by Beverly Rae
She nodded, knowing it didn’t matter. She wanted everything, all of him. Everything except his energy.
He plunged two fingers inside, moving them in and out, varying the speed. “Do you want more?”
She placed her hand over her breast and copied the way he cupped the other one. “More.” Every time he touched her he gave her more. More sensations to ripple through her, more emotions to surprise her.
He complied, adding a third finger. She worked her hips, luxuriating in the sensation of his fingers inside her while his hard rod rubbed the crease between her legs.
“Harder. More.”
Again, he obeyed her, adding a fourth finger and increasing the speed, the force. His fingers worked her, pounding inside her, rubbing her. Her nub throbbed and another orgasm rushed free. She closed her eyes, reveling in the river of delight cascading through her, rushing her over the cliff again to soar into the air.
“Damn, you’re amazing.” He placed his hands on either side of her head and she opened her eyes to find him staring at her, searching inside her. “Allie, I want you to know how I feel, that you’re…” He shook his head, confusion clouding his eyes. “This doesn’t seem like a one-night stand to me. I need you to know that.”
She nodded when emotion closed her throat. Could it be possible? Could he feel the way she did?
“I have to have you, Allie. Now.”
“I want you, too. But, Tom, I need you to know.” She darted her gaze away, suddenly shy. “You’re my first.”
He paused, his brow furrowing. He touched his lips to hers, caressing them as though she might break. “Oh, my God, Allie. I had no clue.”
Had she made a mistake in telling him? Did he think she was weird? She waited, the moments dragging out forever until she couldn’t stand another second to pass by. “I want you to be my first. Don’t you want me any longer?”
“Of course I do.” The yearning on his features dimmed. “But what I want doesn’t matter. You matter.”
“Then make love to me.”
He touched his palm to her cheek, making her look at him. “Are you sure? I’ll stop if you want me to.” When she didn’t answer, he added, “Maybe we should do this another time. You know, someplace special.”
She bit her lip, closed her eyes and took a moment to center herself. The urge to drain him renewed itself and she knew she should stop. But it was already too late. She couldn’t, wouldn’t quit now. Not when he was giving her more than his body.
“Any place is special as long as it’s you.”
His eyes sparkled and she wondered if he could ever understand how much she risked. How much he risked. But the danger was worth it. She could hold back the need to feed. She had to.
Placing her legs around his waist, he positioned his cock at her opening, then eased inside her. She froze, for the first time feeling the expanse of a man inside her. That it was this man who had taken her was important, more important than she could ever express. She inhaled sharply at the size of him, how he filled her completely. Her walls closed in around him, holding him prisoner.
Don’t let go. Just this once, don’t let it take over.
Tom watched Allie’s eyes close as though in prayer and was stunned by her beauty. But her real beauty lay deeper than the surface. He marveled at this wondrous woman, remembering her laugh, her smile, the way she touched his heart as much as his body. In the short time he’d known her, he’d found out more about her than he’d thought possible. She was so open, so fresh, so different from anyone else.
He didn’t know if it was possible or not, but he would’ve sworn his cock had grown larger. Not by simply looking at her body, but by thinking about her. He was already two seconds away from blowing. Could she know how much she’d already come to mean to him?
Then when she’d offered her most precious gift to him… He would’ve been thrown, perhaps even worried if she’d been any other woman. Instead, he was grateful, proud, and, amazingly, humbled by her.
She opened her eyes, then blinked, making him yearn to know her thoughts. He wanted a relationship with her. Of that he was sure. The idea that she might not want the same struck him, physically unbalancing him so that he had to take hold of her legs. He had to convince her to come back, to let him take her out, to let him simply be with her.
He eased all the way inside her, then increased his movements once she’d relaxed. Unable to control himself, he thrust into her with all his strength, all his power, all his being. She cried out and lifted up, placing her palms against his sensitive nipples. Over and over, he shoved into her, going deeper and deeper with each move. His buttocks tightened and released with each thrust and perspiration dripped from his forehead. He would show her the kind of man he was and make her understand how wonderful a woman she was.
