Maverick Danker [Beyond the Marius Brothers 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour ManLove) (7 page)

I slipped out of the room and headed to the back of the house. I ignored everyone, needing to let my wolf out and run. The moment I was on the back terrace, I stripped, not paying attention to the gasps and people around. I shifted and my wolf let out a howl of pain. Then I took off running full speed so I could sort things out.

I just didn’t understand. Mav had been so patient with me and gentle after we had sex before today. Granted, I didn’t always need that. Sometimes a quickie was just a quickie. But dumping me on the floor and worrying about Asterio? What was up with that? He was acting like some OCD manic person!

What had changed since earlier when he cared about my feelings? And I knew it threw Asterio for a loop as well, but he hadn’t fought real hard to stop his blow job and figure it out. The change had to be something with Asterio. Did Mav respect him more and like him better because he wasn’t damaged like I was? Was Mav going to love his mate that wasn’t screwed up and I was just going to be their toy now?

Then one of my racing thoughts stood out among the rest.
The change had to be something with Asterio.
But what? I replayed what happened and stumbled in my running when it hit me. Mav had had his blood. Mine made him horny, a little frantic, and all growly. What if fae blood affected vampires in a different way?

I righted myself and took off back toward the house. The moment I got there I shifted and walked into the kitchen. I headed to Barnabas’s office, hoping to find the Queen there. I knocked and entered when I was told to come in. I glanced around the room frantically until I found her.

“Does fae blood whack vampires out?” I had to know and she was the
woman
after all, the woman in charge.

“My dear, you’re naked,” she said uncomfortably as she looked anywhere but at me.

“Yeah, doesn’t bother shifters to walk around naked. I’ll put on clothes later. Please answer me. Mav’s acting all weird and he dumped me off the couch after sex and he was almost manically trying to do whatever made Asterio—”

“Tyler, take a breath,” Barnabas said gently. I nodded and realized I’d been rubbing my chest. It ached so bad. I knew it was bad to hope that fae blood fucked with vampires, but the alternative was too much to think about. If it wasn’t the blood, then my mate just didn’t care. And I needed him to care.

Just then the door flew open and Asterio came racing in dragging Mav behind him. “I think our blood screws with vampires.”

“I came to ask the same question,” I sighed, taking in that they’d finished their fun and were both now dressed.

“You’re naked,” Asterio growled. “Why?”

“Do you not want him naked, Asterio?” Mav asked as he hopped from one foot to the other. It was weird thing to see a man so big practically bounce around. “I’ll go get his clothes if it makes you happy.”

“Oh, this is odd,” the Queen whispered, taking it all in. “Maverick, I want you to let go of Asterio’s hand.”

“No, I don’t want to,” Mav said with a pout, moving closer to Asterio. “I need to make him happy. I want to be at his side. I can make him happy.”

“See? He’s like some manic crackhead!” I shouted, throwing my hands up in the air. “What is going on?”

“Barnabas, I saw your fathers like this once,” Miles said quietly as he moved closer to Mav, studying him carefully. “I was their guard, so it wasn’t like they told me everything. But come to think of it, they did drink from bags of blood and humans before there were blood banks. Normally that’s not acceptable in a mating.”

“Yes, your fathers said something once about your mother already running the relationship, they didn’t need her blood, too,” Zachariah, Barnabas’s advisor, agreed. “I never thought about it as more than a joke. But it sounds like fae blood makes a vampire subservient.”

“Mav, let go of my hand,” Asterio said gently.

“No!” Mav wailed, clutching onto Asterio. “Why would you want to cast me away? I can change. Just tell me what I need to do to make you happy!”

The Queen had moved closer while all this was going on. She touched Mav’s head. “Sleep.” Instantly Mav went limp and Asterio caught him in time.

“I don’t understand this,” I whispered, plopping on the sofa. “He shoved me off the couch like I meant nothing to him. Even if Asterio’s blood affected him funny, shouldn’t he still care about me? He could worry about me and still make Asterio happy.”

