Love Bite - 7. Chapter 7

Tyler’s POV

I felt much better after my talk with Jon. I couldn’t handle him being mad at me; he’s the brother I’m closest to even though the twins are closer to me in age. When he was traveling and looking for his mate, I was sad and there was very little Alex or Kyle could do to make me smile. Jon was the one I looked up to and wanted to be like.

I wandered through the house until I came to Damon’s study. I stood in the doorway and watched while he did some things on the computer.

“Have a good talk with your brother?” he asked as he looked up from the screen.

“Yeah, I did. He understands better why we left the way we did and he wanted me to pass on to you that when the time comes for us to fight Spencer you can count on my brothers and Dad for support.” I walked into the room and took a seat across the desk from him.

“I’ll keep it in mind. I am tired of running from him and want it over with.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re tired of running from him why did we leave Seattle and come to Wales?”

“No offense taken,” he chuckled. “I would wonder the same thing if I was in your shoes. I brought us to Wales so I could meet with some of my fellow vampires who despise Spencer as much as I do. I didn’t want to risk alerting anyone to who my allies were by making the calls from the states. I have reason to believe the Elder Council has been compromised.

I only told one person that Nique and I had found you, but Spencer knew when he attacked the house. When I spoke with Elder Stephen earlier, he admitted he had told a few people in the Council as he did research on two vampires having the same beloved.”

“What did he find out?”

“There was a case of it happening before, but it was with a set of twins. While Nique and I thought of each other as siblings, we weren’t actually related.”

“That’s weird, but I’m not complaining though.”

Damon leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers on his desk. “I’m not complaining either. At least she knew her beloved before she died. If I had to share you with anyone, I’m glad it was her.”

“Ok, onto a less depressing thought. What did the realtor say?”

“This house is officially on the market and we have an appointment tomorrow to go look at other properties out in the country.”

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to sell this one. Maybe you can rent it out or something.”

“I appreciate the thought, but Nique and I had already talked about selling this one; her death just moves it up some.”

“Damon, please don’t be offended, but I don’t think you are taking the time to grieve for her.”

“We all grieve differently and I feel this is right for me. She wouldn’t have wanted me to dwell on it. I’m sure it will hit me hard in a few days, but I want to deal with Spencer first so I don’t have to worry about him attacking while my mind is sidetracked.”

He stood from his seat and walked over to the painting on the wall behind his desk. It didn’t surprise me to see a safe behind it. He spun the dial, opened the door, and pulled out a black velvet pouch. He closed the safe and walked around to stand in front of me. He opened the pouch and poured the contents into his hand.

“I had this made for my beloved many years ago. I know you have the ring from Nique, but I would be honored if you would wear this as well.” He handed me a gold pendant in the shape of a squared Celtic knot.

“This is beautiful. Of course I’ll wear it.” I went to open the clasp when he took it out of my hand and did it for me. He stepped around behind me before he settled the pendant on my chest and closed the clasp. I lifted my hand and touched the metal that now surrounded my neck.

“Thank you, love. It looks beautiful against your tanned skin.” He kissed the base of my neck with his hands on my shoulders. I could feel the tingles where we touched and it made my heart beat a little faster.

“How can you love me already?” I asked.

He came around and knelt in front of me. “I love you because you are my beloved. I know it’s too soon to say I’m in love with you, but I’m sure we’ll get there as time goes on. Surprisingly enough, I do find I desire you very much. I say surprisingly because I’ve never been attracted to a man before, so it’s a new feeling for me.”

“I understand completely. I have feelings for you too, but I’m not sure what they all are at the moment. I too desire or lust for you like I have no other, but I have always known I was bisexual, so it came as no surprise to me that my mate could be a guy.”

“Thank you for being so understanding. Please don’t feel like I don’t want you, but I feel it would be best for us to hold off on completing the mating for now.”

I knew what he said made sense, but I couldn’t help but feel like he wanted me only because I’m his beloved. I wanted him to be in love with me, but I knew it would take time. There was a part of me that was concerned I would lose him to Spencer before we could complete the mating.

I must have been lost in my thoughts, because he tipped my head up with his finger. “Love, please trust me. It’s not that I don’t want to complete the mating, because I do. I simply want us to know each other better before we do.”

“I understand, but I’m worried about Spencer taking you from me before we can complete it.”

“Shhh love. I’m worried about the same thing, but I don’t want it to be the only reason we mate. I want it to be the act of love that it should be.”

I could feel my eyes water as tears threatened to roll down my cheeks. I blinked rapidly to prevent them from spilling. “Ok Damon, I will trust your judgment.” I leaned my forehead against his and sighed.

We stayed that way for a little while before he rubbed his thumbs along my jaw and sat back on his heels. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Yeah, I could eat as well,” I chuckled as he stood up and held his hand out to me.

