“Endora?” Jake latched on to the one thing his poor brain had the power to interpret. “Your name’s Endora?” He took another big bite of the sandwich.
“Nobody calls me that.” She shot a hard look at Sabin. “My mother had a funky sense of humor.” When Jake continued to stare at her, she fidgeted on the sofa and then shrugged. “What can I tell you? She liked Bewitched.”
Jake bit his inner lip against a grin. “So why didn’t she name you Samantha? Or Tabitha? Or even Serena?”
The muscles in her jaw twitched. “Because I’m the youngest of four girls.”
Meaning, he guessed, that her older sisters were Samantha, Tabitha, and Serena. “Well, at least she didn’t name you Clara.” He put his arm around her shoulder and rubbed his hand up and down her arm. He popped the last of the sandwich into his mouth, appreciating that final burst of hot mustard on his tongue.
Sabin let out a laugh. “That’s because there’s already a Clara in the family. Endor…Dori’s mother’s sister.”
Jake swallowed, hard. “So you have an Aunt Clara, too?” Wonder if the family doctor is named Bombay. He bit the inside of his mouth to fight a face-splitting grin. He had the distinct feeling that if he laughed, Dori would smash his face with the fists she had clenched in her lap. “Is your dad’s name Darren?”
“No, his name was Edward. And before you ask, my mother didn’t have a very exotic name, either. Her name was Mary. Which may explain why we got stuck with the names we did.” She gave him a look that suggested he move off this very touchy subject.
Sabin must have had the same thought, for he said, “We digress. We must find Ra’Ziel and save Arthur.”
Jake clamped down on the urge to offer a comment about her brother being named after yet another character on the witchy TV show, but managed to restrain himself. He knew Dori wouldn’t appreciate it, and they had more important matters to deal with.
Jake felt out of his league, but he wasn’t going to bail now. He’d known from the start that Dori was different from the other women he’d been with. Something they needed to talk about, for sure. How different he probably wasn’t prepared for, but he had a feeling she was worth it…
If they survived the night. He still wasn’t so sure about Sabin, the vampire. Dori and Art might be safe from him, but was this Cajun cop?
Later, at some point, he’d have to make sure she understood they wouldn’t be naming any of their babies after characters on the damned television.
He stilled. Where the hell had that thought come from? He and Dori hadn’t even made love yet this time around—and he had no assurances that they would, though she seemed willing—and he was thinking about babies?
God help him. He was in so much trouble.
He focused his attention on the current discussion. Dealing with bad guys was something he could handle. “And Ra’Ziel is…?”
“Ra’Ziel is a half-breed demon who seeks to annihilate all witches. The Eye of Bastet that Art seeks in order to revive his father can also be used to destroy any who practice the Arts. So, it is not just Arthur and Dori in danger here, it is all witch folk.”
A demon. The bad guy was a demon? Jake shook his head. Forget about being able to handle this. But…he frowned. What was that other part?
Dori was a witch, and her father was dead.
“Whoa, wait a minute there, homme. Revive his father?” He looked at Dori, suspicious when she ducked her head. This was what she’d been hiding. “Ma petite? I thought you said he wanted to heal your father. There’s a big difference there, I think, hmm?” The little fact that she was a witch would be discussed later, for sure.
She looked at him with apology reflected in her green eyes. “I was pretty sure you wouldn’t believe me if I’d told you, at the time, that Art wants to bring our father back to life.” She looked at Sabin. “I told him this was a bad idea. But time was running out. If he’s going to do this, it has to happen tomorrow night.”
“The witch must be revived within seven nights of his parting, or his death remains,” Sabin explained to Jake. The vampire looked back at Dori. “From what I understood, I thought you and Arthur were in agreement.”
She shook her head. “Death is part of life, Sabin.” She frowned. “Well, for some people it is,” she said with a pointed glance at the vampire. “I tried and tried to talk him out of it.”
“Wait a minute.” Jake did his best to understand. “Wouldn’t her father be a warlock, since he’s male?”
“You’ve watched too many television programs, Detective.” Sabin heaved a sigh. “Warlock is a term for anyone who practices the dark magick.”
