Zack said, “Roger doesn’t hand out collars like party favors. He takes his role as master seriously.”
“He’s been a repeat customer,” Carver said. “I thought he might add me to his harem.”
“The correct term for a group of vampire pets is ‘collection.’”
“Collection sounds stuffy. You don’t have sex with acollection.”
I have to know. Zack took a sip of coffee to give him time to steady his nerves. Slowly, he returned the cup to the table and raised his gaze to meet Carver. “Has he slept with you?”
“I keep offering but he never takes me up on it,” Carver said.
Why? Why hasn’t he slept with Carver?Zack slowly turned his coffee cup, rotating it against the table. The slightest scrape noise eked out.Don’t overthink it.
“Come on, share the secret. How’d you earn it?” Carver asked.
I freed him from a decades’ long curse and happen to have a magical dagger that can kill his ancient evil sire and we’re only pretending.But that couldn’t be the story he shared. So far, when others asked, he’d been able to say they’d met on the internet and that was it. Carver clearly wanted specifics. Zack hadn’t invented a clever story.
Carver gently touched Zack’s wrist and pressed more of his leg against his. Zack’s pulse thundered in his ears and his skin was blazing, but all of that was turning to ice in his veins. Because he didn’t know how to do this. All of his research and studying and he had no freaking clue what to do with someone openly hitting on him.
Only … he did have an out. Data slid into place and he carefully detached himself from Carver’s touch. “I pleased him. And you shouldn’t touch what’s his without his permission.”
“He’s the strict leash type?” Carver raised his eyebrows in surprise. “I didn’t figure him for that kind of vampire.”
“My master has been more relaxed due to the nature of Nell’s sanctuary,” Zack replied stiffly.
Carver shrugged. “If sex with him is anything like his bite, then I can handle the leash.”
Zack leaned forward and under his breath, demanded, “Why are you so intent on becoming his property?”
Carver raked his gaze over Zack before matching him, leaning in so their faces were only inches apart. “When you got to town, you were wearing worn out shorts and hand-me-downs. Now you’ve got a monogramed bag and expensive clothes.You’re sleeping in the most impressive mansion in the state. He’s hot and rich, who wouldn’t want him?”
In his mind, Zack screamed at Carver. He pictured going off on a long rant of the bullshit he’d had to endure in the training alone and continued into a lecture about the dangers of the GLC. The reality of his life was on the tip of his tongue.
But he swallowed it. He drew in a steady breath. “My master is returning to his coven. The GLC is nothing like Nell’s coven.”
“Public feeding and fucking doesn’t bother me,” Carver said.
“I’ve been training for two months,” Zack replied.
“I’m born and raised in Taliville. I know the etiquette.”
Zack strangled the urge to shout and stood. Pulling on the coldest affect he could muster, he stood, slung his bag over his shoulder ,and swept up his coffee cup. “If you want to be his that bad, just ask him.”
“Maybe I will,” Carver said.
“Fine.” Zack stormed out of the coffee shop.
Reed had warned him that there would be people who were nice to him because they thought he’d be an easy route to Roger. But the concept that people wouldwanthis new lifestyle caused the hunter part of his mind to short-circuit. The anger in him was irrational. He knew that. He longed to find a place to shove it because every dawn only seemed to bring out more in him. The constant deference and compliance he was expected to show to vampires, especially Roger, only drove that anger deeper.
Objectively, he knew submission was what some craved. He’d thought he might understand it and even want it himself. But only for Roger, maybe. Being in proximity to vampires had opened his eyes.
Zack unclenched his hand and double-checked the street as he crossed. He had a busy day ahead of him and only so many hours of daylight before he had to be back at the mansion.Iwon’t live like this forever. Once Roger is the coven master, everything will change. I just have to hold on.
CHAPTER 5
Night had settled into the charming streets of Taliville roughly thirty minutes before Roger left Nell’s mansion on a long walk. He had one of the thin necklace boxes. The last rays of light were gone, but the true darkness of night hadn’t yet come. The town’s streetlights were dim enough that the stars above were visible, though a few clouds flirted with the moon and the heavenly bodies.
Along his way, Roger nodded to a few familiar faces when they smiled or nodded in his direction. While there was a certain cookie-cutter aspect to the homes in the less affluent neighborhood, the houses had hints of individuality through choices of gardens or siding colors. Few had fenced-in yards, and those that had “Beware of Dog” signs had the distinct scent of shifter magic nearby.