***

We went and got some fish and chips. We took a walk after dinner and learned about each other. I heard about his rough childhood with Nique, growing up in the poor house, and how much he had overcome to get to where he was now. I told him about my childhood growing up with my brothers.

Damon’s POV

I had never bared myself like I did with Tyler in my study. Then again, I’d never had the same feelings for anyone else. I only hoped I'd made the right decision in holding off completing our mating. I was worried because he had lost Nique before she had the chance to complete her mating with Tyler, and I was concerned the same would happen to me, but I didn’t want to complete the mating just to complete it I wanted it to be special and not rushed. Something told me Spencer would attack soon and I wanted us to be prepared. There’s a part of me that wanted to accept the offer of help from Tyler’s family, but I didn’t want them to think I couldn’t take care of him. I needed to make my calls to my friends here in the United Kingdom and figure out our best plan of action.

I waited for Tyler to go upstairs to start making my calls. I decided to start with my good friend, Kevin.

“Ello,” he said when he answered the phone.

“Hey Kev, its Rhys.”

“What’s going on Rhys? It must be something big if you’re calling me this late in the evening.”

“It’s Spencer.”

“Uh oh. He’s surfaced again?”

“Yeah, Gwynydd is dead.” I knew I sounded cold, but I couldn’t afford to let my emotions show at the moment.

“Oh, Rhys, I’m so sorry. I know the two of you were siblings by choice. When and where do I need to meet you?”

“Come to my house in Gwent. We’ll strategize here before we go hunting.”

“Sounds like a plan to me. Have you called Ryan or Harris?”

“Not yet, they were my next calls.”

“I’ll pick Ryan and his beloved up on my way to your place. Are you going to have room for all of us?”

“I hope so, but if not we’ll figure something out. Is Ursula coming with you?”

“Of course she is. She hates Spencer as much as I do.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m going to call Harris. Bring as many of your friends as you can.”

“Will do. Be safe, Rhys.” I heard the line click and knew he had hung up.

“Liebling, is everything alright?” Tyler asked from the door.

“What does that mean?” I hadn’t realized he spoke another language; it showed how much I still had to learn about him.

“It means sweetheart in German.”

“Ah, I did not know you knew German. But in answer to your question, everything is fine. I was calling in a friend of mine to help deal with Spencer.”

“How many are coming?”

“As far as I know right now it’s four, but Ryan was also going to try to get some of his friends and followers to join him. It’s going to seem like a hotel for a few days, but I’m sure we are going to need all the help we can get.”

“Do we even know how to find Spencer?”

“Well, there is a leak inside the Elder’s Council, so I’m going to leak our whereabouts to the Council. Spencer will come running to us and we’ll be ready for him.”

“Ok, well let me know the details when they get ironed out and I’ll let my family know so they can help.”

“My cariad, my love, I don’t want them to get hurt.”

3“Liebling, do not underestimate them simply because they are not vampires. They would be offended to know they could’ve helped but weren’t asked; especially my dad.”

“Alright, once everyone gets here we’ll call your family and let them know what’s going on. Actually, go ahead and call them. Let them know to be at the airport first thing in the morning and we’ll go ahead and fly them in.” I knew there was no way he would let the subject drop if I didn’t concede to this.

“Thank you, Liebling. I’ll leave you to the rest of your calls and go make sure some rooms are prepared. I hope some of those coming don’t mind the floor, because we don’t have enough beds.” He turned on his heel and walked away. I couldn’t have been any prouder than I was at that moment. It was then I saw what a nurturer he was and knew when the time came for us to adopt he would make an awesome dad. I simply hoped he would want children as much as I did.

***

I called Harris and Leon. They were both coming with their beloveds and their covens of vampires. We would have at least a hundred vampires, not counting those Kevin and Ryan brought with them. Thankfully, Harris and Leon have estates close by and will be able to house people as well. I looked at my watch and saw it was getting late. I hadn’t seen Tyler in a few hours and it had me worried.

I went in search of him and found him in bed asleep. He looked adorable and innocent in his sleep. I slipped off my shoes and grabbed my pajama pants from my dresser. I noticed he had put my clothes away when he had unpacked his own. I stepped into the bathroom and quickly stripped. I washed off and stepped into the sleep pants. Once my teeth were brushed and my clothes in the hamper I stepped back into the room.

Tyler had turned onto his left side and snuggled into his pillow. I quietly slid in behind him with my arm over his waist. He murmured something as he wiggled to get comfortable, which made my dick begin to come to life. I thought about the things I had seen in the war and it was enough to get myself under control. I relaxed behind him and felt my eyes drift closed as I began to fall asleep.

