Wouldn’t Duncan be shocked to find that out? His Lordship probably had him pegged as a regular man-whore.
The door was flung open by none other than Lord Malmayne himself. Jaden frowned. He looks like shit. “Hey Dunc—” That was as far as he got. The fist to his mouth knocked him down, shocking him. The trickle of blood at the corner of his lip told him more about Duncan’s rage than anything. It was the first time Duncan had ever bled him.
It was the first time anyone but another vampire had blooded him, actually. Shit. I’m impressed.
“Where the hell have you been?”
He blinked and sat up. Damn, Duncan had hit him hard. He kept forgetting how strong the Sidhe could be, especially one who’d been a warrior once. “Two’s company, or so I’ve heard.” He got gingerly to his feet, ignoring the glare Duncan shot him.
“Where were you?”
If anything, his flippant answer seemed to have pissed off his bond brother even more. “Here. There. Everywhere.” He leered at his friend. “Thinking about you and Moira’s underwear.” He waggled his brows, hoping for a laugh. A smile. Hell, just a little less hostility would be nice. No, wait, I want him hostile. Don’t I?
“I needed you here. Not off doing whatever the hell it was you were doing.”
“I had a fun time doing it, too.” He put his hands on his hips, desperate to brazen this one out. “What’s the matter with you, anyway? You shouldn’t have even noticed I was gone.” He batted his lashes at Duncan, who was aware that Jaden swung both ways. “Of course, if I’d noticed you missed me that much I would have been back sooner.” He ignored the dangerous narrowing of Duncan’s eyes. “Where’s your lovely wife, by the way?
“Inside. Now.” Duncan turned on his heel and actually stomped into the house.
Jaden blinked, stunned for the second time that day. Huh. The Bonding must be affecting him. He expected that fiery display of temper from his…Duncan’s little leprechaun, but never from Duncan himself. The man was always calm, cool and collected. More than once he’d saved Jaden’s ass by refusing to lose his legendary cool. Yet here he was, so pissed off he was stomping.
If the man wasn’t mated Jaden would have been flattered. As it was he wondered how long it would take him to wrap up this ugly assignment and knock the dust of the Malmayne household off his canvas sneakers.
“Are you coming in or are you going to stand there and roast all day?”
Jaden rolled his eyes and sauntered into the house. “Fuck. You’ve gotten cranky, old man.” Duncan’s response? A low growl that sent shivers down Jaden’s spine. He quickly thumped his cock, the pain stilling his newborn erection. “So much for connubial bliss.”
“Jaden. Shut the hell up.”
Jaden shut up. He followed Duncan into his study, watching the other man closely. He frowned. What the…? Were those silver hairs in among the gold? Fear skated down his spine. In all the time he’d known Duncan the Sidhe Lord had never changed, not by a hair. New clothes and haircuts came and went, but underneath it all was still the same Duncan Malmayne who had pulled his ass out of a dirty alleyway and given him a home. To see silver there after only two months was frightening. “Duncan?”
Blazing gray eyes met his across the desk. “Henri is pushing for the nullification of my marriage to Moira.”
Bingo. That had to be the beginning of why Robin had sent him here. “Henri likes to talk out of his sphincter. What else is new?” Like silver threads through gold? What the fuck?
“Well, his sphincter is pushing out even more shit. He wants you punished for the murder of Kaitlynn.”
His eyebrows shot up. “That was sanctioned.” In more ways than one, and he’d play that card if it came down to it. Even if the sanction was posthumous. Not even Glorianna would interfere with a sanctioned Blade assassination.
“Even so, the clan is beginning to get on my nerves. They want…hell, I’m not sure what they want. Leo punished for not abiding by the marriage contract and binding himself to Kaitlynn, Ruby for taking Leo away from Kaitlynn, me for not enforcing the contract once Dad was dead.” He rubbed his eyes wearily, the anger beginning to leech from his face. “They believe that Moira isn’t good enough to fulfill the contract.”
Jaden leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. He tried to hide the white-hot flash of rage over the thought that anyone believed Moira wasn’t good enough. “Why are they so frigging eager to see this done the way they want it done?”
Duncan’s expression froze. “Good question.” He settled down behind his desk, becoming visibly less ruffled. “It’s not as if we can bring Kaitlynn back from the dead.”
“Well…”
“Don’t even go there, Jaden.”
He grinned. He’d sooner eat, well, Kaitlynn than bring that bitch back. “Wasn’t going to.”
“Good.” A brief smile crossed Duncan’s face. “Welcome home.”
Jaden hid his wince. “Yeah. About that.” Icy fury once more glazed Duncan’s gray eyes, but before he could say anything Jaden’s chair was yanked back, landing him on his back. “Ow.” He looked up to find a pair of perky tits and furious green eyes glaring down at him. He smiled, inexplicably happy to see her again. “Hello, Moira.”
“Where the hell have you been?”
He licked his lips, tasting his own blood. “Is there an echo in here? At least you didn’t punch me.”
One slender foot began to tap next to his head. “Don’t tempt me.”
He eyed that foot, knowing full well what she was capable of. She couldn’t really hurt him, but she could damn well try. “Sweetheart, would you like to put that away? It might go off, and then how bad would you feel?”
She rolled her eyes and bounced her way over to Duncan’s desk. She perched on the edge, her arms folded across her breasts. “I’m going to repeat myself one more time. Where have you been?”
He didn’t even bother getting up off the floor. Knowing Moira she’d probably just dump him on his ass again. He crossed his leg over his knee and settled his hands behind his head. He smirked up at her. “Recently? Vegas.”
“What were you doing there?”
He mock frowned and wagged his finger at her. “Hey. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”
She ground her teeth together. “Jaden.” Her shoulders slumped. “You know what? Never mind. Just shut the hell up.”
Jaden smiled and shut up. Hell, this might actually be fun.
Duncan watched Jaden, aware that, suddenly, he was…complete. It was a strange sensation, something he shouldn’t be feeling. He had his mate, her glorious hair glistening in the sun streaming through the windows, her eyes glittering down at his bond brother. So why wasn’t it enough for him? Why, only now, did he know true happiness?
He’d missed Jaden. Perhaps it had something to do with the blood bond the two of them shared. Even now Jaden kept the link restricted, kept Duncan mostly out of his mind, but not even that could dampen his pleasure at the other man’s presence.
“We were worried about you, Fangsalot.”
Jaden snorted, his shoulders shaking with laughter. “Fangsalot? You’ve been hanging out with Ruby, haven’t you?”
Moira kicked his shin. “It’s not funny. Duncan and I were worried sick.”