Chapter 12
Theo
Once they got back to Peter’s house, despite being blackout tired, Theo had lain awake, tossing and turning all through the preciously short night, despite the fact that Peter’s guest room was the dictionary definition of cushy.
The windows were large and new, keeping out the street noise.
Framed art prints decorated the cream wallpaper.
Something Theo could only describe as a reading chair sat tucked into a corner of the room, windows on either side to let in the light.
Even the lock worked as advertised, and Theo had been damn sure to flip it closed before falling into the soft pillows and pulling the covers up to his chin.
But it wasn’t the fear of Peter sneaking in and draining Theo within an inch of consciousness that had kept him awake. Theo’s mind had kept what happened at the Boudoir on replay, rousing emotions that forced him to turn whenever he tried to examine them too closely.
When sunrise shimmered behind the toffee-colored curtains, he turned once more, thinking, I wanted to enjoy working at Celeste’s, but I never thought I’d run into a client like Peter.
Now I’m fantasizing about him. I should’ve learned from Bernard.
This could go so fucking wrong, and if it does, I’ll be the one suffering.
He managed to doze off for a few more hours before his alarm went off.
Should I go to the library? I don’t want to.
What if Bernard was waiting for me? What if he’s still there?
Theo groaned, rubbed his eyes, and turned onto his back.
I need to work on my assignments though.
It’s only about two months until the semester starts.
First and foremost, he needed a shower. He hadn’t been able to wash the memory of Peter off his skin last night—something he’d known was stupid, something he’d been able and willing to excuse with being too exhausted.
Theo looked at the reading chair. Was he faking last night at the parking lot? Trying to get me more scared?
Theo had been. He’d flipped the lock on his door and stared out into the darkness, but he’d seen nothing. Then he’d turned to look at Peter, who’d stood there, his broad back facing Theo, his icy blond hair moving in the breeze.
Theo had realized he liked boys when he was allowed to watch TV shows featuring Greek demigods and their exploits as a kid.
It had been the nice shoulders and the hair for Theo, not to mention the way those demigods always did the right thing and protected their companions.
For a good portion of his childhood, Theo had dreamed about being Iolaus.
Peter had looked the part of a protective god, and he hadn’t even done anything, he’d just stood there. But he was sexy looking. Like a wall of fierce vampire. Fuck, what am I even thinking? I’ve been here before, and I paid a high fucking price for letting Bernard…for Bernard.
Theo looked up at the ceiling, focusing on the crown molding as a humorless chuckle bubbled out of him. “What’s that definition of insanity again? The one where you expect different results from the same mistakes?”
Theo rubbed his face. Get your head out of your ass. Act like a fucking grown-up. Move on, move forward.
For today, he was going to start with a shower, possibly a cold one.
Washed and freshly dressed, Theo unlocked the door and walked out to a perfectly quiet house.
Most of the floors were wood, with the odd carpet here and there.
There were tiles in the foyer, bathrooms, and kitchen, but other than that, Peter’s house seemed designed to allow footsteps to echo.
Yet Theo heard only his own as he took a few steps down the hallway outside his room.
Peter had said something about needing to get up early, so Theo assumed the vampire was out suing people, or whatever it was a vampiric lawyer did.
This guest room, just like Peter’s bedroom, was on the third floor.
On his way to the stairs, Theo looked at where Peter had said his room was.
The door stood open, and Theo saw a blue rug at an angle to the floorboards, a chest of drawers, and another bookshelf.
He didn’t want to snoop beyond that. No, scratch that.
I really want to snoop. Later. I have to make sure he’s not some Bluebeard character who keeps corpses in his walk-in closet first.
Once Theo had made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen, he looked around for the coffee maker and found a French press by the large ceramic kitchen sink, disassembled for cleaning.
Theo picked up what was probably the bottom part of it and looked at the other pieces.
Before he could figure out how to put the thing back into working order, a door elsewhere in the house shut with enough noise to make Theo freeze. Footsteps advanced from the foyer.
Instead of a violent intruder, a nicely dressed Peter walked into the kitchen.
The vampire’s shirt and pants were once more on the darker side, two shades of gray that somehow matched, and the way they were cut was exceedingly proper and properly distracting.
Theo hated everything about it, especially how distracting it was after barely getting any sleep.
“Good morning, Theo,” the vampire said. “I hope you slept well.”
Theo relaxed marginally. “Dude, I thought you said you’d be at work.”
Peter leaned against his kitchen island and crossed his arms in front of his chest. With what he was wearing today, that move made the fabric stretch in all the right places, and Theo found it difficult to keep his eyes on Peter’s icy blue ones and not examine the lines of his shoulders.
