Page 23 of Blades and Bone

Hamish pulled the paper and pen out of his jeans pocket and added it to the list he was making. It wasn’t very long, but it was a start.

Groceries

Gym

Cleaners

He knelt in front of the bedside table, hoping that there’d be something in the two drawers, though he would not be surprised to find a small hotel bible and a note wishing him luck on his hunt. If there was a note, Brodie had read him wrong because starting in the bedroom and then working his way through the rest of the house was like starting with dessert.

Which drawer to start with…top or bottom?

Which one was Brodie? Or did he like both?

They hadn’t even got to that conversation yet because Brodie wanted to let things settle. Which was very considerate and all…but it would’ve been easier if he was more of a prick. He might’ve slept better after a fight or a fuck or both. He might’ve let Brodie win, and pin him to the bed, just so he could hate him. Instead, the tension and stress had nowhere to go, and he was itching with the need to do something more than rummage around the house.

Sure, it was a lovely house, and he had access to any food he wanted, but it was still a glorious prison. A tower he couldn’t leave without fucking things up for both families, and he wasn’t going to give the Orlans an assist.

He hoped he’d fucked things up for Ann. If she’d been hoping he’d overreact so she could kill him, he hadn’t given her the satisfaction. That thought alone was enough to put a smug smile on his lips as he opened the top drawer, hoping that was Brodie’s preference.

In the drawer was a small flashlight and a note.

I expect you will find this very soon after I’ve left for work. I could warn you that you won’t find anything of note in the house, but I’m sure you want to work that out for yourself. I suggest that if there is something you want to know about me, that you ask.

Hamish scrunched up the note. “Fuck Face.”

He placed the scrunched up paper next to the rest of his findings, hating Brodie even more for being so reasonable and accommodating.

He ripped open the second drawer and his eyebrows lifted. The contents were slightly more exciting. This was where Brodie kept his fun briefs, most of which were fairly skimpy. And there were only four of them. He felt around the rest of the drawer just in case there was something else.

Nothing.

“Ugh. This is a complete waste of time.” He sat back on his heels, not that he had anything else to do with his time. He shoved the drawer back in, not bothering to refold anything, and checked the two drawers on his side of the bed.

Also nothing.

As he stood, he paused, staring at the bed. It had one of those big headboards with the built-in bedside drawers and reading lights. Which meant there was about ten centimeters of storage in the bedhead…if one needed to hide things like knives and guns and other weapons, of which there had been none in the house. Had Brodie removed them before his arrival? Or were the Ashbys unarmed? He studied the headboard on his side of the bed. There were no obvious handles, but that didn’t stop him from pressing in different places. He pushed the side and out slid a skinny set of shelves as long as his forearm.

“Well, hello.” He grinned. The shelves held a length of neatly coiled, silky purple rope, a set of fun handcuffs—also in purple—and two different kinds of lube.

He tossed them on the bed, then walked around to Brodie’s side, not sure if he was expecting more fun or weapons. The secret shelves popped open with a soft click. As expected, these shelves were also neatly ordered.

He picked up a nicely curved, insertable prostate massager along with its remote control. His dick thickened as he got all kinds of ideas about how to spend the rest of the day, as he added them to his pile.

There were a couple of dildos, ranging from standard to what he considered challenging, though some people might consider all of them rather ordinary and want something bigger and more textured. He added them to the pile on the bed.

A cock ring, and a ball gag—which did not have punctures from fangs, which meant it had never been used on a vampire. He studied the collection and was willing to make an educated guess that Brodie was not on the receiving end of these toys.

His fangs flicked forward, and his dick pressed against his jeans. He had definitely found the exciting stuff. And if someone had asked him fifteen minutes ago if he liked the idea of being tied up, he would’ve said no. He played games with human boyfriends, letting them feel they could hold him down when in truth he could’ve snapped their neck before they realized he was free.

With other vampires, of which there had only been two, one of which had been during the blooding process, he’d never relinquished control. While he’d blocked out most of the memories, he’d been the instigator of the violence; being blooded was a brutal process, and there were a few days when the newly made vampire was the worst creature imaginable. He’d never volunteered to be there for someone else’s blooding after that. He didn’t like being out of control, nor did he want to be on the receiving end, though some did. Joel had told him that Nix had gone in for Lance, and Owen had volunteered multiple times.

Nothing about Brodie was out of control.

The sudden urge to put everything back exactly as he found it flooded him with adrenaline, but he hadn’t paid enough attention, and Brodie would check and know.

“Fuck.” His fangs pressed against his lower lip, not sure if he’d failed or passed the test. He passed if the test was to see if he would find the stuff. And failed if the test was to make sure Brodie didn’t know he’d found the stuff.

And now that he’d found it, he couldn’t pretend that he hadn’t.