Chapter 9 Sebastian #3
Sebastian whipped around, his stance both defensive and poised to attack as he kept me between his back and the wall. Then he chuckled. “Fuck you, Nic.”
There was an answering laugh. “Good morning, Sebastian. Still not the earliest riser, I see.”
“Leia.” Sebastian bowed his head even as he tensed while he spoke the name.
The voice that answered him was gentle and feminine. “Hi, Sebastian.”
I sagged a little in relief, grateful that no one else in the room could see me. Sebastian must have known I needed reassurance, though, because he reached behind himself to take my hand and draw me back to his side, where he kept me pressed against him.
“Let me get you some coffee,” he murmured as he led me to one of the remaining bar stools in the room.
The other male vampire in the room watched me closely, and my skin prickled under his scrutiny. There was something about him. I couldn’t… Who was he again? What had Sebastian called him? I’d panicked. I should have been listening.
“You’re the witch who worked for émile and Francois?” He shifted in his seat, appearing to make himself comfortable.
Neither of the new vampires had a mug of coffee in front of them, which almost made me wonder why they’d brewed any at all. I cast a glance at Sebastian, curious how much he wanted me to say.
But I hadn’t answered before the vampire spoke again.
“Are you capable of warding and making places secure—by any means?”
I swallowed. The unspoken question was clearly how comfortable I was with darker magics. “I was contracted to the House of Ricard and now to the new king and…” I nodded at Sebastian. “And his regent.”
“Contracted to Sebastian? He’s tied you up in paperwork?” The man’s eyebrow lifted, and he glanced toward the woman in the seat next to him. “Well, well. Seems brothers are never too different after all. Right, Sebastian?”
A growl rumbled through Sebastian’s chest at the comment, but I seemed to have missed the point. He set my coffee down next to me as I fought to keep my mouth closed.
Nic? The name Sebastian had used came back to me now.
Brother?
Holy hell. I was in the presence of the new New Orleans king.
And I was wearing pajamas.
I reached for my coffee so I had something else to do that wasn’t gaping as Sebastian began to speak. “It’s not like that, Nic. I don’t own her through someone else’s debt.”
His voice was light but with an undercurrent of steel, like something wasn’t up for discussion. Nic twisted his lips in a way that suggested he didn’t entirely believe his brother or he wasn’t wholly happy with the direction the conversation had taken.
“All the best things start with a contract.” The female vampire—the queen?—laughed after she spoke, and Sebastian growled softly again. She leaned around her husband and focused on me. “A contract is exactly how Nic got me to fall in love with him.”
Nic shook his head but pressed a tender kiss to her cheek. Then he returned his focus to Sebastian. “So, what happened last night? Why the emergency phone call?”
“There are some vampires here in New Orleans who want to be ruled by a New Orleans vampire, that’s all.” Sebastian shrugged, and my stomach roiled.
That was all? We’d both been attacked and nearly killed because of a tiny territory dispute that Sebastian wasn’t making a big deal out of even though his brother seemed to have made a trip out here over it?
I pushed my feelings aside. I had no place in vampire politics. I’d hated them before, and I couldn’t see this royal family being any different. But I still clutched my mug tighter and raised it to my lips again. I needed the caffeine to get me through this impromptu breakfast meeting.
Nic nodded. “I made some calls on the way in. I’ve organized a meeting at the club on grand opening night. The captains of the larger nests, like you suggested.”
“Okay. I’m holding a soft opening over the next few nights, while the final details are put in place so everything should be running smoothly by then. The new Dupont king will present himself very well.”
Nic grinned, reaching for Leia’s hand as he spoke. “I have no doubt.” Then he switched his attention from his brother to me so abruptly that I nearly fell off the chair. “You’ll be present at the meeting, too.”
It wasn’t even a question. It was pretty much a royal decree.
“Why?” I was still a nobody. Maybe questioning the king wasn’t the most sensible thing I’d ever done, but I didn’t understand, and I was still running low on the caffeine front.
It didn’t seem to bother him, though. “You’re the Dupont witch now.
I need everyone to know it.” Then he stood.
“Right. Which room are Leia and I in? We’re going to lie down before I take her to see the sights.
The last time we were here, the only thing I seemed to do was kill vampires. New Orleans must be the city for that.”
“You’re in the room farthest from mine,” Sebastian said as I absorbed the vampire king’s words.
I looked between him and his brother. These weren’t ordinary men. They were ancient vampires, used to killing almost without impunity, used to taking out enemies who got in their way. What had I gotten myself into?
After Nic and Leia left the room, Leia full of smiles and promises to see me later, Sebastian made himself at home behind the kitchen counter, opening cupboards and drawers.
“Can I make you something to eat?” He glanced up before opening the fridge and shaking his head.
Then he laughed. “Who am I kidding? Chef has made yet more beignets. I think he was secretly hoping Leia might want to sample one again.” He produced a plate of perfect little pastries.
“You won’t let him down again today, will you?
” He hesitated. “Of course, if you prefer something else, I’m sure he’d be glad to oblige by making anything that you’d like to eat. ”
Something in Sebastian’s manner relaxed me, almost making me feel at home.
And again, that thing that had shifted between us claimed my attention.
