~

 

Dorothy eyed the mates at the table with amusement.

The fact that the large dining table was round and both men seemed out of their element over where to sit, having no head of the table, was a source of her sniggers at first, but the sort of stunted silence, punctuated with a rush of quick yes and no answers to questions that were designed to open up a conversation was now her greatest source of amusement.

That and watching as one mate in turn seemed to snatch a quick look at the other mate to see if they were looking at them. She felt as if she was in school again…

“Could somebody please pass the potatoes,” Dorothy said – she didn’t really need any more potatoes, but it was fun watching the mates playing avoid the fingertips at all costs over the dishes…

She knew that if she ate everything upon her plate then she’d be rolling around with trapped wind and a bloated stomach for the rest of the night like eating a pound of cheese or a large steak, but still – she felt the need to meddle.

Just as she predicted, both Angela and Lark went for the dish at the same time. Fingers touched – Lark gave a deep, low growl, Angela almost gave her arm whiplash yanking it backwards, and Dorothy sniggered behind her napkin…

“I feel rather left outside in the cold at my own dinner table…” Chloe called through the double doors that led to the walled garden out the back, and Sarah groaned inwardly as her fork hovered in front of her lips.

“Allow me…” Angela said as she raised her hand and flicked her wrist towards the window. The curtains swooshed across the polls and blocked out all sight of the outside world…

“Thank you,” Sarah said.

“Not cool…” Chloe called back.

“Shouldn’t you be hanging upside down in a barn somewhere?” Angela muttered, knowing full well that the vampire could hear her loud and clear…

“Wanna come outside and say that?” Chloe challenged her and the witch snorted.

“Just keep pressing your nose to the glass…” Angela chuckled.

“Don’t bait the bloodsucking leech…” Dorothy berated her.

“Chloe will be fine when she gets her normal personality back in check,” Lark assured them.

“How many centuries will that take?” Dorothy grumbled.

“If Monty does his job right, not long at all,” Nathan said.

“I’m doing my job…” Monty called, slighted by the alpha’s words.

“And yet you can’t even keep her from her old home…” Nathan called.

“Her claws are sharper than mine…” Monty grumbled.

“Oh, vamp up and take a hit for the team,” Lark growled.

“I’ve grown kind of attached to all of my little bits and pieces over the last few hundred years…” Monty grumbled.

“Vampire baby…” Lark grumbled back.

“Can we just eat and ignore the outside world?” Sarah wished that her aunt was one less thing to concern her.

She’d noted just how distracted Angela was – the woman was fidgeting and practically on tender hooks the whole meal, and she didn’t like it. She did, however, sympathise with her.

“Kind of hard when the outside world is holding a conversation with you,” Lark said with a grunt of amusement.

“That depends if you’re easily distracted or not,” Nathan’s voice was teasing and not lost on Sarah as her eyes shot sideways and she snuck a look at him, only to find him grinning right back at her.

Her cheeks coloured a deep red at the memory of their kisses earlier and sparked another round of heat within her body.

“Ooo – someone was doing something deliciously sinful…” Dorothy said with a big dollop of glee in her voice and mischief in her eyes as she watched the mates snatch more looks at each other … “Yes, thought so…” she chuckled a wicked laugh at their expense.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you that it’s rude to talk when you’ve got your mouth full?” Angela grumbled; feeling a little solidarity with Sarah and her situation.

Even if she hadn’t let Lark anywhere near her…

“I’ve nothing in my mouth…” Dorothy said on a frown…

“Then shove a forkful in there and stop talking…” Angela shot back, giving her a dark glare…

“Something to hide?” Dorothy enquired, raising her eyebrows as high as she could get them…

“Only my natural aptitude for how much pain I can cause you while whistling and juggling balls at the same time,” Angela shot back.

“I like a woman who can multitask.” Lark offered with a small chuckle that lifted and lowered his broad shoulders.

“You don’t need to eat, you just stop talking anyway,” Angela grumbled at him.

“I like a woman who…” He started and she sighed…

“Zaps you into nap time?” Angela asked, and he lifted just one bushy eyebrow and eyed her from under the other one…

“It still takes a lot to wear me out to the point I need a nap, sweetheart…” he gave a little growl to back it up and watched as his mate narrowed her eyes on him…

“Don’t test me…” Angela said.

“Don’t challenge me,” Lark offered back, as they eyed each other until Dorothy clapped her hands together in glee.

“Breaking bread and conversation. There’s just something about good company…” Dorothy offered with a small, wicked snigger of mischief…

“Let us in and we’ll have a blast,” Chloe called from behind the closed curtains.

“So help me …” Sarah called out. “One more word and I’ll put wards up all over the property to banish you for good.”

Silence greeted her ears for a long moment, and she almost sighed with hope that the vampire had got the message…

“Come out here and say that…” Chloe called back…

“We really shouldn’t antagonise the witches,” Monty said. “Remember how you behaved when we first met…?”

“I was evil, wasn’t I…?” Chloe’s melodic laughter filled the room.

“You zapped me six ways from Sunday, and you tried to stake me … twice. If I hadn’t of wooed you then I’d be dead…” Monty said.

“You are dead,” Chloe shot back…

“Dead-er…” Monty offered.

“If you don’t stop your yapping then you’ll both be dead…” Sarah grumbled. “Geez, give me a haunted mansion any day of the week.”

“Then I can get my home back?” Chloe said, fake hope in her voice…

“No, I’ll donate it to a church for bible meetings…” Sarah sniped back.

“How tasty are the God fearing?” Chloe asked Monty and the man sighed … “I bet their blood is boringly normal.”

Sarah swivelled in her chair and swooshed the curtains back open…

“Seriously?” She demanded.

It wasn’t hard to see Chloe even though it was dark outside – her nose was practically pressed up against the glass…

“What?” Chloe shrugged as she expanded her arms at her sides. “It’s just a question…”

“Go away. Come back when you can sit at this table and eat chicken legs instead of thinking about tapping into everyone’s vein instead…”

“Never then,” Monty shrugged.

“Excuse me?” Sarah asked.

“The bloodlust never goes away. It’s just manageable to the point of functioning in normal society.” He offered back. “I still have to catch myself from imagining that you guys are the feast, and not the food that’s on the table.”

“I…” Sarah closed her mouth for want of something to say.

There were truly no words.

“And that’s why all dead people should be staked in their coffins…” Angela said on a shrug.

“Harsh, witch,” Monty shook his head. “Very harsh.”