Twice Bitten Not Shy [Vampires of Eternity] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (7 page)

“Gwendolyn.”

“What, didn’t you think I’d stay?”

“I wasn’t sure.”

“Well, considering why I came back here tonight, one hidden doorway wasn’t going to scare me away.”

Christian gave her a smile. It looked more like relief to her than a genuine smile. The more she was around these guys, the more she wanted to know.
I want to know their secrets and what makes them tick. Hell, I want them to want me.

Christian sighed, “Okay, then. Looks like you’re about to find out a whole lot about us. Sebastian isn’t happy about this, but I don’t think we have a choice.”

Gwendolyn nodded.
Hmm, actually, maybe I don’t want to know their secrets?

“You must promise me…well, us, that no matter what you learn tonight, you will not tell anyone.”

“You’re kidding, right? What are you doing, stashing bodies in there?”

Christian laughed. “No, not bodies. You are not in danger, but you need to give us your oath.”

Gwendolyn stared at Christian this time.
What could they be hiding?
How horrible could it be? I mean, really? It wasn’t like they were vampires or something
. Gwen giggled at that thought, but seeing the look on Christian’s face quickly sobered her. Her life was getting stranger by the minute.

Christian grimaced. “Just wait. You haven’t seen anything yet.” Then he made a strange sound. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His eyes were smoldering like liquid chocolate. They were hypnotic. Gwen had the feeling that if she kept gazing into them she’d have agreed to anything.

“Of course. You have my promise. I will not say a word to anyone about anything I see or find out tonight. Will that work?”

“It will have to.” Christian turned toward the hidden doorway. “Follow me.”

Gwen didn’t have to be told twice, and she followed Christian through the doorway.
I sure as hell hope I’m not sorry I decided to come back.

As they entered the large living room, Christian could feel the surprise emanating from Gwen. He had to keep from chuckling. He had been unable to stop himself from reading her mind as she tried to figure this out. He wasn’t sure Sebastian found it as amusing, assuming that he was recovered enough to be able to read her.

Christian knew that these next few minutes could be the end of them. So much hung in the balance. How would Gwendolyn handle all of this information? Would she run for the next state? But of course they would follow her if she did.

“This is so not what I expected.” He could hear the surprise in her voice.

“What did you expect, Gwendolyn, a bat cave?”

Christian could tell that she didn’t appreciate his comment, since the look she gave him would have killed him if he hadn’t already been dead. Still, he couldn’t resist grinning. She was just too easy to play with. But reality being what it was, Christian knew that they didn’t have time for him to tease her, as he would have preferred. He hoped that whatever brought her back to them tonight would help heal Sebastian.

“Sebastian is in his room.” He could feel her doubt, and he could feel Sebastian’s pain, but at this point he didn’t think any of them had much choice. He realized that just being near her had already helped ease his pain, and he hadn’t even touched her.

Silently, she followed him down the hall and through the door he opened for her. Sebastian was stretched out in the middle of his huge four-poster bed. The room was shrouded in darkness, and the flickering of the candles on the bedside table gave off just enough light to show his body lying in the center of the bed. They both could read the thoughts running through her head. Even with his pain, Christian knew Sebastian could feel the doubt and fear as well as curiosity flowing from Gwendolyn.

Sebastian was the first to speak. “Good evening again, Gwendolyn.”

“Good evening, Sebastian. Christian said you aren’t well?”

“I’m much better now, thank you.”

“Are you sure?”

It was Christian’s turn to answer. “No, he’s not. But he is attempting a good front for you.”

“I had a feeling…”

Christian knew that he hated being seen this way, and he let him know telepathically that he was sorry, but it was for the best.

Sebastian grunted and sat up further against the pillows. As he did, the covers slid down, revealing his broad naked chest.

Gwendolyn sucked in a breath, and Christian smiled. He was happy to know that she was not immune to their charms.

“Gwendolyn, why don’t you tell Sebastian what you told me? About why you came back here tonight.”

Gwendolyn seemed very unsure of herself, more than either of the vampires had ever seen her, but they could feel her resolve. “Well…as I told Christian, I felt cold and very weak all of a sudden. I had the need to be here with you both. The closer I got to my home, the worse the feelings became.”

Sebastian and Christian exchanged glances, and they both silently agreed to tell Gwendolyn the truth about them. It was now or never. They hoped she would be able to handle what they were about to tell her.

Sebastian gestured to an overstuffed chair near the bed. “Gwendolyn, won’t you please sit down. Christian and I have a story to tell you.”

Christian stood behind Gwendolyn as she sat and gently rubbed her shoulders. He could feel the tension. She was stiff as a board, and they needed her to be calm. Sebastian began their tale, and he continued to rub her shoulders and the base of her neck. The anxiety was lessening, but he didn’t want to stop. Her silky soft skin felt so wonderful beneath his fingers. Her scent wafted over him. She smelled like lavender and vanilla. He pushed her shoulder-length black hair to the side as he continued to gently knead her shoulders, now that she seemed more at ease.

Christian looked into Sebastian’s mind and saw that he was conflicted about this. They both knew that they needed to be honest with Gwendolyn. But there was great risk.

Sebastian looked into Gwendolyn’s eyes and began. “Before we tell you, we need a promise from you…that you won’t tell anyone what you learn tonight.”

“I’ve already promised Christian. What do I have to do to prove I won’t say anything? Sign in blood?”

“No, a simple promise will be fine. All of this will make sense, I hope, by the end of the night.”

“Very well. You have my promise not to divulge anything I see or hear this evening to anyone. Is that sufficient?”

