Fated for Forever [Kindred of Arkadia 3] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (6 page)

the rest of the men that had them gulping and inclining their heads.

“You know you being sexy and scrambling my brains won’t always work,” Ashby muttered.

“Then I will have to find other, more inventive ways to scramble your pretty brain.” Gabriel turned and

smiled widely at Ashby.

It was one the few true smiles Ashby had seen on the man since they had mated. He knew that his knees

would give out any moment. Stupid knees!

“Angel, I have a few more meetings this morning and afternoon, are you comfortable in acquainting

yourself with the club?” Gabriel asked, running his hand over Ashby’s blond curls.

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” He turned to where the twins sat.

“Can you guys show me around?” he asked. Two sets of eyes went wide with surprise before twin shit-

eating grins stared back at him. He had the strangest feeling he had made a pact with the devil.

“Anyone but those two,” Roman started and Gabriel held up a hand. Roman quieted.

“David and Daniel are the closest in age to Ashby and will probably be the best to show him around.

Baptista of course will accompany them.” He looked to Baptista who nodded.

“Sure,” Ashby said and then got an evil idea. He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his

prince’s neck before plastering himself against the hard planes of his mate’s body, allowing his prince to

feel his growing desire press against him. He placed a chaste kiss on his lips and stared up at his mate.

“Have fun in your meetings.” He stepped back and motioned for the twins to follow. The twins took one

look at their dazed leader and edged around the other side of the table, as if to be on the safe side before

taking off behind Ashby. Baptista followed behind the three small chatting men.

“Sir?” Roman started.

Gabriel shocked the entire room by breaking out into chuckles which led to full-blown laughter. His

angel thought nothing to speak his mind, argue with him and then tease him in retaliation, and God help

him he was falling in love with the man for it.

Chapter 5

“Oh my God! Did you see his face?” David exclaimed.

“I wasn’t looking at his face, I was looking at the growing bulge behind his slacks zipper,” Daniel said,

giggling.

“Hey! No eyeing my mate’s private of privates,” Ashby said, grinning.

“Does he know you have his balls?” Daniel asked. Ashby shrugged.

“He’ll figure it out,” he said matter-of-factly. The three looked at each other and burst out laughing.

“He smiled,” David said softly. Daniel did an arm pump.

“We’ve never seen him smile before. It’s about time he was happy,” Daniel said, agreeing with his twin.

“You’ve never seen him smile? How long have you known him?” Ashby asked. Daniel held up his

fingers as if he were counting.

“He turned us in 1882…” Daniel began.

“1881, it was 1881 because that was the same year that Billy the Kid was shot and the Earp boys got in

that gunfight.” David argued. Daniel looked as if counting and then nodded.

“Yup, you’re right. 1881, so we’ve been with him for about one hundred and thirty-two years,” Daniel

said proudly. Ashby gaped at him.

“He never smiled, not even once?” he asked. Baptista shook his head.

“He turned me in 1199 after the death of Richard the Lionheart. I saw him almost smile when he killed

an enemy once. It was more like he was baring his teeth, though,” Baptista added.

“No smiling in the past eight hundred and fourteen years?” Ashby whispered, his heart aching for his

mate.

“You did that math in your head?” Daniel asked putting his fingers down. David rolled his eyes.

“Probably before then. There are others who have been with him longer. He’s the one who turned us all.

We’re the only coven made of nearly all turned members. In vampire society turned vampires aren’t exactly

looked down upon, but you can tell the difference in the way people treat you. Our coven members are

treated better since we were all turned by the prince himself. After he created the council he started to enjoy

his freedom and moved all over the world. It’s almost like he collected us. He saw something he valued and

didn’t want to see die, so he made us the offer, and here we are,” Baptista explained.

“David and I were riding the Pony Express in California when he found us. I was handing off to David

and this gang showed up out of nowhere, shot us both and left us to die. Gabriel heard the shots and said

we were too full of life to die quite yet. We both said yes and stayed with him until he dropped us off with

the others at the coven he had established for his turned children outside of Chicago,” Daniel explained and

David shuddered.

