Chapter Ten
When Rowan finally arrived home it was one in the morning. And yet, she found a pot of tea steeping and a full meal waiting. Having staff really worked out in her favor when it came to a clean house and freshly made food at all hours.
Who was she kidding? Even before she had Elisabeth and Betchamp minding her life full-time, David had been the one to be sure she was fed, and her home was reasonably tidy.
She looked over at him. “So many curveballs tonight. I couldn’t have gotten nearly as much done without your assistance.”
He blushed a little, looking pleased that she’d noticed. “It’s always this way. Nothing or tiny little steps forward and then all the sudden it happens in a rush. One clue leads to the next and so on. It’s fortunate you can find the clues. I’m pleased to help you once that happens. Such as when you’re appointed to lead up a new workgroup on the Sanguis Principatus .”
She snarled. “I thought I’d gotten away clean when other people were put in charge of the wolf shifter workgroup.”
David chuckled. “That was a very nice turn of events as you already have plenty on your plate. But it makes sense to leave this Principatus issue with you.”
It had been unavoidable. She was the Vampire expert, and this was in her territory, after all.
“Not bad for the first middle-of-the-night meeting and work session for all the new staff. Lots of sexy and gory bits to keep everyone interested.” There’d been an air of camaraderie Rowan had really liked.
They did dangerous stuff all the time. And they had to keep it secret from most of the world. Having tight relationships at work was crucial to unit cohesion and connection. Trust. The kind of loyalty that had them putting their lives on the line for one another on a regular basis.
She was responsible for them all. For each bright and burning soul who’d pledged to put themselves on the line for what was right. The weight of it could be stifling sometimes. But when they worked together to make something important happen, she was far more impressed and proud than burdened.
Star bounded up with a happy bark to welcome them home. Rowan paused, knelt to be face-to-face, and was pleased when her leg cooperated without pain.
“And how are you tonight? I haven’t seen you in a few hours, so I figured you came home to eat and catch a nap after we got Elmer handled.”
Star licked her nose as she accepted Rowan’s pets and scratches behind her ears.
“I’m sorry to be in so late,” Rowan told Elisabeth as they entered the kitchen. She washed her hands while she looked around to see what sort of yummy dinner was in her future.
“You were both working. The Scion had the food from your canceled dinner at Fleur sent here. It kept,” Elisabeth said.
“He’s on his way too. I texted him when I left the motherhouse. I’m in for the rest of the night so I’m going to change before I eat. You should go to bed,” she told Elisabeth.
“I have worked in a Vampire’s household the entirety of my adult life. I’m quite used to being up this late to handle meals.”
That and Clive had probably inferred strongly that Rowan needed minding after, especially as she still recovered from the ambush.
“I’ll retire once you’ve both had your meal. Go on and get yourself into comfortable clothes. I’ll pour out a cup of tea, so it’ll be cool enough to drink by the time you get back.”
He came to her because it always seemed that all roads led to Rowan. She entered their sitting room just as he did.
“There she is,” he murmured, taking her in. This version of his wife was softer than the one she was outside their home. Here she’d gotten rid of the warrior gear. She’d swapped out stab-proof material and multiple weapons pockets for soft, clingy lounge pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt bearing a graphic of a snarling honey badger holding up one paw giving a middle claw.
She gave him a smile. “The bond is pinging more clearly these days. At least for me. When you get about a mile away in your car, I get that first real burst of feeling. Just a sort of blooming recognition that you’re near.”
She ducked her head, always shy when it came to expressing tender emotions.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she settled that clawing need she always drew from him. “I believe it’s a case of reading it better as well as the bond we share deepening and strengthening.”
Satisfied very much indeed, Clive spun her neatly, tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, and led her toward the door. “I’d dance you into your bedchamber right now, but Elisabeth will wait until we eat before she goes to rest.”
“I’m home for the night anyway. We’ll eat. You can catch me up. I can catch you up and then you can fill all my filthy needs.”
Smothering a laugh, he leaned close and breathed her in deep at the nape of her neck and slid the edge of his teeth over the sensitive skin there. Teasing.
He turned as she did, their mouths meeting in a kiss that wasn’t slow and gentle. It was a kiss with claws, the gnash of teeth, the slide of tongues, and no small amount of heated need building between them. Need they both knew would be sated at the end of their day together.
