Leola looked at the cowboy. He was sitting there, with the ball of wire half undone in his lap. Outwardly he looked as calm and casual as he always did, but there was something else beneath his easy-going smile.
“I hardly think it would be an imposition, if you managed to impress me.” Leola lifted her chin.
He smiled, running his tongue along the inside of his teeth before he carefully set the cords aside and swung himself up from the couch. Simon stepped back to give him some room. In two steps, Caleb was in front of her.
He took one hand in his and then swung her in a quick circle before his other arm came behind her back. When she came to a halt, he was right there, his face took up her field of vision so that all she could see were those coppery eyes and that wealth of masculine stubble. She had barely a moment to realize that he was far more attractive than she had given him credit for before his warm mouth took hers.
Her body, already humming from Simon's kiss, heated to a boil when Caleb kissed her. It wasn't just that he devoured her with the enthusiasm of the living, and the willing. It wasn't the way he held her like she was a mortal woman, delicate and breakable. It was the long press of his body, and the hard push of his member against her that told her that he had been far more impressed with the kiss than he'd lead on.
She felt her hunger rise up. She suddenly became very aware of the pumping of his blood in his veins. She could feel the slight dig of his fingers against her back as he pushed her even closer to him. It would be easy, so easy, to push his mortal body to the couch and ride him, take him, taste him! All that life, that virility pumping through him as he pumped into her, the image was maddening.
Her fangs slid free from her gum line, sharp as a viper’s, and when he plunged his tongue into her mouth again, he felt them.
He released her very suddenly, his mouth jerking away from hers. She knew he tasted blood, because she tasted his in her own mouth. The flavor of his lust was intoxicating. God, the power of it simmered on her tongue. She wanted more, she wanted all he could give her. It was as if she was newly made, and wild with the hunger for blood. It had been decades since she felt that way.
Simon had moved ever so slightly between them, and she didn't blame him.
“Leola, are you alright?” Caleb asked. “I…what's wrong?”
“Well,” Leola said, her voice shaking only a little. “It seems Hunter's blood is a good deal more potent than I expected.”
“What?” He looked suddenly very young, and very human.
“You nearly drove her to blood-madness.” Simon's voice was barely a whisper. Whether he was scared or awed she couldn't tell, probably both. “She could have hurt you.”
He couldn't bring himself to say 'killed', she didn't blame him.
“I'm sorry,” Caleb offered. “I didn't expect...I didn't mean...Leola, I am very sorry.”
She closed her eyes and took an unnecessary breath to calm herself. “Don't be. You should be flattered, normally I have a great deal more control.”
She smoothed her dress into place and cleared her throat. Her eyes had gone black, she knew it, a sure sign of her slipping self-control. She could feel her need to taste him flowing through her body.
Simon stepped towards her, intent on offering her a comforting hand. She wanted to take it. She wanted to take it and then pull him to her and drag them both to the couch to enjoy in every delicious way she could think of. She took another careful step away.
“If you'll excuse me, I think I will decorate the upstairs, if you two could finish down here.”
She did not wait for whatever they might have said, she needed to put space between her and her mortal guest.
*****
“Oh get out of here you useless fool.” Leola kept her voice below a bellow, but only just barely.
“Leola, it has to be you,” Simon snapped back. It was days after that bedamned kiss but the memory was still fresh. “You know that.”
Simon was wearing blue, the color was perfect on him and he knew it. She was nearly sure that he had worn it tonight just to approach her about this. It brought out the creamy color of his skin and the freckles on his nose.
“I know that one taste of him nearly drove me to blood-madness.” She knew it sounded churlish, even bitter. She didn't care. With a sigh of exasperation, she slapped her book on the library table and continued to pace across the room.
“Do you want me to apologize for that again?”
Her robe slithered around her body while she poured herself a drink from nearby decanter. “Did you know that Hunter blood was so potent?”
“No,” he admitted. “I didn't.”
“Well, at least that is in your favor.” She took a long drink and shook her head. Her dark curls, barely styled, flung around her face. “Simon, I am afraid I am going to hurt him.”
“I know that, Leola. But tradition says that as the Queen only you can turn someone. That is a power you can't even give away.”
He was right, and she knew it, and that made her even grumpier.
“I know!” She snapped suddenly and tossed her glass across the room, it shattered into a hundred pieces leaving behind a spill of drink. “I know, damn you. Why does this matter to you? Why does he?”
“Don't.” His voice was a growl. “Don't be like this.”
“You didn't answer my question.”
“Because he's a good person.”
“Oh please, what do you care about good people. You who was a thief and a liar and a drunk.”
He eyed her broken glass and managed to say without words that she had no right to throw those words around. He grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around, his eyes were full of anger. “I never thought you were a coward.”
“I'm not.”
He shook her once. “You are damnit. You are afraid you'll hurt him and that bothers you more because you like him.”
“Damn you.”
“Yeah, damn me, damn you, who cares. He's a good person. He's an even better person because he doesn't even believe he's that good. He's so torn up by all he could have been...damnit I know you see it. Same as I do. Are you gonna let that all die because you are scared?”
