Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1 (40 page)

He nodded and spoke softly.  “Beatrice, please stop.”

“Why should I?” she asked breathlessly. 

“Because I ask you to.  I like you well enough but Katja has always been the one for me, that is, besides Sven.”  He chuckled softly.  “Katja has not taken me to her bed.  We had just discussed this and she has consented.  I don’t do this to harm you in any way.  But I have been given the opportunity I have waited a long while to hear and I intend to go through with it.  Maybe it won’t be that good.”  I smiled a little smile.

“Ha.  Every time Katja takes a man to her bed they never leave,” she said quietly.  “You don’t know her like we do.  She’ll…brainwash you into being her love slave.”  I laughed viciously.  “It is true, Katja,” she said to me.  “You threw Todd away before this whole mess even started and then raised Erick.  Trace came along and you took both Erick and Trace to your bed, albeit separately, and neither of them has left.  You coerced Todd to come back and slept with him and he hasn’t left either.  Then there’s Sven.  He left Thorn for your bed and is still with you.”  I sighed.  I was a slut.  That’s how she made me feel anyway. 

Todd walked up to us and bent down.  “You don’t know anything, Beatrice.  Yes, we’re all with Kat but not only because of her.  Grow up.  Sometimes you don’t always get what you want.  Sometimes you have to earn what you want and you haven’t.  You’re young, you died young, and Kat has given you the opportunity to grow up.  You don’t know why we stay together or how we all got together.  You only see the outside of our lives.  If it was only Kat’s body that we wanted we’d probably lose interest further down the road,” he winked at me and finished his sentence, “but it’s not just her body that we want.”  Beatrice started to cry.  I didn’t know why either.  I got off her and walked out of the room.

It was nice and all that Todd had justified my many men but it still made me feel like a slut. 

I walked into the bedroom and slammed the door, storming into the bathroom.  I turned on the shower and did the bathroom thing. 

I stepped out of the shower and grabbed the robe that was on the hook beside the door.  I toweled off my hair and walked into the bedroom.  Todd was in the room.  He stood up and hugged me to him.  I could feel my eyes stinging as I struggled to hold the tears back.

“Don’t think what you’re thinking, Kat.”  I pulled back and wiped the droplets from my eyes.  “I know you, babe.  Don’t take what she said and run with it.”

“Why shouldn’t I, Todd?  That’s exactly what happened.  I fuck you and you stay.  It’s rather simple, I suppose.”

“It isn’t, Kat.  We don’t stay because you make us.  We stay because we want to.  She’s just pissed off because she can’t have Thorn.”  He paused for a moment and then said, “Thorn and Beatrice were never truly intimate.  She shared blood with him but that was about it.”

“How do you know this?”

“Thorn told me.  He led her on with little touches and kisses but that was about it.  He told her from the beginning that if you were to take him to your bed that he would leave her in a flat minute.”

“And she accepted those terms?”  He nodded.  “It doesn’t look like she kept to the agreement.”

“Because she didn’t think it would ever happen.  Since he tried to kill you and such.”  Todd stopped talking and kissed me roughly, then gently.  I ran my hands up his back and shoulders to the sides of his face, holding him to me.  We broke from the kiss.  Todd ran his hands up my back and hugged me again.  “I’m sorry she said those things to you, Kat.”

“It’ll be okay.  Where is she?”

“I had Ardeness bring her to the guest house.  She’s to watch her and enlist the others to help if necessary.” 

A horrible thought went through my head.  “What if Beatrice hurts Ardeness or even kills her?”

“She won’t.  The only person we have to worry about Beatrice getting to is you and since the five of us will be in the bedroom with you, it’s probably not going to happen.”  The five of us?  I sighed softly as I thought about how crowded the bed will be tonight.

“I’m going to get a hard drink, you want one?”  He nodded and we walked out of the room and into the kitchen.  Todd grabbed several glasses and filled them with whiskey.  He handed me one and passed the other glasses to Trace and Erick.  I sipped my drink and hissed as the alcohol bit into my wounds.  I set the glass down and clenched my fists, waiting for the sizzle to go away. 

