Cunningham, Pat - Legacy [Sequel to Belonging] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Pat Cunningham

  “Let’s see. Vampires, prostitution—no, I think we’re covered. How about you? You hiding any secrets?”

  “I grew up in a hippie commune, I’m psychic, and I was adopted. Those are the biggies. You’ve got me beat by a long shot. If I think of anything else, I’ll tell you. Promise.”

  His revelations put an end to further conversation. They arrived at Colleen’s apartment building wrapped in uncomfortable silence. Colleen couldn’t help staring around the parking lot, at one spot of blacktop in particular. No stains. Certainly a man stabbed through the heart with a wooden stake would bleed all over the place. There did appear to be smudges that might have been ash. She hastily looked away again.

  Yet another concern reared its paranoid head outside her apartment door. “What if they got in? What if they’re in there right now, waiting for us?”

  “They aren’t,” Jeremy assured her. “Vampires can’t enter a private dwelling unless they’re invited in. That’s why they had to call you outside.”

  His prediction proved correct. Colleen’s wary glance inside revealed her apartment just as she’d left it, slippers under the coffee table and everything. No signs of a break-in, no sense of menace. With a sigh of relief, she went in. Having Jeremy at her back boosted her courage enormously.

  “I’ll only be a minute,” she said. “Make yourself at home.”

  “No problem. I want to call Gus anyway.” He drew his cell from his pocket. “That commune you grew up in. What was it called again?”

  “The Woods and the Waters.” Already halfway to her bedroom, she paused. “Why? Do you think it’s important?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it. I swear I’ve heard that name before.”

  “I don’t know where or why you would. We were just a bunch of hippies living in the woods.”

  “Somebody mentioned it. At home, I think. I wish there was someone to call.” A shadow passed across his face before he quelled it. “Well, it’ll come to me. Go ahead, and get your stuff.”

  “I won’t be long,” she promised again. He nodded, already on the phone.

  In her bedroom Colleen carefully hung up her club dress and pulled out more sensible attire. She deliberately picked out the least alluring items in her closet, what she dubbed her Sunday uniform—her brother Michael’s old UCLA sweatshirt and a pair of baggy jeans too worn for anything but sofa-surfing. She filled her tote bag with a change of undies, toiletries, and a fresh blouse and slacks for Monday morning. She didn’t bother with makeup. Even if she only stayed the night, she didn’t want to torment Jeremy, or herself, any more than necessary.

  At the bureau, she paused and studied her cell phone. Call the cops anyway? Jeremy was still in the living room. He’d never hear her.

  Yes, officer, I was attacked by a vampire. No, he’s dead. The other vampire rammed a stake through his chest. The body? You see that smear in the parking lot? The other one’s dead, too. Please don’t try to wake him, he gets really grouchy. Would you like to talk to his slave?

  Oh yeah, that’d go over real well.

  She picked up her cell and dialed, but not the police. “Hey, Norelle? It’s Col. Look, about tonight…”

  With tote bag in hand and still on the phone, Colleen returned to the living room. Jeremy stood by the window, watching the street. He raised his eyebrows slightly at her latest outfit, but didn’t comment.

  “No, everything’s fine,” she said into the phone. “I just had a sudden change of plans. Really unexpected. A what? A guy?”

  She looked over at Jeremy. He grinned. She grinned back. “As a matter of fact…”

  She aimed the cell’s camera. Jeremy adopted a slinky, male-model pose, complete with pouty look. Colleen giggled and hit “send.” Within seconds Norelle’s squeal shrilled out of the phone. “Is that worth postponing our night out for or what? That’s what I thought you’d say. I’ll tell you all about it Monday morning. Yes, I’ll be there. On time. What? Norelle! Talk about the pot calling the kettle skank. Say hi to Nathan for me. See you Monday.”

  Colleen dropped her phone into her purse, and Jeremy dropped his pose. “What was that about?”

  “Getting a rain check for my girls’ night out. Thanks for being such a great excuse. She’ll never question me now.”

  “Does anyone else need to know where you are?”