“If I don’t get you out before your tea gets cold, I will be scolded, so let’s get moving,” he teased, drawing her to the table where several domed platters sat.
For a few more moments, she was soft for him and then she straightened in her chair, drawing her power back around herself. Clive settled to get comfortable next to her. “Please rest and eat first.”
Elisabeth placed a new cup and saucer at Rowan’s place. “This is a fresh one. Chamomile with some other bits. I put in some of the blueberry honey you favor. Genevieve’s friend Ms. Lorraine sent it over. The tea and the honey.”
“For a scary old lady, she’s got a very gooey center,” Rowan said, unaware of the irony. Though it was only Rowan’s soul that was old. She sipped the tea and shrugged. “That’s quite nice.”
She buttered a slice of bread and hummed happily when she pulled up the cover on the first platter to find roasted potatoes. Rosemary and garlic wafted out as she spooned some onto her plate. Once she’d added chicken piccata and some roasted broccolini, Rowan seemed to take a steadying breath before she took several bites.
They all watched her. David as he filled his own plate. Elisabeth, pleasure written all over her as Rowan so obviously appreciated the meal and her tea. Clive, assuring himself she’d be taking in enough calories to heal. Assuring himself she was okay. Alive. At his side.
“This is exactly what I needed at the end of what has been a totally weird day. You always take care of me so well,” Rowan said in between bites.
“Since dinner came from Fleur, there are leftovers for tomorrow. But for after you finish tonight, there’s a lemon coconut cake. If you have the room,” Elisabeth said with a pleased blush.
“That sounds perfect.”
He glared at her when she started speaking. “Please. Just eat for a few minutes. Recharge. Then we can do business.”
David gave Clive an approving nod.
Finally, after she’d gone back for seconds, she began to fill him in. “Busy freaking day! Okay, let’s see. Procella stuff. As you know, Hugo and Sergio are in holding cells. Antonia is still at the Conclave facility but might be sprung unless I can find something on her. Otherwise, we’ll use her as bait.”
“You think she’s part of whatever it is Sergio and Hugo are up to?” Clive asked.
“I think Antonia and her dad, Alfonso, are cosplaying as modern thinkers who reject Sergio’s old-world—all the isms —views. But the deeper I dig and see how they all act? It sure fucking looks to me like they’re not so different at all. Alfonso is still on the wind. Odd, given that we’ve got Hugo in custody at this point so I’m assuming he’s in on whatever the hell is behind the curtain, along with the rest of that damned family.”
“Self-preservation,” Clive said. “I wouldn’t want you and Konrad Aubert looking for me at the same time. He might be in a closet somewhere rocking and weeping at the horror.”
That made her cheer up considerably. “Wouldn’t that be awesome? Where is he? Did he manage to get himself on a ship, since he was already down there? Is someone hiding him? I don’t think he’s back in Vegas. Between me and the Devils, we’d know.” She sighed and scrunched her nose a moment. “And the mother on the way back from New Zealand? There is simply no way I believe she’s not involved with something sketchy. It’s all connected somehow. They can’t evade me forever.”
David said, “We’re doing a deep dive on the cruise company. Vanessa reached out to her compatriot at the Southern California chapterhouse since she’s already working on intelligence gathering on the Vampire front. After I’m finished here, I’ll make a first pass through the interview and notes from New Zealand.”
“Perfect. Coincidences are one thing, but when there are fourteen of them, it’s a pattern, not a coincidence. First thing in the morning, I’m going over to the Procellas’ mansion to search the servants’ wing,” Rowan said as she forked up a potato after sliding it through the sauce pooled on the plate. “Gonna do my daytime non-Vampire business while you’re all incapable of getting up to mischief. At least in my time zone.”
“You’ll sleep first, though, correct?” he said. He was prepared to argue if necessary. What he wasn’t prepared to do was watch her limp again. Not without clucking at her until she rested and let her system heal itself.
“Yes. Like I said. I’m going to go over that interview. Review my notes on the search already performed at the Procella place, and then I’ll go to sleep. But before any of that. Let me get to the Vampire portion of my to-do list. How about we start with this Sanguis Whatsits and what Elmer, Stephen Baker, and that fucking guard have to do with it.”
