AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mistress? Have you changed your mind?”
No. She was still thirsty. She simply didn’t know what she wanted. It was very much how the last few weeks had gone. She was stuck in limbo, trapped between loving Dante and facing the knowledge that she did not fit in to his world.
“Tea.” Alana often had tea. Kaja had watched Dante’s mother speak to the machine.
There was a short hiss, and the machine went into motion. Kaja stared at it, but she didn’t really see it. She saw Dante in his perfect suit as he came home from work each night. He would come in and try to talk to her, but she didn’t understand half of what he said. He asked about her tutors and her classes and seemed very pleased that she was rapidly learning what he called academics. But the rest seemed to elude her.
Now, she’d utterly humiliated her new family. She’d heard the news of her failure reported on the DLs that everyone here seemed to watch. She was being called the Dellacourt Beast.
And Dante was further away than ever. He still made love to her, but he was always working. He didn’t have time for her anymore. Now that they were back in his home, he seemed to understand that he’d made a mistake.
She wanted to talk to Meg.
The machine finished. There was a lovely teacup with a saucer and steaming liquid sitting in the center of the machine. “Does my mistress wish for cream and sugar?”
“Yes.” She’d never had cream and sugar, but it seemed like something interesting to try.
“And where should I put it? Directly on your thighs and buttocks?” The machine’s voice became distinctly nasty.
“No.” Kaja took a step back and heard a chuckle.
Dante stood in the doorway, his jacket gone. He still wore his tie, but his hair was utterly perfect. He was cool and collected, and the very image of the modern vampire. He was a man who should be married to the perfect consort, not one the press reviled.
“Mom put the beverage dispenser on ‘weight management’ mode. It gets bitchy. You have to learn how to talk to it. You’re the boss, sweetheart.” He got down on the machine’s level. “Look here, you piece-of-shit machine. She said she wanted cream and sugar, and if you don’t give it to her, I will pull your plug, shove you into the recycling bin, and you’ll come back a toaster. Do you want that?”
Immediately a stream of white came from the machine’s dispenser followed by a cube of sugar. “I hope you enjoy your beverage. Please let me know if I can help you further.”
Dante reached in and grabbed the delicate cup and saucer. He indicated that Kaja should sit at the table and placed it in front of her. He turned back. “Give me three fingers of Scotch. Single malt. Fifteen years.”
The machine seemed to race to do his bidding. In no time at all, he was picking up the glass and sighing as he sipped the Scotch. He’d been drinking a lot of Scotch lately. Still, he turned and sat down at the table in front of her. “I heard you h
ad a rough day.”
The tea smelled lovely, but she suddenly knew her stomach wouldn’t accept it. She pushed it away. “I made a mistake.”
She waited for him to berate her. She would take it. She knew she shouldn’t have allowed her four-legged form to be seen.
Dante’s lips quirked up. “Not a mistake, Kaja baby. You were beautiful. I told you, I think you’re gorgeous any way you are.”
The doors to the small kitchen opened, and Alana Dellacourt walked in. Her face was lined with worry, but when she realized she wasn’t alone, she seemed to force a smile on her lips. “Oh, hello, Dante, Kaja.”
Kaja wanted to hide. She’d put Dante’s mother in a terrible position. She’d embarrassed the poor woman. She started to get up, to excuse herself like the etiquette tutor had taught her, but Dante’s hand came out and covered her own. He grinned up at his mother.
“I saw the DL story about your brush with the paparazzi today. Nice use of four-letter words, Mom.”
Alana actually laughed. “I also used my four-inch Louboutin stilettos on one of those jerks. He tried to touch Kaja’s fur.”
Dante’s fangs popped out. “Who?”
His mother waved him off. “I’m not telling you because I don’t want to bail you out of jail. I took care of it, son. He won’t be walking for a bit. Calm down. It was only natural. No one has ever seen a shanimal before.”
Dante’s hand slapped at the table. “Motherfuckers! I told Meg. I came up with that. I totally came up with that.”
Alana shrugged and ordered a wine from the beverage dispenser. She smacked it when it asked if she really wanted the calories. “Well, CVN news is claiming to have named the new species. And more.”
Dante’s eyes lit up. “Was bestiality mentioned?”
His mother sighed, but ruffled the top of his head as though she’d known he would ask. “Yes. You’re being called a pervert of the first order.”
