The Immortal Compromise (The Mortal One Series Book 3) (16 page)

“Yes, you can.”

She zipped up her bag and headed downstairs. She waved to Nico and walked out the front door with me on her heels. I walked her outside and she got into the passenger seat.

“Let me know when you wake up in the morning,” I said, leaning into the window from the driver’s side. “I’ll come to get you so you’re not stranded at his apartment all day until he wakes up at sunset.”

Olivier nodded. “Good thinking.”

“Both of you, be careful,” I warned.

They waved and pulled out of the driveway.

“What are we going to do with them?” I asked Nico, walking back into the house.

He was leaning against the kitchen counter, lost in thought. “What do you mean?” He asked, looking up at me.

“Does Olivier know how to groom her? Is it safe for them to be sexually active?”

He laughed. “We are sexually active, so why can they not be?”

I made a face at him. I wasn’t sure why it bothered me if they had sex before she was turned. Olivier was out of my system, so it had nothing to do with jealousy. But there was something that bothered me and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“Do not let it bother you. I know she is your friend, but Olivier will keep her safe. If he does not do something properly, I will step in,” Nico said.

That made me feel a little better.

“You look tired. Why don’t you go to bed? I will lie with you for a while until you fall asleep,” he suggested, standing upright and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

I nodded and let him guide me up the stairs.

Chapter 21

JEN WAS KISSING Olivier when I walked into the kitchen. He had her pressed against the kitchen counter, ravishing her mouth without a care in the world as to who would see. Her hands were rubbing his back and she couldn’t seem to get enough of him.

I watched the display silently from the living room for a moment before I interrupted. “You do have your own place still, right?”

Olivier stepped back, releasing Jen immediately. He wiped at his mouth and stood upright. “My apologies.”

I shook my head. “I get it, the two of you are in the getting to know you phase, but please, not in my kitchen.”

“Sorry,” Jen said, turning a bright shade of red.

Jen and Olivier seemed to be inseparable. I had heard the stories from her over and over again throughout the day. As soon as he was up, he was over at the house since I had picked her up from his place earlier in the day. It was nice to see Olivier with someone and it ensured that he wouldn’t be trying to put the moves on me any further. Though after that one encounter that we all had, the passion between the two of us seemed to fizzle. It was also an encounter that none of us had plans of telling Jen about, or anyone else for that matter.

“When is Nico back?” I asked.

“It will be a few hours,” Olivier said. “He is meeting with a few of the vampires in Paris.”

I sighed. “Okay.” I stared at the two of them, waiting for one of them to decide to leave. It was my house and it seemed to be overtaken by them.

“You don’t have security, so I cannot leave,” Olivier said, finally realizing why I was staring at him.

“Oh, come on,” I said. They had threatened security so many times but never done anything that I just assumed that it was forgotten.

Olivier shrugged. “Nico’s rules.”

“So I’m a prisoner in my own home?” I asked.

Jen followed the conversation, looking between Olivier and I. “Why can’t you leave on your own?”

“There have been too many issues and my safety is being questioned,” I said.

“Why? What happened?” Jen asked.

“Remember when I was late in Berlin? It was because I was kidnapped by the Bavarian sovereign,” I said.

Her eyes flashed wide. “Holy shit, Dylan. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell you any details about my life because it would have meant your death.”

“But that’s not the case anymore. I’m already in the know about it all,” she said.

I nodded. “Now, yes. And you’re getting a crash course on all of it. We have been in fast forward for the past few days, so it wasn’t something I thought of to tell you.”

“Oh,” she said.

“I’m tired. Still,” I admitted. “There is always something going on and I want nothing more than to sleep.”

Olivier looked out the window in the kitchen. “The night is young. Go upstairs and take a nap. I will cook dinner to give you a break.”

“You’re going to cook?” I asked.

“Why does that surprise you?” He asked.

I shrugged. “I guess I never saw you as a chef. You know how to do more than boil pasta?”

“My beef burgundy will impress you.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “I look forward to it,” I said and went upstairs to take a nap. It seemed easier to do it than to argue against it. Besides, I needed to catch up on the sleep more than anything.

My bed was calling to me, but I heard footsteps coming up the stairs behind me. I kicked off my shoes and paused before closing my bedroom door.

It was Jen. She gave a quick knock and walked in. “I know you’re tired, but can I talk to you for a minute?”

I smiled and sat on the edge of the bed. “Sure, what’s up?”

“Olivier talked to me about a lot of the grooming process last night.” She didn’t seem to have a question, so I just nodded. She bit at her fingernails and squirmed.

“Out with it.”

“We didn’t have sex.”

I laughed. “Okay, and?”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “I thought we would. We fooled around, but I think he’s scared to have sex with me.”

“It’s normal. There are not many mortal and vampire couples out there.”

“But you and Nico have sex.”

“Yes, we have gone over this.”

“And he hasn’t hurt you.”

“Well…,” I trailed off. “That’s not exactly true.”

She looked shocked. “What?”

“Well, I told you he’s left bruises. It has been rough at times. They are a hundred times stronger than us. They don’t realize their own strength sometimes. It’s usually why I’m on top,” I said and gave her a wink.

“So will you tell Olivier this?”

“Excuse me?”

She bumped me with her shoulder. “Hook me up,” she said with a smile.

I shook my head. “You are being turned in a week at your request, so be patient. If it doesn’t happen once you have been turned, then I will find out what’s up. Now go away, I want to take a nap until dinner is ready,” I said, scooting across the bed and throwing my head into the pile of pillows.