“I apologize again for Eduard, the guard who attacked you. That is absolutely my failure. As for Sanguis Principatus , let me update you on what I’ve discovered after a discussion with Elmer, Stephen Baker, and Eduard. I have unredacted transcripts of the interrogations as requested so sweetly via Alice, but I’ll give you an abridged version with the pertinent bits highlighted as well.”
She chuckled at that. “That might make me less annoyed at you.”
Clive brushed the backs of his fingers down her throat, admiring the way she felt. So vital.
“One does what one can to keep a mate of the quality mine has.”
After resting her head against his arm a moment, she got back to her meal.
The sessions were...exhaustive, but he’d gotten some answers. “There’s a connection between the three via Sanguis Principatus . The Vampire who brought them into the group was Jacques. He was Eduard’s Maker and, I’m certain you’ll be shocked to know, a contemporary of Elmer’s. Elmer claims Jacques knew of his little hobby and sent humans who might appeal his way.”
“Of course he did. We just got the Blood Front dealt with barely a month ago. Can you all just not scheme for a little while? Just give me six months to deal with all the other stuff I need to. Then you can get back to plotting. I’m one person and you all come up with one thing after the next. I’m tired,” she confessed.
“I was thinking rather the same earlier. A getaway would be nice at some point. We really haven’t had a break in quite some time.”
Rowan surprised him by saying, “After the Joint Tribunal, how about we take a week and go to Venice? I’ll call ahead and have the house readied. It’ll rain a lot, but we’ll be in Venice, and I have rain boots. I think Star would love Italy.”
It had been a rather delightful surprise to discover she had a beautifully furnished piazza in Venice, complete with staff. They’d been in the city on the trail of Enyo, a powerful, magic-wielding Vampire who’d nearly killed Rowan. In a satisfying turn of events, it was Rowan who’d ended her.
In Venice Rowan was colorful and full of joy. More open to wandering and spending a few hours just the two of them. It made him feel young to follow as she led them down long and twisty alleys to a cicchetti bar open at night for all the various supernatural citizens of the city unable to amble into one during their more common daylight hours.
There it would be just the two of them. Time to heal up and have great heaping amounts of sex and limoncello.
“I’d very much like that. We can give some vacation time to Elisabeth, Betchamp, and David as well.”
David snorted. “I’ll remain at my post so my boss doesn’t decide to come back early because she’s worried things will fall apart in her absence. I’ll claim that week at another time. I promise.”
Rowan’s snort of laughter relaxed everyone in the vicinity. “It’s only because you’ll be here that I can even consider vacation.”
David ducked his head a moment, clearly pleased by her confidence in him. He stood and ferried his dishes to the machine in the kitchen. “I’m going to finish up a few things, send some emails, and then go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” He gave Rowan a slight bow.
They sent Elisabeth off as well and then settled on the couch in the sitting room to continue their work discussion.
Clive grabbed one of the folded throws and tucked it around her once she rested her leg on a pillow. “Are you warm enough?”
She nodded. “Yes, thank you. Sit and tell me more.”
“Elmer attempted to paint himself as an integral member of Jacques’s team. I’m not so convinced, but given what he admitted, and what Baker said—he loathes Elmer—it sounds like Jacques used him as muscle.”
“Threats from a bland guy like Elmer could actually be terrifying. I doubt he has any moral hesitation about assaulting and terrorizing people to get them to do whatever his master commanded. Lot of that in my life of late.”
“That very thing occurred to me, as it happens. Patience is doing deeper background as we speak, but I figured you might like to do it yourself as well. Tell me about your prior run-in with Stephen Baker,” he asked. It’d been clear at the time there’d been history, but there hadn’t been any opportunity to ask for details until that point.
“Hang on a sec. I want to send some new keywords to David and Vanessa.” Rowan tapped on her phone for a minute or two before tucking it away again.
“About a year before I finally executed your predecessor, I got a call from one of my connections, an ER nurse. They’d brought in a woman who’d been found half-naked, raving, the bottoms of her feet torn up from running barefoot. Law enforcement figured it was drugs. But my friend the ER nurse realized the rants were about Vampires. I went over there, got the woman out and into a clinic where she could be treated for what had really happened to her.”
Clive blew out a breath.
“Putting together all she’d managed to remember, I ended up on the doorstep of another one of Jacques’s inner circle, Tomas Derwin.”
