The Vampire’s Servant
Chapter 78

[Echo]

I was sitting on the couch in Victor's office doing my homework. He'd told me to stay with him so he could be there if I needed him. I was glad that I didn't fight too hard to stay at school. I ended up sleeping most of the afternoon, waking when my alarm went off to heat the blanket. When Victor woke up, I told him what happened and he held me tight. I told him about what I heard Harmony say and how I'd yelled at her. The first time she'd started talking about my relationship with Gray and Victor, I'd been waffling on what I felt. This time, it made me angry. My relationship with my mates was none of her business and she had no right to tell me who to love and how to love them. And I did love them. That should be what was important, that and the way they loved me. The way they made me feel safe and complete. It was part of the reason I wanted to stay with them forever. I was never as safe as I was in our home. I was never as complete as I was in their arms. Having that for the rest of my life made me happier than anything before.

I was working on some math homework when I heard Gray's voice in the house. I jumped up. Victor looked at me with amusement.

"Have you finished that assignment, princess?" He asked.

"Well, no, but Gray's home. Can I take a break to go see him? Please?" I pled.

Victor sighed. "As long as you come right back to finish your work. You won't get caught up if you don't focus, Echo."

"I promise, I will get caught up again, Victor. I just want to see Gray again." I told him.

"Go on. I'll be right here." He smiled and turned back to the old book he was reading.

I hurried out of the room. Gray wasn't in the entry way, but I heard him in the kitchen talking to Amy. I went in to see him.

He was unpacking food from a cooler. I wondered what sort of business involved getting a cooler full of food. Was I not doing a good enough job making sure he had enough to eat?

Gray turned and smiled at me. "Hello, beautiful. Come see what my great-grandma sent for you."

I approached and looked at all the different foods in the containers. There were a couple pies, a cake, and a whole bunch of different dishes in Tupperware containers. They seemed like leftovers from different meals and they all smelled wonderful. "Why did she send me food?" I asked.

"It's just something she does. Gammy believes that anything can be fixed with food. When she heard that you were recovering from a kidnapping, she insisted on sending all this. No one is allowed to have any until you pick what you want. She also hopes to see you at my family dinner on Sunday. I hope you'll be okay with going. Everyone wants to meet you." He said.

Sunday dinners were a big deal in my house. I never got to have one after my parents started locking me in the basement on Sundays. I could barely remember the ones before then. I'd shut those memories away when I was very little. I didn't want to remember the time before I was considered an evil monster.

"Are you sure they really want me there?" I asked quietly. "They don't have to invite me just because I'm your mate."

"I know for a fact that Trent, mom, dad, Gammy, and Grampy want you there. Everyone else is probably excited to meet you too." Gray told me.

"Mates and family are very important to werewolves. Family is especially important to pack wolves. As Gray's mate, you're his family and their family. If any of them are asses to you, just go talk to the oldest male you see. If he doesn't put them in their place, talk to the oldest female you see and she definitely will." Amy winked.

I nodded. "I'll go. You have to stay near me, though. You told me about your family. That sounds like a lot of people."

"How about if I take you bowling with a small group of my friends the night before. After your thing with Sean. I saw that you have a video game of it, would you like to try it in real life? I have three friends I normally bowl with. They will bring their mates and you can see how werewolf couples, aside from your sister and Cam, are." Gray offered.

"That sounds like fun. I want to try really bowling." I said.

"Great! I'll let them know you're up for it. What do you want to do tonight?" He asked.

"I want to work on my homework. There's a lot and I want to get caught up. It's what I was doing before you came home. I only took a break so I could see you." I told him.

"Where are you working at? I have a lot to get done, too. We can work on it together."

"I'm working in Victor's office."

"I'll grab us a couple slices of pie and meet you there. Will you take my backpack in there?" Gray asked.

"Sure." I replied with a smile.

I grabbed his bag and took it into Victor's office. Victor raised his eyebrow at me as I got seated and comfortable again.

"What is that?" He asked.

"Gray's backpack. We're going to do our homework."

"In my office?"

"I figured I could focus more if I knew where both of you were and what you were doing. If we'll be too much of a bother we can move to the living room or the library... if it's free." I bit my lip.

Finding Jean-Claude and Dillon kissing in the library had been a surprise. I didn't know I could find anyone kissing anywhere near as interesting as I did when I saw them kissing. It actually made me think of Victor and Gray doing that.

I could imagine them in only their pajama pants. Bare chests rubbing against each other while Victor rode Gray's lap. His fingers wrapped in Gray's shiny black hair while their lips met, then parted giving that slight glimpse of Victor's tongue entering Gray's mouth. The deep, gentle moaning as they kissed. Gray's hands sliding into Victor's pants....

"Not going to happen, Echo." Gray growled above me.

"Echo." Victor said in a stern voice.

Heat rushed to my face. They'd seen what I was imagining. I had to be more careful about that. I couldn't even look at them. I was so embarrassed.

"I'm sorry. I don't know how to block these things from you." I whispered.

"So you're not sorry you're thinking them?" Victor asked.

"No. They're my thoughts and daydreams. I'm allowed to have them. I just need to make sure you can't see them." I replied.

He laughed. Gray chuckled as well. I felt a little of the embarrassment start to ebb away. It was lucky that they had a sense of humor about it. I didn't seem to be able to stop. It made me feel warm between my legs when I thought of them touching each other and kissing each other. "Where exactly where you planning on taking that little daydream, princess." Victor stood and crossed to stand next to Gray.

"I... I don't know. I guess I didn't know where exactly it could go. I can always ask Dillon about it. I don't think Jean-Claude would answer. He doesn't seem to talk much, especially not to me." I said softly.

