Cunningham, Pat - Legacy [Sequel to Belonging] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (14 page)

Down at the car he set her tote on the back seat and held the passenger door for her. However, once behind the wheel he hesitated. His face grew faintly pink.

“Rats. I know I should have—look. It’s okay. I’m clean.”

Colleen blinked, not comprehending. “Clean?”

“STDs. My former clients didn’t carry anything humans can catch. Since I’ve been exclusive with Wallace, protection never mattered. That’s no excuse, though. I’ll pick up a box of condoms. You’ve got too much on your mind already.”

“Don’t worry about it. I told you, what happened up there, that’s not the normal me. I haven’t been in a committed relationship for six years, and I’ve played it safe since then.”

“Safety’s not the only thing. There’s still—”

“That’s not a problem,” she cut him off. “Trust me.”

He looked at her, the obvious question rising in his eyes. She steeled herself for a confrontation because she couldn’t lie to him, and the truth was a knife in her guts. Make that a knife in her womb.

“It’s not a problem,” she repeated.

He let it drop, God bless him. They drove back to his place as they’d driven to hers, unhurried and mostly in silence.

With two exceptions. She sat as close to him as the seat belt would let her, her thigh pressed comfortably to his. And whenever traffic allowed, he took one hand off the wheel to give her hand a squeeze. Each time she smiled and squeezed back.

Chapter 8

Along with stars and a rising moon, sundown brought the threat of a confrontation Colleen had both expected and dreaded since she and Jeremy got back. She heard Wallace moving around upstairs and hurriedly ran through a number of possible scripts in her head. Should she bring it up, or let Jeremy? Or just keep her mouth shut and hope he didn’t notice?

She watched the stairs because she knew she’d get no warning clump of footsteps. Like Jeremy, Wallace moved with a silent grace belied by his muscular frame. She’d seen that silence and his speed in action against her attacker. Neither belonged to a human. She deftly put those thoughts on hold before they could grow too disturbing.

Seating herself at the kitchen table, she glanced at Jeremy. He stood at the stove—in a different shirt with all its buttons intact, thank God—scrambling eggs and home fries. Since they’d already had their dinner, she surmised this was for Wallace.

“He eats real food?” she asked. “I thought they drank blood.”

“Wallace isn’t your regular vamp,” Jeremy said. “He likes a good breakfast as much as the next guy. He just doesn’t eat as often. Blood makes up the bulk of his diet. That’s what’s in that jar you saw in the fridge. The one next to the orange juice.”

“Did not need to know that,” Colleen muttered. When she glanced toward the stairs again, she found Wallace standing right beside her chair. She recoiled involuntarily. At least he was dressed now. That made things somewhat easier.

Wallace took it with a grin that only hinted at fangs. “All settled in?” he said.

“Sort of. Look, about this morning. I’m sorry.”

“Forget it. You’re human, and you’re a chick. Put it all together, that spells nosy.” He strolled over to the stove to deliver a no-holds-barred kiss to the side of Jeremy’s neck. The side with the scar, Colleen noted. She couldn’t help noting as well the possessive curve of his arm, or how Jeremy melted into it with that little purr she’d thought belonged to her. Her guilt flared up anew.

“All that for me?” Wallace said. “Smells good.”

All of a sudden he went completely still. His lips moved away from Jeremy’s neck, and his nose took their place. Slowly his head turned, toward Colleen. His jungle eyes pierced her to her core.

Colleen tensed. The stack of responses in her mind got tossed by a wind of nerves and scattered all over the floor of her thoughts, their pages hopelessly scrambled.

To her surprise, Wallace smiled. If he meant it as reassurance, his fangs ruined the effect. “Well. Looks like congratulations are in order.”

“We didn’t mean to,” she blurted. “It just happened.”

“You didn’t mean to what? Bang the Scarecrow here? Can’t blame you there. I mean, look at him. Who could say no to all this?” He groped Jeremy’s ass. “You used a rubber, right?”

Jeremy slid away from the grope and held up the frying pan. “You want your breakfast on your head?”

“Chill, Scarecrow. I’m not angry. I said to go for it, remember?” He leered at Colleen. “When do I get my turn?”

Her face flamed. “You’re disgusting.”

“No, I’m undead. It frees the inhibitions.” He spoke to Jeremy again. “Did you ask her about the threesome?”

Jeremy thrust the frying pan at him. “Eat your breakfast.”

Wallace snatched up a fork from the counter and ambled back to the table. He plopped his body on a chair and proceeded to eat his eggs and potatoes directly out of the frying pan. While he shoveled in his food he kept his gaze trained on Colleen. Colleen made herself meet those eyes with all the nerve she could muster.

“Did he ask you?” Wallace insisted. “The threesome.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be gay?”

“The gayness comes and goes. That’s the way it worked before I died. I’ve been with women before. No biggie. It’s like falling off a bike, or something like that.” He gulped down a mouthful of home fries and suggestively licked his lips. “You look like you could go the whole night and then some. Want to? Just let me finish my breakfast.”

What she wanted was to crack that frying pan against his Neanderthal skull and snap his fangs off at the roots.

“You don’t deserve Jeremy,” she spat. She shoved away from the table and fled up the stairs.

* * * *

“So,” Jeremy said, after the echoes of the slamming bedroom door finally died away. “Were you planning on acting like an asshole all night, or was that it?”

