She scowled at me. “He’s sex on a stick, Cora, but that isn’t why I’m still thinking about him.”
“Do not start to describe his bedroom skills,” I said. “Please.”
“But he does this thing with his teeth.”
I slapped my hands over my ears. “La la la.”
Rebecca rolled her eyes and followed me out of the vault. I stopped my insistent rambling which was saving my ears from being burned with Rebecca’s sex exploits.
“It’s not like you haven’t bedded capable men before now. What makes him so different?”
I walked up to the heavy circular door of the third vault. It didn’t outwardly look any different to the other doors in the room. In fact, it made every effort to blend in. Which was the point. Nothing remarkable to see here, move along.
Rebecca leaned her shoulder against the wall and folded her arms. “He isn’t listening to me,” she said.
“I’m sorry, are you saying it took a man not listening to you to get you to fall head over heels?”
Placing the metal disc into the center of the vault door, it clicked as the grips engaged. “No, you don’t understand. I can push and manipulate males, I snap my fingers and they appear with their tongues lolling and eager eyes.”
I glanced at her. “This isn’t painting you in a flattering light.”
“I’m pretty in any light.”
I snorted as I took the dagger and scored my left palm from my middle finger to my wrist, drawing blood to the surface. It wasn’t an overly complex ritual to open the door. But if one thing wasn’t just so, then the process would fail. If I placed the disc in the wrong way, or didn’t use my left hand, if I drew blood from my wrist to my finger instead of the other way around, then the door would remain sealed.
“So Ezra didn’t bend to your will and that is all it took?” I checked.
“No, there’s a complex set of criteria. But not being bullied around by me has a certain appeal. Nobody wants a doormat.”
I chuckled as I placed my hand on the disc and let my blood seep into the grooves. The other thing about this vault? Only Roberts’ blood could open it. “You fell for the bad boy? How very ordinary of you.”
“Ezra is hardly ordinary. Plus, I would have thought you would understand. Are you telling me some of your attraction to Hudson is not even a little because he doesn’t take any of your shit?”
No, I couldn’t tell her that, because a lot of my attraction was built on the fact he pushed me to do better, be better. There was something uniquely attractive about a man that challenged you but didn’t rule you. It was a fine balance few had learned, but those who had, could wield it to bring any woman to their knees. It’s also why I’ve been holding off for so long. He could crush me, I was one hundred percent sure of that, and it takes a hell of a lot of trust to give someone that power over you.
The metal plate warmed beneath my palm and I checked to make sure I’d fed all the grooves before removing my hand. Rebecca wrinkled her nose. “Why are these things always creepy blood rituals?” she muttered.
“This from the being that has to drink blood to sustain life,” I grumbled.
“I only ingest the smallest amount possible, and even then it is through baggies.”
Rebecca Lexington, ladies and gentlemen, the only known vegetarian vampire in existence, and I was being judged.
“Perhaps Ezra could help you with that,” I teased as I wiped my hand on a towel. “I think he’d be willing to let you bite him, he might even enjoy it.”
Rebecca’s cheeks flushed. “Shut up.”
I was still laughing as we strode up the stairs to the parlor where it looked like a unicorn had thrown up. Bella was eyeballing the sparkly baubles like she was numbering their days.
I was feeling far more jovial than what I had when I went downstairs and even smiled at Hudson as he wrapped an arm around my back.
Harry shot through the ceiling. “Pineapples, pineapples, pineapples,” he shouted and then disappeared. I should’ve known better than to think I could have a moment’s peace. It was the law of the universe to usurp any such thoughts, and I was a fool for forgetting it.
Chapter Twelve
Everyone needs to believe in something.
There’s a superstitious belief that bad things come in threes. You find people saying things like, ‘that’s my third, nothing else can happen now’. Numbers hold a special significance in many cultures, including the Bible, where important words are often repeated three times. Three gifts were presented to Jesus on His birth; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Jesus conquered death and rose after three days, and of course, the holy trinity encompasses God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
