Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 11-15 - Laurell K. Hamilton [490]
I looked past him to the vampire who was still draped against the pillows. “Did you pull back from his mind?”
“Non, ma petite, he simply fought, a little, and I was cast out. Both of you have the power to thwart me if you wish to.”
“I don’t wish to,” Richard said, and that smile came back. It was lazy, and sleepy, and filled his eyes with that knowledgeable innocence again. I realized in that moment that it wasn’t Jean-Claude’s look, it was Richard if he wasn’t afraid, or angry, or conflicted. It was what he might be if he didn’t get in his own way all the time.
“Ma petite.” Jean-Claude raised his hand toward me. “Join us.”
I was shaking my head.
Richard reached out toward me, too. “You want to, you know you want to.”
“My life is as close to working as it ever has been, I don’t want that to go to wrack and ruin, either.”
“I’m not offering to go back to what we had, Anita. I understand that that won’t work for us. You are harder and more ruthless than I will ever be, and I can let you be that, but not if you’re my only sweetie. I need a little distance from the worst of it, so I can pretend a little. Not much, but just enough so I don’t lose my mind.” He snuggled back until his head was resting against Jean-Claude’s side. Jean-Claude was all black fur and velvet against white skin. His hair spilled around his naked upper body like a dark dream. He turned his head so he could look at Richard lying there. Richard was all tan and jeans, and seemed to burn with how very alive he was. They looked like they’d stepped out of two very different porno movies.
Jean-Claude looked up at me, and there was a pleading in his eyes. Without a word, he asked, “Please, ma petite, please do not spoil this.”
“No fourth mark,” I said.
“Agreed,” Jean-Claude said.
“For now,” Richard said.
I looked at him.
“Right now a lot of things seem like a good idea. No, don’t frown, Anita, if a little vampire magic can take the edge off my anxiety, I’m all for it. It works better than the pills the doctor gave me.”
“Lycanthropes’ bodies work too fast for most medicines to stay in the body long enough to help,” I said.
“I know,” Richard said, and he raised his head up just enough that he was resting directly on Jean-Claude’s bare back. It was probably just as well that he couldn’t see Jean-Claude’s face when that thick hair touched his skin. He probably wouldn’t have liked any man looking like that because of him.
“Come, ma petite, let us be a true triumverate at last. Be lupa in more than just name for Richard and his pack. Keep your living arrangements as they are, but allow Richard to visit.”
“While he keeps searching for Ms. Right among the human population.”
“You will have your men, and he will have his woman. It is fair, ma petite.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about the fairness of it. “I don’t know how I feel about all of this, some great, but others, I don’t know if I’ll be able to live like that.”
“We can but try,” Jean-Claude said.
Richard held his hand out to me. “Anita, please, please, if you leave, you know I won’t stay. You were able to let Jean-Claude get closer without me being there to buffer it, but I need you to help me.” He pushed up to his knees and held out his hand. “Please, Anita, I promise not to run, no matter how dark my fantasies get.”
“Just feeding for Jean-Claude and some slap and tickle?” I asked, and couldn’t help but sound suspicious.
Richard glanced back, and he and Jean-Claude had one of those rare guy moments. The looks they exchanged said plainly that that hadn’t been what they had in mind. Jean-Claude said, voice mild, “If that is all you wish from us, we can restrain ourselves.”
I closed my eyes. Was that all I wished from them? No. Was that all I could stand right now? Maybe. It was a wonderful offer. It seemed to fix most of the problems that we’d raised with the new power, so why was I still hesitant? “You know, finding