Clive snarled at the name. “He was one of the first Vampires I ended when I got to Las Vegas.”
“One of your finest qualities. Anyway. Inside Derwin’s place were far too many humans in various states of blood intoxication. Stephen Baker was one of the Vampires there and it was his bite pattern on the woman in the ER. Jacques got involved. Intervened to keep me from leaving Baker and his buddies staked out for the sun. Promised he’d keep a tighter rein on his Vampires. Baker paid restitution. I kept an eye on him until I executed Jacques and then had to spend the following year in meetings, testifying and filling out paperwork.”
“I’m sorry it’s so tedious to kill a Scion,” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Yelena, the human in the ER that night, was all kinds of fucked-up back then. She’s a landscaper in Taos now.” She smiled briefly.
“Well, that certainly explains why he seems to have such a deep enmity toward you.” Clive didn’t much care for it. Many Vampires distrusted or disliked her and Hunter Corp. But there was a deeper vein in some Vampires. More than distrust and dislike. Virulent hatred. Aggressive and violent. These Vampires knew Rowan was a force in the universe that could not be swayed from what was right. Their very existence was threatened by her.
Clive would be sure Baker, Elmer, and Eduard never got the opportunity to act on their feelings toward his wife.
“Seems odd he’d be working for Elmer. Like it should be the other way around.” She shrugged. “Vampires and their hierarchy. Anyway. Refresh me on Sanguis Principatus . I have a bare-bones idea of what they are, but it’s been a long time. I put in a request for the librarian at the London motherhouse to create a brief for me so when I wake up, I’ll have it.”
She was asking him for information but letting him choose how much to share. A few attempts on her life ago, Clive had given up all pretext that he’d ever place anyone or anything above Rowan if he had to choose.
She needed this information. And in the end, whatever she did, it would be to the benefit of the Vampire Nation as a whole because she was a bulldog. She would not quit until the job was done.
“The Blood Front is older than I am. Started by aristocratic Vampire families in the late thirteenth century. Sanguis Principatus came along at the beginning of the twentieth century. Yesterday to Vampires. I had to do a quick bit of research before I interrogated Elmer to refresh myself. The Vampires who started it were born not Made, but the roots of the organization are far less class rigid than the Blood Front.”
“I wish you all would choose to not be rigid about things that weren’t plots to subjugate humanity. I mean, that’s the aim, right? No group with a name like that is knitting socks for orphans.”
He knew she just had to vent, so he continued. “About a hundred years ago there was an incident.” He’d already decided to tell her everything, so he did. “A reason I had to do some refreshing was they didn’t call themselves Sanguis Principatus at first. A group of them interrupted a meeting being held in New York City by high-ranking Vampires who’d been working together to set up power boundaries in the United States.”
“What’s their angle, then?”
“They wanted what most Vampires want. Power enough to be left alone to do whatever we choose. These upstarts felt that the United States should be ruled, and territories created by an approach as unique as its Vampires. These families—little more than organized criminal empires—wanted a place at the table and territories to control the same way powerful Vampiric families did in other territories. The old guard did not agree.”
Rowan said, “In America, power is about money instead of lineage. It took the Nation way longer than it should have to understand that.”
Clive nodded. “The First barely paid attention to the United States until World War Two. It wasn’t nuclear capability that got his focus. It was profit. Jacques had many faults. But the reason he was able to steal from the Nation for so long was due to how profitable this territory is.”
“That expired gas station sushi wasn’t officially a creeper like Elmer, but he worked with Sanguis Principatus . That’s where the connection to Elmer came in. Right? Not over seventeen-year-olds, but money and influence. The Vampire all-purpose high. Okay, so what did SP call themselves then and why did they change their name?” Rowan asked, ever perceptive.
“Jacques had been the Scion of North America for a few decades by that point. He set up his court originally in Montreal but moved it to Manhattan the year after that meeting. Back then they called themselves The Brotherhood.”
“I mean, less douchey than Latin. But still creepy for myriad reasons. It’s always purity, violence, and master race crap.”
He’d had that same thought. Even with the words she’d used. Rowan had changed his world in so many ways.
“From what I could track down, it appears they changed their name in the 1960s. Vampires from other territories wanted to join but they didn’t like the original title.”
“Nothing more American than marketing.”
