Page 7 of Vampire Lee

Dillon drank his tea and ate half a sandwich, then he hung around in his room, but he didn’t feel safe there. The door didn’t want to stay closed.

There was no one on the third floor. Lee must’ve left. Doors didn’t help against monsters, so it shouldn’t matter, but he wanted a room with one he could close and lock. It kept sliding open, and it made his skin crawl.

When he’d first come here, Devin had shown him the third floor, explained how everyone else had a room on the second, and how Kenia’s would become available soon if he wanted it—he didn’t. An entire floor to himself. The third floor, far away from any underground rooms, and every room had windows. But he’d still had a hard time picking which room he’d be staying in.

He was choosing between one of the two farthest down in the corridor or the one closest to the stairs. Part of him wanted to be as far away from the stairs as he could get, so when people came up, they wouldn’t reach his room first. Then his mind had played little movie snippets, most likely suppressed memories, of him running as fast as he could through a corridor to be able to reach the stairs—in the dream, memory, fantasy, whatever, the stairs led up, not down.

His mind provided him with graphic images of what happened when you tried to run away from a vampire, and in the end, he picked the room closest to the stairs. If he made it down the stairs or at least halfway down the stairs, Devin might hear him. Back then, Devin had been the only one he’d dared trust.

It had shifted. Nowadays, he didn’t think Murrie, Rei, Hanna, or Faelan would hurt him. At least not on purpose. They might snap, might lose control, but if he rushed down the stairs and screamed for help, he believed they would help him. And Mars had Devin. Once he’d been convinced Devin wasn’t being kept a prisoner, forced to be with Mars, he’d seen him a little differently.

Mars loved Devin, and he was starting to see that maybe Devin loved Mars too. Fangs and all. Or he didn’t know if he loved his fangs. He wouldn’t ask.

Devin lit up when Mars entered the room he was in, and had Mars been able to control Devin’s mind, he might have believed Mars was forcing him to act as he did, but he couldn’t. Devin was immune to mind control, and he loved Mars, messed up as it was.

Though who was he to talk about messed up? He’d slept in the same bed as Lee and enjoyed it. Maybe enjoy was the wrong word, but he’d slept better than he had in…as long as he could remember. For a few hours, but a few hours of uninterrupted sleep were more than he’d had in years.

A beeping yanked him out of his head, and he walked over to the window. A truck was backing around the house close to where Devin had made the others place his garden beds the way he wanted them. Rei, Mars, and Devin were there, as was Lee.

Dillon stared. What was Lee doing there?

The truck dumped a mountain of soil on the ground. Mars talked to the driver, nodded and waved, and soon the truck was rolling away. Devin hung back, while the other three grabbed spades and a wheelbarrow and got to work.

Two shoveled dirt and the third pushed the wheelbarrow to different pallet collars and tipped the contents inside. Devin went after and raked it even.

They worked like a well-oiled machine, and Dillon stared, mesmerized. Soon shirts were tossed aside, and the May sun was caressing bare skin stretched over defined muscles. A younger, more carefree Dillon would’ve enjoyed the show. He continued to watch. Shoulders. He’d always loved shoulders. Muscles moving, the hollow where the collarbone started was his favorite spot on the body.

Lee looked up and for a second their gazes met, then Dillon turned away. Could vampires enthrall you through glass? He glanced back. Lee was saying something to Rei, who grinned before shoveling more soil into the wheelbarrow.

Then he glanced up at Dillon again and dipped his head in a small nod. Dillon kept looking.

It would be nice to feel the sun on his skin. He wasn’t going outside, and he didn’t think he’d ever walk anywhere without wearing a long-sleeved shirt ever again, but it would’ve been nice to feel the sun on his skin.

* * * *

After Lee had helped Devin get the soil into the pallet collars, he had headed to work. He was early, but he didn’t care. Shoveling soil should’ve sucked, but it hadn’t. He didn’t use his body for manual labor often, and it had been nice to get to know Devin a little better.

He’d been careful not to stand too close, not move too fast, things he never bothered with otherwise, but it had been worth it to see Devin relax more and more as they worked. And he’d teased both Mars and Rei. Maybe Dillon would tease one day too. He wanted to hear Dillon tease someone.

When they were done, he’d gone home to take a shower, and it had been weird. His apartment had been…weird was the best word he could come up with. He didn’t think he was being watched, but there was a little niggling, a little something that didn’t quite get the hairs at the back of his neck to stand, but they sure as hell didn’t feel as they normally did.

He’d thrown on clothes and rushed off to work. If he was to be in charge of the bar tonight, he might as well be prepared for anything.

Rei would come an hour or two before closing time. Hanna and Faelan would also swing by, but they’d nixed his idea of allowing himself to be taken captive. He and Rei would keep up the pretense of seeing each other to see if Maybe-Aaron would say or do something.

“Lee.”

Lee looked up from the lemons he was slicing. “Jala, I thought you’d be off today.”

She put a hand on the bar and leaned a little closer. Scenting him? He’d showered and lemons had a strong scent to them, but how good was lions’ sense of smell? And what was she trying to scent? “I heard you’re dating Rei the jaguar.”