“God I hated that city,” David said and Baptista nodded.

“I never liked it there either. I remember when you two first joined us, I thought our prince had brought

home two puppies, you were all over the place. Mikhail nearly killed you both that first week,” Baptista said

chuckling. Daniel and David winced.

“Who is Mikhail?” Ashby asked.

“He is Prince Gabriel’s true second-in-command. He is out on assignment right now trying to track

down the origins of that drug,” Baptista explained.

“He’s a meanie,” Daniel said.

“He’s scary,” David said at the same time.

“Scarier than Gabriel?” Ashby asked, curious. Both nodded rapidly.

“Gabriel will kill you if you mess up or displease him. But he’s very reasonable with his expectations

and is consistent. He doesn’t play favorites. Mikhail will kill you if you breathe wrong,” Daniel explained,

eyes wide.

“We try not to breathe around him,” David said.

“Is that why you two keep fainting around him? I thought it was because he scared you silly,” Baptista

said, smiling.

“He is serial-killer scary,” Daniel said.

“He is clown scary.” David added. Daniel looked at David thoughtfully and nodded.

“Touché,” Daniel agreed.

“We don’t have anyone like that in Arkadia,” Ashby said as they walked into the large industrial kitchen.

“What’s Arkadia like? It’s like vampire legend since no vampire has ever set foot in Arkadia,” Daniel

said, sitting on one of the barstools that had been pushed up next to the island.

“Well, it’s kinda small, just a couple streets, but we’re growing more and more. There’s the diner where

everyone hangs out. It’s run by Ma…”

“Ma who?” David asked.

“Ma Arkadion, she is the old Alpha Mother. Rebecca is the new Alpha Mother. We’ve bonded,” Ashby

said proudly. “Nic, Kate and I have all bonded with her to help her run the town. Nic and I run shops so we

see a lot of the townspeople. I run an ice cream parlor called Sweet Nothings and Nic runs a coffee shop

called The Grind. Kate is the Alpha Female of the Arkadian wolf pack and she keeps Rebecca updated with

how the pack is doing.”

“Then there are the lions. Before Rebecca came to town, Nic and I thought they were kinda scary since

they were male predators, and we shift into small animals. But once Rebecca came to town and we all

started to hang out, we learned that they are just a bunch of softies, especially Rian and Damian. They’re a

blast to hang out with,” Ashby said and realized he was rambling. “Sorry, I guess I got excited.”

“Don’t be, they sound like a lot of fun. I wonder if we can invite them to the club one night.” Daniel

asked. Ashby winced.

“That may be a while. Aleks is still upset that Rebecca was kidnapped from here. The hyenas wanted to

drain Arkadia of blood for that vampire drug ring. I got kidnapped too since I was with her when she was

taken.” Ashby explained.

“Is she OK?” David asked. Both twins look concerned.

“Yup, she’s doing great. She’s pregnant and expecting their first child soon. She said she wanted me to

be the godfather,” Ashby said, beaming.

“Prince Gabriel is going to be the godfather to the next Arkadion Alpha?” Baptista asked and then began

to laugh.

“Does he know this?” He asked between bouts of laughter.

“No, why is that funny?” Ashby asked confused.

“It’s just that the Arkadions and vampires have a rocky past. I think it’s ironic that our prince would end

up mated to someone who is bonded to the Alpha Mother and will be godfather to the next heir. Life has a

funny way of turning out sometimes.” Baptista said, grinning.

“Well as Rebecca would say, ‘That’s OK, because we’re all friends now.’” Ashby smiled at the vampires

in front of him.

“She sounds pretty cool,” Daniel said.

“She is. She accepts people for who and what they are. She likes everyone,” Ashby said, smiling.

“We can’t wait to meet her. Now, what would you like for lunch?” David asked, standing and going to

the cabinets.