They could feel the agitation coming off her in waves, but they both knew that it was better than fear.

* * * *

Sebastian hated that he was lying in bed for this, but it didn’t look like they had a choice. From the feelings pouring from Gwendolyn, they couldn’t afford to wait any longer to explain things to her.

“Gwendolyn, do me one more favor, please?”

“I’ll try…”

“Listen to all we have to say before you start asking questions, and please try to keep an open mind.”

Sebastian could feel her inner turmoil, and he knew Christian would feel it more clearly, since his hands were on her. He took a deep breath he didn’t need and began their story.

“We are cursed, twice cursed, actually, if you think about it. The first when we met Demetria. She ‘turned’ us about four hundred years ago.” He could feel the questions in her mind, but to her credit she held on to them. “Christian and I were in a pub in England and were entranced by her beauty. I don’t know how else to explain it. We took her back to my home. We were quite soused, which, unfortunately, was pretty normal for us.”

Christian let him know that he was surprised he was telling her that much detail. But he understood that Sebastian wanted her to know everything. If Gwen was going to have to make a choice, she needed to know it all. Good and bad.

“Neither of us remembers much of what happened once we were in my rooms. When we awoke the next morning she was gone but had left a note to meet her that evening. We both had bite marks on our chests which hadn’t been there prior to her visit, but we didn’t remember how we’d gotten them.”

Sebastian stopped to take a drink from the mug on his bedside table. He wondered what she’d think of them when she realized he was drinking blood. As much as he hated to admit it, even that small drink gave him more energy. They had begun to feel the results of the curse about fifty years ago, but lately it had gotten so much worse. They should have had another fifty years before they were in this decrepit state, but something or someone was escalating it.

“We slept most of the day away, which was quite normal after being out on the town all night.”

Gwendolyn inhaled sharply. She looked tense again, and a quick glance up at Christian verified that. He could feel her disbelief. Perhaps they should have all been in the bed together, touching. It would have given him and Christian some much-needed strength and helped soothe her.

“By the time we met Demetria in the courtyard, we were both different. We didn’t know what it was or why, but things were clearer, what you would call hyperfocused, and there were other differences. We were confused and hungry and way too cocky for our own good.” Sebastian couldn’t help but smirk, remembering how it had been. So different. They had avoided responsibility and, instead, chosen to be playboys, and live off their fathers’ money rather than living up to their responsibilities. How different their lives would have turned out. There was so much to regret.

“Demetria arrived with all the nonchalance of a queen, which, as it turned out, she was. We just didn’t know it. She was the vampire queen, and she was our maker. We had fallen headfirst into her web and would forever be her ‘children’ forced to submit to her.”

Gwendolyn put her hand over Christian’s to stop his massaging. She was on overload. This was unreal. How could she be hearing this, let alone believe it? Yet somehow she knew everything she was hearing was true. She could tell it was difficult for Sebastian to recount their history, and Christian seemed equally conflicted from the vibes she was getting.

“Go on, Sebastian…please.”

He startled. It was obvious he was lost in a memory and hadn’t realized he had stopped speaking. His eyes were like two sapphire orbs piercing deep inside her head. It was erotic and strange at the same time and much more intense than anything she had felt around him before.

“Demetria explained to us that we were now vampires. Immortal for all intents and purposes. We’d have to leave our families and everyone we knew. How could we explain to them what we were? We didn’t understand it ourselves back then. We have learned a lot over the last four hundred years.”

Gwendolyn was shocked. “Four hundred years,” she whispered, but of course they could hear her. They were vampires. “Holy shit…”

Christian had moved from behind her and was sitting on the edge of the bed. “You can say that again.”

Sebastian nodded. “Very true, we had to stay with Demetria. We had no idea what to do, what our powers were, or what being a vampire meant. Bram Stoker’s
Dracula
didn’t come out for quite a few years after we had been turned, but even if it had been available, we probably wouldn’t have read it.”

Gwendolyn knew she had promised, but she couldn’t help herself. “So you’re telling me you are both vampires. That you are over four hundred years old and suck blood from people to survive?”

Christian and Sebastian exchanged looks, but it was Sebastian who answered. “No…well, yes. Some of what you ask is true, and some is not. This is why I asked you to wait until I was finished with the tale.”

“I’m sorry, but this is all so unbelievable. I’m not sure what to think. I feel like I’m living in an Anne Rice story.”

“We understand that, and if you hadn’t come back here tonight, we wouldn’t be telling you all of this now. But you did, and here we are,” Sebastian said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Gwen nodded. “Okay, so say all of this is true. It still doesn’t explain why I had the reaction I did tonight.”

Christian answered this time. “We haven’t told you everything yet.”

“There’s more? Being vampires isn’t enough?”

“Unfortunately, no.” He smiled wryly at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes, which were like looking into two pools of molten chocolate.

“Okay, just cut to the chase. You’re vampires. I get it. It’s fucked up, but at least I’m trying to go with this. I’ll probably have a total freak-out later on, no promises.”

Christian and Sebastian exchanged looks and came to an agreement.

Now that explains a lot. They could talk to each other telepathically. That would be a cool ability to have.

“You’re correct, Gwendolyn. We do speak to each other clairvoyantly quite a bit. We have no need for words usually.”

She blushed, having forgotten that they would be able to read her as well.
Oh shit! How much do they know?
Gwen stared back at Sebastian a bit more hesitantly now.

He nodded, and she tried to remember just what she had been thinking lately. The heat was bright in her cheeks, and the urge to flee was strong.
Damn, damn, damn… this is an interesting conundrum for sure.