Love's Confinement Read online

  I think everyone let one massive breath of relief out at the same time as the tension eased from the room. Personally I also chuckled as I rubbed his back. “So I’m hot, huh?”

  “Oh please, you know you are.” He kissed my neck some more and it was difficult not to react but only slightly considering why we were sitting like that and I could see Sam messing with the IVs. “Those eyes, mmm, amazing. What are they? Like a saffron?”

  “I don’t know. Everyone just says yellow.”

  “No, way too bland for eyes like that. Not just golden, but orangish golden. Yeah, I’d say saffron. Really rare. Better than the sunrise.” A few people chuckled and I kissed Theo’s hair.

  “You might regret saying all of this later,” I murmured in his ear. “How about we put this conversation on hold until you’re better, okay?”

  “You forget I felt you get hard in the shower and I’m sitting on your cock now, Evan,” he breathed so no one else could hear. Except Helios did, shooting me a nasty look. I shook my head. He wasn’t sitting on my cock. He was sitting on my lap and I had boxer briefs on.

  But still, there was more blood flow that went south of my waist. “Stop putting images in my mind about dirty things when we’re doing this because you couldn’t even drink blood on your own without getting sick.”

  He stopped kissing my neck and pulled away, ducking his head. “I apologize. I was feeling drunk and light-headed. I’m okay now.” Theo wrapped the blanket just around him and tried to scoot off me, except he almost rolled off the couch. I caught him, careful of the IVs, and put him right back on my lap.

  “I didn’t say I didn’t want you where you were or disliked the conversation,” I muttered as I fixed the blanket. “Just time-out while we make sure you’re gonna live.”

  “He should be out of the immediate woods now,” Sam informed us as he sat down next to us. He checked out a few things on Theo and nodded. “Yeah, he just finished his second bag of blood and one of fluids. You distracted him long enough so his body relaxed and accepted it while keeping him warm. Let’s keep the body heat going for a while longer and I’ll keep filling him up. Theo, why don’t you crash out here for a while? You’ve gotta be ready for some real sleep instead of what you were getting down there.”

  “Yeah, that’s cool,” Theo agreed, with a half shrug. I watched Sam inject something into his IV, raising an eyebrow at that, but he shook his head. Seconds later Theo was out against me.

  “Why did you knock him out?” I hissed.

  “Dude, I don’t know how he’s alive,” Sam answered, rubbing the back of his neck as he paced around. “His body soaked up the blood faster than the IV was pumping it. His body temp is more than ten degrees below norm, he can’t ingest blood on his own and we’ve seen people pretty badly off that we can slap bags of blood on their fangs and they’ll chug it down. But he’s hitting on you and making jokes. I’m worried this is like the human surge thing.”

  “Come again?” Helios asked, but every muscle in my body tensed.

  “No, you’re wrong,” I snapped as I slid out from under Theo and situated him onto the couch comfortably. Then I practically launched myself at Sam, shoving him hard enough that he went flying. “This is not some episode of Grey’s Anatomy where Mark Sloan has a few extra hours of awesome energy before he dies. Theo isn’t terminal. He was talking to me when I found him and conscious enough to know to tell me to stay back. This is just out of your depth. Find someone who knows more!”

  “I’m saying he shouldn’t be alive in the condition he’s in,” Sam clarified as he got back up.

  “Well he is,” I seethed, pointing my finger at him. “That just shows what a fighter he is and he’s gonna beat all odds. Don’t fucking be giving up on him when he’s just gotten free, asshat. We watched that episode together so I know exactly what you’re thinking and—”

  “And what did I say the whole time during it, Evan?” he exclaimed as he stormed over and shoved me back. “What did I say they should have done? What I would have done if it hadn’t been about ABC making budget cuts to kill off the character and the goal was to really save the guy?”

  I groaned. Okay, so I was the asshat. I braced my hands on my hips and dropped my head. “You would have put him in a medically induced coma and conserved that energy surge to heal him further though you weren’t sure if it would work because you don’t treat humans but it was better than wait and see.”

