Page 45

Epilogue - Finn

Three Months Later

I never thought I’d have a personal vendetta against a season. And yet, here I am.

Summer means long days under the sun. As a vamp, it means short nights under the moon. I hate how restrictive it is. Each night feels like a race against the clock, which is an awful feeling.

Especially when your bosses insist on arguing about the dumbest things on the planet rather than letting you finish up for the night.

I mean, generally speaking, separately Matteus and Aristet are awesome.

Together? They are awful. I’ve never seen two such grown, capable and old beings be reduced to such childish shitheads than these two.

They are forever at each other’s throats.

Case in point, right now, when we are trying to have a brainstorming session on improvements for the social inclusion elements of the club.

“I still think we should have a website. It would be a great avenue of support for new vamps—”

“Yes, but the mystique is what makes this place so… Hearts Gate. We can’t lose that. If I had my way, we wouldn’t advertise at all. Word of mouth only. All hush, hush, secret and all that. Very cool.” Aristet interrupts me, holding his hands aloft, like he can see his great vision .

Matteus, on the other side of the table, scoffs derisively, rolling his eyes at me. I don’t react. I love my job, but sometimes it can feel like being a child caught between fighting parents.

“Yes, a secret club that nobody knows about does limit our capacity for social reach.” It’s now Aristet rolling his eyes at me, over Matteus’s dry observation. “Not to mention we’ve been an Osneau institution for a good four centuries now. The cat really is out of the bag on that one.”

Matteus gasps, in the extremely put upon way that old vampires do, spinning on his chair to face Aristet. His face is lit up in sarcastic enthusiasm.

“ I know ,” he begins, Aristet already groaning and rubbing his temples at whatever bullshit is about to be flung his way.

Honestly, the beings out there that are terrified of Matteus should see the childish way he carries on with Aristet behind closed doors.

It’s ridiculous. “Why don’t you go and start a secret, underground, hush, hush vampire club and leave Hearts Gate to me? A grand idea, don’t you think, Finn?”

Two pairs of eyes land on me. Well, fuck.

It really does suck when Dads are fighting, even if the simmering tension between them is kind of hot.

Usually I get paid well enough to ignore their behaviour, but tonight I have a video message burning a hole in my pocket, and places to be. Important ones.

I cap my whiteboard marker and shift on my feet, trying to find a polite way to tell my boss—the guy that took a totally wild chance on me—that he’s being a dick.

Probably not like that.

Especially since tonight is the last night of my probation. Three months—three whole ass months—since I quit ORA and started as Matteus’s assistant. Thanks to him, I can barely recognise my life for how much it’s changed since he took me under his wing.

He’s a great boss, and an even better mentor. Not to say that it’s all been easy. Just because he’s a great boss, it doesn’t mean he’s always easy to work with. The vampire is a perfectionist and he expects his staff to be too.

But I’m learning more than I ever could have dreamed of under his guidance—including about Christoff. Learning about my maker hasn’t been all sunshine and roses, but at least I’ve had support—and not just from Kai and Matteus.

Staying true to our deal, I go to my weekly support group for vampires with difficult or traumatic turnings; we meet at a nearby community centre.

Outside the group, I’ve started therapy too.

It took a couple of therapists, but I think I’ve finally found one I like in Rodrigo.

He challenges me and my negative thought spirals and never lets me sit by and let life just happen to me.

It’s the kick in the pants I’ve always needed.

My mother certainly thought so when I called and told her about him.

It finally dawns on Matteus that he’s put me in an awkward position—again—and he smiles at me, one of those genuine smiles where the real him peeks through his facade

“Finn, my sincere apologies. Thank you for your assistance. I understand you are celebrating tonight? You don’t have to listen to this any longer, go and get ready to join your friends.”

“Ah yes! Off probation tonight, aren’t you?” Aristet perks up, looking in my direction with a disarmingly charming smile.

Being the big boss and owner of the place, I was terrified of him for my first week working here.

