With a Kiss (24 page)

“No, sir. He’s still engaged in town on business.”

“That’s okay.” Liam straightened his T-shirt. Jenny was a nurse, not a psychopath, he reminded himself one more time. He didn’t need Marcus to hold his hand when he spoke to her.

“I’ll show her into the morning room,” Mr. Jenson said.

“Yes, thank you. I’ll be straight down.” Liam watched the older man walk out of the room. Frowning slightly, he nibbled at one of his fingertips as he tried to work out what the hell the nurse could be doing there, what her visit might mean.

Mr. Jenson had said she was there to visit him, not Marcus. If it had been a message taken by anyone else, Liam might have assumed they simply got it wrong, but Mr. Jenson wasn’t the type to relay a message incorrectly.

Minutes ticked by, Liam still stood in the middle of the room trying to work up the will to move, and failing.

Marcus had done so much for him. He shouldn’t have to deal with his visitors, too. If Marcus came home and stumbled upon Jenny before Liam even managed to leave the upper floor, that would be yet another burden he’d placed on the other man. It was only that realization that finally convinced Liam to step forward.

He didn’t stop until he stood outside the door leading into the morning room. Even then, he couldn’t let go of his momentum for fear he’d never regain it.

Pushing open the door, Liam stepped inside and kept walking determinedly forward until he stood directly in front of Jenny.

The nurse rose gracefully from her seat on the sofa. For the first time in Liam’s presence, she wasn’t wearing her nurse’s uniform. “Hello, Liam.”

“Hi.”

She ran her gaze over him very slowly, as if checking him for injuries. Liam was pretty sure he’d had x-rays that would have been more likely to miss things. “I…” He swallowed down a bitter taste in the back of his throat as he remembered how he looked when Jenny last saw him. “Why are you here? I mean, how did you find…?” Liam closed his eyes. Pushing a hand through his hair he tried to calm his racing pulse and make sense of it all.

“Shall we sit down?” Jenny suggested.

Liam opened his eyes. “Of course, sorry. I’m just…” Liam forced a smile as he dropped heavily down onto a chair and waved a hand toward the opposite sofa.

“Marcus’ address was on his hospital records. Tony from security saw you getting into his limo when you were both discharged,” Jenny said.

Liam nodded slowly, well aware that she was still assessing his every movement. That made sense. There was no reason to panic; it was all very straightforward once it was all broken down into manageable chunks. Records. Gossip. Nothing scary about that.

“How is he treating you?”

Liam lifted his gaze and met the nurse’s eyes. “Marcus has never hurt me.”

Jenny sat back in her seat. She looked different in her jeans and checkered shirt, but her eyes were as quick as ever.

“He wouldn’t do that,” Liam said, putting every bit of strength he had into the words.

“Vampires are…” Jenny seemed to consider her next words carefully. “I met quite a few of them during the years I worked at the blood bank. They aren’t the same as humans.”

Liam felt his spine stiffen. His grip on the arm of his chair turned white knuckled.

“Even if he doesn’t want to harm you, he could easily hurt you by accident,” Jenny went on.

Liam shook his head. “You don’t know him.”

“I know that just because he treats you better than Ralph did, it doesn’t mean he treats you well enough,” Jenny said.

Liam stared down at the back of his hand. There wasn’t the slightest mark lingering there anymore. “Marcus has been nothing but kind to me,” he whispered. “And believe me, I’d have tried the patience of a saint these last weeks.”

“Oh?” Jenny said.

Liam said nothing; he just continued to glare at his fingers as if they were to blame for all his troubles.

“He’s feeding from you?” Jenny asked.

Liam shrugged. “Sometimes. I wouldn’t mind if he did it more, but he says he can’t take more without it hurting me.”

“And you two are…?” she hinted, more delicately.

Heat rushed to Liam’s cheeks. He stopped worrying about appearing too pale.

“Sweetheart, I’m not trying to embarrass you,” Jenny said, leaning forward and taking hold of his hands. Her palms were warm against him, her touch comforting without demanding anything in return. “But I know vampires, and I know what kind of bastards you’re used to. You need someone looking out for you.”

“Liam already has someone looking out for him.”

Liam jerked up his head.

Marcus stood in the doorway leading in from the hall. He was still wearing his coat.

“Marcus!” Liam snatched his hands away from Jenny and scrambled to his feet, only to hesitate before stepping forward. Part of him wanted nothing more than to race across the room and throw his arms around the vampire as if he hadn’t seen him for years, but he didn’t dare. Marcus’ expression didn’t invite anyone to come within five yards of him.

Liam looked from Marcus to Jenny and back again. “I…”

I’m not bi.

He couldn’t force the words out. He wasn’t even sure if he should be trying to get them out or not. If Marcus thought that he and Jenny were sneaking around behind his back the moment he stepped out of the door, then which way Liam swung was really the least of his troubles and—

“Liam.”

He met Marcus’ eyes at the sound of his name.

