Deceptive Changes: Kat LaMond Book 1 (47 page)

I looked at the little table.  All seats were full.  I grabbed the fruit tray and wine and walked out of the kitchen and into the dining room.  I set the tray and bottle on the table, nodded, and felt much better about this than the crowded kitchen table. 

I turned and gasped, my hand flew to my throat, as I bumped into Haven.  “Don’t do that,” I said after a minute of trying to relearn how to breathe.  He smiled and flashed fangs.  Heat shot down my chest to my stomach. 

I sidestepped Haven and started for the kitchen, when the others came in carrying the wine glasses and chattering.  Trace had found a tray of cut meats and cheeses. 

They placed the stuff on the table and circled around me.  My heart beat faster than when Haven had surprised me.  The vampires’ eyes turned all vampire-y.  I stepped back and bumped the table.  I put out my hand to steady myself and leaned back.  “Uh, guys, really?”

They smiled and moved back.  I slid around them and sat down.  Todd took the head position with Haven on his left, I was sitting on his right.  Thorn and Sven shared a seat with Sven on Thorn’s lap.  Trace and Erick sat across from each other. 

Todd poured wine and handed me a glass and passed the rest around.  Plates were passed around and food was dished out.  The vampires watched as we ate.  I felt like I was on display. 

I looked up and found Haven staring at me with his ice blue eyes.  The food I had between my fingers slipped out and plopped on the table.  I was still staring into Haven’s eyes when I heard a throat clear.  I blinked and looked over his shoulder.  Beatrice and Ardeness were standing in the doorway. 

“Beatrice, Ardeness, come in.  Meet Haven.”  I stood up and held out my hand in Haven’s direction.  He stood up politely, flashing fangs as he turned his head away from me, and bowed to them.  They smiled and bowed back.  “Did you want to join us?”

“No, thank you.  We only wanted to know if we had plans tomorrow.”  Beatrice stopped speaking and stared at Haven.  He wasn’t standing anymore and wasn’t looking at them, his eyes were for me only. 

I gulped and turned my eyes back to the girls.  “We don’t have any plans at the moment.”  They nodded and Ardeness pulled Beatrice out of the room.  I sat back down and tossed the cracker and cheese onto the plate.  I could feel them staring at me. 

Ignoring the stares I started eating again.  I grabbed my wine glass and set it back down.  I looked up and turned to look at each of them.  They
were
looking at me.  “What?”  Todd chuckled.  “You keep looking at me.  Your stares make me self-conscious.  Can’t you talk about something…uh, that isn’t me?  You know, taxes or something.”  They chuckled. 

Todd whispered, “Taxes are boring compared to you.”  I rolled my eyes and grabbed my glass.  I drank the wine down in two gulps and grabbed the bottle.  I poured another glassful and drank half of it before placing the bottle on the table.  I couldn’t help thinking that maybe I was turning into an alcoholic and they weren’t helping.

“I know, how about Haven entertains us.  He can tell us all about his life.”  Haven’s eyes turned silver.  “Okay then, stop looking at me like I’m on display.”  They turned and shared a look.  I sighed and grabbed my glass of wine.  I finished it and poured a third.  “If you keep staring at me, I’m leaving the room.” 

Todd chuckled and said, “If you do, we’ll just follow you, babe.”  I grumbled loudly and plopped down in my chair.  “Don’t be self-conscious, Kat.”  He held out his hand and when I took it he squeezed gently, reassuringly. 

I sipped the wine and looked at each of them.  Trace was leaning into Haven as he grabbed a piece of fruit.  Haven pressed closer to Trace.  I wondered what Haven’s story was.  Did he have a wife?  Was he beaten?  Was he loved?  Did he know what he was getting into?  I wanted to ask him all those questions and more but didn’t. 

Erick was leaning against Thorn and Sven, running his fingers through Thorn’s hair.  Sven leaned back and placed his mouth on Erick’s neck.  My eyes widened in surprise.  Erick moaned quietly as Sven’s mouth worked on him.  I could feel Todd’s hand tighten in mine.  I turned to look at him and saw that Haven’s silver eyes were transfixed on the scene unfolding to the side of me.  Todd was running his tongue along his lips and his brown eyes darkened.