  “I don’t think so. My folks are in San Diego, and my brother’s in Vegas. If I check in once a week, we’re all good.”

  “Sounds like we’re set.” He walked over and bent to take her tote bag.

  One touch did it, an inadvertent brush of hands during the tote bag transfer. The pheromones must have hit their pressure point, like flint striking sparks. All of a sudden, she needed his cock in her pussy more than she needed air in her lungs. She didn’t need her psychic prickle to tell her Jeremy’s reaction. Her shapeless Sunday uniform hadn’t protected her after all. Gauging by the raw desire in his eyes, she might as well have been naked.

  That could be arranged.

  The last unspoken question hung in the bare inch of space between their lips. Colleen had time to murmur “yes” before his mouth took possession of hers, even as her arms snaked around his neck to draw him down to her level. This time a simple kiss wouldn’t be nearly enough, and she could tell both of them knew it.

  She had one, final, rational thought—My bed’s too small for him—before the matter turned moot. Jeremy kicked her tote bag out of the way and bore her down to the floor. The shag carpet welcomed her like a bridal bed. His tongue plunged into her open, willing mouth to meet hers in a sinuous dance. She wound her fingers through his hair to bring his head closer still.

  This alone wouldn’t do it. She needed the feel of hands and muscles sliding over her body. She needed to feel his slick and heated skin against her own.

  His shirt proved no match for the tug of her fist. Half the buttons popped and went flying. He had more trouble working her sweatshirt’s ungainly folds over her head. Between the two of them they finally managed to free her from its bulky confines. Jeremy tossed it after the tote bag.

  That left only the clean bra she’d put on between Colleen and toplessness. The lacy garment had a front clasp Jeremy’s big fingers couldn’t get a grip on. Giggling, Colleen took his hand and moved it aside then undid the clasp herself. The bra fell away. Nothing spilled out. Nature hadn’t been generous enough to gift her with spill-worthy tits.

  “I’m afraid that’s all there is,” she said.

  For a moment he simply stared down at her. Then he cupped her left breast hesitantly, as if he’d never touched one before, or not for a very long time. Her breast disappeared within his huge hand. He smiled, and her whole world brightened.

  “They’re perfect.”

  Still stroking her left breast, he dipped his head to tongue the nipple on the right. It hardened almost instantly within his skillful mouth. He sent that mouth on an exploratory quest from breast to breast, then breast to collarbone, then up to her neck and ear before returning to her mouth for another dizzying kiss. The man could do things with his tongue and lips that took her breath away. She found she had just enough air left to moan his name against his ear.

  While Jeremy worked his oral assault, Colleen used her hands to learn the curves and dips and juts of his shoulders, back, hipbones, and ass. His skin was smooth and taut over muscles as supple as a python’s. She skimmed her palms over his hairless chest, applying her lips as a follow-up. She found no scars, no blemishes. He was like Greek marble brought to fiery life by the Pygmalion touch of her hands.

  Squirming her fingers under his waistband, she encountered a patch of wiry hair clumped around the root of his cock. That warranted further attention. She tugged at his belt, then his zipper. He caught her hand and pulled it out with a teasing grin. The gleam in his eyes told her hold on, speedy, we’ll get to that in a minute. Instead he added his hands to the mix, and Colleen gasped anew.

  He seemed to know every spot on her body where h
er rawest nerves scraped closest to the surface. He savored her from stem to stern, including places she’d never dreamed were so sensitive until his lips and fingers schooled her otherwise. She was losing herself, drowning in his touch, a helpless, willing prisoner to the pace he set.

  By now the simmering warmth in her cunt had flared into a full-scale wildfire. She ground her hips against his groin, a not-so-subtle hint for him to get to the good stuff. He chuckled with his lips on her breast and held to his own maddening agenda. Growling her impatience against his neck, she noticed for the first time the small scar there, just below his left ear and right over the throb of a vein. It looked suspiciously like a bite mark. Curious, she touched her tongue to it.