“You’re not in trouble.”

Liam let out a breath he hadn’t been aware of holding.

“Everything’s fine,” Marcus told him. “Go down and see Mrs. Jenson—I’m sure she’d appreciate some company for a few minutes.”

Liam glanced toward Jenny.

“Liam,” Marcus called again.

Liam found his feet carrying him across to the other man without his brain having any further say in the matter, drawn to Marcus like the tiniest iron filing to the most powerful magnet in existence.

The other man reached out to him as soon as Liam stepped within arm’s length of him. His hand slid across Liam’s cheek in a gentle caress.

Liam’s eyes dropped closed as he savored it.

“Go ahead,” Marcus ordered. “Jenny and I will be fine.”

“He’s right, Liam,” Jenny piped up from behind him. “You really don’t need to worry about me.”

Not seeing what else he could do, only knowing that he suddenly felt more nervous than he had in months, Liam took refuge in obedience and slipped from the room without another word.

* * * *

Spinning away from the door the moment Liam closed it behind him, Marcus glared across at the room’s other occupant. The nurse stared back at him, evidently not the least bit intimidated by facing off against a vampire.

“Yes,” she said. “I know the signs. I can tell you’re not taking as much blood as you really want from him. And yes, I know that any vampire will feed from either gender at a push. But no, I’m not scared of you. Do you have any other questions?”

“What the hell are you doing in my house?” Marcus demanded, striding forward to loom over his undesired house guest.

“Liam isn’t allowed to have visitors?” Jenny asked.

Marcus’ frown deepened. “That’s not what I said.”

Jenny leaned back in her seat and rested one of her hands calmly on the arm of the sofa, as relaxed as it was possible for a human to be. Marcus’ muscles knotted tighter and tighter by the moment.

“Liam knows full well that he may do exactly as he pleases! You are the one who has no business here,” Marcus snapped. He strode across to the other side of the room, not willing to sit as if they were having a perfectly agreeable conversation, but not quite able to stand still either.

Even though he was back in the security of his home, the unease of being out in the wider world hadn’t disappeared the moment he stepped inside. Finding an interloper there wasn’t helping. The last thing he needed was someone questioning his ability to look after what was his. He barely kept back a snarl as he glared over his shoulder at her.

“And what exactly is Liam to you?” Jenny asked, turning her head to track his progress around the room. Apparently the process somehow made it easier for her to read his mind.

Marcus swung back to face her properly. “What?”

“Is he your whore?” Jenny asked. “Your toy?”

“No!” The very thought of anyone applying those terms to Liam made his knuckles itch.

“What then?” Jenny pushed. “I’ve never yet met a vampire who called any human their boyfriend? Is Liam your property, your pet?”

Marcus came to a stop barely a step away from Jenny. He blinked down at the nurse as if seeing her for the first time. “Pet…?” he said, very softly, considering the term very carefully. He wasn’t even sure he’d said it aloud until he saw the woman’s expression change.

Jenny’s eyes narrowed as she studied his expression.

For once, Marcus wasn’t entirely sure if he was capable of hiding his emotions effectively.

“You really care for him, don’t you?” she said, as if the possibility had never occurred to her before.

Marcus said nothing. His feelings for Liam were none of her business. He turned his back on her as he marched to the window and looked out over the drive. Her car was still parked there, a horrible green little thing sitting in the middle of his property—as bold as brass and twice as ugly. At least, the sight of it didn’t send panic racing through his veins anymore. At least, it wasn’t Ralph’s car.

“If you do care for him, then it’s time you started taking proper care of him,” Jenny announced.

Marcus slowly turned to face her. Anger like nothing he’d ever known suddenly flooded through his veins. He stepped forward. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, or even what he’d say, as he closed the gap between them. Then, without him ever having been aware of making a decision, it had already been made.

* * * *

Liam jumped as he heard a door slam on the ground floor. He stared up at the ceiling of the servants’ quarters, as if he might suddenly develop the ability to see through the white paint on the ceiling, the heavy floorboards and everything else between him and Marcus.

“Don’t you worry about him, love. Vampires are a resilient lot,” Mrs. Jenson said, from the other side of the kitchen table.

Liam forced a smile and tried to turn his attention back to the carrots he’d been ordered to peel for a stew.

“Young Master Marcus has been known to drink the occasional cup of coffee, you know,” the older lady said. Her lips quirked into a truly infectious smile. She nodded toward a tray already set with coffee pot, mugs and biscuits. “If you really think you need an excuse to go up and see him, that should do you well enough.”

Liam set both the peeler and the carrot he was working on down on the kitchen counter. “Thank you.” The words didn’t express anywhere near the amount of gratitude he felt, but they were all he had. It would take him far too long to come up with anything else.

Picking up the tray, Liam hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs into the main part of the house as quickly as his feet would carry him. He paused in the hallway, listening for any hint of where Marcus might be, but there wasn’t a sound to be heard.