6
Theo
Fortunately, Pierce didn’t berate me like I thought he was going to. He merely led me away from Maxwell’s room and nodded in understanding before taking off. Unlike Adriel, he seemed to recognize that this was a difficult situation and didn’t beat me down for it. Still, it didn’t make his babysitting any less annoying.
Being a vampire with a graveyard shift sleep schedule, I had all night to deal with my thoughts. Maxwell had adjusted back to the normal human schedule after leaving our mansion, and he was no doubt already asleep after the day’s exhaustion. I thought about him curled up in bed, alone, and wished I could be there with him.
That brought me to my first thought--I had a serious problem.
During my fake kiss with Maxwell, I realized something. I didn’t want the kiss to be fake, and I was pretty sure he felt the same way. He couldn’t hide his body’s reaction. The pounding of his heart and the flush of his cheeks were clear as day. Hewantedit.
And not only that, but I wanted it, too. I’d never wanted anything more in my life, not even when I was in the agonizing throes of being turned into a vampire and I desperately wanted the pain to end.
Okay, maybe wanting to kiss Maxwell was a close second.
I mentally cursed myself for going through with that little experiment. When Pierce suggested I was in love with Maxwell, I didn’t believe him. Or rather, maybe I didn’t want to believe him. But Pierce was wise and experienced, and I couldn’t deny that perhaps there was a scrap of truth in his words.
So I tested it out for myself, and found that he was right after all.
Shit.
Much like Maxwell, I’d never had an omega mate before. I dated during my human years, sure, but it was never anything serious. Not like this. The urge to kiss Maxwell had been so powerful that I barely had the strength to pull away. I wanted to crush my mouth against his, push him into the bed, claim him…
I stopped and shook that thought from my mind. No way. Kissing was one thing, butthattrain of thought was totally off limits.
Especially since Adriel and Pierce wanted to keep me one-hundred percent away from Maxwell.
Frustrated, I balled my fists. My claws elongated, nearly cutting into my skin.
They couldn’t do this to me. Not forever. I couldn’t stay away from Maxwell. It simply wasn’t going to happen.
But what could I do? Maxwell had to go back to work, and Pierce and Adriel weren’t going to let me out of the house until I’dsomehowproven to them that I was capable of controlling myself.
I had a plan, but I needed help. I needed…
A peal of laughter distracted me. From around the corner came two tumbling little girls. The older one was running, and the one behind her was crawling, but that didn’t stop her from catching up fast.
Two male voices came from behind them, and Benji and Caleb rounded the corner.
“Do you think we could take bets on them?” Benji asked.
“What, like baby racing?” Caleb replied. “Do you think people would pay to see that?”
“Why not? Although we’d have to hide the fact that they’re half-vampire somehow. Maybe we can dress them up in halloween outfits.”
Lark reached me first. Her vampiric blood accelerated her aging, so although she wasn’t much older than Luna, her growth was like that of a two year old human. She ran into my legs and hid behind me with a giggle. I smiled.
“I think they can still see you,” I told her.
Luna followed, crawling with all her might, furiously trying to catch up with her sister.
Seeing them filled me with happiness. I loved my nieces, and I was glad to be able to spend so much time with them.
“Oh, hey, Theo!” Caleb called. He scooped up Luna, who had almost reached me. She pouted and complained that her chase was cut short. “Are you feeling, er, better?”
“Yeah,” I said, hanging my head a little. “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to take it out on you guys. Adriel was just pushing my buttons on purpose. No offense, Caleb.”
Caleb grinned. “None taken. I know he can be immature sometimes.”