“Cub, he seemed almost manic and obsessive about it,” he said gently as he laid Mav on the other couch. “You said your blood affects him in a horny way. My blood seems to affect him in a different way. He didn’t seem to be able to control it.” He reached over to touch me and I pulled away. “Cub?”

“You didn’t stop him either,” I whispered as I stood and moved away from him. “You just stared at me funny when he dumped me on the floor. Oh sure, you tried to get me not to leave, but it wasn’t a very valiant effort. Getting head from manic Mav was more important than how I was feeling, right?”

“Tyler, that’s not true.” He hung his head in shame. Maybe it wasn’t, but he sure as hell hadn’t put up much of a fight. “I was shocked by it all. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t realize something was wrong with him right away. It was our first time together. I didn’t want to upset either of you.”

“And yet you did.” I shook my head and moved toward the door. “I’ll see you guys around.”

“Tyler, wait—”

“No,” I growled as I yanked the door open. “Go get another blow job from Mav so you can forget I was ever here.” Yeah, I was being an ass. But we didn’t know for sure it was his blood that wigged out Mav. And Asterio hadn’t handled it very well. I’m sorry I was being a brat, but was it so wrong that I wanted them to make me a priority? Especially over a
blow job
?

“Let me get this straight,” Queen Magdalena yelled before I even stepped out into the hallway. The door shut behind me, but I could still hear her loud and clear. “One mate pushes the other off the couch after you were intimate, distracts you with oral sex, and you just forget about the other one on the floor?”

“Yes, but I didn’t know what to do when Mav moved and Tyler fell to the floor. I don’t think he
pushed
him, more like he moved and Tyler rolled off. Or maybe he did. I don’t know. I just sat there wondering what the hell was going on. And then Mav was on me and Tyler was leaving and—fine, I suck,” Asterio ended, probably realizing there just was no good way to defend himself.

I kept walking. I went back and found my clothes, pulling them on with jerky, angry motions. Suddenly there was someone behind me, grabbing my hips.

“Don’t get dressed on our account, you sexy wolf,” he purred in my ear. “Want to play?”

“Yes, but I’m mated to idiots and I guess they’re done playing with me,” I answered, intentionally missing that he was offering to play with me. The moment I said I was mated, he let me go and stepped away. I turned around and gasped. There were three huge fae warriors staring at me with such lust I couldn’t help but shiver. I was mated, not dead.

“They didn’t hurt you, did they, little one?” he asked gently as he reached out and cupped my cheek.

“No, not physically. I think your blood turns vamps into morons and the other just needs to pull his head out of his ass.”

“How could they not worship such a bounty as you? If I was your mate, I would cherish you always. You look like you’re made for pleasure, little wolf.”

“He is, but he’s not yours, Lavache,” Asterio growled, his very deep voice going even lower. Dangerous almost.

“The wolf stated he was mated,” the guy snapped. “His feelings were hurt and I saw no harm in telling him that it couldn’t be because of anything he did.”

“Fine, but take your hand off my mate.” Asterio stormed over to us and pulled me away from the guy. I shoved him and stepped away from them both. “I’m sorry, cub.”

“Whatever, it’s cool. Want to have sex again?” I couldn’t force them to make me a priority and I was stuck with Asterio and Mav. So fine. We could be mates. I was just done with letting them in.

“Yes. No, wait, what? You’re mad at me but yet you want sex?” The confused look on his face was almost funny.

“I can’t change the way you feel but we both love fucking. So fuck me. Take me right here in front of everyone and show them who you belong to.”

“I will not treat my mate like a common whore.” He leaned in and whispered in my ear so only I could hear. “Playing slut when we’re alone is one thing, Tyler, but I won’t have a slut for a mate.”

“Fuck you.” Tears burned in my eyes as I shoved him with all my strength so he stumbled back a few feet. “That wasn’t me being a slut. That was me being a
wolf
. We don’t have hang-ups about having sex in front of others. These men want me but I’m yours. I was telling you it’s okay to show them exactly who I belong to. I was
submitting
to my mate, allowing him to prove his dominance over me.”

