Page 32 of Vampire Lee

He quieted, his hand still moving up and down Dillon’s back, and he breathed out a shaky breath. Lee turned his head a little, maybe he was smiling.

“There you go, breathe.” The hand kept moving up and down, up and down. When had someone last caressed him in a non-sexual way? He couldn’t remember.

“After we’d closed, we headed to my apartment, but right outside the door, Rei scented something. I don’t know what, but he yanked me back before I could open the door and told me someone had been there.”

Dillon blinked. Someone had been in Lee’s apartment while he’d been at work?

“We opened the door, but Rei didn’t want to enter. I don’t know if he didn’t want to mess up the scents or why. He didn’t say. Then he told me to pack some clothes but to be quick.”

“Did he think someone would come back?” Dillon surprised himself by asking a question.

“No idea. I guess it wouldn’t have been great if there were a confrontation in an apartment building in the middle of the night. It’s mostly humans living there, and it would be bad if someone shifted into a jaguar when there were witnesses.”

“Your boss sold you out?”

“No.” He was quiet for a few seconds. “Maybe.” He tipped his head back. “I have no idea. Why would she, though?” He turned his head as if he meant to look at Dillon but aborted the action.

“I don’t know. Murrie said Faelan was gonna see if he—You already know that. He texted you.”

Lee’s hand stilled for a second, then it moved again. “He did, but how did you know?”

“I was in the kitchen, and he asked me what someone would do if they wanted an audience but didn’t want to be seen.”

Lee was quiet for a few seconds. “There is nothing to do. Either you’re seen or you’re not.”

“True, but does it mean you’d go with invites only? How would you spread the word without the wrong people hearing about it?”

Lee yawned. “I’m more worried about someone attacking Rei than how they reach their audience.”

Dillon shrugged and relaxed a little against Lee. He may still attack him, but so far, he’d kept up his talking. “Maybe, but if they get to Rei, and we have no way to get to them—” He cut himself off. We? He’d said we. He wasn’t part of any team.

“Yeah, Murrie knows what he’s doing. Faelan is working one end, trying to get an invitation or whatever, and Rei is working another by putting a target on his back and having my apartment trashed.”

His hand slid all the way up to Dillon’s neck, and a shiver shot through him as there was skin contact.

“This morning, they said we wouldn’t use anyone as bait, but it feels like Rei is bait.”

Dillon nodded since he didn’t have a good reply, and Lee’s fingers stroked his neck, gently massaging him. Dillon forgot how to breathe, and Lee cooed at him.

“Relax.”

“Easy for you to say.”

Lee huffed. “You’re not my type, and I drink my blood from bags, shifter blood.”

“I’m twenty-five percent shifter.” Dillon could’ve killed himself right there on the spot. Why had he said that?

Lee didn’t stop his motions. “Yeah? Can you shift anything?”

“Nope, not a single thing. They say I heal quicker than someone fully human. It’s why I lasted—” He cut himself off.

Lee made a sound. “But Devin is all human?”

“Yeah, but he has special blood, so they were more careful…” His words died. They hadn’t been careful in how they’d treated him, but they’d made sure he didn’t die. With Dillon, they hadn’t cared. “They made sure to heal him after he was badly hurt.”

Lee hissed. “He’s not scarred?”

“Yeah, he’s scarred. Not as badly as me, but almost. I haven’t seen him without clothes, not since…” He snapped his mouth together. “Mars erased my memories from the time Devin and I were together, so I don’t remember having seen him without his clothes, but I dream of him. Suppressed memories, Devin says. Anyway, he’s covered in tattoos, so you don’t see them as clearly.”

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