by Rae Foxx
‘“Yeah. There’s got to be something there that will help us. I mean that place is like a creep-out city. A weapon, or blood, or a secret succubus journal detailing all her life’s pursuits?” I asked, joking more than anything. “Maybe Kent’s little black book is there. But Becky stole it back from the apartment...there has to be something in that library. She’s not that sneaky.”
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and placed a kiss at my temple. “Maybe you’re right, kitten. There might be something there. Let’s go before the cop-boy catches us and locks us up again. No matter how much you like it, we won’t find Owen that way.”
As we got to the alley behind the library, a sense of dread poured over me like a sticky blanket. We couldn’t just walk through the front doors, and I told Evan so. He scoured the surroundings, and somehow in true Evan form came up with a hair pin, smiling at it like he had just won the lottery. My twins had certainly been cat burglars or something in another life. “I’m a man of many talents,” he said and reached out to squeeze my boob. He gave me little glimpses of his former self, but not a lot. Still, I lived for those snippets. He finagled with the brass knob, twisting and turning the hair pin until we heard a click. Turning the knob and pushing the door, he smiled over his shoulder at me. We were in.
Maybe I wasn’t the ninja after all. Maybe it was the twins.
The Ninja Harem.
A whoosh of cold air hit my face as we entered the library, making me wrap my arms around myself as I shivered. Goosebumps built up along the surface of my skin as a faint wind pushed against my ears. Fuck, this place was cold. The fact that we were not only in a library, but what I now thought was the nest of a succubus, didn’t make me any warmer inside either.
“Where is that wind coming from?” I asked, rubbing my hands up and down my arms, looking around, thinking there was a window open or a fan on—something. Not only were none of the windows open in the dark and dreary place, but the cobwebs that clung to every one of them told me it had been quite a while since they’d even been used.
Evan looked up and his brow drew together like he couldn’t figure it out either. I shivered as he shrugged, turning in a circle to look for the source but coming up empty. Despite the fact that we’d technically broken in, there were people in the library.
“Where should we start?” He asked me as we took in the place. Not only was it dark but the patrons were grayish and zombie-fied just like the Mayor had been when he was getting his alley-thank-you-card in the form of a hand job. They were all naked this time, but held up books, pretending to be reading, their eyes glassy and empty. One of them was in the corner, slumped over a table like they’d been rode hard and put up wet. He moaned and spittle came from his mouth like he was a sleep-drooler.
“I guess let’s get back to the microfiche machine and see if we can find anything else. Hell, your guess is as good as mine. I’m just hoping not to freeze my tits off before we find something.”
Once we were in the room with the machine, I opened a drawer and a plume of dust came up even though it had only been about a week since we last investigated this place. Spooky. Evan fiddled with the newspapers but I knew by his face he was more remembering when we were last here and Owen was the one looking through them than actually reading the headlines. I slammed drawers and used my fingers to comb through files, but there was nothing. None of this was helpful whatsoever. The thing was, I didn't know where else in the hell to look.
“I know this is hard for you,” I said to him, knowing what was on his mind. “Being here. This whole place must be an onslaught of memories.”
He shot me a half smile over his shoulder. “I feel like maybe he would be more help to you right now. He knew how to make you laugh during this shit and was always instigating. With it being just me around, you might have to live with my terrible dad jokes and watch me play video games. He was just...Owen. Every good and bad and naughty thing we’ve ever done was because of him. Of the pair of us, he got the most balls, that’s for sure.”
I listened while sitting next to him and picked up a few papers, finding nothing but bogus headlines and rat-shit-riddled pages that meant nothing. He wasn’t all wrong, but was being too hard on himself. I needed the parts that were him as much as I needed the quirks that made Owen...Owen. Still, it wasn’t the time for me to interject. He was venting. He deserved a good vent.
“We were like yin and yang. The peanut butter to my jelly. The jalapeños to my nachos. The...I don’t know what else. My strengths were his weaknesses. You get it. We weren’t just twins, it’s like this whole thing cut me right down the middle.”
I nodded, feeling the beginnings of tears welling in my eyes. “I know what you mean.”
He tossed the newspapers aside. “I have to find him. He’s my brother. And I owe him my life for bringing you into our lives. If he’d never done anything else for me in his whole life but that, I owe him mine.”
Needing to comfort him more than anything, I crawled onto his lap, my thighs straddling his. He gasped, but wrapped his hands around me, splaying them against my back as he pulled me closer. Cupping his face, I brought him closer and our lips met in some kind of crash, bordering on violent, hard enough that I knew my lips would be bruised after we were done.
I needed his comfort just as much as he needed mine. His hands roamed downward until they reached my ass, kneading and cupping the muscles there. I rocked against his hardness, no clothes between us since we had come here in our animal forms. His mouth left mine and began a dangerous trail from my jaw to the side of my neck until he reached that spot that made me moan, right below my earlobe.
“That’s right, Scarlet, moan for me, kitten,” he murmured in my ear before grazing his teeth over my earlobe while his hands coaxed my hips to buck harder against him. “Make me feel something, Scarlet.”
