Love's Choices Read online

  “Yes, yes, upgrades,” Jason agreed, bobbing his head. “For that house and the one Nero said is his. Please, please don’t be mean. I was looking so forward to this because Father’s being a complete asshole and watching me like a hawk.”

  “We shouldn’t disappoint then, should we?” I checked with Nero, not wanting to overstep. The heat in the look he was giving me was so intense I shivered. How could I not have thought he was fire and heat too?

  We spent the next forty-five minutes taking good, good care of Jason, Nero nodding I should bite the guy. That shocked me, but yeah, made sense to take a nip when a vampire could and not take much. When we finished, Jason and Nero talked specifics I didn’t understand, wood types and something, something, something to get started, but he seemed seriously pleased with what Jason offered.

  “I like my man happy, Jason,” I said when we wrapped up. “And he is mine now, so if you’re good to him, I’ll allow some extra playtime and not let him get distracted. He needs play.”

  “I do,” Nero agreed, licking his lips as he stared at me. “We’ll talk soon, Jason. Maybe you could come out and see this new development and visit to solidify our business without your father around.”

  “Yes please. I hate that bastard, but if I don’t take over—we employ a lot of people, and I don’t want to disappoint them.”

  “Parents suck,” I agreed, shrugging when Jason shot me a confused look. “Mine would keep me in the closet and a priest probably. Fucking idiots.”

  We left on that high note. The moment we were back in the car, Nero was on me, his mouth devouring mine. “You are just full of surprises, love. That was amazing, and watching you be so commanding, working the deals and—I’m so turned on.”

  “Good, I worried I went too far,” I admitted, kissing him back. “I had fun too. I didn’t know I had that… Instinct? I’m not—I don’t normally like games.”

  “I like those kinds. I like playing, but I wouldn’t ever play with you,” he told me firmly, and I understood. I did. Playing and playing someone were completely different.

  “I wouldn’t do that to you, either,” I promised.

  Next, we went to two different seafood markets, but for distribution, not just… Where humans bought seafood. Butchers? No, that was for meat. Whatever, these were places for restaurants or like Nero who was going to send trucks for building supplies, and they would pick up some seafood. They talked turkey—or fish and shellfish—and then he told me we were done with business.

  “We forgot to eat,” I said as my stomach grumbled.

  “No, it was coming,” he chuckled, leaning in and kissing me. “But you can’t come in. I’m getting surprises.”

  Interesting, so I played along. We stopped at the first place, and I pretended to not see it was clearly a bakery. He hid everything in the trunk as if I would peek during the second stop, which I thought was so adorable. I realized there that I hadn’t taken a single picture and asked the driver—much to his amusement—to take a picture of me. Then we did one together, which Nero walked up during, laughing so hard.

  But he looked happy when I asked the driver to take a picture of us together.

  “Last place,” he promised with a kiss and darted back out when the car stopped. Goof.

  He worked it so the stops put us closer and closer to the hotel, and that made us pretty close when we were finally done. He gave me several bags to carry, one that had probably a dozen bottles of pop, and then went to retrieve a mountain of bags and boxes from the trunk.

  “You’re nuts,” I chuckled, shaking my head.

  “I like seeing you smile,” he admitted, making me melt inside. We hurried upstairs, and I’d had so much fun, was so excited to see what was up, I totally forgot about the three humans that would be waiting in our room.

  “Hi, we ordered breakfast because Conner said it was okay. Was it?” Jake blurted so fast I barely kept up.

  “Yes, and we brought lunch,” Nero informed them. He gave me a heated look. “Get naked. I’ve seen you eat treats, and beignets get everywhere.”

  “Real New Orleans beignets? Seriously?” I asked, already hurrying to strip. “Feed me.” I was out of the suit, tie, shirt, and shoes—basically down to boxer briefs—before he stopped laughing. He handed me the right bag, looking like he was about to eat me as he then brought out the ones with over a dozen types of po’boys.