He'd won the argument and she knew it.
“Say you'll be there.” She said after a moment. “Say you'll make sure I don't kill him.”
“What?”
“You heard me, Simon. You heard me. Say you will stand guard and I'll do it.”
Changing someone was an act of intimacy. It fell somewhere between kissing and sex. To watch that was crossing a line into voyeurism, and stepping a toe into group sex. To be fair, it wouldn't be the first time that Leola and Simon had invited someone to join them in an intimate act, but this was different and they both knew it.
“Fine.”
“Do I get a say in this?”
Leola wasn't sure when Caleb had showed up, but there he was wearing his pajama pants and nothing else. His bare chest was the golden color of someone who spent a great deal of time in the sun. There were scars, white and well healed, across the span of his washboard belly, and over his shoulders as if some great beast had raked him. As a Hunter, something probably had.
“Well?” Leola demanded.
“Why is it such a big deal if he stands guard?”
Between the two of them Simon and Leola tried to explain. It was an awkward, somewhat stunted, conversation. Caleb seemed to understand.
“So, it's like,” he struggled to find a polite term. “Menage a trois?”
“Very similar.”
“Alright, I don't see- a problem. When do you want to start? Is now good?”
“Pardon?”
“Leola, every day my mind is just a little hazier, and I don't much like it. If saddling up between two people I both like and trust is what it takes to keep what's there whole, well that doesn't seem like much of a problem to me.”
“In the end, it's your choice,” Leola said. “But I just want you to understand.”
He took a few steps forward and gently took his hands in her own. She was going to miss the warmth of them. He surprised her by taking a knee in front of her.
“Leola, Queen of the Charleston Coven, I come to you knowing full well what, and who, I am. It is my desire to become as you are. Take me as you want to, do with me what you need to, and make me one of the living dead.”
The words were old ones, thick with ritual meaning, but he said them in earnest. She looked down into those coppery eyes and knew she couldn't deny him.
“If you so wish.”
There was a long moment of silence. The longer it lasted, the heavier it became.
“Well,” Simon broke it. “First thing you ought to do is get undressed. Things are bound to get messy.”
*****
The three of them ended up in Simon's guestroom. It was the closest, and of all the guestrooms it was the one with an attached bathroom. Simon was right, things could very well get messy.
“What do you need me to do?” Caleb asked.
Leola slid up unto the bed and opened her arms to him. He hesitated for only a moment before moving towards her. He wasn't as tall as Simon, but he was tall enough that she pushed his shoulder until he was kneeling in front of her.
“Will it hurt?” he asked suddenly.
She paused for just a moment before she shook her head. “No, it won’t.”
He didn't believe her; she could see it in his eyes. “Trust me,” she requested.
He took a deep breath and then nodded. She ran her hands over his shoulders. They were thick, knotted with good working muscle. He felt good in her hands. Lust stirred inside of her.
She bent down and placed a nearly chaste kiss on his mouth, then on the stubble of his cheek, slowly working her way down the warmth of his neck.
He shivered, “Are you going to bite me, or seduce me?” he meant it to be a joke.
“Both,” she answered honestly. “I could explain to you the magic that is involved but that would take away too much time, and the night is short enough, but the more invested you are in this moment, the more awakened your body is to sensation, the more likely you are to accept the transition of going from human to vampire.”
Her mouth slide along his neck, seeking out that place where his pulse was strong, if unsteady.
“Are we going to have sex?” he whispered.
She thought about it for a moment. If she was being honest with herself Leola knew that she wanted him. She had from the moment he had walked into her club. “If you want,” she offered.
“What about...?” He gestured towards Simon.
Simon laughed and shook his head. “Oh, boy-o, I'm not the jealous type. Though I might ask you to share.”
Caleb's blush was bright and charming. It slid over his cheeks and turned them apple red. His smile was shy as he glanced up at Leola. “I've never.”
She placed a kiss on his lips. “Caleb, darling, you think an awful lot.”
Her mouth slid down to his neck and she bit him. His body jerked against her, his hands, which had rest so lightly on her flesh, sunk in. She felt him go hard beneath his jeans as she started to suck from him.
“Oh God,” he moaned. “Oh God!”
She wrapped the thickness of her thighs around his body, holding him tight against her. He ground against her. She knew what he was feeling, that wild rush of vampiric magic that turned the pain of a bite into something addictively sensual. It had been a long time since she had felt it, but she remembered.
Lust swallowed them both and she didn't fight it, didn't want to. He pumped his hips against her, and she lifted to meet him. He grabbed his pants and jerked them towards his ankles. She felt the long shaft of him grinding against her core.
Her robe slipped open, revealing the nothing that she wore beneath. Suddenly Simon was there, his hands tugging at the fabric at her shoulders.
“May I?” He asked. The question was posed towards everyone.
“Yes,” Caleb answered, still pushing himself against her.
She didn't answer out loud; she didn't have to. Simon could feel her need. She rolled her eyes upwards and they screamed 'yes'.
He settled in behind her, and her robe slithered to the bed. Her bare breasts pressed to Caleb's chest and he cupped one. His rough thumb slid over her creamy flesh.
