stepping into her kitchen. This was… extraordinary.
All four men turned to look her way as one. They also smiled and greeted her in
quadraphonic stereo. "Good morning."
Elvi's grin widened for some reason when she saw that Victor was wearing Mabel's
apron. She moved forward, asking, "What can I do to help?"
"Nothing. It's all done," Victor announced. He turned off the burner under the bacon,
then grabbed a potholder and opened the oven door to reveal two bowls inside. One
held scrambled eggs, the other was full of golden hash browns. Glancing her way, he
added, "Sit down."
Elvi hesitated, then defied the order and slid into the kitchen, weaving her way
through the men to get to the fridge.
"What are you looking for? I can get it for you." Alessandro moved quickly forward, but
Elvi had already opened the door and grabbed a bag of blood. She usually kept some in
the refrigerator in her room, but hadn't thought to take any up last night.
"Oh." Alessandro stepped out of the way as she closed the door. It just put him in front
of the shelf of cups, though.
"I need a mug," she said apologetically, lisping slightly around her fangs as just the
sight of the bag of blood combined with her hunger to draw them out.
Rather than step out of her way, Alessandro reached up to the open shelf to grab a cup
for her.
Before she could take it, though, Victor said, "It takes too long to drink that way. Your
breakfast will get cold. Alessandro, show her how to feed from the bag."
"From the bag?" Elvi asked uncertainly, glancing over to see that Victor had placed the
eggs and hash browns on the table and was now transferring the bacon from the frying
pan to a plate.
"Don't you know how to feed from the bag?" Harper asked with surprise as he carried
the toast to the table.
"She never met her sire and wasn't trained… in anything," Victor answered for her, and
Elvi felt herself flush when the men all turned to stare at her with combined horror and
pity. She felt as embarrassed as if he'd just announced that her skirt was caught in the
back of her panties.
"You said that last night, but I never imagined it included not teaching her how to feed
herself," Edward commented and moved to take the bag from her before Alessandro
did, and instructed, "Open your mouth."
Elvi caught the irritation that flashed across the men's faces at Edward's usurping the
chore as she opened her mouth, then gave a start when the bag was popped onto her
fangs with a quick sharp move.
Elvi instinctively tried to ask what he was doing, but of course she couldn't talk around
the bag in her mouth and gave up the effort when Edward caught her hand and said
firmly, "No speaking. This will only take a moment."
Elvi stood still as she waited for the bag to empty, surprised to find the man hadn't
been kidding. He was soon tugging the emptied bag from her teeth.
"That's incredible," she said with amazement as he moved to discard the bag.
"Much faster than drinking from the glass, no?" Alessandro took her elbow and
steered her around the counter to the table.
"Much," Elvi agreed with a smile, and then turned her attention to the breakfast laid
out in front of her as she took her seat. Her eyes widened incredulously at the amount
of food on the table. They must have used all three packages of bacon she'd bought.
Harper had apparently toasted a whole loaf of bread, and she suspected Victor had put
both cartons of eggs and one of the frozen rolls of sausage in the scrambled eggs. It
seemed the men had found their appetites.
"Here." Victor began to scoop scrambled eggs on her plate and Elvi's eyes widened
with amused horror at the small mountain he served her. Harper immediately began
to dump bacon on top of the eggs.
"Toast?" Alessandro asked, holding the plate out for her as Edward poured fresh‐
squeezed orange juice into her glass.
Wow! If this was what being courted was like, she could learn to like it, Elvi thought
and murmured "thank you" to all of them as she took a piece of toast. She was not
going to eat all this, but would have fun trying.
"I take it you guys are eating again?" she commented with amusement as the men
claimed their seats around the table and began to fill their own plates. "Over your
boredom with food, are you?"
The sudden silence at the table made her glance up curiously from scooping eggs onto
her fork. The men were all still and staring at each other.
"What?" she asked curiously. "Did I say something wrong?"
"No," they answered in stereo. Then Victor and Harper turned their attention to their