Chapter Seventeen
I woke up to the feeling of Theo pressed against my back and to the sight of Matthias sleeping next to my bed.
Wait, what?!
“Shh, let him sleep a little longer,” Theo whispered. “The fool snuck in at midnight. I should have been clearer in my wording and not leave him room to interpret ‘leaving for a day’ to end at midnight.”
“I’m only surprised he didn’t wrestle you off the bed,” I snorted.
“Oh, he would have tried if that wouldn’t have woken you up,” Theo winked at me. “You know, I have a big bed at home, it could fit all of us in... if that’s what you wanted.”
I turned to him fully.
“For sleeping? Or for... other purposes?” I asked.
“Anything you want,” Theo promised.
The vision of all three vampires servicing me was too much and I shot off the bed.
“I need to prepare for work!”
I made my hurried way to the bathroom, knowing I would be tempted to indulge in a round of morning sex if I stayed. I wasn’t quite ready to navigate having both Theo and Matthias’s ardor directed at me so early in the day.
As the door closed, I heard Matthias’s disgruntled muttering. I hoped he would forgive me for waking him up. A quick shower later I felt more ready to face the day.
“I have an important task today,” Theo said when we were saying our goodbyes before leaving my room. “Wish me luck.” I did with a sweet kiss on his cheek. “I’m leaving you in good hands,” Theo nodded to Matthias before the doors closed behind him.
The silence left in his wake was a bit awkward.
“So, what do you do on your one free day?” Matthias asked gruffly. “What can you do?”
“Well, I can’t leave the mansion... but, as you are a guest and not a guard like you love to pretend, you should be allowed in the entertainment areas,” I mused, my finger tapping at my lips.
“I have never used the indoor pool they have here but I sure had to clean it. Do you think we could go there?”
“I didn’t exactly bring swimming trunks on this business trip,” Matthias arched his brow at me. “But I can always swim naked.”
“No,” I said immediately.
“Going prudish on me now, Victoria?” He grinned. “Have you never bathed together with a naked man?”
“That’s irrelevant,” I scoffed. “What’s important is that I’m not going to let other people see you naked. In fact, maybe the swimming idea is a miss... your naked torso and those trunk-like legs would mean people inevitably trying to spy on us to catch a glimpse.”
“You’re jealous,” Matthias said with glee. “Of some imaginary peeping toms?”
“People here love to stick their noses in other people’s business. The gossip is a currency.” One that I had made frequent use of myself, I didn’t add.
“Alright, I can see how that would be a problem with a big, public pool... isn’t there somewhere more private? Like a jacuzzi or something?”
“Only in the best guest rooms... don’t you have one?” I narrowed my eyes at the man.
“Ha! No, that would be too simple. But now that I think about it, Tristan mentioned his rooms were better than mine...”
“Oh, I didn’t check out the bathroom while I was there.
.. hmm, let me think... Yes, that room should have a jacuzzi!
Can we ask Tristan to let us use it?” I beamed, excited at the possibility of a long, luxurious soak.
There were a lot of things I missed from my privileged upbringing but creature comforts like a bathtub were the largest part of it.
“No way,” Matthias huffed. “I want to have you only to myself for a while longer, and we can’t just ask for the key and kick him out of his room... but he is away for the moment, so what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Let’s break into his room.”
“You hooligan!” I slapped his arm playfully. “You are a bad influence on me because I think between my knowledge of the manor and your lockpicking skills we can make it work.”
The plan was created and put in motion. Soon, we found ourselves inside Tristan’s apartment, giggling against each other as we stumbled inside. Only when my eyes spotted the documents on the table did I think about what a breach of privacy this was.
I winced and clutched at Matthias’ hand.
“Tristan won’t be mad, will he?” I asked in a thin voice.
“Exasperated maybe, but no, not mad, don’t worry, beautiful,” Matthias pushed my hair aside to uncover my lowered face, the gesture painfully gentle.
“He will be pleased to, ah, provide for you even in this manner. I always thought he picked me and Theo up not because he was lonely — the man likes his silence and solitude after all — but because he felt the need to be helpful, to share his wealth and knowledge. And material possessions.”
“So, he will gladly share his fancy jacuzzi?” My mouth quirked up at the explanation. Each tidbit I learned about the group of vampires was another piece of the bigger puzzle I wanted to see completed one day.