He shrugged. Not disagreeing. Perception was important and the first title scared off potential members who’d bring money and influence. “Everyone loves a Latin name. They’ve been active—more or less—since 1923 with the same goals. They run drugs for blood feeds. We’ve got more important problems than petty drug use or distribution. But getting humans involved in this drug trade is a recipe for exposure. And obviously, a violation of the Treaty.”
Vampires couldn’t really get intoxicated from most substances directly so if they wanted to get drunk or high, they had to achieve it via blood additives. Bloodwine was popular, as was the blood-casked whiskey his father preferred. Those were legal and highly regulated.
Or, humans used one of only a handful of drugs that were effective, and a Vampire fed directly after—a blood feed. Clive had gotten to know Rowan as she investigated a Vampire who’d been using crystal meth via humans he’d been killing. Near immortals and crystal meth did not mix well. Human law enforcement had nearly stumbled into the truth of the existence of Vampires when bodies had begun to drop from the sky.
“I’m wondering if Elmer’s little addiction plays into that on some level,” Rowan said. “I told him I’d look into missing humans with any connection to his favorite bars earlier and he freaked out. Is he helping connect these Brotherhood dudes with humans to use the drugs for the feeds? When profit is the only motivator, the field of possibilities is infinity big.”
Clive pinched the bridge of his nose. “When I woke this evening, the biggest problem was witches we’d already captured. But this sort of trouble is on a totally different level.”
“Iceberg trouble. What you see above water is only a small part of the issue.”
“They’ve had spies in my court since the start, Eduard confirmed it. We knew this was a possibility after the way the last Scion was removed.”
She laughed, genuinely amused. “Yeah, removed his head from his body.”
“Just so, darling. I think profit and power are their motivating factors as you say. From what I know at this point, they don’t have a history of xenophobia like the Blood Front has. They’ve never been of the step on a soap box and yell about some foreign other to blame for all the world’s ills. But oversight from a Scion? That gets in the way of power and profit unless the Scion is Jacques.”
“And the new guy doesn’t care so much about drugs and whatever, but does care about disappearing humans that attract notice. But why haven’t they even approached you to see if you’d be willing to look the other way for some cash or whatever? Me probably, right?”
Clive could have been offended that she didn’t automatically jump to the conclusion that these Vampires saw his rule as inherently just and knew he’d never overlook wrongdoing. But generally, he didn’t care about ninety percent of things as long as they kept their behavior discreet.
“That was my conclusion. It’s been nearly four years since I arrived. I’ve tidied a great deal of mess, and the profits are up. But as we learned recently, there’s lawbreaking of all sorts in North America. Consorting with sorcerers and this ridiculous black-market nonsense. These Brotherhood Vampires have continued to quietly make money under my radar. And now because of Elmer and Eduard, I know about them. I expect they’ll either come to me to propose a deal even though my wife is a Hunter, or they’ll make a move.”
“It’ll be interesting to see which they choose,” Rowan said. “If it’s the latter, I’ll kill them all true without a second thought.”
He sent her a raised brow.
“What? You don’t already know that? I’ll burn the world if any of them harms you in any way.”
He took her hand, threading their fingers and holding on tight. “I believe that is the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me. I’m... I do not jest.” Clive paused, searching for words. “I know what your path means. I know what your position at Hunter Corp. means. That you would put me above that moves me beyond explanation.”
She smiled, a little shy at the edges.
“And in that vein. The Nation and the Scion are very grateful Hunter Corp. has worked with us so closely on these important matters. Especially leaving these prisoners in our custody. That enables me to make the process public enough that Vampires like the one who tipped you off—instead of the Nation—can see we’re not ignoring the crimes against them. And I want these Sanguis Vampires to see I will punish them if they step a toe over the line. I’m certain news of the arrests have already circulated through the region. We’ll see what they do next.”
“If they were smart, they’d lay low for a few years. But their greed is going to overcome their wits. Goddess, I’d love to watch you look down your aristocratic Scion nose at them,” she said with a grin.
“I’m buoyed by your confidence.” Absolute truth. “As for Elmer and his underaged Making; if you’d like to submit a statement, I’ll have it added to the evidence. Elmer will not go unpunished for what he did to your new employee or that poor, wounded boy he Made far too young. They’re my Vampires, even the rogue ones. It’s my duty to protect them and I promise you I will,” he said.