Peter was annoyingly good at casually leaning against things.
“I’m working from home today. And I was just considering taking a Photoshop break. But since you’re up, how about I make you coffee instead.”
It wasn’t a question. Theo watched as Peter walked over and whisked the French press out of his hands, their fingers touching. There weren’t sparks exactly, but when Peter touched him, Theo felt something, and fear wasn’t it.
Peter appeared unaffected. He measured out coffee grounds and went about boiling water in a fancy-looking kettle.
With nothing better to do, Theo dug the ingredients for a sandwich from the fridge and put together something resembling breakfast. He even went so far as to cut an apple into slices and drizzle it with peanut butter.
If I don’t sleep, I can at least eat healthy once in a while.
Theo was hardly ever in a chatty mood in the mornings, which was why studying in the library worked so well for him.
What he wouldn’t give to be in the library where there were no distracting vampires looking firm in all the right places while pouring coffee.
Peter’s kitchen was not an ideal study setting.
Theo sliced his sandwich diagonally and carried it over to the table, sitting in the chair Peter had put him in the previous day.
When the vampire sat down across from him about five minutes later, placing a steaming mug of coffee right next to Theo’s plate, he was glad to find Peter could just shut up and let a person be.
At some point, Peter vanished right back to wherever he’d come from. Theo finished his breakfast, put his plate in the near-empty dishwasher, then refilled his mug and carried it over to the football field of a living room.
The contract was still on the table, along with the new laptop Peter had apparently gifted Theo. Without giving it much thought, Theo put his mug down, reached for the pen, and signed the paperwork.
He straightened the papers. I wonder why he didn’t insist I do this last night? I’m pretty sure he didn’t forget. Maybe I should’ve made sure he’s not Bluebeard before signing this. But those doubts felt reactive, and his heart wasn’t in it. Theo blamed it on the near sleepless night.
Thinking about nights and sleeping—or not—had the unfortunate side effect of making Theo’s mind wander again. The muscles in his thighs clenched.
It felt so good, doing it with him. But maybe I’m misremembering. It was a long day and… The memory replayed in Theo’s head, Peter inside him—thrusting, holding him, thrusting deeper, finally coming undone.
I shouldn’t have dozed off after. Who does that?
Celeste wouldn’t be happy. She seemed happy when she sent me home with him though.
Theo leaned back in the richly upholstered chair.
How did I get myself into this whole mess to begin with?
He shook his head, hoping to make the memories leave him be.
Coffee in hand, Theo walked over to one of the large living room windows.
The street outside was moderately busy, and would likely be more so once rush hour came.
The people on the sidewalks looked like they had places to be, but there were also tourists strolling and residents doing their shopping or running errands.
Parents or nannies pushed strollers and smiled at neighbors, or ignored the world around them with their earbuds in.
Theo people-watched for a few minutes. Then he froze, his body seizing up and getting ready to run.
“N-no—”
His fingers jerked and the mug dropped to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces and spilling warm coffee all over Theo’s socks.
Not two heartbeats later, Theo found himself wrapped in a set of strong arms. He could barely comprehend the speed with which Peter had gotten there. He hadn’t heard him make a single noise.
“What is it?” Peter’s frost-blue eyes searched Theo’s face.
“Bernard, he’s out there, he—fuck…” Theo’s voice came out a shaking mess as if he were sobbing. Am I? I have to be if I’m talking like that.
Peter, pressing Theo against his side, looked out the window, surveying the scene.
“I don’t see him.”
“He was there! I’m not making this up!”
“Shh, Theodore. I believe you. He’s not out there anymore though, the coward.” Peter rubbed a hand down Theo’s back, the sensation instantly soothing. “Let’s get your socks changed, hmm?”
Theo looked at his feet, where the coffee had stained the edge of the carpet and ragged ceramic shards had made a sharp mess on the hardwood floor.
“I’m sorry about your floor,” Theo said.
Another fear rode him. Everything in this place was so neat and tidy, it looked barely lived in.
Peter had said he liked his solitude. What if he decided he didn’t like all the many small messes a human might make and kicked him out now, severing their contract?
All Bernard would have to do then was grab Theo, and he wouldn’t be able to do a single thing about it.
Peter put a hand under Theo’s chin and tilted it up so their eyes met. “It’s just a floor, and it lacked character to begin with. I’m not sorry you gave it some.” He brushed his thumb over the edge of Theo’s jaw as if to punctuate his words. He didn’t do anything else.
They were so close though, and Theo’s heart was racing in his chest. If he kisses me now, then I…
But Peter didn’t. All he did was hold Theo until his body finally stopped trembling from fear.