  The result was instantaneous and wholly unexpected. Jeremy gasped and shuddered all over. All at once, she had a wild beast in her arms. He attacked her mouth, her neck, her breasts with his mouth while his hands moved in feverish strokes over her hips and thighs. Before she knew what was happening, he was wrestling her jeans off her hips. They followed her sweatshirt into the corner with her tote bag. One quick grasp and yank ripped her panties from her.

  Naked at last, she lay panting beneath him. The blue-gray of his eyes billowed like thunderheads before the explosion of the storm. Where was Jeremy? Who was this panting savage intent on taking possession of her? For that matter, where was Colleen? Who was this feral woman who flung herself against him, starved for his touch? Primal drives had reduced her to a straining body eager to please him and drain him of pleasure in turn. She hungered to feel him inside her. She drew in a long breath and would have sworn she could smell his blood.

  Real or imagined, the scent awakened her dangerous self, the one who sneered at practical Miss Colly, the one who went clubbing in tight blue dresses and had fought back against a vampire. She dug her nails into Jeremy’s back and vowed then and there to fuck him senseless.

  His slacks didn’t last any longer than her jeans. He tore them off himself. His briefs followed. His cock quested blindly for the sopping prize between her legs. Like the rest of him, it was huge, long, and slender. As much as she wanted to just hop on top of it, she wanted a preview first.

  She took his penis in her hand. It practically burned against her palm. Colleen pressed her lips against the head and kissed her way down its length. He hissed and tried to thrust into her mouth. So much for his control. She squeezed his sack, a mild warning to him to hold his horses. He’d driven her to the brink of insanity with his leisurely foreplay. Let him suffer now.

  Recalling his claims, Colleen grazed her teeth along the vein of his cock. He made a hoarse sound that was almost a sob. Had vampires ever done this to him? Had they bitten his dick? Had Wallace?

  His rough, animal noises finally undid her. Her own passion exploded and consumed her. Enough with the fooling around. She needed him inside her now. With her hand still on him, she guided his head to her entrance.

  “Now,” she gasped against the scar on his neck. “Please. Now.”

  Conscious thought ended when he entered her. His heat meshed with hers into a blast of nuclear proportions. His heartbeat thudded in her ears in concert with her own. They rocked together in a hard, desperate rhythm that brought her to the brink within seconds. Colleen forgot about vampires. Her heart pounded a beat that thundered, Jeremy, Jeremy. He gasped something that might have been her name, or a cry to God.

  One last thrust took them both over the edge. Colleen cried out as she came, and felt his own release deep inside her, with her nails dug into his shoulders and his face buried in her hair.

  Gradually her breathing returned to normal and sanity seeped back in. Jeremy slid out of her and lay on his back on the rug with Colleen cradled against him. She puffed breathless hitches of laughter onto his smooth, solid pec.

  “Liar. You’ve been with a woman before.”

  “Of course I’ve been with women before. Women, men, things I’m not even sure had a gender. It was part of the job.” He brushed her hair away from her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “This wasn’t a job. This was purely my pleasure. How about yours?”

  She mmm’d and stretched languorously against his lean, masculine body like a cream-fed cat. “My itch has been most satisfactorily scratched. You do good work.”

  “Comes from tons of practice. That’s what Wallace says.”

  Wallace. He had to mention Wallace. All her good feelings collapsed like a pricked balloon. “What are you going to tell him?”

  “I won’t have to tell him anything. He’ll know. He’ll smell you on me.” He kissed her again, closer to her mouth this time. “It’s okay. He’s good with this. He’s the one who told me to go ahead.”

  She smiled wanly. “Always helps to have the boyfriend’s permission, I guess.”

  “I’m good with it, too. If you want to sleep with Wallace, I mean. I’ve seen the way you look at him, even with the scowls. He told me he wouldn’t say no.”

  Colleen jolted halfway upright, causing Jeremy to sit up as well. “Are you kidding me? You’re trying to pimp me out to your vampire partner now?”

  “No, of course not. I’m just saying that if you want to, we’re both all for it.” He glanced away briefly then slanted her a guilty look. “He wanted me to ask you if you’d be interested in a threesome.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Are you serious?”

