Page 28 of Three Bites

I didn’t push, both because he was right and I should eat while I could and because I was already planning to grill the two other vampires. We spent the lunch mostly in silence but it wasn’t a heavy oppressive thing; no, with Tristan I could relax and enjoy my meal until the time came to part.

When Matthias came to pick me up, Tristan slid a couple of talismans into my pocket.

“It’s better to keep those heavy conversations on the down low. Theo and Matthias know how to activate those.”

The same day, just like I had feared, I was cornered in the one place where Matthias didn’t hover over my shoulder: the female bathroom. Esther, a twitchy mouse of a woman, followed me in and approached cautiously when I was washing my hands.

“Are they hurting you?” she asked, so dead quiet I barely heard her standing two feet from her.

“If they were, there wouldn’t be much you could do to stop that,” I sent her a sad smile. “You are barely in a better situation than me, Esther.”

Her brows furrowed in impotent anger.

“At least I can give you the tea. Do you need it?”

She was referring to a Plan B in herb form, a concoction that fortunately saved many a girl in this household from having Carl’s bastards.

My gaze softened.

“No, I don’t. They aren’t hurting me, really. They have been good to me,” I said, knowing she wasn’t going to believe me.

“If you say so,” she said skeptically. “Be careful. Take care.”

“You too, Esther.”

I gave her a hug before we parted ways. She was one of the bright spots in this hellish household. Just a little mouse trying to survive in a world of cats.

“So, how good is your hearing?” I murmured under my breath when I emerged from the bathroom to see Matthias leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. “Heard all of that?”

“The good news is: I can’t make you pregnant,” Matthias grinned at me.

My mouth opened in an O of surprise.

“Uh, does that go for all of you?” I asked awkwardly, feeling how hot my cheeks were getting.

“Would you like for all three of us to try very hard to knock you up? Fill you with our cum until you are overflowing? It could be a fun game—” the bastard purred and I had to put my hand on his mouth to shut him up.

“We’re in public!” I hissed.

He gently pried my hand off then asked lowly, “Is that your only protest?”

I swallowed, pushing down my sudden arousal.

“I want you to invite Theo to my room after I’m done with work,” I said, then added at his raised brows: “Not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter. I just have a few follow-up questions.”

Matthias sighed.

“I suppose it was stupid of me to think I could get out of this conversation by throwing Tristan at you. Very well, at least Theo will be there to keep me from completely screwing up.”

He refused to expand on that last statement while I finished work and only after we were in my room and activated the talismans did he cross his arms and explain while not looking at me.

“There was a girl about sixty years ago who I wanted to court. I botched the whole vampire explanation so much she tried to kill me. Her folks and neighbors thought she went crazy and I basically ruined not only my chances with her but her whole life. That’s why I don’t want to be the one to answer your questions about this.”

Feeling like ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t enough I stood on my tiptoes and patted his head gently. He melted under my touch and when Theo arrived he found me perched on my bed, Matthias sitting between my legs with his back to me, as I ran my hands through his short hair.

“Aw, you two look so cute like this!” Theo beamed.

“Don’t ‘cute’ me, you rascal. Vic wants to have The Talk,” Matthias scowled.

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