Blood Revealed (27 page)

She used her forefinger to pick out odd notes, hitting the black keys as well, listening to the fractional note they played, against the white keys’ more pure notes. She didn’t know if that was what they were called. It was how she had always thought of the black keys.

“They’re called sharps and flats,” Dominic said, from behind her.

Blythe whirled, her heart leaping.

Dominic wore his jeans and nothing else. He was standing, holding the newel post at the bottom of the stairs, gazing at the piano.

“I’m sorry,” she said and reached for the lid.

“Wait.” He held up his hand. His frown was back, the one that told her he was listening to thoughts. “Play more.”

“I can’t play. Not at all.”

“Any note. Play it.”

There was an imperious demand in his tone, an urgency that made her turn back to the keyboard. Guilt swept her, as she picked out notes from up and down the keyboard. They were random, unmusical. A cat strolling across the keyboard would have served better.

Dominic came and stood by her side, staring down at her hand. She was only using the one finger.

“Again,” he whispered.

Blythe tucked her hands under her elbows. “I won’t do that to you.”

Dominic caught her face between his hands, with the long fingers. He kissed her. “It’s all right,” he told her with a small smile. Then he gently pushed her aside and pulled out the stool.

“No, Dominic…”

He shook his head as he sat down. “It will be okay,” he told her. “Just stay there.”

She couldn’t have moved anyway.

He held his hands over the keyboard and she could tell just by the way he held them that he was a master. His whole body had shifted, adjusted, so that he was sitting over it. Commanding the instrument.

He began to play and Blythe caught her breath. It was beautiful. She had no idea what the music was. He was producing from her mother’s ancient piano such beautiful sounds that her chest ached in response.

The last of the notes died away. It might have been five minutes or five years later. She didn’t know. Only after the music stopped did she dare breathe properly.

Dominic was staring at his hands and she almost cried. He hadn’t heard the music. Not properly.

“But I did.” He looked at her and tears were glistening in his eyes. “I heard it all. Every note. Even the silences.” He got to his feet and kissed her again and this time it was deep, sharing emotions he couldn’t speak of.

He had heard the music.

Blythe wrapped her arms around his neck and held him, almost shaking with her relief and her happiness that the music had come back to him.

“It hasn’t,” he said softly against her cheek. “It won’t ever come back to me. Through you, though, I
can
hear it. I can hear it properly. You hear music just like I do.”

He held her and she thought he would squeeze the breath out of her, so hard did his arms tighten around her.

Then he let her go and pushed her far enough away to look at her. “What is that you’re hearing?” he asked. “There is a melody in your mind.”

Blythe shook her head. “It’s nothing. Something my mother used to play when I was small.”

“Listen to it again,” he said. “Play it back in your mind.”

Feeling foolish, knowing she would probably never recall the full song, she made herself hear the music her mother had often played.

“I know this….” Dominic pushed her farther back and cupped her cheek. “Listen.”

He settled back at the keyboard and lifted his chin, staring into the air. He was recalling the song himself.

Then he began to play.

It was the same haunting, sweet melody, rising and falling among the soft, sad chords that played in the background. The melody had always made Blythe think of the sea, of people who had gone far away, while those who loved them waited on the shore, bereft and alone.

Now, all she could think about were the long hot summer days of her childhood. Of her parents, long gone. Her brother, lost in a car accident when she was only nine. The music brought back memories of her mother she had forgotten. The way she had run the family with an iron fist, yet had always been a complete lady. She had never raised her voice, yet both Blythe and her brother had instantly obeyed, while they cheerfully ignored their father’s bellows.

Finally, Blythe recognized the strength her mother had always hidden. She had that strength, too.

Her tears spilled down her cheeks. She was helpless to stop them.

“Blythe. Dominic.”

The music stopped instantly. Blythe spun to look toward the stairs.

Patrick stood there. And his expression was that of a man in agony.

“Jake called me,” Patrick said slowly, as if each word was painful to speak. “He said you needed help.”

Blythe felt Dominic’s fingers tangle in hers. He squeezed. Then he pushed her hand forward.

