"What's on the list next?" Piper asked, smiling up at me.
List in hand, I glanced down at it quickly. "We need a few produce items. Onions. Tomatoes. Cucumbers."
"Oh, how about over there?" She dragged me toward a stall at the end of the row.
Doing the daily shopping was one of the few tasks that were not part of my duties. That was usually reserved for the cook, Gretchen. However, her daughter had a baby, and she'd asked for some time off.
Hence why I had been left with the task. Piper didn't need to come, but she had insisted on getting out of the house. I supposed she needed a break from all the mayhem our lives had turned into, just like me.
The older couple behind the table grinned genuinely as we approached, their gazes dropping to our linked hands.
"Oh, look at that, Ed," the woman nudged her husband. "Don't they remind you of someone?"
The older man's brows furrowed. "Ummm...doesn't ring a bell, dear."
The woman sighed and shook her head. "Us, of course. Forty years ago." Her eyes went dreamy and far off as she clutched the side of her face. "Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday. Strolling through this very same market hand in hand. It's where my Ed here proposed, you know?"
Piper giggled and squeezed my hand. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. Piper wasn't exactly a people person. So, I couldn't say I was surprised by the wide-eyed expression on her face and the forced smile. Her squeeze was a cry for help.
"I'm sure it was a romantic gesture," I offered the couple, releasing Piper's hand to wrap my arm around her waist. "We were just looking for some vegetables to take home for supper."
Catching my subtle change of conversation, the woman returned to the present and back into her businesswoman mode. "Oh, yes, of course. The tomatoes are ripe and firm. We just picked them this morning," she pointed at the basket holding them. "Or if you prefer, we have some fresh zucchini."
"Watermelon!" Piper suddenly called out, her eyes going bright as she turned to me. "We have to get some watermelon. I haven't had any in ages."
My lips ticked up in a small smile at her enthusiasm. "Of course, if you wish it."
Piper moved around the table and reached for the large green and white fruit.
The older woman reached out and said, "Oh, be careful, dear, that one is quite hea..." Piper easily lifted it up. "...vy. Oh my, you're a strong one, aren't you?"
Glancing down at the melon and then back to the woman, Piper's cheeks flushed. "Uh...thanks."
I held back my laughter until I had paid for the other items and had walked away. Then I couldn't help but chuckle.
"It's not funny." Piper pouted.
My hand on her lower back, I steered her through the crowd. "It is a bit. You forgot that you are stronger than the average human."
Piper shrugged her shoulders. "It's not my fault I look dainty. Being a human servant has ruined me for ever being normal again." She sighed long and hard. "In any case, let's get this home. I want to crack this baby open!"
A few people walking by gave us curious looks. I held my arms out to her. "Here, why don't you let me carry that. It won't look as suspicious."
Piper started to hand it over but then stopped. "No. I'm going to carry it. I'm a strong independent woman. If they don't like that I can carry my own big ass fruit, then they can get over it." She stuck her tongue out at them as we passed by.
Placing my hand on my face, I suppressed a dramatic sigh. "Sometimes, I wonder how I'm going to live forever with someone as immature as you."
Turning back to me, Piper grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, you'll figure it out. Besides, I'm hardly the most immature of the bunch. I know at least another two who would fit that bill."
Sadly, I couldn't disagree. The masters might be decades and some even centuries older than us, but they still acted like children at times. At least, our lives would never be dull.
Chapter 2
Piper
When Darren and I arrived home, it was only noon. It would be hours before any of the others woke up. So, for a little bit of time, Darren and I had the house all to ourselves.
"So, what's for dinner anyway?" I sat the watermelon carefully on the island.
Darren moved around the kitchen, putting away our purchases. Even after living with them for over a year, I still didn't know where everything was at. Probably because I rarely cooked in here. Ask me where the snacks are. I got you. But a whisk? No clue.
"Baked chicken parmigiana."
"Ooh, sounds yummy." My mouth watered at the thought. I slid onto the barstool at the island and leaned on my elbows. "What about the watermelon? Are you going to help me eat it?"