But what had changed? A bit of dry humping shouldn’t have connected us in any way.
I wasn’t a complete innocent. I’d certainly toured a couple of bases with other guys and walked away with no regrets and no lingering attachments.
It wasn’t even sex after all. Just a really fucking good orgasm. I inhaled a sharp breath as the memory of it hit me all over again. Then I shook my head and breathed out slowly.
Before I’d even decided I was going to ask him, I was asking him. “Sebastian?”
“Yes?” He stopped what he was doing, giving me his full attention.
“I…” I hesitated then shook my head and plowed on. If I didn’t ask, I wouldn’t know. “I feel like something changed between us last night. Do you know what happened?”
He blinked and his expression smoothed out to one of complete neutrality.
“How about I get you those beignets? Don’t want you going hungry on top of the shock of finding vampires in the kitchen this morning.
” He reached for a smaller plate and moved two of the golden creations onto it before setting it in front of me.
“These really are the best around; Leia insists so.” He didn’t look at me, but words kept spilling from his mouth.
Words unrelated to the question I’d asked him.
“Sebastian.” Somehow, I made his name both a plea and a warning. I’d been brave enough to ask the question. I needed him to be brave enough to answer.
He rested his fists on the counter and bowed his head, his shoulders broad and tense in that posture. I watched him for a minute or more, but he’d gone still in that way only vampires could. Finally, I climbed off my stool and walked around the island to him.
“Sebastian.” I placed my hand on his arm and he turned to me before I pushed him against the counter.
His eyes shone with lust as I positioned him where I wanted him and pressed both palms against his chest, moving against him.
Of course, he’d allowed me to move him since I couldn’t have overpowered any vampire who didn’t want me to.
And speaking of want… I wanted this man, but I needed him to answer the question. He knew something I didn’t. Maybe it had been that way from the very beginning, when we first met at the club or when he decided I’d be the ideal house guest.
“Kayla.” He dropped his forehead to mine and my name sounded like it had been tortured from him.
“Just tell me,” I whispered. What the hell could be so bad even a vampire wouldn’t voice it?
“I… I can’t.” Uncharacteristic confusion made his eyes swirl darker blue, almost as if sadness was a physical condition.
“You can…” I was still wheedling, still trying to coax the answer out of him.
Whatever it was, I’d asked the right question, apparently, because something obviously had changed, and it had changed between us. It had shifted last night.
Last night after…Fuck. No. Naomi.
I backed away, no longer wanting the answer to my question.
Of course, something had changed between us.
Naomi had revealed my virginity to the vampire population at large, and Sebastian and I had been…
really close. Really fucking close. Unbidden, the feelings he’d created in me rose again, and I gasped at the intensity of them.
I took another step away, wanting to ram my question back down my throat, leaving it unasked and unanswered. I knew what had changed between us now. He knew I was a virgin, and I didn’t want him to say it.
Then, with the worst timing, his eyes cleared, becoming serene, and his low voice was calm too. “You’re my mate.” The words dropped like stones into the silence of the kitchen.
I froze, my entire body turning cold like ice had filled me. If I moved, I’d crack and fall apart in a million shards.
It was worse than I’d feared. He didn’t just know I was a virgin. He was delusional and thought I was his mate, which was obviously impossible.
But the word mate was stuck in my head, just echoing continuously, and I shook my head. No. Just no.
There was no fucking way that the first night my virginity was out there a vampire had claimed me. Lettie hadn’t hidden me, protected me, for this long for me to ruin it all with one lust-filled encounter.
I fought the urge to run away from him. “What?” I still hadn’t worked through the no but what was a close second.
Really, there were no other words. Just…
What? “How?” I tried again, finding another word.
“No. No way.” I reverted to my original response and wrapped my arms across my middle, holding myself together, holding my emotions in.
“A human can’t be a vampire’s mate.” And who the fuck knew if a witch could?
I was nothing else but a witch. That part was what really mattered.
He was wrong. He had to be absolutely wrong, no question about it. Forget delusional, he was somewhere beyond that. Francois territory. I’d seen this shit before, and it wasn’t something I was looking to return to.
Only he shook his head as his blue eyes became pools of sadness again. “But they are. Humans are vampire mates.”
I shook my head too, denying his words. Lettie had always protected me from the vampires. She always told me that my virginity was a beacon to them, that they would be drawn to it, that it made me special; but never this.
She would have told me this.
Even so, Sebastian nodded. “It’s true, Kayla. True vampire mates start out as human. Leia was human before Nic turned her.”
Bile clawed at my throat, and I turned and ran, but it was too late. I’d already heard what he’d said, and I couldn’t get the words out of my head. They echoed louder and louder as I slammed my bedroom door closed and turned the key in the lock.
Lettie would have told me. She should have fucking told me. But instead, she’d let me hang around vampires, be contracted to them, owe them.
How had this happened?
Was this truly what had changed between Sebastian and me? Was this what I felt?
I pressed my hand to my chest as I sank to the floor, my back against my bedroom door.
No, not my bedroom door. The bedroom door of a guest room where I didn’t belong.
Where another vampire owned me by contract and now worse—where he thought he’d own me forever.
Coming here had been a mistake.
A big fucking mistake.