“What?” Dev asked, sounding completely shocked.
It was fun to not be the only one on the receiving end of the jealous vampire. “Hey, we wanted him to stop pretending. You feed him regularly. It was inevitable he would get possessive. It’s his nature. He likes your blood, Dev. It turns him on.”
“I don’t know if I’d go that far.” Daniel pulled back, chuckling a bit as though he was amused with himself. “I do like the taste. It’s different from yours, but gives me the same boost. I like the contrast. You’re sweet but he’s savory. Z is right. I am possessive and it’s bothering me that I don’t know if we just brought someone into our lives who might try to push me out.”
Dev smiled, letting Daniel know he didn’t mind at all. “I wouldn’t allow it. Bris can accept our relationship or find another host. As it happens, he finds the thought of living with a vampire intriguing. He knows little about your species and is curious. And he definitely wants to get our hands on Zoey again.”
“I’ll have to get used to that, too.” Daniel turned my way. “So I suppose you didn’t really understand the whole ascension thing, either.”
Did he have to bring up my idiocy again? “No, of course not.”
“Then I have to ask you the question I thought I’d already asked. Are you all right with this, Z?” Daniel spoke, but both men were staring at me. “If it scares you, there are rituals to dispense with the god.”
Dev put a hand on his heart as though it suddenly hurt him, but his mouth remained closed. I could only imagine the voice in his head. It wouldn’t be shouting. I knew that instinctively. Bris was gentle, tender even. He wouldn’t fight Dev. He would be hurt and alone.
“It’s okay. He seems nice.” And I might be pregnant with his baby. Go me. Except it would be Dev’s child. If I was pregnant. Which I probably wasn’t. I’d had unprotected sex with someone who had live sperm once in my life. What were the odds I would actually get pregnant?
“He wants to talk to you, Daniel,” Dev said quietly.
“Why doesn’t he then?” Daniel stared at him as though a bit ill at ease.
“Because he won’t take over the body unless you give him permission. I’ve already said yes, but he believes he understands our relationship now and he wishes for your approval, Your Highness.”
“I don’t require that you obey me, Dev.”
Dev’s lips curled up. “He’s a little old school when it comes to kings. You should be a shock to him, Dan.”
Daniel nodded. “All right. I’ve never met a god before. Z seems to think he’s okay. Let’s have it. Or should we, like, get you dressed?”
“I’m perfectly comfortable naked, Your Highness. And I believe you’ve seen this body more than once.” The change was startling. One minute Dev was speaking and the next a lyrical Irish accent was flowing from his mouth and his eyes had gone a solid green, twin emeralds staring from his familiar face.
Daniel tensed. “I can’t sense a difference. I thought…I guess I thought I would be able to tell.”
“The eyes and the accent don’t give him away?” I asked. I gave the fertility god a little smile. It’s probably not a good thing, but I was starting to get comfortable being naked around everyone, too. “Hi, Bris.”
His face went from slightly alien to infinitely warm. “Hello, my goddess. You are well? The magic of the ritual hasn’t made you overtired? This one and I will take care of you if you need to rest.”
“I can take care of my wife.” Daniel crossed his arms over his chest.
“I am sorry, Your Highness,” Bris said. “Perhaps I should go because I am incapable of not forming an attachment to her. It’s already there. I feel what Devinshea feels. It’s why I waited millennia to bond again.”
“What’s special about Dev?” Daniel asked. “As a priest, I mean. You bond to a priest from what I understand. You waited in the ether for a thousand years? Surely there have been more than a handful of priests in that time.”
“Yes, but they didn’t match my needs. You have to understand that Fae priests aren’t trained to love. To care certainly, but for many people. Priests are not monogamous. They don’t take lovers in that fashion. Sex is a thing to share with many.”
“And for you?”
“I loved my goddess and when she was gone, I went to the ether on my own. I went until I found someone who loved as strongly as I did. Your Highness, if my regard for your wife is going to cause trouble, then I should go because loving her, caring for her, and quite frankly for you, are the reasons I bonded with this priest in the first place. He thinks you want me to strengthen him for the fight that is to come, but I think something different.”
“And what’s that?”
“I believe you want me to keep him alive. I think you would prefer he didn’t fight at all, but you know it’s his nature. I can be helpful, Your Highness. I can bring him strength that you can’t imagine. And I can keep him safe. It will be my highest priority to protect all of you.”
“You’re a fertility god…what should I call you?”
“Bris is fine. I feel this world is less formal than the one I last lived in. More open, as well. You have progressed. In my world, I would have been called My Lord, but I want a friendship with you, Your Highness.”
“Daniel, please.” I could see he was softening.
Bris smiled and it lit up the room. “Yes, Daniel. I don’t want you to worry that I mean to cut you out. I could no more do it than cut out my own heart. I share a soul space with Devinshea. I feel what he feels. I am empty without him. You have to understand that his emotions rule me. It is why if you don’t wish me to touch your wife, I should end the bonding. For that matter Devinshea loves…”
Bris suddenly stopped, his eyes sealing shut, and when he opened them again, he was Dev. “See.” His smile was a bit unsteady. “I can take control when I want to. Do you understand better now, Dan?”
I stayed perfectly quiet because this seemed to be a moment between them. Nothing Bris had said made me wary. And I trusted Dev. He was sharing a body with this god person.
Bris had touched me, kissed me, worshipped me. I’d been in the middle of his magic. If I had to make a bet, he was one of the good guys.
Daniel’s hands went straight to Dev’s face, cupping his cheeks and looking deep into his eyes. “Tell me you’re okay. Tell me he’s being truthful because he sounds too good to be true.”
Dev’s hands went up, covering Daniel’s. They were so beautiful together I felt my heart nearly stop. “He’s with me. He’s part of me. He wants so badly to be part of us. We’re good, Daniel.”
Daniel stood up suddenly and shucked his shirt, the tension rushing out of the room. “All right, then. You two hurry up. I’m hungry and I didn’t like being left here alone.”
“You weren’t exactly alone.” I shifted back to Dev, reveling in his warmth. “You had everyone else here.”
“I’m alone if I’m not with you two,” he said quietly.
“We can’t have that, Daniel,” Dev replied. “What should we do with our wife? Our wife. I like the sound of that.”
Daniel’s dimples came out as he stood over us. “It does sound good. I thought I’d give you the night off, Z, since he already did god knows what to you. I’m sure it was filthy.”
“Oh, it was more about what Zoey did to me,” Dev said with a salacious grin. “Do you want me to tell you, Daniel?”
“Oh, yes,” Daniel replied, a little shudder in his voice. “The two of you meet me in bed and give me every detail about how Zoey misbehaved tonight. I think it would be fun if I bit Dev while Zoey took care of Little Dev there. We were both bad. We should be punished.” Daniel winked at us as he left the room.