Darren turned away from the refrigerator and made a disgusted face. "No, thank you."
I gasped and wrapped my arms around the large fruit. "Don't look at my baby that way! You'll hurt its feelings."
Closing the refrigerator door, Darren rounded the island to stand beside me. “It’s a fruit. It doesn’t have feelings.”
My lower lip puffed out. “Does so. She feels sad and unwanted.”
Arching a brow, Darren moved in close enough that his body heat caressed my side. “A her, is it?”
“Yes,” I licked my lips and peered up at him. “She has many feelings. Just like anyone else.”
Darren lifted his gloveless hand to my face and brushed a stray hair away. “And what else does she feel?” His voice lowered, the timber holding a possessive quality to it.
My hand stroked along the watermelon's cool smooth shell while my eyes stayed on Darren’s dark orbs. “Like no one wants to taste her. To enjoy the sweet juicy goodness just waiting inside.” My breathing increased as I spoke, my body warming as the conversation shifted.
Placing his hand on top of mine, Darren looped his other arm around my waist, pulling me flush against his body. His cock poked my side. My mouth grew dry. It was good to know I wasn’t the only one affected.
Darren slid our hands over the watermelon slowly, an almost sensual touch. “Perhaps we should remedy that situation? We wouldn’t want all that deliciousness to go to waste, now do we?”
I shook my head vehemently. “No, yeah, we wouldn’t want it to go to waste.”
My heart raced in anticipation of what was to come. My eyes flicked to Darren’s mouth and back up to his gaze, the waiting almost as good as the act itself. Then Darren dipped his head toward me, my eyes fluttered closed, anxious for that first taste.
To my disappointment, Darren bypassed my lips altogether and murmured in my ear, “We need a knife.” Then he was gone. The heat of his body disappearing and leaving me shaking from more than just the chill of his absence.
Huffing, I shifted back onto my seat and sagged. And here I thought I was going to get an afternoon quickie. My attention strayed away from Darren’s form as a surprising figure stood in the door frame.
“Marcus,” I smiled softly at him. “You’re not usually up this early.”
The tall man brushed a hand over the buzzed top of his head, his beefy arms flexing with each movement. God did I want to lick them. Marcus and my relationship hadn’t progressed as far as it had with the others. Not for lack of trying. I wanted nothing more than to climb on top of the big man and ride him until I split in half.
However…Marcus had been changed into a vampire back in the middle ages, during the crusades. He thought that he had to woo me first. I’d told him several times, thee only wooing I needed, he’d already provided. Buy me food, call me pretty, and you can bend me over whatever surface you want.
I humored him, though. Out of all my boyfriends – could I really call decades and even century-old vampires my boyfriends? Whatever. They were mine, and that was all that mattered. Anyways, Marcus was the least needy of them all and if he wanted to take it slow then I would do it. Even if it killed me.
“Hello,” Marcus’s gruff voice made tingles slide down into good places. “Antoine requested my presence for a meeting later.”
; “Ah,” I leaned my face on my hand and watched him. “The lord and master calls, and we jump.”
The look Marcus gave me would have killed a lesser human. Me, I’m made of steel and donuts. Mostly donuts lately.
The head of the House of Durand, Antoine, had to be the most pompous full of himself alpha asshole I’d ever met. And yet, I’d willingly tied myself to him for all eternity. No one said that love wasn’t blind, deaf, and dumb.
“Here,” Darren approached the opposite side of the island with a knife and reached for my watermelon.
“No way,” I grabbed it and pulled it close to me. “It’s my watermelon. I won’t let a watermelon hater hurt her.”
Darren's lips twisted to the side. “Then how do you propose to eat it?”
Marcus interrupted before I could answer. “I remember watermelon.” The wistful expression on his face had me instantly interested.
“Do you want some?” I rubbed along the surface of it as if a magic genie would appear at any moment. “Eating it won’t hurt you. At least, the cookies I keep shoving at Rayne haven’t hurt him yet.”