Toward Patrick.

Understanding blazed in her mind. Dominic was telling her to go to him. To find out.

He was pushing her toward Patrick because he had seen in her mind the sudden flare of want. He had been right all along. It had moved beyond a fan’s adoration. Whatever she was feeling had changed when Patrick had confronted them in her own kitchen and
made
them see the truth about themselves. When he had helped Jake and propped up Jake’s self-esteem at the same time.

How she felt about him had shifted again when she had seen his image on Facebook. The sword strapped to his back. The implacable determination in his eyes that made his jaw square and solid. The fighter. The warrior. Patrick’s true vampire nature.

Now that he stood there before her, the wanting leapt to a new level.

But it was Dominic’s fingers tangled in hers. Dominic’s hand had lain across her.

Blythe tightened her fingers around his and stayed still.

Dominic got to his feet, pulling his hand away. He pushed her forward, his hand against her back. “Kiss him.” His voice was strained. “You want to. He wants it, too.”

Patrick drew in a sharp breath. “No. Not if it means someone gets hurt.”

“No one has to get hurt.” Dominic was pushing against her back again. Then he made an impatient sound, picked up her arm and pulled her across the floor. The whole time, Blythe could not look away from Patrick.

He wanted to kiss her.

“Is it true?” she asked him and realized she stood only inches away from him. She had to lift her chin to look him in the eye.

Patrick kept his gazed locked on her. “Yes.” It was a soft confirmation.

Her heart leapt again. It was ramming against her chest, a runaway beat. And her legs felt weak. “Have you always….?”

“Yes.”

She tried to catch her breath. “Dominic….”

“Him, too.”

Blythe’s thoughts fractured. She was losing it. All she could think about was what Patrick’s lips would feel like against hers.

He was standing so still. He was waiting for her to tell him what she wanted. He would not force the issue in any way, not with Dominic standing there, watching them both.

So she reached up on her toes to kiss him.

She never made it. As soon as she swayed toward him, Patrick closed the space between them, pulling her up and against him. His lips came down on hers, his hand grasped her head and he kissed her with an intensity that scattered the last of her coherent thoughts.

His tongue touched hers, then returned to stroke it and play with it.

She couldn’t breathe and didn’t care. Her body was aflame, every nerve ending shrieking. This was completely different from being kissed by Dominic. Different…and just as good.

Dominic
.

Horrified, she pushed away from Patrick and staggered back, bringing the back of her hand up to her mouth. She wasn’t surprised to see that her fingers were trembling.

“It’s all right,” Dominic said in a soothing voice.

She shook her head. Patrick looked just as guilty as her and that made her feel even worse.

Dominic turned her shoulders, making her look at him, instead. His dark eyes were grave. “Don’t think of anything right now,” he urged her.

“But—”

He touched his fingertips to her lips, making her fall silent. Then he kissed her. It was brief and thorough, his tongue sweeping through her mouth in a single caress.

Blythe couldn’t catch her breath. Confusion was pummeling her, as she tried to understand.

Then Dominic gave her a small smile and turned to Patrick. He gripped Patrick’s shirt in his fists and kissed him.

Her growing understanding was swept away by a sheet of white hot lust, that swept over her as she watched the two men together. They looked so good together. So sexy.

Patrick’s eyes closed and he groaned.

Blythe pressed her hand over her mouth to stop an echoing groan from escaping. Her pussy was throbbing, demanding attention. Her clit pulsed. Watching them kissing was more erotic than anything else she had ever witnessed in her life.

Then Dominic took a step back, tearing his mouth from Patrick’s. “Do you understand now?” His voice was hoarse.

She could see that Patrick
did
understand. There was a raw lust in his eyes that she had never seen before. And he was looking at her…and Dominic. “Blythe?” he said softly.

She swallowed. “Are you asking if I agree to this?”

“Yes.”

A shaky laugh escaped her. “I think I agreed to this days ago. I just didn’t know it.”

The two men exchanged a glance. Then they both stepped toward her and Blythe thought she might spontaneously burst into flame. She was shaking with it.

