by I. T. Lucas
Bowen lived for that shit.
Leon put the bags down on the dining table and headed out to bring the rest. A folded wheelchair was tucked in the back, and he used it to load the rest of the bags. Most of it was food, but there were also plenty of bags from a department store. Evidently, Bowen had gone shopping for his charge.
Once everything was put away, Anastasia got busy setting the table. “I hope that you are hungry. We heated up everything that was left over from the meals Okidu had prepared.”
“Who is Okidu?” Margaret asked from the couch.
“He’s the big boss’s butler.” Anastasia went back to the kitchen for the food containers that had been kept warm in the oven. “And he’s an amazing cook.”
“Let me help you to the table.” Bowen leaned down to pick Margaret up.
She pushed his hands away. “I need to start using the crutches. You can’t carry me everywhere.”
“Starting tomorrow.” He reached for her again.
“I need to visit the bathroom, and there is no way you are carrying me there.”
“Then I’ll put you in the wheelchair and wheel you there.”
She shook her head. “I’m about to burst. I need to get to the bathroom before I embarrass myself.”
“Then I definitely need to take you there.” He scooped her into his arms. “Anastasia can help you inside the bathroom.”
“Fine. I don’t have time to argue with you.”
It was good that the woman had some will of her own and didn’t let Bowen take over completely. The guy had good intentions, but he shouldn’t let her get attached to him. That spelled heartbreak, and Margaret didn’t look strong enough to deal with a broken heart.
When the Guardian returned a moment later alone, Leon cast him an amused glance. “Playing the hero again?”
Bowen pulled out a chair and sat next to him. “You have a problem with that?”
“I don’t, but if you don’t watch it, Margaret is going to fall in love with you. In fact, it looks like she already has.”
The Guardian shrugged. “I can’t help it. I’m not going to be nasty to her just so she won’t develop feelings for me. She needs help, and you and Anastasia need to keep the romance going.”
Leon winced. “That’s going to be a problem. The walls in this place are not as well soundproofed as those in the village.”
“Margaret is human,” Bowen said in a low voice. “And the bathroom separates the two bedrooms, so they don’t have a shared wall. She’s not going to hear anything. And as for me, I’ll sleep in the loft, and if you want, I can put earplugs in.”
“You can’t. How are you going to hear Margaret if she needs you?”
“Good point. I asked Theo to get me a baby monitor.” He got up and pulled a box out of his duffle bag. “Here is the phone you asked for. It’s already configured for Anastasia.”
“Thanks.” Leon put it next to her plate. “If you put a baby monitor in Margaret’s room, you are going to hear everything that goes on not only in her bedroom but also in ours.”
“Does it bother you?”
“Not really. But it will bother Anastasia.”
“If you don’t tell her that I can hear you through the monitor, she won’t suspect it.” Bowen pulled out his phone. “I need to call Bridget. Either she or Julian should come to check on Margaret.”
Leon waited until Bowen was done with the phone call. “How did the trip go? Does she know where you took her?”
“Not a clue. She kept dozing off.” Bowen chuckled. “The woman doesn’t even know how to use a cellphone. Can you imagine that?”
“She must have lived in Safe Haven for a long time. They don’t allow the community members to have phones, computers, or even television or radio. It’s like living in the previous century.”
“Or an Amish village.” Bowen chuckled. “I wonder why Emmett wanted to keep them so isolated. It’s not like they could have learned who he was from browsing the internet.”
“Control.” Leon folded his arms over his chest. “All despots restrict their people’s access to free information, claiming that it’s bad for them, that it will corrupt their minds, offend their sensibilities, introduce heretic ideas, etc. The less they know, the less likely they are to rebel against the doctrine preached by their leaders.”
17
Anastasia
Ana plopped onto the bed. “I’m exhausted.” She chuckled. “One week of getting spoiled by you, and I get tired from doing one-tenth of what I did in Safe Haven.”
It had been fun to have her best friend back, but playing hostess was hard work, especially since she wanted Margaret to feel welcomed and pampered. Bowen deserved the royal treatment as well for volunteering to help out, and Ana had done her best to show him her gratitude.
Unlike her, Leon hadn’t been overly enthusiastic about their guests, so she’d worked doubly hard to compensate for his lukewarm welcome.
He sat on the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “I hope you are not too tired. I waited patiently for Margaret to go to sleep so I could have you all to myself.”
“Shush.” She put her finger on his lips. “She might hear you. I don’t want her to feel like she’s a burden.”
“Relax. Unless she is in the bathroom with her ear plastered to our bedroom door, Margaret can’t hear anything.” His hand trailed down her back to cup her ass. “Besides, she took one of those strong pills that make her sleepy.”
“True.” She turned to face him. “Bowen is so sweet to her. Do you think that there is something going on between them?”
He chuckled. “He met her when she was writhing in pain. I don’t think that was conducive to romantic feelings. Not on his part, anyway. She, on the other hand, looks at him with adoration in her eyes. You should have a talk with her.”
