Havermouth, Present TimeHeath slid out from under Aislen. It had been nice to lie there holding her and he had lingered breathing in her warm, sleeping scent. Just lying in each other’s arms was not something that happened between them frequently, both in the past and the present. He had been tempted to stay, to let himself slip into a much-needed sleep, but he had things to speak to Talen about that would be easier said without her hearing, so he eased away very carefully, and tucked the sheets in around her so that the loss of his body heat wouldn’t wake her.He pulled on his jeans and shirt and carried his shoes out into the hallway with him, padding down to the kitchen. Talen and Tyler were watching a documentary on the Pyramids and drinking wine. Heath paused in the doorway in order to observe them. He had not had the opportunity to gauge their relationship to each other, to work out its dynamic.There was a comfortable familiarity between the two men, in a non-sexual way. Heath
Havermouth, Seven Years BeforeHeath was dressing in his bedroom when Charlie entered. Heath tucked his shirt into his jeans and turned, picking up his knit top from the bed. He could remember precisely five times since Heath had entered his teens that one of his parents had entered his room. Other than the housekeeper, Heath’s room was his own territory, and he guarded it like any alpha guarded his den.Charlie saw the flash of wolf in Heath’s eyes and sighed. “I am here to speak to you.”“Yes, dad?” Heath remained where he was.“Your hostility is not appreciated, Heath,” Charlie reproved.“I would have come to your office. This is my room.”“Your territory,” Charlie concluded for him, wryly. “It is perhaps fitting that this conversation starts this way, on the night that you become formerly recognized by the pack as an alpha, something that is normally reserved for older werewolves.”“I am only two and half years off,” Heath replied defensively.“A lot can happen in two and half yea
Havermouth, Present Time“There is a saying that a man’s reputation is like his shadow,” Talen observed calmly. “It sometimes follows him, and sometimes proceeds him, but it rarely fits him like a glove. Come sit on my knee, little demon,” he held out his hand.Aislen slipped onto his lap and put her arm around his neck leaning into his comforting warmth and size. “I know all about reputations,” she agreed nuzzling in and breathing in the scent of his skin. “I have quite a reputation myself – the Triquetra’s whore.”“Hmm,” Talen refilled his wine glass and offered it to her. His thumb stroked over the skin of her thigh, a small caress that melted her heart in its absentmindedness. Even when distracted by something else, he touched her with a gentle intimacy. “It is rare for a vampire of my age to be unknown, especially if they frequent the same area for some time. I have preferred not to leave this continent for the last couple of centuries, and therefore my reputation, like my shadow
Havermouth, Seven Years BeforeRhett hung in the doorway and watched as Phillip Salem moved around the elegant and modern kitchen making toast and coffee. Rhett’s mother was making herself scarce, as was normal when Phillip was in Havermouth. She rented office space above Deborah’s florist, giving herself both the excuse to see her lover, and a retreat from Phillip.Phillip looked up, sensing Rhett’s gaze. “Want a coffee?”“I’ll make it,” Rhett edged into the kitchen warily. Things between him and his father tended to explode unexpectedly. There was a direct correlation between other things happening in Phillip’s life and his tolerance for his son.“For f-k sake Rhett,” Phillip said with disdain as he dragged his eye over Rhett. “You look like you dressed in the dark in clothes that you found in the bottom of the laundry hamper. How the hell you manage to have the reputation that you do looking as you do, I don’t know.”“It’s the school uniform,” Rhett hunched his shoulder as he poure
Havermouth, Present TimeGuy stood on the porch. He looked up slowly taking in the mass of Talen with shrewd assessment, before his eyes went beyond him to Aislen and he smiled. “Hi, Aislen.”“Umm,” Aislen was scattered, her focus still on the scurrying noises all in the walls around her. “Hi Guy.”“You look real good. I’d heard you got shot.”“I did,” Aislen lifted her top to show the scar. “But the hospital patched me up.”“Oh, wow,” he gawked. “Nice tatts.”Talen shifted slightly and Aislen dropped the hem of her top realizing that Guy was staring at her with more than morbid interest in her wound.Guy’s eyes went back to Talen, and then returned to Aislen. “I was out running errands for June, and thought I’d pop by and make sure you don’t need anything, save you from driving in this weather,” he turned and assessed the stormy sky. “Won’t be long until the rain starts.”“Oh, that’s really kind,” Aislen replied. “But I think I’m good. Talen, this is Guy. Guy this is Talen.”“Hi,” Gu
Havermouth, Six and a Half Years BeforeRhett lay on his back on the grassy knoll with his arm blocking the sun from his eyes and tried to ignore the annoyance of Rohan and the footballers beyond Heath and Cameron.There were only two good things about football in Rhett’s opinion, and that was how f-king hot Heath and Cameron looked whilst they played it, and cheerleaders. There were a lot of things wrong with football, and most of them were offering a lewd commentary on the girls that Heath, Cameron and Rhett had f-ked over the weekend.The last girl had run from the room crying mascara black tears with the shreds of her clothing flapping behind her and only one shoe.They had been at a pool party at Rohan’s and her dramatic exit had been witnessed by half the school, adding a new level of notoriety to the Triquetra’s reputation.Rhett was getting bored of it though, he admitted to himself. The mindless rutting had lost its novelty and had begun to feel shallow and unsatisfying. He d
Havermouth, Present TimeLightning flashed through the room and for a moment the light flickered. Aislen looked up from her sketch pad in irritation. “I finally get a couple of hours to work, and the lights go on the fritz,” she complained. Rain hissed against the windows, and sky was so heavy with cloud that she couldn’t see a star in the sky.“Which is why I recommended that you not work on your laptop,” Heath replied from the kitchen where he was washing the dishes from dinner. “All it takes is a tree branch falling across the power lines and the power will be out for a couple of hours.” There was a generator at the river house, his tone reminded her.Damn it, she scowled at the page. She had agreed to go to the river house the next morning and she just knew that the Triquetra were hoping that if the storm set in, she would find it harder to justify not staying there once she was at the house. If the power was cut, she might have no option, and she hated feeling as if she were bein
Havermouth, Six and a Half Years BeforeRhett rolled up his sleeves as he walked towards the group of humans. He knew that Heath and Cameron were following, letting him take the lead. They hadn’t questioned why they were bearing down on Shaun Bascall – that Rhett had told them that the human needed a pounding was enough for them. It was the first time Rhett had instigated a fight, though by no means the first time that he’d fought alongside of them.The humans around Shaun Bascall saw their approach and read their body language well, panic sliding across their faces as they debated just who Rhett was there for.Shaun was slow to respond, his eyes puzzled just before they became wary. “Hey, Rhett.”“You know why the f-k we’re here,” Rhett growled at him, the hunch of his shoulder straining the fabric of his shirt and his hands fisted at his side. He snarled, showing the sharpness of his canines and premolars – a signal that humans did not identify the same way as a supernatural would,