Chapter EIGHT
“Something’s wrong with Mr. Vex,” Rosavelt whispered when he walked out.
“Clearly,” Joe whispered back.
“Do you think he’s sick and doesn’t wanna admit it?”
“I think he just has big important things on his mind.” She gasped and pointed. “The clock!” She tiptoed over to the back wall and gawked before the antique piece. “Beautiful,” she murmured, stroking her fingers along the aged wood, wondering how many homes it had stood in across the centuries. How many seconds, minutes, and hours had it kept for families over the years?
Her wrist tingled as she recalled again the way he’d grabbed her. Scared the shit out of her. The strength in his huge hand, the fierce look in his eyes and the chill in those two words. Don’t. Touch.
She’d felt like a plague. He’d crucified her slowly with his judgy stare upon getting out of the car, taking his time recording every inch of the south swamp filth. She wasn’t stupid, she knew how he felt about her. His kindness was strictly for Rosavelt’s sake, always had been. And she thought she didn’t mind that, even thought it was sweet, but no, it damn well bothered her. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d dressed to impress. Rosavelt talked her into it for one reason—because she wanted to be talked into it. She wanted him to see her. She honestly felt invisible when Rosavelt was there, and it made her sick to feel any icky way when he was kind to her daughter all because she needed a little of the same.
How quickly and easily he’d resurrected the woman in her. Without even trying. Or wanting to. Wasn’t fair one bit how impossibly delicious he was. That ink on his head was panty melting. And she couldn’t remember for the life of her why she hated a man with a beard.
Maybe ten minutes later, she heard, “My apologies.”
Joe spun at his voice, finding him before Rosavelt. Oh dear God. He’d changed. She spun back to the clock. Dark denim jeans, fitted black short-sleeve shirt that revealed much more ink and muscles, holy swampcicle, so unfair. No apologies for the helicopter mother standing in the way of the only thing he wanted. Her possibly gifted child. She stared blindly at the clock as he gave Rosavelt everything a little girl craved. A caring, loving, gorgeous male. Any other scenario, she’d step aside and smile with gratitude. But, with her daughter, she couldn’t. Her job, her vocation, was being her mother. And God knew she wanted Rosavelt to succeed as much as she could in everything her sweet heart desired.
All those nights of guilt had finally caught up to her. Knowing she was overworking, neglecting the more important things with her kids. It was time to let her fly. Somebody else was stepping up to the plate and she wasn’t about to get in the way of that no matter what her stupid brain and body decided it suddenly wanted and needed.
She waited for the shame to consume her for having female needs but only encountered numbness.
“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?” Vex called from behind.
“It is,” she concurred as cheerily as she could muster, her awakened needs caving her chest in.
“If you’re ready, I’d like to take Rosavelt on a quick tour.”
“Yay!” Rosavelt said, her feet racing for the door.
He’d like to take Rosavelt on a tour. No, she was definitely not ready. “Let’s do it.” She bit the bullet and turned, keeping her eyes on her daughter only. “You excited?” she asked, smiling at the glow on her face as she made her way closer while staying out of their way.
She felt his stare on her and fixed her attention on his apartment. “Your place is very nice and cozy.” She headed for the door when looking at him became too hard to resist. “Can’t wait to see the rest.”
THE SHOWER WAS A COMPLETE failure. He was not at all freed from Nitro’s diabolical sex craze. But there was no getting out of the problem. Only plowing through it while incurring the least amount of damage.
He’d changed into less formal clothes at seeing her inadequacy. No doubt from him ripping her dress off with his eyes. She’d surely seen it. Holy fractals, Rosavelt had too, no doubt. And that single touch was still being dragged through his gifts and hungers, learning all it could. She’d been scared yes, but there was no denying the need in her gaze, her breaths. He’d tasted and smelled it, seeping from her pores. And her jacked up heartbeat reached clear to his balls before getting measured by his cock.
Now he had the final warning from the Marsh Moron about drinking her blood while fucking her to further assist with explicit graphic fantasies.