Thorn dipped his head and slid his fangs into Sven’s neck.  I heard Todd and Haven suck in a breath as they watched.  I drank some more wine.  Erick blushed as he caught Haven’s eyes.  His emerald green eyes turned to me and stayed.  I smiled and ran my tongue along my bottom lip.  He let his eyelids slide closed and gave himself over to Sven’s bite.

Sven bucked as Thorn sent him over the edge and then Erick cried out.  They stayed together for a few moments, thrashing and moaning.  Thorn pulled from Sven’s throat and then Sven pulled back from Erick.  They slumped in their chairs and had lazy smiles pasted on their faces.

Todd squeezed my hand and I looked at him.  He grinned at me.  I couldn’t help smiling back.  “So, Haven,” I started as I swung my eyes to him.  His eyes were back to ice blue.  I sucked in a breath as I looked at him.  “Uh…” My mind had gone blank. 

“Yes, Katja?”  Haven tilted his head to the side and flashed a little bit of one fang.  I swallowed loudly.  Why was I so transfixed by his fangs?  Was it his doing?  Was he using some power on me?

I shook my head and dropped my eyes.  “So, do you think you can stay here?  With us?”

“I can.”  He hadn’t even stopped to think about it.  I looked into his eyes and this time they were silver.  They held nothing for me except the color was fascinating, as fascinating as Thorn’s eyes when they turned gold.

“Why am I drawn to your eyes when they’re human and not your vampire eyes?”  I was pretty sure he had the answer but he shrugged in response and took a sip of wine.  He looked at me with his ice blue eyes over the rim of the glass.  My hand tightened in Todd’s hand.  Shit.

Haven’s lips spread into a slow smile.  He was seducing me.  “You’re seducing me,” I stated quietly. 

He nodded.  “I’m powerful enough to make most humans fall under my power.”  I frowned.  I knew I wasn’t special but damn that didn’t even seem like a compliment.  “Don’t fret, Katja.  I have to seriously concentrate on you in order to seduce you.”  He flashed fangs.  I didn’t feel the overwhelming desire that I had.  His ice blue eyes were just eyes to me. 

“Did you stop?”  He nodded and smiled without flashing fangs.  “Can you do the same to Todd?”  I looked at Todd as I asked. 

“I can but he takes as much concentration as I have to use on you.  I’ll need to feed before I can attempt to seduce you both.”

“You won’t have to,” Todd said quietly. 

I swung my eyes to Haven.  His beautiful eyes were wide.  I chuckled softly and turned my eyes to Trace.  He was watching Sven and Thorn.  I looked over and found them kissing softly, lovingly.  It made my heart happy to see them happy, together.

“I won’t have to seduce you?”  Haven’s voice was soft. 

I kept the smile in place as I said, “We’re already there, Haven.”

“I didn’t try seducing you until after we kissed at the ceremony.”  His pink tongue slid between his teeth and stopped before reaching his lips.

“The kiss told me everything I needed to know.”  Todd nodded in agreement. 

Haven looked from me to Todd and said, “I’m sure I’ve missed something vital.  Could you explain?”

“Todd and I seem to have this, ability, to…uh…” I looked at Todd for help.

“We can tell when we’re in love.  It’s this tingling sensation.  Anyway, we knew the instant you kissed us that you were ours.  Kat thought about fighting but we’ve learned from experience that we can’t fight it without serious consequences.”

“You felt a tingling?”  Haven lifted an eyebrow.

“Yes.  Didn’t you?”  Haven nodded slowly.  “We’ve all felt the tingle and we’re all together, happily.  That is if Kat keeps her doubts inside her head,” he said and winked at me. 

“I’ve gotten over my doubts, Todd.  I now know that we’re meant to be together.  I shouldn’t have doubts again.”  I gave him a kiss and went back to sipping my wine.

“I’ve never been around people with that power.  I’ve heard of it.” 

Todd nodded and said, “Only the true king and queen have the power.  Sometimes a vampire that isn’t the true king can mimic the power but it’s always about lust and not love.”

I interrupted with, “I’m going to bed.  I think the alcohol is affecting me.”  I stood up and tripped sideways into Todd.  He caught me around the waist and kissed me.  I wrapped my arms around Todd’s neck and moaned into his mouth.  He tightened his hold on me as we kissed. 

We separated and breathed deeply.  “I should go to bed,” I whispered.  Todd nodded but didn’t let me up.  He bent down and kissed me softly.  He pulled back, after another long kiss, and helped me stand.  I ran my hands along his chest as I walked away.