When the sizzle of pain went away, I grabbed the drink and tossed it back, slamming the glass against the table.  I breathed fire and hissed in pain.  The guys chuckled as they tossed their drink back.  Sven came over to me and kissed me.  I tasted blood that wasn’t mine.  He must have cut his tongue to heal my mouth.  A moment later the pain was gone.  I mumbled a thank you when he pulled back.  “No problem, Katja.”  He kissed my cheek and went back to Thorn, sitting on his lap. 

Todd poured another round of drinks for everyone.  I took my time even the first sip didn’t elicit any pain from my mouth.  Thank God for vampire blood. 

I drank the whiskey and set my glass on the table when I was done.  Todd started to fill the glass but I shook my head.  I didn’t mind the warmth of the alcohol but I was in the mood for a Corona.  I grabbed a lemon and sliced it.  I grabbed several beers and passed them around. 

I took the metal cap off, stuffing the lemon inside and drank the cool liquid.  “Feel better, Kat?”  Todd’s smile crumbled when I shook my head. 

Erick turned to me and said, “You aren’t any of what she said, Katja.”

“Well, you may not think so but having it spit out like that, I feel like a…a slut, someone who just fucks and then goes off somewhere.”

“Then what are we?  Are we just sluts, too?”  Trace’s voice was hard yet quiet. 

I looked at him.  “No.  Just me.”  Todd laughed and the other guys joined in. 

Sven said, “I’ve met a lot of whores in my day, Katja.  You aren’t one of them.” 

I smirked and batted my eyes at him.  “Thanks and all.”  He chuckled and blew a kiss at me.  I rolled my eyes in response.

Thorn looked at me.  “I’m sorry, Katja.”  I arched my eyebrow.  “For leading her to believe that I wanted more from her when all I was doing was using her for food and a little touching.  I used her to get even with Sven a lot more than I used her to get to you.  You wouldn’t take me anyway and Sven didn’t want to be with me without being with you.  I couldn’t deal with him having your scent all over him, and me being so near.  Intolerable.”  He ran his tongue along his lips and played with the metal stud.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.  I’m sorry about causing a problem between you and Sven.  Enough said on the subject.  Let’s just enjoy the alcohol and see where the early morning leads us.” 

I drank more beer and started to choke when both Sven and Thorn were beside me and giving me kisses.  Beer ran down my chin.  I wiped at it and coughed.  When I looked at them, they had surprised expressions on their faces. 

After a few more coughs and when I could speak, I said, “Don’t do that,” with mock anger.  “You know I can’t see you guys moving.  Only when I have a heavy dose of vamp blood in my body can I see you guys move.”  Todd handed me a napkin and I cleaned as much of the beer from my face and clothes as I could. 

I tossed the napkin on the table and sipped my beer.  My throat was raw from the coughing so it burned a little as it went down.  They gave me kisses again but this time at normal human speed, maybe a little slower.  Smart asses.

“Go sit down, guys.  Enough.  I’m going to enjoy my alcohol haze.”  They chuckled. 

Thorn sat down and Sven sat on his lap again.  I was happy that I could make at least the two of them happy.  I finished my beer and grabbed another.  I was planning on being very intoxicated tonight, um, morning. 

Trace went to the fridge and grabbed sandwiches for us and another round of beers for the guys.  I looked at Sven and Thorn.  I knew that the vampires could drink alcohol and I had completely forgotten to ask.  “Did you guys want a drink?”  They shook their heads.  At least I remembered to ask.  I unwrapped my sandwich and started eating.

“Todd,” I started but didn’t want to ask because it would bring the whole Beatrice thing back.  “Why did you change your mind?  I mean, about Thorn?”

“I had to change my mind.”  I looked at him skeptically.  “It’s true, Kat.  I could see the tension between Thorn and Sven.  It’s my duty as king to keep the peace as much as possible.  I could have done one of two things and the second idea seemed the better of the two.  I didn’t want to take Sven out of our bed.”  He drank more of his beer, then said, “To add another vampire isn’t such a terrible burden especially if it makes the one vampire already in our bed happier.”  He kept his eyes downcast and started eating his sandwich.

“What of you two?”  I looked at Erick and Trace. 

Trace spoke quietly, “I have never, outside of Sven, felt something that…uh, fantastic.  You have got to try it, Kat.”  My stomach flopped around for a second and then went still.