  “Right.” He gestured to Theo laying on the couch knocked out. “So real sleep instead of what he was getting in a bomb shelter is better for his healing instead of letting him sit on your lap and flirt. I’m not giving up. I don’t know the meaning of it. Have some more faith in me than that, man.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Look, I know you feel bad because you let him shower before we checked him out but don’t,” Sam consoled as he reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Dude, I gave him a quick once-over and told him just to drink some blood and broth while I gave him IV fluids. I’m trying to tell you that you couldn’t have known. He’s not acting as bad as he is. Now get back under the blanket and keep his body temp up while I change out his blood bag.”

  “Okay, yeah,” I sighed and did as he wanted. “You just threw me by saying he was out of the woods while he was up and then doing a complete one-eighty when he was out.”

  “Should I have told him it’s a medical miracle he’s alive?” Sam drawled as he changed out the blood bag. “Yeah, that wouldn’t panic him and send him spiraling. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. People don’t feel what they don’t know. It’s crazy, but the mind is a powerful thing, and if we think we’re better, losing weight, healing, it pushes our body to do more, focusing energy. As he sleeps his brain could be doing just that.”

  “Then stop filling his sleeping mind in on the truth,” I hissed. We were talking right in front of him after all. I snuggled up against Theo, murmuring that he was doing great, keeping him updated on how many bags he had absorbed and making sure Sam gave him every good update. Alexander came back with more supplies, including a dual blood bag warmer which made Sam’s job much easier.

  I dozed there and again, grabbing some blood and food when I was awake as well. Then I went right back to talking to Theo, kissing his cheek each time Sam had good news—even if it was just that his temperature was up a degree closer to normal. But the whole thing tired me out too because then I would crash. Too much up and down with adrenaline and fear would do that.

  A soft groan woke me and I wasn’t sure where I was or what planet I was even on I was so out of it.

  “I didn’t,” a voice whispered.

  “Dude, it’s cool,” Wally chuckled. “You were acting sexy drunk, complimenting his eyes and flirting. If you weren’t in the condition you were in, I’m sure Evan would have been flirting right back. I promise you didn’t make an ass of yourself.”

  “I swear I don’t remember,” the guy replied. “I only remember that I was rescued and feeling safe for the first time in forever.”

  And then it hit me. Theo.

  I sprang up and focused on the voice, blinking when he was sitting at the edge of the couch, alert and aware. “You’re alive.”

  “I am,” he chuckled, bobbing his head but not looking at me. “I hear in big part to you for the body heat and some quick thinking.”

  “You’re up!” I moved over to him and lifted the sweater he was bundled in. “How is your bruising? Did Sam clear you to be awake? I thought you needed to—”

  “Dude, chill,” Sam bitched from the other couch. My head snapped in his direction. “We’re off the clock, and I didn’t get to nap like you did, okay? Theo’s gonna be fine. Really this time. He’s taken in fourteen bags of blood, five of fluids and nutrients. I swear he’s really in the clear. It’s a miracle, praise whoever you believe in and all that, but he’s healing, his temp’s normal, I watched him drink broth and blood on his own. We’ll observe him the next couple of days but we did it.�
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  “I’m just not allowed to go racing around on my own and I’ll need help doing things,” Theo said as if repeating what he’d been told. “Like now when I have to pee again.”

  “You’re gonna be peeing like a race horse for a while with everything I pumped into you,” Sam confirmed. “Can I get some sleep now?”

  “There’s like five guest bedrooms. Take your pick.” Theo pointed down a hallway and tried to stand. I jumped to my feet but he waved me off. “Wally’s helping me.” Wally nodded, and sure enough, he wrapped an arm around Theo and I watched him help Theo hobble out of the room and then heard a door close a bit later.

  “What did I do wrong?” I muttered, meeting Sam’s eyes.

  “Nothing,” he sighed as he sat up. “Theo’s embarrassed at what he said and how he acted with you. He doesn’t remember. I heard him and Wally talking about it. Just pretend like none of it happened and it’s all good.”

  I frowned as my heart sank. “Right, yeah, okay.”

