Chapter 25

S aturday night, Roman was luxuriating in a pleasure that no fantasy could ever beat. Beneath him was a gorgeous, naked brunet. Roman adored the fingers tangled in his hair and the way Grant tugged at his tresses as his passion grew. Grant was nearly panting as Roman used his tongue to tease and taste his mate's mouth.

Desperate for friction to appease his aching cock, Roman rocked against Grant. To his delight, Grant responded by widening his knees and giving Roman more room between his legs. It took a few minor adjustments, but Roman managed to get his dick pressed to Grant's.

Expletives hit Roman's ears, and he nearly smiled, but he was far too busy kissing Grant. To please them both, Roman sucked on Grant's lip and used his teeth to bite down gently on the tender flesh. Their sweat-slicked skin allowed them to move easily as Roman's climax grew ever closer.

It was the worst part of making love with Grant. Although he pined for each orgasm, Roman was also sad to lose those precious moments of full focus on one another and the heights of passion only Grant had ever allowed him to reach. Roman had walked into their relationship filled with trepidation, but much of that was long gone.

A sliver of it remained for the secret that sat between them, but mostly Roman focused on the way Grant was so craftily stealing his heart. Grant moaned, and Roman opened his eyes to appreciate the way color infused his mate's handsome face. No lovelier man existed.

Grant's eyelashes fluttered upward, and the lust in his extraordinarily green eyes was like a punch in the gut. A flurry of sparks raced along Roman's spine, and he shifted to get his arms beneath Grant. He was suddenly desperate not just to climax, but to hold his greatest treasure close.

Roman rocked his hips forcefully, and Grant arched his neck. Grant's body stiffened, and Roman watched his mouth fall open as his orgasm overwhelmed him. The beauty of his man losing himself was exactly what Roman needed to be pushed over the edge alongside him. Roman thrust forward one last time and spilled his seed between them on a loud moan.

Burying his face in Grant's throat, Roman reveled in the delight of knowing he held the missing part of his soul. It was in that moment that Roman realized he wasn't tumbling gently into love—he'd already fallen. And nothing pleased him more.

As their heartbeats leveled, Grant went from pulling Roman's hair to tenderly combing his fingers through it. Forcing himself to move, Roman pressed his lips to Grant's flushed, damp skin. He was ready to shout his feelings for Grant, but those precious words of adoration would not be spoken while they were growing sticky after lovemaking.

Plus, Roman had to reveal everything to Grant first. He owed him that, at the very least.

"Why are you tensing?" Grant asked.

Roman sighed, and for a moment he hated how perceptive his intelligent mate was. If Grant weren't so tuned in to him, Roman would find it easier somehow to lie to him. Or maybe not. Roman wasn't naturally a dishonest person.

"Hmm, not sure. Maybe I'm already thinking about how I'm going to top what we just did."

Grant chuckled. "Please, we always top the last time. I don't know how, but we do. Someday, we may hurt ourselves."

"A risk I'm willing to take."

"Same."

It wasn't an opportune moment to confess anything, so Roman tugged his arms free and smiled at the satisfaction written on Grant's face. "Want some popcorn, baby?"

"Like actual popcorn, or round two with my sexy popcorn-smelling mate?"

"First, we'll have actual popcorn. Then we'll negotiate the second part."

Grant's brows flew up in surprise. "Negotiate sex?"

"Uh huh," Roman said. He kissed the corner of Grant's mouth. Pleased by his mate's smile, Roman did the same to the other side. "Yes. Things need to be decided. Where? How? I'm open to ideas."

"Okay. I'll definitely need the fortification of a snack and a beer to have this tense discussion."

Roman laughed and reluctantly peeled himself off Grant. "Same."

"Roman?"

"Yeah?"

"You also need some pants or something. Otherwise, you're going to get jumped mid-snack and forfeit everything. I get you in the kitchen exactly how I want you."

With a roll of his eyes, Roman loped to the dresser and tugged out a pair of faded sleep pants.

"If I'm wearing pants, so are you," Roman warned as he stalked into the bathroom to grab a cloth to clean them both. He wet it quickly and scrubbed his belly, then returned to their bedroom to do the same to Grant.

"Fair," Grant replied. He yanked out a pair of boxers and a T-shirt from his own dresser once Roman had scrubbed him reasonably clean and thrown in a caress or two to his still-heated skin.

Roman slipped into the bathroom again and hung up the washcloth to dry. "I don't have to put on a shirt too, do I?" Roman asked as he joined Grant in their room.

Grant walked over and coasted his fingers slowly down Roman's pecs and belly. "Absolutely not."

With a lovely shiver, Roman took Grant's hand. "Come on."

As Roman led Grant through their condo, he flipped on a few lights. They'd supposedly retired for the night already, so they'd been greeted by total darkness. In the kitchen, Roman headed for the pantry, while Grant's destination was the fridge.

Roman grabbed a packet and unfolded it. Then he tossed the popcorn into the microwave and hit the button to nuke it. Grant handed him a cold beer, and Roman thanked him with a soft kiss. Opening the cabinet next to the microwave, Roman grabbed a bowl as Grant hopped up to sit on the counter.

