Page 12 of Blood Magic (Ariel Kimber 3)

“Move over,” Quinton growled from behind me, and I scooted over, closer to Dash.

“What are we doing here?” I asked. “I mean, it’s not that I mind the two of you being here in my temporary bedroom and all, buuttt… I’m a little confused as to the why part of it. I thought it was time for breakfast down in the kitchen with the rest of the guys. Instead, I come out of the bathroom and find you both in my bed talking about tv shows Damien picked out for me and acting like this is all perfectly normal behavior for us, when it most certainly isnot. Explain yourselves.”

Quinton adjusted the pillows behind himself, getting comfortable.

“First,” he said, “I’ll explain the bed. This bed was something my father had made for my mother, a wedding gift, if you will. They never shared it because she hated him. It’s one of the few things I’ve held on to that belonged to my parents. I had it in storage but dug it out for you to use. Marcus had the movers bring over your furniture with the rest of your belongings, but as there wasn’t much, and I already had the bed in here for you, I had the guys put yours in my storage unit. I also had them bring the boxes with your personal belongings and clothing to Dash’s house. I didn’t see the point in unpacking here when you’ll just be going back over there in no time. You know I want you here with me, and I’m hoping that you’ll eventually want to move in all on your own. This room will always be yours, same with the bed. There’s more furniture that Julian picked out for you. I think a sofa and a few other pieces, but they obviously haven’t arrived yet. If you don’t like them we can always put them in the storage unit and you can pick out things you do like. I doubt that will be the case however. Julian has excellent taste and isn’t going to buy you something that you’re going to find ugly. At least, I hope not. I don’t want him to get his feelings hurt. You might not see it, but he’s really sensitive. And I don’t think he’s been with anyone since-”

“Quint,” Dash growled menacingly. “That is not yours to give her. The other guys will tell her when they are ready to. It doesn’t involve you or me.”

“Actually,” I said quietly, “I already know all about Annabell The No Longer Beautiful. My Salt and Pepper twins told me all about her after I caught you guys talking about me the first time I spent the night here. You were talking about how I was too young for you and you didn’t want to give up your social life for some girl you didn’t want to share. That girl being me.”

Wow! Bitter much?

I thought I had all of my issues with Dash squared away in a neat box that had been wrapped up in duct tape. Why would I bring that up? And right now, of all times when there were so many more important things to focus on than what Dash had said about me before he’d ever even spoken a single word to me, and he’d been nothing but cool with me ever since.

“I’m sorry, could you repeat that?” Dash asked in a rough voice.

“Well, shit.” Quinton muttered. “Just how much of that conversation did you actually hear?”

That made me curious to know what had been said after Addison had dragged me off, but I answered honestly. “Only the beginning. Or, perhaps it was the middle? I’m not sure. Addison showed up as soon as Annabell’s name was mentioned and he dragged me off to their bedroom where they told me a bunch of messed up things about her.”

“Wait, wait,” Quinton said. “Did you refer to Abel and Addison as the Salt and Pepper twins?”

“I believe she called themherSalt and Pepper twins, if I’m not wrong.” Dash’s voice was strained, and I couldn’t tell if it was from repressed laughter or because he was in pain.

On the pillow, my head swiveled to the side, seeking out his eyes. He met mine with ease. There was no pain in there, thankfully. Therewasquite a bit of amusement, however.

“Do I have a nickname?” He asked me, and I immediately shook my head in the negative. I hadn’t come up with one for him yet. I’m sure I would eventually.

The amusement fled his gray eyes and they flooded with a serious determination that intimidated me.

“You need to let that other stuff go, Ariel.” He said in a low voice. “I didn’t know you then, and I have always been very careful not to tie myself down with any one female. And, I have never, ever gotten close to a female with magic before. There are so few of you to go around that I never assumed we would have one for ourselves and I never even entertained the idea of our coven gaining a female. We aren’t exactly the greatest catch as a group. All of us are a little messed up as individuals. All together? It’s a hot mess. Why would some female choose our group to join and be with? Not a chance. When Annabell came along she did it at exactly the right moment. We were vulnerable and hurting. Tyson’s parents were the real deal, and we all bled from that wound when they died. Annabell got in there and dug her claws in deep and when they were ripped out, she left even bigger, gapping wounds. Too much damage in too short of a time span and on top of everything else we already had going for us. It left us raw and I, for one, balked at the idea of opening our arms to another female. I’m sorry if I said anything that hurt your feelings. I didn’t even know you at the time, and I would have been a dick about anybody. It wasn’t personal.”

I pulled the blanket up to my chin and got comfortable as I ran his words through my head.

They both had given me a lot to think about. I learned I needed to be careful with Julian because he was sensitive and hadn’t had a girlfriend since the dreaded Annabell. He seemed like a sensitive soul to me and I could easily see him being severely wounded after that girl did her thing. He was just so very sweet. I learned that Dash guarded himself fiercely against all people who weren’t the guys in his coven. And, somehow, some way, he’d let me in past his guard. He had even before Chucky stabbed him. Him getting stabbed and ending up in the hospital had put the brakes on our budding friendship. I was more than ready to get back to it.

“Do I have a nickname?” Quinton asked as he reached across my lap and stole the remote out of Dash’s hands.

I shook my head. He didn’t like it when I called him Uncle Quinton and said he wasn’t a pervert. I wasn’t so sure about that last part and I only called him Uncle because I knew how much it bothered him. I loved giving Quint a hard time. Everyone but Tyson simply fell in line behind Quinton’s orders, sometimes only because it was less of a hassle to deal with. He needed me to give him a hard time.

“Come here.”

“I am here.” I grumbled.

Apparently, I wasn’t close enough because Quinton slid his arms around me, one behind my back and the other around my chest. He dragged me over until there wasn’t any more space between us. Goodness, but he had some serious boundary issues.

“What are you doing?” I growled at him in false outrage. I don’t know why I bothered. Quinton did what Quinton wanted to do no matter the circumstances.

He didn’t bother to answer me, so I let it go and moved on to something else.

“What are the marks on your fingers?” I asked Quinton in a shy, quiet voice. “The thin scars. What are they, and where did they come from?”

That question had been bothering me from the very beginning, and I had always been too afraid to ask him personal questions. Although, I wasn’t sure why. He always doled out information freely with me and didn’t often take offense with the things I said. Most of the time.

“You’ve got a lot of them,” I murmured.

I picked his hand up from where it lay on top of the blanket. I pulled it close to my face where I could examine it better and traced my finger over a thin, white scar. His fingers were covered in them. His thumb, even his pinky had a bunch of them.

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