Smiling and laughing together, his parents barged into the bedroom. Lizzy’s eyes widened, the chocolate-brown crystallizing in shock. Jonathan’s jaw tightened in frank disappointment and Bennett was pretty sure that steam puffed out his ears.
Shifting off him in slow motion, Adair held the sheet over herself and exhaled stiffly at his side, resigned.
Sitting up, watching the blankets so they could maintain a flimsy shred of decency, he ran a hand over his face and gritted his teeth. “Mom. Dad. I wasn’t aware that you were traveling.”
Lizzy tightened her grip on her suitcase. “It was a last-minute decision. We hadn’t realized that you were… in Paris. With…”
“Last minute decision,” he sniped back, already knowing exactly where this conversation was heading. Hunger pressed against his skull like a caffeine headache on steroids. Motioning to the door with a nod, he asked, “Can we speak in the living room after I’ve had a chance to… freshen up a bit?”
With a curt nod, his blushing father escorted his stunned mother out. A seasoned demon hunter, Lizzy would have recognized the nature of his bed partner. If she were paying enough attention, she might realize Bennett’s movements were similar, but she would see him as she wanted to.
Adair shifted her hands in her hair. “I think I’ll pass on the family squabble.”
For which he could already hear them planning their opening arguments. Responsibility. Setting an example. Decency. Not playing with fire.
“Wish I could do the same.” He flipped off the sheets and lowered his feet to the velvety carpet.
Letting his parents argue it out with each other before braving the assault, he stepped into the shower and pressed his palms to the wall, letting the steam flow over his body. Maybe he could jump out the window and kick some ass before facing them, and burn off his own opening arguments that comprised of nothing polite. In lieu of what he’d rather be doing, he tried to remind himself that they were good parents. They wanted the best for him. And catching their responsible son in bed with a vampire was insupportable.
Fuck, he needed to feed. Closing his eyes, he tried to shake the craving. Not a good time.
Shutting off the water, he dried and tugged on jeans and a t-shirt, skipping shoes and socks, ready to get it over with. When he came out of the bathroom, Adair was sitting on the side of the bed, sporting that determined crease between her eyebrows that he knew only too well. “Don’t even say it.” He shook his head.
“But we’re back to exactly where we began. Fool me once…”
“We’re so far and gone from where we began. Maybe only a blink in your lifetime, but a hell of a lot’s happened in my life since then. I’m only still alive because fate hates me.” He huffed, his jaw ticking, fists clenched in his pockets. “Alive. Undead or more demon or something so much further from the naïve hunter that fell in love with you. Look, if you want a fuck-buddy while we solve this mess, fine. If you want to help bring down Calloway so you can get back to your routine, great. But don’t pretend I’m some human plaything, ready to roll over and take what he can get. Shower’s all yours.” Not leaving room for her to react, he stormed out to face the music.
Ignoring his restless parents sitting painfully politely on the sofa, he turned into the kitchen and poured his coffee, forgoing his new favorite coppery creamer. “Coffee?” he offered.
“I’ve prepared some tea already, thank you.” His mother raised the delicate cup, quite the lady she was raised to be in early twentieth-century England.
Seated on one of the plush white facing sofas with a cloud blue linen ottoman in between, his mother poured a warmup in her tea and set the silver pot back on a hand-carved wooden tray he knew she had bought from a local street vendor a decade back. A massive impressionist piece hung over the retired fireplace, candles nestled in the bricked recess in its place.
They had opened all the curtains, as was their habit, so he quickly closed them in case Adair graced them with her presence. His father scowled, but didn’t question him. “Would you care to explain yourself?”
Bennett sat in the center of the facing couch. “Not particularly.”
Resting her teacup on her knee, Lizzy attempted her calm posture. “Is she… is this the same vampire Quentin found you with?”
“Yes.”
“Bennett, dear. Vampires cannot be trusted. I know you believe her when she claims she hasn’t tasted human blood in centuries, and perhaps it is true, but she is still one of them and vampires are notoriously manipulative.”
“If you say so.” He leaned back and sipped the bitter brew, his throat tightening as his gut realized he wasn’t going to get a taste of his new favorite additive. Fuck, when had he fed last? His head pounded as the craving intensified, fueling his temper off the charts. Clenching his jaw, he kept his mouth shut before he said something he’d regret later.
Jonathan popped up from the sofa and paced the room, rubbing a hand over his mouth before speaking. “I know we’ve had this talk before. I’d rather have it without your mother present, but we have no other option at this junction. Your mother knows vampires, as I would expect you would by now as well. But I know foolish young men, as I was one before I met your mother.” He rested his hands on the back of the couch and his brow dropped, his head a hint away from shaking as if Bennett were still the teenage driver that had flown past the stop sign. “Barely out of the house, and youhooked up…” He sneered as if the phrase was as callous as it sounded. “With a vampire taking advantage of you to clear her territory for her. Then what, from what I hear, youhooked upwith Lana’s sister, who had chosen a human life rather than the life of a hunter? I still can’t believe you’d consider bringing this life on her. This life isn’t what I was born into, but I can tell you, the life of a demon hunter’s spouse isn’t an easy one.”
Not the time to mention that neither Missy nor he had ever had any intention of getting married. That they fell more into the friends-with-benefits category, at least, whenever the team congregated at Lana’s. Bennett held his expression, sipping now and again while his father continued one of his notorious lectures.
Maybe by the time the next century rolled over, they’d accept that he wasn’t the gentlemen they intended. Or, better yet, if they’d get around to having another child to take some of the damn pressure off. Especially as it was solidly out of the realm of possibility for him to pass along the Ward name now.
As the story went, Jonathan had been delivering a verbose lesson as a geology professor when his mother fell head over heels for him. And he continued. Bennett settled in for the long haul. “And then, that reporter? The police officer? The Australian actress? Who knows how many others we didn’t hear about? Finally, when you settled with Quinn, we thought you had figured it out and would end this reckless behavior–”
His mother interrupted, “But that, that…” she waved her hand as she pooh-poohed, “That Ryan stole her from you while you were at death’s door. Really, losing her to the son of a different demon-sire? And don’t get me started on the werewolf joining your team. I love you and you have wonderful, supportive friends that mean well, but you’ve all bucked tradition so callously.”
Jonathan nodded. “And we’re back to the beginning. You’re right back where you started with the vampire. Does she need you for your abilities again?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up as he considered how to let them know what a true disappointment he was. “She does appreciate my skills, but that’s not why we’re fucking again.”