“Oh.” He paled and took a step toward me. I shook my head and stepped away.

“Strike two, Asterio. You get to three and I’m going back to live with Darcy and Ayden. Even if I was the biggest slut in the world and liked public sex just because I’m an exhibitionist, there’s nothing wrong with that. I’d only be a slut with my mates, and I thought you agreed we could be ourselves with each other. What happened to that?”

“Tyler, I’m sorry.” Yeah, he looked it, like someone had run over his puppy and told him he was cut off from sex forever. Great. He was sorry. He still
hurt
me though.

I eyed him over as a tear leaked out of my eye. “Yeah, me, too. Thanks for giving me a glimpse of what happiness could be like before you ripped it away.”

I headed into the house, ignoring that he yelled after me. I went back to talking with the cook and the temporary staff Barnabas had hired to accommodate all the fae staying at the estate. We planned out food and fun for movie night and their introduction to the planet. Originally I’d done it to help my mate feel that he wasn’t a fish out of water. Now I didn’t care if he took a long walk off a short pier.

When I was done, I decided to head home anyways. Mav was out and we didn’t know what was going on with him. Maybe I deserved what I was getting because I didn’t want to sit there and hold his hand. But then again, could anyone be strong enough to do that when their mate was manic about their other mate and not them?

I didn’t know, and I was having trouble caring. I was tired, needing a shower and a change of clothes. I’d been wearing the same clothes for days. Okay, I hadn’t been wearing them much, but the point was still the same.

I grabbed my stuff from the room I’d been using with Mav and headed to my truck. I walked right by the Queen and Barnabas when they tried to stop me, shaking my head that I couldn’t deal right then. As I pulled out of the estate, I realized who I had ignored. Shit. Could I get in trouble for that? I mean, the head of the East Coast Council and the Queen of the fae asked to speak with me and I walked away from them.

Was that a death offense? I mean, if I’d done that to my Alpha, he’d have kicked my ass. Big-time. But again, it was a fleeting thought because I was having trouble giving two shits. I was lost in my own screwed-up head, most likely overreacting to what was going on. It’s just they really hurt me, whether it was on purpose or not.

All my life people didn’t care about me. I was an afterthought, someone people used to get what they wanted. For a whole two days that wasn’t the case, and now I felt like someone yanked the rug out from underneath me.

I pulled up and parked by the garage at home. I turned off the truck and stared at the house that wasn’t mine. But it felt like the closest thing I’d ever had to a real home. Even the house I had on pack lands never felt like home because I wasn’t safe there. In this house I felt safe, but now it was missing a part of me in the form of my mates. And I didn’t want to be there either. I didn’t know where I wanted to be.

I got out of my truck and went inside, sighing when I saw Ayden waiting for me. “Please don’t. I can’t handle any more shit.”

“I just got a text from Barnabas that you ran from your mates,” he growled, stepping in front of me when I tried to move around him. “Why would you run, Tyler? Barnabas said the one is freaking out and the other is passed out. What the hell happened that you ran?”

“You don’t know anything, okay?” I shouted, not caring when we started to draw a crowd. “They hurt
me
, Ayden. But your lack of confidence is heartwarming. After everything, you think I would do something to them and just leave? What the
hell
, man? Haven’t I always had your back? Haven’t I thrown myself time and time again in the way of the Alpha to save you? Now suddenly you assume I did something wrong when there’s trouble. I came back for some clean clothes and to get a little space. I think I’m allowed that!”

“Tyler, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said gently.

“Yeah right. I saw the judgment in your eyes. You’re growling at me when I walk in like it’s all my fault. Whatever. Why would anyone care what I’m feeling? Everyone just uses me for what they want, but I’m the one everyone blames. The Alpha blamed me for you leaving, Asterio blames me for the way I am, you blame me because they screwed up. Well, fuck all of you!”