After showering, I have just slipped on one of Tobias’s shirts when I hear a phone ring. He walks over to where it is laying on charge next to the bed, picks it and answers; it looks like a sat phone. “What?” His voice is angry. Theo walks out, clearly listening to whoever is speaking on the other end. Tobias abruptly hangs the phone up, not even saying goodbye.
“I can go,” Theo says. I stare, confused. Tobias shakes his head, the phone call clearly angered him.
“No, I will. You watch Imogen,” he says, going into the walk-in in a robe and coming out with a suit.
“Where are you going?” I ask, although I already think I know he has been called into work.
“Work. Now, stay with Theo and behave.”
I shake my head. “I’m not a child, Tobias, don’t speak to me like that,” I argue. He raises an eyebrow at me, clearly angered by my attitude. “Can we come please; I just want to grab a few things,” I try again.
“No, you don’t leave here, Imogen.” He shakes his head.
“Why? You make no sense. I can’t just rot here, Tobias,” I argue back. Tobias' hands clench and unclench, the veins in his arms bulge. He ignores me, putting his shirt on. I move towards him and he grips my hands, before letting them go. I start buttoning up his shirt. “Please, I will stay with Theo, I promise.”
“No! I am sick of this argument. You’re not leaving, Imogen, so stop asking.” He grits out.
Theo moves closer behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders. “I will watch her. She will be fine, Tobias, then I will bring her back here,” Theo said calmly.
Tobias shoves him, knocking me to the ground. Theo’s eyes blaze red with anger as he shoves Tobias back. I see Tobias skin start to ripple; I know he is about to shift. Tobias grabs Theo’s shirt, yanking him forward, his eyes completely black. I jump to my feet, frightened. I don’t want him to hurt Theo, so I grab Tobias hand, which is clutching Theo. He lets go of Theo, throwing him to the ground, before turning on me and grabbing my neck. I clutch at his hand, but he squeezes tighter, his anger completely engulfes him.
I claw at his hands, my nails scratch his skin. I can feel my face changing color, then, something snaps in him and he realizes he has grabbed me just as Theo tackles him. His grip is gone from my neck as I fall to the floor and start coughing, choking for air.
Theo and Tobias are on the ground, fighting. I crawl onto my hands and knees. Trying to breathe, my windpipe feels like it has been crushed in a vice. I can still feel where his fingers gripped me. Tobias, coming to his senses, gasps, making me look at him. His horrified expression at seeing me on the floor turns to panic. He moves to me in an instant, but I swat his hands away. Theo looks relieved as he comes closer, standing behind Tobias, who is on the floor next to me. Tobias moves his hand to my cheek.
“I didn’t mean to; you can’t touch me when I’m like that.” I feel his fingers brush my neck and I see his eyes change, going darker and an indecipherable look appears in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he says before getting up and walking out, slamming the door behind him. I stare at the door. Theo steps closer, offering me his hand. I take it, and he pulls me to my feet.
“He wouldn’t have hurt me. Don’t ever do that again, Imogen,” he says. “You need to remember we aren’t human. We aren’t breakable like you.”
His words anger me, I let go of his hand and walk into the closet to find some pants. Theo follows closely behind me and passes me a pair when I can’t find any. “Don’t be upset, he feels guilty enough. He is just on edge because I haven’t marked you yet. He will settle down once I have.” I stare at him, my anger clearly on display as I slip the pants up to my waist.
“Why is marking so important? You men are infuriating. Why couldn’t I have been gay?” Theo chuckles before pulling me into him.
“Because Tobias has only marked you. The mark isn’t complete, and you can still leave.”
“Leave?” I ask, confused.
“Yes, once I have marked you, you will be bound to us for eternity, Imogen. The bond will never allow you to leave, and you won’t want to anyway. The bond gets stronger, you will be able to feel what we feel, and us, you.” He explains.
“Just from you marking me?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Yes, after a few days and your mark is healed, you won’t want to leave us. Before then though, you can reject us still. That’s what scares Tobias.”
“But he has already marked me. How can I leave?” I keep pressing for more answers.
“Because Tobias and I are fated mates, just the same as you’re ours, so his mark is like half, mine is the other half. It won’t be complete until I mark you. If you leave, it will destroy him, and after a few years, you will forget about us.”
Do I want to forget about them? I’m not sure what I want, I just know I want to go back to the apartment, where my mother is still sitting in her box. That thought upsets me, I haven’t even had a chance to release her. I sigh and walk out, Theo follows behind me as I walk down the stairs and into the living room.
I sit on the couch. Theo sits beside me, and I lay down, putting my head in his lap. “Would it hurt? You, marking me?” I ask, suddenly scared but if it is the only way I can leave, I might not have a choice.
“Yes, but Tobias will help.” Theo whispers.
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.
“He will distract you from the pain. It will only hurt initially, then will be pleasurable, but you being my mate and human complicates it a little. I’m a vampire, so I’ll want to feed on you. Tobias will make sure I stay in control; he won’t let me hurt you, Imogen.” I nod my head not feeling any better about being bitten again when I can’t remember being bitten by Tobias.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” He asks, distracting me from my thoughts.
“On what? There is no TV.” I chuckle.