“Hey guys, do you, um, eat food?” Ashby asked, blushing. David and Daniel looked at each other and

started laughing.

“Not that much anymore. In fact, you may want to make your own lunch, it’s been a while for us,”

David said. Ashby nodded.

“I can do that.” Ashby hopped down and began to rummage through the cabinets and refrigerator. “I

love sandwiches,” Ashby said, putting all the fixings on the table.

Ashby grabbed two pieces of freshly sliced bread and slathered on the mayo. Next, he drizzled the bread

with red wine vinegar and oregano. Then he added some lettuce, tomato, pickle and onion. Finally he

stacked thick layers of meat and cheese on the bread and flattened it with his hand. David and Daniel were

licking their lips.

“I don’t remember food smelling that good,” Daniel said.

“Me either,” David replied. Ashby smiled before cutting the sandwich in half and offered each half to

the twins. He looked to Baptista.

“Would you like to try?” he asked and Baptista shook his head.

“Not hungry at the moment, but I would like to try one of those if you make them again,” he said,

pointing to the sandwich. Moans filled the kitchen.

“It’s so freaking good!” Daniel exclaimed.

“Food was never this good before we were turned,” David said. Ashby made a second sandwich and sat

down and ate with them. Both twins mourned the end of their lunch.

“Just think, now I get to introduce you to all the foods you’ve been missing all these years,” Ashby said,

smiling.

“Food when we were alive was dry stuff with bugs in it. Blood was so much better that we never went

back and tried anything,” David said, patting his stomach while Daniel licked his fingers, both having

inhaled their halves.

“I can’t wait for you guys to try pizza or ice cream,” Ashby said, smiling.

“Maybe we can try chocolate too,” Daniel asked.

“Let’s go ask Roman to order some chocolate,” David said bouncing off the barstool.

“Yeah!” Daniel said and they both took off.

“Wait you two! He’s in a meeting with Prince Gabriel!” Baptista said and took off after the two smaller

men. Ashby giggled at his new friends. They weren’t trouble, just impetuous. He carefully put all the

ingredients away and looked around the kitchen. He spotted a huge walk-in freezer. He wondered if they

had any ice cream in there that he would share with the twins. It probably wasn’t the same as the gourmet

stuff he had at his shop, but it would be a start. He struggled to open the thick metal door. When he finally

got the door open he stepped inside. The door closed behind him and he turned the light on. He was fairly

impressed with the freezer. It looked like someone really organized it well. There were shelves on all four

walls and a standing shelving unit in the middle of the room. It took him a few minutes to find a gallon of

chocolate ice cream. Grinning at his find he went to open the door and it wouldn’t budge. He turned the

handle and threw his weight into the metal surface and nothing happened. He tried again and again to shove

the door open, but it wouldn’t move.

What kind of idiot locks himself in the freezer? Oh yeah that’s right, me! Well they should be back

soon. I’ll just wait for someone to come into the kitchen and let me out. Yeah, I’ll just wait.
Ashby decided

sitting on anything would just mean getting colder faster so he walked back and forth to keep his blood

moving.

Any minute now.

* * * *

“What do you mean you can’t find him?” Gabriel asked in a deadly quiet voice. He hadn’t felt any pain

or panic through their bond.

“Sir, Daniel, David and I left the kitchen for just a couple minutes and when we went back he was gone.

There was no sign of intruders in the club and no foreign scents,” Baptista said, hanging his head low.

“All you had to do was watch over him,” Gabriel said, taking slow even breaths.

“I’m sorry my prince. I am heading back out now to assist in looking for him.” Baptista was not able to

look his creator in the eye. If anything happened to the small, sweet man, he would never forgive himself

and would gladly accept any punishment his prince deemed fit, right after he destroyed the ones

responsible.

“I want everyone awake and looking for him. I don’t care if the club stays closed until he is found, he is

everyone’s top priority,” Gabriel said, walking past Baptista to go look for his mate. He paused at the