“Fine,” Jen said and huffed off out of the room.

***

“This actually smells really good,” I said as Olivier poured beef burgundy on my plate and Jen’s. He also poured a little onto a plate of his own.

He shook his head. “My mother taught me how to cook when I was a kid. She wanted to make sure I was self-sufficient.”

“It’s delicious,” Jen said, not wasting any time.

Nico walked through the front door and smiled at everyone. “Glad to see you’re all here.”

“What’s going on?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Not much. Just like seeing everyone gathered around together. It reminds me of many years ago when my family would be together in the same house. It’s been many years since there were people all around me all the time. It’s nice to see.”

I smiled at him and reached back from the kitchen counter so he could give me a kiss.

Olivier was looking at him. “Do I have to ask?”

Nico made a little gesture with his hand. “We will discuss it later on. There was definitely some cleanup required as a result of Violante stepping in.”

Olivier sighed and shook his head. “That’s what we need right now.”

“Why can’t you discuss it all now?” Jen asked, taking another bite of dinner.

Nico glanced at me, probably so I would be the one to answer her.

“We are human and therefore vampires can take information out of our heads if they want to. It’s not safe for us to have too much information about the vampire politics. More specifically, sovereign plans,” I explained.

“Oh. So when I become a vampire next week, I can be in the know?” Jen asked, raising her eyebrows.

“Not exactly,” Olivier said. “There are some things only the sovereign and the second in command need to worry about.”

“Figures,” Jen said.

“What’s the rush, anyways?” I asked. There were still so many things I wanted to experience before becoming a vampire. While I knew that there were more and more reasons for me to turn, with safety being at the top of the list, I wasn’t in a hurry.

“I guess the easiest answer is that I don’t trust anyone to keep me safe except for myself,” Jen said. She looked around her and then added, “No offense.”

Olivier laughed. “None taken. It makes sense.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be turned at the same time?” Nico asked.

I shook my head. “I would like to wait. Antonio has waited for more than three years. I’m not ready yet.”

“Okay,” Nico said. “But if you are not with Olivier or I, you will need security at your side at night.”

I nodded. “Only at night?” Originally, they had told me that security would be required 24 hours a day.

“Olivier and I feel that the only threat would be at night. While there are no issues with the Parisian vampires, you will always be a target because you are my pet and my wife. Until you become a vampire, the threat is too great,” Nico explained.

“Fair enough. Will the security be mortal or vampire?” I asked.

“Vampire. We already have someone in mind because he works night security and as a private security guard as well,” Nico said.

“Okay. So he will be paid?”

“Of course.” Nico said it as though I was crazy for asking. As far as I knew, he could have just ordered the vampire to watch over me. Somehow, I felt better that the vampire would be paid so he didn’t end up resenting me.

“Are there plans for the rest of the night?” I asked.

Nico nodded. “Olivier and I have to go into Paris so we can do the necessary cleanup.”

“Security is on his way?” I asked.

“This is a possibility if you choose to stay in for the night, but there is another option,” Nico said.

This sounded interesting. Jen and I exchanged glances. “Okay?” I asked, waiting for him to fill me in on what he had in mind.

“The two of you could come into the city. I can have security meet you where you want to go and spend the evening. He will be at your location at all times, but he will stand back and be unobtrusive so the two of you can have fun.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Jen really isn’t the kind of girl who likes to go out on the town.” I started laughing halfway through.

Jen stood up. “I’m game with that plan. Can we go to a club?”

Olivier, Nico, and I exchanged an awkward look, remembering the last time they had taken me to a club. Luckily, Jen didn’t notice and if she did, she didn’t say anything.

“You know the clubs better than I do,” I said, turning to Olivier. “Any suggestions?”

“Because we’re not to be trusted choosing clubs after Berlin,” Jen laughed.

I shot her a quick look because I hadn’t told Nico about that. She and I had agreed to keep it a secret, with only Gregorio knowing where we went.

Nico seemed intrigued by this information. “Dylan? You did not tell me about a club in Berlin.”

My cheeks burned and I knew they were crimson.

“Where did you go?”

I mouthed a thank you to Jen and she seemed just as embarrassed. Olivier came to stand shoulder to shoulder with Nico, becoming more intrigued by the information we were holding out on as well.

“We may have gone to a sex club,” I said.

Olivier and Nico both began to laugh.

“It’s not funny,” I demanded.

“Yes, it is,” Nico said.

“Did you leave as soon as you realized what it was?” Olivier asked.

Jen and I looked at each other, not knowing how much to admit. That was enough for the men to become even more curious. Jen chewed on her bottom lip and I swallowed hard, waiting for the questions to begin.

“You stayed?” Nico asked.

“For a while,” I admitted, though I didn’t want to make eye contact.

“And you watched?” he asked.

“A little,” Jen said.

“Really?” Olivier asked, obviously turned on by what we had admitted to. Like any man, he wanted the details. She could provide that to him as pillow talk, but I wasn’t going to say anything more than I had to about it.

“Oh, Dylan,” Nico said. “We will be talking about this tonight.”

I smiled coyly at him. “I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.”

“I can read your thoughts. They’re dirty and I love them,” he smiled back at me.

If Olivier had read through my thoughts like Nico had, he gave no indication of it.  He actually seemed frustrated because now he was the only one who didn’t know what happened in the club of Berlin.