Tell her. Don’t just show her.
He wanted to. Wanted to shout how much he cared from the top of the world. He wanted her to know how incredible she was, how he’d longed for her from the first moment they’d met. But the feeling was too strange to him, foreign to his mouth. Hadn’t he already tried? How had she gone from a quick romp to something more?
Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the pleasure she gave him, how her pussy clamped around him and held on. Yet his mind drifted back to her voice, her eyes, the way she smiled at him. She’d taken control of him and he didn’t want to break free.
All at once, another sensation he couldn’t explain washed over him. Heat swamped into his shaft, a heat more intense than he’d ever experienced. Yet it was more. Almost as though he no longer had power over his movements, his body joined with the new feeling, giving in to the siren call. He tensed at first, surprised at his body’s betrayal, then euphoria hit him, milking him of his need to understand what was happening. A smoky fog surrounded him, enveloping him in a cozy field of sexuality. His shaft pulsed inside Allie, and although he wasn’t climaxing, he could sense something leaving his body, streaming out of him and into her.
Yet he no longer cared. As long as he stayed with her, she could take whatever she wanted from him.
Tom closed his eyes, ignoring the shouts he heard from outside his office. Pounding continued at his door, in his ears, but he was unconcerned. All that mattered was Allie.
And yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this wasn’t the woman he’d welcomed into his office. This was another part of her, a darker side. He wasn’t afraid of this aspect of her but sensed it was dangerous. He tried to wrench his mind away from the seductive aura surrounding him, but couldn’t. Attempting to turn toward the door, he found that he couldn’t move. Whether that was due to the strange fog surrounding them or from the weakness invading him, he couldn’t have said. But he knew he had no choice. Instead of fighting against it, he let go, his climax roaring from him as the blackness took over.
“Please, Meg, can you help him?”
“I don’t know, Allie. Give me space to work.”
Allie moved away from the couch where Meg knelt over a supine Tom, her fingers on his pulse as she lifted his eyelids to check his pupils. Hilly had lured the nervous assistant manager away from the office seconds before Meg had used a spell to break through the door. She had no idea how Hilly would keep him from entering, but if anyone could do it, Hilly could.
“I thought I could control it.” Allie wrung her hands, keeping her attention on Tom as though she could will him to awaken. “I thought since I’d just fed that it would be all right.”
“I guess you thought wrong.” Meg sat back a moment to look at her. “Allie, calm down. It won’t help him for you to lose it. Fortunately, I brought along a potion to help restore his strength.” She reached into her purse to retrieve a small, blue crystal bottle.
Relief flooded Allie and she rushed to kneel beside her sister. She took Tom’s hand and squeezed it, but he gave no reaction. “I’m so sorry. You believe me, don’t you, Meg? All I wanted was love like everyone else, like you, have. I never meant to hurt anyone, lea
st of all him.”
Meg studied her until she had to glance away from the intense examination. “Oh, stars and moon. You like him.”
“I guess.”
“No. I mean, you really like-like him. Am I right?”
“I do.”
“But Allie…”
“I know I don’t have much experience with men, but Tom’s special. He’s different. When he looks at me, listens to me, I feel like he can see straight into my soul.”
“Wow. That’s…unusual.”
“Yeah. Unusual and wonderful.”
She could tell that Meg wanted to ask more questions but, thankfully, decided to stick to the urgent matter of reviving Tom.
“Okay, then, help me help him. Hold his head up so I can pour the potion into him. The more I pour, the better.”
Allie did as her sister instructed, lifting his head so Meg could slowly pour the contents of the bottle into his mouth. Tom coughed, then sputtered, but soon calmed. “What is it? How long does it take to work?”
“It’s a vitality potion. I used it on Mitch and Jim, too. Also, I added a bit of a forget-me spell into the batch.”
