“Okay. That’s it.” I rolled myself off him, using all the energy I have. I almost fell down. It forced him to put me where I wanted in the first place.
“Now, who’s nuts? Don’t do shit like that,” he yelled.
“Don’t yell at me.” I leaned on Carter’s hand to stand, and then faced the four of them. “We need some ground rules in here.” I pointed a finger at Slasher before he could speak. “I’m making them.”
“I’m not choosing one of you. I can’t imagine myself with one of you without the others. I know it’s unnatural to feel so much love for four men at the same time, but so is everything else around here. We have to learn to live together in this, maybe odd for you, lifestyle. One woman. Four men. Equal rights. No one can pull rank when it comes to us.”
All eyes were on Slasher.
He snorted. “You know I can just kill those motherfuckers and have you all for myself, right?”
“So can they. But do that, and you’ll never see me again.”
When no one responded, I stared at each one of them. “Are we clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Carter, Terror and Inferno complied.
“Slasher?” I rolled my eyes at him.
“Fuck you, Vixen Legend.” He rose to his feet. “Yes.”
“Yes?”
“I said a fucking yes. What, you want me to sing it? But if any of those fuckers think, just think about disobeying or disrespecting me because of you or anything again, they don’t get to live another day.” He cut in and stood one step from me, fuming. “And the time you’re with me, you’re with me. They treat you like the Prez’s old lady, understood?”
“Yes, Prez,” I mocked. “And when it’s their time, you butt out.”
“Whatever,” he snarled. Then he kissed me. So hard it made me wet.
“Looks like it’s Prez’s time now.” Inferno snickered. “Scatter.”
Malcolm barged into the room, his expression tight. “Some fucker has been drinking hikers on the Eastern side. He’s been leaving corpses for a couple days, writing I’m a vampire on their chests. The police are escalating things. We gotta intervene. Like now.”
I looked at Slasher. “Go.”
He snorted. “I’m not gonna leave you.”
“Seriously, go. All of you. Some lunatic is on the loose. You gotta go stop him before he kills more people. I can take care of myself for a few hours. Besides, the prospects are guarding the house.”
“I’m not leaving you by yourself. You’ll pop any minute.”
“I’ll stay,” Carter said.
I kissed Slasher on the cheek. “See? I won’t be by myself.”
Slasher sighed, looking from me to Malcolm and me again. “Fine. I won’t be late.” He stared at Carter. “If anything happens, anything at all, you call me.”
“Yes, Prez.”
“Or better yet…” Slasher bit his wrist. Dark blood, almost black, trickled along his forearm as he stretched it me. “Drink.”
I crinkled my nose. “What?”
“If you drink my blood, I can track you and you can speak in my head. For my sanity, it will make me feel you’re safer.”
Carter glowered. “What about the baby? The blood will fuck it up.”
“It won’t. The baby is already formed. The DNA is complete.” Still, I just stared at the blood, reluctant.
