David snorted as soon as Gideon was gone. "I guess I can make sure you sleep, because I'm sure as hell not going to be able to."

Jonah sat down on the edge of the bed, though slumped might have been a better word for it. "It's not so bad here. Jesse and Gideon are good people."

"It's not Jesse and Gideon. It's the fact that just two hours ago, I was standing in England." And just three hours ago, Jonah had been missing and possibly dead. "I guess you know those two pretty well?"

"Well enough. Gideon's been friends with my Uncle Derek since he was younger than me. And I got to meet Jesse when they moved into this place."

"How long ago was that?"

Jonah cocked his head to consider it. "Two years? Something like that. Their last apartment got burned down, so Emma and Jesse talked Gideon into buying this place." He grinned. "Isn't it fantastic? I love this house. All this history. Jesse's going to go nuts tomorrow when he finds out what I learned."

"Who's Emma?" Another woman's name. That along with the mysterious Michelle and Dominique made him wonder if they just collected women.

Some of the light in Jonah's face faded. "She was ... well, it was the three of them. Together. Gideon, Jesse, and Emma. What they had ... the rest of us should be so lucky."

"What happened to her?"

"She and Jesse got attacked last summer. Jesse almost died, and then, well, I still don't know exactly what happened, but he disappeared and Gideon went a little crazy looking for him, and then when they came home, he was fine again. I don't know the details, because Derek never tells me any of the good stuff, but I guess it's all about that whole Guardian stuff he was explaining in the car."

"All this shit is a little too weird for me. I know they're your friends, and they seem to be good guys, but why would you even want to be around all of this?"

"You don't think it's exciting?"

"Which part do you think is exciting? Getting kidnapped and nearly killed? Or being near Jesse and Gideon?"

His blunt query brought a flush to Jonah's cheeks, and the young man bent his knee to get to work on removing his shoes. "What's so funny is that Jesse's right. I probably wouldn't have been hurt at all if I'd just told him what I was doing. I've just always been a little jealous of what Jesse has, that's all. Maybe not now, not with not knowing where Emma is, and having Michelle and Dominique living here, but, well, probably everything else."

"What are you jealous of?" David's eyes widened. "Gideon? Do you want to be with a vampire?"

"Oh, no," Jonah was quick to say. "I mean, Gideon's hot, but Jesse's definitely better looking. It's just all the other stuff ..." His voice trailed off, his color rising even further. "I probably shouldn't say anything. Jesse's pretty open, but the only reason he even let me see their playroom was because I practically begged him."

It all made a weird sort of sense. Gideon had already dropped a hint that Jonah was a sub -- that fact had been dwelling in the back of his mind, waiting for the moment when David could spend more time with it. Gideon being a dom -- Jesse's Master -- was probably the least surprising bit of news he had heard all night.

"So, you want Gideon to dominate you?"

"Gideon?" Jonah half shrugged and tossed his shoes aside. "That wouldn't be bad, but if I had a choice, I'd pick Jesse any day of the week."