Darren snorted. I shot him a warning look before turning back to Marcus. He had dressed for the day already. Dark jeans that clung to his muscular legs and a long-sleeved ribbed shirt that did nothing to hide the glorious body underneath. Not that I’d had the pleasure of seeing it yet. I only had my imagination and my hand to fill in the blanks for me.
“I would not be opposed to tasting it again.” Marcus walked to the island and took the knife from Darren’s outstretched hand. “I wonder if it will be the same.”
Marcus shifted into the place between the other chair and myself, his bicep brushing against my chest. My nipples pebbled at the contact. Peering up at him beneath my lashes, I checked to see if Marcus had noticed.
While his gaze was on the task of cutting the watermelon, his nostrils flared, and his jaw clenched tight. As a human servant, my senses were heightened far more than an average human’s. They did not compare to vampires. I’d been told many a time by each of them that my arousal had a spicy-sweet scent that drove them crazy. One whiff of it usually had me on my back or in any other manner of positions in moments.
As if to prove my point, the door to the basement banged open, and two of my other boyfriends appeared in the kitchen doorway.
Rayne fought to get in the door before Wynn, his red hair tousled from sleep, and his amber eyes had a glazed look over them. He hadn’t even gotten a shirt on and stood in the kitchen barefoot in his gym shorts. I’d be remiss if I didn’t let myself enjoy the view.
“Piper, pet,” Wynn drawled in that accent of his, pulling my gaze away from Rayne. “You are fully clothed. How can this be?” His black hair fell over his shoulders in a wavy mess. He too had rushed from bed without fully dressing. Wynn, at least, had on a robe, though, from the way his bare leg peeked out from the folds, I doubted there was much more on beneath.
My lips curled up at the edges, bemused by his words. “Why shouldn’t I be?”
Rayne hopped up on the island on my free side, his leg bumping against my arm. “By the way your scent flared, he expected to see you spread out on the kitchen table.”
“Oh, yea?” I grinned from Rayne to Wynn. “Is Wynn always thinking such naughty thoughts?”
Rayne scoffed. “Worse.”
Wynn sauntered toward us, his body moving as smoothly as a panther’s. “Do not pretend you did not wake from a dead of sleep just to see her too, little brother.”
Rayne crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from him. “Whatever.”
I placed my hand on Rayne’s thigh and gave it a little squeeze. Rayne’s expression softened, and he dropped his arms, placing his hand on mine.
“I’m surprised Drake and Allister didn’t come rushing up here as well.” I glanced around Wynn to see if the twins would make an appearance.
Rayne scoffed. “Those two sleep like the dead, the house could burn down, and they wouldn’t even notice.” I giggled, and Rayne continued, “So, what are you all up to?”
“We’re going to crack open some watermelon.” I gestured to the red and green fruit Marcus had mostly torn apart now. “Do you want some?”
Rayne’s nose crinkled.
“Don’t tell me you hate watermelon too?” I gaped at him, almost unable to speak at the thought.
Shrugging a shoulder, Rayne grunted, “Guilty.”
“And you?” I looked to Wynn. “Please tell me you are more well-rounded than these two.” I pointed at Rayne and Darren.
Wynn lifted my hand up and pressed his lips to the tips of my fingers. “I hunger for many things.” I giggled as he nipped my fingertips. “Unfortunately, watermelon is not one of them.”
I shook my head in disappointment. “You don’t know what you are missing, really.”
Darren offered me a plate and fork, and I waved them away. “That is no way to eat watermelon. You have to dig in and really get into it.” I picked up a large piece, the juices sliding down my hand and wrist. Four sets of eyes watched as I licked the liquid up and then engulfed the meaty bits of the red fruit with my mouth.
My eyes closed, and I groaned my pleasure. There was nothing better than ice-cold watermelon to fend off the heat of a summer day. I could just imagine myself lying by the pool, the sun warming my skin, and a big bowl of watermelon for me to feast upon.
A throat cleared, and my eyes snapped open. Marcus stared down at the pile of fruit. Darren busied himself with cleaning the knife, his back to me. Rayne still sat beside me, but his gaze was out the window. The only one of them that would look at me was Wynn.
