Chapter 5
Ji-Su woke to a dark room. He sat up slowly, looking around in confusion at the unfamiliar surroundings. Then he remembered. Cedric had been a jerk. He’d freaked out because of it and Raul had brought him to his home when he found him walking down the highway.
Ji-Su groaned and dropped his head in his hands. What a mess. After a good day’s sleep, he was embarrassed at his meltdown. And no doubt Cedric was pissed. He needed to get going before Cedric reported to the agency that he’d skipped out and was hanging with another vampire.
Throwing the covers back, he got up to go into the en suite, flipping on the bedroom lights along the way.
The spacious bathroom was equipped with towels and toiletries for guests so he was able to shower and brush his teeth.
Once he was clean and dry with a fresh dry towel wrapped around his hips, he walked back out to the bedroom.
There he stopped, looking at the clothes crumpled on the floor.
He didn’t want to put yesterday’s dirty clothes on his clean body.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have anything else to put on.
Ji-Su grimaced and picked up the yellow sweatshirt, noting the blood drops on the hood.
He was about to pull it over his head when there was a knock at the door.
Ji-Su tossed the stained hoodie on the bed and went to see who it was.
“Yes?”
“It’s Gloria, sir. Mr. Raul asked me to bring you something to wear.”
Relieved, Ji-Su quickly opened the door. The mayordoma stood there, her dark hair pulled up into a neat bun on top of her head and dressed in what appeared to be a uniform of light blue button-down shirt and dark blue jeans.
“You’re a life saver. I was dreading getting dressed in yesterday’s clothes.”
“These should be okay for this evening.”
She passed over a small bundle of folded clothes with a pair of sandals sitting on top.
Ji-Su gratefully bowed as he accepted the clean clothes. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sir.”
Ji-Su closed the door. Gloria had brought him a soft, long-sleeved cotton shirt and a pair of drawstring shorts.
They smelled of fresh dryer sheets. He’d have to skip underwear until he was back at Cedric’s but that was fine for a couple of hours.
He slid his feet into the sandals. They were too big but he wouldn’t have them on for long.
Dressed in the borrowed clothes and carrying yesterday’s under his arm, he went downstairs, expecting to say goodbye to Raul and get in his car and go. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Raul came out of a nearby room to greet him.
“Good evening,” he said.
“Hi,” Ji-Su responded a little shyly.
“Feeling better?”
“Yes.” Ji-Su ran a hand through his sleep tousled hair. “I’m mostly embarrassed I reacted that way and you had to go out of your way to help me.”
Raul shook his head. “It wasn’t out of my way and I was glad to help. Would you like breakfast?”
Ji-Su guessed he should eat before he went back. And he could spend a few more minutes with Raul which would be nice. He nodded. “I would.”
“Okay, then. Follow me.”
Raul led him across the front hall to a room that had its double doors opened wide in welcome.
It was a breakfast room, with a high ceiling, exposed beams, and a black iron chandelier hanging in the center.
An area rug covered a portion of the wood floor and a large, dark wood breakfast table surrounded by hunter green chairs was placed in the middle of it.
During the day, the room would be filled with sunshine.
Right now, the windows opened to a gray and purple ombre evening sky.
There were multiple stands and shelves holding plants, and a multi-colored natural stone fireplace took up most of one wall.
On another, brightly colored plates with intricate patterns were displayed.
It was the exact opposite of Cedric’s cold, mostly white town house.
Raul pulled out a chair for him.
“Thank you,” Ji-Su said as he sat down.
Raul took the seat at the head of the table, adjacent to Ji-Su. Once he was seated, servers came into the room. They served a big, colorful breakfast of scrambled eggs with peppers and cheese, croissants, strawberries, and sausage links.
“This looks great, thank you,” Ji-Su said to the servant who gave him his plate.
He put a napkin in his lap and picked up his fork.
Raul did the same across from him. They didn’t talk as they ate.
The silence was oddly comfortable, considering that they didn’t know each other.
When Raul was halfway through his meal he spoke.
“Cedric showed up earlier this evening.”
Ji-Su’s eyes went wide at that news. “That’s unexpected. He doesn’t usually leave the house this early. He must have been really mad to get up and make the drive out here at this hour.”
“Does he get mad at you often?”
“It’s not like that.” Ji-Su shrugged. “He’s just an entitled jerk.”