His mouth made a trail toward my breasts and I leaned back to give him better access. His strong hands held me in place while I moved my hands to his shoulders. While he was sucking on my nipples, taking a turn with each one, he moved his hand to cup my pussy and put two fingers right at my entrance.
“Are you sure, Evan?” I asked, my breaths coming out in short, shallow bursts as I clasped onto his wrist. “Are you sure your heart is okay with this?”
He scanned my body up and down, but that hint of sadness was still settled in his eyes. “I need all of you, Scarlet. I need all of you, now.”
I searched his eyes, but there was no untruth there. He needed me and I would give him this time, if nothing else, to heal him just a bit. I got up and tugged on his hand and pulled him into the nearest closet or office, didn’t give a fuck which one, and closed the door behind us.
7
Entering the quiet room, we found that it was an office, or something similar. Not giving one single fuck, I turned around and practically threw myself on Evan. He responded in kind, wrapping his arms around me firmly, pulling me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist. He shut the door behind us, not removing his hands or mouth from me.
Not speaking, mostly just smashing mouths, Evan stumbled forward until we bumped into a solid desk. He sent me down gently atop it, not minding the dust or the rough texture of the desk, and pulled back to face me.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so out of it lately, Scar. We need to be there for each other, and I’m sorry I haven’t been upholding my end of the deal.”
I winced, realizing I hadn’t exactly been there for him either. We had both lost someone incredibly important to us. Instead of responding, I just kissed him harder, and I felt his growing erection bump my thigh. I dropped my hand to it, gripping it gently and slowly pulling and teasing. A groan escaped his lips, and Evan’s hands moved to again cup my ass. He squeezed my cheeks perhaps a little harder than he would have normally, likely due to emotional distress, but I wasn’t complaining.
I spread my legs open for him. We were facing each other still, me seated on the desk, his stiff erection in my hand pointe
d directly at my opening. When I looked at him, his eyes had grown heavy with desire. The lids drooped down and he again captured my mouth, plunging his tongue inside to taste me. My body responded with a flood of warmth and wetness to my pussy, which throbbed in need for him.
“Evan, please…” I trailed off, unable to get more words out around my own arousal.
He didn’t need more than that and placed his palm back against my mound, cupping it as he had just moments before. I bucked slightly, difficult to do on top of this shitty old desk, but my point was made. He plunged his fingers inside, moaning softly at the wetness he found there. My hand was still pulling and gently squeezing his cock, and for a few breathless moments, we pleasured each other with hands and mouths. With everything that had happened recently, I felt almost desperate in my need to be close to him.
Finally, seeming unable to handle it anymore, Evan pulled his fingers from inside me and rubbed my clit, making me twitch.
“God, kitten, you’re so wet. I love when you’re ready for me like this.” I just jerked under his touch, kissing his neck and shoulder where I could reach them. Finally, Evan removed his finger from my clit and I whimpered slightly at its absence. Before I could complain, however, he just gently pushed my hand away from him and jutted his hips forward, spearing me atop the desk.
I groaned as he slowly, so slowly, pushed into me. Spreading and filling me so deliciously that I quivered in pleasure. Evan seemed to have needed this as much as I did, because he also groaned and his fingers fluttered over my bare ass as he plunged further in. Once completely inside, me tensing and clenching in anticipation, he began a slow stroke, teasing me with his cock. I didn’t complain, just dug my nails into his back and pulled my hips somehow even closer into him using my legs wrapped around his back. He used his hands on my lower back to pick up speed, slamming into me while I threw my head back in pleasure.
Despite the situation, despite where we were and why, I couldn’t stop the sounds coming from me. I rocked my hips as much as I could on top of the desk, while Evan continued pumping into me. He removed a hand from my ass to squeeze and pull at my breast, moving his mouth to the other. With his continued strokes, his hands and mouth all over me, I felt myself drawing toward orgasm. I reached down to cup his balls and toyed with them, wanting him to feel as much pleasure as I was. He picked up speed in response, and I felt my pussy tighten around his thick erection.
Just as I was reaching climax, trying not to fucking scream and give us away, Evan again crashed his mouth on mine. I felt his body tense and together we came, not breaking the connection of our lips. I guess that’s one way to not make a lot of noise. Hot streams of cum shot into me and I rolled my hips through the last throes of his orgasm, clutching his back once again and tangling my tongue with his.
When it was over, Evan pulled away panting and kissed my neck, my cheek, my shoulder in turn.
“I think I missed you,” he chuckled.
I laid back, utterly spent against the nearest desk, trying like hell to catch my breath. That time with Evan had been exactly what I needed.
“Ow!” I cried out as my back protested. Something sharp and cold was digging into it.
“What the fuck?” I asked, getting up to whirl around and see what had stabbed me.
A lone key sat on the top of the dark-stained oak desk and I picked it up, inspecting it for some kind of markings. “I wonder what the hell this opens?”
“Looks too small to be a door key. Maybe a file cabinet or a desk?” Evan offered, his voice still husky as he recovered from...well, me.
Still holding the key up I laughed. “Why is it that I always manage to find clues while on my back in other people’s offices? Let’s just fuck on every desk in town and I’ll probably have these murders solved and have Owen back by sundown.”
