Chapter 25 #2
Before he could say anything, Carl cleared his throat. “I’ll stay. For cake. If you don’t mind.”
“Not in the least.” Peter sounded just a tad too unbothered to Theo, and he narrowed his eyes farther.
“You’re okay getting back to the Boudoir?” Theo adjusted his shoulder strap before he crossed his arms.
Carl shrugged. “I’ll get an Uber. Or call Kira to pick me up.”
Theo nodded. “Okay, then. See you at work tomorrow.”
Peter looked absolutely not happy about that. Under normal circumstances, he had decent control over his facial muscles. Not so now. Theo could almost feel that the next word out of Peter’s mouth was going to be “Theodore,” said in that perfectly smooth Viking vampire voice Theo had come to adore.
Before it could get that far, Theo turned on his heel. “Okay then! Corvin, Mike, let’s go. Bye-bye, everyone!”
Corvin made an annoyed sound. “Seriously, what’s on fire?” he stage-whispered to Theo.
“I just want to get home. Long day. And schoolwork to catch up.”
“Uh-huh,” Mike said.
Corvin huffed. “What Mike means to say is, thank you for coming to save us.”
A cool hand settled on the small of Theo’s back. “Happily. Though I’m sure Theo would agree with me when I ask you not to make a habit of it,” Peter said.
Mike lifted his head. “We try hard not to.”
They’d very nearly made it to the door when Laurette appeared from one of the sitting rooms, now wearing a heavily embroidered dressing gown over his clothes.
“Good intentions. I like it! Please feel free to stop by whenever, everyone. And, Corvin, Mike, just let me know the details about your wedding, yes? I’m so excited for the festivities!”
It sounded like a command, but Theo was suddenly too tired to be annoyed on Corvin’s behalf.
On their way back, after they’d dropped off Corvin and Mike, Peter leaned over the steering wheel of the Mercedes and growled at the sky.
“The bother,” he mumbled, as if he’d forgotten Theo was even there.
Theo rubbed his temple. “You need blood, don’t you? You could’ve said so back in Faerie.”
Peter glanced at Theo while absentmindedly honking his horn. The car in front of him wasn’t even doing anything wrong.
“It’s not as if I cannot manage my needs.”
“Huh. Did you know that I heard from someone who knows someone you know that you get hangry when you’re hungry?”
Peter honked his horn again. The car in front of him hurriedly changed lanes.
“You need not listen to everything Corvin tells you about the things he hears from Michael.”
Theo crossed his arms. “I didn’t say it was Corvin. It could’ve been Celeste.”
Peter’s lip curled. “Yes. It could’ve been. Was it?”
“I’m not going to answer that. I’m sure as my lawyer, you understand.”
“Hmm.”
Theo scratched his head and looked out of his window.
It was as if Faerie’s brightness was only a faint memory now.
New Elvenswood looked almost normal again, pretty in the September sunlight.
The tram line Theo used to take to work was passing them by.
It felt like ages ago that he’d taken it to his old place and back to work.
“You can have my blood as soon as we get home. I mean, you could’ve had it before, I told you that. I’m just saying.”
After a moment, Peter sighed. “Beloved. I made you angry. Again.”
Theo stubbornly didn’t turn toward Peter, just kept watching the other cars, the houses, the people. Anything other than having to look into Peter’s eyes.
“You don’t have to call me that. It’s fine. We can just… We’ll just keep on doing what we’ve been doing. That’s fine. There’s no need for more.”
There was an uncomfortable noise, and when Theo did glance over, he saw the way Peter was gripping the steering wheel and making it creak.
“Theodore.”
Theo sighed. “Yeah, go with that.” His voice sounded soft, much softer than Peter’s. He was exhausted, was looking forward to passing out after Peter took what he needed. Tomorrow was going to be normal again—perfectly buttered toast and coffee. Theo would give almost anything for that right now.
Peter didn’t say another word until he parked in front of his house. Theo got out on his own, though Peter looked as if he’d been about to help him out of the car and up the front stairs.
The little flowerpot next to the door had changed again.
It did that sometimes, and Theo had been wondering whether Peter was the one who’d taken out the little windmill and replaced it with the miniature pumpkins and metal butterfly that were in there now.
He always forgot to ask as soon as he’d crossed the threshold.