“Hmmm. Well yes, he was mad.”
“I’d better get going then. Were your staff able to bring my car back?”
“Your car is here. However, you don’t need to go back to Cedric.”
“I do. I don’t want him to report my absence to the agency and have them think I’m breaching my contract. If that happens, I’ll be out the rest of my salary.”
“Your contract has been taken care of.”
“What do you mean?”
“I bought out your contract.”
At that calmly stated announcement, Ji-Su’s mouth dropped open in shock. “I had ten months left to go. You gave Cedric fifty-six thousand dollars? Why?”
“I was concerned for you.”
“Vampires know they can’t abuse their blood pets or they’ll be blacklisted from the agency.”
“Yes, that’s true. But that rule is in place because there have been vampires who made it necessary.
And unfortunately, there are still occasions where a vampire crosses the line with the human under their care.
I can’t see the future, but something tells me that Cedric would have hurt you.
I did not feel it was safe for you to go back to him for the remainder of your contract. ”
“Oh.” Ji-Su set down his fork. Realization was starting to hit that maybe Cedric wasn’t just a jerk, he might have been dangerous.
He’d had an uncomfortable gut feeling about the vampire, but he’d attributed it to being nervous serving as a blood pet for the first time.
Apparently, his gut had been trying to warn him.
He stared unblinking at the flaky croissant on his plate.
It was possible that his seemingly erratic decision to rush from Cedric’s home with nothing more than keys, wallet, phone, and the clothes on his back had been his subconscious’s attempt to save him from an unpleasant fate.
Not wanting to think too hard on that, he mentally shook himself.
After a few moments, he looked up at Raul. The vampire was watching him with concern in his deep brown eyes. “Since you paid for me, I guess that means I’m your blood pet now.” Beneath his worry over Cedric was a pulse of excitement at the thought of belonging to Raul.
“You don’t have to be. I didn’t buy out your contract to have you for myself. I did it because I was concerned. You don’t owe me anything in return for that.”
“But you did pay for me. You should get something in exchange. If I don’t stay as your blood pet, I’ll be in your debt.
Serving as your donor for the ten months you paid for is the least I can do.
” Still overwhelmed at what Raul had done for him, Ji-Su looked around the breakfast room.
Although large, it was a warm, cozy room with beautiful furniture and rustic yet elegant artwork.
“Your home is lovely and I’m a stranger.
I can understand if you don’t want me barging in when you didn’t plan for that.
I don’t have to stay here like in a usual blood pet arrangement.
I could get my own place and drive out to your ranch when you need to feed. ”
Raul held up a hand to stop his rambling.
“If you’re sure you want to serve as my blood pet then you will of course stay here at the ranch.”
Ji-Su nodded. “I’m sure.” He’d wanted to see Raul again. and although he’d thought it would be nice to do so when he no longer needed to serve as a blood pet, he couldn’t hate this turn of events. He’d rather serve as blood pet for Raul—who he actually liked—than Cedric.
“Alright then,” Raul said. “Your agency will draw up a new contract between us. They’re vetting me as well. That should all be taken care of tonight.”
Ji-Su was relieved that was so easily settled. “I guess I should go and get my things from Cedric’s. Do you have anyone who can help me pack up and bring everything back here? It’s not much. Nothing more than clothes and gaming equipment. Everything else is in storage.”
“Why don’t you wait a day or two for that? Let Cedric cool down before you return for your stuff.”
“But I don’t have any clothes here.”
“I can take you shopping in Ladue Circle tonight and we’ll get whatever you need.”
Ji-Su grinned at Raul casually naming the most expensive shopping area in Dear Lake. “I don’t need to go to Ladue Circle for a few sweatshirts and a pair of jeans. Target is fine.”
“Okay, then. Eat up and we’ll go.”
AFTER brEAKFAST, RAUL made the call to let the agency know that Ji-Su would be staying with him and to go ahead with the paperwork and vetting.
He couldn’t disguise the hint of happiness that slipped into his voice as he informed the agency supervisor that Ji-Su had elected to stay with him.
He had Ji-Su there in his home, without having to wait for his original contract with Cedric to run out.
The possessive urge to keep Ji-Su for himself returned. He was close to making that happen.
After he finished the call, they headed out for Target, riding together in the back seat of the Cullinan. During the ride, Raul finally got the full story of what had happened the night before.