Lilly's Torment(15)

       
           



       

"Ax said he did, if you recall. As to the toilet paper, well, it kinda  started as a prank around the office and ended up with us having a  bedroom full of the stuff. At least they all brought us the good stuff,  not that cheap one-ply crap."

"Well, that's a good thing." She didn't make it a question, but more of a  statement. "At least they are giving you guys the good stuff, right? It  could be worse, it could be the really cheap sandpapery shit, right?"

"Then they would have a lot of the paper around their homes. It would  have been very hard to get rid of, especially with a Spiryte ensuring it  didn't move." He smiled slightly. "But they know better than to mess  with Ax, so it had to be the good stuff if they were going to give it."

That had her laughing, she couldn't help herself. "So between the  Vhampire and the Spiryte, you are able to ensure that you get only the  best of the best of the toilet paper, right?" she asked with a smile.  "God you boys are funny."

Shrugging, he chuckled. "Hey, there's got to be some bonuses to having  an ancient, cranky Vhampire as your friend. Most fear the Vhampire on a  visceral level, something they don't realize until they get face-to-face  with him. He's pretty easygoing unless you piss him off. Thankfully, it  takes a lot to piss him off, but once he's there, you'd better be on  his friendly list. It takes him forever to calm the fuck back down."

Lilly laughed at that and shook her head. "I was never afraid of him. Is  that weird of me? Then again, I guess I wouldn't be for this connection  or bond or whatever to form, right? Because I have never been afraid of  him. He's huge, but then again, so are you," she added with a shrug.

"They grow them big in other realms," he said and then laughed. "I've  heard that more times than I'd care to recall since I've been here. But  you can't be afraid of those meant to be yours. We're both lovers and  protectors. Not saying you couldn't do it yourself, but we're fairly  protective of our mates and something we can't help."

"Yeah, that much is pretty obvious," she said with a laugh. "But it's  okay, I kinda like just how big you boys are. Makes me feel as if I'm  not such a big girl myself." She was a nicely rounded person, not too  short, not too tall. Well, not too tall, at least, but she liked her  curves and that was all that mattered.

"You happen to be absolutely perfect, Lilly," he said. They turned onto a  street that had a gate at the entrance. He leaned out and punched in a  code. Moments later, they were driving along the road where houses were  set far back and the properties were massive. Ten minutes later, he  pulled onto clearly marked private land and, this time, used his chip  embedded in his wrist to gain them entrance. Up a long and winding drive  they went until the house, in all its glory, was revealed. "Home sweet  home. Well"-he gave a chuckle-"at least here in this realm."

"Wow. Holy crap, this place is freaking gorgeous," she muttered. She  eyed up every single line in the home. She loved buildings and  architecture, but this one was a study in pure beauty and lines. It was  truly remarkable with the obvious old-world design, but the form and  function of the new world and advancements built in. "Stunning. How long  have you guys lived here?" she asked when she climbed out of the car  and tilted her head to the side. "And is that water I hear? Do you have a  pool or something?"

Gavriel appeared at her side with her bag in hand. "There's a pool out  back. It's got a waterfall feature at one end near the hot tub, probably  what you're hearing. Artaxias bought the place"-he paused with a  frown-"ten years ago, I think. I've only lived here for the last four. I  had a place in the city, but it's really hard to keep up with my  studies in a place with people all around. Out here I have a space of my  own that, should it explode-accidently, of course-doesn't take out the  neighbors. Come on." He led the way to the front door and pushed it open  for her.

"Explode? Huh? Wait a minute," she said with wide eyes. "I really would  rat-Ooooo … " It clicked to her what he was saying and she laughed at  herself. "Magic. I get it now." She said with a smirk. "Whew, for a  moment I was like, wait, I'm the only one allowed to play with  dynamite."

He gave a snort and shook his head. "Woman, what I can conjure up is  better than TNT any day of the week." He set her bag down and turned to  take her jacket. "Just kick your shoes off and I'll give you the tour.  We'll swing by the kitchen first and get you a drink, since it's a very  large house and walking it all is extremely exhausting."

That had her laughing. "Oh, I'm sure that I will somehow and someway  make the tour," she teased. "However, I will never turn down a drink,  and a snack, too." She liked her snacks, especially the cheesy cracker  things that she had to track down like a bloodhound.                       
       
           



       

"We can do snacks," he said softly with a grin. Touching her back, he  pushed her toward a doorway. "You've seen the front hall. This is the  informal sitting room that we use mainly for sports viewing and so  forth. Through here is the dining room that we've never actually used.  But it sounds good, when you describe a place to someone, that you have a  dining room. Then we have the kitchen with the nifty little breakfast  nook, where I usually eat all my meals." He went straight to the  double-wide fridge and pulled it open. "Holy shit. He actually went  shopping."

Lilly laughed and shook her head. "Why do I have a feeling that you give  Ax a very, very hard time more often than not? You sound like a kid  brother to him instead of partner, it's cute." Adorable, and made her  want to snuggle up to the large and imposing fanged one as well as the  wickedly sexy magic user.

"Well, he's been more a brother to me than anything. Especially when  he's reaming my ass out." He rolled his eyes. "Even when he was my  bodyguard, he was always willing to talk to me or listen. Though, I'm  feeling the need to hide my ass, given how snarly he was earlier. If my  mother kept calling after we talked, I could be a dead man walking."

"He would never hold you accountable for something another did. He  doesn't seem to be that kind of man. Have I misjudged him?" She didn't  think that she had, but she wanted to ask all the same. "Because I don't  think that I did, honey. I really and truly believe that he just simply  sees you like a brother and that's truly amazing but as for your mom, I  don't think that he would hold you accountable for her actions. That  doesn't sound like the man that I've met."

"Depends how many more times she called," he said softly. Turning, he  passed her a bottle of water and pointed to the counter. "Take your pick  of snacks. Looks like he got you a fairly large number of things. Just  grab whatever you want and we'll go for the tour. See if we can't find  the fanged wonder on our journeys."

"Oh God, I could kiss him," Lilly said, and grabbed her cheesy crackers  and hugged them to her chest. "How did he know? How could he have known  that these are my favorites when you guys never knew me before  yesterday?"

"He can read minds," Gavriel said, snatching up an apple. "Come on, lots  and lots and lots of house to see." He shook his head. "Don't know why  he bought a place this big, but he liked it so." He gave a shrug. "I'm  not one to argue with a very large Vhampire when he's of the mind to do  something he wants. It's apparently extremely dangerous to one's health  and well-being."

"I actually really like it." She reached out and touched the marble of  the counter and sighed. If there was anything she was a sucker for, a  beautiful house was her number-one sucker issue. "I love old-world  design and architecture," she admitted. "There is something that's just  peaceful about the old design in our modern world today."

"Well, be grateful he was of a mind to at least have modern lighting and  plumbing. Given how he was raised, we could have been in for hell on  Earth," he grumbled loud enough for her to hear. "Come on, let's get  this tour started in the backyard. You can see the hordes of land we  have, the sweet pool, and I'll even point out my little explosion zone."

"Oh crap. Yeah, I completely forgot about that. I forget that you boys  are so long-lived. It's a very good thing indeed. He likely lived  through this building period that I love so much. Goodness, the things  that you boys have seen and done, it has to be hard at times."