“Gone,” Shade said. “Guess he had some things to do. People to kill. Dunno.”
E tossed the orange into the basket. “I think he’s overwhelmed by the instant family. He’ll be back.”
“Speaking of family,” Wraith said to Shade, “when can I meet the nephews?” There was a long pause, too long, and Wraith added quickly, “I won’t eat them or anything. I swear.”
Shade went rigid. “Why now?”
“I want to belong to a family,” Wraith blurted before he could re-think sounding like a candy-ass. “I mean, I have Serena, but she’s a vampire, which means she can’t have kids.…” He felt bad for that, not just for her, but strangely, for him. With her beside him, encouraging him, he knew he could be a good father. “I was just thinking that maybe if we could, you know, just all hang out… fuck, I don’t know. This is stupid. Never mind.”
Shade and Eidolon exchanged looks, as if they had a secret between them. For a moment he was tempted to get inside Shade’s head the way he always had and find out what they were hiding from him. But Shade hated that, and violating his brother’s mind would make his pretty plea for forgiveness yet another lie.
“I get it.” Wraith backed toward the door, bumping against the frame. “It’s too late—”
He couldn’t picture himself barbecuing hot dogs and playing fucking family board games anyway.
“Wraith, it’s not that,” Shade said.
“Doesn’t matter. Serena’s waking up. I need to go to her.”
Shade called his name as he left, but Wraith just held up a hand to cut him off, and kept going. They might not trust him to be a functional member of the family yet, but they would. He’d earn their trust eventually, but right now, his focus was all on Serena.
She was tying the drawstring on a pair of scrub bottoms when he walked in. “Hey,” she said, tilting her head to the side as she studied him. “It’s so weird seeing you without that face tattoo.”
“I figure I’ll be in for one hell of a shock the next time I look in a mirror.” A good shock, though, like he’d had when he saw that his hourglass glyph had been set right again. He took her hand and pulled her against him, reveling in the feel of her soft curves against his hard body. “You feeling okay?”
“Never better.” She smiled, and the points of her fangs peeked out from her parted lips. It was so freaking sexy Wraith wanted to throw her down and get inside her while she sank those hot little teeth into his throat.
What a difference a day makes. He was really starting to understand her hard-on for vampires. He was getting one himself. Literally. “Babe, we so have to get out of here.” His swelling cock was way onboard with that plan.
“Where are we going?”
Such utter trust. Her faith in him tugged at his heart and at the same time scared the crap out of him. What if he broke her trust, failed her?
“You won’t,” she said softly.
“How did you know what I was thinking?”
“I felt your fear. Didn’t take a genius to figure out what it was about.”
He groaned playfully. “This bond is going to be a pain in the ass.”
“Really?” She reached low and cupped him. “Because I can feel your arousal, too… and it’s definitely sparking mine.”
Oh, yeah. He could feel it coming through the bond like an erotic drumbeat. “So, maybe the bond won’t be that bad.” His words came out on a moan thanks to the stroking action she’d started.
“So… you were saying?”
“Right. We’re going to my place… ah, Gods, keep that up, just like that.” He arched into her touch. “And after I ravage you, I’ll start teaching you about life in my world. Are you all right with that?”
She flicked open the top button on his fly. “Do the lessons have to start right away?”
“Probably a good idea,” he gritted out, but then she dropped to her knees. “Lessons? What lessons?”
“That’s what I thought.” The look in her gaze, the erotic promise, the trust, the love, brought him to his knees in front of her. She meant the underworld to him, and in that moment, he knew.
He would never fail her.
And the faith in her eyes said she knew it, too.
Thirty-three
“They’re here!” Serena forced herself to walk calmly to the front door, even though she wanted to sprint. Runa, Shade, and their babies would be on the other side—and she and Wraith would be meeting them for the first time.
It had been nearly a week since she and Wraith had arrived at his place—a very male bachelor pad in Manhattan—and after days of doing nothing but enjoying each other, they’d decided it was time to enjoy his family.