Flutter by Amanda Hocking

up sharply, almost knocking Bobby
off the chair. “You mean werewolves?”
    “Not exactly,” I sighed. “Not at all, really. They’re
just vampires that live in the woods. They were after Peter, but
Ezra made an exchange with them, and we came home. End of story.
Most of the trip was spent just looking for Peter.”
    “What was the exchange?” Milo asked, but by Jack’s
expression, he’d just figured it out.
    “Peter let them do that?” Jack whispered.
    “He didn’t have a choice. Ezra… did what he had to
do,” I explained as best I could.
    “What are you talking about? What happened?” Milo
demanded.
    “Nothing. Never mind,” I said. Jack stared at me
intently, his blue eyes full of too much anguish. “Nothing happened
to me. Okay? I barely even left the hotel room. Nobody tried to
hurt me. I never got in any fights. Everything was fine.
Honest.”
    Jack wasn’t completely convinced, but he wrapped his
arm around me, so I would curl up to him. Milo was perplexed, but
he dropped the subject.
    Milo had never been out of the area, either, so he
pressed for more information about traveling. I told him what
little I had seen and how terrified I had been on the plane.
    Once Bobby started falling asleep,
Milo decided it was time to excuse himself and head up to bed. He
scooped Bobby up in his arms, carrying him upstairs to their room, and I gaped
after him. We had to have a very long talk about all of this as
soon as I had the chance.
    I would’ve loved some time to catch up with Jack, but
I felt drained from the trip. Being away from home had been much
harder than I had thought. Jack wanted to go to bed with me, and
even with my exhaustion, I would’ve been happy to oblige.
    Except I knew the only reason he
insisted so hard was because Peter slept across from me, and I
refused to let his paranoia control our relationship. He had to get
used to Peter being around, and I needed to get some rest before
trying to be alone with Jack.
    Jack walked me up to his room, kissing me on the
forehead before going back down to the den to sleep. I curled up in
his unmade bed, falling asleep in his mass of blankets almost
immediately. It felt so good to be home.
    When I woke up, I felt an instant relief being in my
own bed. After a long trip away, nothing felt better than that.
Well, almost nothing.
    I stretched, working the stiffness from my limbs. My
reunion with Jack had been anticlimactic. I allowed myself to get
distracted by my brother’s new boyfriend and Jack’s worry over
Finland. I’d have to have a very long talk with Milo about this
Bobby fellow, but I had more pressing needs in mind.
    Along with that familiar thirst burning just
below the surface, I had a desperate ache for Jack. A bit of jet
lag and stress made it too bittersweet for me to greet him the way
he deserved, and I had to rectify that immediately.
    When I walked out into the hall, I could
smell Bobby. That sweet, delightful scent of hot blood coursing
through his veins. His heart pounded quickly, like a frightened
rabbit.
    I tensed up, thinking he was in some kind of
danger, but I realized he was just excited. This was confirmed by a
happy moan from him, and a throaty laugh from Milo. My stomach
tightened with nausea and anxiety as I thought about what Milo was
doing in the room next to mine.
    It was completely unforgivable that he would
have a sex life before I did. The “talk” was becoming more
imminent, but I did not want to walk in on whatever they were doing
right now to administer it.
    Peter’s bedroom door opened, making me jump.
I’d brought him home, but it was still a shock to see someone in
his room. It had been shut off for so long, like a shrine for a
dead loved one, even though it was the exact opposite of that.
    “ Oh. Hey,” Peter said,
nodding at me.
    “ Hey,” I replied. We stood
across from each other, staring awkwardly, so I assumed I should
make conversation. “Did you sleep okay? I bet its nice being back
in your