He could not permit himself to look at her. If she had an inkling of what was going on in his mind and body, she’d bolt, and he’d lose what mattered—helping sweet Rosavelt. She had necessary needs to feed and him taking advantage of her mother suffering from various forms of loneliness was not one of them.
No, Rosavelt had to come first. She was so careful to include her mother, a testament to her premature adulting skills she’d been required to learn due to having a single parent crippled by loss and guilt. It was unfair to all, but more unfair was not giving the child what was owed her. A proper childhood and an education befitting her bright mind. He could offer that and would if he could convince her mother it was the best thing for her at this time.
Which meant more wooing. A very tricky task now that his dick demanded he save the mother from her screaming sexual needs.
From his apartment to the main hall, he fucked her like a rabid animal in a dark corner of his mind. Worse, he was in the process of convincing himself she'd be free if he just met her needs because surely, they were his and his alone to meet. He’d resurrected them. He should be the one to satisfy them.
He was losing his ever-logical mind before the night had even begun.
“brOTHER, IS she your assignment?”
The voice and words burned the canals of Vex’s ears. His Bat Brother’s gift was still giving at one thousand percent, telling him Skul’s dire need to fuck her lay just below his genuine curiosity. He focused his gift on his tongue, wrestling it into controlled submission.
“She is.”
Vex walked away when it was crystal clear his body was having no part of this self-control nonsense. One more second and the primal urge to slam him into the wall by his throat and properly define the line he’d drawn around her would have been fulfilled.
He found himself next to the very one he needed to keep distance from as more of his brothers joined their little circle, introducing themselves to Rosavelt.
“She’s having a blast,” Miss Skelton quietly exclaimed, her joy making him need to look at her. “I’ve never seen her so... alive.”
“And you?” he asked.
He felt her eyes on him for a few seconds. “Her joy makes me feel alive plenty.”
He detected hostility in her words, wondering what caused it. “I was more asking if you were bored to tears yet.”
“Pfff, of course you were,” she muttered, sipping her drink. “Not bored at all. Having a blast too.”
A truth, a lie, and an accusation. She was entertained, but miserable. And angry at him.
“So, all these...brothers. They’re not blood related, right?”
“Correct,” he said, tensing at what weighed in her tone.
“My momma’s been after me to start dating again. Which of these do you think might be interested?”
His blood heated to near boiling as he aimed his gifts at his primal reflexes. “All of them but one, and none of them.” He pointed. “Rukem is freshly married, and the rest are interested but none will pursue.”
“Dare I ask why?”
He kept her in his peripheral. “Because you are with me.”
She lowered her drink. “I’m standing next to you. Actually, you’re standing next to me for some reason. What does with you mean to your kind?”
“My kind,” he chuckled, holding his hands behind his back.
“Yes, your royal kind.”
“It means we have rules and etiquette with the opposite sex.”
“Are you saying they think we’re together?”
“I’m saying as long as you’re here by my invitation, you’re my responsibility, my concern.”
“So, if I’m invited here by another brother, then I belong to that brother the same way while here?”
He glanced around. “This perturbs you.”
“Uhh, yeah. A little. I’m not accustomed to belonging-not-belonging to anybody, no matter what doors I walk through and who invited me to walk through them.”
“It’s merely school etiquette, Miss Skelton.”
“Oh,” she muttered lightly, raising her glass to him. “In that case, Mr. Vex, carry on with your whole...owning me not owning me, malarky.”
“I'm not owning you, I’m chaperoning you.”
“Clearly,” she said, those needs of hers turning angry and bitter. “I don’t wish to be owned. Not by you or any of your brothers.”
“I have offended you and I’m not sure how as usual.”
“This is not offended,” she all but seethed.
“What is it, then?” He palmed her hip and pulled her toward him when Gauld’s towering body got too close. “Sorry, moving you out of traffic.”
She aimed her finger at his face, drawing him right into her angry gaze. Seconds passed and her perfect mouth remained open with no words. “Do not...touch me,” she finally said, winded.
