Page 19 of Five to Love Him
“Ah, but you like that I need you. You love it.”
Conrad leaned forward to lick himself from my chin, then kissed me. “Yes. I do. But your fucking moods still drive me up the wall, Farr.”
“Did you bring me a clean shirt?” I asked and wrinkled my nose at the state of me.
“Of course I did, you ass. Occam’s fucking razor says that human’s going to walk in on us when we do this at some point.”
“They are less prude these days.”
“No, you fucking enjoy shocking people by being spoiled and showing it, and don’t you pretend otherwise.”
“Aren’t you a spitfire? I’m in need of a clean shirt, Conrad. Go fetch it for me.”
I let my head fall back and opened to him, relishing the kiss and the taste it brought, myself, him, the both of us, mingling in pleasure.
“Maybe I need a new master.”
I put my hand on the back of his head. “Never. Where would I go without shoes?”
He chuckled, and I might have drowned in his eyes. That tiny scar stood out nearly white. He was a seducer, Conrad was, and I lived to be at his mercy, each day anew.
nine
I took the subway to the Moonlight Diner, just like the first time I had gone there, that day I had seen tentacles do what tentacles were not supposed to do in real life. Well, what did I know about what tentacles were supposed to do, really?
I opened the door, and the tiny bell above it twinkled. “Welcome to the Moonlight Diner,” said one of the servers, a big guy, buff, but speaking barely loud enough for me to hear.
The hive was easy enough to spot, two identical heads of black hair sitting at a table to the left, two glasses of iced tea sitting in front of them.
I slid into the booth on the other side and noticed they’d been holding hands. Huh. Strange.
“Hi. Have you been waiting long?” I checked the large clock that hung on the wall behind the counter. I was five minutes early.
“Not at all,” one said. The other picked up from there. “We were just in the area and didn’t want to be late.”
Both of them smiled. They were clasping their hands so hard their knuckles stood out white.
“You guys come here often then?”
“It’s our first time, but we like it so far.” The other one slid the menu over to me. “We’re not sure what to have for breakfast. It’s quite a selection.”
“Right. Breakfast. Hey, uh, you know my name, right?”
They nodded in sync. “Leo,” they said in chorus, which shouldn’t have been creepy but kind of was, especially the way they said it, their blue eyes focused on me.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s Leopold, but no one calls me that. Not that I hang out with people other than Tate. Anyway, what’s your name? And do you—what do I call you and you?”
I pointed from the left guy to the right. They narrowed their eyes and looked at me with extreme concentration, as if I were one of those images that has a second one hidden inside it, but you have to stare and sort of let your eyes go all fuzzy.
“A name is a very human concept.” “We have used names, but we don’t really have one.”
“But what do people call you? What does your family call you?” I considered this. Arick’s instruction had not been detailed on that point. “Do you even have a family? Or do you hatch from eggs or something?”
“No, we are born. Our mother was human. She called us sweetheart or honey, but that was not meant to give us a name as if we were a singular.” “Names are difficult to keep track of, but they matter. We know this. Older ones of our kind take monickers.”
I snorted. “Like ‘Legion’? As in, ‘We are Legion’?”
“Yes!” Both of them looked excited. Or maybe relieved that I was understanding something even if I’d been trying to turn it into a joke.