  Then it was Sam’s turn to frown. “You like him.”

  “What? No. I was just helping him.” I shook my head as if that would sell it.

  “Evan, don’t go all Nightingale Syndrome on me here.”

  “That’s not even a real thing,” I seethed. “I read too, Sam. The Florence Nightingale Syndrome isn’t a recognized mental disorder and that’s for people who have spent weeks or months taking care of someone, not a person who spent a day.”

  “Yeah, but you found him and rescued him.”

  “Then that’s like a knight in shining armor thing,” I hissed when I heard the bathroom door open. “Don’t go putting that on me and just leave it be.”

  “Admit you like him then.” I glanced at the hallway and saw shadows of Wally and Theo. I crossed my arms over my chest and nodded. “Fine. Just be careful. I’m going to bed.”

  “Don’t strangle yourself with the sheets.”

  “Love you too, asshole,” he grumbled.

  “You guys playing nice out here?” Wally chuckled.

  “Oh yeah, they’re great friends,” Roarke drawled from behind me. I felt the blood drain from my face. Of course he had to be there to hear all of that. It had to be him and not Alexander or Helios.

  “Um, I don’t need your body heat anymore so you could get dressed,” Theo muttered as he moved his IV pole around the chair.

  I glanced down and saw I was still in only my boxer briefs. “We dress like this all the time around by us.”

  Theo rolled his eyes. “Riiiight.”

  I grabbed my pants from off the back of the couch, about to come up with something that probably wasn’t witty but someone banging at the door interrupted. “Where’s Alexander and Helios?”

  “They had to go back and run the camp. They left the four of us to handle things here and get the rest of Theo’s statement of who was involved,” Roarke explained as he jogged out of the room heading for the front door. “Everyone except Dottie was taken into custody for questioning.”

  Yeah, we had awesome hearing. It was as if he were still standing right next to me.

  There was a ruckus in the foyer as I was pulling on a long-sleeved shirt I found in my bag someone had brought in from my truck. I glanced over at Wally who only shrugged. Roarke was pretty capable after all. I was just about to go check it out when a voice came echoing back.

  “I demand to see the little shit! He has to answer for what he’s done.”

  “Awesome,” Theo chuckled as he sat down on the couch, shaking his head. “This just keeps getting—yay—awesome.” He cleared his throat and then raised the volume of his voice. “It’s okay, Roarke.”

  “You sure?” I hedged, glancing at him. “The guy seems hostile.”

  “Hostile is Lloyd’s middle name.”

  It was a good middle name for the hothead who came storming into the family room a minute later. “I demand to know—”

  “Shove it, Lloyd,” Theo sighed. “I demand Jay Ryan show up in my bed wearing nothing but a bow but it doesn’t happen either. So save the theatrics and sit the fuck down. I’m tired. We have a lot to handle, and if you want answers, don’t make my head throb when I finally feel like I’m not dying.”

  “Who is this guy?” Roarke asked as he came into the room.

  “Gentlemen, meet my father’s business manager, Lloyd Ober.”

  “And we’re not taking him into custody because….” Wally trailed off, glancing around.

  “Me? For what?” Lloyd seethed, narrowing his eyes at Theo. “What shit have you started now?”

  “Where have you thought I’ve been the past six months, Lloyd?” Theo asked, ignoring all of us.

  “Your father said you and your mother were shopping and traveling. You wanted to see some art exhibit or something. Now what is going on?”

  “My mother has been traveling, I was in the bomb shelter,” Theo explained. “I wouldn’t mate Meggan Carter so Father threw me in there until I would. Six months I’ve been down there, Lloyd. A warrior was sent about the death threats against Father and he found me. That’s the shit I started.” Then he glanced at Wally. “And no, you’re not taking him in because I can’t say that Lloyd knew anything. He normally works out of my father’s offices and doesn’t come to the estate except for family parties. I doubt he knew.”

  “Councilman Ashton would never have been party to something so horrible,” Lloyd whispered, pale as a ghost and about to toss his cookies.

  “Really, Lloyd? After all you’ve seen my father do and pull over the years, this shocks you?”