  “Yes.” The guilt cleared, and his gaze leveled out again, buoyed by sincerity. “That’s how it works in a flock. We share. We all look out for each other.”

  Dammit. For a second there he’d been acting so normal. Colleen edged away without quite leaving his arms. “I’m not part of your…flock. This whole thing’s only temporary until we can get the vampires or the kidnappers or whatever they are off my back. This…” She waved her hand vaguely to indicate the apartment, the floor, their mutual nakedness. “This isn’t me, I swear.”

  “It isn’t me either. I don’t usually sleep with breathers.” He drew her back against his side with no more than the slow circle of his palm on her back. “You know what’s worse? It didn’t work. I want you more than ever.”

  “I know.” Her whisper trembled. “Me, too.”

  Their lips connected again. This kiss lacked the wanton passion that had led them to this point. It was gentle, affectionate, and bound them like marriage vows. Her current problems, his past, his lover, none of it mattered anymore. Whatever else happened, she knew this man would be her friend, her protector, her supporter, her lover for as long as she wanted him and that she would return it all, and then some, to the fullest of her heart.

  She blew gently over the scar on his neck. He moaned against her cheek. “So,” she murmured. “What do we do now?”

  His voice was unsteady. “I think we should get dressed.”

  Good idea. It would make the drive back to his place so much less complicated. His and Wallace’s place, she corrected herself. That thought finally broke her from his arms, so she could gather up her clothes. She had to return to her bedroom for more wearable lingerie. By the time she emerged again Jeremy was also dressed, though not quite as fully as she. His shirt gaped where she’d popped the buttons off. Colleen smiled at the gaps apologetically.

  “Oops. Sorry about that. I’ll get you another one.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just don’t make this a regular thing, okay? Between you and Wallace, my wardrobe can’t take it.” He picked up her tote bag. “Got everything? Let’s get a move on, then.”

  Down at the car he set her tote on the back seat and held the passenger door for her. However, once behind the wheel he hesitated. His face grew faintly pink.

  “Rats. I know I should have—look. It’s okay. I’m clean.”

  Colleen blinked, not comprehending. “Clean?”

  “STDs. My former clients didn’t carry anything humans can catch. Since I’ve been exclusive with Wallace, protection never mattered. That’s no excuse, though. I’ll pick up a box of condoms. You’ve got too much on y
our mind already.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I told you, what happened up there, that’s not the normal me. I haven’t been in a committed relationship for six years, and I’ve played it safe since then.”

  “Safety’s not the only thing. There’s still—”

  “That’s not a problem,” she cut him off. “Trust me.”

  He looked at her, the obvious question rising in his eyes. She steeled herself for a confrontation because she couldn’t lie to him, and the truth was a knife in her guts. Make that a knife in her womb.

  “It’s not a problem,” she repeated.

  He let it drop, God bless him. They drove back to his place as they’d driven to hers, unhurried and mostly in silence.

  With two exceptions. She sat as close to him as the seat belt would let her, her thigh pressed comfortably to his. And whenever traffic allowed, he took one hand off the wheel to give her hand a squeeze. Each time she smiled and squeezed back.

  Chapter 8

  Along with stars and a rising moon, sundown brought the threat of a confrontation Colleen had both expected and dreaded since she and Jeremy got back. She heard Wallace moving around upstairs and hurriedly ran through a number of possible scripts in her head. Should she bring it up, or let Jeremy? Or just keep her mouth shut and hope he didn’t notice?

  She watched the stairs because she knew she’d get no warning clump of footsteps. Like Jeremy, Wallace moved with a silent grace belied by his muscular frame. She’d seen that silence and his speed in action against her attacker. Neither belonged to a human. She deftly put those thoughts on hold before they could grow too disturbing.

  Seating herself at the kitchen table, she glanced at Jeremy. He stood at the stove—in a different shirt with all its buttons intact, thank God—scrambling eggs and home fries. Since they’d already had their dinner, she surmised this was for Wallace.

  “He eats real food?” she asked. “I thought they drank blood.”