“Maybe I believe that, Scion. I’ll speak to my new fanged employee to see if he’d like to submit something. Your Vampires should know the personal toll this takes, even if they’ll pretend it’s just a few here and there, oops no big deal!” Rowan said.
“You said you’re in for the rest of the night?” Clive said, and Rowan had to give him credit for how casual he made it sound.
“I have a little more work. Vanessa has been working on a list of properties owned by or somehow connected to the Procellas. I just got a text that it’s ready, so I want to look it over. Chances are, I’ll put it aside for after I wake, but one never knows what might be found. Otherwise, yes, I’m off the clock until I meet up with Genevieve in the morning to head over to search the Procella mansion.”
If Genevieve hadn’t been there the last few times there’d been run-ins with witches and magic, Rowan very well could have died. But she left that unsaid as Clive worried about her all the time as it was.
“I endorse plans that include powerful allies,” Clive said.
“As the point of bringing in witches and Vampires for special Hunter teams was exactly this type of situation, I’m glad we have the resource when we really need it.”
He frowned, probably thinking about her injuries or danger or whatever.
Rowan leaned over and slid the pad of her thumb down the space between his eyebrows. “What have I said about all the frowning you do? You’re going to get a wrinkle right here.”
“It displeases me that you’re the target in some elaborate conspiracy.”
She allowed a smile. “You’re very grumpy. I’m the grumpy one. That’s my job. My thing. You do haughty English nobility.”
“I have an idea of how I can work through my grumpiness,” he murmured, his eyelids dropping to sex-mast.
“You’ve got me intrigued enough to hear your pitch,” she teased.
He laughed and then his mouth was on hers.
It had been days since the last time they’d been together like this as she’d healed from the ambush. And still, he touched her with reined-in greed. Gentle, insistent.
Rowan arched into his arms and he flowed to his feet, bringing her along with him, sweeping her up and into his hold as he took them both into his bedchamber, closing the door at his back.
“I want to fuck you in here so I can smell you on the sheets when I wake each evening,” he said as he set her on the mattress.
He was just so good at saying the exact perfectly dirty thing that was also heartwarming. Centuries of getting women into bed had honed him into a killing machine when it came to sex.
“I’m so very lucky sometimes,” she told him as he tossed her blouse and bra to the side.
“As you say, you’re about to get even luckier.”
His hands roved over her skin in long, firm strokes, but when he reached her pants, he paused, gaze flicking to her face.
“Are you well enough for this?”
She managed to sit up so she could take the brace off her leg. “I’m absolutely fine. I’ll let you do all the work.”
He frowned and that line formed between his eyes, making her snort.
“An orgasm will help my healing. Think of this as physical therapy as well as improving your mood.”
His spine lost its tension, and he gave her a smile. “I’m happy to do all the work, as you say.”
His clothes fell away quickly to join hers as he slid back beside her, body to body, skin to skin. Everything felt exactly right, and she wrapped her arms around him, breathing him in.
“I love you,” she told him. The words were important. That he heard them from her as well as saw them in her behavior was necessary for them both.
“What a joy that is to me. I love you. Beyond measure.”
Her soft sigh and the way she seemed to melt into him settled everything within before that fire, low and banked heat, erupted into blinding need.
Forcing himself to be gentle to the body that had been broken just a few days earlier, he kissed over every part of her. Down the smooth column of her throat, across her collarbone and the curve of her shoulders. Each taste a mystery, a homecoming, and a secret only the two of them shared.
He loved the way she held her breath as he kissed down her belly and settled between her thighs, growling her pleasure as he took a long, leisurely lick, circling her clit.
Driving her up, higher and higher until she broke, coming all over his lips.
“Now that the edge has been eased a bit, lie back and enjoy,” he said as he settled above her. “I’ll let you move your legs wherever they feel best.”
“I told you I’m fine,” she said, shifting, bringing the liquid heat of her pussy to brush against the line of his cock. “Even better now,” she wheezed out as he slid inside her.
He took his time, careful not to rest any of his weight on her. Letting himself remember she was his. This vibrant flame who owned his heart and soul.
There was nothing but the two of them tucked away in the quiet and when he came he stayed pressed deep inside her for some time afterward. Always home when he was with her.