“You betcha!”
Matthias sent me into the impressive bathroom with the mission to fill the jacuzzi up and find ‘the sprinkles on top’ to add to the water; by which he meant bath bombs, oils, scents, and such.
I managed to locate a citrusy bath product and poured it into the water while Matthias emerged victorious from raiding the fridge for snacks.
“Champagne, miss?” he said in a stuffy voice as he offered me a flute full of white bubbling liquid.
“I’m not on the clock for once so hell yeah!” I unceremoniously shucked my clothes off and stepped into the jacuzzi, seating myself with a blissful sigh before I extended my hand for the champagne.
Matthias gave it to me and joined me a while later in the nude, a plate of cookies balanced on his palm.
We started at opposite sides, only our legs tangling together from time to time, as we enjoyed the hot water and the bubble jets of the jacuzzi, but, eventually, Matthias tempted me to his side with the cookies. A truly underhanded move.
“I’m keeping all the champagne to myself,” I teased, after noticing there was only one flute of the sparkling drink.
“That’s alright, I will satisfy myself with just a taste.”
He grabbed my hair and possessed my lips in a thorough kiss, making me nearly drop the glass.
As we separated I noticed Matthias had less of a problem staying hard than before.
It was tempting to offer to do something about it, now that he had taken his friends’ advice and got a regular supply of blood from elsewhere, but two things were stopping me.
One, it would be hard not to offer my blood again, whether it was needed or not, and I probably shouldn’t share it so often.
And two, my face flamed at the possibility of Tristan returning and catching us in the middle of the act, so I steered us away from sexy thoughts and firmly back to relaxing in a non-horny way.
Good thing I did because half an hour later we heard a jingle of keys in the door.
Our wide eyes met each other and I sprang out of the bath. Shit, I left my clothes on the floor and they were all damp now! I snatched a big, white, fluffy towel and wrapped it around myself.
Matthias barely used his towel to dry himself before he stuffed his probably still-wet body in his clothes. He threw a look at me clutching the towel around myself and gave me a quick kiss before he opened the door to the bathroom wide, not one to avoid confrontation.
I thought he was going to be my shield but no, the bastard had thrown me under the bus.
“I got a gift for you, Tristan,” Matthias winked and booked it out of the room when the older vampire was busy staring at me. “I will be back in half an hour! Have fun!”
“Matthias, you bastard!” I fumed, but when the door closed behind him all the boisterousness left me.
I took a step back into the hot air of the bathroom, feeling unsure of myself. Matthias assured me Tristan wouldn’t be mad at the breach of privacy but that dog also left me to face the blues alone, so I couldn’t trust his assessment.
“I see both Theo and Matthias had managed to get you out of your clothes,” Tristan murmured into the stillness. I flinched. “But I would like to offer you the opposite; would you let me dress you, Victoria?”
Blinking, I cast a dubious look at the pile of my damp clothes.
“That won’t be a problem. I have procured something better for you. It was supposed to be a gift for later, but there’s no time like the present,” Tristan presented a gentlemanly hand to me, his upturned palm waiting. “Will you let me show you your gift?”
Tristan did everything he could to appear non-threatening. He didn’t block my path to the exit or hurry me up, just waited for me to come to him as if I were a stray cat he wanted to befriend. The neutral expression and the soft tone of his voice helped as well.
My fingers alit gently on his palm and he led me towards his bedroom, not caring how I was leaving wet footprints on the carpet.
“Forgive me for the presentation,” Tristan said as he opened his closet and pulled out a beautiful dress. “It came in a big, beautiful box with all the additions… but I have a reason why I took it all out.”
He laid the magnificent dress and accessories for it on the bed.
Matching shoes, jewelry, hair decorations…
The silky, flowing fabric of midnight blue hues draped into a beautiful dress.
A gradient of lighter color at the lower edges and the darkened color rising to the top created an utterly captivating combination.
“For… me?” I asked, not quite believing Tristan went to so much trouble just for the girl he met a few days ago.
But I wasn’t just plain old me to them, was I?
Theo told me they considered me their soulmate .
Of course they would want something, someone they considered theirs, to look beautiful.
Was this going to be my role? Eye candy?
Would they scorn the simple and comfortable pants I liked to wear?