I went into the bedroom and grabbed pj’s.  I looked at the bed and didn’t know how we were going to fit all seven of us on the standard king sized bed.  I sighed and went into the bathroom. 

I turned the shower on and undressed.  I didn’t look different.  I didn’t feel different either.  I figured for a queen I should feel different but I felt like myself.  I shrugged and stepped under the hot flow of water.  I washed and shaved and then stepped out. 

I toweled off and put my pj’s on.  I looked at myself in the mirror once more and couldn’t see a difference.  I smirked at my reflection and stepped out of the bathroom.

Everyone was in the room.  They had changed into pj’s.  Someone had found some for Haven.  He was as tall as Todd so not a big deal.  I stopped just outside the bathroom door and looked at them.  They were delicious to look at. 

Thorn and Sven were wearing similar pj bottoms with black t-shirts that made their pale skin glow.  Trace and Erick were in black pj bottoms without shirts.  Todd was wearing grey pj bottoms with a grey t-shirt that molded to his body and Haven had on black pj bottoms and no shirt.  I surreptitiously checked for drool as my eyes roamed over them.

“Holy crap,” I whispered.  I couldn’t keep my astonishment quiet.  “You guys look hot.”  As soon as the words were out I wanted them back.  Desire filled each of their eyes.  I stepped back and hit the bathroom door with my hand.  The loud bang in the silent room caused me to jump. 

I looked up and found Haven in front of me.  I gasped and said, “Don’t scare me like that.  I’ve already told Sven and Thorn not to sneak up on me like that.  I might hurt you if you continue to scare me.”  He laughed softly.  “You don’t understand.  I generally carry around guns with exploding rounds.  I could accidently shoot you.”  He didn’t laugh but the smile didn’t fade either.

He leaned into me, his body so close to mine.  He ran his fingers through my wet hair and kissed me.  I ran my hands along his smooth back.  He twirled me around as we kissed.  We fell on the bed with me on top.  His body was cool against my hot flesh.  I pulled back.  “You’re going to need to feed.”  He nodded.  I pushed against his arms and he let me go.  I stood beside him and surveyed the room.  Sven and Thorn probably needed to feed as well.  Good thing we have so many humans, I thought acerbically.

“Who feeds who?”  I looked at my human guys. 

Todd smiled and said, “I’ll feed whoever you’re feeding, Kat.”  Well that helped me decide.  I didn’t know protocol on feeding vampires.  Todd and I were the leaders of the vampires so I guess it would be right to feed the leader or ‘master.’ 

I heard gasps and turned.  Sven and Thorn had pulled Trace and Erick into their arms and were kissing.  My mouth fell open.  Sven pulled Trace tighter into his embrace and dipped him back so we could see the whole deal.  Sven pulled them up and flicked his eyes to me.  A small smile spread along Sven’s lips.  I smiled back.

Thorn had Erick against the wall and was feeding from him.  Erick’s green eyes were sparkling and his hands were wound in Thorn’s multi-colored hair.  Erick shut his eyes and let little sounds of pleasure escape his lips. 

I squeaked in surprise when someone touched my hand.  I looked over and found Todd standing beside me.  He held my hand and pulled me closer.  I hugged him and curled around him as we watched.  His arm wound around my back and I placed my hand on his chest.  I could feel his heartbeat, strong and sure. 

Erick bucked against Thorn’s body and cried out in pleasure.  Thorn didn’t stop there.  He continued to bring Erick, over and over.  Thorn pulled back long enough to kiss Erick on the lips and bite his wrist.  He held his wrist to Erick’s mouth.  At first Erick fought it but Thorn whispered something in Erick’s ear.  Erick nodded and then suckled on Thorn’s wrist.  I knew what was going to happen.  I looked at Todd.  He had a confused expression on his face. 

I pulled Todd’s head down and whispered, “Thorn’s going to continue bringing Erick,” into his ear.  When Todd looked down at me, I sighed and explained.  “Thorn can bring a person, vampire or human, multiple times and without the power boost Erick could be harmed.”  Todd’s face colored as I explained.  “If you don’t want to watch, we can go elsewhere.” 

He seemed to think about it.  “No.  I’ll watch.”  I was actually surprised that Todd was willing to watch.

Haven came up to us and wrapped his pale arms around me.  I could feel just how cold he was.  I shivered.  He pulled back and murmured an apology.