He didn’t tack on the word imbecile at the end of the sentence, but Jake saw the look in his eyes.
“Witches practice light magick,” the vampire went on. “The seventh night is tomorrow night, which means that is the time Ra’Ziel will make his move to use Art to bargain for the Eye. We have only tomorrow to make our plans.”
“But you jus’ said they’ll all die if Ra’Ziel gets his hands on the Eye.” Jake stood. “No way can we let him have it.”
“But Art!” Dori wiped at tears and shot a pleading look to both men. “We can’t just let him have Art.”
“There may be a way, little one.” Sabin knelt in front of her and took her hands.
Jake stood back, clenching his hands at the familiarity with which the vampire touched her, the two dark heads—one a rich auburn, the other inky black—so close together. He’d never thought of himself as the jealous type, but just seeing the other man touching her had his blood boiling.
Didn’t matter that the guy was one of the undead. Jake had a fleeting thought wondering whether that meant he was undead all over. He certainly hoped so, seeing how he was holding Dori’s hands so tenderly.
Civility slipped from Jake like water sliding down a rock, and he fought the urge to slam his fist into Sabin’s face.
“We must make the trade in the cemetery at midnight on All Hallow’s Eve when the barriers between our world and the spirit world is at its weakest, thus allowing us to tap into the supernatural realm.” Sabin gave a nod, his expression savagely satisfied.
In spite of his jealousy, Jake was glad they were on the same side.
Sabin tightened his grip on Dori’s hands briefly and then released them. “We will make the exchange by Madame Laveau’s crypt. Her magick was the most powerful this city has ever seen. We can tap into that and also use the power of the Between—the time between night and morning. Combine all of that with your power and mine, I’m confident we can defeat the demon.” He twisted to look at Jake. “You must stay here, mon ami. We cannot save Arthur and worry about protecting you as well.”
“I can protect myself, merci beaucoup.” Jake scowled. He’d joined the Academy after eight years as an MP in the Marines. He’d never really been a believer in the supernatural, but he hadn’t disbelieved, either. But demon or no, if he could see it, touch it, he could fight it. “You don’t have to worry none ’bout me, homme.”
“No?”
One moment Sabin was crouched at Dori’s feet, the next he had Jake by the throat, holding him off the floor. “I am something of a paradox, Detective. A vampire who is also a witch—something most witches will tell you cannot exist. Power cancels power, or some such nonsense. But I do exist, with all my powers very much intact. Do you doubt, even for an instant, that I could end your existence right now?”
“Sabin, stop it!”
Jake heard Dori pleading with Sabin, but he could do nothing more than dangle from the vampire’s fingers. He felt his eyes bulging and had the quizzical thought that he must look like something from a cartoon, with eyes ready to pop out of his head.
He felt a rushing wind blow past him just before he was flung to the floor. He lifted his head to see Sabin picking himself up from across the room.
Dori knelt beside Jake and caressed his bruised throat. “Are you all right?” Even under the circumstances, her soft hand
against his skin had his randy cock lengthening in his pants.
“You should be more worried about yourself, Endora.” Sabin stopped a few feet away. His eyes blazed with silver fury, his hands curled into big fists at his side. “You have so little concern for your own safety that you would dare attack me with your power?”
She stood and faced the vampire with more courage than Jake had at the moment. He was too busy trying to get air without coughing.
“You leave him alone, Sabin. We need each other, you and I, to defeat Ra’Ziel. But believe this. I. Need. Jake.”
“If he comes along and is injured, or worse, how will you feel then?” The vampire crossed his arms and relaxed. The silver slowly bled from his eyes until they were once more a deep, dark blue.
She swallowed. “Then I’ll deal with it. But somehow I feel he’s supposed to be there. I can’t explain it, Sabin, but Jake is key. We need him.”
Jake climbed to his feet. Merde! That creature had a grip of iron. He rubbed his throat and tried to unobtrusively adjust his erection to a more comfortable position.