  “It’s his first time in New Orleans, and we have to leave first thing in the morning, so I’m trying to get him as much of your town’s flavor as possible,” he explained. The humans were super cute then, cutting sandwiches in half so I could have bites of each. We sat around the living room and stuffed our faces. A few beignets—which were to die for warm—and I switched to sandwiches and fries, actually starving.

  Nero changed into sexy swim shorts, tossing me a pair of his to use since he’d forgotten to mention swimming when explaining the trip.

  “I called some of our friends, and they’ll be here in a bit,” Conner told me. “You guys wanted afternoon swimming, right?”

  “Yes, but I want sex first because watching Nero work is hot,” I confessed, licking my lips as I saw his eyes fill with fire.

  “I’ll buy you new boxer briefs,” he growled, and I didn’t even have time to ask what he meant before they were ripped off of me. He ate my ass as I pretended to finish eating, no chance of focusing on food when he was having such fun. Then he pounded into me, like really and passionately, maybe more than the humans should see.

  But did they get a show, their eyes glazed over as they watched us go.

  “We can eat by the pool, and I’ll set up a tab at the bar for anyone at our party to get drinks,” Nero told us, glancing at Conner to say he was sort of in charge.

  It might not have been the most moral thing to help with, getting humans to want to visit for parties and sex and to unknowingly be bitten, but it made sense. Vampires, ancients, who were used to living the high life and doing what they wanted would feel trapped being tied down. We couldn’t make the community in a city, that was too obvious and too many eyes. It also wasn’t safe with more zakasacs grouping together, no clue of their actual numbers.

  Besides, the humans would have fun, and… How was it any different than people who yacht chased parties or whatever was found in magazines and crazy social media pages? This was safer and yeah, gave some humans thrills to revisit as they got older.

  “Alastair’s bi-sex—” I started to blurt, realizing the problem with women coming to this.

  “I’m not,” Nero assured me with a kiss. “I have played with women, but I much, much prefer the male form and all the pleasure certain males can give.”

  “Plus, he looks at you like he’s totally in love with you,” Conner whispered, thinking Nero wouldn’t hear him. “I mean, totally in love with you, dude, and not just your body. Whatever business you had going on, he likes how smart you are too. You can tell.”

  “Yeah? I’m sorta new to this, as an adult I mean. I dated a few guys in college, one after, but, yeah, new to this. I’m not that great at reading people or situations.”

  Conner snorted. “You’re better than you think, and yeah, Nero’s all about you. I bet he’s keeping you in mind as he’s building that vacation house or whatever.”

  My heart raced at the idea, but I saw Nero kept his face very blank though he heard. I smiled. He didn’t want to pressure me. He was so awesome like that.

  The pool was amazing, heated saltwater, which I didn’t know was a thing, but I felt it sink into my pores as I laid in it, not wanting to go back to cold Wyoming. I made out with Conner for a while, knowing Nero was watching and he liked it. I met his gaze as Jake took his turn, my man licking his lips. Then people started arriving, and I put on my best smile and chatted, ruling out a few fast that would be trouble.

  Nero seemed shocked, but I knew people my age bracket, and they were, some several years younger, but still in my range.

  “Two are lying about their a
ges, and no way you want anyone under twenty-one,” I said. “And the other is a drug user. I know, believe me.”

  “You never cease to amaze me,” he chuckled.

  I did talk to Conner about it, and he winced, knowing one lied about his age, but no clue on the girl. And the drugs he didn’t, either, glancing at her funny as the party went on. Either way, there were now thirty people who Nero had connections with that had people or knew how to get strippers or dancers, anything his friends or others might want or need.

  After that, it was about dinner time, and I was wiped. I told Nero I wasn’t used to this much excitement, and he laughed.

  “We could go, or I could go pick up Willie’s Chicken?” Tim offered, looking like he didn’t want to go.

  “We’ve been eating a lot of seafood, which was good, but I’m not used to. Is it spicy?” I checked. He promised there was normal. I wanted to go with, see more of everything, but I ended up sitting on the couch instead and zonking out.

  “You really were tired,” Conner said as he woke me.