Until the first argument. I cannot overstate how hard it was to take them both seriously as big scary bosses when I caught them arguing over whether or not Matteus was purposely stocking the office suites with the blood Aristet hates whenever Matteus was mad at him.

Despite Matteus’s profuse denials, I knew for a fact he was doing that. And sometimes not even when he was mad. Sometimes he just did it to irritate the club owner.

“Yes, sir.” He may not be scary, but he is still hot and I can’t help the blush on my cheeks.

“What have I told you, call me Aristet.” He winks this time, making my blush even worse. Matteus scoffs—I can feel the strain of how hard he rolls his eyes at the over the top behaviour.

I’m still not entirely sure if the flirting is something he does to piss off Matteus, or if it’s just a natural thing for him and pissing off Matteus is just a bonus.

Either way, it’s something I’m still getting used to.

Not that I really care about the flirting.

I can guarantee that whatever video I have waiting for me on my phone is going to be three hundred percent hotter than whatever Aristet can dish out.

So I roll my lips over my teeth to keep from saying anything dumb that will keep me here even longer.

Kai, Nikki and the group are all coming to have a drink with me this morning.

They are getting up super early and everything to do it too.

Or staying up. I don’t know. I’m still not great at keeping up with the group chat but I’m putting much more effort in now.

It’s all a part of that progress I’m making with Rodrigo.

“Uh, thank you,” I say when I get hold of my tongue. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“No you won’t. You have tomorrow off. I don’t approve of you overworking yourself now anymore than I did while you were on probation. Now get out and go have fun with your friends.”

Following Matteus’s dismissal I scramble to get out of there as quickly as I can and head to my rooms. It took Matteus exactly three weeks to get sick of me taking so long to get to Hearts Gate from my place on the bus before he gave me one of the rooms on the third floor.

It’s miniscule by the club's standards, and therefore, was rarely occupied.

But it is more than enough space for me.

It has the secondary bonus of being closer to Kai and Bloody Temptations, which means sleepovers are a regular occurrence nowadays. I don’t think we’ve spent more than a single night alone since the night I made a drunken fool of myself at Hearts Gate.

Leaving my work bag on the small dining table that separates the kitchenette from the lounge, I pull out my phone and throw myself on the bed.

The bedding is a lot more froufrou than what I’m used to.

This room is done in pastel yellows and creams—which might also explain why it was never booked out.

I quickly unlock my phone and open Kai’s video message.

His face fills the screen and I still get the same flutter in my stomach as I always have. His hair is expertly tousled, and his eyeliner perfectly smudged around his heavy-lidded eyes.

“Hey baby, I’m so proud of you on your last day of probation.” His voice is husky, and he pauses to bite his lip, his eyes drooping heavily shut. In the corner of the screen I can see the hint of his bare shoulder, and its rhythmic movements. Fuck yes.

“I have been thinking about you all day, working hard, looking sexy as fuck in your suit— ah! Fuck !” He hisses, his mouth falling open into a little ‘o’ shape.

My cock swells rapidly in that aforementioned suit, and I reach down to rub myself over the material, watching him pleasure himself.

“ Oh , Finn. Fuck. I can’t wait to celebrate with you tonight.

I needed—needed—to take the edge off.” He’s writhing around now, the camera shaking with his movements.

His eyes spring open, catching me off guard.

The eye contact, even through the video is intense and I go from semi to rock hard in an instant.

I’m gonna need more blood to get through this.

“Wanna see?” It’s entirely rhetorical—I mean, it’s a video—but I find myself nodding stupidly as the camera pans down. Fuck. Fucking fucking fuck fuck. No wonder he’s writhing around like that.

Not only is he jerking himself off, his cock shiny with lube, the reddened head peeking repeatedly through his fist as he tunnels into it, but he’s also thrusting back on to a dildo too.

It’s a garish lime green one, textured and ribbed.

It’s meant to be a replica dragon cock. I fucked him with it only last week and he came like a geyser.

Considering the granite-like state of his dick, we’re about to have a repeat.