“No! I don’t want him to forget me.” The idea of wiping the entire night from Tom’s mind was too much. Their talk had been meaningful to her and, if she was lucky, to him as well.
“Take it down a notch, okay? And don’t worry. I only added enough for him to be agreeable to whatever we say. He’ll remember you—and what happened—to the extent that we want him to. We’ll convince him that you two were getting it on when he suddenly and inexplicably blacked out. Once we’ve talked to him, he won’t remember the fog or anything else associated with your, um, lack of control.”
“I would prefer that you make him forget about everything. Including meeting Allie.”
They turned to the intimidating police officer standing at the office door, his burly arms crossed as he glared at them.
“Hilly? Is that you?”
“You were expecting a real cop?” Hilly, aka Officer Tally as his nameplate declared, strode into the room, shaking his head. “Because that almost happened. The assistant manager was about to call the authorities. But I finally convinced him not to check on Mr. Stud here by telling them that my younger sister was his guest. I didn’t say it outright, but I gave him the impression that Allie was underage. He backed off quickly enough once I promised that we wouldn’t press charges if he kept his mouth shut. Then I changed into the cop disguise.”
“Why take the form of a cop?” Meg grinned. “Although I’ve got to say, sis, I like you in uniform.”
Hilly rolled her eyes. “You like everybody in uniform. As long as they’re male.”
“Technically, you’re not male.” Meg turned back to Tom who had started groaning. “I think he’s coming to, ladies. Get ready.”
“Allie, stand behind me. We wouldn’t want him to get a good look at your glow. He might not buy that it’s a healthy radiance. Either that or it might jog his memory.” At Hilly’s insistence, Allie rose and crossed over to stand behind her. Hilly straightened to her full height, adjusted her badge pinned to her shirt and cleared her throat.
“Sir, are you all right?” Her manly voice resonated throughout the room.
Tom groaned again and, with Meg’s help, sat up. He slumped onto the sofa, one hand on his forehead. “What happened?” He squinted at Hilly, then moved his gaze to Allie. “Allie, are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She wiggled her fingers at him over her sister’s shoulder.
“Mr…” Hilly glanced at her, keeping her deep voice. “His name?”
“This is Mr. Halloran. Tom Halloran.” Allie fought another smile. Not only did she like him as a person, she even liked saying his name.
“Mr. Halloran, it appears that you blacked out while having sexual relations with this young lady.” Hilly whipped out a pad and pencil. “Are you up to answering a few questions?”
Hilly always said a good offense is the best defense. Allie swallowed and hoped her sister wouldn’t push the act too far.
“Uh, yeah. I guess. What’s going on? You said I blacked out?” Again he looked to Allie and she nodded, backing up her sister’s claim. “I’ve never had anything like that happen before. Are you sure?”
Once again, Allie lied, the guilt twisting in her stomach. But she had to lie, for his sake as well as her sisters’. “It’s true. And you scared me half to death.”
“I feel like I’m the one who’s half dead.”
The sisters exchanged telling glances before turning their attention back to Tom.
“Well, all I can say is that I’m glad I found you when I did. I mean, Allie was just lying there, freaking out. If I hadn’t come looking for her, who knows what might have happened.” Meg tipped her head to stare into Tom’s eyes. “That’s all that happened. You don’t remember anything else. Do you understand?”
Tom frowned, a perplexed expression on his features that, at last, smoothed out. He nodded and repeated in a dull monotone. “I understand.”
Meg had played the scene like she was on a Broadway stage. But that was normal for Meg. Allie, however, couldn’t help but think he’d see the lies on her face.
“I’d say you’re one lucky man, Mr. Halloran. Now, if we can get down to the reason I stopped by…” Hilly, aka Officer Tally, pretended to read her notepad.
“Anyhoo, I think it’s time Allie and I got out of the way. Officer Tally, he’s all yours.” Meg hooked her arm in Allie’s, tugging her toward the door. Although Allie tried to wrench around to say goodbye to Tom, Hilly had already moved into her line of vision, blocking her from seeing him.