Sabin heaved a sigh. “Very well. Bring your policeman lover along.” The vampire looked at Jake, his sharp gaze flicking to the bulge between his thighs. “Do not distract us, mortal, or you will wish Ra’Ziel had killed you.”
“You—” Jake stopped on a cough then swallowed, trying to work the soreness out of his throat. “You don’t worry ’bout me none, homme. You make sure Dori is safe or you’ll wish Ra’Ziel had killed you.”
The other man stilled, and for a moment Jake was sure he had gone too far. But Sabin gave a bark of laughter and clapped a hand on Jake’s shoulder.
It nearly knocked him off his feet again.
“I think I like you, Detective,” Sabin said. “You have brass.” He chuckled again. “You two may stay the night here. I have plenty of guest rooms. Dori, why don’t you take Boudreau to the Blue Room—top of the stairs to the left—and get some sleep. Or,” he paused, his gaze skating over the two of them, “not. We won’t need to leave until early evening, so long as we reach the cemetery before dusk. You have plenty of time to fuck each other senseless and get some of this sexual tension released.”
Jake raised his eyebrow at the other man’s frank speech and glanced at Dori. She was such a frank little thing herself, he was surprised to see her cheeks redden with a blush.
Sabin had an excellent idea. Jake’s enthusiastic cock certainly thought so, anyway. “Yeah, let’s go to the bedroom, cher,” he drawled, taking Dori’s slender hand in his. They needed to talk, for sure, but later. Right now, he had to get her naked. “We need to finish what we started at the station.”
Barely giving her a chance to say good night, he hustled her out of the room.
Dori felt her cheeks flare hotter at the look Boudreau shot her. His lust was almost palpable, his eyes were dark with passion, his face tight. Her body softened and moistened in response.
They started up the stairs. Halfway up he got tired of the easy pace, picked her up, threw her over one shoulder, and then loped up the stairs two at a time. He pushed open the door of their room. “Get the light,” he muttered and kicked the door shut behind him. She fumbled along the wall and found the switch, flipping it on.
Boudreau dropped her on the bed and stood there, looking at her, his eyes heavy lidded as he shrugged out of his suit jacket and laid it on a chair next to the bed. His chest rose and fell with his labored breathing. Long fingers unbuttoned his shirt, and pulled the tails from his pants. His shirt, too, went over the back of the chair.
“You still got your clothes on, bébé,” he said, his eyes glittering. He unbuckled his belt and slid down the zipper on his trousers. She was mesmerized at the sight of those long, tanned fingers easing the metal over his obvious erection.
His voice rasped over her eardrums and sent a shiver through her. “If you want those clothes to stay in one piece, you’d better get ’em off.”
Dori felt her clit swell with need, flooding her pussy with cream. She’d never been so turned on so fast by any man in her life. She scrambled off the bed and took off her clothes with abandon.
With her fingers hooked around the elastic of her skimpy red panties, she looked at him standing there naked, his hands on his hips. Dark hair swirled over his chest and down the hard contours of his abdomen to end in a thick nest surrounding his genitals. His cock was huge, smooth except for the bulging veins that ran its length. The head was darker than the rest, and pointing straight at her. As she stared, his cock twitched and lurched upward, the throbbing head straining toward his navel.
“God, your breasts are pretty.” Boudreau stalked forward, a lean, loose-hipped stride that nearly made her go cross-eyed with need. “You’d better hurry, cher, if you wanna wear those little panties again,” he drawled. A foil packet was gripped between the fingers of one big hand.
She was entranced by his male beauty, his muscles rolling and bunching beneath hair-roughened, tanned skin. His handsome face wore a days’ worth of stubble, making him look a little dangerous, and a whole lot sexy. She remained still, her fingers hooked at the top of her underwear.
His eyes narrowed.
Before he could say anything more, she did what she’d wanted to do for a very long time. She dropped to her knees and closed her lips over the engorged head of his cock. His low groan encouraged her to flick her tongue around and over, tasting his salty essence as a drop of pre-cum seeped from the tip.
“Oh, God, cher.” His hands came up to clasp her head. “Yeah, suck it, just like that.”
