Page 64 of Heir of Blood and Moonlight

Tempted as I was to let this continue, I sat up fully and shifted one hand to grab his wrist, stilling his teasing fingers and locking eyes with him. “There is no lust for me without bloodlust,” I told him. “Not around you. Not anymore.”

Gavin clenched and unclenched his jaw, and I could almost see the inner battle playing out in his silver eyes. Sighing, he released his hold on my knee and let me close my legs. He stretched one arm across the back of the sofa and rested the other hand on my shin. Suddenly, his eyes lit with an idea.

“What?” I asked. “What is it?”

He nudged my legs, and I shifted them off him, my feet landing on the floor. “Come,” he said, standing and again holding out a hand to me.

I placed my hand in his and let him pull me up to my feet once more.

“Three activities help me get out of my head enough for my subconscious mind to work through a tricky problem—walking, driving, and taking a shower,” he said, guiding me toward the door to his bedroom. “Driving away from the Sanctuary is out of the question, and walking the grounds in the middle of the night isn’t a good idea when you’re still unused to interacting with ghosts,but—” We entered his bedroom and headed for the bathroom. “I have a perfectly good shower right here, and you’re welcome to use it for as long as you like.”

I eyed him, unsure of his intent. “Alone?”

Smirking, Gavin gently pushed me ahead of him through the bathroom door, then reached past me and grabbed the doorknob. “You’ll find an assortment of toiletries under the sink,” he said, nudging me further into the bathroom so he could pull the door shut. “Use whatever you like.” And then he closed the door, and I was alone.

After a moment of hesitation, I locked the door. He would have heard the clicking of the lock, of course, and nothing so puny would stop him if he really wanted to get through the door. But I wouldn’t be able to relax if I was constantly wondering if I would have company.

I peered around the bathroom, taking in the enormous shower and oversized tub on one side, the beautiful vanity of white wood and silver-veined white marble, and the high-tech toilet with built-in bidet tucked away in its own little pocket room off in the corner.

I opened the cabinet doors beneath the vanity sink and knelt to examine the offerings. A bevy of bottles were on display,all appearing luxurious and none displaying any branding I recognized. After sniffing everything, I picked the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash set that smelled the most relaxing, like lavender and vanilla, and selected a lavender-chamomile shower steamer.

As an afterthought, I plucked a sleek razor from a glass jar and carried my spoils to the shower. I had shaved the previous evening, but considering what I would face later this morning, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go over my legs again. And while I was usually ashave once a week or lesskind of gal, the last thing I wanted to be worried about during my first foursome was prickly legs.

I turned on the faucet and tossed the shower steamer onto the tiled shower floor, waiting for the water to heat and the blissful aroma of lavender to reach my nose. Finally, with a sigh that contained a thousand worries, I stepped into the shower.

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“It worked!” I exclaimed,yanking the bathroom door open. I stood in the doorway, wearing only an oversized crimson towel wrapped around my body, my hair dripping past my shoulders. I had expected Gavin to be waiting for me in the bedroom, but a quick scan revealed that the room was empty.

The murmur of masculine voices drew me across the bedroom. The door to the sitting room had been pulled closed but not latched. I angled my ear to the crack and listened. Gavin was out there; Bastian was too. My heart lurched into my throat and I backed up a step when I heard Ash’s voice as well. Shit, shit,shit! They were all out there.

Was it time? Was this it? Was the great groupcommunionabout to begin?

Heart lodged in my throat, I scrambled into the bathroom and eased the door shut, leaning back against the slab of wood. I wasn’t ready for this. I wasnotready to be with three stunning, well-endowed immortalsat the same time.

A semi-hysterical laugh bubbled up from my chest. Who was I kidding? I would never be ready forthis. But it was now or never, tangled, wet hair and all. I needed to just rip off the bandaid. Just go out there and get it over with already.

I took several deep breaths, working up the nerve to turn around and open the door.

But someone knocked on the door before I could open it, and I leapt across the bathroom, spinning around and backing into the counter, my fingers clutching my throat. My heart hammered, banging against my sternum like it was trying to break out of my chest.

“Soph?” Bastian called.

“Just a sec!” I blurted, my voice high and tight. I forced my fingers to unclench from around my neck and lowered my hand, turning to face the mirror. My eyes were wide and wild, with too much white showing around my irises. Hands trembling, I combed my fingers through my wet hair, attempting to tame my suddenly savage appearance.

Just open the door, I silently told myself.Just go out there and get this over with.I had already had sex with each of them, and I’d had a threesome with Gavin and Bastian, so it wasn’t like there would be any big surprises.

Which made me think of Ash and hisbig surprise, and I suppressed a snort of laughter, slapping my hand over my mouth to make sure I held it in.

But how would it work, me with three potent, virile men? Would it be a free-for-all, with the two vampires and the shifter falling on me like rabid beasts, attempting to claim their fair share, or would they take turns? I probably needed deodorant, right? Like, this was bound to get pretty active, wasn’t it?

I scanned the tidy marble countertop, then peeked under the sink, but found no sticks, spray cans, tubes, or jars labeleddeodorant. Baking soda was an ingredient used in naturaldeodorants, wasn’t it? Maybe I could sneak past the waiting immortals and down to the kitchen, rifle through the pantry, and rub some baking soda on my pits.

The mental image of me flinging white power under my arms spurred another bout of hysterical laughter that refused to be contained. I muffled it as best as I could with both hands over my mouth. Tears welled from the combination of hysterics and nerves.

“Sophie?” Bastian called through the door. “Are you okay?” When I took too long to answer, the door handle turned, and I realized too late that I had forgotten to relock the door.

Panicked, I clutched the edge of the countertop and watched Bastian enter the bathroom. He froze in the doorway, taking in my tear-filled eyes and trembling body.

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