Wallace stared down at the remains of his breakfast. He could feel her up there, right overhead. If he leaped high enough and hard enough he could punch through the ceiling into the bedroom. Then he could have her. His leg muscles flexed without any direction from his brain. Son of a bitch, he almost believed he could actually do it. Everything about her made him believe.

He said, in a soft voice colored with wonder, “I have a heartbeat.”

Jeremy’s anger vanished at once. “You what?”

One final thump, then nothing. “It’s gone again now. But I had it. It was there. She made my heart beat.” He shot his stare to Jeremy’s face. “Serious time. What was she like?”

Jeremy didn’t need clarification. “You know what I’m used to.”

Wallace nodded. “Blood lust sex. The rough stuff.”

“Rough and a half. I forgot she’s human. I…I kind of lost it. It didn’t matter. I didn’t hurt her at all. If anything, I had a tough time keeping up with her.” His mouth twitched in a sort-of smile. “She’s a lot like you in that respect.”

“Wait a minute.
You
lost it? You? Mr. Control Freak?”

“I know. She…” His hand hovered at his neck, near the mark Wallace had put there. His face grew as red as his shirt. “She touched my mark, and I reacted. I couldn’t help myself.”

Wallace set his fork down and slowly got to his feet. His heart nearly beat again, this time in alarm. A mark made the chosen human the marker’s exclusive property. The marked one couldn’t respond to another vampire. They definitely couldn’t respond to a human’s touch there. No way, end of discussion.

“You sure she’s human?”

“She’s not a vampire or vamp-infected. I didn’t find any bites on her.”

“Checked her over real thorough, did you?”

Jeremy’s flush darkened. “Somewhat. In passing.”

“I got something better. That bat she was fighting threw her into a wall. I heard her hit. She should have cracked her skull open. Concussion at the least. Except when I checked her there wasn’t any blood. She had the start of a nice-sized lump. That’s it.” He thinned his eyes. “She’s not as human as she says she is.”

“She can’t be a vampire,” Jeremy insisted. “I know all the signs point to it, but the facts don’t add up. I’ve seen her in daylight. She doesn’t drink blood. She doesn’t even believe vampires exist.” He gestured at Wallace’s face. “Can’t your super nose figure it out?”

“Maybe, if your scent on her wasn’t fucking up my senses. Now I’ve got both of you on the brain.” He shifted uncomfortably. “And elsewhere. Did you call Gus?”

“He says he’s working on it.”

He’d better work fast, Wallace thought with yet another irritated growl. He couldn’t think. No, that was a lie. He could think just fine about the girl, and his Scarecrow, and the three of them writhing together like pythons on crack on that big bed upstairs. The one she was probably lying on right now, with that dark hair all fanned out on the pillow and those huge violet eyes all wide and welcoming. Sweatshirts and baggy jeans weren’t supposed to look so hot on a person. Shit!

“I need to get out,” he decided. “I’ll check the fang bars again. Maybe I’ll call up some other slayers, too. Maybe they’re having problems like this down in LA. It’s worth a shot.”

Immediately Jeremy tensed. “Stay away from slayers.”

“Hey, it’s cool. Slayers and I have a truce going. Professional courtesy and all. If not…” He shrugged. “I can handle a slayer.”

“That isn’t what I meant. You promised to leave it alone.”

So he hadn’t forgotten. “I always thought you’d want to know. I sure as hell would.”

“Well, I don’t.” Jeremy’s eyes grew dark. He got angry so rarely, when a storm did hit, Wallace always paid attention. “I mean it, Wallace. Let it go.”

“Okay, sure. Don’t get your dick in a twist. I just want to hit all the bases here.” His gaze flickered upward, toward the bedroom and its occupant. “What are you going to do while I’m gone?”

“I don’t know. Watch TV. Apologize to Colleen for your being an asshole.”

“And fuck her again.”

“I wouldn’t have put it that crudely, but probably, yeah.” Contrition flooded his eyes as swiftly as anger had moments before. “Would you rather I didn’t? I won’t touch her if you tell me not to.”

“Bullshit. You’ll touch her no matter what I tell you. You can’t help yourself.”

“You’re right. I can’t,” Jeremy admitted. He cupped Wallace’s cheek. “Are you sure you’re okay with it?”

“I was when I thought she was human. Now? Not so much.” Dammit. The girl radiated both innocence and no-holds-barred sex appeal. He’d swear on whatever soul he had left she really was the victim here. He wanted so hard to believe it, his fangs hurt. But he had his Scarecrow to consider.

“You listen up,” he said. “You do whatever you want with her. I won’t stop you. I’m pretty sure you’re right, and she doesn’t know what’s going on any more than we do. But if she’s lying, or trying to trick us, I will kill her. I’ll rip her head right off her neck. You understand?”

For just a second, defiance flared up in Jeremy’s eyes. That by itself said all kinds of wrong. It died just as suddenly. Jeremy looked at the floor. “I understand.”

“Hey.” He tipped Jeremy’s head up to meet his eyes. “I’m just trying to protect us here. If she’s innocent, she’s included. But first I need to make damn sure what it is I’m protecting. Top of my list is you.”

Jeremy smiled wanly. “I’ll be fine. Handling vamps is what I do best. If it turns out she really is a succubus, I’ll do what I have to.”

“That’s my Scarecrow. Always ready to take one for the team.” He pressed his lips to Jeremy’s neck. His tongue laved the mark he had put there. Jeremy shivered with delight. Wallace trailed his mouth upward, over Jeremy’s chin to his lips, and tasted the sweetness of reciprocated love. Whatever the chick was, she couldn’t change that.