Theo reaches over to the coffee table and grabs a remote control out of the drawer. He presses a button and the painting above the fireplace opens up. Only it’s not a painting, it's a cupboard hiding the TV inside. Really, this could have saved so much boredom. Not that I have actually been bored, but still, I didn’t even notice it. Theo selects a movie and presses play.
“How do you have service when I can’t even get cell service?”
“There is a hard drive in the back. We don’t have service, we never needed it. We rarely stay here.” I nod in understanding before turning on my side. Halfway through the movie, Theo starts a fire in the fireplace, comes back and slides in behind me, wrapping his arm around me.
Before the movie is over, I fall asleep, only waking up when I feel warm hands lift me up. I snuggle into Tobias, his manly smell fills my nose. He dips his head into the crook of my neck, inhaling my scent. I reach my hand up and put it on his cheek. He lifts his head and kisses my fingertips before moving his lips to mine, sucking my bottom lip into his mouth and deepening the kiss, his tongue playing with mine. I moan into his mouth, arousal floods me, and my legs squeeze tighter to stop the ache. Tobias pulls back and sniffs the air, I blush, embarrassed. My sex drive is so out of whack it is becoming ridiculous. Tobias smirks before kissing my forehead but doesn’t put me down.
“Where is Theo?” I ask when I realize he is no longer on the couch.
“Cooking dinner,” Tobias says, walking us into the kitchen.
Theo is busy cooking some pasta dish. My stomach growls at the delicious smell, and Tobias places me on a stool before going to help Theo. I watch Tobias take his suit jacket off, placing it on the back of a chair before rolling his shirt sleeves to his elbows. I watch them both, amazed at the fact they are both mine. It somehow doesn’t feel real.
“Mmm, someone smells nice.” I look at Theo, confused, then realize he is talking about me. I press my legs together and I can feel the dampness of my panties from kissing Tobias. Theo walks over, his hand grabs my breast through my shirt and pinches my nipple as he kisses my cheek. “Keep smelling like that and the only thing I will be eating is you,” he whispers before pulling my hair, forcing me to look up at him.
His cold lips crash down on mine hungrily, sucking my tongue into his mouth before biting down on my lip. My stomach tightens, and I can feel my juices spill onto my thighs, arousal coursing through my entire body.
“Theo, leave her be. After dinner you can play,” Tobias says, placing three plates on the table. I’m no longer hungry, I want something else, and it isn’t food. I pout when Theo moves away, sitting opposite me. Tobias sits next to me; he squeezes my thigh. “Eat.” I roll my eyes at him for ruining our fun. Tobias grips my chin, making me look at him. “I think it’s about time you drop that attitude you have.” I swallow, and he notices, his lips turn up slightly. He kisses me softly before biting my lip hard. “Now, eat without the attitude.” He lets my chin go and I fight the urge to say something snarky back, but I can tell he knows I’m holding my tongue. Theo smirks and I glare at him.
After dinner, I wash the dishes and follow them back out to the living room, Tobias leaves for a few minutes and comes back with wood for the fire. He stacks the timber and stokes it. I drop onto the couch and flick through the movies. Not long after, I chose one movie - the conjuring.
“You want to watch a horror movie?” Asks Theo, incredulous.
“Hey, I like horrors, just don’t like going to bed afterwards,” Theo shakes his head before holding his arms out for me. I nestle into his arms; Tobias sits next to both our heads.
I jump a few times during the movie, making Tobias and Theo both laugh as my heart hammers in my chest. Tobias even waits for the movie to build up suspense and takes great pleasure in grabbing me, scaring the living daylights out of me. Halfway through, I need to pee, I look at the stairs a few times. This old house becomes as intimidating as the one in the movie, with its dark shadows. I wriggle a bit, trying to hold my bladder. “What’s wrong? Stop wriggling,” Theo says.
“I need to pee,” Tobias looks down at me.
“Then go pee,” he says, raising an eyebrow at me, I stand up and walk to the stairs. All the lights are off, and I can’t see the top of the stairs, only shadows. Tobias and Theo watch me, frozen, with one foot on the step, clutching the railing. I hear one of them laugh.
“What’s wrong, Imogen? You’re not scared, are you?” Theo says, trying not to laugh.
“No,” I say defiantly, but my heart rate gives me away. I move up a step and freeze again and look over the railing at them. “Can one of you come with me please?”
Tobias gets up laughing, “I thought you said you weren’t scared.”
“I’m not, it’s just dark up there,” I say, walking up the steps, stopping halfway when I don’t feel him behind me. He’s standing on the bottom step, arms folded, an amused expression on his face.
“Tobias,” I squeak.
“You’re in a house with a vampire and a werewolf and that doesn't scare you, but a movie does,” he states, walking up the steps behind me.
“Yeah, but you’re not scary,” I state, walking up the steps.
When I reach the landing, Theo jumps out of the shadows. “Boo!” I scream and run before realizing it's Theo.
“You asshole, you just scared the hell out of me. How did you get past us?” I say, slapping his arm and walking past him into the bathroom, flicking the light on.
“There are stairs at the other end of the house leading up here,” he tells me. I shut the door and quickly pee, I wash my hands and open the door. Both of them lean on the door frame, waiting for me.