Heather smiled. “I’m the youngest immortal around and still fairly new to the game. Do you want me to see if I can help ease her into things?”
Seth smiled. “I would appreciate that, Heather. Thank you. Ethan, you keep a close eye on Aidan. Keep him in your sight as often as possible. And in the instances that you can’t, keep your ears tuned to him. If another woman goes missing and Chris gets another video that implicates Aidan, I want you to be able to confirm with absolute certainty that Aidan was with you when it happened.”
Unease crept into Ethan’s expression. “That could get awkward, couldn’t it? I mean, if Aidan and Dana work things out, they’ll probably want to make up, if you know what I mean.”
Heather’s brow furrowed “So?”
“So,” her husband told her, “if I keep my preternatural hearing attuned to him, I’ll hear everything.”
“Oh.” Her brow cleared. “Ohhhhhh. Yeah. That would be awkward.”
Seth shrugged. “Zach did it for you, Ethan. You can do it for Aidan.”
Heather looked from Ethan to Seth and back again. “What do you mean Zach did it for Ethan?”
Ethan shot Seth a narrow-eyed look, then sighed and turned back to his wife. “When vampires kept attacking you and someone was messing with your mind last year, we stayed with Zach and Lisette to ensure your safety and…”
Her eyes widened. Then her face scrunched up. “Oh. Ew. Zach was listening to us when we made love?”
Ethan winced. “Not by choice. He had to, honey. He couldn’t risk tuning us out and missing it if Gershom were to pop in and do whatever he wanted to do.”
Heather didn’t look appeased. “Did Lisette listen, too?”
“No. She put on headphones and blasted music.”
Heather’s face flamed with color. Covering it with both hands, she moaned with embarrassment. “Do you know how many times we made love while we were staying with them?” she cried in dismay.
Ethan rested a hand on her back. “Yes. But—”
“We did it like all day that one time!”
“I know, but—”
Heather dropped her hands and looked at Seth. “Why did you tell me that?”
Seth sent her what he hoped was a look of apology. “I was merely trying to reassure Ethan that—”
“Erase my memory,” she blurted, interrupting him.
Seth stared at her in surprise. “What?”
“Erase that from my memory. Quick. Before it does too much damage. I like Zach and want to keep being friends with him and Lisette, but I won’t be able to if every time I see Zach I think about him listening to us humping our brains out.”
Marcus burst into laughter.
Ami elbowed him but looked as though she wanted to laugh, too.
“Honey,” Ethan said, his face full of concern, “erasing that from your memory would cause brain damage.”
“I’m immortal,” Heather said. “I’ll heal.”
“We think you’ll heal,” Ethan qualified.
“You healed when Seth tried to see if you could be mind-controlled and did enough damage to make your ears and nose bleed.”
“True. But just to be on the safe side, I don’t think we should risk it.”
Heather met her husband’s earnest gaze. “Ethan, if Seth doesn’t get this out of my head, then every time we make love from this point on, instead of thoroughly enjoying it, I’m going to be fixating on all the sounds Zach heard when we made love at their place.”
Eyes widening, Ethan swung to Seth. “Do it. Erase it. Melanie said she’d recover, right?”
Seth laughed. “I can bury it instead. That will cause no lasting damage.”
Heather smiled with relief. “Thank you.”
Ami cleared her throat. “Even if you bury the memories, won’t Heather figure it out if she hears Aidan and Dana make love?”
Heather looked at Ethan. “If I do, just tell me Lisette’s basement bedrooms were soundproofed. I was still mortal then, so I won’t know it isn’t true.”
Ethan frowned. “I don’t want to lie to you.”
Heather arched a brow. “The vigorous sex life we’ll enjoy for the rest of eternity is worth one lie, don’t you think?”
He grinned. “Well, when you put it like that…”
Heather looked at Seth expectantly.
Seth delved into her thoughts, found her memories of the past few minutes, and buried them. He looked at Ethan. “It’s done.”
“What is?” Heather asked.
Seth smiled at her. “Heather, I’m going to ask Aidan and Dana to stay with you and Ethan until we can get to the bottom of this.”
She smiled. “Oh. Okay. I’m the youngest immortal around and still fairly new to the game. Maybe I can help ease her into things.”
The others all shared a glance.
“Thank you. I would appreciate that.” Seth looked at Ethan, who watched his wife from the corner of his eye, and repeated his instructions for Heather’s benefit.
As he wrapped up the meeting, Seth fervently hoped such precautions would prove unnecessary. But none of them knew if or when another gifted one might go missing.
Chapter Nine
Dana wasn’t sure how long Aidan held her, his arms tight enough to make her wonder if he feared she would run away if he loosened his grip.
But it helped. It really did.
He still felt like Aidan to her. Still smelled like Aidan. Still made her laugh like Aidan.
He was just so much more than she had realized.
Snuggling against him as she had each time they’d parked their butts on her sofa and watched a movie helped quiet her tumultuous thoughts. He didn’t feel like the stranger the past half hour had made him seem. He felt familiar. Good. Hers.
He had also held her like this after good-night kisses had spiraled out of control, leading him to run those big hands of his over her body and heat her blood.
She frowned. “Is all this why you haven’t made love with me yet?” Several times he had kissed her and stroked her until she had orgasmed. But he had never peeled away her clothes, torn off his own, and buried his body in hers the way she had wanted him to.
No. He had always called a halt to things before she could get naked and straddle him.
“Yes.” He loosened his hold enough for her to lean back and look at him. “I thought it would be wrong to make love with you before you knew what I am. I thought you should know all of it”—he shrugged—“before you knew all of me.”
And she really wanted to know all of him.
But she supposed she would’ve felt betrayed if he had made love with her first, then told her, as if he were trying to trick her into accepting him or something. “You didn’t tell me how you went from being a gifted one to becoming immortal.”
He shifted her on his lap, inadvertently making her aware of his erection.
Glancing down, she arched a brow.
“Sorry about that,” he said with a sheepish smile. “It’s just what you do to me. I’ve been walking around in a state of near-constant arousal ever since you put your hands on me during that first reading.”
She had, too, but didn’t admit it.
He gave her a cautious look. “Let me just preface this by saying that I never planned to drop this on you all at once. I was going to ease you into things a little bit at a time.”