Page 46 of Damian’s Conquest

Gabriel and Maya, Ryder’s parents beamed proudly, and well-wishes echoed in the room, as they all talked to each other.

When Brandon released Scarlet and Ryder from his embrace, Scarlet sniffled. “Don’t make me cry now, Dad. And we’re not the only ones who have something to announce.” She craned her neck. “Katie?”

Katie and Luther came to the front of the room. Luther was practically related to Damian. He was Eddie’s sire, the man who’d turned him into a vampire.

“I know I always said I didn’t want children,” Katie started, “but after seeing all of you hybrids grow up…”

Fuck! Had Grayson and Cooper not managed to tell everybody at the party that there was a human among them who didn’t know about vampires? He cast a quick look at Naomi, whose forehead furrowed.

“… Luther and I decided it was finally time for us too.” She looked up at Luther, the muscular vampire who towered over her.

“Katie is pregnant, and I couldn’t be happier.” Luther’s gaze strayed to Samson, who now walked up to his old friend, and hugged him.

“I’m so happy for you,” Samson said.

Everybody joined in congratulating the couple, and Naomi turned to him.

“What did she mean by hybrid?”

Damian made a dismissive hand movement. “Katie was an actress before she married Luther, and sometimes she just uses words from her time in the movie business.”

Naomi seemed to buy the lie.

“Time to dance,” Ryder announced, and a moment later, dance music filled every room of the house.

Immediately, several couples started dancing. Perhaps it hadn’t been such a bad idea to come to this housewarming party after all. Showing Naomi how normal his friends and his family were, before he told her that they were vampires, might actually make her accepting him easier. Maybe she wouldn’t see him as a monster if she realized vampires behaved just like humans.

“Wanna dance?” he asked and already pulled Naomi into his arms, before she could even answer.

“But don’t—”

“Of course not,” he whispered into her ear, immediately realizing that she was afraid he’d be as intimate as at the Mezzanine. “I don’t wanna compete with my parents.”

Naomi looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

He maneuvered her farther into the room, then pointed at a couple dancing as if they were auditioning for a revival of the movie Dirty Dancing. “Those are my parents.”

Naomi gasped.

“Shocking, isn’t it?” Damian asked, chuckling. “Now you see why I behaved the way I did at the Mezzanine. Like father like son.”

“But they can’t be your parents,” she said, shaking her head. “They are far too young.”

He’d expected that. “Fifty is the new thirty. And they both have good genes.”

“Fantastic genes from what I can see.” Naomi smiled at him. “They look like they’re newlyweds.”

“I’ll tell you sometime how they met. It was love at first sight. They were a couple within a week, and have never been apart since.” And he wanted the same for himself. To find a mate who looked at him the way Nina looked at Amaury. If Naomi would have him, he would worship her the way Amaury worshipped Nina for the rest of his life.

“Wow. You rarely hear about married couples like that. It’s unusual.”

“You think so?” It wasn’t unusual in his circles. Blood-bonded couples were devoted to each other. And the power dynamics within those couples were interesting too. “Wanna know a secret?”

“Hmm?”

“My mother wears the pants in the relationship. My father is absolute putty in her hands.”

“You’re kidding. He’s huge, and… somewhat intimidating.”