"I love it when the entire room starts to smell like you," Grant said.

Roman set the bowl aside and caged Grant between his hands. "I love it when my mouth is on your cock and the only thing I can smell is limes."

Grant brushed their lips together. "Pretty sure you're trying to influence our negotiations."

"Is it working?"

"Is that really even a question? Go on."

With a chuckle, Roman nipped Grant's chin. "Sorry if I love the taste of you."

"Question."

"Fire away."

"Would sucking a lime give you the same sensation?"

Roman cupped the back of Grant's neck and leaned his forehead against his mate's as he laughed. "I really fucking hope not."

"Maybe we shouldn't find out."

"Good plan," Roman said, moving away to grab the popcorn from the microwave once it beeped. Thankfully, he didn't need to heed the warnings written prominently on the packet about hot contents since he was immune to temperature extremes, so he dumped the entire contents into the waiting bowl and handed it to Grant.

"Should we eat this in bed?"

"Do I want to be picking popcorn kernels out of the sheets in the morning? That's going to be a no."

"Sourpuss."

"Eat up so I can suck you off on our reasonably clean sheets."

"What about our negotiations?" Grant asked between bites of popcorn.

"Give me a better idea, baby."

"That's what I wanted too."

Roman grinned as he slid his hands up Grant's thighs. "I love the way we're always in sync."

"Me too, Roman. Me too," Grant replied. Their mouths met, and Roman enjoyed Grant's buttery taste as he teased him with his tongue. His recently satiated body jerked delightedly in response, and Roman thanked Fate for the beautiful man he adored.

∞∞∞

An irritating sound roused Grant from sleep. The man next to him grumbled, and guilt rushed through him. Forcing himself to sit, Grant reached across Roman and grabbed his cellphone.

"VK Valerius."

"Sorry to wake you, VK. This is FK11 Yvette Porter, and we have an issue here in DC."

Desperate to allow Roman to fall back to sleep, Grant rolled out of bed.

"Don't worry about waking me up, what's going on?" Grant asked as he rushed into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. He flipped the light on and leaned against the counter. Not every call required Grant to sprint out into the night to help, but he needed to be alert either way.

"VK, we received a call this morning from friends of Lord James Volkov. It's a complicated situation, but since it concerns the Vampyress's family indirectly, I thought you should be involved."

Grant was grateful for his family connections. The Volkovs were part of the extended D'Vaire clan, and Grant was familiar with James. He and the entire Volkov family were kind, and Grant was happy to help any of his friends. "Give me five minutes and I'll be there."

"Thanks, VK. I'll send you a picture of the residence. I must warn you; it's on human land. We are currently inside."

"Thank you."

In short, economical movements, Grant cleaned himself and dressed in his uniform. There was no sound from the bedroom, so he hoped Roman was already asleep again. Sad that he had to leave without kissing his mate, Grant used the picture FK11 Porter had provided and found himself in the foyer of what appeared to be a stately townhome.

"Right this way, VK," prompted a blonde fallen knight who introduced herself as the Yvette he'd just spoken with.

Grant followed him into the living area. Waiting for him was a raven-haired vampire and his formerly human mate.

"Thanks for coming, VK Valerius," the vampire said. "I'm Mikhael Novikov, and this is my mate, Raney. Please have a seat. We'll explain as concisely as we can."

"Can we get you anything, VK?" Raney asked.

"No, thank you, but I appreciate you asking. What's the situation?"

"It started years ago, actually," Raney said. "I was young and married a human man I thought loved me. It turned out what he loved was controlling me. If I didn't do what he wanted, he liked to use his fists. Eventually, he wasn't satisfied with just leaving bruises."

Tears slid down her cheeks as her mate kissed her head. Grant had to swallow so vile words wouldn't spill from his mouth. What he wanted was to find the human and beat the shit out of him, or worse. But since that was out of the question, he kept his face impassive.

"Her ex-husband tried to murder her," Mikhail explained. "She barely survived. The only saving grace was that it was all caught on the security cameras he'd installed."

"He was arrested, and things were progressing through the judicial system, but then we met," Raney added, taking a handkerchief from Mikhail to dab at her face.

Grant nodded. "So, you had to hide your relationship to keep the humans interested in pursuing the case."

"Yes. At first, we were content with waiting until things were concluded and he was in prison before we allowed our relationship to flourish," Mikhail stated, his mouth firming into a line of disapproval. "But the human justice system moves horribly slow. We decided we could learn more about each other without alerting the humans to our relationship."

"Things were nearly foiled when my ex-husband's dreadful attorney hired a private detective to spy on us," Raney said, pain in her blue gaze. "Lord James asked the fallen knights to speak to the man to get him away from here. It didn't work at first, but the private eye eventually disappeared. We thought we could once again work on our relationship without interference, as long as we were careful. We were told to call the fallen knights again if we ran into trouble; I hope it's okay that we did."