Erick chewed his lip and then ran his tongue along his lips.  He spoke softly, “I’m just glad you accepted having Thorn join us especially now that he did what he did.” 

Were we just using the vampires for a free orgasm?  Or did we really want to keep them?  I suppose Beatrice’s comments had started me thinking of being used.  I had to ask the questions.  “Sven, do you feel that you’re being used?”

He chuckled.  “No, Katja.  If I felt that way I would have left at the beginning.  You and the guys treat me like a beloved person, a lover, a partner, if you will.  Thank you for allowing Thorn to join.”  He leaned into Thorn and kissed him happily.  I hadn’t seen Sven look this happy, well, ever.  When he first came to us, it was to save my life and Thorn wasn’t with him. 

I chuckled as the thought of two men who had tried to kill me on a number of occasions were now sharing the bed with me and my men.  My chuckle got raised eyebrows.  I let them in on my thought.  Sven and Thorn chuckled only mildly but the others laughed hard. 

I put their minds at ease.  “Don’t worry, guys, I won’t toss you out unless you do something more than take my blood without permission.”  Though, I had been set on killing them both before I got to know them. 

I stood up and tripped over dust.  I was intoxicated.  I giggled and caught myself on a chair.  I attempted to walk a little further but was afraid to let my chair go. 

“Kat, are you okay?” Todd said as he got out of his seat to help me.  I ‘mmm hmm’d’ and sat back in my seat.  “What did you need?”

“Nothing.  I just wanted to walk around and see how tipsy I was.”  He chuckled and sat across from me.  “I’m pretty damn tipsy,” I slurred out.  I stood up again and waited for my equilibrium to match my movements and went to the counter and grabbed a brötchen, then made my way back to my seat.  I ate the roll and leaned back in my seat.

I could feel the alcohol being absorbed by the bread as I relaxed.  Todd said, “Thorn?”  I assumed Thorn nodded or responded in some way because Todd asked, “How long will you be with us?”

“As long as you will have Sven and me because I will not go through what I went through again.”  I tilted my head and looked at him.  His liquid brown eyes were shining gold as he looked at me.  I sat up straight in the chair.

“Are you trying to tell me something, Thorn?”  He blinked slowly, unnaturally for a human, but he wasn’t ‘human’. 

“Yes.  I refuse to be separated from Sven again.”

“I did apologize for that.”  I groaned as I thought about how I could let one, but not the other, in. 

Sven patted Thorn’s hand and said, “You’re with us now, that’s what matters, Thorn.”  He kissed Thorn’s cheek softly and looked at me.  He was smiling.  I looked away. 

Todd, Trace, and Erick were looking at me.  The predatory look was back.  I guess they hadn’t had enough orgasms to make them tired.  I flashed a smile at them and the look turned from predatory to seductive in the blink of an eye.  I purred in my throat as I looked at them.  That got them out of their seats and to my side in a second.  Todd lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bedroom.  The others followed close behind.  I hadn’t meant to cause such a flurry of activity but now that we were in the bedroom…

Todd pulled at my robe and opened it enough to show my skin.  He placed his mouth between my breasts and kissed me.  I ran my hands up his chest and to his neck.  I pulled him to my lips and kissed him softly.  He breathed a laugh as my hand ran down his side and between us.  I could feel him hard and ready for me through the jeans.  He shook his head as I reached for his zipper.  “Not yet, Kat,” he whispered against my mouth.

“Why not?”  I whispered back. 

“Because as much as I want you this second, I kinda have to clean myself off.”  Oh.  I thought of Sven bringing him.  Damn.  I whispered a moan.  Todd helped me sit up.  The guys, all four of them, were looking at me with dreamy eyes.  My heart stuttered in my chest.

“I suppose you each need to clean up?”  They nodded.  “Well hurry up then.” 

They smiled and all walked into the bathroom together.  I didn’t know if the shower would hold all five of them plus me.  I walked into the bathroom a moment later.  They were standing around buck naked.  I licked my lips as I looked at them. 

Thorn was the only one that was new and he was just as yummy.  His pale skin was just a little duskier than Sven’s and he was a natural brunette.  Thorn’s piercings gleamed with the light from the mirror lights and I noticed that he had nipple rings as well.