His breath returned when she snapped her face forward. “My apologies,” he said, still burning with what roiled in her eyes.
“Your apologies,” she mumbled, like they were poison. “How about never apologize to me again. Makes you look weak. Least in my eyes.”
“And what is strength to you, Miss Skelton?”
“Joe. Call me Joe.”
“What is strength to you?”
“You have a problem with my name? Is it not pretty enough for you?”
“No ma’am.”
“Now I’m a ma’am. So, no you have no problem or no it’s not up to par with your name game?”
“Now I’m thoroughly confused.”
“What makes a man strong is one who knows what he wants, wants it enough to get it and loves it enough to keep it.”
“I do know what I want, and do want it enough to get it, but not everything we want can be obtained with these measures. I want to help Rosavelt but there are obstacles to be considered...” He paused at seeing her jaw drop in his peripheral, daring a glance at her.
“An obstacle.”
He faced her fully. “Why do you insist on taking all things I say negatively?”
Her eyes widened. “Because it’s negative!” She turned all around. “Where is the bathroom?”
“I’ll escort you to it.”
She jerked her arm out of his hand. “I can walk on my own and I don’t think any of your brothers intend to molest me.” She tapped the nearest shoulder and Vael turned. “Where’s the restroom please?”
He locked eyes with his brother who gave a small grin, pointing at Vex. “That man there can point the way.”
Another life spared.
She shot him a glare and muttered, “I’ll find it,” as she shot off.
Vex followed her from a distance as Rosavelt’s precious laughter brought a round of big laughs from his brothers. He slowed, watching her mother get directions from one of their students. Lacey. Their strongest empath healer. Her troubled face cleared as Vex passed her with a nodding wink, earning her bright smile and neutralizing her gift.
He stood outside the women’s lavatory, considering the next logical move at this point in the night’s unfolding disaster. He could not permit another thing to interrupt Rosavelt’s art showing. It was too important. He needed to clear the air with her mother if that was going to happen.
She exited the bathroom and before he could launch his plan, she held up a hand to him. “Don’t. I’m so sorry, I cannot believe the ungrateful bitch I’m being.”
He dared not speak with this sudden one-eighty, damn sure it would be fuel to the wrong fire. His gaze fell to the delicate cleavage at her chest, and she covered it with both hands.
“Is it really that bad?” she whispered distressed. “This is why I don’t wear dresses and never will again.”
“Good,” he said, realizing he’d meant to only think that one. “It’s good you have a solution to the problem.”
She shook her head at him, appearing dumbfounded. “You are so weird.”
And you are so beautiful, he wanted to say, but sure it would only get taken wrong. She walked off and he followed, getting his arm snagged by somebody. “Nitro.”
“How you doing?” he asked in his ear.
“Still burning in a lust-rage hell, thank you for asking.”
Nitro grinned and leaned in while Vex tracked her with his eyes. “I’m flying with my feathered brothers without leaving my body. All my instincts are stronger when I drink your blood. Not just stronger, but...more controlled.”
“How much can you manipulate what you give and take?”
“Now that I know your blood, I can manage it easier. I gave you what it feels like because there’s no other way to understand it outside of feeling it. And if you haven’t fucked her yet, then you haven’t truly felt all of it. When it takes you? There is no denying it. And you will kill anybody who tries to stop you. And they will try to stop you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a rabid animal that likes fucking in the wide open. It’s like a challenge. Marking territory.” He nodded, looking past him. “See that King? I can smell his lust from here.”
Vex turned, finding Vael’s mouth at Miss Skelton’s ear.
“Yeah, go get your woman,” Nitro chuckled as Vex made a direct line through the crowd to them.
“Your investments are taking a dive,” he said to Vael upon arriving. “Seems somebody’s been meddling where they shouldn’t. Better go check it before the damage gets ugly.”
“Well, damn,” Vael muttered with surprise, eyeing Vex. He nodded at Miss Skelton then. “Excuse me while I go save my life. It was a pleasure meeting you.”
“Same to you. Thanks for the invite, I might see you later.”
