There wasn’t time for Zelda to teach him a lot, but she helped him find his center and showed him how to tap into the magic residing within him. Turned out, it was the freaking pool that reminded him of Winter’s eyes.
The most important thing, though, was that she showed him how to call up the protective shield he’d created to fight Cheryl’s fire spell. She worked with him on strengthening it and shifting it to guard against a variety of attacks.
Learning something offensive would have been nice when it came to fighting Damon and his vampires, but if he could protect Winter or one of the other Variks, he would count it as a win.
It would take a long time, but Zelda had given him the keys to unlocking his gift. He’d be able to learn new things, big and small. He doubted magic would become his life, and he certainly had no intention of becoming a meddler quite like Zelda. But dancing feather dusters might be fun.
Stopping in the guest room, Fox hopped into the shower to make sure he’d lost the last of the blood that had covered him, thanks to the glass shards, as well as washed away the sweat that had dried on his skin. He had a sexy man to seduce, and he didn’t want Winter to think about what had happened in that cabin for a second.
Besides, Zelda had given him one last gift as she left, in the form of some very interesting and critical information.
Fox barely dried off before pulling on a pair of boxer briefs and hurrying down the hall to Winter’s room. His man was just coming out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of black briefs while rubbing a towel against his long hair. A tired smile lifted Winter’s lips, and Fox crossed to him.
“You look exhausted,” Fox said as he slid his arms around his slender waist.
“Talking to my brothers is draining business.”
Fox cocked his head to the side, his eyebrows gathering over the bridge of his nose. “You talked to all of them.”
“Philippe brought Rafe to Marcus’s house. He wanted backup when it came to keeping Rafe out of trouble. Nearly the entire clan was there, and they all had a lot to say about the prophecy being fake.”
“They’re not mad at me, right?”
Winter tossed the towel aside and pulled Fox in against his chest. “No, of course not. Mostly they’re annoyed at Zelda and relieved that you’re not some kind of stealth threat. Also, Ethan was happy to tell all of them we’re sleeping together. There were lots of comments.” Winter sighed and rolled his eyes toward the ceiling. “So much commentary on my sex life.”
While that was an interesting line of conversation, and he very much wanted to know what the brothers were saying, Fox would not be distracted. “You didn’t tell them about seeing ghosts, did you?”
Winter looked at Fox, his eyes narrowed. “Zelda teach you to read my mind?”
“No, I’m just that good at reading you without magic. Don’t underestimate me,” Fox growled.
Leaning in, Winter took his lips in a slow, tender kiss that ended with him capturing his bottom lip between his teeth and lightly tugging. His Winter was a wicked man. “Never underestimate you, baby.”
“But you will try to distract me.”
Winter cracked open one eye. “Is it working?”
Fox wanted to say, “No, absolutely not!” but he couldn’t convincingly lie, and he’d never lie to Winter in the first place. The vampire was starting to wear him down with his sleepy eyes, soft kisses, and the gentle caresses along his bare back. “Maybe a little.”
“I guess I’ll have to try harder.” Winter started to kiss him again, but Fox pulled away, his gaze stern. Winter sighed and nodded. “You’re right. I will. Soon. I promise.”
“They need to know. You can’t keep secrets from your brothers. They care about you.”
Winter pulled Fox in tight for another hug. “How the hell did I live two hundred years without you?” he murmured, his lips brushing against the bare skin of Fox’s shoulder.
“I have a feeling it had a lot to do with overprotective brothers, but now you’ve got an overprotective Fox to keep an eye on you.”
“Then I think my Fox needs to tuck me into bed. I’m exhausted.”
With a smirk, Fox led Winter over to the bed and pulled back the blankets for him to get in on his side before he crossed the room and turned out all the lights. He slipped into the cool sheets and sighed. It felt good to relax and let the insanity of the day fall off his shoulders. But as much as he was tempted to roll over and fall asleep, he had something else in mind. And while Winter was tired, he had a feeling it was enough to tempt his man awake again.