Chapter 32
TRACE
Dalziel got to his feet, took a couple of steps, and got right up into Edwin’s space. His eyes blazed with thrall. “Edwin, sit down. Your fangs have dropped and you’re snarling. You’ll scare James. Think with your brain, not your vampire senses.”
Like an obedient zombie, Edwin sank into the nearest chair with a pained moan and dropped his head into his hands.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he whined in James’ direction.
“I’m a bit possessive when it comes to you.
” I noticed he didn’t apologise to Dalziel, but I wasn’t going to say anything.
I felt antsy myself about trusting James to anyone but the two of us, but I knew Dalziel wouldn’t do anything to harm someone who was so important to one of his coven.
James inhaled a shaky breath, then came and knelt by Edwin and laid his head on Edwin’s knee. It was the most proactive action he’d taken for days. “You trust Dalziel, don’t you?” he asked tentatively, as if feeling daring for saying such a thing in front of the senior vampire.
“Of course I do, love.”
“Then I should go.”
Edwin sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know.” He peeked at James through his fingers. “Would you…hold me, before you—”
“Yes.” James cut across his request and was in Edwin’s lap in a second.
He burrowed close, one hand slipping under Edwin’s shirt.
Edwin leaned back and his eyelids fluttered shut.
I felt my heart expand as I watched them.
They were so in love, even if James didn’t fully realise it yet.
I ached to be part of that huddle, although I also knew this wasn’t a deliberate exclusion but rather a moment they both needed.
“Gonna miss you.”
“Mmm.” James reverted to his previous almost-silence, but it felt less strained now.
Dalziel suggested we leave the pair alone for a bit. “I presume you will want to feed before James packs,” was his parting shot to Edwin as he gestured for me to precede him.
At Dalziel’s suggestion, I gave him a tour of my garden.
He asked a surprising number of pertinent questions about things like yield, soil composition, mineral contents, and even air quality, which surprised me until I remembered he’d been born in an age when he’d likely have been growing his own food.
Or been much closer to the production than your average Brit was these days.
When he wasn’t being a bossy arse to his offspring — although Edwin had been on the verge of losing his chill — he was excellent company.
He had a sharp intellect and a general thirst for knowledge that couldn’t be faked.
Terrance swooped in and came to say hello. He and Dalziel had met before, but it had been a while. I invited Dalziel inside my home while I made myself a drink and Terrance a snack. “I don’t have anything to offer you,” I apologised to Dalziel.
“I wouldn’t expect you to. I fed before I left Lucansburn. I am old enough I can last a few days without any ill effects.” He glanced around. “This is a cosy space.” He paused. “Rather too much silver for my liking, but I understand it’s useful as a witch.”
“It helps James’ Fae side too. I’m very happy with the place. Eddie has been more than generous.” I busied myself tidying the kitchen while he hovered in the doorway.
“The Council values you, both as a person and as a witch. Edwin will of course be compensated for his financial losses regarding his land, although I somehow doubt he will ask for a penny.” I could feel Dalziel’s eyes boring holes through the back of my neck as he spoke.
“He’s very fond of you, isn’t he, Dempsey? ”
“I think so,” I said as calmly as I could. “Shall we go back through to the sitting room?”
He let me drink in peace, seemingly content to browse my book collection. When I set my mug down, however, his gaze was laser-focused.
“He doesn’t know, does he?”
I met his look without flinching. “Of course he doesn’t. Obviously.”
“How do you expect him to react?”
Curse my inability to keep my pulse at a steady sixty-five, but I had literally everything to lose if the worst happened, so of course this was a question that would make it skitter like a wild thing.
I pinched the bridge of my nose, pushing my fingers into my sockets so hard I saw fireworks behind my eyelids. This was The Question.
Fuck you, Dalziel, for pressing on this permanently fresh, most tender of bruises that never healed.
I took my time steadying my breathing as best I could before I met his eyes once more. “I can’t possibly answer that.” I tried desperately to suffocate the need I could feel welling up inside me like a river about to burst its banks. “I’ve not dared hope. Not this time.”
“And James?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I like to think he’d be pleased. But,” and I could feel bitterness seeping into my tone, “I’ve been close before and nothing came of it. Please, Dalziel, can we drop the subject?”
