CHAPTER 3
Piper
"THIS IS REALLY GOOD, Gretchen. Can I keep you?" I asked the older woman through a mouthful of the most delicious pulled pork I'd ever tasted.
Gretchen chuckled and wiped her hands on her white apron. "I think you'd have a bit of a fight in that area." She winked at me.
I sighed, wincing as the movement caused me to bump my bruises hidden beneath my long sleeve shirt. My bruises were healing faster than a human, but I still felt like I'd been run under a rolling pin. They'd turned from an ugly purple to a sickly yellow, and that was just enough to have some nosy vampires asking unwanted questions. Hence the hiding under long sleeves when it was sweltering outside.
"I suppose I'll just have to live with the fringe benefits of having you through the Durands." I sank my teeth into the slightly crispy bun, the barbecue sauce oozing out the sides of it as I bit off a substantial chunk.
"Are you trying to steal my cook away again, Piper?" Antoine appeared in the doorway of the kitchen one hand on the button of his suit jacket. He unbuttoned it as he crossed the room, slipping in between the barstools to stand beside me.
I swallowed and grinned up at him. "Every chance I can."
Antoine stared at me for a moment and then reached out. Freezing in place, my eyes widened as his finger wiped a stray bit of sauce from my face. As if in a trance, my eyes followed that finger all the way to his mouth, where he slid it inside, impossibly slow.
Swallowing for an entirely different reason now, I used my napkin to clean my hands off and shot a discreet look to Gretchen. However, the woman had worked with the Durands long enough to know when to make herself scarce. While I'd been watching Antoine like some kind of holy being, she'd slipped out the door unnoticed.
"Is there a reason for that little display, or do you just like the attention?" Embarrassed by my staring, I turned to my only friend, sarcasm.
Leaning his elbow on the counter, Antoine shifted closer to me and murmured, "Always."
I snorted. "That's a non-answer if I'd ever heard one."
Pursing his lips in displeasure, Antoine picked up a strand of my hair that had fallen out of my ponytail. "Why is it that I am unable to use my usual tricks to get what I want?"
I shrugged a shoulder and turned back to my food. "I don't know. Just lucky, I guess."
Antoine's fingers trailed down the bare skin at the neckline of my shirt, causing me to shiver. "I affect you so easily, and yet I cannot bring you to heel."
I laughed so suddenly that I found myself choking. Coughing, I reached for my glass as Antoine patted me once hard on the back. I jerked forward, spilling my water all over the remnants of my meal and down the front of my shirt.
Jumping up, the cold liquid soaking through the thin material, I found myself pressed up against Antoine. More annoyed than aroused by the position, though that was in there too, I glared up at him. "Look what you made me do? I'm going to have to change all over again."
Antoine didn't seem to be listening, his eyes dipping down to the wet cloth clinging to my breasts. "My apologies. I had simply meant to help. Though, I see that you do not need it." His gaze lifted to my face, and for some reason, I blushed. "Do you have to work tonight?"
I nodded. "Yeah. The bitch from hell wants to take me out on a hunt., so I have to do pre-mission preparedness, whatever that means."
The vampire in front of me scowled. "Hunting. Haven't they humiliated you enough with their so-called training?"
My brows furrowed. "Why are you acting like this? It's like you're determined to pick a fight now." I pushed away from him and slipped out of the tight space between chairs. "Remember, I'm the one who signed up for this so your lily-white ass could stop running."
"And at what cost?" Antoine snapped, pivoting to match my stance. "When will it be enough? After five years, ten years? A hundred years of servitude just to keep our family safe?" He stalked after me, my feet fumbling back until my back hit the kitchen table. "Or will it only be enough once they have claimed your life, and then as you American's say it, all bets are off?"
"Is this what this is about?" I gaped at him, my emotions running high. "You're afraid I'm going to die?" I reached for him, but Antoine stepped back, his facial expression closing down. Scowling, I grabbed Antoine by the face and jerked him down to my level. "Stop that. You're the one who started this conversation. You don't get to shut down now."
Once Antoine was over his initial shock, he pressed his thin lips tightly together until they became nonexistent.
Pressing my forehead against his, I stared him hard in the eyes. "I'm not going to die. You pretty much made sure of that when I became your human servant."
"I know about your training sessions," Antoine shifted back from me, and I let him. "You cannot tell me you will not get hurt when you are covered in bruises."
I gaped at him, wondering briefly how he knew. Then I realized how. "Darren. Of course, he told you."
Shaking his head, Antoine grabbed my side. I doubted Antoine had touched me that hard, but his hand had hit one of the many bruises covering my body still, making me gasp in pain.
"Darren did not need to tell me. Any of us would have noticed."