  “Long few weeks at work,” I admitted.

  “What do you do?” he asked, glancing between us.

  “He’s super successful business mogul, and I work for a military contractor, so lots of too much.” I met Nero’s gaze, giving him a look that said it was good to say so it wasn’t too intriguing but also said to drop it. It would also explain why the warriors were in such good shape or whatever, sort of like how the story to the local humans was a training camp for underprivileged or messed up boys that would join the US military.

  The chicken was awesome. The sex after was even better. We wore out the humans, and then I pushed myself a bit further, wanting something specific. I pulled Nero out onto our balcony, turned my robe backwards and grabbed the railing so my ass was all his but no one would see anything that would get us in trouble.

  “You are so perfect,” he growled and took me right there as we stared over Bourbon Street, people knowing exactly what we were doing. We got cat calls and all kinds of fun, but I didn’t care, I just wanted him. I wanted everything Nero would give me and more.

  Apparently his trip had worked well for his master plan.

  6

  “We’re back, sleeping beauty,” Nero murmured, giving me a gentle kiss.

  “I am so, so sorry I couldn’t sit in front with you,” I whispered, feeling like a tool. When we’d arrived at the airport first thing in the morning, leaving the humans with a note to order food again and Nero had talked to the front desk, he’d offered me the seat next to him, and I’d started shaking. “I’ve never had a problem with heights before.”

  “Well, you can make it up to me.”

  “How?” I looked into his eyes, frowning. We’d had so, so much sex and wild times, I was pretty exhausted.

  “Tell me honestly what you’d like to do tonight, not what you think I’d want you to say,” he answered, his tone gentle as he knelt down next to me. “This weekend was fun, wild, but I want to get to know you, Verge. Really know you, and I had a great time, I’ll never forget it but—”

  “Have you seen the Lord of the Rings movies?” I asked, understanding what he was saying.

  He frowned. “No. Why?”

  “Want to watch the first one with me tonight?” I smiled at his confused look. “My friends were going to do that this weekend, or really Zibon was going to get Alastair caught up, because while The Hobbit is before the three Lord of the Rings movies timeline wise, it makes sense to see them first and get into the world. We all saw The Hobbit, but we’re behind on the last two, and we want to see them.”

  “I would love that very much,” he agreed, giving me another kiss. “Yes, a night in with a good movie and you sitting next to me sounds wonderful.”

  “Add in our leftover goodies, and yeah, it’s about heaven to me,” I agreed, rolling to my feet. “I really hope they wrapped up all the chopping and stuff. That’s a bit of stressful chaos; it would be nice for all the transplanted trainees to have some calm to get them to where they need to be.”

  “No, I believe just about everyone has been helping with the concrete foundations for the tunnel to Ashton’s place and your new warrior dorm. I heard the only chopping that happened after we left was Alastair had them clear the land he bought since it needed to be done anyways. The deal we made with Jason is to start getting the precast concrete walls we need for the tunnels to Ashton’s new place and the warrior dorm so we can jump on that.”

  “Glad we helped,” I chuckled, pulling out all of our stuff and getting it together. “They know we’re here, right?”

  He didn’t even have time to answer as I heard a vehicle pull up outside. Awesome. I carried a load out, smiling at Norris as he jumped out to help me.

  “How was the trip?”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I admitted, giving him a hug. “Amazing. New Orleans is amazing fun. I’m not sure you’ll still be my friend, though.”

  “Why not?” he asked, his eyes wide. “Did you forget to get me a gift?”

  “No, dork,” I snickered. “I couldn’t handle sitting up front. I might have an issue with heights. I mean, I nearly puked all over his plane and shit my pants when he landed the first time, and I was sitting backwards freaking the fuck out.”

  “Wow, yeah, you’re a weirdo because I love it, but I still woves you,” he teased me, then looked past me. “So it went well with him?”

  “Yeah, and he can hear you,” I chuckled.

  “I don’t care as long as you’re happy. I’m the friend, he needs my seal of approval.”

  “I got shirts for you guys,” Nero called to us from the plane as he got off.

