Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
SANTA
My alarm went off too early the next morning.
"I can't believe you offered to be my wingman so I could see other people." Boz curled tighter against my side and nipped at my pec. "You're ridiculous."
"I'm not relationship material," I warned.
He laughed. "I like you, you like me, and we're seeing where it goes. Nothing more than that."
Whatever this was between us, it felt heavy and momentous. I was in bed with my boyfriend on Christmas morning, of all things! I wanted to run far and fast, but I had nowhere to go. Each time I returned to my apartment for the morning, I felt a dreadful loss.
"I'm going to miss you tonight." I kissed his cheek, so he wouldn't notice my abject terror when admitting it out loud .
"I'll miss you, too," he said.
"Do you want to exchange gifts now, or tonight?"
"Gifts?" He swallowed, and I placed my lips against his bobbing Adam's apple.
"It's Christmas."
"You've already done so much for me. The apartment, the furniture, the?—"
"The broken bones, and the security tail while you visit your parents." I paused to think, and Boz glared at me in the low light.
"You had nothing to do with those vampires."
"I didn't stop them from hurting you."
I should have waited for them outside Blood Drive and broken their necks so they couldn't follow us, but I'd underestimated the threat. I thought they'd be happy with any human, not knowing they'd set their sights on Boz for reasons far more sinister than his tousled good looks and slim physique.
"You couldn't have known," he said. "And you healed me, another gift I'll never be able to repay."
"You don't need to repay me, sweetness." I kissed the spot where I'd bitten him the night before until he squirmed away.
"My parents are going to think my boyfriend is a vampire," he whispered.
"No, they won't." I licked where I'd nibbled, and my saliva erased all remnants of a mark .
"Should I tell them about you?"
"Have you told them you work for vampires?"
He paused. "Yes, but my bodyguard will need an explanation."
"How do they feel about us?"
"It never came up." He shrugged. "We aren't super religious or anything, so it shouldn't be a problem." Despite the scientific explanation for the vampire virus, some factions still insisted we were abominations sent by the devil, especially the backwards Christian denominations who thought same-sex relationships went against god with a capital G.
I grew up Catholic, but now, I was agnostic. I believed in a god, all right, but I didn't believe in the devil I'd supposedly come from, and I certainly didn't think sex work or any kind of consensual sex was wrong. I'd had it all, and none of it deserved the shameful stigma some humans gave it.
Boz's eagerness to do everything, even some kinkier shit, surprised me. I still didn't know why anyone would have walked away from him. He was a sure thing.
Now, he was my sure thing. I was done fighting the inevitable. While we could, I wanted to spend every moment with him until the irresistible urge to hide underground, away from the sun, caught up with me.
I dragged myself from his bed .
"I'll see you tonight," he promised.
I leaned over him and kissed him soundly one more time. "You'd better."
That was as close to saying those momentous three words as I'd ever come. I didn't know who I was anymore, but I knew who I wanted to be. Forever was too much to offer, but for the foreseeable future, I would make Boz mine.
I visited Irena on Christmas, as promised. When she asked about Boz, I couldn't resist sharing how he made me feel. With her help, I planned how to share the news with Boz.
When he returned home, I couldn't get the words out. I wanted to tell him, but first, there were presents to open, and then he offered me a drink from his neck while I rode his cock. I couldn't resist.
It had been far too long since I'd involved blood play with sex. It wasn't allowed at Fanglory. I'd already drunk my fill of blood, thanks to a quick stop at Blood Drive before Boz returned. I didn't take much from him, only enough to get us both off.
Afterward, I wished I would have said no. The blood bond went both ways. Not only did it draw Boz to me, making him a willing donor, but it also drew me to him for an easy meal .
I couldn't let our relationship sink to that level. Boz was more than a blood bag. He was special. I …
I needed to get my head out of my ass. Once I'd gotten us both cleaned up and we were back in our sweats, snuggling and warm beneath the covers, I laid it out for him.
"I shouldn't drink from you. It's addicting."
He nodded. "Colette said it would be."
