Free Eternal Seduction by Jennifer Turner

away.
    Then give her a choice…
    He lowered his head when he felt a heavy hand squeeze his shoulder, only to find Odin’s smiling black eyes staring back at him. “Ont wuhwee, bo. Sill be awite.”
    Kerestyan did his best to return the reassuring gesture. For once, he just hoped his brother was right.

Chapter 5

    Logan slipped through her cracked bedroom door and crept down the hall towards the kitchen. She had no idea what was so damn funny that she could hear the chorus of hearty laughter through the walls, but she had every intention of finding out.
    When she reached the end of the hallway, she flattened herself against the wall and peeked around the corner. Odin, with a rag stuffed in his mouth, made all manner of odd noises while Kerestyan, eyes twinkling under the gentle track lighting, twisted a black wine bottle setting in one of the odd appliances she didn’t recognize.
    Reminiscent of a fancy silver bowl, instead of tapering near the bottom the machine belled out into black rubber feet. The digital panel centered on the front read 88.2, but the glowing red numbers quickly changed. When the contraption emitted a loud beep as the number reached 99.0, Kerestyan pulled the bottle out, popped the cork then handed it to Odin.
    “Warmed to your distinguished preference, Sir,” Kerestyan laughed, with a bad English accent.
    Odin pulled the towel from his mouth, grabbed the bottle and wrapped his lips around it like a hooker who’d just been paid five thousand dollars to suck off a professional athlete.
    Logan mulled the scene over for a minute. This was what they were doing? She’d been herded back to her room for a time-out so they could laugh like idiots and drink themselves into a wine induced stupor?
    At least it’s not whiskey. She shivered as an icy chill slipped down her spine in response to the errant thought. At thirteen, she may not have known how to properly express how she felt to her father. Now thirty, her prowess for self expression was quite the opposite.
    She pushed around the corner and locked eyes with Kerestyan. “This is why you sent me to my room? So you and your brother could get wasted in the kitchen?”
    Every ounce of humor drained from his face. “It’s not what it looks like, Logan.”
    Odin’s lips popped off the bottle. “Op. Ot wuh eh ooks ike ah aww.” He closed his eyes for a second, smacked his lips together then stuck his tongue out to a dull point and wiggled it. Eyes wide, his head bobbed from side to side then back before he righted it and smiled. “Ahh, much better.”
    Logan stood still for a moment while her brain tried to reconcile his idiotic movements. “What in the hell was that? How much of that stuff have you had?”
    He set the bottle on the counter and spun it. “It only takes one. That’s some good shit, Baby.”
    Ignoring the fact he’d called her something other than it or Bones, she snatched up the wobbling vintage and tipped it to her mouth. If the wine was good enough for them, it was definitely good enough for her.
    Besides, maybe her father had been right. Maybe all of life’s answers were at the bottom of a bottle.
    Closing her eyes, she parted her lips and let the liquid surround her tongue.
    “Logan!”
    “Shut up! Let her do it. It’s kinda kinky.”
    Logan wrinkled her nose as her taste buds caught up with her. Hot and coppery, it didn’t take her long to figure out what the distinct metallic taste reminded her of…
    Being punched in the nose, that’s what it reminded her of.
    She swallowed the thick fluid, waited a moment to make sure it would stay down, and then gently set the bottle back on the counter.
    “That was fuckin’ hot! Kerestyan, get out another bottle!”
    She opened her eyes and stared at Odin, whose face was lit up like a Gothic Christmas tree. “You could’ve warned me.”
    “And miss watching you do that?” He wiggled a finger in front of her nose. “Oh, no. No way.” He lowered his hand and rubbed it