Eduard smiled then clasped his hand tightly. “May I show you around?”
“I’d love that.”
Andvari and Draco had cornered the vampire guards who had accompanied them, so Eduard led Sawyer and Henry into the house. “Most of the houses on the island were originally built in the Victorian style, but many have been replaced over the years as you saw when we drove in. My father’s estate is very formal, but the cottage was built in the Edwardian style, with some Regency touches here and there. So you’ll see that most of the property lines up in a mirror image. It’s a giant rectangle. Since father gifted it to me, I’ve done extensive remodeling.”
The foyer had a double staircase going up each side and a sparkling crystal chandelier hung overhead. Paintings that should probably be in a museum hung over furniture that probably cost more than Sawyer’s car. Henry blinked at the surroundings then looked at Eduard with a puzzled frown. “You actually live here?”
Eduard laughed and wrapped an arm over both of their shoulders. “I do. However, this part of the house is more traditional. Let me show you my suite, which is where we’ll be spending most of our time. I converted the entire west wing into my rooms and left the rest in the more traditional style. There’s a lot of floral in the rest of the house, which fits the period, but I didn’t want that to be where I spent the majority of my time. We bought the property in the 1930s when we immigrated from Europe. At first, we planned to go back and forth, and father still travels to our other estates, but I decided to settle here and make this my primary residence.”
It was easy to forget how old Eduard actually was, and what all he must have lived through. Sawyer would never have imagined he was over a century old, and he hadn’t even asked the others their ages. At least he and Henry were both human and would age like humans did, although he couldn’t imagine growing old while Andvari, Eduard, and Draco all remained looking as they did today.
He couldn’t stay focused on those depressing thoughts though because once they reached the end of the hallway upstairs, Eduard opened a double set of doors and gestured them inside. This was more like it. Henry bounced over to the leather sofa and hopped onto it. The television took up an entire wall.
Sawyer laughed and leaned over to plant a kiss on top of Henry’s head.
“I’m never leaving this spot,” Henry said. “Never.”
“I’ll show Sawyer the bedroom on his own then.”
“Did I say never? I meant hardly ever.”
Eduard pulled them through to another set of doors which led to his bedroom. “The bed isn’t as big as the one at our house, but I spoke to the designer who custom made that one for me and we’re going to do another for my room here. It won’t be ready for a while though. With us sleeping in shifts now, I hope we can make it work.”
The bed was king sized and had huge dark wood paneling. “We’ll make it work.”
They hadn’t managed to all sleep together yet, even though they’d all been in the same bed together for more recreational reasons. Someone eventually had to get up to be on guard, as much as it pained Sawyer when they left. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to take a shift officially. That pesky no power business affecting him yet again, but he often rotated and stayed up with someone at least once a week, if not twice. It was nice to have the long quiet hours to talk one-on-one, and he’d had some of the most intimate conversations with his new mates during those hours.
“Sir,” Cecil said from the doorway.
“Yes, Cecil?”
“I’ve prepared refreshments in the back garden as you requested.”
“Thank you, Cecil. We’ll be down in a moment.”
Cecil bowed and left the room. Sawyer hopped onto the bed and flung his arms out. “Eduard, you’re really going to spoil me with all this aren’t you?”
“That’s my plan, from now until forever.”
Sawyer sat up and made grabby hands for Eduard, who stepped between his legs after only a moment. “I can’t wait.”
Eduard leaned down and kissed him, holding Sawyer’s face in his hands. “I’d like to take you for a walk on the beach later.”
“I’d love that.”
“Good, now let’s go feed Draco before he gets growly. He was not impressed with Bebe’s idea of lunch.”
Henry snorted. “No, he wasn’t. Not a single piece of meat on the table. By the way, I forgot to ask, what exactly is Bebe?”
Eduard tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“What kind of creature, or whatever, is he?” Sawyer added. “Henry and I were guessing, but we didn’t want to be rude and insult him.
Eduard laughed. “Technically, Bebe isn’t a creature. His great great something grandmother was a minor deity so he has some gifts that aren’t quite human, but he is, in fact, human.”
“No way,” Henry said. “I voted for peacock.”
Eduard shook his head. “Not a bad guess, my love, but no. Bebe is who he is.”
