“Fine. Just leave my family alone in the process,” she said between teeth clenched so hard she thought her jaw would snap.
“You know I can’t do that, Joy. You’re a vampire and if it is in fact another vampire that killed Alan and this guy Brian, you’re going to be my vampire guide.”
Joy’s rush of fury whaled her between the eyes just before she saw red. “Fuck -- you!”
Larkin began to laugh, tipping his head back and roaring at her, which only infuriated her that much more. She had a good pissed off going on and she wasn’t letting it go. Joy grabbed him by the front of his shirt and shook him, knowing she had an advantage because of her strength. Their eyes clashed. “I’m not your guinea vamp.”
“Nope,” he said with an eerie calm. “But you could be in danger too. You have some scary information that might piss off whoever this is and I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
She loosened her grip on his shirt. “So I’m not a suspect too?”
Larkin smiled smugly. “Do you suppose you could have hidden that from me?”
Right. The Amazing Kreskin all up in her head. How could she have forgotten that?
Chapter Eight
“So, you gonna tell me about Liam the pansy-assed, blue-lipped, hair-better-than-yours lifemate?” Larkin asked as they sat parked in front of Alan Perkins’ house. It was a small two story just at the end of town. Neatly manicured and well kept.
Joy slunk down in her seat. Fuck. “No, I’m not.”
Larkin’s profile was hard and unyielding. His jaw twitched. “Well, from the sounds of it, you’re not too pleased with this turn of events.”
“You oughta know, Detective. You’ve obviously read my thoughts on Liam.”
“Good thing he can’t read your thoughts, huh?”
Joy dug in her purse for an elastic band to tie her hair back. “Whatever,” she replied.
“So he knows he’s your lifemate because he can smell you?”
Joy snorted and wrapped the elastic band around a thick wad of her hair. “Yeah, that’s what he says.”
Larkin grabbed her wrist to make her look at him. “So what does that mean?”
Shrugging she said, “It means he has a better nose than I do and why not? I mean, he has better hair than I do.”
“Does it mean you have to like marry him?”
“Um, no. This isn’t like we’re betrothed or anything. I have one thing going for me. I can’t smell, so I can’t confirm or deny Liam’s claim. Right now, I’m backstroking in the river of denial.”
Larkin’s chuckle bounced off the small confines of the car’s interior. “Does your family know?”
“Yeah. That’s who Liam told first. Nice, huh? Didn’t even bother to tell the person he has to spend the rest of fucking eternity with before he hit up my parents. I told him he could kiss my undead ass and sent him packing.”
Larkin’s fingers caressed her wrist absently, sending delicious chills along her arm. “How does your family feel about it?”
Joy laughed. “My mother flipped. She doesn’t like him anymore than I do. My dad didn’t say much. Just that it was up to Liam to prove his intentions, which of course I intend to ignore.”
“Why?”
She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Because he icks me out, okay? Is that what you wanted to hear, stud?”
Larkin let her hand go and with it went the trails of fire licking at her nerve endings. “Yeah, that’s what I wanted to hear, that he icks you out.” He reached for the door handle. “C’mon, let’s go see what Alan had going on.”
On the ride over Larkin briefly told her that the coroner’s office found no suicide note, something that almost all suicide victims leave behind. He said that the coroner’s office in Easton just might have jumped to a hasty conclusion about the cause of Alan’s death and they were sending someone out tomorrow to do a thorough search of Alan’s house. According to Larkin, he wanted to be the first to find something if there was anything to find. He owed Alan that much.
Joy couldn’t help but feel a sense of respect for Larkin’s attitude -- if nothing else he was a good friend, even if he was a pushy, nosy bastard.
Larkin came up behind her as they stood in front of Alan’s door. “Am not,” he said over her shoulder as he popped the key in the lock.
Joy shivered as his stubble grazed her cheek. “Not what?”
“A pushy, nosy bastard,” he said as he pulled on some latex gloves and pushed the door open.
Joy peeked hesitantly at the interior of the house. “Get the fuck out of my head, Larkin.”
He chuckled as he slid past her and flipped on the lights. Joy whistled. “Wow, this is some place.”
