Page 102 of Heir

I’d just hate-fucked a vampire who also ate me out while I was on my period. And all of this happened in a bar storage closet. Now we had to leave while his face was covered in my blood.

None of this was good.

“You can turn around now,” he said, his aristocratic tone back like it’d never left.

“I don’t want to see my blood all over your face.”

“It’s not.”

I whipped around where, sure enough, his face was void of the evidence. “H-how?” I asked.

He pointed to the sink and roll of brown, bathroom paper towels along the far wall.

Nodding, I exhaled in relief. “Let’s get out of here.”

His head bobbed as well. I poked my head out the door to double-check that the coast was clear before stepping out into the hallway. He followed me, and we beelined it for the front door. The bartenders—Alex and Felix—called my name and said goodbye. I only gave them a cursory wave and smile, keeping my head ducked down until I hit the sidewalk.

Drak stayed a pace behind me as I made my way toward the bus stop.

I was looking more at my feet than in front of me, which was why I ran headfirst into a honey and cedar-scented bare chest.

“Whoa there, Little One,” Zandren said, gripping me by the shoulders.

I glanced up at him, my face instantly getting hot. Maxar was behind him.

They both sniffed the air for a moment and their gazes shifted to Drak, darkening like someone had just snuffed out the sun.

“You okay?” Maxar asked. He stepped to the side and addressed Drak. “Would have been nice if you’d let us know about your little field trip.” His gaze turned more serious, and he focused on me again. “He hasn’t taken a capsule in hours . . . did he? Are you okay?”

“We uh . . . we handled things,” I said. “But he should probably take one now.”

Nodding, Maxar reached into the pocket of his genie pants and pulled out the brown bottle. He dumped one capsule onto his palm and held it out for Drak.

The vampire took it and swallowed without argument.

“You had me worried sick, Little One. Drak’s gone, and you’re gone. I didn’t know what happened.” Zandren gently cupped my jaw. “Why did you leave?”

My sigh was weary and defeated. The way he was looking at me had me feeling all kinds of guilty. I felt like if I’d told Zandren my need for some space, he would understand, considering how he likes his space and alone time too. Why didn’t I trust that he’d understand? Why didn’t I confide in him?

“I just needed to be by myself for a little bit,” I finally said. “I wanted my old life back, even if just for one night. I went to a poker game. I only played one game, but I won.” I lifted up my purse. “Lunch is on me.” My humorless chuckle was a meager and unsuccessful attempt to soften the tense moment between the four of us.

Zandren still had my jaw cupped. His brown eyes softened in the harsh glow of the orange streetlamp overhead. “I get that. Please, just tell me you need space next time, so I don’t worry.” He was hurt, but he was trying hard not to show it.

I nodded. “I will. I promise.”

He and Maxar nodded. It was all they really could do. They couldn’t punish me. Though, to be honest, I was kind of curious what kind of punishment they could come up with. But more than anything, I wanted them to stop looking at me like I’d betrayed them because I didn’t trust them enough to tell them the truth. I didn’t trust them because I didn’t know them.

No, that wasn’t true.

I didn’t know them very well, and I was slow to trust in general. But my gut told me I could trust them. And I was beginning to—especially Zandren. Our time in the woods showed me another side of him and I wanted so badly to believe his intentions were good and pure. “I want to go home and check on Gemma,” I said, smothering a yawn with my fist. “Did anybody check on her before they followed me?”

All three of them shook their heads.

I rolled my eyes. “You know. She and I are a package deal. So if this whole Fated Mates thing is actually the way our lives are going to go, then Gemma is part of this fucked up quadruple.”

“No, she’s not,” Drak said.

I spun around and glared at him. “Yes. She is. You might not want to fuck her and sink your teeth into her, but she’s family. She’s my family. The only family I have left. So you better start giving a damn about her if you want me to start giving a damn about you.” Then I stomped off ahead of all of them toward the bus stop, not giving two shits whether they followed me or not.

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