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“No, yeah… I mean, yes, I plan to go over to Nolan’s to feed him,” I answer, sitting up before Donovan gets any bright ideas of lifting my shirt any higher. “I figured I’d go after dinner.”
Warm amusement colors her words as she replies, “Dear, it’s eight o’clock.”
“What?” I squawk, and then blurt to Donovan, “We’ve been making out for over four hours?”
“Glad you’re enjoying yourself.” My nan laughs.
“Crap,” I squeak, drop my head against Donovan’s shoulder, and mumble into my phone. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.”
He squeezes my ass with both hands before stealing my phone from my mortified grip. “Hi. It’s Donovan. You can let the doc know we’re on our way.”
“Don’t feel like you have to hurry on her account,” she says way too cheerfully. “I hear patience is a virtue.”
Chuckling a goodbye, he hands me the phone.
Fumbling with one hand, I tug my shirt down and climb back into my seat while hurrying through my own goodbyes. Logically, I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed, but for some reason, I want to keep the illusion that Mildred has no idea what I get up to with any of my four—hopefully one day five—boyfriends.
Donovan adjusts the seat into a driving position. He looks over at me while I put my seatbelt on, his full lips pulling into a humored smirk. “Not that you have to, since I’m sure Nolan won’t complain, but you might want to put your bra back on.”
“Crap,” I squeak again, clutching my chest like I can’t tell they are free flying, and then I immediately scramble into the back seat, looking for the illusive undergarment.
It takes an alarming amount of time to find it, even after Donovan turns on the cab lights. Eventually, I’m able to sneak it back on without flashing anyone, and we’re back on the road, heading to Nolan’s. Anyone who takes one look at me will know what we’ve been up to, but that’s the price I’m willing to pay to get out of cooking lessons.
Chapter 11
Felix
Connor sports a black eye and split lip, among other bruises, from the pounding he took while sparring with Donovan. He got in a few good hits as well, but it’s clear the match was about more than training. Afterward, D helped him up off the floor, then said some things I couldn’t hear, and now they seem fine. Strangely, Connor appears lighter somehow, like he’d been wanting penance for what he’d done. Kaleb is still having a hard time, but the way Nolan’s cousins have been giving Con nasty looks has engaged his protective instincts. He’s allowed to be angry at Connor, but he won’t allow anyone else to look down on him, especially due to some bizarre feud between shifters and vampires.
As the resident human, I’m not supposed to know any of this, and playing dumb is driving me insane. Con can’t shift because of this bullshit, and I have to pretend that Ellessa’s flirting has nothing to do with the fact that she sees me as a literal snack versus the fun, figurative one. The phrase “I could just eat you with a spoon” loses some of its complimentary quality when delivered by a vampire with boundary issues.
Callie stayed with Nolan in his room to “keep him company,” aka feeding him her blood while everyone else kept the ignorant human entertained. This left Kaleb as my only defense against the creepy cousins. The whole encounter was definitely one of my top ten most awkward moments of my life, which me being me is really saying something.
When we return to Nolan’s suite, he’s sitting in one of the recliners, bundled up in blankets, and Callie is sitting on the arm of the chair, running her fingers lightly through his hair while they watch a movie. In any other circumstance, I’d leave them be, but I have amorous vampires who look ready to reenact The Most Dangerous Game, so I beeline it for Nolan’s black leather couch, scoop up Callie by the waist, and tug her into my lap. She squeaks with surprise, but fortunately, she doesn’t try to escape the tight hold I have around her. Instead, she covers my hands with hers and gives the cousins a hard look, correctly guessing her role as a human shield.
Ellessa shrugs daintily with an innocent smile, as if to say, Can’t blame me for trying.
Her twin, Kaven, has the barest of apologies in his eyes. More of a sorry, she just can’t help herself than a sorry for trying to seduce you into being our human Capri Sun, it won’t happen again.
Despite his injuries, Connor gives them a low warning growl as he steps past them and takes the spot next to me.
They have almost comical levels of annoyed cat face, until Donovan drops heavy hands on each of their shoulders. With a smile that promises violence worse than they’ve witnessed thus far, he squeezes until they wince and try to pull away. He holds on a beat longer, making it clear that they aren’t the only predators in the room, before releasing them and sitting down on the other side of Connor.
With an expression usually only reserved for his distaste of Gina, Kaleb murmurs something in their ears. They give the barest of nods of acknowledgement. He then sits in the other recliner, leaving the cousins to stand or sit on the floor.
I really do have the coolest friends.
“Cousins,” Nolan greets with a sharp smile, “I hope you had a productive workout. I’m sorry I wasn’t feeling well enough to join you, but I’m sure my friends were able to show you how everything works around here. I can imagine it’s very different from what’s familiar back home.”
Kaven glances around the room at all of the unamused faces. “It was… enlightening.”
“Well, don’t feel like you have to stay on our account,” he continues, his voice almost a deadly croon. “I’m sure you’ll want to get cleaned up after such an enlightening morning.”
The twins look as immaculate as they did before their workout, none of the boring human exercises able to stand up to their supernatural abilities. Clearly not used to being dismissed by someone who, at most, she sees as a peer, Ellessa opens her mouth to speak, but she is interrupted by a light rap on the door.
Nolan looks immensely tired as he calls, “Come in.”
A woman dressed in all black from the neck down steps into the room and offers a slight bow. “My apologies for interrupting, but Dr. Callidus has need of Miss Volkov, Master Kaven, and Mistress Ellessa.”