“Leola...enough.” Simon ran his hand across her cheek.
She knew he was right, but it was so hard to let go of that intoxicating taste. She pulled away and Caleb nearly slumped against her. His erection moved against her thigh, far more gently than it had a moment ago.
“Tired already?” she asked, licking her lips.
Caleb chuckled. “Oh no... not yet.”
He knelt lower, and she felt his breath between her legs. With the diligence of a man who was settling down to work he tugged her panties down her thighs. “A gentleman knows how to thank a lady.”
There was something marvelous about a man who knew how to use his mouth. Caleb's was hot as he slid his tongue over her. He didn't hesitate, didn't pause. He knew exactly what he was about.
Simon tilted her head back and pressed his lips to hers. She knew that he could taste her feeding, and she knew that it affected him. With one hand she reached out and cupped his firming masculinity. He pushed against her palm as his tongue plunged between her lips in exploration, retreated, and then plunged again.
As Simon kissed his way down her neck and towards her breasts she laid back. All she could see of Caleb was his golden-brown curls that fanned out over her thighs. Her arms flung above her head as both men played over her. It was glorious to be the Queen.
She closed her eyes, and just let herself feel. Simon knelt beside her, the warm wet of his lips went from one breast and to the other, over and over again, never letting her become too accustomed to any particular sensation, but Caleb was diligent. The moment that he found the speed that seemed to affect her the most he stayed at it. The steady, unrelenting flick of his tongue against her core had her arching. Four pairs of hands held her in place as the continued to work her body with passion and enthusiasm.
“Now, Caleb,” she demanded. “Better do it now.”
He didn't argue. With the spirit of a young mortal man he kicked off what little remained of his clothing and stood at the edge of the bed. His strong arms linked beneath her legs and hauled her closer. She felt the blunt tip of his penis against her opening.
“You're so damn pretty, Leola,” he compliments, then thrust into her.
He was thicker than she would have guessed and he spread her open in the most delicious way. He plunged himself into her depths until every inch was vested inside of her, then gave a few short thrusts, teasing the thick tip of himself inside her body. Each one sent a pulse of pleasure through her body. She gyrated in response.
“Good lord,” she whispered. “Again, do it again.”
He did. The short fast thrusts had her entire body moving beneath him. Pleasure was building fast, too fast, she didn't want this to end, not yet, not quite yet.
With desperation she reached for Simon, pulling him from his place at her breasts and guiding him upwards. With one hand she undid his trousers and pulled his shaft free. He was only half hard, and she smiled.
“Well, what do you expect?” he asked with a sparkling grin. “The boy-o's gotten most of the fun.”
“Let's change that,” she said, and wrapped her mouth around him.
There was a distinct pleasure in taking a man when he wasn't full aroused. A softness to him, a texture that was silken and pleasurable all on its own. She fit as much of him into her mouth as she could and sucked his length, dragging her tongue across it. She felt him shiver. His hand pressed to the back of her head, guiding her to the rhythm that gave him the most pleasure.
“I've missed you, Leola.”
She didn't answer, she couldn't, and she didn't need to.
Simon's length slid over her tongue, steadily growing harder. She wrapped her hand
around what her mouth couldn't fit and relaxed her shoulders, letting him guide their movements.
“God, Leola.”
She couldn't tell which one of them said it, maybe both of them did. She could feel the pleasure building between the three of them. The way Simon's cock went from firm to too hard, the way Caleb's hips went from rhythmic to frantic. It wouldn't be long, not for any of them.
Caleb's thick hands dug into her thighs, holding her in one spot as he drove himself into her. Simon's hips started to move of their own accord. She was stuck between them. She reveled in it.
Her own pleasure was a ball of light, forming inside of her, in a place she had no name for. Ever masculine grunt, every push of their bodies. Ever straying finger fed it. She held as still as her body would allow, concentrating on that pulse.
“Oh, Leola, Leola!”
Caleb filled her in a white hot burst. He thrust into her over and over again, his shaft throbbing in her depths. She moaned, a hot and wild sound, and Simon lost his own control. He drove himself over her tongue, again and again, her hand squeezing around him as he moved. She felt the sudden jerk of his body followed by the hard push that signaled his own orgasm a moment before his seed spilled along her tongue.
Her own light broke. Waves of ecstasy spilled through her, hard enough to have her body arching off the bed. Her toes curled, her thighs tightened. For a moment she could do nothing but feel.
When she came back into herself, Caleb was collapsed on her chest and Simon was curled around her.
“That,” Caleb said breathlessly. “Was fun.”
“Give me a few minutes,” Simon added. “And we can go again.”
Leola chucked and patted them both. There was a comfort between them. Her lover of nearly a century and her dear cowboy of only a month. She felt herself pulling them closer to her, wrapping her arms around them and very much not wanting to let go.
“You'll be much weaker tomorrow, and even weaker the day after that,” Leola explained to Caleb.
“Well then, I guess I better be ready in a few minutes too.”
She laughed, and something inside of her broke that had nothing to do with sex, and everything to do with affection.
*****
Ways in the Guardian: A Menage Romance Book Collection Page 18