The obscene sounds, obscured only by the shitty quality of the phone speakers, enthrall me. I don’t even have it in me to stroke myself off with him. I just want to watch. Take it all in.

And then, later on this morning, I’ll fuck him into oblivion on my ugly bed.

The perfect celebration.

“ Finn—Finn! Fuck, baby, I’m coming. I’m—ngh! ” Kai’s frantic cries culminate with him shooting his load all over his hand, his stomach, his chest. Fucking everywhere.

The camera pans back up to his blissed out face—and honestly, it’s my favourite part of the video.

“Don’t forget to leave your suit on for me baby. See you soon.” He blows a kiss at the camera and then the video goes dark.

Gods’ tits. How am I not going to jump him the second I see him? And with everyone there?

Jax and Lusce would probably like that though. Too much. The weirdos .

I catch the time on my phone screen. Awesome. Now I’m going to be late to my own party. At least I don’t have to get changed. I quickly splash some cold water over my face and tidy myself up before making my way downstairs.

My party, which is a pretty loose description for a gathering of my friends in a place we regularly meet anyway, is down in the courtyard. We are now the obnoxious regulars who catcall and leer at new members. Or my friends are. I need to be professional.

I’m not invisible anymore, not here at least. It’s exhausting and amazing greeting the members as I make my way down to the courtyard.

And it’s not hard to find my friends when I get there.

They’ve strung up a hand painted banner that says ‘Congratulations Finn’ with an excessive amount of glitter from the trees.

“Finny-boy!” I’m crash tackled by Jax first, Lusce following right behind him like always. They cling to me while I walk to their table.

“Hey, everyone. Thanks for coming. And the sign. Subtle. I like it.” Jesminda and Lusce beam, so I assume that it was their handiwork. Bedeer squeezes Jesminda in a tight, one armed hug.

Willan and Nikki are just next to him, sitting together and slightly apart from the group.

I give them an extra smile and a wave. From the excitement levels of everyone else at the table, it seems like everyone chose the “stay awake and drink about it” method to wait up for me, so they’ve probably been dealing with a lot.

Detaching myself from Jax and Lusce, I squeeze through the chairs to come around beside Nikki and Willan. That they are getting along is nothing short of a miracle. It’s been a journey . I’m not entirely sure it’s over.

“Nice braid.” I flick the end of the thin plait running around Nikki’s ear.

It’s Willan that blushes .

“Thanks. Congratulations by the way. Really.”

Willan isn’t the only one that Nikki’s made inroads with. My relationship with him has changed completely. I’m even now willing to admit that maybe, sometimes, he can be an okay guy.

Actually, he’s pretty awesome. Even if he makes me stretch with them on the days I sleepover. And even somehow on the days I don’t.

“Thanks.” I squeeze both of their shoulders and lean in between them. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen my boyfriend anywhere have you?”

Because amongst all this love, there is definitely one very important face missing.

“Uh, yeah. He should be—” My wild shriek, completely smothering the loud ‘ boo !’ in my ear interrupts whatever Willan was about to say.

Strong hands grip my waist, tickling me.

Those same hands spin me, plastering my chest to theirs and soft lips capture mine. Kai . I melt into him, wrapping my arms around his neck and deepening the kiss. I only saw him this evening, when I left his place for work, but I still lick into his mouth like it’s been days and not hours.

The whole courtyard explodes in raucous catcalls—the downside of not being invisible here at Hearts Gate—but we ignore that too, until I finally have to pull back. My erection from that video had dulled to a chilled out semi, but it is roaring back to life with a vengeance.

“Yo, where’s those drinks, Kai?” Bedeer calls out.

“Hold your nerics, I’m just greeting the guest of honour.” Kai throws over his shoulder, not letting me go.

“Never mind, found them!” Jesminda’s sing-song voice finds us.

Kai wraps his hands around the lapels of my suit jacket, tugging me closer .

“Congrats baby. Proud of you.” He kisses my nose and straightens my tie. “Ready to celebrate?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely.”