  “It’s a misunderstanding.”

  “No, no, it wasn’t. My mother knew too, and instead of fighting for me, or heaven forbid, stopping him, she decided to travel until this ugly matter was resolved. So she’s going away too.”

  “No,” Lloyd hissed, his color returning. “No!”

  Theo evilly smiled and nodded. “Yes, Lloyd. That day you prayed never would come has.”

  “You little shit. I bet you planned this whole thing just so you’d get it all.”

  Theo threw back his head and laughed. “Oh yeah. I totally planned being locked in a bomb shelter for six months. I almost died”—he glanced at me—“how many times?”

  “Enough that it was too close to have been a decent plan,” I muttered. “Besides, I was sent here because a coven found a threat against your father on one of their servers. Hard for you to plan that from where you were chained up.”

  “Exactly.” Theo narrowed his eyes at Lloyd. “I get it, you’re the son Father always wanted. You’re just as heartless, manipulative, and cruel as he is. I just got stuck with his DNA and last name. Believe me, I wish I could have traded. I tried to run more than once and start over, but he always found me, reminding me I was the only heir he had so we were stuck with each other. So you and I are stuck with the mess he’s left us now.”

  Lloyd smiled then and leaned forward in his seat. “Fine, I get the company that runs the blood banks. It’s in his will.”

  “Dumbass, that’s if he dies. He’s not dead. He’s incapacitated and in custody. That means I control everything. And believe me, I’ll fucking talk to whomever I have to to make sure they stall his execution if that’s his sentencing so I have time to dismantle that company to make sure you get nothing out of the will but an empty office when he does die. No fucking way I’m leaving the fate of more than half of the North and South American Covens’ blood supplies in your hands.”

  “You don’t have the kind of skills it takes to make that happen or work the business like that,” Lloyd snapped, a large vein in his forehead throbbing.

  “Bitch, please,” Theo chuckled, sitting back on the couch and reaching for his mug on the coffee table. “While you and Father were screwing over anyone and everyone you could, I was ducking out of this place as often as I could. That meant lots of schooling. He supported that because, and I quote, if I was to be a disappointment by not being born a warrior, the least I could do was sharpen my mi
nd as much as the blade of any sword for the day I took over his empire. So I did.

  “I have business degrees, MBAs, and doctorates coming out of my ass.” He paused to let that one sink in, and Lloyd lost his confidence pretty fast. “However, you play ball with me, and I’ll make sure you get a very nice severance or inheritance—whatever you want to call it—because my father does love you, and you were always loyal to him. You were like a son to him, even if you weren’t a brother to me or actually family. He would have wanted that.”

  “Why would you do that if the guy’s slime?” Roarke asked, studying Theo curiously. I wanted to know the same thing but I thought it rude to ask. Apparently Roarke was blunter than I was.

  Theo glanced at him and shrugged. “Lloyd and I don’t see eye to eye on how to run a business or handle things but I never saw him break any laws or do anything technically wrong, just not all that moral in my book. Either way, he’s been at my father’s side for over three decades, loved my father, and shouldn’t get screwed out of this. My father promised him the ultimate prize. I won’t give him that prize because it will fuck over the covens, but I won’t leave him high and dry after dealing with my father for that long.”

  “And you also want to cut ties with me and have me go away without making a huge mess, blowing up deals, or any drama,” Lloyd muttered, staring at Theo intently.

  “See? I always knew you were smart. You thought I was dumb because my father said so and I kept my mouth shut.”

  Lloyd nodded and rubbed his chin. “Dismantling the company with the blood banks would draw scrutiny no one wants, drain finances, and is a huge headache just to get around the will. What if I got a different company instead? The import one?”

  “I’m not against the idea,” Theo hedged before sipping from his mug. “I would want to see all the books for every company and have someone independent go over them. If I found out you were hiding anything to make it seem the company was worth less than it was to push me to say yes, I renege my offer and leave you with nothing though, Lloyd. I’m not trying to screw you here, but you mess with me, and I’ll fuck you up all over the place before you even knew what hit you.”