Chapter 8
Xander
How the fuck did Gaius guess that we have a woman staying with us—and why does he think she’s our amant? Sure, I might’ve fucked up and called her that during post-orgasmic delirium, but that doesn’t mean it is true. Amants take time, nurturing, vows. Love.
“We do not have an amant,” I say, pushing all of my conviction into the words.
“I can smell her all over you,” Gaius says before leaning into Freya and inhaling deeply at her neck. “You both carry the scent of a bitch in heat.”
“There’s a woman,” Will says in a bored tone, “but she means nothing. She’s a plaything—a talented one who amuses us.”
I can hear the lie in his voice, but hopefully Gaius can’t.
“Finding an amusing plaything, after being alive all these years,” Gaius murmurs as he toys with Freya’s white-blond hair. “What a wonderful thing. I enjoy amusement. I should like to meet her.”
The very thought of Gaius's hands, lips, or teeth anywhere near Autumn makes me want to run a stake through his heart, burn this house down on top of him, and stake his charred corpse again.
We must keep her away from him.
Will probably guesses that I’m about to lose it, because he says, “I’m certain that can be arranged. How long will you be in town, old friend?”
Gaius moves his hand beneath the table. From the angle, I can see he’s aiming for Freya’s lap. She shoots him an annoyed look, but then her eyes glaze over with pleasure.
“I haven’t yet decided,” Gaius says. “San Esteban holds many diversions. The climate is temperate. Freya enjoys the shops downtown. She purchased some very fancy lingerie at a shop today. Benjamin, get under the table and remove Freya’s new panties so our guests can see how special they are.”
Fuck. We need to get out of here soon. Gaius’s kinks often veer into nonconsensual exhibitionism. Will and I don’t want to be a part of that; we never have, not even when we ranked high among Gaius’s friends.
Benjamin pushes out his chair, an unreadable expression on his face. He drops beneath the table. Freya lifts up in her chair slightly.
“We appreciate this time to welcome you to our city,” Will says, sounding formal as fuck. “We’d like to be on our way, if this is all you need from us?”
He’s deferential, yet clearly stating his wish to depart.
“I suppose you may go, if you must,” Gaius says, frowning. “But I would very much enjoy meeting your ‘amusing plaything,’ as you call her. Perhaps we should host a party. What do you think, Freya?”
She nods. “It would be nice.”
He moves his hand beneath the table, then says, “Benjamin, what are you doing down there? Freya is all wet and bare. Hand me her panties, please.”
Benjamin’s hand comes up from beneath the table, clutching lacy fabric. I keep my face as stoic as possible. No reaction, no disgust—Gaius would be offended if I were to reveal my true feelings.
“May I come up?” Benjamin asks. “I’m hungry, Gaius.”
“If you’re hungry, you can stay under the table and feed on Freya like the dog you are,” Gaius says.
I quickly look away from Freya’s expression of lust. This sight isn’t something I agreed to. Gaius is a monster in every sense of the word.
“We’ll take our leave now,” Will says, giving a quick nod to Gaius and grabbing my arm.
The wet sounds coming from beneath the table make my stomach turn.
It takes all of my self-control to walk, instead of run, from Gaius’s mansion.
Autumn
Unblinking, I stare at Clarissa’s message for several minutes, trying to absorb what surely has to be a practical joke.
Because what. The. Fuck.
Dale and I are in a relationship. I’m in love with your stepdad.
No. Just no.
I click away from the email, swiping it off the phone screen with the tip of my finger.
It can’t be true. This is a joke. Or maybe Dale hacked into Clarissa’s email and sent the email without her knowledge? How would he even get that? I don’t think he knows her email.
The message sounded just like her, though.
That’s because it is her—she wrote it.
She’s in love with Dale?
No, she thinks she’s in love with Dale.
Also, she’s “worried about my mental state”? What the hell? She knows I’m sane. Wait…does she? I try to recall the night I left. What did I say to her? Something about Dale being dangerous. I’d never even hinted at something like that before. It might have sounded unhinged in the moment.
Or Dale sank his claws into her and started manipulating her from the get-go.
He has charm. Charisma. Objectively, I guess he’s an attractive guy. Since my mom’s death, there’s been no shortage of women vying for his attention. He never gave any of them a second look, though. I always thought it was because he still carried a torch for my mom.
The light dinner Will made for me swirls in my stomach and threatens a reappearance. I swallow. Swallow again. I’m going to be sick.
I bend forward at my waist and put my hands on my knees, breathing hard. Please don’t throw up, please don’t throw up.
Did Clarissa and Dale’s relationship start after I ran away, or had it been going on before?
I try to think back—were there any red flags? When we were in college, Clarissa once called Dale a DILF, but she quickly retracted it. Probably because I choked on the beer I’d been drinking.
The back door gives the softest creak when it opens. I jolt out of my thoughts and listen hard.
“Autumn,” Will says. “We’re back.”
“You’re back,” Xander says. “I am getting some clothes and leaving.”
Will asks, “Where are you going? You should stay here.”
“Dorado Heights. You know I can’t stay.”
I bury my face in my hands. Xander isn’t saying it outright, but he doesn’t want to stay because of me.