I jerked away from him so hard I almost fell out of bed. "You talked to Colette about this?"
He blinked. "Wait. I didn't mean … last week, she told me about blood bonds and sire bonds. She said I already have a bond with you, so the blood bond wouldn't really change things between us."
I shook my head. "I don't know what she thinks she can see, but she's wrong. Vampires don't have psychic ties to each other unless they have psychic power."
He shrugged. "Just repeating what Colette told me."
"I should have known she would meddle." I tried to tease, but all levity between us had vanished. "She likes you, you know. She'll probably be the one to turn you for the empress." Despite Harley's claim the empress wanted to turn Boz herself, she wouldn't return to Boston so soon, not when she could take over Colette's mind and turn him by proxy.
"Now that I understand the sire bond, that's fine with me." Boz cuddled closer to me and lay his head on my shoulder .
I nodded. "I already have too much power over you."
"Power isn't everything." He grinned. "Your vampire charm isn't your only asset."
That was news to me.
"You're a sweet and doting boyfriend," he said.
I still wasn't used to the word, but it didn't scare me shitless anymore. "How so?"
"You've paid for more food than I have since I moved in, and you can't even eat it. Don't tell me you do that for all the strays you take in."
"I don't. You're special," I admitted. I'd hoped to say more, had a whole speech planned, but Boz had coaxed the important part from me with ease.
"You like me, and I like you."
"Yes, we've established that."
"Then why do we need to label or limit our relationship beyond that? Are you still having fun?"
"Fuck yeah." I tugged his hands over his head and leaned in to give him a kiss.
He broke the kiss on a laugh. "That's all that matters. Let's just enjoy each other's company."
Easier said than done.
Too soon, we both returned to our work routines. One day in early February, the roads were too slick to drive the Chevelle. I pushed Boz onto the crowded bus that stopped at the council building. On the way home, I scanned every passenger for potential threats until our stop a block from the apartment building.
The walk was cold, but Boz didn't mind. He tucked his gloved hand in mine and kicked a ball of hard-packed snow down the sidewalk ahead of us. After a few kicks, it disintegrated into powder and he laughed.
He waited until he'd locked us inside his apartment to share the news. "Next week, we'll make the announcement. The entire Financial Planning department is gone. They've been embezzling from the empress to fund far-right political agendas around the world."
"If there's one thing the empress hates, it's Nazis." I should have fought them myself during World War II, but I couldn't bring myself to return to Europe. Instead, I fought them in Madison Wisconsin, of all places, in 1970 to save the first Earth Day celebration.
"Colette's delivering the backup files to Harley tonight," Boz continued, unaware of my trip down memory lane.
"So soon?"
"Once I found the first evidence, I knew what to look for. We've uncovered several shell companies in Russia and some offshore bank accounts. They've been building a vacation home in Alaska, of all places." I set the building temperature at seventy-two degrees, and still he shivered at the thought.
"I always thought it would be fun to visit Alaska during the winter. Long nights, little sun. The few people I know who have mastered staying awake into the morning hours did it up north."
"Do you want to stay awake during the day?" he asked.
"I would do it to be with you longer," I admitted.
He shrugged. "Colette wants to turn me this weekend, before we break the news to the rest of the firm. She's worried our enemies will either kill me or turn me themselves."
I tugged him to the couch, and he sat heavily, leaning into me.
"You can say no," I said. "We can go away together for a few months while things calm down."
He curled into my side and kissed my cheek before throwing his legs over my lap and cuddling even closer. "I would love to run away with you, but that's unrealistic. I'm no coward."
Once again, I wished I'd have bypassed the attacking vampire's throat and shoved my dagger through his heart. I would have eliminated the threat to Boz, even if that meant putting myself on Empress Marcella's radar again.
"Stay vigilant at work," I said. "Even during the day. These vampires could have humans or shifters working for them."
"Or they could wake earlier than Colette." He squirmed even closer to me, and all thoughts of other vampires, humans, and shifters faded into the distance. Boz was here and now, and he was all I wanted.