Our home, he'd said. Tears nearly popped to my eyes from the rush of relief prompted by those two little words, but I held them back. I did not want to cry in front of her.
She blanched, just as I had. "I did it to help, Ethan. You have to know that." She thrust out the coin again. "Look! Look at this. It proves what I've been saying."
"Merit has no reason to be ashamed about that coin. And you have no reason to concern yourself with it."
Wait, did Ethan just defend me . . . and the RG?
"You knew about it?" she asked.
Ethan didn't answer. He just extended his hand, kept it there until Lacey dropped the coin into it. And then he turned and held it out to me.
"I suppose you dropped this, Sentinel?" His eyes were unfathomable.
"Yeah, yes," I said, then tucked it into my pocket again.
Ethan looked back at Lacey. "I think it's time you return to San Diego," he said. This time his tone wasn't that of a Master speaking to a colleague, but a Master speaking to a Novitiate who'd disappointed him.
"Ethan - "
"Lacey, I don't care to be manipulated. While our relationship is long-standing, and I appreciate your service to this House, for the sake of that relationship, this is a chapter you must close. If you cannot close it on your own, I will close it for you."
She nodded curtly, tears beginning to swim in her eyes. "Liege," she said, then turned on her heel and walked toward the door, opened it, and disappeared into the hallway, leaving it ajar. I wondered if that was symbolic of her hope that perhaps Ethan might change his mind and call her back.
Ethan looked back at me. For the first time in days, I saw the hint of a smile. "Saint George?"
"It was a gift from the RG. For my membership. Thank you for covering for me."
"The last thing we need is Lacey believing she's discovered a conspiracy between you and Jonah to take down the House."
I nodded. "I'm sorry for all of this. I'm sorry Lacey and the RG had to come between us. It wasn't the way I wanted this to work."
"I understand why you'd be attracted to the RG," he said. "It's because of who you are. Your recent humanity, your rebellious nature, your disdain for authority. And as we saw tonight, your RG connection is quite clearly a very effective defense against the GP."
"I told you it would be," I said.
"You'd have a heart attack if I forced you to quit, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, because you wouldn't force me, and I couldn't do it. That's not who you are, Ethan, and that's certainly not who I am. I'm Sentinel of this House for a reason - because you knew I wouldn't blindly follow your dictates or the GP's dictates."
Ethan made a sarcastic sound. "There seems little chance of that."
I took his hands. "If I thought for one second that I needed to join the RG to keep an eye on you and make you a better Master, we wouldn't be together. You taught me to be a vampire, to be a soldier, to stick up for those whose voices aren't heard by the politicians in our world. Even if it doesn't feel like it, the RG is an homage to you, not a rebellion."
He looked back at me, and must have been satisfied by what he saw in my eyes. "Follow your instincts, Merit. If you believe the RG is part of your path as a vampire, see it through. But remember that we are your priority."
He smiled a little, so I leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Always," I said. "I love you."
"I love you, too. I can accept your RG membership because I know who you are. Because I know you will wear it to better the lives of vampires of this city. But times are what they are. That I find it acceptable doesn't mean that others would. Who else knows?"
"No one else. Well, the House knows we were fighting, but not what we were fighting about. Ditto Mallory."
Ethan narrowed his gaze.
"What? I needed to talk to a girlfriend."
"And what did she have to say?"
"She was irritated on your behalf."
He looked smug. "Do try not to tell anyone else about your top secret affiliation, if you can manage it."
"I'll do my best. And consider this - if I forget and put an ad in the Sun-Times, at least we have each other."
"So we do. I will accept your membership in the RG. But should you ever share blood with him again, you will answer to me."
His eyes had silvered, and he stared at me intensely.
The heady mix of fear and lust in the air made my head spin. "You said you weren't jealous," I countered, stepping backward. "You said you and I were inevitable."
"That was before I knew that you'd blood-bonded yourself to a man of another House, Sentinel."
Without warning, and before I could correct him, he reached out, gripped the edges of my jacket, and kissed me fiercely. "You are mine and mine alone, and it appears you need reminding. I suggest you return to our apartment; otherwise you'll be ravished here and now where you stand, and the door is open."
I stared at him, all rationality leaving me, any objections I might have made to his attitude completely slipping from my mind. I was grateful to be alive, and this was Ethan in his prime - vampire, alpha, predator. And it was intoxicating. But that didn't mean I wasn't going to challenge the attitude. I knew my eyes had silvered - and that he'd seen it, too, but ignored it.
"You wouldn't."
He dropped his head, his lips at my ear. Instinctively, my blood singing, I dropped my head back, giving him access to my neck. "Try me, Sentinel."
"Ethan," I muttered, the sound pushing him over the edge.
"Too late," he said, moving to the office door, slamming it shut, and locking it behind him.
Before I could object, he'd reached me again, and his mouth was on mine, feasting, his hands claiming every inch of my body as he pulled away my jacket and dropped it to the floor.
"You're ravenous," I said lightly.
He stepped forward to keep our bodies aligned, and took my chin in his hand. "I will have you. Body, mind, and soul. And I won't share you with anyone else."
He was in full alpha mode, playing out some part about possession and ownership.
I was a smart woman. Well educated and plenty schooled. But that didn't lessen the effect of his primal, predatory desire. If he'd asked me to drop to my knees and crawl toward him, I might have done it.
Fortunately, there was no need.
I gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it upward and over his head, taking a long moment to enjoy the view: smooth, eternally golden skin over lean muscle. I slid my hands from his waist to his chest, reveled in the feel of him. He stepped back and raised both arms, then ran his hands through his golden hair. The motion pulled his obliques into view and tightened his flat stomach. "Show-off."