Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

Bastien smirked. “As if you’re starving and she’s a steak.”

Sean frowned. “Oh, come on. I do not.” At least, not when anyone else was around.

Did he?

“Sure you do,” Bastien countered, all amusement. “You also smile every time she does and grin whenever she laughs. Just like this poor besotted chap here.” He jerked a thumb toward Cliff.

Cliff snorted. “Like you don’t do the same with Melanie.”

“Of course I do, which is why I know Sean here is telling porkies when he says nothing is going on between him and Nicole.”

Crap. He hadn’t thought he was that easy to read. Sean forced a casual shrug. “She almost died. I’m just happy to see her alive and well.”

“Bollocks,” Bastien protested again. “You’re in love with her.”

Sean had begun to think the same thing. “You realize every immortal here can hear you.”

“Yes.” Bastien examined those present. “Why? Are you worried there may be tattlers in their midst?”

Sean opted not to answer that. “Nicole is my Second. Are you saying you wouldn’t be happy to see Tanner alive and well after he suffered a close brush with death?”

“I would be very happy to see Tanner alive and well after a brush with death,” he responded, “as I was after you immortals attacked my lair and destroyed my army. But I wouldn’t also be picturing Tanner naked.”

Cliff burst out laughing.

Sean hadn’t been picturing Nicole naked. Not at that particular moment. But he’d done it often enough lately that he had to fight the urge to squirm. “You’re not a telepath. You don’t know what I’m picturing.”

“I do,” Zach said, his smile rife with amusement as he climbed the steps to the deck and joined them.

Sean scowled. “Stay out of my head, damn it.” As soon the words left his lips, he swore. That had sounded too much like an admission of guilt. “Look, nothing can happen between Nicole and me. She’s my Second. It’s forbidden.”

“Forbidden?” Bastien rolled his eyes. “Why should that stop you?”

Cliff grinned. “Says the black sheep of the Immortal Guardians family.”

“Well, if we’re talking forbidden love,” Bastien countered. “What about Ami? She was about as forbidden as you can get. Seth loves her like a daughter. But Marcus didn’t let that stop him.”

“Although,” Cliff inserted, “Seth did kick his ass once. Sort of.”

“He did?” Surprised, Sean glanced at Marcus, who lingered near Ami over by the fireplace.

Marcus turned toward them and nodded with a sheepish grin.

“And it still didn’t stop him,” Cliff finished.

Bastien motioned to Zach. “What about Zach and Lisette?”

All whistled.

Zach leaned back against the deck railing and crossed his arms over his chest. “Seth specifically warned me away from her and warned her to stay away from me, yet she pursued me anyway.”

“Boinking Seth’s enemy was ballsy as hell,” Cliff stated with admiration.

Across the yard, Lisette laughed. “And totally worth it!”

Sean laughed.

“Face it,” Bastien said. “We’re all rule breakers at heart.”

Sean wished someone would change the damn subject. Shouldn’t they be bickering over sports or something? “It’s different for you all,” he pointed out. “You’ve been part of this world for a long time. But I’m the new guy. And so is Nicole.”

“Technically,” Zach commented, “I haven’t been part of this Immortal Guardians world for a long time. I just joined it two or three years ago.”

“But you’ve known Seth forever.”

He pursed his lips. “True.”

Sean shook his head. “It took Nicole years to land a gig as a Second.”

“Why?” Bastien asked. “Is she difficult to work with?”

“No!” Sean instantly jumped to her defense. “That’s the thing. She’s freaking awesome. But most Immortal Guardians are male, and Chris couldn’t find any who didn’t instantly balk at the idea of a woman risking her life for them. I thought that was bullshit and not fair to her, so I chose her to be my Second. And when I did, Reordon made it very clear—multiple times—that sex is not part of her job.”

“Is it part of her personal life?” Zach asked.

Sean frowned. “Chris wouldn’t differentiate between the two. And I don’t want to risk Nicole’s professional future.”

Bastien glanced at his wife. “I suppose I can understand that. I thought having any kind of relationship with me—even friendship—would cost Melanie her job. But it didn’t. Reordon got over it.”

Frustration built within Sean. These guys just weren’t getting it. “Melanie leads the viral research division at network headquarters. Her work is invaluable, and she’s one of only two doctors who are willing to work hands-on with the vampires who surrendered to the Immortal Guardians. She’s essentially irreplaceable. Nicole isn’t. There are dozens of other network employees who would love to step in and serve as a Second. Probably hundreds. And that’s just on the East Coast.”