Sorley shrugged, his tone acidic. “He was a sexist, misogynistic bastard even by the standards of the day. My sisters were fine women, but he kept them imprisoned like caged birds, demanding high prices from blokes who wanted to treat them the same way, with added benefits like missing their siblings and mama, and dying in childbirth.”
“He married them off into money?”
“He tried, not that any of them made amazing marriages. Except for Eliza. But she never did get wed. She was the oldest, and insisted Mother needed her at home. As soon as the old man bit the dust, she and Mother sold up and bought a cottage at the coast. Eliza sold paintings, miniatures, and they lived a happy, man-free existence until they both died of old age.” He flicked his gaze in Gethin’s direction. “Not my idea of a happy ending, but they were genuinely happy from what—”
He swung away and gripped the railings as he faced across the water. Gethin counted for a beat of five then went to stand next to him.
“From what you saw? Because you checked up on them?” It didn’t fit the image of Sorley he had, but he had to admit he might be unfavourably biased against the vampire. Weren’t bloodsuckers supposed to be heartless harbingers of doom who stalked the night searching for the next human juice box-slash-notch in the bedpost?
Unfair,his conscience said saltily.Senior Council member, remember? Do better, Hughes.
Sorley frowned at him. “Of course I did. She was mymother.I wasn’t leaving anything to chance.”
“That was decent of you. Can’t have been easy, keeping watch from afar.”
“It wasn’t always me in person. But yes, it was hard. She believed I died in an accident in a lowland Scottish forest. She’d mourned me. She was a gentle and devout woman. Our kind would have had her running to mass in terror for my soul.” A harsh, guttural croak left his mouth. “Bit late for that.”
“You think you’re damned?”
“Who knows? Not much I can do about it if I am. I know I sometimes strut about like I’m God’s gift to the world, part of a new order of superhumans, ready to inherit when the mortal kind have irrevocably fucked over the planet. The chosen ones. Angels without wings. Mostly I think I’m a brittle corpse reanimated by blood and chance, destined to live alone forever.” He shrugged again and shoved at Gethin with a pointy elbow, his smile tight and false. “Fuck’s sake, put the violin away, you soft bastard. I chose this. As much as anyone at death’s door chooses. And I’m content, mostly.” He eyed the quiet streets. “You want to go for a run in fur? If we head along the beach a ways, there’ll be nobody about. I’ll even hold your clothes.”
As they raced down the cobbles and onto the wet sand, Gethin asked the question that had been burning inside him for the past hour.
“So, Melody. Did you? Yes or no?”
Sorley laughed loudly. “I so want to make you squirm, but no. She’s my friend. I don’t feed from her, and I definitely don’t fancy her. I love her, and I’d kill for her, but no, nothing like that. Besides, she doesn’t go for blokes like me. She wasn’t being smarmy, what she said earlier. She likes her blokes with muscles on their muscles and broad hairy chests.” He stopped dead. “Ha, like I do.”
“Because I’m available and closeted and uncomplicated, I know,” Gethin snarled. “Left or right here?”
16
SORLEY
Well,damn. The big wolf was a teensy bit sensitive. He strode ahead of Sorley, his long legs eating up the distance across the sand.
Sorley put on a burst of speed then wheeled around to halt Gethin in his tracks. “Hey, hold up,” he said, hand outstretched to press against that hairy chest he knew was hiding under the long-sleeved T-shirt Gethin wore. He was suddenly very aware of his own heartbeat.
Gethin’s frown wasn’t encouraging, but Sorley didn’t like letting go of an idea when it struck him. “You actually like me, don’t you?”
Gethin reared back as if he’d been shot. “Christ! You aresofull of yourself. You’ve got a tight arse and a mouth like a hoover. What’s not to like? You’ve made it crystal clear I’m as disposable as a fleshjack. As soon as we’ve caught the fucker who’s assaulting the trail of supposed broken hearts you’ve left behind you, I’ll be out of your hair and back to Cardiff like there’s a dragon after me. Don’t stress yourself,Sorley. I’m a grown-up, and I know the difference between good sex and relationship material. Now, am I shifting or not? Because I’m not leaving my clothes on the wet ground.”
Sorley gaped at him. Gethin washurt.It flowed off him, an almost tangible smoke of anger and self-loathing bracketing the pain.He wants me, I know he does. I’m not wrong. Why is he so cross?
The answer struck him like a two-by-four across the forehead.I haven’t told him how I feel.
I didn’tknowhow I felt until just this second.
Well hurry up then!
“Gethin,” he began hesitantly. “I think you’re mistaken.”
The shifter growled. “You don’t want me for sex after all? You know what? I don’t care! Get yourself off to the nearest gay club, dance, drink and fuck your way to oblivion. You’re not my problem any more.” A pulse in his temple ticked in time with the words that spewed from his mouth. “I’m calling Justin. I’m not cut out for this shit.” He pulled his phone from a pocket and powered it up.
Sorley knocked the handset to the sand. “How fucking dare you!” he spat. “You haveonefucking job, Hughes, and it’s not running off the moment the truth shit hits the fan.” He bent and picked up the phone a millisecond before the wolf could pounce. Gethin now looked murderous. He advanced; Sorley withdrew. Pace after pace backwards, grateful for his otherworldly senses that gave him the ability to move without looking where he was going. Gethin’s eyes were mere slits as he rasped,
“You little shit. Give me my sodding phone. Because if I go back to your place without it so I can use my laptop, I’m not gonna give a flying fuck how much of your precious house I smash to gain entrance. I’m done with you. Even if you are wrapped in a deceptively attractive packa—Mmmphh.” He broke off suddenly, his mouth full of Sorley’s desperate tongue.
Sorley, driven by instinct and adrenaline, had swung the wolf around and backed him against the convenient rocks behind them. Leaping at the man, he flung himself at his mouth, using his supernatural strength to literally climb into Gethin’s embrace. The wolf sagged against the wall and devoured Sorley as if they were lovers who’d been separated for years. Hands and fangs scraped flesh, their moans echoing across the deserted beach as they rutted together like crazed animals. Pulling back a fraction. Sorley ground his dick against Gethin’s steel-hard erection and panted into his ear.