“What?” I licked the side of my hand and swallowed.
“I have changed my mind,” Wynn stated, reaching for my hand holding the watermelon. “I would like to taste this fruit once more.”
Before I could tell him to get his own, Wynn wrapped his lips around the fruit, taking a few of my fingers with them. His tongue teased along the sides of them, making heat pool between my thighs. A deep inhale from three of them made me flush.
“I agree,” Rayne announced suddenly.
My head jerked in his direction. “About what?”
In that instant, Rayne and Wynn locked eyes over my head, and then in the next, I was lifted up out of my chair and found myself sprawled across the island. Wynn unlaced my shoes and pulled them off my feet while Rayne held my hands.
Laughing, I tugged at my hands. “What are you two up to? You’re going to knock the watermelon off the table.”
“I can remedy that,” Darren announced, taking the whole wooden board and placing it on the other counter. Marcus stepped back from the island, conflicting emotions on his face. I gasped and looked down at where Wynn had reached beneath my skirt and ripped my panties from my body. My legs fell open at the cool air hitting my heated and swollen flesh.
Marcus stepped back.
“Don’t,” I called out to him, locking eyes. “Don’t go.”
Still, he hesitated.
Darren appeared at my side and made quick work of the buttons on my shirt, exposing my bra and bare stomach to their eyes. I opened my mouth to tell Marcus again to stay. It came out as a startled moan. Something cold and wet moved along my stomach, followed by a hot muscle, lapping it up.
I swallowed thickly, “You’re going to get me all sticky.”
From my legs, Wynn chuckled. “That is the point, love.” He, too, had a piece of watermelon and was stroking it along the inside of my thighs. “Do not worry…” He leaned down and slid his tongue up the line of my thigh just inches away from my aching heat. “We will make sure you are all cleaned up.” Wynn did the same thing to the other leg, not touching the place where I wanted him most.
A whimper escaped from between my lips. Rayne tightened his grip on my wrists, and my eyes opened to lock onto those ember orbs. He wasn’t watching Wynn between my thighs or Darren making his way to my breasts. He was watching me—no doubt picking through my head to
catch every emotion and feeling.
I love you. I pushed the thought at him, earning me a smile.
Rayne leaned down and captured my mouth with his. I’d never kissed upside down before; it was definitely interesting. My curiosity was short-lived when a tentative hand touched my side.
My eyes flicked to Marcus.
He drew his brows down so tightly, concentrating far more than I thought possible on the simple act of touching me. I want him to want to touch me. Not be confused or anxious about it.
Release me.
Rayne pulled back and immediately did what I asked, his own eyes shifting to the larger vampire.
I reached out and placed my hand on top of Marcus’s, our eyes meeting. “Touch me,” I murmured, sliding his hand up and over my bra-clad breast.
Marcus’s hand flexed beneath mine, squeezing my breast experimentally before fully cupping it. His thumb stroked the budded flesh beneath the thin lace material. I gasped and moaned, my back arching at the feel of him in combination with the air Wynn blew on my clit. Darren reached behind my back as I was up and unsnapped my bra. It has become second nature to him by now for him to disrobe me.
Breasts bare to the room, Marcus stepped away from the island. I frowned, wanting to protest, but Rayne kissed me and whispered, “Wait.”
Marcus returned with a piece of watermelon. Holding the dripping fruit over my breast, he let the juices cover my nipple and globe, swirling it around until I moaned. Then very carefully to not puncture me with his fangs, Marcus pulled my nipple into his mouth, lapping at the juices and sucking on my nipple until it ached.
Darren mimicked what Marcus had done to my other nipple, covering it in watermelon before covering it with his mouth.
“Fuck,” I cried out, unable to hold back my need. “Please.”
“Your wish is my command, pet,” Wynn murmured against my heated flesh. The first touch of his tongue against my clit had me bucking and twisting. Rayne held my arms down, trying to keep me still. It didn’t work too well. A sharp sting at my breast had my breath ratcheting up.
Eat Your Heart Out: A Romance Charity Anthology Page 64