Jaded [The Moonlight Breed 9] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Gabrielle Evans (the read aloud family TXT) 📖

“Hello, gorgeous,” Zuriel purred from across the table.

Spiro snapped to attention, but his hope died a fiery death when he noticed his mate batting his lashes at Raven. The vampire Enforcer held his hands up and shook his head. “I’m here for the meeting, not to be pawed and groped by you.”

“Aww, but it would be so much fun.”

The tip of Zuriel’s tongue traced his plump lips, and Spiro nearly vomited right there in his lap. By sheer willpower, he maintained his composure, but rage, jealousy, and possessiveness simmered just below the surface.

“Sorry, little man, but you’re not my type.”

“Well, what is your type?” Standing from his chair, Zuriel fisted his hands on his hips and turned one way and then the other. “Taller?” As everyone watched, he grew several inches until he was nearly as tall as the vampire. “Maybe you like dark hair?” The blond locks grew longer and became inky black. “Do you like muscles? Brown eyes? Tanned skin?”

By the time he was finished with his transformation, he looked nothing like himself. Worse were the snide, sideways looks he kept casting at Spiro as though taunting him to say something. What he didn’t realize, however, was that though there was a smirk on his lips and confidence in his stance, there was a whole world of hurt shining in his eyes.

It was that sadness that finally spurred Spiro into speech. He’d given Zuriel his space, let him do it his way, but he saw his mistake now. He saw where he’d gone wrong, and he had a pretty good idea of how to fix it.

“Enough.” Placing both hands on the tabletop, he pushed to his feet and leaned forward, adding a bit of a growl to his tone. “Enough, Zuriel.”

“Don’t worry, Doc,” Zuriel teased as he reverted to his usual appearance. “There’s enough of me to go around.”

A mischievous grin flittered over Jacobi’s lips, and he snickered openly. “Get ’im, Doc.”

Snatching Zuriel around his upper arm, Spiro dragged him across the table before anyone could even blink, and threw him over one shoulder, smacking his upturned ass when he began to struggle. “You’re done here, Zuriel. Say good night.”

“Oh, you know how I like it rough,” Zuriel purred. “Hit me harder, sexy.” He pushed up so that he could see around the room and wiggled his fingers. “Good night, everyone. Apparently, Mr. Doctor is going to teach me a lesson.”

Yes, he was going to teach Zuriel a lesson, but not the kind he was expecting. The little brat could run his mouth all he wanted. In the end, it wouldn’t matter, because Spiro had him figured out now.

Marching down the hallway, he stepped into Zuriel’s room, kicked the door closed behind him, and dropped his squirming passenger onto the mattress. After bouncing twice, Zuriel flipped around so that he was stretched out on his stomach, propped his chin up on one hand, and grinned wickedly. “Well, here we are. What do you plan to do with me now?”

“You can quit with the act. We both know that I didn’t bring you here for sex.” That wasn’t to say sex was completely off the table, but neither of them would be removing a stitch of clothing until they talked about what bug had crawled up Zuriel’s ass.

“Pity. I’m very good at it.” Using his index finger, Zuriel traced his bottom lip and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a demonstration?”

“I’m going to make this very simple, Zuriel. There isn’t a single thing that I wouldn’t do for you, but you’re going to have to meet me halfway.” His cell phone vibrated in his jeans, but he wouldn’t be interrupted. Pulling the device from his pocket, he declined the call and set the phone aside on Zuriel’s dresser. His family was just going to have to wait.

“I’ll meet you in any way you want, Doc.” Rolling to his back, Zuriel hung his head off the end of the bed and ran both hands down his slim torso. “C’mon. You know you want to.”

“Is that really what you want? If it is, if that’s truly all you want, I’ll walk out that door right now, and I won’t bother you again.”

This was why doctors didn’t treat people they cared about. It was too hard to remain detached and not let his personal feelings cloud his judgment. In his case, it was doubly hard because of the intense connection between mated pairs.

“It doesn’t matter what I want.” It wasn’t what Spiro wanted to hear, but at least Zuriel had dropped the slutty camouflage he used to hide himself from the world. Pushing into a sitting position, he crossed his legs under him and folded his hands into his lap. “This is who I am. This is who I’m always going to be. I wish I could be more, but this is it.”

“C’mon, Zuriel, is that really the best you have? That’s the weakest excuse I’ve ever heard, and believe me, I’ve heard them all.” Everyone had the ability to be more, to be happier. The only thing holding Zuriel back was Zuriel, and Spiro just had to figure out why.

“Stop trying to analyze me. You can’t fix me. You can’t change what happened to me.” He finally looked up from the contemplation of his hands and pinned Spiro with an unblinking stare. “Let it go, Spiro. You say you’ve heard it all?” He chuckled darkly and shook his head. “Believe me, you really haven’t.”

“Then tell me.” He had a general knowledge of what had happened to the captives in The Hive. They were all working through their pain in different ways, but Zuriel exhibited the most self-destructive behavior by far. “Talk to me, lirimaer.”

“That’s beautiful,” Zuriel whispered.

“It’s elvish.” He hadn’t even realized he’d spoken the endearment, but it was fitting. Zuriel was the loveliest creature he’d ever met.

“What does it mean?”

“Loosely translated, it means ‘lovely one.’ Do you like it?” It had been years since