Sharing Sirius (7 page)

“Which explains while I feel crappy.”

“As you told me, it’s not about you. It’s about making sure Owen lives.”

Jack nodded. “I know. I just need time to get over it.”

Katya looked at him for a moment, not sure what to say. She knew he should’ve been there instead of stepping aside, but she wasn’t entirely sure how these things worked. And if he was struggling now, maybe being there wouldn’t have been any better—for any of them. With Jack there, would Owen have stepped over the line?

“I thought you were.” Warmth seeped from his skin. He smelled like sun and surf and she could imagine the taste of salt spray on his lips.

His shoulder lifted as he sighed. “So did I. I should’ve stayed in bed, but curiosity got the better of me.” He offered her his wrist. “Want to fix yourself?”

“As much as I’d like a proper taste of you, more blood isn’t what I need.” No, she needed shade and
chokolat
so the etheric could repair her skin without making her more sensitive to UV. There was something in fresh blood that made Vampires extra sensitive to sunlight. Nature’s way of making sure Vampires didn’t overdo it.

“When you thought I was human, you weren’t interested in tasting me.”

She had been. Jack was attractive, but she’d always viewed him as off limits. The same way Owen had always been. “That’s not what changed. I saw how much Owen meant to you and what you were willing to risk. You’re braver than I could ever be.”

“Not really, you jumped in knowing he’d never be totally yours.”

She smiled and felt the tightness in her cheeks from the sunburn. She must look awful. “Maybe not, but I also have you.”

Jack looked at her. She was risking sitting in the sun to talk to him and trying to make him feel less like week-old crud. He couldn’t have found a better woman to fill Owen’s need. He remembered the feel of her mouth on his, the touch of her fangs on his lip. Owen had put a very tempting image in his head, of him between both Vampires, their fangs in his skin.

His cock hardened as it did every time he let himself imagine it. Owen and Katya were the only two people who knew his secret. But just because Owen had taken Katya as a lover didn’t give him the right to have her too. He hadn’t suggested this to bring her into his bed, even if the idea had appeal—more than it should.

He drew back so she was forced to sit up instead of leaning on him. “What are you saying?”

“I don’t know, maybe we could be more than friends…in time.” Her blue eyes searched his face for something he wasn’t in a position to offer.

He cupped her cheek, torn between wanting to kiss her and wanting to be left alone. The latter won simply because he couldn’t see how kissing her would make him feel any better. If he kissed her, he’d be cheating. Yet he wanted to drag her onto the sand and take what Owen had already taken just to level the field. Have her legs wrapped around his hips as he fucked her and she bit him. He knew that any pleasure he got from her would be trampled when he had to look Owen in the eye.

That was the difference. He knew and had condoned it. But he wasn’t doing a very good job of looking the other way right now. It was more of a wallow in self-pity after seeing something he shouldn’t have.

If he did anything with Katya, it would be a whole new kettle of worms he’d be sticking his hand into. He didn’t like the mess he’d already made, so he lied.

“I’m not into women.” He tried to sound convincing.

He liked women, they had curves and were soft where men were hard. It was just that the last one had tried to kill him when she’d realized he was dhampir. In hindsight, he realized she’d probably known and had been hunting his kind, but he’d been young enough and dumb enough to fall into her trap. She hadn’t lived long enough for him to find out the truth. Now he was very, very careful who found out what he was and even more careful about who bit him. Any Vampire who tasted him would know immediately he wasn’t human.

“Oh.” She drew her hand back as if she were imposing on him.

The look in her eyes made him wish he’d never opened his mouth. He missed her touch. They were on the same side, even though at the moment he couldn’t help but see her as the opposition. He swallowed down the bitterness that built every time he remembered the sight of her on Owen’s desk.

“So when I kissed you?”

She’d noticed his reaction—had she wanted him then? He’d been aware of her attraction to Owen for a long time, but when she’d thought him human her gaze had always skimmed past him. It hadn’t bothered him, but it did now. If he could lie about what he liked, so could she. But if all she wanted was to taste dhampir, she’d have taken up his offer to heal herself.

“It was the fangs. Yours are so cute.” His tongue touched his lip where she’d cut him even though the wound had healed immediately. He wanted to feel her bite again and test how far her attraction went. “Go inside. I’m not good company.”

And he didn’t know how long his good behavior would last. Then she would know that he was a liar, a jealous liar.

“Come with me.”

“In a bit.” He wasn’t quite ready to face Owen, and yet he knew he must. Did Owen feel guilty or glad to be alive? More importantly, was it enough for him to continue living or had it pushed him to deciding to die? Either way, Jack had to live with the consequences.

The only person who seemed to be doing okay was Katya.

“Now, Jack. Owen needs to see you, to know that you are okay.” She stood and held out her hand, expecting him to take it.

“I’m not okay.” Even though he wanted to be. This had been so much easier in his mind than it was in reality.

“Hiding won’t help anyone, least of all you.”

He looked up at her, the sunlight making her hair look like white silk. She was so beautiful, even sunburned.

“Do you want me to come up in blisters?”

He didn’t want to do anything to hurt her. He was half in love with her and that was why seeing Owen and her together had cut deep. They had something he wasn’t part of. Now he knew how Katya had felt whenever she’d seen him and Owen together, hungering after something that couldn’t be. He swallowed his pride and got up.

Today couldn’t get any worse.

Chapter Five

Jack shook the sand off his jeans and went inside. He let Katya go ahead and disappear into the kitchen. Before this, the three of them in the house had never felt odd. Now everything was off-center and unbalanced.

He paused in the study doorway, not sure what he’d find, or what to expect.