Dominic brushed her hair out of her eyes. “There’s no need to be afraid.”

“Not anymore,” Patrick said, just as softly. “We’ve all had our blinders removed.” He kissed her again and this time it was beyond heavenly, for Dominic was standing behind her, holding her, as Patrick kissed her.

Dominic kissed the nape of her neck from behind, making her shiver. It was powerfully arousing to have two pairs of lips on her body. She felt incredibly wicked, yet at the same time it felt perfectly natural, as if this was the way it was supposed to be.

As Dominic trailed his lips over her neck and stroked the other side, Patrick moved his lips down to her throat.

For a moment, she wondered if he would bite her.

“No, he won’t bite,” Dominic murmured. “Except maybe at the end, if he can’t help himself. If he does, you’ll like it.” Dominic chuckled. “So will I.”

Blythe looked at Patrick, startled. He had lifted his head and his eyes were bright with amusement. “We found that one out by accident,” he said. “I’m still learning details about a vampire life.” He brushed her hair, pushing her bangs aside. “It doesn’t bother you, does it?”

She shook her head. “Unless you stop kissing me.”

“My turn,” Dominic said. He pressed on her shoulders, turning her around to face him.

Patrick’s arms came around her. He rested his hands against her torso and she reflected that he wasn’t as cold as she had been led to believe a vampire would be. His touch was cool, but not frigid. It was as if he had no body heat and merely stayed at the same temperature as the ambient air.

His fingers did not stay still. They stroked restlessly and as they were just beneath her breasts, it was the worst sort of teasing. Her breasts ached and she wanted his hands on them.

Dominic stole her attention, kissing her.

And she was back to enjoying Dominic’s kiss, which was a unique thing and completely wonderful.

That was when Patrick cupped her breasts, his thumbs capturing the nipples through the thin silk of her robe and squeezing them against his fingers. It was an exquisite sensation and rippled through her nerves to the ends, making her shudder. She moaned into Dominic’s mouth.

“Upstairs,” Patrick said. His voice was rough, thick with growing pleasure.

Just the suggestion alone made her body surge in desire. Her clit pounded. She wore only panties underneath the robe and that felt like far too many layers.

At the same time, she felt almost naked because both of them were wearing clothing. Patrick was in his usual shirt and trousers and shoes. Dominic only had his jeans on, yet seemed far more dressed than she.

She could feel the heat of his chest against her flesh, where it showed between the open edges of the robe.

Patrick was drawing her backward. One slow step at a time.

They were heading for the stairs.

Her breath caught, as she thought of what would happen when they reached her room. And her nerve ends gave a fizzing spurt of excitement that made her shudder.

Patrick’s hands under her arms guided her to lift her foot and step back and up onto the first step. That put Dominic at a lower level than her and he took full advantage of it. He teased the front of her robe open a few inches. The belt kept it where he placed it. Then he leaned in and slid his tongue over the inch of flesh revealed, from the base of her neck down to her waist. He lifted his chin and nibbled at the skin between her breasts. He held her hips, keeping her steady for his feast.

Patrick’s hands came over her shoulders and slid down to cup her breasts again. She found herself arching back in response, which raised her breasts and pressed them into his hands. Her nipples were hard and incredibly sensitive. She longed for someone to take them in their mouth.

Then she realized that there were two of them and that if they chose to, they could each have one breast each. That thought swamped her with a silvery rush of pleasure, that made her moan. Truly, she had never considered how delicious the possibilities of two men together would be.

Dominic raised his head and his smile was full of heat and pleasure. “And this is just the beginning,” he assured her.

Patrick had been coaxing her up the stairs, one step at a time. “What is she thinking?”

“Blythe is just realizing the possibilities of having two of us together.”

“I wouldn’t let myself think about it, either,” Patrick said with a growl. “Now my imagination is running away with me. To begin….”

Blythe realized she was being slanted backward and lowered to the stairs. Dominic helped her settle herself on the stairs, her butt on one and her back resting against the higher ones. Then Patrick climbed down beside her and Dominic moved up on her other side. Her heart leapt as she realized the possibilities of this position. She thought she might burst.