore?I will not let you run into that vampire’s arms only to keep me safe, because in this matter, I do not need you to protect me.I need you to let me do the protecting.”
Peter also really couldn’t handle the kind of drama that would have ensued if Theo had attempted to get Bernard to back off by going back to him.It would require a rescue, all while hoping Theo remained unharmed, and if there was one thing Peter hated, it was a situation he couldn’t control.
If he chooses to be mad at me for a decade after this, I’ll bear it.
Theo ground his teeth.He was still on the verge of freaking out again, and the tears kept overflowing and running down his cheeks.“I brought all of this to your doorstep, Peter, I—”
Peter growled.“I love a bit of mayhem at my doorstep.Perhaps you really should’ve had a chat with the pup.”Peter scooted his chair closer so he could put an arm around Theo.“I have to go into the office today, and you’ll be coming with me.I’ll also let Celeste know that you won’t be coming into work anymore, assuming that is acceptable to you.”
Theo looked up at Peter with swollen, bloodshot eyes.“I…don’t know.”
Peter wiped a few tears off Theo’s right cheek.“Well, I know for you.On a more personal note, I have no desire at all to see you being intimate with another person.None.It’s obviously not for me to decide that you be monogamous, but in case you needed to hear it, there it is.I don’t want you seeing other people, Theodore.”
Theo’s mouth fell open, and Peter picked up the change in his scent, the delicious spike of lust.Theohadneeded to hear that, and Peter made a mental note to tell him variations of it later, when the situation called for a spike of lust Peter could actually act upon.
Right now, he brushed a strand of Theo’s midnight hair back and smiled down at his human.
“Finish your breakfast.I’ll get dressed, and once you are done, we’ll leave.”
Theo nodded, and Peter was relieved to see that the waterworks had dried up.For now.
Theo had gone into his quiet mode on the drive to the firm.Peter had found him standing in the foyer and looking at the front door as if he wanted to test just how tightly Peter’s compulsion bound him, which Peter could understand.To a point.
“You don’t mind parading me around in front of your lawyer buddies?”Theo asked as they rode up in the elevator.“If you want me to tell them I’m a friend—"
“Nonsense.Why would I want to hide you and who you are to me?”Peter straightened his tie in a half-hearted attempt to hide how smug he was feeling about bringing Theo in with him today.“They know not to touch those who are dear to me.”
Peter chuckled at the face Theo made.
“Not what I meant.”All of a sudden, Theo gave the tips of his shoes a close examination.