Peter held the door for him, and Theo was very aware of those icy eyes on him as he moved inside, his shoulders sagging with exhaustion.
“Should we—”
“Have a conversation? Yes. We absolutely should.” Peter let the door fall shut. “I’ll make you hot chocolate and a sandwich.”
“I can—”
“Sit at the table. Excellent idea. It was such a long day.”
“But—”
“Theodore.”
Peter’s voice was very nearly a growl, but not the kind with which he’d addressed the sky back in the car. This was kind of sexy, and if Theo had been any less tired, he’d have jumped at the opportunity to get more of that sexy voice out of Peter, but this very clearly was not the time.
He decided to shut up and followed Peter through to the kitchen.
There was a relief to being home. The familiar emptiness of Peter’s house felt doubly warm now that Theo had seen Cloudtree’s house, and the little bag he’d come back down the stairs with while Laurette had gone outside ahead of everyone to summon his deer.
I think if I had to leave this house, I’d want to take more than a little bag.
The very thought of that, the thought of leaving, hurt Theo in an unfamiliar way.
Not like it should. He knew he got along well with Peter.
He knew they cared about each other, yes, but it couldn’t be more than that.
It shouldn’t be. Other people are where the danger lies.
Once they were in the kitchen, Peter made a point of pulling out Theo’s chair for him even as Theo frowned at the gesture.
“I can make my own damn sandwich, you know. And I’m not even that hungry.” Theo shrugged. “I had a fruit tart.”
Peter smiled at him pleasantly. “You missed lunch.”
“I can miss lunch if I want to.”
Peter nodded. “That’s right, but you didn’t want to. You skipped lunch, because you correctly clocked Cloudtree as being out of place and—also correctly—ran.”
Theo snorted. “I walked very fast at best.”
“Be that as it may, I’m making you a sandwich, and you will sit down and relax while I do so.”
Theo groaned. “I don’t fucking know why you’re even doing this. You’re clearly hungry, I’m clearly here, able, and willing to let you drink my blood, and I can damn well eat after.”
“I’m not that hungry.”
That made Theo cackle in what he immediately realized was an unflattering way, and still he was unable to stop himself. “Bullshit.”
Peter forced a smile. “If you insist. Yes, I am hungry, but I will not fall upon you first thing through the door of our home. Not when we need to speak, not when I need to make sure you hear me.”
Theo raised his hands defensively. “We really don’t have to talk. At all. It’s fine.”
The wood of the chair creaked where Peter was still holding it out for Theo. “I believe that you literally do not mean that.”
And in the same way the wooden back of the chair was about to give in, something in Theo did. Suddenly tears were filling his eyes, and his lungs constricted. He loathed himself for how that made him weak in the moment instead of allowing him to stand his ground, and all of it over nothing.
The worst part of it was that Peter saw. Theo saw him see, watched as Peter’s eyes widened with shock. A heartbeat later, he was there, closing his arms around Theo.
“Beloved, I’m here. I’m sorry. Forgive me, but let me explain. Theodore, I never meant to hurt you.”
Theo already knew that. You always wanted to be kind, that’s why you took care of me, but I can’t—I can’t—
All of a sudden, Theo didn’t know anymore.
Peter kissed the crown of his head. “I shouldn’t have told you my feelings when you would think I was only doing it to get you to do what I wanted. I know you’re too stubborn for that, Theodore. And I will never allow another male cook into our house, never.”
“Huh?” Theo looked up from where he’d pressed his crying face to Peter’s chest for the second time that day. “What’s with the cook?”
“He won’t come here again. I realized why you wanted the cock-lock clause in our contract finally, and it will not happen again.”
Theo was just about confused enough that he stopped crying.
“What? What does the cook—I just asked you that because I was being an ass. I was trying to push you. You’re always doing all these things for me.
” He held up his bag, in which the contents of his lunch box were probably anything but edible at this point.
“You carve cheerful messages into banana skin. Who does that?”
Peter looked annoyed. “Someone who cares about you. I wanted you to smile when you ate your food.”
“You could’ve just said you wanted me to think of your cock when I licked that banana.”
Peter considered that. “It wasn’t what I had in mind. I wanted you to smile because I did something nice.”
And that right there was the scary thing to Theo. “Well…just lie about it, then!”
Peter looked confused now. “Why though? I simply wanted you to smile. Why would I lie about that?”