“And tell her what? To close her eyes and not see how handsome Bowen is?”
The soft growl leaving Leon’s lips was most satisfying. “You can tell her that he’s a player and that he will just break her heart.”
“Is he?”
Leon shrugged. “I don’t follow his love life, but that should cool her ardor.”
“Margaret is a big girl, and I’m not going to butt into her love life either.” Ana rose to her feet. “What I’m going to do is take a shower, and then we are going to make stealthy love.”
He grimaced. “I love it when you scream my name.”
“I’ll scream it quietly.” She winked before sauntering to the bathroom.
He followed her inside. “Let’s shower together.”
They had never done that before, and he was offering to do it now with Margaret sleeping in the next room?
“No way,” Ana whispered. “You know what will happen if we start soaping each other, and the bathroom shares a wall with Margaret’s room. If Bowen doesn’t mind, you can shower upstairs, or you can wait until I’m done.”
Leon didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “I’ll shower in the loft.” He kissed her softly and then grabbed his towel and left, closing the bathroom door behind him.
Once he was gone, Ana went back to the bedroom and opened the box containing her new phone. It was fully charged and unlocked, and after three months without internet, she itched to do some browsing. But if she started, she was going to get sucked in, and she needed to get ready for bed. With a sigh, she connected the charger and plugged it into the wall.
As she stood under the spray, Ana realized her mistake.
Unless Leon insisted on blindfolding her even in the shower, it would have been the perfect opportunity to finally see him naked. Except, she had a feeling that he would have come up with another clever excuse for the blindfold like he had done before with his revved-up engine analogy.
Leon was hiding something, and she needed to find out what it was. Arguing and demanding he do away with the blindfold wasn’t going to work. He would just refuse to have sex with her until she submitted to his will.
The best way to do it was to catch him by surprise.
He no longer tied her hands every time they made love, trusting her to obey his command and keep the blindfold on. But what if she disobeyed just once?
She could take the blindfold off just as he was about to climax and finally see the ecstasy on his face as he reached his peak. But that was usually when he bit her.
A ripple of anxiety coursed through Ana.
What if she discovered that Leon was a monster?
A quiet laugh rippled through her. She was being silly. Leon wasn’t a werewolf or a vampire. He just liked to bite her. It was part of his dominance games, and it always made her come so hard that she blacked out.
But what if he was injecting her with something?
Maybe it was some experimental drug that induced powerful orgasms?
She’d never heard of anything like that, but Leon was an operative, and despite his protests, she still believed that at some point in his career he’d been a spy. Perhaps that was how he’d gotten his hands on some special spy drug that induced climaxes. Ana could think of several interesting scenarios in which a drug like that would be useful, especially if it worked on males as well as it worked on females.
Whatever he was hiding, it was about time that she found out. What was the worst that could happen? He would spank her?
A naughty smirk lifted Ana’s lips. Then she should definitely do that.
Smoothing a hand down her belly, she caressed herself gently, her fingers fluttering over the engorged bundle of nerves that had started pulsating with need. Her other hand went to her breast, her fingers lightly pinching one stiff nipple and then the other.
She hadn’t started touching herself with the intention of bringing herself to orgasm, but stopping proved difficult.
The gentle caresses turned more urgent, and then she was stroking herself with abandon and biting her lower lip to stifle the moans threatening to escape her tenuous control.
Leaning her bottom against the tiled wall, her thighs clenching her hand, she held her breath as she got closer to the edge. When the rippling sensation rocked through her, she let loose a hushed whimper.
Leon would be mad if he found out, but he shouldn’t be. She had enough sexual energy stored inside of her that the small release wouldn’t impact their lovemaking in the least.
Borrowing his terminology, she’d just revved up the engine, getting ready for him.
18
Leon
As Leon opened the bedroom door, the scent of Anastasia’s arousal was so potent that his shaft instantly sprang to attention, tenting the towel wrapped around his hips.
“Hello, handsome.” She eyed him with hooded eyes. “Someone is happy to see me.”
“You are not wearing the blindfold.” He hit the light switch, plunging the room into semi-darkness.
She’d left the bathroom door slightly open, and the light coming from there was enough for her to see his fangs.
They weren’t at their full length yet, but they would be pretty damn soon.
“You didn’t tell me to,” she purred seductively.
He opened the dresser drawer and pulled out two scarves. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
“Is it really necessary?” She pouted.
“Now, Anastasia.”
His girl was in a sassy mood, and he expected her to respond with a smart-ass comeback, but she did as he asked, and as she flipped to her tummy, the blanket slid off her, giving him a full view of her perfect ass.
“Someone was naughty.” He dropped the towel and prowled to the bed.
“Why would you say that?” She pretended innocence.
Sitting next to her sprawled beauty, Leon gently tied one scarf around her eyes and then smoothed his hand over her rounded bottom. “Did you play with yourself in the shower, my beautiful naughty girl?”
“How did you know?”