He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes. “One day, someone’s gonna rip your throat out. Why do you always have to fuck the most dangerous person in the room?” She chuckled, and he almost told her it was all for show, but something held him back. She’d never asked about his previous lovers. Granted, he’d never leaned over the bar to kiss any of them in plain sight either.

“Strong men do it for me.”

“I figured that out a long time ago. As far as kinks go, it’s not the worst, but…be careful.”

Be careful? Rei might be dangerous, but he wasn’t dangerous to him. “Are you staying here tonight?”

“No, I’m heading out in a minute.” She tilted her head and studied him. “Where is he now?”

“Who?

“Rei, stupid.”

Grinning, Lee cut another lemon slice. “At home, I think.”

“You’re living together?”

What the fuck? She never asked about his private life. “Not officially, not yet at least.”

“Too afraid to break the hearts of the dangerous men lusting for you?” She wiggled her eyebrows, and Lee barked a laugh. He’d never seen her do anything similar.

“I hate to break hearts; you know I do.” She wouldn’t, since they never talked like this. He was about to start slicing lemons again when Maybe-Aaron stepped in. Who’d let him in? Lee did his best not to tense.

“Ready to go?” Maybe-Aaron didn’t so much as look at Lee, which was…rude. Bastard.

“Evening Aaron, want me to pour you a beer?” He made a show of putting the knife down.

“No, we’re heading out.” Jala took a step in Maybe-Aaron’s direction. “I won’t be able to answer my phone, but you can text me if you need to.”

Lee nodded, doing his damnedest not to look dumbstruck. What the fuck was going on? Was Jala dating Maybe-Aaron? Nah, she had better taste, didn’t she? And bears and lions didn’t date, fuck perhaps, but not date.

He wished them a pleasant night and went back to his lemons. The rest of the staff turned up as planned and soon customers were pouring in, tired after a week’s work and looking for liquid relaxation.

Lee poured drinks, chatted and joked, poured more drinks, flirted when it was expected, and kept an eye on the door.

When Faelan sauntered over a few hours into the shift, he relaxed a fraction. “Beer?”

Faelan nodded, never wasting words when they weren’t needed. When a cute shifter woman, Lee was pretty sure she was a wolf, brushed up against him, he smiled, and Lee was left speechless—luckily, they weren’t talking. For one, he didn’t think he’d ever seen Faelan smile, and second, he was fucking gorgeous when he did. Not cute, not beautiful, but Lee’s kind of gorgeous. Which meant wicked, deadly, and with a clear invitation for a night of dirty things. Damn. Faelan had been holding out on him. Though since the cute shifter female was the one who’d triggered the response, Lee was pretty sure he wasn’t Faelan’s cup of tea.

And he shouldn’t fuck anyone else on the team, especially not when he was supposed to be dating Rei.

An image of Dillon played before his eyes. Had he ever given someone the kind of smile Faelan had given the woman? Would it have left Lee speechless if he had? Lee didn’t do humans. He was attracted to strength, capability, and power. Not power plays, it wasn’t his thing, but to have a strong man submit to him cranked his gear. Knowing they allowed him to fuck them but could have him flat on the floor in the blink of an eye if they wanted to—maybe it was a kink like Jala had said.

“Vampire Lee!”

Lee shook his head. What the hell was he doing? He sauntered over to the man who’d called and poured another beer. Faelan moved to a table, a huge hand at the small of the cute female’s back.

It didn’t take long before Hanna showed up. “Lee.” She grinned and plunked down on an available bar stool, vacated only a couple of seconds earlier.

“Hello, beautiful lady. What can I get you?”

“Something girly.”

He grinned with a hint of fang, and she gave him a throaty chuckle. “You’re such a tease.”

“Oh, I deliver.” He grabbed a martini glass and mixed an appletini. Grabbing a poison green apple, he sliced it and put a thin wedge on the rim. “One girly drink coming up. On the house.” He winked.

“I figured you’d give me something pink.” She snatched the apple wedge and bit into it.

“You’re not a pink kind of girly.” She barked a laugh. “You might be right.” She looked around. “Good night?”

He didn’t think she was asking about the crowd. “A bit weird.”

Something flashed in her eyes. “In here now?”

He shook his head and moved toward a woman calling for Vampire Lee at the other end of the bar.

Sometime later, Eli showed up, and he looked like shit. Lee caught Hanna’s gaze, trying to alert her before focusing on Eli.

“Eli! Come over to this side.” He motioned for him to squeeze in next to Hanna. There was no available stool, and Hanna’s neighbor glared at Lee as he motioned for Eli to cram in, but Lee ignored it. “Still nothing from…” Fuck, what was his name Zeke? Zion? “…your man?”

Eli jerked as if Lee had slapped him. “My…?”

“Your partner at work, is he back?”

Eli shook his head. Lee hadn’t needed the confirmation. He’d guess Eli hadn’t slept at all since they’d spoken last.

Hanna gave Lee a questioning look but didn’t speak.

“I’m only reaching voice mail when I’m calling now. Battery dead, perhaps.”

Fuck.