“That’s an idea. But for now, I think this is Stacey’s office, but the scent is faint, like she hasn’t been here in a while. I wonder what she uses this for?” he asked and began to push his nose at surfaces, trying to Scooby-Doo his way into some clues.
While he did, I knelt down, trying the key in every drawer of the vintage desk and tugging on every one to see if they came unlocked. I moved next to the file cabinet and grunted when the key didn’t fit them either.
“Fuck, this place is disgusting. There’s mouse shit everywhere. What kind of library is this? Wait, don’t answer. I kind of don’t want to know, actually. Let’s just find something and get the hell out of here. This place gives me the creeps more and more by the second.”
I turned to see what he was going on about and saw what he was talking about. “Um, Evan, that’s not mice shit, that’s full-on ten pounder rat shit. That one over there in the corner is bigger than a mouse itself.”
“You’re not helping the creepy factor, Scarlet. Let’s hurry. My sand cat is giving me shit for not getting my mate out of here. He’s trying to claw through my goddamned chest.”
“Well, I don’t know where else to check. This key doesn’t fit any of the locks for the file cabinets or the desk.”
As I was speaking, or more like complaining, Evan stepped forward, still sniffing around and the floorboard underneath him gave a loud creak. He stepped back, looking at me and then forward again, making it groan again.
“Something is under here,” he said, dropping to his knees. He felt around with his fingertips, letting the tips of them search for any uneven surface, something to indicate where the floor could open, until he stopped with a grin.
“There you are,” he chastised it and used his fingernails to pry the piece of wood from its spot.
“Is there something in there?” I asked, walking over to inspect.
Evan reached in and pulled out a little black lockbox, and after blowing off the dust, put it on top of the table where the key and my ass had just been.
“Try that key on this, kitten.”
The key was a perfect fit, and after a forty-five degree turn, the black box’s lid popped open, revealing a true treasure.
It was Kent’s black book.
“Look,” Evan said after I picked up the book and flitted through it, disappointed to see that it was still blank. “These are the dates that were missing the last time we were here.” He indicated a pile of newspapers that I hadn’t noticed in my haste to grab the book.
He took my hand and with the stack of microfiche in his other hand, pulled me toward the library and back into the cold. He sat in one of the chairs in front of the machines as it booted up, running his hands up and down my arms after pulling me into his lap. He had always been amazing at sharing his warmth. Us both being naked wasn’t helping, though.
“Okay, here we go,” I said as I slipped in one of the pieces of film and turned the knob, trying to scan through it before Stacey the Succubus caught us and turned us into reading zombies.
Evan leaned forward, pressing his chest to my back as we went through the dates. I’d almost passed one when he put his hand on mine, stopping the movement.
“There. That’s a follow up story about the explosion.” I took my hand away from the knob and leaned against him as we read.
The story recapped the explosion, but then went on to say that the people that had been killed were a family new to Cummings Cove. Apparently, there was one survivor and that child had been placed in state custody shortly after being hospitalized for minor injuries.
As we read, Evan’s arms wrapped around my waist and held me tighter. I didn’t blame him. This was some fucked up shit.
“Look at this,” he said, pointing to the screen. “They received a box full of body parts the night before and reported it. It says a box of body parts was the calling card of the Bountiers.”
“So whoever this is...they are doing a comeback tour? I mean, who do they think they are, KISS?”
Evan didn’t laugh, his eyes trained on the screen, and I couldn’t help but think that Owen would’ve laughed or countered with something funnier.
“Let
’s move to the next film. There has to be a reason she had all of these under lock and key.”
We scrolled through the next one and again, Evan found the one article related to the explosion. This time an investigative piece done by an anonymous independent reporter. “This says there were no clues. Multiple shifters were brought in and there were no scents leading in or out of the crime scene. How is that possible?”
Evan huffed out through his nose. “Sounds like the same bullshit from Owen. There’s no fucking scent whatsoever.”
I continued to scan the article and found that there was no use of accelerants. This was no gas fire or electrical thing. Someone knew what they were doing and apparently had done it before.
“One of the family members was unaccounted for and remains a missing person.”
I reeled back as I read the last line. Ice spindled down my spine as I wrapped my arms around myself.
The family was in exile from their original pack, The Puritan Village.
8
We snuck out of the same door we came from, black book in hand with the microfiche tucked inside the front cover. A few hurried minutes of running later, Evan and I burst into the Vagile Ajna expecting to find Poetry humping the Taylor Lautner statue, or getting high on the penis tree. I looked around, almost with a tiny bit of hope in my heart that she had found something even more astounding to do with her time. Still, as I scanned the store, I found nothing out of the ordinary. You know, if ordinary was dildos and Tarot cards and bongs all over the place.
My shoulders slumped as disappointment seeped into me. Damn, I kind of looked forward to being shocked by the old lady.
“I wonder where she is?” I asked myself, and then bee-lined for the back room with Evan in tow. After pushing away the beaded curtain to find that nothing looked amiss, I stomped toward Poetry’s room and flung open the door. It slammed against the opposite wall and Evan bumped into the back of me when I stopped.