"Do not talk to Dillon about what happens next. Goddess knows, he'd tell you. I really don't want images popping up in my head of the things you might imagine Victor and I doing together." Gray replied with a shudder.

"I need to figure out how to stop you from seeing things in my head when I think about you. I can't stop imagining things, but when I get really lost in the scenes in my head, you two can seem to see them." I explained. "Thankfully, as outside observers. I can't imagine what it would be like to experience that." Gray said.

"I've never seen a fantasy where it's just the two of us, princess. Don't you ever think about the things we could do with you?" Victor asked.

"Of course I do, it just isn't as strong. I think this is stronger because you both said it would never happen. It's forbidden and taboo. My mates would never do that, so it's much more interesting to pretend you would." I giggled. "Focus on your schoolwork." Victor ordered.

He went back to his desk and Gray sat next to me. We worked on more math in peaceful quiet. Gray helped me with a few things I didn't understand. He was in a higher level of math, so he already knew the stuff I was working on.

The comfort of being with both Victor and Gray made doing my work even better. I finished my math from last week a lot faster than I thought I would and moved on to science. I had nearly finished a third worksheet when Amy called us for dinner. I set my paper and pencil aside and Gray helped me stand.

We went into the kitchen to see that the table was set and Amy was dishing up our meal. I was happy that I didn't feel sick with solid food anymore. It didn't stop my craving for blood, but it wasn't as intense as it had been in the past few days. Talia came in the kitchen and wiggled her fingers at me as we took our seats.

"Victor. I needed to talk to you after dinner. Do you have time?" Amy asked.

"Of course. Did you need it to be private, or may I allow Gray and Echo to continue their schoolwork?"

"It's fine if they're there. It has to do with them a little. I'll go out and eat with the boys. I'll see you in a bit." She smiled and took her plate out to the porch.

"I really should have gotten a dinner table." I sighed.

"I can see if someone can take you to go purchase one when you're ready." Victor said.

"I'd really like that. It would be better if everyone could eat together." I told him.

"Anything you wish, princess." He replied with a wink.

As I ate, I thought about my imagination problem. My imagination had gotten me through some terrible times in the past ten years. I couldn't just turn it off. I wondered if I could make it work for me, though.

Earlier, I tried to get Gray to stay with me and make love to me. It hurt my feelings a little that he couldn't just arrange his schedule different for me. I knew that was selfish, but I couldn't help it. He was my mate and I wanted to be his priority. It would help if he told me what was going on.

I took a bite of my food and focused on Gray. I thought about the feeling of his touch, the rough kisses he liked, and the warmth of his arms. I saw him stiffen. I focused on the feeling of him kissing and sucking my neck, moving his mouth lower, the feeling of him sucking, nibbling, and licking over my breasts. The tingles that accompanied every caress.

Gray set his fork down and closed his eyes, the pace of his breathing changed. I squeezed my knees together as I thought of his hand trailing down my body, seeking the heat between my legs. I nearly gasped as I remembered the feeling of his fingers in my most sensitive spots, gliding over me, delving into me, making my entire body react.

Suddenly, there was a pain in my shin. Victor had kicked me. I glared at him. Talia was sitting in the chair across from me, giggling.

"What do you think you're doing, princess?" Victor asked.

"Nothing. Just thinking." I said innocently.

"F**k, Echo. I almost came in my pants. Don't do that at the dinner table. You should know better than that." Gray growled.

I bit my lip and toyed with my food. He deserved it for getting me worked up and leaving me behind. He could scold me all he wanted, I wouldn't feel bad about it.

"I won't ask you to apologize, you seem to have no remorse for what you've done. I will ask that you don't do things like that in situations that aren't appropriate for it." Victor said sternly.

That made me angry. I wasn't a child. He wasn't my father, or my sire. I got up from the table silently and walked to the bathroom, where I locked the door and sat on the floor in front of it.

Then, I started thinking of Victor. If he thought he could parent me, he'd learn what an unruly child I could be. I didn't know what was coming over me, I was never stubborn... but then I remembered, I was just as stubborn as Harmony when I was very little.

I thought about him pinning me to the wall, his hands running over my body as he whispered to me about what a good girl I was and how much he loved me. I imagined him kissing down my body, putting my legs over his shoulders, and looking up at me while he licked and sucked like last night and I gripped his hair. I slipped my hand into my pants and rubbed myself while imagining that it was Victor's tongue.

When I got close, I covered my mouth with my other hand and went further, mentally watching him as he pleasured me up against the wall. I reached my peak and heard Talia start laughing loudly.

"Damn it, Echo!" Victor shouted.

I could have probably gotten Gray without as much effort, but I knew I was going up against someone who had centuries of experience. I wouldn't use this as much. I was already aching with need from doing it to Gray. I would need to figure out different ways to use my ability.

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door as the handle rattled above me. I could smell Victor on the other side.

"Open this damned door, Echo!" He yelled.

He sounded really angry. I covered my head, closed my eyes, and wished I was in my bedroom closet, hiding in the corner where my long skirts covered. All of a sudden, the pounding stopped and there was something brushing my knees.

I opened my eyes to see my skirts hanging in front of me. I was in my closet. How had that happened? Could it be another ability? Like Marius.

For a moment, I was excited, then I remembered, I made Victor really mad. This wasn't going to be good. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Marius. He picked up the phone after a few rings.

"Hello, Echo. What can I help you with?" He asked almost cheerfully.

"I think I just traveled like you do, but I need help I made Victor mad at me." I whispered.

Marius appeared in front of me immediately. "Echo. Where are you?"

I crawled out from under the skirts and wrapped my arms around him. The door to the closet burst open. Victor stood there, his eyes were glowing violet.

"When you've calmed down, I'll bring her back." Marius said, and we were instantly not in the closet anymore, but in a living room I had never seen before.