Page 93 of Thomas
“Merciful gods, if I ever end up like my elder father,pleasejust put a stake in me and finish the job. Promise that you would never let me get like that and you’ll get it over with!”
Cameron barked a laugh so loudly that it upset the birds and made them fly away. He winced, shrinking his posture. “Whoops.”
“You beast.”
“I don’t know my own strength, but that comment caught me off guard.” He laughed again, then took a breath. “I don’t think you’ll ever need to worry about that. You are not a hate-filled and resentful tormentor who would prefer to die than not have your way. I think you’ll be fine. Your fathers aren’t even that old. The whole situation is… tragic.”
“It is appalling, to be certain. I’m glad that I went, despite it all, somehow. But I… I never need to see them again.”
“That, my dear, sweet husband, is a relief.” Thomas huffed a laugh, then kissed Cameron on his cheek. Cameron sighed. “In the viscount’s letter to me, he asked if I would write him sometimes to let him know how you’re faring. How do you feel about this?”
When Thomas thought of his younger father, unexpectedly, he felt… sad. Prior to his imprisonment, Thomas had adored his younger father and reveled in his affections. In many ways, he’d sincerely wished that he was more like the man. Thomas had resented that he was a physical duplicate of his elder father.
You were formed from the very best parts of Charles and I.
His younger father’s words were engraved deep inside Thomas. Surprisingly, he felt no bitterness toward them. “I’m… okay with it,” Thomas said. “You can write to him occasionally, if you don’t mind.” Maybe Thomas would write his own letter, someday.
Cameron nodded. “For you, sweetheart, I don’t mind a thing.” Casually, he glanced around the darkening garden. “Now that I’ve scared the birds off, our soundtrack for the evening is gone.”
Not knowing what exactly came over him, Thomas swallowed, took a breath and began singing.
“The very thought of you makes my heart sing
Like an April breeze on the wings of spring,
And you appear in all your splendor,
My one and only love.”
Cameron stood staring at him, mouth agape and eyes wide. Thomas smiled, his cheeks hot. “Not as good as the birds, but?—”
“More, please?”
They stood there beneath the illuminating stars, staring at each other for only a moment. Then, Thomas sang the next verse, ignoring the deepening crimson burning his face. He hadn’t sung in years, in forever, but it suddenly felt very good and right. Like his soul finally felt sprightly enough for the task.
Cameron pulled him into a slow sway so that they were dancing among the pear trees. As Thomas sang the third verse, Cameron littered his neck with soft kisses.
Epilogue
Wyatt had practically attached himself to Thomas’s hip now.
Wonderful. Fantastic. The man was sitting on the arm of his chair, as if he couldn’t bear to be more than a few centimeters away from Thomas. He was clingy and exhausting and Thomas had had enough.
They were sitting in what was quite literally the Green Room of Havenwrath. The clan’s annual winter solstice party was in full swing, and Thomas had huddled up in the lavish study with his university friends to enjoy drinks and casual conversation.
How he was going to get out of this… thing, whatever it was, with Wyatt was unclear. Regardless, something had to give. His mind was so preoccupied with it that he was barely tending to the conversation around him.
That is, until a waft of unfamiliar but pleasant energy fanned across his senses like a rush of warm and spicy air. He looked up and saw that a new vampire had wandered into the room. Tall and broad-shouldered, he wore a finely cut suit and had golden-brown skin. The new purebred glanced around as if assessing the landscape.
Thomas lifted his chin, evaluating in his own innate way, and picked up on the man’s essence. It was…verynice. Pleasing to his senses and registering as peppery and sweet. Comforting, like basking in the warmth of a crackling fire.
Who is he?Careful not to stare, Thomas mentally flipped through the well-cataloged Rolodex of Eden purebred lords and ladies within his brain. Within seconds, a name came to him.Lord Cameron… Ashford. Cameron Dwight Ashford.He’d seen him in a photograph, but pictures never did a vampire justice. You needed the full impact of their presence to gain any understanding of their being—their essence, aura and scent.
Lord Cameron Dwight Ashford radiated a profound essence. It presented a discreet tugging sensation within Thomas’s own being.
The man walked halfway into the room, paused, then looked over the group. Clearly deciding whether or not he should join them. Thomas’s focus homed back in on the present conversation just in time to hear one of his peers ask if anyone had read anything new and interesting.
Following some wild instinct, he straightened his spine and spoke clearly. “I recently finishedThe Islandby Aldous Huxley. It was a much different reading experience compared withBrave New World. Interesting what three decades and a plunge into psychedelics can do to a man.”