Owen had his hands on the windowsill, gazing out the window; he would’ve seen him and Katya return to the house. His back was straight, tension locked in his shoulders. From hurt or anger, Jack wasn’t sure. Either way, this was a private matter, so Jack shut the door behind him.

“It’s a bit late for that, don’t you think?” Owen said without turning around.

“Our arguments have always been private. I would expect any between you and Katya to also be private.” He didn’t want to be caught between them—not like that anyway.

Owen turned, he had his fangs down. A sight that had always had the power to make Jack’s blood rise, ready for fucking and for spilling. But Owen’s eyes were dark, not light with lust, and his mouth was pressed into a thin line.

“You don’t get it. You and she are so bloody young. You’re full of lofty goals and noble deeds without having any idea about how it would work in reality.”

Jack had been reaching that conclusion. He opened his mouth, but Owen didn’t let him speak.

“It’s my turn. You will listen. Your heart is in the right place—it’s one of the many reasons I love you and it’s the reason I’m not going to kick you out.” Owen stalked toward him, lithe like a predator. And Jack was the prey.

Jack couldn’t hide the smile that curved the corners of his lips. Owen seemed more like the man he’d first known, full of life instead of bored with it all. Was it working already?

“Do you know what it feels like to have your lover catch you with someone else?”

Jack shook his head. “It’s fine.”

It didn’t feel fine, it chafed like wet linen, but he wasn’t about to admit that. This was not the moment to compare bruises. Owen was obviously regretting what had happened, even though it had given him a new grasp on life.

“It’s not
fine
. Once the door had been opened, I was unable to look away, such was the need in my veins to find a way to live. Now I have to live with that and the look on your face for the rest of my life.”

“At least you’ll have a life.” Did Owen not realize how much it had cost Jack?

“Caught between the two of you like a bone between two starving dogs? No thank you.”

Jack heard his heart stop. “You’re breaking up with me?” His words came out stilted. “But it was what you needed. You’ll die of boredom.” Hadn’t Owen said he wasn’t kicking him out? What was he going to do? He risked a glance out the window and saw the sun. Oh no. “Don’t make any hasty decisions, we can make this work. A roster or something.”

Owen put his hand on Jack’s chest, over his heart, then it slid up and cupped the back of Jack’s head. He brought their foreheads together.

“I’m not old. I’m ancient, even for a Vampire. I have loved and lost more times than I can count. And I have no intention of starting again.” He kissed Jack, hard and rough. His tongue pushed in, claiming.

Jack gave in, believing that after everything they would be okay, changed but okay. He let the tension he’d been holding on to ease away. Glad to be back in Owen’s arms. Jack gasped and waited for the cut of fangs, but it never came. Owen was too skilled to ever be caught out. The Vampire’s other hand trailed over Jack’s thigh and caressed the growing hard-on, coaxing his flesh to harden further. Jack bit back the moan and flicked his tongue against Owen’s fangs, seeking out what he wanted.

Owen ended the kiss but kept his hand on Jack’s cock and the back of his neck. The grip of his hands left no doubt who was in command.

“You hungry for a bite?” Owen whispered against his lips. “Want to feel some fang?”

“Yes.” All the blood rushed from his head to his shaft as Owen’s hand stroked his length. Owen’s nail scraped down the fly of Jack’s jeans as if he were considering undoing it. Jack held his breath. He wanted Owen.

Jack’s fingers brushed Owen’s hardening cock.

Owen stepped back. “Then get it from Katya.”

“What?” Jack grappled with what Owen had said, but it was almost beyond his comprehension, as if he’d been pushed and was now falling, waiting for the impact.

“Ménages are fun for a night…maybe a couple of nights. But long term they never work. One person is always in the middle, the center of attention, and resentment grows.” Owen smiled, as if remembering his younger and, apparently, wilder days. “I won’t be that person.”

“You’ve done this before?”

“Jack, there are plenty of things I’ve done.
This
isn’t one of them. There are three sides to a triangle. Each one has to be as strong as the other or it fails. The relationship will fail.” Owen paused for effect. “You and Katya are the weak link.”

With his head still muddied by lust, Jack frowned and tried to keep up. “I don’t understand.”

“Go to her, become her lover.”

“I won’t cheat.”

“It’s not cheating if I look the other way.” Owen gave him a smile with a dangerous edge as he threw Jack’s words back at him.

Jack couldn’t find anything to say. There was no refusal he could make when what Owen said made sense. He wished he’d thought of it sooner, but at the time his only concern had been Owen.

“What? You don’t like it? Are you feeling the guilt already?” Owen raised one eyebrow.

“She doesn’t want me,” was all Jack managed to choke out. She certainly wouldn’t want him after what he’d told her.

Owen touched Jack’s cheek. “You have a silver tongue, Jack Montague, put it to use. You have forty-eight hours.”

“Where are you going?”

“I have a band to break up.”

“Are you going to talk to Katya?”

“No. You started this, so you can finish it one way or another.”

“And if I fail?”

Owen leaned in. Their lips met in a light caress. Teasing and tempting. The promise of what could be if he succeeded. “I think you’ll be fine.”

“And you?” Was Owen fine or was he going to do something stupid?

“I haven’t lived this long by quitting early. I’ll see you when I get back.”

Jack stood rooted to the spot as Owen walked away, possibly out of his life. He heard the door open and close.

Forty-eight hours.

Two days to take back everything he’d ever said about not wanting her and convince her that he wanted her because of who she was and not because Owen had issued an ultimatum.

He’d been given an ultimatum. He crossed his arms and scowled.
What the hell?
He wasn’t going to jump because he was told to. Then Owen’s car started up and roared off. Fuck, who was he kidding? He’d already jumped and he didn’t have time to be incensed as the clock was already ticking and failure wasn’t an option.