It’s fine. It’s fine, it’s fine. I don’t need him to like me, or even approve.
Autumn. Missed you, he said.
But it didn’t mean a thing.
I don’t have time to worry about that, though—not when Clarissa is in a relationship with Dale.
I can barely breathe when I think about it.
“Autumn,” Will says, stepping into the sitting area.
His face is grim, stressed, his blue eyes slightly bloodshot, and his hair ruffled like he’s been running his hands through it in frustration.
Setting aside my own worries, I stand up and go to him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and linking my hands behind his neck. “Hi.”
“Hello, love.” He kisses me, slow and sweet. His lips are smooth, but firm, and he tastes like almonds. “Everything was okay while I was gone?”
“Yes,” I say, but then Clarissa’s email shoves its way to the front of my mind again. Shaking my head, I say, “Also, no.”
“What is it?” He keeps his hands at my waist, fingertips teasing my bare skin where my shirt has ridden up.
“An email I got from my best friend.” I close my eyes. “She’s…I guess she’s dating my stepdad, now?”
“The stepdad who hurt you?”
I nod.
“Oh, love.” He presses his lips to my forehead.
“How did your meeting with Gaius go?” I ask.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he says, stroking higher up my belly, underneath my shirt.
His touch is slow, sensual, and gets my heart stuttering. I suck in a breath. He plays with my breasts—I’m not wearing a bra, and he has unrestricted access. Soft touches, light tweaks, gentle pinches. In seconds, I’m squirming in his arms.
We were talking about…something.
He keeps hold of one of my breasts, tantalizing me with those little pinches, while his other hand travels downward to the waistband of my shorts.
Oh. Oh, yes. The pleased hum in his throat when he discovers I’m not wearing underwear makes me even wetter.
His finger slides through my arousal, gathering it and running it over my clit. Soft at first, then firmer.
“There’s a good girl,” he whispers, lifting my shirt over my head with his other hand. “So wet for me. How embarrassing it must be for you to be so wanton and lustful. It’s so easy to turn you on.”
My knees are weak. My face is hot with delighted humiliation.
“I’m going to make you come, easily, and I’ll bite you just here.” He licks my neck.
Through the haze of arousal, I remember, “I thought no two nights in a row, for the biting?”
“That’s right.” He frowns even while he continues to stroke my clit. “You fed Xander yesterday. I’ll bite and lick—I won’t drink. I don’t want to hurt my little one.”
“Okay, Daddy,” I say. “I trust you.”
He plunges his finger into me, thick and commanding. I would do anything, anything, to keep him here. I clutch his shoulders to keep from toppling over, because my body doesn’t belong to me right now. It’s his. Everything is his.
The door in the hall slams, muffled, far away. Xander’s leaving. I care, but I also can’t right now. There’s no room for thought when I’m so full of Will.
“Give me this,” he breathes in my ear. “Please, love. Give it to Daddy.”
“Yes,” I whisper.
He licks my neck, bites my tender skin. The sharp pain and his groan of pleasure throw me over the edge. I come hard, clenching around his finger, and he swirls his tongue over the bite marks.
Shuddering, I cling to him. His cock, still in his pants, is hard against my side. I start to reach for him before remembering…we were having a conversation. He had a terrible meeting with that Gaius asshole, and I got that email from Clarissa.
He tugs at my shorts.
“Wait a second,” I say.
“Mmm?” He hums into my neck but doesn’t release his hold. His tongue, hot and wet, slides over my skin.
It’s impossible to think. But there was something on my mind. I shove at his chest. “Let me go.”
With a low growl of frustration, he releases me. I step back immediately, putting a few feet between us.
“We were having a conversation. Or trying to,” I say. “But you kept distracting me.”
“You were unhappy.” He holds his hands out as if searching for the problem. “I was fixing it.”
“Sex and blood and domination don’t solve everything.” I put my hands on my hips and face him, my legs still rubbery from my orgasm. Blood trickles down my neck, but I ignore it.
Will doesn’t ignore it. He can’t; it isn’t in his nature. His gaze tracks the drop as it streams down to my naked chest.
“Maybe they don’t solve everything,” he says, stalking forward until he’s toe to toe with me.
He reaches out and with the pad of his index finger, he traces and smears the blood, bringing it all the way down to my hardened nipple. I hold in my moan, but just barely.
He continues, “But they make our problems more bearable, don’t you think, love?”
Damn him. He’s right. Me fretting about Clarissa or worrying about Gaius, or Xander…my thoughts running in circles about these problems isn’t solving them.
“We still need to talk, though,” I say.
He bends slightly and takes my nipple into his mouth, lapping at the blood and sucking gently. Then he straightens and looks down at me. “All right, love, let’s talk.”
Now that I know he isn’t putting me off forever, I’d like to finish what we started.
I grab the waistband of his pants and drop to my knees in front of him.
I lean back on my heels and smile up at him.
“Promise we’ll talk after? It would be too hard for me to talk with your cock in my mouth, Daddy. ”
With a grin that shows his fangs, he rests his hand against the side of my face and says, “I promise. Whatever my little love desires.”
Over the next couple of hours, he makes good on that promise.