Page 21 of Grave Throbbing
The daily special was were-jaguar with a butterscotch infusion. He ordered one of those for Key and confirmed were-jaguar and lavender would work for Greed before placing his own order for human blood infused with cinnamon, his first attempt at something decadent.
"Thank you for letting us stay here," Greed whispered from her spot on the couch. Her voice was almost too low for him to hear her, but he caught her staring at him with wistful intent.
"The pleasure is all mine," he said. "I'd never forgive myself if something had happened to you during the day while I could have prevented it."
"Could he have trusted you with his secret back then?" she asked. "With me?"
Harley didn't know how to answer that question. "Things were different back then. Humans didn't know vampires existed, and we still needed to feed off them, willing or not. If Key would have told me about you, I would have tried to protect you."
"You care about him."
"Absolutely." He caught the subtle downturn of her mouth. "I care about both of you. I didn't know about you then, but I will do everything in my power to keep you together now."
She snorted. "You don't even know me."
"I know him," Harley said. "That's enough."
Her eyes brightened as much as they could without blood in her system, and she sniffled. "You'll be good to him, won't you?"
"As good as he'll let me."
She nodded. "This is my fault, but he never told me about you. He always wanted to protect me, when all I wanted was for him to be happy."
"He hasn't been happy?"
"He hasn't been much of anything since the day his sire found him." She met his gaze and smirked. "I remember the night we left New York, though. He was scared, yes, but he couldn't stop humming. He's been humming again, too."
Harley wondered if they'd been humming the same song all these years, their last dance before they went into the New York night to enthrall humans.
"You make him happy," she whispered. "I only wish he'd found you sooner."
"It's never too late." He gave her what he hoped was his most reassuring smile, even as the knock at the door startled him half out of his wits. He raised his hands to protect his neck on instinct, though it was only the doorman with their delivered blood.
Chapter 8
Key
Key woke from his sleep of the dead in a strange bed, surrounded by cold blankets and pillows. In his own coffin, he slept with a heated and weighted blanket on a timer set to warm five minutes before dusk. It was ridiculous, yes, and Greed was certain he was going to start a fire, but she let him have his one luxury.
Harley whisked through the door a moment later with two steaming to-go cups that smelled divine. "Did you know Blood Drive delivers?" Harley handed him a cup of were-jaguar with a hint of butterscotch flavor.
"I did." Greed had pointed to the sign when they'd first gone through the drive-through."Why wait for your first cup of the day? We deliver."They both had balked at the price hike, though, and decided they could wait and walk to get their fix on their way to work.
Now, it was a welcome surprise, as was the kiss Harley gave him when he handed him his cup.
"Thank you."
"I didn't want you to go to work without blood. You'll need your strength if Dobbins shows up."
Key propped a couple of Harley's pillows behind his back and slid up to hunch over his cup of warm blood. Harley disappeared again, and Key didn't wait for him to return. The blood enhanced his super speed. He dressed in the shirt and jeans he'd worn to work but dug a pair of Harley's tight briefs from his dresser to replace his crusty boxers. He'd gotten a little too hot under the collar when he'd bitten Harley the last time. His bite didn't have the same effect on him as it did on the recipient, but he had to be aroused to give it in the first place. Harley turned him on like no one else, which was probably why he'd been so thoroughly debauched in a matter of moments.
Harley's briefs were tight on Key. Coupled with the fact that they belonged to Harley, he was already semi-hard when he pulled on his jeans and walked to Harley's office, where he and Greed were studying an itinerary laid out on the middle computer screen.
"They can't have security in the haunted house." Greed pointed a lacquered nail at the notes section. "You and Harley will have to watch the back door."
"Who's watching the front?" Key asked.
"Someone I trust." Harley glanced at him over his shoulder. "Thornton. He's no friend of Dobbins's, at least."