He gripped her wrists and tied them together with the second scarf. “Your body is flushed with arousal.” He feathered his fingers over her moist folds.
She moaned. “This is all for you.”
“Is that so?” He pushed her legs apart and leaned to lick at her glistening petals. “You’re so wet.”
She wiggled her ass, inviting more.
“What were you thinking about?” He slid a finger into her welcoming heat.
“This.”
“Liar.” He smacked her ass.
“Don’t,” she hissed. “Margaret will hear it.”
“So she will know that you were naughty and that you’re getting punished.”
As he smacked her other cheek, her sheath fluttered along the finger he was slowly pumping in and out of her.
“Please. I don’t want her to know about the games we play.”
He smacked her bottom again. “Why not? Maybe it’s a turn on for her?” He pulled out his finger and came back with two.
She groaned. “I’m not an exhibitionist.”
Her body belied her words. She was getting so wet that his pumping fingers were making lewd sounds. He suspected that the prospect of having a witness to her funishment gave Ana a thrill.
“Liar.” He slapped the other cheek and then rubbed both to spread the heat. “You are enjoying this.”
He was giving Bowen an audio show, but so be it. He wasn’t going to dial down their fun just because they had guests.
“What about Bowen?” Anastasia breathed.
“He’s all the way up in the loft.” It was a statement, not a lie. Her conclusions were her own.
His fingers kept their slow pumping, and then he added his tongue to the play, wresting a strangled moan from her.
“Please,” she pleaded again.
“Please what?”
“I need you inside me,” she whispered.
“Well.” He slid back down. “As you ask so nicely.” He pulled her legs until she was folded over the foot of the bed.
Grabbing a pillow, he pushed it under her hips, positioning her at the perfect angle for his penetration. “Is that what you want?” He teased her entrance with the tip of his shaft.
“Yes,” she groaned and lifted her bottom.
He entered her in one swift slide. “More?” He gripped her hips, withdrew, and then plunged back in.
“Yes.”
He slapped her left butt cheek. “You didn’t say please.”
She chuckled softly. “More.”
He slapped the right one. “That wasn’t a please.”
“Harder.” She giggled.
“Imp.” He slapped one cheek and then the other. “Suddenly, you are not worried about your friend hearing us.”
“Please.”
“As you wish.” He gripped her hips tightly and surged into her, slamming his hips against the soft cushion of her bottom.
She moaned, lifting to meet his thrusts as he pumped into her with growing abandon, and as he reached around her and pressed his thumb to the throbbing bundle of nerves, she uttered a guttural sound and her sheath clamped around his shaft. Increasing the pressure, he kept pounding into her until she convulsed under him, her body trembling with the force of her climax.
Letting go of her hips, he folded himself over her and clamped one hand on her head and the other over her mouth. His lips formed a tight seal on the spot where her neck met her shoulder, and he had just enough presence of mind left to flick his tongue over it before sinking his fangs into her silky skin.
As Anastasia orgasmed again, and again, her screams were muffled by his hand. He kept pumping into her until he was spent, and she went limp under him.
For long moments, he stayed buried inside her until the orgasmic haze lifted, and he realized that he was crushing her with his body.
Withdrawing carefully, he untied Anastasia’s hands and repositioned her, so her back was tucked against his front and covered them both with the blanket.
“I love you,” he murmured against her warm cheek and then kissed it softly.
> 19
Anastasia
“You are in for a treat.” Bowen pulled a hefty package of steaks from the fridge. “I’m the best griller in the village.” He put the steaks on a tray and started loading it with all kinds of spices.
The guy had brought a week's worth of groceries with him, and nothing was pre-made except for the bread and the hamburger buns. He seriously intended to cook every day and feed Margaret.
But since Bowen’s specialty was grilling, it seemed that all they would be eating over the next week were steaks and burgers.
Ana was going to miss the elaborate dishes Okidu had prepared. The spinach and ricotta lasagna, the eggplant parmesan, and many of the others. Perhaps she could ask him for the recipes?
Leon chuckled. “Don’t let Roni hear you. He thinks that the title of the best griller in the village belongs to him.”
“Village?” Ana arched a brow.
Leon waved a hand in dismissal. “That’s what we call our family compound. There are so many of us that we started calling it the village.”
“That’s so nice that you all live together,” Margaret said. “The best part about Safe Haven was the community of people. I was never alone.”
Leon’s brows dipped low. “Ours is nothing like your cult. There is none of the free-love nonsense, and couples have their own homes.”
“That’s lovely.” Margaret lowered her eyes. “Sounds like a great place to raise children.”
“Yeah.” Averting his gaze, Leon rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “It is.”
It hadn’t escaped Ana’s notice that Margaret’s comment about raising children had made him uncomfortable.
Did he have kids that he hadn’t told her about?
They’d agreed not to mention previous lovers, but that didn’t include an ex-wife, or wives, or the children he might have with them. Were they still living on the family compound? Was that why he looked like a dark cloud had descended over his head?