Page 69

“But we don’t get a choice.” Ezra said it as a statement and not a question.

Still, Dev felt the need to answer. “You know how to fight your way up the ladder so that next year, you might. Brooke won’t give you your freedom, you’ll have to earn it. That’s how she operates, and I’ve seen how badly things can go when she tries to be nice and just hand it out arbitrarily. It doesn’t work. If you don’t earn it, you won’t value it.”

“I haven’t completely decided whether I want it or not, but I think I’d like the option,” Elijah said.

“I want it,” Ezra told Dev. “I respect and understand Elijah’s reticence, but I want the security system to recognize mypalmprint and let me in and out of the house anytime I want to go.”

“An achievable goal.” He looked out the side window. “We’re almost here, and your erections are flagging. Don’t make me have to punish you to get you hard again.”

Both men closed their eyes and stroked themselves a few times, and Dev watched their spined cocks stand proud once again.

Some of the Concilio vampires prefer circumcised cocks, but, according to the notes in their paperwork, they hadn’t tried to circumcise the boys as toddlers because theychangedso often, it wouldn’t have taken. Dev figured if they’d truly wanted them circumcised, they’d have used a silver knife.

Theydidcircumcise them, many times, once the boys became sexually active, either as a punishment or just for some sadistic vampire’s enjoyment, and the foreskin always came back after achange. According to the notes, they’d been circumcised side-by-side a total of six times between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five, and Elijah had been circumcised once when Ezra hadn’t, and this was one of the incidences that made them begin to see they needed to treat the boys equally in all things, lest their cats cause them to completely lose their sanity.

Dev wasn’t going to tell the boys Mikael had read of it in their files, talked to Claire about it, and the two had decided they very much wanted to do this to the twins. Remy was going to supervise them, because Dev didn’t want them to associate him with that kind of pain, but he wanted to be certain they were safe. He trusted Mikael not to bring long-term harm to someone Brooke valued, but he felt better knowing Remy would be watching.

* * * *

Ezra had been amazed at the decorations in Dev’s home, but when he was walked through the main coterie house the next day, he was flabbergasted. Every room was like a fantasyland, with lights, candy canes, wreaths, and bowls of cedar and pine that made the house smell like the outside. Not to mention at least half of the hundreds of fully decorated Christmas trees were real.

Physically, he was fine. He’d been allowed to stay in his cat form around twelve hours, best he could tell. He’d healed from the whippings, piercings, and other tortures the two vampires had bestowed upon him and his brother. What had started as intense CBT with his cock mounted on a board had turned into…No. He couldn’t think about it and be okay. Maybe tomorrow, but not today.

Today, there were more than a dozen kinds of meat available to eat, and every kind of sweet imaginable. There was happy Christmas music playing all over the house, people dancing when they weren’t eating, and an area of the huge twenty-car garage with fake snow, where vampires, shapeshifters, and humans were making snowmen. Earlier, there had been a snowball fight. It was twenty-eight degrees in there, with some machines in the room blowing frigid air, others blowing the snow crystals so there was a constant supply.

Every free person received a gift from the Coterie, and Ezra was curious to see what Brooke gifted Dev.

Gifts to each other, inside the coterie, were given privately, so as to keep hurt feelings down. Ezra knew Dev had already exchanged presents with a few vampires, and he’d exchange presents with many of his shifter friends after the vampires went to bed the next morning, and that he and Elijah would not be part of it. He’d accidentally discovered that Dev had bought Remy a beautiful leather coat, and he’d fantasized about a time when he could gift Dev with something just as nice. Also, hekind of lusted over the coat. How wonderful it would be to own something so nice that was just his. Or his and Elijah’s. He wouldn’t mind sharing with his brother.

Two hours before sunrise, everyone gathered in the largest living room, the most powerful sitting on furniture and everyone else either standing against the wall or sitting on the floor. Dev was in a beautiful wingback chair, while Elijah and Ezra were on the floor at his feet. Young vampires — not young as in the age they’d been when turned, but young as in their power level — walked around the room passing out gifts.

Julien stood near Brooke and told everyone, “Doublecheck the label on your gift to be sure it’s yours, but don’t open it until you’re told you can. We’ll do it in batches of five again this year.”

And that’s exactly what happened. Julien would point to five people sitting near each other, say their names, and those five people would open their gifts, show them to the room, thank Brooke for them, and then Julien would point to five more people.

Lots of people got vacations including transportation, lodging, and enough to pay for their food and the things they would want to do. Some received jewelry, others got multiple pairs of shoes and boots. One person’s box was an old-fashioned trunk when they unwrapped it, and it seemed to be filled with an entire wardrobe.

Dev’s box was tiny, and Ezra assumed it would be jewelry, but when it finally came time for him to open it, it was a set of key fobs.

“You need a vehicle better suited to carrying four people who are in love,” Brooke told him. “Something fun and happy. The SUV is fine, but it’s boring.”

“I don’t know how to thank you, Brooke.”

“You’ve been my responsible, trustworthy, staid Dev for centuries. You will still be those things, but I see joy andhappiness in your eyes, your face, your soul, my dear Devansh. You need a fun car to take your foursome fun places.”

“And I’ll need to research to make sure your favorite car seat fits into the back, my dearest Brooke.”

* * * *

It was half an hour before sunrise when Brooke finally walked outside with Dev so he could see his new car. He’d known it was a BMW by the key fobs, but this was even more than he’d expected. It was a BMW 8 convertible in a brilliant red. He’d have probably purchased black, if it’d been his choice, but the red exterior with charcoal interior was stunning and sexy, and he couldn’t wait to drive it.

“Program your boys’ plugs so they can’t get more than fifteen feet from you without being shocked unconscious,” Brooke told him. “Take them for a ride. Show them our city and our forests. I trust your judgment if you want to stop and walk. Enjoy Christmas day with your boys, dearest Dev.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Elijah hadn’t been to bed the day before because he’d spent the day outside in the pen, and it had been nearly euphoric, sleepingandwaking as a cat.

And then they’d spent the night celebrating Christmas Eve before midnight and Christmas morning a few hours later, and then nearly two hours in the car after the sun came up, driving around, and it wasfinallytime to go to Dev’s suite. Apparently, Dev had his own rooms here that no one besides him used. It was just a sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom, not even a quarter of the size of his home suite, but it was just as nice, with the same colors and similar style.