She gripped his shaft with one hand and stroked it as she took as much of him as she could into her mouth. With her other hand she took his heavy sac in her fingers and massaged the twin globes within.
His breathing turned harsh and loud, gasping with pleasure. “Yeah. Take it. More. Take all of it.”
She flushed with heated arousal, her pussy swelling and pulsing with need. He didn’t hold back, telling her how it felt, what she was doing to him. It increased her own arousal. She wanted him inside her, but she wanted to give him this pleasure, too. She loved the feel of him, so smooth, so strong. Life pulsing under her tongue.
She moved her mouth and licked her way around the head to the sensitive underside. She nibbled gently along the heavy shaft until she reached the base, where she promptly drew one of his tight balls into the warmth of her mouth.
He shouted and arched against her, nearly throwing her back onto her butt. She wrapped her hands around his thighs and held on, swirling her tongue around the hair-roughened skin while she gently suckled.
Dori moved to the other testicle and gave it the same tender treatment, moaning around him as his hips pumped against her mouth. His skin tasted of salt and vinegar, and she whimpered with her own skyrocketing need.
“God. Take it in your mouth again, bébé. Suck my cock. Please.” He groaned again, muttering her name. She could feel the muscles in his abdomen and thighs trembling. It gave her an incredible rush that she could bring this strong man to the brink of sexual insanity. She took his cock in her mouth again, opening as wide as she could.
His hands tightened in her hair, and he began shuttling in and out of her mouth, his buttocks clenching and releasing. She looked up at him through her lashes, exulted at seeing his face tighten with the extreme pleasure she gave him. Tentatively she swallowed, tightening her throat around his cock head.
Jake felt his gut turn over at the sight of his cock thrusting into her mouth. Her green eyes were half closed and dark with passion. The thick stalk of his sex spread her lips wide, stretching them, reddening them with the pressure.
And the feel of it…God, he thought his head would explode.
Both of them.
“Dori, you…ah,” he groaned, pumping into her mouth with steady strokes, his breathing harsh and labored, his fingers tightening in her hair.
Her mouth was wet and hot, her lips so tight around his shaft he knew he wouldn’t last
long. She scraped her nails lightly across his balls. He growled and plunged faster, still coherent enough to not force too much of his length into her mouth.
She moaned and swallowed, and Jake surged against her helplessly. She gagged.
He pulled away, instantly contrite. “Merde. Honey, I’m sorry.” He started to bend over but she waved him off and went after his cock again. She rubbed the tip of her tongue against the slit at the tip. She licked a pearly drop of pre-cum onto her tongue, and his eye narrowed at the sight.
She was so sexy she was about to kill him.
Her tongue lapped around the crown, then tapped on the sensitive underside. She pulled the head back into the heat of her mouth and trapped it there, sucking lightly. Little by little she pulled more of his hard flesh between her lips.
She peeked up at him through her lashes again and went down on him in earnest. He watched as long as he could, loving the way her breasts jiggled with her movements. Her nipples were hard, the tips a deep red, surrounded by pretty pink areolas.
When she scraped her nails lightly across his balls again, he closed his eyes. His head fell back. He pumped into her mouth, hands gripping her head. She swallowed again. He groaned as her throat tightened around the head of his cock. “God, bébé, swallow it,” he growled when she repeated the motion. “Yeah, swallow my cock.”
He fucked her mouth harder, leaving her lips feeling tight, but Dori loved the feeling, loved that she could bring him such pleasure. She loved watching the lust that darkened his face every time her throat caressed the head of his cock.
His hips bucked against her, pushing his hard flesh as deep as it would go. She felt his balls tighten, drawing up against the base of his shaft.
He tried to pull away from her. “I’m gonna come,” he warned, his voice a deep rasp, his eyes black with lust.
She sucked harder and faster, moaning with her own arousal as he helplessly thrust into her mouth. Slipping one hand under the lace of her panties, she gathered some of her own cream on her fingers. She brought her fingers back to his body, slipping them from the soft skin behind his balls to the puckered rim of his anus.
Belong To The Night Page 30