***

I woke in the morning with an empty feeling. I stretched my arm out for Tyler and found his side of the bed empty. The sheets had started to cool, so I knew he had been up for a while. I jumped out of bed and ran downstairs. I followed the sounds I heard and found him in the kitchen. I should’ve just followed my nose, because whatever he was making smelled delicious and I was grateful we had gone grocery shopping while we were out the day before.

“Cariad, how long have you been up?”

“About a half hour. Are you ok? You’re breathing kinda hard.”

“I’m better now that I know you’re safe.” I sat down at the breakfast bar. “What are you cooking?”

“Oh, I’m making pancakes. I hope that’s ok.” I could see the apprehension on his face.

“It’s fine, cariad. I’m going to go get dressed now that I know you’re fine.”

I started to stand when he said, “Please stay; I’m almost done.”

“Ok, I will set the breakfast table while you finish up. Thank you for putting my things away and for making breakfast.”

I walked around breakfast bar and kissed him on the side of the head as I made my way to the cabinet where the plates were.

I got everything set up as he turned off the stove and carried the platters of pancakes and eggs to the table. He went back and grabbed the one with sausage patties before he sat at the table with me.

“So tell me more about you and Nique as young vampires. How did you make your money through the years?”

“Let me give you some background, so you will know our complete history. At the age of eighteen, I joined the British army and fought in the Crimean War. I was injured and that is when Spencer changed me, along with several other men. I came home to find Gwynydd in the hospital with Typhoid fever and in the year I was gone she had gotten into prostitution in order to have food to eat. To keep her alive I changed her and we both agreed the only other people we would turn would be our beloveds. Some vampires turned anyone they wanted to, even though Spencer had told us we could only turn one person other than our spouse or soulmate. We didn’t want to be responsible for doing this to anyone else.

I spent my pay from the army wisely by not spending it on just anything. I used it to get us out of Pembroke and we made our way to England. We figured out we had telepathic abilities and used them to our advantage during the early Victorian era in the gambling dens we frequented. This allowed us to build up a good nest egg. When not gambling, I would work odd jobs to keep money coming in for us to live off of. We invested in the Railways and the chemical industry in Germany.”

“What was Nique like as a child?”

“She was always full of life and curiosity. As she got older she would always go wandering off exploring.”

“How old are you?”

“One hundred and eighty.”

“Wow! Had you been actively searching for your beloved before you found me?”

I knew the question would come and I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him about that part of my past, but I knew I needed to. I sighed before I began. “At first, no. I did not actively search for my beloved, part of me hoped to never find you. Over the years I got tired of my trysts and wanted to settle down, even though I knew I would never be able to have children that were biologically mine. I married twice but was never tempted to change them, because I knew they were not my beloved.

In the 1920’s I started to actively search, because the loneliness of not having my perfect other half had finally got to me. I’m not proud of it, but I partied hard during that time and became quite the playboy as I tried to ease the pain. Nique finally got me to see it was being disrespectful to my beloved by being that free with myself.”

I stopped when I saw the tears on his face and wanted to hurt myself for the way I had behaved in my past. My heart broke when as I reached out to wipe away his tears, because he stood and ran out of the room.

Tyler’s POV

How could he be so reckless? I couldn’t believe he would be so reckless. I was simply grateful he had enough sense not to change some past lover and I wouldn’t have to deal with that on top of the drama with Spencer. I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle that too. Although I don’t have much room to say anything, because for a little bit after Jon found Tim a few years back, I wasn’t exactly celibate, but I had never been married either. I knew I was being harsh with him, but it hurt to hear about his past. I needed to grow up and deal with it. He had lived a lot longer than I have and I’m sure he longed for companionship that was a romantic relationship, even though he had Nique were together as siblings. It hurt most that he said he had wished he’d hoped to not meet me, yet was willing to get married.

I went into the bathroom and rinsed my face in cold water. Then, I leaned against the counter and looked at myself in the mirror. I didn’t like the weak person I saw looking back at me; not physically weak but emotionally weak. I dried my face and headed back to the kitchen.

“Liebling,” I put my hand on his shoulder, “I’m sorry. I should’ve known you would have had relationships in the past. I simply wasn’t prepared to hear about it. I wish I could say I’ve never been with anyone and I had waited for you, but I would be lying. I wanted to prove to myself that I didn’t like guys and got a girlfriend my junior year in high school. It was fine for the most part; we clicked and I developed feelings for her. However, there was a part of me that wasn’t a hundred percent in the relationship. I was noticing guys more than I was girls. It scared me so much that I slept with my girlfriend to prove to myself I was straight.”

“Cariad, I understand and you have nothing to apologize for; I would’ve reacted the same way had I been in your position.” He pulled me to him and placed his head against my chest with his arms wrapped around me.

I rested my chin on his head and simply held him. I was blessed to have found my mate and was not about to let his past nor mine get in the way of our future together.