“Wait, Allie.”
The tug she felt in her abdomen was not only real, but intense. If Meg hadn’t had a firm hold on her arm and Hilly hadn’t been standing in the way, she would’ve rushed back to him.
“Mr. Halloran, I’m Officer Tally. I assume you know that you’re operating without a liquor license.”
“What? No. I have a license. In fact, it’s posted next to the bar.”
“I also heard that you were serving alcohol to minors.”
Allie frowned at Hilly’s back. Why was she making this so complicated? Why not just leave? Why was she harassing Tom?
“You must have heard wrong, officer. I promise you, we card everyone. At worst, it was a mistake or maybe a very good fake identification card. My employees would never knowingly serve anyone underage.”
“Hilly,” hissed Allie. She couldn’t let her sister keep badgering Tom.
“Hilly?” Tom craned his neck to see Allie, but Officer Tally stepped in the way again.
“Very well, sir. I’ll check for the license and, since we don’t have solid evidence on the underage drinking charge, I’ll let this go as a warning to you. You might want to double-check and make sure everything is on the up and up. As well as keeping your patrons out of your office. And remind your bartenders—”
“Mixologists.” Allie cringed at the hard glare Hilly shot her.
“Remind your mixologists to verify a drinker’s age before serving them.” Her sister whirled on her heel, widening her eyes in an unmistakable “let’s get out of here” expression, then gestured Meg and Allie into the hallway.
“Shoot, Hilly. I was hoping you’d cuff him and we’d have some fun.”
“Meg, you’re so mean,” grumbled Allie.
“Just keep moving our butts out of here.” Hilly’s hands on their backs kept them striding down the hall until they made it to a side entrance.
Outside, they raced toward the car with Meg giggling as she slid into the driver’s seat. Allie hopped into the back seat, grumbled a few choice words, then twisted around hoping to see that Tom had followed them.
“Put the pedal to the metal, Meg.”
Tom burst through the door, his hand outstretched as though imploring them to stop. She pressed her hand against the rear windshield and wished she could call out to him. He gave a short wave, then
rubbed his neck before dropping his hand seconds before the car rounded a corner.
“Allie, would you clean the counter while I fill this gentleman’s order?”
Smiling at Hilly, Allie snatched the towel from her shoulder and mopped the crumbs off the counter and into the garbage, then stuck her tongue out at her sister’s back.
Nag, nag, nag. Allie, take your potion. Allie, clean the floors. Allie, don’t you dare step out of this bakery. If she heard Hilly bark one more order at her, she’d bop her sister over the head with a cake pan.
For the past two days, the only thing she’d done was work in the bakery. Neither Meg nor Hilly would let her out of their sight after the incident at the club. And, although a part of her agreed with them, the other side, the part of her that longed to see Tom again, couldn’t stop thinking of ways to slip away. Not that it would do her any good. They’d already caught her twice and had threatened to lock her in her room if she tried to sneak out again.
Allie leaned against the counter and stared out the front window. What would she do if she could get away? Find Tom and risk hurting him? Risk maybe even draining him? She wiped a tear from her eye. Her sisters were right, of course, to keep her from him. But she couldn’t help it. She had to see him again. Next time, however, would be different. Next time, they’d keep their hands—not to mention every other body part—off each other. At least until she could find out how to have sex without draining a man’s energy. She knew there was a way. After all, how else could her mother have been with her father?
Meg slipped beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “You’re thinking about Tom again, aren’t you?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Yeah, pretty much. That dreamy face and the way you keep looking outside as though you expect him to show up at any moment kind of gives a big old clue.” Meg leaned her head on Allie’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard, sis.”
Allie wrenched away. “Do you? How can you possibly know? You get to have sex anytime you want. With any man you want. And if you ever found someone you wanted to stay with, to be with forever, you wouldn’t have anything keeping you from making that happen.”