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I CAME HOME to find twoat my kitchen table One of them was my live-in sweetie The other was one of our best friends One of them was a wereleopard; the other was a olf; both of them were strippers At least once a e They changed shape on stage in front of a live audience Those nights the club was standing rooo to other clubs to see men take their clothes off, but their entire skin and bodywell, that was unique

Nathaniel ca I let , thick auburn hair that trailed down his broad shoulders, the curve of his waist, the tightness of his ass, and the long s He was five-seven now, an inch taller than when Id met him In my three-inch heels I was still an inch shorter than hi into the promise of those shoulders His face was less soft than it had been, and more masculine He would always be beautiful rather than handsoed e, instead of like jailbait

He blinked down at me with the soft lilac of his eyes On his drivers license it said his eyes were blue, because they wouldnt let him put lavender, or purple His eyes were different shades of color, depending on his mood, or whaTHE wore, but blue was never the color of his eyes

His hands slid underneath the jacket of my suit, and a little lower to trace the top ofBDM in its shoulder holster Guns do get in the way of cuddling

I wrapped my arms around the bareness of his upper body, breathed in the scent of his skin He earing whaTHE usually wore in his off ti shorts Most of the wereanio around nude if you let them I wasnt quite comfy with that, so he wore the shorts to save ht I didnt have any of those left, but they would be wrong, and they would be jealous

Holding hi in the warmth and sweet vanilla of his skin, I understood the jealousy Though frankly, not all of it was about sex or even having found love at last It was about power and the the human servant of Jean-Claude, the Master Va the highest kill count aood ol U S of A

I would give a less favored body part to have a woreet me at the end of the day like that, Jasons voice said

I had to peer around Nathaniels body to see Jason He was still at the kitchen table nursing a coffeeIt even smelled like coffee, buTHE huddled over it, as if it were so

Jason o years older than Nathaniel, which ely, Id ive or take a half inch or so His hair was that shade of yellow blond that movie stars are fond of, but his was real, and didnt have to coood salon His hair was cut business hair, but I had to admit that Jasons face looked cleaner, better, more handso a blue T-shirt that made his eyes even bluer than they were The color not of spring, but of suotten too hot, but you know its not May anymore

The clothes hid what I knew, thaTHE looked even better out of them It wasnt for lack of cuteness and desirability that Jason wasnt my sweetie He was my friend, and I was his

What about Perdita, Perdy? You and she are going steady, right?

He grinned atsteady, youre so cute

I frowned at him What else do you call it?

Nathaniel kissed me on the forehead You really are cute

I moved away from him and scowled at them both Im serious, what else do you call it? You arent just fuck buddies She isnt a one-night stand Shes a serious girlfriend If its not going steady, what do you call it?

You , Anita Perdy and I were lovers, and she wanted it to be exclusive

I thought you were exclusive

Except for you, I was

Wait, youre talking past tense Are you saying you and Perdy broke up?

She gave him an ultimatum, Nathaniel said He trailed his hand down et you coffee

I went to the table and took the seat that Nathaniel had started in What kind of ultimatum? I asked

Jason stared into his coffee cup while he answered She wantedsex with Jean-Claude and Asher, and you

Wait, you arent having sex with Jean-Claude and Asher, unless theres so I dont know

He sers in the Boy Scout salute I a sex with Jean-Claude or Asher

Nathaniel set fresh coffee down in front of me and took a chair across the table on the other side of Jason, so wed both be able to look at him It also meant ouldnt be able to do ood; we tended to distract each other

But she didnt believe you, I said

Nope, she didnt He took a sip of coffee

Why wouldnt she believe you? I asked

Im not sure

If irl, you should have said so

I a, his apple of blood I ao The ardeur is your version of a blood feed and youre his human servant Jean-Claude shares me with Asher, his second-in-coht to share ot kicked out of Cape Cod because she wanted to be more than just a blood donor to the master vampire there

Sa about that In fact, his son, Sampson, said that Perdy was here to spy on him for his mother

Yeah, but Sampson went home, and Perdy didnt

Saot invaded by some of the scariest vaht it was a bad idea to risk getting the eldest son of his friend and ally killed Besides, Sa on offensive abilities, at least not this far inland Perdy was a h Id never seen either of them turn all fishy They just looked like people to me

Perdy stayed for you, Nathaniel said