Larkin nodded wordlessly as he too stared at the immaculate white furniture. Pillows lined the circular sofa each on a perfect diagonal angle. A thin layer of dust had begun to accumulate on the leaded glass coffee table. Tall, potted fica trees stood by the entryway to the kitchen, which Joy was sure was just as white and pristine as the living room. “He’s pretty good at this decorating stuff. Was he like this in the Army?”
Larkin headed for the desk by the bay window. “Well, he was neat, but this is perfect. Remember what I told you, don’t touch anything.”
“No kidding,” Joy commented as she followed him to the desk. “I thought only guys who were gay had stuff like this. It’s damn near perfect and I promise not to touch.”
Larkin was ignoring her and rifling through papers in Alan’s desk, setting each paper carefully back where he’d found it.
An hour later he sat back in the desk chair and blew out a puff of air. “Not a Goddamned thing!”
Joy kept silent. She didn’t know what to say other than maybe Alan really did kill himself and Larkin just couldn’t accept that.
Larkin shook his head. “No, no he didn’t. I can feel it in my gut, Joy.”
Joy sighed and wandered over to the breakfast bar where a bowl with some miscellaneous items were thrown together. It was the only cluttered thing about Alan Perkins’ house. “Look, Larkin. A matchbook from that stupid club, the Hole.”
Larkin came up behind her and grabbed it up with his gloved hands, flipping open the front of the matchbook. “Nothing. Shit. I knew he went to the Hole. It’s why I was there the other night, just to get a feel for the place. Alan didn’t seem like the type to like the kind of crap they played there, but things change.”
“So, what’s next, Detective?”
Larkin’s cell phone rang and he held up a finger as he flipped it open and answered, “McBride.”
His long legs began to pace as he silently listened to the caller. Finally, he said, “Okay, Adelaide. I’ll be right there. Just sit tight, okay?”
Joy’s spine stiffened when she heard Alan’s mother’s name. “What’s wrong? Is she okay?”
“Guess who has a suicide note?” he asked with a grim grunt.
Oh, God, no…
* * *
Larkin drove the few miles to Adelaide’s house to find her sobbing and shaking. Her neighbor let them in, then quietly drifted to the back room. Adelaide clung to Larkin, clutching the unlined, white piece of paper in her hand. “I can’t bear this, Larkin. I c-ca-can’t,” she sobbed into Larkin’s shoulder.
Joy put her hand on Adelaide’s back momentarily, then turned toward the kitchen to look for tea bags. “Come sit with me,” she heard Larkin say. Joy gripped the edge of the counter. She didn’t want to know what was in the note. She just wanted this to end for Adelaide. Joy made some tea and brought it to Adelaide who sat beside Larkin on the couch with her head in her hands. She looked worn and frazzled when she glanced up to thank Joy. “Oh, it’s you, from the funeral home. Thank you.”
“Adelaide, where did you get this note?” Larkin asked.
“It was in the mailbox,” she said, her voice devoid of emotion now, weary from her crying.
“No postmark? Just an envelope?”
Adelaide nodded woodenly and Joy came to sit besi
de her, encouraging her to drink the tea.
“How long has it been since you checked the mail, Adelaide?”
Joy handed her a tissue and she wiped her eyes with it, smiling for the first time in gratitude at Joy. “Since the day before Alan’s death, I think.”
Larkin’s eyes turned dark and his jaw twitched again. “So it could have been Alan who put it there?”
Adelaide’s shoulders slumped in obvious resignation. “Yes, I guess it could have.”
Larkin ran a hand through his hair and frowned. “Can your neighbor stay with you tonight, Adelaide?” he asked gently.
“She offered to.”
“Good, then let’s have her do that. I’ll see what I can find out about this. Can you sit tight for me for a few days, Adelaide?” Larkin spoke softly, his normally gruff tone gentle and soothing.
Adelaide reached a thin, wrinkled hand out to him and he took it in his, giving it a consoling squeeze. “Yes, I think so.”
“That a girl. I’ll be back, okay?”
