D. Reynolds: Aden

Like today, when she’d discovered a whole new crop of friends who truly did get where she was coming from. Tonight was the official welcoming for Aden as Lord of the Midwest and member of the North American Vampire Council. All of the other vampire lords were in town, and Sid had been delighted to discover that most of them had mates and they’d brought them along.

The mates had all gone shopping today, a field trip organized by Cyn, who was the woman Sid had seen across the room talking to Aden that very first night at the gala. Cyn had seemed to take it as her personal mission in life to get them all into as much trouble as possible. Fortunately, cooler heads had prevailed, and they’d settled for a wine-fueled lunch, with shopping afterward.

Sid glanced down at her arm and had to stifle a laugh. Well, cooler heads had mostly prevailed. She was feeling far more wicked than cool right now. But then Aden loved it when she was wicked, and Sid loved it when he taught her the error of her ways. She grinned happily, just thinking about it.

Kage was lounging on the big leather couch in the outermost room of the office suite, his muscular arms mostly bare in a short-sleeved shirt that showed off his tattoos, his piercings glinting in the low light. He grinned at her.

“How’s things, Sid? You ladies have a good time today?”

“We did, yes, and look—” She pushed up the sleeve of her sweater. “I got a tattoo!”

Kage’s smile froze on his face. He came off the couch in a single, smooth movement, his gaze fixed on the delicate feathered quill sketched on her right forearm.

As if drawn by Kage’s reaction, Bastien, Travis, and Freddy suddenly appeared and gathered around, all of them staring at the tattoo as if expecting it to leap off her arm and go for their throats.

“Sidonie.” Aden’s deep voice had all four of his vampires jerking in surprise, which was a surprise in itself. She’d never seen them react that way before. They always knew where he was.

“Hey,” she turned around with a smile. She didn’t know what the vamps’ problem was, but she was feeling good and was happy to see her lover. She crossed the room and raised her arms automatically for a welcoming hug and kiss. She was used to waking up with him and had missed him today.

But like the others, Aden’s gaze was riveted to her forearm, with its new artwork.

His brow lowered, and he seemed to swell with anger, his eyes shifting to glare at his vampires.

“Who the fuck—” he started.

But Kage quickly interrupted, another first in Sid’s experience. “I would never, my lord. Not any of us. But I’m not sure—”

Sid had had enough. She stomped her foot to get their attention, but directed her anger at Aden. “What’s the big deal. It’s my arm. If I want—”

“You let someone touch you, let them bleed you?” Aden demanded.

She opened her mouth to respond, then abruptly realized the significance of what she’d done. If she’d learned nothing else in her time with Aden, it was that vampire lords were territorial about everything , including, no, especially , when it came to their mates. They were the alpha of all alphas. They made Tarzan look like a piker. And a tattoo? What had she been thinking? Blood was the ultimate prize to a vampire. She might as well have opened a vein and let another male take a lick.

“I didn’t,” she said urgently. “Look . . .” She rushed over to the desk and opened a drawer, grabbing the package of hand wipes that was inside. Ripping it open, she rubbed the wipe over her pretty feather quill. “It’s temporary,” she told him. “It comes right off.”

Aden gave her a level look, then glanced over her head at his vamps. “I’ll see you at the conference room.” With murmurs of “Sire” and “my lord,” they all filed out of the office, closing the door behind them.

“Come here, Sidonie.”

Sid thought about how wicked she’d been feeling, and how she’d looked forward to her time alone with Aden. But this was not what she’d anticipated.

She finished cleaning off her new “ink,” then walked over to gaze up at him, her hands resting on his narrow hips.

“I’m sorry,” Aden said, surprising her yet again. This whole evening was turning out to be one giant surprise.

Her face must have registered her shock, because he laughed and pulled her into his arms. “I may have overreacted. This time. If I’d paid attention to my nose instead of my eyes, I’d have known there was no blood and that the tattoo couldn’t be real. But let’s be clear about one thing. Your body is mine. No one writes on it, but me. And sure as hell no one pierces it but me.” He punctuated this last with a press of his growing erection against her belly.

Sid drew a relieved breath, feeling as if the crisis was over. “What about if—”

“If you want a tattoo, Kage will do it, and I’ll supervise. But I love your skin just the way it is.”

“It was only temporary,” she reminded him woefully. “We all got them. Different ones, but we all got something.”

“Who’s we?”

“All of the mates, even Colin.”

“Who the fuck is Colin?”

“He’s mated to Sophia, she’s Lord of—”

“I know who Sophia is. I didn’t know she was mated.”

“He used to be a Navy SEAL. I think he and Cyn know each other.”

“Cyn,” he repeated drily. “I bet this was her idea.”

Sid nodded. “When she found out I was mated to you, she couldn’t believe it. She said you were a cold son of a bitch, and that you owed her money.”

“Did she? She’s just a sore loser. We hunted the same prey not long ago.”

“Who won?”

“Depends on your point of view. Cyn located the prey, but I did the killing.” He grinned. “She sent me a huge fucking bill for services rendered. What’d you do when she said that about me?” he asked curiously.

“I told her to keep her fucking opinion to herself, and besides, you were the sweetest man I’ve ever known.”

“Sweet?”

“Sweet,” she said firmly.

“Hmmm. Let me see your arm,” he said, switching subjects.

He took her arm in his big hand and examined it carefully. The skin was red and irritated where she’d rubbed the tattoo off. It was especially noticeable, given her pale complexion, and she sighed.

Pulling her closer, Aden kissed her arm with a tenderness that she knew would surprise everyone but her. But then, as if to remind her of that fact, he immediately dropped his big hand to her butt and palmed both cheeks possessively. “I think we need to establish some ground rules, habibi . But, later.” He patted her butt lightly. Sid took this as a warning of things to come and felt a zing of anticipation that quickly speared down between her thighs in a rush of wet heat.

“Okay,” she said breathlessly.

He laughed. “That’s my Sidonie. Come on, I don’t want to be late for my first Council meeting.”

ON THE OTHER side of the big house, Raphael stood silently on the mezzanine at the top of the stairs. His fellow vampire lords were gathering below, outside the conference room where they would soon meet as the North American Vampire Council to confirm Aden’s addition to their ranks. The lords arrived in twos and threes, talking and joking with each other for the most part, shaking hands and clapping Aden on the back in congratulations. Even Sophia joined in the greetings, her big SEAL of a mate standing with her, daring anyone to get too close. Not so long ago, these meetings had been hostile affairs, the individual lords arriving late and leaving early, the eight of them sitting around a huge table, barely speaking.

Raphael had worked hard over the last two years to change that, doing whatever was necessary to put vampires on the Council who could, and would , work together. He had understood when no one else had that the vampires of North America would need a united Council, that an invasion from Europe was only a matter of time.