King Hall (Forever Evermore, #1)(82)

I knew I wasn’t the only one who thought that.

We were sitting in the formal living room of King Venclaire’s house and, again, it was just too wrong for him compared to what I knew Vampires enjoyed.

“I’d tell you,” Ezra took a swig of his beer, “but then King Venclaire would kill me.”

There were no guards inside the mansion right now, so we were free to be ourselves.

Ezra was sitting on the corner of the couch with his back to the arm, one leg on the floor, and the other against the back of the couch while I lay between his legs with my back against his chest. My legs were stretched straight in front of me, my feet on Pearl’s lap. She was painting my toenails black with gold sparkles while Gideon sat on the floor below her, massaging her sore feet, since she had been wearing new shoes during those hours of walking, breaking them in, and it had been a mini-torture of its own kind. She had not complained once until we were in the Hummer, driving away from King Hall. Jack sat on a recliner with Nikki curled on his lap, both taking a small nap, damn cute all snuggled together.

I tilted my head, looking up at Ezra. “Seriously. The first time I was in here, I knew this room wasn’t right. What gives?”

His lips twitched. “I really can’t tell you. He would be pissed.”

Absently, Pearl waved the brush in the air, indicating the room at large, and cocked her head as she examined my toenail she had just painted. “It doesn’t feel right in here.”

My eyes didn’t leave Ezra’s, watching him as he scanned the room with a cocky grin teasing his lips. “Oh, you’ve got to tell us.” I poked him in the ribs, which probably hurt my finger more than it hurt him. “Come on!” My brows snapped together when his eyes met mine again as I suddenly realized a key fact. “I’ve never seen your bedroom.”

A black, arched brow rose. “I’ve never offered.” He was deflecting, and was a master at it. A true Vampire down to his Core.

I shook my head. “Show me your room.” That was the real Vampire area.

“The only women who see my room end up on my bed.” His lips curved.

I blinked, and glanced at Pearl. “You want to see his room?”

“Hell, yes.” Carefully, she painted my pinkie toe. “I bet it’s all black and morbid.”

“Want to sleep in his bed with me tonight?” A finger flick at her mate. “It’s bound to be big enough for Gideon, too.”

She shrugged, even as Gideon choked. “Sure. Why not? It’ll be like the camping trip.” Her hand stalled, and I bit my lip to keep from laughing as she quickly jammed the brush back in the paint bottle. “Gideon will be there, at least.”

Ezra was, literally, vibrating under me.

I elbowed him covertly. Gideon didn’t know anything about that first morning. I felt compelled to say, “No freaky magical shit in the bed.”

Ezra laughed outright.

Pearl rolled her eyes, muttering, “As if I would let you see Gideon like that.”

As if I wanted to see Gideon like that.

Luckily, I didn’t voice that little thought. That would have been rude. But, Gideon, well, he was just too…proper, maybe? I didn’t know exactly what it was, but it didn’t make me all woohoo envisioning him naked. I more imagined him at a country club, sitting by a fire and sipping tea while Pearl snuck outside to steal a golf cart and raced it across the course, doing donuts and tearing up the green, as Ezra, Jack, and I cheered her on from the eighteenth hole. Not really erotic fantasy material for me.

Pearl waved a slightly glowing hand over my toenails, and I felt them go from damp-cool to dry-solid.

I thanked her and rolled over, staring Ezra right in his face. “Show us?”

Taking another drink, his nose crinkled. “King Venclaire will seriously be pissed. Only Vamps allowed.”

Shaking my head softly, I tried for innocence. “He said we were spending the night.” I smiled sweetly. “He didn’t specify where.”

Ezra’s eyes narrowed. “It’s definitely possible you were a swindler in another life.”


“Whoa,” Jack mumbled, staring at Ezra’s bedroom. “Just whoa.”

Ezra had taken us through a hidden door that, indeed, took us by another living room most definitely Vampire style, all in dark wine and black. The hallway we had walked down was painted a deep plum. Ezra’s room wasn’t any different. It reminded me of my old room at my uncle’s, where I’d lived before my Shifter power had been Awakened.

I asked, “Did you get to decorate it yourself? Or did King Venclaire do it?” I ran my hand against one of the walls, and realized they were papered in black velvet, not just painted.

“He let me do it,” Ezra replied, sitting on a massive, black leather chair that was circular with no armrests. “He gave me a pretty sizable amount to spend, so I went a little overboard.”

Nikki lifted a red bra by the strap with one finger, holding it out in front of her. “I didn’t know you did drag.”

We stopped and stared, until Jack murmured something against her ear, and she blushed prettily, dropping the bra and mumbling an apology to Ezra. God, she was so innocent. It was endearing but, really, could she honestly imagine Ezra in drag or, instead, imagine one of his girlies leaving that behind so she would have a valid reason to come back?