  “Oh, well, that’s all I cost, a new t-shirt,” Norris teased, the three of us laughing.

  We loaded everything up, and he drove us back to camp, rambling about everything we’d missed as if it had been weeks, not days. Then again, it was pretty impressive what was going on.

  “Yeah, get this, Proximo and Marissa had dinner together the other night. He’s going to be her guard on the next trip, and she’s heading to South America after Councilman Ashton talked with their council for real this time, not like the camp in Mexico that thought it was all a joke and she found out only fifty percent of their pre-trans make it.

  “So that’s disturbing for reals, and Gary’s flipping shits because his mom like never dated, and he’s worried he’s going to get like an ancient stepdad. But I think it’s okay. I mean, his birth dad is a turd, right? We’re still young, let him see how cool it could be to have a dad. I mean, I shouldn’t talk, mine’s dead and I never knew him, and I don’t have a mom, but you know what I mean. Ancient big brother, right? But good for Marissa.”

  “I think Nero’s head’s going to pop soon, Norris, slow it down,” I interrupted.

  “I’m not used to such fast talking,” Nero agreed, shaking his head. “Marissa would be perfect for my old friend. She would call him on his shit and deflecting. She seems like a good woman, fierce for one not born a warrior.”

  “You have no idea,” Norris agreed, talking a mile a minute about how she’d used her gift to wrap it around herself and shut down Helios and his power, knocking him out, which still impressed all of us every day of the week. Nero listened with complete attention.

  “That is impressive,” Nero agreed. “And something that would fascinate Proximo. He is not an empath but focused on fear, which is just as hard, especially since it’s so negative. She’s quite a woman.”

  We pulled up at the warrior dorm and got out. I yelped as I was grabbed from behind and spun around, lips finding mine immediately as I was pressed into the vehicle. I kissed Gaius back when I realized it was him, feeling it down to my toes.

  “Miss me?” I chuckled, staring up at him.

  “Oh yeah, you busy?”

  “We just landed and have to unload,” I told him, gesturing to the full load with my hand. “I have no idea what’s what or, yeah, just woke back up. A
pparently I have issues with planes.”

  “Okay, tonight?” he muttered after a minute, not sounding happy I wasn’t immediately all about him.

  I winced. “I asked Nero to watch a movie.”

  “Can I join you?” he ground out.

  “We were going to watch the first Lord of the Rings because I know Zibon got Alastair caught up so we could all see the Hobbit ones together,” I explained patiently. “It was a crazy weekend, and some calm sounds nice.”

  “I watched it with them, but I can see it again.”

  “Or we can just hang out tomorrow,” I chuckled. “I’m not going to wither and die by then, and I want to hear about your trip. I got you beads.”

  “Thanks. Okay, yeah, I’m being stupid,” he grumbled, sounding like he was pouting. “He got you all weekend, and I wanted time too.”

  I smiled even though it sounded competitive more than he wanted the time with me. I’d pushed Nero into telling me about Gaius, but I’d guessed that about his nature already.

  What to do about it I wasn’t so sure.

  “We’re all over helping the construction,” Norris informed me. “It’s Sunday and rest, sure, but the faster we get this done, the less pain later when the weather turns to shit. I guess it helps for whatever something, something we need to come.”

  “That was handled and will start shipping out today because of Verge,” Nero stated, pride in his voice. “He’s very skilled in business and got Zibon some upgrades on the house Alastair is building.”

  “Oh good, because he’s freaking at how much it has to cost and that Alastair keeps asking him things and he’s not a real adult.”

  I shared a look with Norris. Yeah, we weren’t, either. I wouldn’t have a fucking clue what to use for construction.

  “You looked really nice in the suit,” Gaius complimented as he helped me carry stuff into the dorm. “The picture with you and the driver was so funny. The guy looked like he was trying not to laugh.”

  “He was,” I assured him. “Thanks. I felt like a real grown up almost. First time being away from camp really and like in the world since I transitioned. It was weird. Good, but yeah, terrifying and awesome at the same time.”