"Of course it is, and it's understandable that you didn't want to stay apart. The pull of a mate is strong, and you obviously wanted to honor Fate and each other," Grant replied. "So, did the lawyer hire someone new?"

"The lawyer himself is outside, VK," Yvette said. "Since we are on human land, we were unsure how to handle the situation. My direct supervisor advised me to call the VK on duty. The last time the FKs were involved, Lord James dealt directly with headquarters."

"You did the right thing, and I'm happy to take care of it," Grant replied, standing up. "I'll speak with the human lawyer."

"Wonderful," Mikhail said. "Thankfully, humans cannot detect if a relationship is bonded, so they are unaware we have moved forward despite the enormous obstacles we have faced. We are careful to not appear together outdoors, but we fear they will intrude upon our privacy by growing more aggressive as the court date nears."

"It's unfair that such a violent act would go unpunished because of Fate's choice," Grant stated emphatically. "I can't promise that this lawyer will listen to me, but we'll do what we can to protect you from being discovered. I want your ex-husband to pay for what he did."

"Thank you, Venerable Knight," Raney replied, relief in her blue gaze.

Grant was pissed and barely noted Yvette following him until he got to the front door.

"Stay here and make sure the windows are all covered," Grant instructed her. "This case will go to trial whether this guy likes it or not. Which car is it?"

"Yes, VK," Raney replied, then pointed out the vehicle. It appeared to be an expensive make and model.

Angered that anyone in a job that was supposed to be about serving the law would actively try to free a man who'd nearly killed someone without a trial, Grant turned the doorknob and scowled. He stalked up to the car and knocked as harshly as he dared on the glass of the driver's side door.

The window slowly lowered, and a man stared at him as if he'd seen a ghost. "Grant?"

"Excuse me?" Grant asked, shocked that the man knew his name. He didn't recognize the human. In fact, in Grant's few short months alive, he hadn't encountered any humans. His job was to serve the fallen knights and the Council, and the humans hated his entire government. Grant's normally sharp intellect was completely scattered, but he had one important question rattling through his stunned gray matter. "How do you know my name?"

The man's mouth moved, but he continued to stare without saying a word.

"How do you know me?" Grant repeated the question more belligerently this time.

"Oh, fucking shit, they made you into a zombie."

Grant's top lip flared in disgust. "I assure you, I am not a zombie. Who the hell are you? Why do you know my name?"

"Did they just…do they…is your memory gone?"

Grant swallowed thickly. The pieces lined up in his head, and an icy chill flooded him. "You knew me. You knew me before."

"I can't believe they made you into a zombie. How did this happen? What do you remember?"

"I'd appreciate it if you stopped calling me that," Grant growled. His mind was reeling as he tried to cope with this unexpected window into his past, but he sure as fuck would not tolerate being demeaned by a human. Being a fallen knight was everything to him, and he was no less than a human because he'd once died. "How did you know me?"

"How did I…how did I know you? I loved you. You were my everything. We were together since we were teenagers."

Grant blinked heavily, and everything in him went still. "What?"

"It's true. You were thirteen when we met. I was it for you. You never even looked at another man."

It was odd to meet someone from his past and immediately mistrust his words, but something didn't gel for Grant. And his scattered senses were clicking into place. The lawyer was speaking as if it had been one-sided. Grant didn't detect a lie, but he wasn't a sentinel. If this person believed his words, then to him they were the truth. But if this man was his one true love, why had Fate paired Grant with Roman? Grant could not for the life of him imagine another person fitting him as beautifully as his mate.

"What's your name?"

The man frowned severely, but his gaze was intensely curious. "You seriously remember nothing? Nothing at all?"

"My resurrection spell wiped my memory. Answer the question."

"I don't think I like your tone, Grant," the man bit out.

"If you want me to continue to play nice, then you'll answer my question," Grant replied. He needed to know more about this man and what had separated them.

"It's Reginald," he answered tightly. "Reginald Bradley. Are you sure you remember nothing?"

"As I said, I have no memory from before my resurrection. Will you tell me about my previous life?"

"You can hardly expect me to sit here in the dead of night conversing with a zombie who refuses to acknowledge his feelings for me," Reginald stated. "You still love me. Even without a memory, our souls recognize each other. Are you confident you lack memory?"

Grant didn't want to lie to the man—because he sure as hell didn't love him—so he ignored Reginald's statement. The only person who held Grant's heart was Roman. "I have no memory of my human life. Perhaps you could give me your number so we can discuss things."

"When you've come to your senses, I'll speak with you, Grant," Reginald retorted as he turned on his vehicle.

"In the meantime, maybe you could leave Raney alone? Her ex-husband needs to pay for what he did."

Without a word, Reginald whipped his car into reverse and backed out. Before Grant's heartbeat had leveled out from this unexpected and unwelcome glimpse into his past, Reginald had peeled out of the small parking lot. A mountain of emotions swirled through Grant, and he needed a moment to sort things out.

Now that he'd at least momentarily contained the situation plaguing Mikhail and Raney, Grant needed a chance to think so he could figure out what the fuck had just happened and how he was supposed to feel about it.