We headed back to the others. There was a sports bag in the corridor with a lightweight jacket threaded through the handles, and James’ favourite trainers next to it. Evidently, they’d been busy in our absence.
James was sitting in Edwin’s lap, a look of satiated peace softening his recently too-taut features. Edwin’s expression was cat-who-got-the-cream. I had a sudden thought.
“Is James okay with you heading out to feed while he’s away?” I didn’t imagine so. James seemed easygoing, his current mental state aside, but when it came to Edwin he was as territorial as a lion.
Edwin grinned, his fangs showing. “We’ve discussed that,” he said lazily, his eyes tracking a slow, deliberate path from my toes to my hairline, heating my skin and making my belly tighten with anticipation. “I wondered how you’d feel about subbing for my precious shadow?”
Oh, Goddess.
I could feel Dalziel’s eyes on me. “I would love to.” That’s the truth. Knees, stop fucking knocking. “James, I promise I’ll think of you while I take care of Eddie for you.”
“Excellent.” Edwin’s smile could have swallowed a football field, it was so wide. He pressed a kiss to James’ forehead. “Darling, we should let you go.” His smirk morphed into a pout. “I’ll miss you so much.”
James buried his face in Edwin’s shirt. I’m not sure anything that came out of his mouth was a real word, but Edwin seemed to understand what he meant. He carefully tipped our boy until they were both standing. “You want to say goodbye to Trace?” His tone was hesitant. I braced for disappointment.
But James walked straight up to me and raised his face, his eyes hopeful. “Kiss?” he murmured.
“Always,” I affirmed, clasping him gently between hands I hoped weren’t too work-roughened. “You take care, and don’t forget to tell Dalziel to back off if he gets too bossy. He means well, but he’s a tyrannical control freak when he’s worried.”
To a shocked gasp from Edwin and Dalziel’s muttered “Good job I like you, Dempsey,” I touched my lips to James’ mouth. Our kiss was short and chaste, but it felt infused with meaning. James pulled away first, his blue eyes soft, his pupils large.
“You’ll look after Eddie?” His voice cracked, and I gathered him to me.
“Of course I will. You have my promise on that.” I nuzzled the sweet patch of skin Edwin was so fond of embracing and murmured into James’ hair, “Is physically okay, or just—”
“Everything. He needs you.” He stepped back, and I let him go. Edwin was beside him instantly, picking up his bag, offering to carry it outside. Dalziel tched.
“The boy’s more than capable of carting one bag to a car, Eddie, stop fussing.
” He caught Edwin in a one-armed hug. “He’ll be back before you’ve had time to miss him properly.
Use your time wisely. Some folk find relationships are strengthened by short periods of absence.
” He shot me a knowing look as Edwin rushed past us both, insisting on staying with James until the last second.
“Same goes for you, Trace. But something tells me you’re fully aware of this chance to have Eddie to yourself for a time. ”
He spoke so quietly I barely heard him, but I appreciated he was keeping his words from Edwin.
I nodded, with nothing I could add to what I’d said earlier.
Dalziel’s cool palm grasped my bicep. “I have faith this will all work out. You three work well together. You’re very good for Edwin.
He’s been somewhat of a lost soul since he was turned, contrary to every effort he makes to get people to think the opposite. ”
I knew what he meant. It seemed to me Edwin lived covered in bruises but wearing armour, clanking through life in the hope nobody got near enough to poke at his sore flesh. I'd never met anyone so ready to muffle their hurts and pretend they didn't exist.
I had to say something, but still nothing came. Dalziel seemed to understand. His grip tightened. “Have faith,” he repeated. Then to Edwin as he glanced at his phone, “Time’s ticking on. We should get going.”
I watched from the front step, Edwin from the kerb, as Dalziel pulled away into the empty road.
I would miss James, but the thought of having Edwin to myself churned my already heated insides to a veritable froth of anticipation.
He intended to feed from me. Would I like it as much as James did? Would Edwin be able to tell—
“Get your sexy arse inside before I beg you to bend me over in the doorway and fuck me until I scream, right here in the open.” My vampire boyfriend shoved me through the gap and the door slammed as he pulled it shut with enough force to rattle it in its frame.
Before I could take a breath, he had me pushed up against the wall with his tongue down my throat, one hand gripping my neck while the fingers of the other wrestled with the belt holding up my shorts.
All right then, we were going the let’s get naked so I don’t have to think route.