Chapter 18
Darren
In the Durand house, we never bothered with a Christmas tree or even celebrating the holiday. Boris, the Durands’ sire, made every holiday an excuse to play his games of torture and deceit. He wanted to see just how far he could push his underlings, and it ruined all the holidays for us from then on.
Piper had brought the tradition back.
“Hand me that green one.” Piper reached back behind her, pointing at the box next to me. She stood on a ladder placing the ornaments on the tree she had insisted we buy. It filled the moderate-sized living room until there was barely any room to maneuver.
I found the green ornament and lifted it up so she could reach it.
She took it from my hand, making sure not to touch me in the process.
It had been like this since Rayne. Since I’d kept my mouth shut and ruined everything. I held back a sigh. Every step forward I made with Piper ended up being three steps back because of my insecurities.
If I had just said something, anything, when Rayne asked, then maybe we would be doing this together rather than robotic-like as if I weren’t really here.
Rayne had seen inside of my head. He knew what I felt for Piper, and yet he kept his mouth shut. It made me thankful and resentful toward him. Rayne was one of the only members of the Durand that had a power that I truly disliked. People’s thoughts were private, and they should stay that way.
“I need a red one now,” Piper said, jerking me out of my thoughts.
Grabbing a red ornament from the box, I held it out to her. This time her attention was on the tree, and our fingers brushed ever so slightly. Piper startled and jerked her hand back as if burned. The ornament dropped between us, shattering on the floor.
“Shit.” Piper started down the steps, her short shorts clinging to her lovely butt. It might be December, but in southern Georgia, the weather was only mild. Nothing like the winters in Germany where the cold was so biting that you couldn’t breathe, and you’d be lucky to see a neck, let alone the curve of someone’s backside. My gaze lingered on Piper’s luscious cheeks peeking out from beneath her shorts, and my body flushed with need.
I cleared my throat and darted for the kitchen. “I’ll get a broom.”
The more time I spent around Piper, the more I wanted her. The one taste with Antoine hadn’t been enough. I wanted to kiss her. To hold her. To feel her writhing beneath me. Unfortunately, unless something changed, none of those things were going to happen.
“Here,” I tapped her knee where she was crouched by the glass fragments. “Let me.”
Piper glanced up at me, some unreadable emotion in her eyes. A second later, the look changed to pain. “Ouch. Fuck.” She lifted her hand, and a tiny bead of blood welled up on her pointer finger.
Setting the broom down, I reached for her hand. “Let me see.” She hesitated before relenting, offering me her hand. Gently, I held her hand in mine, peering into the cut. “I don’t see any glass.”
“That’s good, I guess.” Piper huffed and began to pull her hand away. I held on, and Piper’s mouth turned down at the edges.
Locking eyes with her, I did something so out of character for myself that I hardly believed I had done it. I lifted her injured finger to my mouth. I almost held my breath, expecting her to jerk her hand back from me. Still, Piper only watched in confusion and minute fascination.
Sliding her finger into my mouth, I sucked on the injury until the blood stopped flowing. I was not a lover of blood, but to have a piece of Piper inside of me, even such a small drop of blood made my heart beat faster. Piper swallowed audibly, licking her lips. She didn’t move away from me or cry foul, which I supposed was something.
Piper took a half step forward and then seemed to think better of herself. She shook her head and withdrew her hand, brushing past me into the kitchen. “This better not get infected.”
I laughed bitterly to myself. “We’re going to live basically forever, and you’re worried about an infection.”
“Of course,” Piper called from the kitchen, the sink turning on. “I don’t want to lose my finger.”
Opening my mouth to answer her, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it.”
I strode over to the front door, glancing into the small window before opening it. Giving a slight bow, I greeted, “Master Durand, we weren’t expecting you for a few days.”
Drake’s large muscular form pushed inside without invitation. “I got restless. Nice place.” He shot a look around the house Piper and I had made into a home. “Where’s my girl?”
A snort of disgust came from the kitchen doorway. “What am I, your property?”
Drake grinned and, in the blink of an eye, had Piper up and in his arms. “There she is.” He kissed her loudly on the mouth. “Did you miss me?”
Piper giggled and pushed at his chest. “No. Now put me down.”