Holden and Desmond said nothing, but returned to their uneasy staring contest.
I stepped into the tiny hallway that separated my apartment from the street entrance stairs, and was only a little surprised to see Dominick standing there. What did surprise me was discovering how relieved I was to see the grinning blond werewolf alive.
“I’m glad you’re okay. ”
“Ditto. Things got pretty gnarly in there. ” Judging from his smarmy smirk, he wasn’t too shaken up by his near-death experience. “Did you take good care of my brother?”
I flinched and it must have shown because Lucas’s face became serious, and Dominick stopped smiling.
“He’s inside,” Lucas said. “Can you give Secret and I a moment, please?”
Dominick nodded and ducked into my apartment without another word, shutting the door behind him. Alone in the closet-sized hallway with Lucas, I was very aware of his physical presence. He was easily a foot taller than me, and standing this close to him in the cramped space, I had to force my gaze up to meet his eyes. With no one else around, I was anticipating the full wrath of his anger.
And why shouldn’t I? I’d betrayed him.
No matter how I’d justified it in the heat of the moment, Lucas had staked his claim first. It had been he, not Desmond, who told me about the soul-bond, and it had been he who led me proudly before his pack as a potential mate.
What had I, his would-be queen, done in return? I’d left him in danger and used the rush of fear and near death to excuse being unfaithful to him before I had proven myself worthy of his respect.
I reminded myself, flipping the proverbial coin, he had been the one who kept the secret of my soul-bond with Desmond to himself in order to monopolize me. And he had been the one who asked Desmond to protect me, knowing the bond would make it impossible for Desmond to let anything happen to me.
I was beyond conflicted. Did I feel bad about sleeping with Desmond? No. I didn’t regret it for a single second. And why should I? Two days ago I hadn’t known either of them, and now I was thrust into a world where people thought I was a princess and part of my destiny was to be with the men the fates had chosen for me. So I’d slept with someone I felt a strong attraction to, but I felt bad because it might hurt someone else.
I hadn’t asked for any of this. I didn’t want to be a princess and I didn’t want my future mate selected by supernatural forces. Denying that I felt something for both Desmond and Lucas would be a lie, but when and if I picked one of them, it would be on my terms. As it was, I wanted to have them both, which made me think it might be easier to choose neither and just stay single.
“Lucas…” I began, but wasn’t sure what to say next.
He met my eyes and
all the tension in his melted away. Suddenly I was in his arms and he was holding me so tight I couldn’t breathe. I molded myself into the embrace, moving my arms around his back, which relieved the pressure on my lungs.
I laid my face on his chest and breathed in the warm, musky, living smell of him. Thoughts of staying single had vanished the second he touched me. His body was hot under my face and hands, and I resisted the urge to cry from relief no matter how badly I wanted to. My blood-tinted tears would give too much of me away.
“I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again. ” He spoke into my bed-tangled curls. “I don’t know what I would have done if we lost you. ” His use of the plural mirrored Desmond’s last night. “Desmond told me he thought he watched you die last night. ”
So they had been talking before I woke up. How much had Desmond told him?
“I’m sorry,” I whispered into the softness of his shirt, apologizing for nothing specific.
His hand looped into my hair, wrapping strands around each of his beautiful, long fingers. I was willing to bet his parents had made him play piano, violin or guitar. Something to make good use of such tapered fingers.
He used my hair to tip my head back without being rough about it, then bent to kiss me. It was not like our first kiss at all. There was no politeness. Instead he kissed me with the intensity allowed only for situations like these. We had both thought, however fleetingly, the other might have died last night. The desperation and yearning in the way we kissed said more than we could convey with words.
Lucas backed me against the wall with a loud thump, and I was forced to stop his probing hands before I let us go further.
“Lucas, about last night…” I felt the foolish need to be upfront with him even now with his wide palm under my shirt and his mouth at my neck. The hallway smelled like frosted cinnamon buns, and my breath was coming in short, panting gasps.
“Forget last night,” he murmured into my skin.
The door to my apartment swung open and Dominick peeked out. Lucas and I both turned our heads to look at him, and I was relieved. Who knows how far I’d have gone without an interruption. History showed my self-control with werewolves to be somewhat limited.
“Sorry. ” Dominick bowed slightly. “We heard a bang and thought we should see if you two were at each other’s throats. Guess we didn’t take into account…” His apology drifted as he smirked at Lucas’s hand placement.
Lucas righted himself and removed his hand from under my top.
I remembered Holden with a blush, and realized he’d been able to hear every breathy detail. I grumbled at my own foolishness. The three of us returned to the apartment, and it was my turn to avoid Desmond’s eyes. Instead I focused on Holden, who was showing a hint of a grin. Sure, he would find this amusing. Vampires.
Lucas, too, was reminded of the vampire’s presence and Holden’s reason for being at my home in the first place.