“Check your email,” Rowan said. “Glad to help.”
“Now what about the Tiffany windows?” Teag asked. “Those don’t just turn up every day. We’ve had a few over the years at Trifles and Folly, but they weren’t haunted.”
Once again, Erik and Ben tag-teamed filling the others in on what they had discovered. “The haunted window was a commissioned piece, which makes it more valuable because it’s one-of-a-kind,” Erik told them. “The dome from the Commodore Wilson hotel was huge, famous, and priceless. Something like that doesn’t just disappear without powerful people involved.”
“We’re afraid that in addition to being rich, powerful, and mobbed up, the collector who stole the dome might be immortal,” Ben added.
The call fell silent for a few seconds. “That’s possible,” Sorren said finally. “It would take a great deal of wealth—or magic—to hide such a treasure unless it was kept boxed up. A true collector would want it on display, even if he was the only one to see it. If it vanished thirty years ago, that’s still well within the lifespan of a mortal, perhaps a powerful witch.”
“Two people have died because of the smaller haunted window,” Erik pointed out. “The cops don’t want us to move it from our safe, but I’m not going to rest easy until we’ve handed it off to the Alliance or the Briggs Society for permanent resolution.”
“I think we’re both worried that the haunted window showing up may have gotten the attention of the person who stole the Tiffany dome,” Ben said. “Or brought a would-be obsessed collector out of hiding.”
“When you are able to move the haunted window, we’ll send resources to take it off your hands,” Sorren assured them.
“My kind tend to be solitary types,” Sorren replied. “Contrary to what you see on television, we don’t hang out in private nightclubs together. There’s not a lot of trust unless the other person has been known for a long time, and even then, sadly, betrayals happen. Immortality doesn’t necessarily bring out the best in people.”
“Neither does great wealth,” Erik remarked. “Put that together with magic and it doesn’t bode well.”
He knew that Sorren wasn’t the only vampire who intervened on behalf of mortals and saw themselves as protectors. Erik was also well aware that Sorren and his like-minded companions were not typical.
“I will make quiet inquiries about the Tiffany dome,” Sorren said. “I assume you think it’s somehow tied in with the smaller window?”
“The dome was part of the Commodore Wilson since it was built,” Erik replied. “The land is an evil genius loci, and everything about the hotel was snake-bit. All the owners went broke and had horrible misfortune. Such a huge, expensive, one-of-a-kind piece like the dome seems likely to have absorbed some of that bad juju. At best, it’s unlucky, at worst, it’s cursed. But since we don’t know where it is or who controls it, we don’t know if it’s dangerous.”
“I’ll see what I can find out,” Sorren replied. “Although trying to reclaim it is inadvisable for a host of reasons, especially if we’re dealing with a vampire Mob witch.”
Erik flinched at the description, since it put his worst fear about the missing dome into words. “Not planning any rescue missions,” he assured them. “Just want to know what we’re dealing with, and who we might be up against.”
“I’ll see what I can find out through our channels as well,” Cassidy said, and Erik could hear Teag and Rowan murmur in agreement. “We’ll let you know what we find out.”
“Thank you.” Erik felt some of his stress subside. “We might be overthinking this, but just in case, it’s good to have options.”
“Absolutely,” Cassidy agreed. “We’ll be back in touch as soon as we’ve got news. In the meantime, be careful.”
They ended the call, and Ben closed his laptop. “We didn’t exactly get answers, but I feel better knowing that they’re going to help look into things.”
“I hope I’m worrying too much, but my intuition says I’m not,” Erik confessed.
Ben reached out to take his hand. “I made a cottage pie this afternoon. We can have a quiet dinner at home and make an early evening of it.” He gave Erik a lascivious grin. “I can think of some ways to get you tired enough to sleep.”
“I like the way you think.” Erik leaned in to kiss him. “I still don’t know how I got lucky enough to get you.”
“We both got lucky,” Ben pointed out, rising to turn on the oven. “And tonight, we can get even luckier.”
They kept conversation light over dinner, and Erik found that despite the tension of the last few days, it hadn’t affected his appetite. Afterward, they watched some feel-good home and garden shows before heading to bed earlier than usual.
“How do you want it?” Ben slipped beneath the covers naked and held him close.
“I don’t care, as long as I feel you,” Erik admitted. “I don’t want to think about anything, just feel.”
“I can make that happen.” Ben leaned in to start with gentle kisses that became more intense as they roamed from Erik’s lips to his neck, down his torso, and then to his thighs and groin.
Erik groaned, and Ben licked the sensitive skin and lightly nipped, getting a shimmy of hips in response. Ben knew exactlyhow to make Erik’s brain turn off, silencing his thoughts as his body’s pleasure took priority.
Ben swirled his tongue around Erik’s stiff cock, then flicked the tip up and down the shaft before returning to the sensitive head. He slicked the fingers of his other hand and began to roll Erik’s balls and toy with his hole as Ben’s mouth worked his cock.
“So good,” Erik groaned, earning him a dirty chuckle from Ben in response.