Adelaide nodded, letting Larkin’s hand fall away as she sat back on the sofa and rested her head against the couch. “Mrs. Perkins, if there’s anything you need, please let me know,” Joy said softly.
“Thank you, dear,” she whispered as Joy and Larkin made a swift exit.
Larkin stomped to his car, his stride quick and crisp. He leaned against the roof and let his head rest on his forearms.
Joy went to the passenger side and peered over the roof at him. Her gut tensed at the horror Adelaide was experiencing and the torture she knew this must be for Larkin to watch. “I’m sorry, Larkin. I really am.”
Larkin’s head snapped up. “Sorry enough to help me?”
Joy nodded as she yanked open the passenger door. She didn’t know what there was to help him with. It was pretty clear that Alan had killed himself, but if it eased his pain, she’d help. “Yeah, I’ll help you.”
Larkin slid into the car and turned the ignition. “He said it was because of a woman.”
Well ain’t love grand? “A woman?”
“Yeah, some shit about she was never coming back and he couldn’t live with it.”
Joy swallowed hard. “Did he write it, Larkin?”
“It was printed. He didn’t mention a name and Adelaide said Alan never said a word about anyone. She was devastated that he didn’t come to her about it. She feels like she failed him.”
As they sped toward her apartment, Joy watched the lights of the houses on the rural road fly past her. “Was he that close to Adelaide? I mean, would he share something like that with her? If he loved this woman why didn’t he ever bring her home to meet his mother?”
Larkin grimaced. “I don’t have a friggin’ clue. Alan always spoke with pride about his mother. When he invited me to come home with him they were really great together or at least I thought so. She was the kind of mother every guy wants, ya know?”
Joy did know, because she had a mother just like that. “I do understand and I don’t know what to say. I wish for Adelaide’s sake this would end. She looks exhausted.”
Larkin pulled up in front of her apartment. “She is. Now, invite me in,” he said as he threw open the car door and ignored her prepared protest.
Joy let her head fall to her chest. Was there no end to this man’s presumption?
Larkin pulled her door open and stuck his face in hers with a cocky grin. “No.”
Slipping past him, Joy let her body brush his briefly before she ran up the steps to her complex. “Well, c’mon. Quit looking at my ass and let’s go.”
“Hey,” he yelled. “Can you read my thoughts now too?”
She giggled when he caught up with her and pushed her gently into her apartment. “You’re a man. They’re written all over your crotch.”
Joy could almost feel him looking south as she yanked off her jacket and threw it on her coat rack. Pressing the button on her blinking answering machine she listened as Larkin came up behind her and pulled her flush to his hard body.
“Hey, Joy. It’s Ethan. Just wanted to let you know I’ll be back tomorrow around noon. It’ll be good to see you again. Love ya.”
Larkin’s big hands froze. “Who the fuck is Ethan?” he growled in her ear.
Joy turned to face him and smiled. “I guess I could tell you he’s another suitor just to piss you off, but frankly after my de-virginizing, I find I’d rather not play games.” Joy let the heel of her hand run over Larkin’s crotch, rubbing the thick outline of his cock.
“Who’s Ethan?”
Joy unzipped his jeans and jammed her hands in them, pulling them to his knees. “He’s my brother, mind reader.”
“Oh.”
Joy knelt in front of him. “Yeah, oh. Ready to shut up now, Detective?” she asked as she let her lips linger near the strain of flesh between his thighs. She nuzzled the thick outline with her nose.
“Shutting up,” he said on a hoarse groan.
Last night she had been very curious, but Larkin had prevented her from exploring. Tonight she had every intention of doing exactly what she’d read about in those naughty erotic romance novels. Her fingers strayed to the fly in his boxer briefs as she released him and took her first glimpse of the very part of his anatomy that had made her howl just the night before. His cock was as long and as thick as it had felt last night while inside her, the smooth skin satiny and lightly veined. She gripped it in her hand and let her palm tunnel the heat of it, stroking it with long passes.
Larkin’s thighs tensed, the muscles bunching against her cheek, and she smiled. This must be good.
“It is,” he said between teeth that sounded clenched.
This time she didn’t mind that he knew what she was thinking.
“Joy… you don’t have to do this.”