Vex wired his jaw shut with his powers when his bat logic threatened everything he was fighting to protect. “If our plans have changed, I’ll need to know, Miss Skelton.”
“Oh,” she said, as if just seeing him there. “No, no, our plans are still intact,” she assured, offering nothing else.
“I FEEL NO DIFFERENT,” Zodak informed, pacing in his cell thirty minutes after the nano biologic containment protocol was implemented. “How will I know it worked?”
“It’s still in adaptive learning stages, Brother,” Vael said over the intercom.
“I need to see her.”
“You want to try and siphon?” Gauld wondered.
“I have to do what it takes to make sure this will work. And to see she’s okay.”
“I’ll let them know to bring her,” Vael said. “How you feeling?”
“Oddly energized.”
“Your neural, cardiac, and electrodermal activity are all stable.”
He wished it felt like it.
“Trixie is bringing her now,” Gauld said.
“Do not leave us,” he hurried.
“We’ll be right here monitoring everything closely,” Alerik assured.
ZEN FOLLOWED TRIXIE leading her to where Zodak was, fear overtaking her confusion. She’d undergone all their tests without asking a single one of the million questions she’d had. To show she trusted him.
Please let him be okay. Please don’t take him from me. Who was she begging? She knew but didn’t remember. She still couldn’t believe she’d endured the most amazing experience of her life with him. Was he angry at her for it? Had she pushed him too far? Did he love it as much as she had? Would she ever be able to experience it again? Return the gift?
“Here,” Trixie said with her colorful personality and smile, opening the door. “Through there,” she directed, her bright green fingernails pointing the way. They matched the highlights in her hair and flecks in her brown eyes, making her fun to look at.
Zen hurried where instructed, her heart falling to her stomach at seeing Zodak still in a glass room with his lenses on, palms pressed on the barrier. She ran to him, wanting to place her hands right on his but unsure if she should.
“Zeen.”
Her name broke on his beautiful voice and lodged her pulse in her throat. “Zodak?” she whispered. “Are you hurt?” She blinked back tears. “I did all the tests like you said. I didn’t say a word. What will happen to me? Do I have to leave?”
“No,” he hurried softly. “You’re staying with me. I’m protecting you like I said.”
Her tears fell and she quickly wiped them, wanting to be strong for him. “I promise not to do the things you say not to,” she said. “I shouldn’t have pushed you.”
He looked down. “My brothers have found a way to strengthen me so that I'm not affected by this.”
Hope flooded her. “Really?”
“Really,” he assured.
“So...so everything is...safe now?”
“Yes.”
She covered her gasp and lowered her head. “I’m so happy.”
“We must get back to discussing your future.”
Joy surged through her, bringing a massive smile. “Okay.” She eyed him. “Would you...like me to try and...cook? It’s probably too late for that.”
“I will cook for you.”
Excitement ate at her frayed nerves. “I would love that.”
“Feed Jinxxy for me. Her meals are in the refrigerator.”
“I saw them. I...asked Trixie and she told me what to do.”
She chanced a look at him, finding his lenses aimed right at her. “Thank you, Zeen.” Lord, he was beautiful. “You have nothing to fear with me.”
She stared at her reflection in his lenses and nodded. “I never...did.”
“I will speak to my brothers and meet you at my place.”
“Okay.” She realized he wanted her to go, and she stepped back. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Very soon.”
She smiled and waved then raced out, her joy bringing a happy laugh up her throat that she held down till she was in the hallway. Then she let it out, clapping at the miracle that nothing was broken, and she got to keep her beautiful King and even get fed by him. She hurried her pace, remembering the other dress she wanted to wear. The prettier one. She’d fix her hair and... Her stomach fell at realizing she was headed down the same path as before. She couldn't beg for his affections like a pathetic child. Or for pleasure like some slut. She would be content with his friendship. His guardianship. His Kingship. And whatever else he felt she was worthy to have that he was comfortable giving. And she’d do everything in her power to give him joy and show him he could never suck it all out of her. Because as long as she was with him, it would never stop multiplying a million times over.