Unfettered Vampire (Found & Freed: The Unfettered #5)

20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

Ned

F rigging hell. There really is something so soul satisfyingly wonderful about a good hot shower after a night of fantastic sex.

I’m glad we lingered in the hotel bed until the last possible moment, because being in my own shower is an extra layer of gratification.

It’s lovely that Morgan took the time to drop me home before hightailing it back to his so the babysitter could leave. Bless her for agreeing to extend her booking to an all nighter. But now it is morning, it’s not surprising she has places to be.

A little shiver of uncertainty runs through me. Maybe I should have gone back to Morgan’s with him? It is the weekend and my day off, but that didn’t stop us last time.

I rinse the shampoo out of my hair. No, the kids need to spend time with just their dad. I can’t take up all his attention. I’ll be seeing them all soon enough.

A grin spreads across my face. My chest feels like it is about to burst with happiness. Fuck it. I’m going to let it out .

I open my mouth, and the shower reverberates to the sound of my singing. This feels damn good. I had forgotten it was even possible to be this happy. I sing and soap away for ages, but I can’t spend all day in here, sadly. Things to do, people to see.

I turn off the water, grab a towel, and nearly walk right into Lello.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Lello! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

Lello crosses his arms over his chest and fixes me with a stern stare. “Vampires can’t have heart attacks.”

I huff and barge past him, heading for my closet and my clothes. If he tells the others that I was singing in the shower, I’ll throttle him. Even if he is my best friend.

“How did your date go?” Lello asks, with bright blue eyes.

Damn it. I can feel my cheeks heating. I’m not sure if driving straight to a hotel and ripping each other’s clothes off, technically counts as a date, but whatever the official name for it is, it was the best night of my life.

“Lovely,” I say in as deadpan a tone as I can muster.

Lello squeals and brings his hands together as if in prayer. “Did you have nooky?”

I sigh in defeat. He is not going to let this go. “Yes.”

Lello jumps up and down. I roll my eyes and start pulling my clothes on.

“Tell me everything!” demands Lello.

“Like what?” I huff as I pull a tee shirt over my head.

“Where did he kiss you? Did he lick you? How many times did you orgasm? ”

Hells. Lello’s questions are causing all sorts of delicious memories to flow through my mind. I whirl around to face my best friend.

“Jesus Christ, Lello, I’m not telling you that!”

His mouth lifts up in a pout. “I can tell you everything Carter and me did last night?”

I groan and pull on a pair of jeans. “I don’t want to know.”

Lello falls silent for a moment. “In the harem…” he begins, but I turn back to face him and silence him with a hand on his shoulder. I’m fully dressed now and more able to cope with this.

“Lello, sweetie,” I say, and his big blue eyes stare at me with rapt attention. “We’ve been through this,” I say gently. “The things that happened in the harem weren’t normal. Out here, in the real world, sex is private. It’s between the people doing it. No one else watches, and no one else talks about it.”

I watch as Lello tries to take in what I have just said. But then his face fills with confusion. My chest tightens. Poor fucking kid. Taken from his loch when far too young and thrown into the harem. He has no other life experience. No wonder he finds things bewildering.

“But Gray and Mal go to a sex club?” he says.

I blink. Then I sigh. For fuck’s sake.

“Okay, sex clubs are an exception. It is complicated, but most people, most of the time…”

“Oh!” interrupts Lello brightly. “Carter is awake!”

The kelpie gives me a quick peck on the cheek. “I’m glad you had a nice time,” he says, and then he is gone. Running to his mate .

I watch him go, and sigh wistfully. I wonder what it would be like to have a mate bond? To be so connected to someone that you can feel their emotions and sense when they are awake? I always thought it sounded terrifying before. No privacy at all. No sense of self. But now, imagining that depth of a bond with Morgan? It doesn’t sound so bad at all.

Jeez. I really am loved up. I smile at my own daftness and head for the kitchen. I’m not going to bother with sleep, so coffee is very much needed. Everyone who claims the effects of caffeine on vampires is psychosomatic, can go do one.

I pop my head around the kitchen door. Pink looks up from his cup of peppermint tea. He flashes me a quick smile before jumping up to close the blinds.

“Thanks,” I say as I step into the now shadowy, dimly lit room.

“Do you want a cup of tea?” asks Pink.

“No thanks, it’s coffee I’m after.”

I head to the machine and flip it on to do its thing.

“How was your date?”

I bite back my groan. Not this again.

“Lovely. How were things here?” There, that should safely deflect the conversation.

“It all calmed down, just fine,” says Pink.

Well that’s a relief. I open my mouth to say something, but the coffee machine starts to spit out its goodness. I inhale deeply. Damn, that’s good. It is an aroma I will never get tired of.

As soon as my cup is full, I take it over to the table and sit across from Pink .

“I…um…am really happy for you, Ned. Despite what I said about the great-grandfather stuff.”

I stare into Pink’s warm, brown eyes. He seems sincere enough. And genuinely concerned for my feelings. Another little sweetie who didn’t at all deserve to suffer through the harem. He is just a baby, goddammit. Eighteen when Ritchie took him. That’s no age at all. No experience to tuck under his belt. Though saying that, all my years haven’t stopped me from being a complete idiot most of the time.

“Thanks,” I say as I sip my coffee.

A look of relief flows over his face. Then he sighs. “You’re so brave.”

“What?”

Pink props his elbows on the table and rests his chin on his hands. “Letting yourself fall in love,” he says with a wistful look in his eyes. “I don’t think I could. I’m such a coward.”

I hide my smile by taking another sip of my coffee. Everyone suspects that the mage who empties Pink’s magic, has come to be far more than a mere convenience for Pink. But it’s fine if he is not ready to admit it yet. As for love being something you can control, damn, Pink really is young if he believes that.

But he doesn’t need a lecture from a curmudgeonly old man. So I’m going to remind him how awesome he is instead.

“What are you talking about? You are the bravest person I know!”

Pink’s brows furrow in disbelief.

“Hey,” I insist. “You were willing to sacrifice yourself to save us all. ”

Color tinges Pink’s cheeks. He drops his gaze, removes his elbows from the table, and starts fidgeting with his cup of tea.

“You let yourself get shot in the head so we could escape. We’d all still be there if it wasn’t for you.”

I place my hand over his. He looks up and gives me a soft smile, even though his eyes are full of anguish.

I hold his gaze. I let him see that I understand it didn’t feel brave at the time. It felt cowardly. Like taking the easy way out. The final escape.

It changes nothing. Regardless of motive, Pink still saved us all. And we will all be forever grateful. A fact he needs to understand.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he seems to accept the truth in my eyes, and his smile turns into a genuine one. Perfect. That’s much more like it and exactly what I wanted to see.

I release his hand and gulp down the rest of my coffee. He finishes his tea. Now there are no more excuses for dawdling.

“Since you are such a badass.” I wink. “Wanna come with me and be my backup while I apologize to Gray?”

Pink laughs. It is a delight to hear true merriment in his voice. I’m so glad he is out of that dark place. Metaphorically and physically.

“Okay, but if Mal is still pissy at you, you are on your own.”

“Fair enough,” I agree with a grin.

And it truly is.