Her hands grew more insistent as her panties grew damp and her nipples tightened with anticipation. “Well, Detective, obviously you know you couldn’t make me do something I don’t want to do.”
Larkin laughed from above her and gripped handfuls of her hair when she tentatively let her tongue rest against his shaft. Joy licked him gently at first, savoring the texture of his skin against her tongue. With slow ease she enveloped his cock in her mouth, taking as much of him as she could and then dragging her lips and tongue back over his length to tease just beneath the head of his cock. He jerked toward her, jutting his hips forward and pulling back again.
Joy moved faster, bobbing her head in fluid passes, swirling her tongue over him as Larkin’s hips ground against her. Her hand drifted to his balls. Heavy and tight, they lay in her hands as she kneaded them gently. “Jesus Christ, Joy…” he said, his breathing choppy and hard.
She ran her nails over the thick patch of pubic hair just above his cock, letting them graze his skin as Larkin’s cock pulsed in her mouth. His hand now rested on the top of her head, guiding her with each stoke she made.
Larkin yanked away suddenly, leaving her mouth with a pop and hauling her upward to crush her against him. “You have to stop.”
Joy wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her needy, aching body against his, arching into his exposed cock. “I guess that’s how you do it, huh, Detective?”
Larkin’s lips hovered over hers and a thrill of carnal, delicious shivers made her shudder against him. “Yeah, that’s how you do it,” he whispered huskily as he tore at her jeans, struggling to pull them off her. Joy wiggled out of them and wrapped her legs around his waist as he held her steady and kicked off one shoe at a time, then stepped out of his pants.
His cock burned her cunt, sliding between the fleshy folds and teasing her clit. His hands grabbed her ass and clutched it with rough fingers as he walked backward and set her on her breakfast bar.
Joy whimpered against his cheek when he moved away. The cool of the countertop eased the heat of her bottom. Larkin slanted his head and parted her mouth with his tongue and for a moment Joy knew if she had a heart it would have stopped beating as he kissed her d
eeply, exploring each crevice in her mouth, running his tongue over her teeth.
As his lips devoured hers, he trailed thick fingers between her eager thighs, grazing the pouty lips of her smooth pussy, dragging them through the slickness he’d created. Her hands clung to his shoulders as his tongue drove into her mouth, rasping against hers. Her breathing was labored when he stroked his forefinger over her swollen, aching clit,. “I need to lick you, Joy. I’m going to sink my tongue into your hot, sweet pussy,” Larkin murmured as he tore his lips from hers and hiked her legs up over his shoulders, pulling her ass forward. Joy gasped as she saw his head positioned between her legs. Leaning on her elbows, she lifted her hips in desperate invitation.
Larkin didn’t hesitate. He buried his tongue in her, delving into the sensitive flesh, parting it swiftly, lapping at her with forceful strokes, swirling his tongue over her clit until she thought she would explode from the heat that gathered in her cunt. Sharp stabs of pleasure burst into hot flames of need when Larkin inserted a finger into her and began to thrust. shirt
Joy rode his finger, fucked it as if it were the cock she found so wickedly tantalizing. Her nipples beaded and tightened, rubbing against her bra as her orgasm began to swell. This time she knew what to expect and her only thought was that if vampires did die, this was how she’d want to go. With Larkin’s tongue between her legs and his finger fucking her.
In a flash of light and heat she came, slamming into his tongue and clinging to his neck with a death grip as she rode the wave of release.
Her breathing was ragged to her ears as Larkin stood up and hauled her to him, taking her off the breakfast bar and carrying her to her small couch. Laying her on it, he covered her body with lightning speed, parting her thighs and burying his cock in her balls deep. “I can’t wait anymore, Joy. If I don’t fuck you, I’ll explode.” He said the last word on an urgent moan.
Joy’s throat constricted, holding back a scream of pleasure as he entered her, slick and hot. The slap of flesh against flesh pounded in her ears as she drove her hips to meet his frenzied thrusts. Larkin held onto the arm of the couch for leverage and rode her with hard strokes.
The Polanski Brothers: Home of Eternal Rest Page 7