Laurell Hamilton - Affliction

‘It’s old news,’ Micah said, ‘and you divorced her, so it doesn’t matter.’

Jerry looked down at his clasped hands, let out a long breath, and asked, ‘Did she try to sleep with you?’

Micah’s hand tensed in mine again, though nothing else showed his sudden tension. ‘It was a long time ago.’

Jerry shook his head. ‘Why didn’t you tell me, Mike?’

‘You were in love with her, and I didn’t think she’d approach anyone else. She was a little drunk and it happens.’

‘No,’ Jerry said, ‘even a little drunk, your fiancée does not proposition your brother.’

‘I agree with Jerry,’ I said.

‘You asked me like I wasn’t the only one she tried to sleep with; I honestly thought that she wouldn’t try for anyone else.’

‘Why?’ Jerry asked.

Micah hesitated. ‘She had a particular … interest, um …’

‘Fetish, you mean,’ Jerry said.

Micah nodded. ‘Yes.’

Nathaniel and I must have looked puzzled, because Jerry said, ‘Everyone else knows that Kelsey was a fur-fucker, beastlover, whatever.’

‘She approached you after you became a wereleopard?’ I said.

Micah nodded. ‘I honestly thought it was just a onetime fantasy and when I said no, she’d let it go.’

‘Nope,’ Jerry said, ‘she’s actually living with the local werewolf pack and getting all the furry attention she wants.’

‘I’m sorry, little brother,’ Micah said.

Jerry nodded, staring at his hands. ‘I can’t compete with … you know how it is better than I do. Kelsey said no human man could compare.’

‘I’m surprised she didn’t ask you to join the team,’ I said.

‘She did, but by that time I knew that even if I were a shapeshifter my attentions would never be enough. There’s something broken inside her that isn’t fixable.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Nathaniel said.

Jerry looked at him and at him holding hands with both of us. ‘It really bothered me when I found out that Dad was a “couple” with Mom and Ty. I didn’t like the idea of my dad sharing a bed with another man.’

‘Jerry,’ Bea said, as if he’d said something rude.

‘Are you ashamed of it?’ he asked.

‘No,’ she said.

Jerry looked at Ty.

Ty said, ‘No.’

‘Then it bothered me when I realized you all shared a bed.’ He looked at us again. ‘How long have you three been … together?’

‘Almost three years,’ Micah said.

‘Mom, Dad, and Ty have been together for double that. I’m the only one who tried for traditional, and by two years in I knew it wasn’t going to work. Maybe I need to find a nice couple to settle down with.’

‘Janet is a good person,’ Beth said.

‘I thought Kelsey was a good person, too.’

‘Kelsey always noticed other men at parties and stuff.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Jerry asked.

‘Because I was just a kid and I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Now, I’d say something.’

‘I’m sorry, it’s just I feel stupid about Kelsey and about not seeing what was right in front of me with Dad and Mom and Ty.’

‘I didn’t know you had any doubts about marrying Janet,’ Bea said.

‘I don’t, and then I think how oblivious I’ve been and I wonder what I’m missing this time.’

‘I look forward to meeting Janet,’ Micah said.

Jerry nodded. ‘Let me know if she tries to sleep with you, okay?’

‘It won’t happen this time,’ he said.

Jerry just looked at him.

‘But I promise, I’ll tell you if it does.’

Jerry looked at Nathaniel. ‘You, too, pretty boy.’

Nathaniel smiled, and then looked uncomfortable and finally just said, ‘I’ll tell Micah and Anita.’

‘We’ll tell you,’ I said.

‘And I don’t think I like you calling Nathaniel pretty boy ,’ Micah said. ‘It sounds dismissive, and he’s too important to me for that.’

Jerry spread his hands wide. ‘Sorry, it’s just he is pretty, and I’m having a moment of insecurity, okay?’

‘My men, they do have that effect on people,’ I said. I tried to make a joke of it.

Jerry wasn’t really in the mood for jokes, apparently, because he said, ‘I’d just make a blanket request that if Janet tries to hit on any of your guys, someone tells me.’ He was looking behind me.

I looked back at the guards who were sitting at the counter. I tried to see them from Jerry’s point of view. They were all taller, more muscled, and more obviously dangerous. He was as good-looking as Bram or Ares, but Dev and Nicky, not really. Nicky wasn’t much ahead of them, but Dev, he was almost as beautiful as Nathaniel and Micah. The real difference was that Dev was a more masculine beauty and my main sweeties were closer to the androgynous and even feminine-beauty side.

‘Don’t feel bad, Jerry; sometimes it makes me feel insecure to date them.’

He frowned at me. ‘Why?’

‘I’ve broken the girl rule,’ I said.

‘What rule?’

‘Never date anyone prettier than you are.’

Jerry looked at me, still frowning. He glanced at Micah. ‘Is she teasing me?’

Micah shook his head. ‘No.’

‘If you think my brother and even Lavender Eyes here are prettier than you are, then you are not looking in the same mirror that I am.’

It was my turn to frown.

‘Just say it, Jerry; Anita won’t get it any other way.’

‘Understand what?’

‘You are one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. The look on your face says you don’t know that.’

‘Don’t believe it,’ I said.

‘Why not?’

I shrugged. ‘My childhood trauma can wait for another day. Didn’t someone mention food?’

‘You’re changing the subject,’ Jerry said. ‘I’ve never met a woman who wanted to change the subject after you’d called her beautiful.’

‘Anita isn’t like any other woman I’ve ever met,’ Micah said, and kissed my cheek. I turned so he could kiss me on the lips and so I could kiss him back.

Bea beamed at us. ‘When can I expect grandchildren?’

‘I can’t have children,’ Micah said. He didn’t explain that he’d had himself fixed because Chimera had enjoyed getting the female shapeshifters pregnant and then watching them lose the babies when they shapeshifted. Without serious and hard-to-find help, no female wereanimal could carry beyond a couple of months. The change was too violent for the body to hold on to a fetus. Micah hadn’t wanted to cause such pain and he’d never expected to be rescued from Chimera, not until he met me.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Bea said. She smiled gently at her son and then turned the smile on Nathaniel. ‘Any children you have with Nathaniel and Anita would be yours just like all of our kids are both Ty’s and Rush’s. I still want grandchildren no matter who the bio-dad is,’ she said.

Nathaniel looked startled, and then looked to Micah, who said, ‘I agree with my mom.’

Nathaniel smiled and looked so happy, but … ‘I am not planning on getting pregnant,’ I said.

‘Career first,’ Bea said. ‘I understand.’

‘No, my career isn’t really the point. I’m just not the maternal type.’

‘You don’t want to have children?’ Bea asked.

‘Not really.’

‘If I were the girl, we’d already be pregnant,’ Nathaniel said. ‘I’m more domestic and I love kids.’

I gave him a dirty look.

Micah shook his head and smiled. ‘Let’s eat dinner before we have to go back to the hospital and before Anita gets too uncomfortable.’

‘Okay,’ Bea said, ‘everyone’s brought so much food we could feed a small army.’ She got briskly to her feet, as if she had a plan. She was going to either drop the subject as asked, or make sure I was around as many small, cute children as possible, as if there were a pheromone in their tiny bodies that would turn on my biological clock. I’d seen Frost and Fen; they were cute, but they weren’t that cute.