Ethan returned to the room he and Heather shared.
Sitting up in bed, Heather channel surfed, her eyes on the flickering screen of the television that hung on the opposite wall. No sound broke the silence, the volume muted. Blue light brightened and faded on her pretty features as the images on the screen changed.
Ethan felt such . . .
Hmm. What did he feel upon finding her waiting up for him?
Relief? Gratitude? A sudden warm conviction that he could face anything as long as he had Heather at his side?
He closed the door behind him.
Heather glanced over at him. Setting down the remote, she left the television on to light the room for her. “Is she okay?”
Nodding, he crossed to the bed. “She’s asleep. I think knowing David is going to do what he can to send Seth and Zach reinforcements helped.” He settled himself on the bed beside her and touched his lips to hers. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For calming her when she was crying. I’ve never seen her like that and didn’t know what to do.”
Heather’s face lit with a wry smile. “All I did was hand her some tissue. You’re the one who calmed her.”
Ethan shook his head and took Heather’s hand. Guilt dawned as he played with her slender fingers. He had yet to tell Heather about his former relationship with Lisette. He hadn’t seen a need to at first. Then he had been distracted by the vampire attacks and . . .
He should have told her as soon as they had temporarily moved in with Zach and Lisette. But, damn it, he dreaded her response. Zach had wanted to kill Ethan after Seth had told him. Hell, Zach was still hostile toward Ethan, although Ethan thought that had diminished somewhat since Zach had realized Ethan was falling hard for Heather.
And Ethan was falling hard.
He hadn’t wanted anything to spoil his time with her. Violence had thrown them together. And their feelings had developed so swiftly that he supposed he feared those feelings might be too new to hold up to more conflict.
But he couldn’t put off telling her any longer. Heather had just spent half an hour comforting his ex-lover. Wouldn’t she want to know that?
He sure as hell would if their roles were reversed.
“You’re quiet,” she said.
He nodded. “There’s something I need to tell you.” That was all he managed to get out before words failed him.
“What is it? You can tell me anything,” she encouraged with a gentle smile.
“The thing is,” he stalled, “I don’t know how you’re going to react. But I would want to know if it were me. And—”
“Is it about my dad?” she interrupted, fear dawning in her expressive face.
“No. No—no. It’s nothing like that,” he promised. “Your dad is fine.”
Her brow smoothed as her smile returned. “Then just tell me.”
He drew in a deep breath and hoped he wasn’t about to make a colossal mistake. “Lisette and I used to be lovers.”
Her expression didn’t change. “And?”
He frowned. “What do you mean, and?”
“I mean I already knew that. What’s the big secret you want to tell me? Did the two of you have children together?”
“No,” he replied, nonplussed. “Immortals can’t have children.”
“You can’t?”
“No.”
“Why not, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Immortal males’ sperm die almost as soon as we ejaculate, which is why I can’t infect you with the virus by having unprotected sex with you. The virus dies with the sperm.”
“Geez. I didn’t even think of that,” she said, sobering. “I’m usually very careful, but figured you were immune to STDs. And it wasn’t my fertile time, so . . . I just didn’t think of that.”
“I would never put you at risk, Heather, would never infect you against your will or risk getting you pregnant.” Though the image that flashed through his mind of her pregnant with his baby was damned appealing. “Even if I could get you pregnant, I wouldn’t because we don’t know how the virus would affect a fetus or an infant.”
“I don’t understand. Marcus and Ami have a baby. Adira seems fine.”
“That’s . . . a long story,” Ethan hedged, not wanting to get into the whole Ami-is-an-alien thing just then. “They’re a very rare exception.”
“Okay.” She considered that a moment. “So, what was it you wanted to tell me?”
He frowned. “That was it, that Lisette and I used to be lovers.”
“I already knew that.”
He shifted on the bed so he could face her. “You did? How?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s pretty obvious, Ethan.”
“How is it obvious?” he repeated, wondering what had given them away.
“Well, take today, for example,” she said and motioned to the closed door. “When Lisette came in crying, you got out of bed naked and she didn’t bat an eyelash. Clearly she has seen you naked before. Many times. She was totally comfortable with it. And you were totally comfortable with her seeing you.”
“I put on boxers,” he objected.
“When you were halfway to the door. And you didn’t even attempt to cover your family jewels before you did.”
He had thought Heather asleep. “Maybe I’m an exhibitionist.”
She arched a brow. “You told me yourself you’re old-fashioned. If you weren’t, you probably would have stripped naked in front of me the night we met, and asked me to tend all of your wounds, not just the one on your back.”
He had to laugh at that. “So . . . today made you guess?”
She shook her head, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “No, Zach’s obvious hatred of you did. The man radiates jealous fury whenever you’re in the same room with Lisette. He goes out of his way to ensure you’re never alone with her. And haven’t you noticed the way he wraps an arm around her and pulls her close every time you’re near?”
He had. But he had thought Zach simply liked touching Lisette as much as Ethan liked touching Heather. “I do the same with you,” he said, and drew her attention to their clasped hands. “I love touching you, so I do it every chance I can get. How did you know Zach isn’t just doing the same?”
“Because he glares at you when he does it. It didn’t take me long to figure out his hatred of you was very personal. The double date just confirmed my suspicions.”
“The dinner and dancing?” Ethan asked with some surprise.
She shook her head, her smile carrying a touch of sorrow. “You and Lisette know everything about each other, Ethan. And you danced together as if you had done it a million times.”
They probably had. “I didn’t know it was so obvious,” he commented.
She raised one shoulder in a shrug. “Most likely it’s only obvious to me and Zach.”
Ethan couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t screaming and shouting at him. “So, you’re okay with it?”
She opened her mouth, paused, then closed it. “No. I’m not. But I’m trying very hard to be, because Lisette seems like a nice person. Plus I don’t want to be the kind of woman who freaks out if we happen to run into one of your old girlfriends. We’re both adults. You didn’t come to me a virgin. And I didn’t come to you a virgin.”
“Oh, but you did,” he said somberly. “You swore you’d been saving yourself for me. That you had never made love before. Never kissed a man before.” He squeezed her hand. “That you had never even held hands with a man before you met me.”
Grinning, she patted their clasped hands. “You just keep believing that, honey.”
Ethan laughed and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I just . . .” He didn’t want to admit he had been afraid it would turn her away from him.
“I know,” she said, seeming to understand. “It’s actually probably a good thing that you didn’t. If I had known from the beginning that you and Lisette used to be lovers, I would have taken one look at her and run the other way.”
“Why?” he asked, but already knew the answer. Knowing someone you were interested in had had lovers before you was one thing. Having to deal with one of those former lovers on a daily basis was another.
“Because she’s so beautiful,” Heather said, a spark of vulnerability entering her eyes. “I can’t compete with that.”
His jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“No.”
“Heather, honey, you’re gorgeous.”
“No, I’m not. Lisette is taller and more slender and—”
“Lisette wasn’t the woman I couldn’t take my eyes off during our double date. You were. And your lovely body is the one I couldn’t wait to pull closer to me when we danced.” He frowned. “Actually I always want to pull your beautiful body closer to me. I swear, I haven’t spent so many hours of every day with an erection since I was a teenager.”
Heather laughed. “Really?”
He drew her attention to the hard length his boxers did little to conceal.
“Oh.” Her smile turned wicked for a moment, then faded.