Beck went from being slightly upset at getting caught peeping to insanely jealous at the sight of his woman hiding behind another man. It didn’t matter that the other man held half of Beck’s soul. It only mattered that Meg was seeking protection from him.
Beck forced himself to calmly put down the bag. He could be reasonable. In Meg’s mind, she had been treated poorly. Hell, in reality Beck had treated her poorly, but he’d had his reasons. He would very peacefully explain to her why he had treated her as he did and ask for another chance.
Meg had her back to him. She shoved her arms through the sleeves of her shirt.
Cian grinned. “You were shielding, weren’t you, brother? The minute your dick got hard, those walls came down. You can’t hide from me when you’re that aroused.”
“You could have said something,” Meg hissed at Cian. She sounded pissed, but her hands came down on his shoulders. She glared at Beck. “I’m sure you’re here to lecture me about how to behave.”
“I was enjoying the show,” Beck said evenly.
He wanted to go and rip her away from his brother, whose hand had come up to play with hers. It seemed to be an unconscious act between two people who were very comfortable touching each other.
“Well, I was acting like a whore, so you shouldn’t be surprised,” she said, bitterness evident in every aspect of her being.
“No, my lover,” Cian corrected. “Tonight was schoolgirl night. Last night was whore night.” He leaned toward his brother. “She was brand new to her profession. I had to teach her everything she needed to know.”
Beck ignored his brother, though he knew the scenario well. He focused on his wife. He had a lot of damage to undo. “You were a very sexy schoolgirl, Meg.” He smiled as she flushed. “I like the pigtails.”
He did. He thought about all the ways he could grip them while he fucked into her. He took a deep breath. Tossing her over his shoulder and forcing her to the bedroom wouldn’t help his case right now.
There was an uncomfortable silence that Cian moved to fill. He stood and walked to his brother, giving him a manly hug. “It’s good to see you, brother.”
Beck softened. Cian was whole. It had been a long time since Cian had been complete. He enveloped his brother, the man who held half his soul, in a spine-cracking bear hug. He looked over to Meg. “Thank you,” he mouthed.
Meg’s eyes were suspiciously bright as she nodded.
“You feel fine?” Beck asked, looking over his younger brother.
“I feel fantastic,” Cian replied seriously. “The bond, goddess, Beck, it’s amazing. She’s always with me. I can sense her moods when she’s not hiding them. She’s perfect.”
Cian looked back at their wife, and she practically glowed under his praise. It made Beck remember the errand he’d gone on before leaving the Vampire plane. He reached down into his pack and pulled out the gift he’d bought for his wife.
“I got you a present, Meggie,” he said, holding it out to her.
He felt like an idiot standing there hoping she liked what he’d bought for her. It took her a moment, but finally she took the small package from him and looked it over.
“This is A Tale of Two Cities,” she said, looking at the old book with a growing smile. “Is it a vampire version? Does Sydney Carton eat the French Revolutionaries at the end? That would be cool.”
Beck frowned and shook his head. “No. It’s from the human plane. They promised me it was very rare. I thought you would like having something from your home. You said you liked books.”
Meg touched the book reverently. “This is one of my favorite books.”
She stopped, some unnamed emotion choking her words. Cian reached out and grabbed her hand. It annoyed Beck that Cian could calm her.
“Do you like it?” Beck asked. He’d searched for hours trying to find something to remind her of the world she’d come from. “I could get something else if it displeases you.”
Meg shook her head. “No, Beck, I love it. It’s a lovely gift.” She sighed as though making a decision. “Thank you.”
She walked up and kissed him on the cheek.
It was a start. His hand went to her waist. He held her to him for a moment. He looked down at her uncertain eyes and chose to be bold. He cupped her face while he kissed her roughly. “I missed you, wife.”
She was breathless when he let her go. Her hands shook slightly as she forced herself to back away. “I should go start dinner. I’ll just put this up.”
She practically ran from the room. Something deep inside Beck eased. She still wanted him. Everything would be all right. He could ease them into the relationship they both wanted.
“Damn it,” Cian said, slapping Beck on the back. “Why do you think I started the sex play early this evening, brother? I was trying to avoid Meggie’s cooking. Don’t get me wrong, the woman can make a damn fine cookie, but the rest of it is terrible. I’m dying here, Beck. I was going to exhaust her then slink off to Flanna’s and beg her to feed me.”
“It can’t possibly be that bad,” Beck said, shaking his head at his brother’s dramatics.
“Oh, it can,” Cian said.
Beck remembered that he had a bone to pick with his brother. “Why slink off to Flanna’s when there’s an entire festival going on in the village?”
“We should probably talk about that.”
“Don’t feed me some line of crap about wanting the villagers to accept Meg,” Beck replied, cutting off that avenue of escape. “Did you think for one minute about how this affects things? Did you consider that Torin will know about her now?”
Cian waved him off. “Torin knew about her the minute you stepped into that arena. If I let you hide her, people would think we were ashamed of her.”
“Why does it matter?” Beck shot back. “Who cares what people think as long she’s safe?”
Cian’s gray eyes settled into a stubborn stare. “If you’re so fired up about keeping her safe, then let me take her to the Vampire plane. She’ll be perfectly safe with the Dellacourts. I’ll get a job at the university. Problem solved. You’ll never have to worry about either of us again.”
“I’m not letting you take her anywhere,” Beck said, feeling a bit savage. Did Cian think he could waltz off with their wife? “As far as I can tell, you’ve been a bad influence on her.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Cian was obviously feeling a bit of Beck’s restless anger.
“It means she’s getting quite the reputation in town,” Beck said. “Have you been letting her run wild? She’s met with goblins? She’s forcing the young people to do her bidding? This isn’t the way we run this village, Ci.”
Cian’s face twisted in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about our wife taking whatever she wants,” Beck said, trying to keep his voice low. “Those are new clothes. I can tell. As we didn’t have a coin to our name when I left, I’m wondering where she got them.”
Cian leaned against the wall as though he was completely unconcerned with his guilt in the matter. “I might have been hiding a bit of coin from you. I bought Meggie a dress, and the village women liked her so much they sewed her a few pieces. You couldn’t expect her to wear the same thing every day. Where are you getting this from? She meets with those same women every other day for sewing lessons. They love her. Everyone loves her. She’s fitting in beautifully. Even the bloody goblins like her. As for the stall she set up in the market, those kids are taking a cut. Meg does the baking, and the Shaw kids handle the selling. They take half the damn profits.”
“What the hell is she doing selling stuff at market?” Beck asked. He was confused by the whole thing.
“Making money,” Meg said quietly from the doorway.