Page 65 of Kidnapping Their Third

Cora laughed and picked a Spanish almond out of the bowl, making Pike look closer and realize this wasn't average bar fair. In that bowl was a mix of expensive nuts including macadamia and pine!

It took some effort, but he kept himself from picking up the bowl and tipping the whole thing into his mouth. Instead, he was a well-behaved bear and pulled out a single Brazil nut and popped it in his mouth.

“Are we ever going to talk about Maksim Laske?” she asked. “Or are we going to pretend Tobias didn’t know who you are?”

Cora’s questions were so unexpected that Pike choked on his Brazil nut, and Kimble snorted into the blood he’d been about to sip.

“You remember that?” Pike asked after he’d cleared his throat.

“It took a while,” she admitted. “Lots about that night are still fuzzy, but I clearly remember Tobias calling Kimble by thatname. I didn’t say anything before because we were so busy after missing work and then the fallout from the BBQ.”

“We’ve had a couple of rough weeks,” Pike agreed.

Cora didn’t take her eyes off Kimble. “Things have calmed down, so I think we should talk about it.”

“Not my name,” he declared, staring at his glass.

“It’s not your name?” Cora clarified. “Because Tobias is wrong or because you don’t want to talk about it?”

“Not my name anymore,” he amended. “Long life, lots of names. Maksim Laske was before. Kimble is name now.”

“Vampires live long lives,” Pike explained. “They often go through several name changes.”

Cora nodded her head, but her brow was still furrowed. “Does that mean you don’t want to remember who you were?”

Kimble set his glass down and sat back. He rubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “Yes and no. Want to remember but worried. What if no resources? What if no wealth?”

He mumbled more words, but they were an unintelligible mix of other languages and English.

“Hey,” Pike said, reaching across the small table to put his hand on Kimble’s arm. “I’m not with you for money. I love you. That doesn’t come with a price tag.”

Pike was shocked to see tears forming in Kimble’s eyes. “Love you,sloneczko.”

Cora leaned in close and wrapped an arm around Kimble’s waist. “We can figure everything out, I promise. If the situation were reversed, would you abandon us because we weren’t rich?”

“You won’t share souls,” Kimble pointed out. One tear fell from his left eye, leaving a sparkling, iridescent black trail down his face.

“That’s because of my issues, not you,” Cora said as she reached up with her free hand to touch his face. “Your tears are beautiful, but don’t cry. I think I might almost be ready.”

Pike felt excitement rolling off Kimble in waves at Cora’s words. Pike was excited too, but cautious. “What changed your mind? Or started to?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted, resting her head against Kimble. The vampire shifted a little so Cora could nestle against his side. Pike resisted the urge to move his chair so he could bepart of the cuddling. He didn’t want to disrupt Cora’s thought process.

If anyone deserved the time and space to talk out their thoughts and feelings, it was Cora.

“Talk to us,” Pike urged. “You don’t have to make sense, just put the thoughts out there.”

“I never expected to get married,” she admitted, her voice turning hard as she spoke. “I didn’t want to be tied to another male. I already had so many wanting my attention. I never even let a guy move in with me. I think that was one of the reasons Seb fixated on me, I was a challenge. The truth is my family makes so many demands that I couldn't handle the idea of adding anyone else to my life.”

“We are your mates,” Pike said. “That means we’ll feel when you’re upset or unhappy. We won’t add to your burden. We had a rough start, but there was a lot going on. Everything’s getting better now.”

“I know.” Her simple statement was spoken in a flat tone, devoid of any reassurance. Pike wanted to press her to say more but wasn’t sure that was the best idea.

Without moving her body away from Kimble, she picked up her drink and took another sip. It was almost empty, and Pike looked up thinking to order her some water, but Zan appeared at his side with another round of drinks. Before Pike could protest, he plopped them down on the table and left.

Cora looked at the fresh drink with appreciation and was quick to finish off the first one. “Tasty,” she murmured after the first sip of the second drink. “Maybe even better than before.”

“Alcohol makes everything taste better,” Pike pointed out dryly. “It enhances all things except common sense.”

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