Cunningham, Pat - Legacy [Sequel to Belonging] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (23 page)

Colleen’s gut dropped. This was so wrong in so many ways. Yet everything about Wallace’s actions, even the bite, said love.

Too late, she remembered Wallace could hear her heartbeat.

Her gaze flicked from Jeremy’s rapt expression right into Wallace’s smirk. He rested his chin on Jeremy’s shoulder and tightened his hold on his body. The glitter in his eyes announced
mine
. Then it relented. The smirk became a smile.
Mine
dissolved into
ours
. He whispered in Jeremy’s ear.

Jeremy’s eyes fluttered open. His glassy pupils were blown wide, like he’d just enjoyed the best fuck of his life. He swayed in Wallace’s arms. Finally, he focused and noticed her. With the sun now set, his smile became the most brilliant sight in the world. Her heart swelled at the undeniable love in it. He languidly held out his hand.

She needed no more invitation than that. She crossed the room nearly as quickly as Wallace. Jeremy’s arms welcomed her home. No question of
home
now, not with Jeremy holding her.

A third hand joined Jeremy’s on her body. Wallace’s blunt fingers threaded through her hair. She kept one arm around Jeremy and extended the other to Wallace. He grinned at her with half his face hidden in Jeremy’s shaggy hair.

“That’s it, Scarecrow?” Wallace’s voice dropped to the sexy rumble that never failed to send a tingle through her. The eye not obscured by Jeremy’s hair winked at her. “That’s the best you can do? C’mon. Show her how a good boy says hello.”

Jeremy obediently pulled her closer. His lips said
hi
quite nicely, his tongue even more so. “Not bad,” Wallace said, “but I know you guys can do better. How about we get rid of this?” He fingered Jeremy’s shirt.

“What a lovely idea,” Colleen agreed. She undid his buttons then helped Wallace help Jeremy wriggle free of the garment. The two of them left Jeremy with little wriggle room. Colleen took full advantage of his efforts by rubbing her body against his desperate movements.

“Two against one,” Jeremy whimpered. “No fair.”

“Screw fair.” Wallace tugged Jeremy’s shirt off his arms and carelessly tossed it aside. “Oh yeah. All sorts of better.” He nibbled the nape of Jeremy’s neck, his growl vibrating against hot human skin.

Colleen felt a growl of her own build at the back of her throat. Jeremy’s beautiful body cried out for the attention of her hands and lips. She tongued the flesh between his pecs. How quickly she had become addicted to him. With Wallace to hold him steady, Colleen was free to take her fix at her leisure.

She let her hands roam over the now-familiar planes of his body, with an occasional kiss or a lick at a particularly tasty spot. She stayed away from his neck. His neck belonged to Wallace, and she would not intrude. Wallace hugged his T-shirted torso to Jeremy’s naked back while his teeth and tongue teased his helpless prey’s shoulders, neck, and ears. Unwilling to play favorites, Jeremy simply allowed the two of them to do whatever they wanted. An intended comment, or maybe a plea, came out as a garbled moan. His breathing caught and quickened in a series of uneven pants.

Colleen fully intended to stay above the waist. There was plenty there to keep her occupied. She was therefore surprised when Wallace covered her hands with his own and guided her touches down Jeremy’s ribs to his hips. He slid both their fingers under Jeremy’s waistband. Jeremy gasped.

“Lose the pants,” Wallace ordered.

“Wallace, we can’t,” Jeremy protested in a thready voice. “Gus is coming over. He’ll be here in an hour.”

“Then we better move fast. Drop ’em, Scarecrow.”

Wallace released Colleen’s hands, so she could fumble Jeremy’s belt open and attack his fly. Her quick actions saved the zipper from destruction, but only just. Wallace yanked Jeremy’s slacks down to his ankles then did the same to his briefs. Free at last, his cock sprang out and up, wriggling like an eager puppy begging for affection.

The temptation proved too great to resist. Colleen took his dick in her mouth and slid her lips down its entire length before it even occurred to her Wallace might want a turn. After all, this whole torment-the-human-slave thing had been his idea. However, he said nothing and made no move to stop her. So he wanted to watch? Okay, then. He could watch her drive Jeremy right up and over the wall.

She set a deliberately slow pace, designed to torture and tease. It felt wicked to indulge herself in this way while indulging him. She let her tongue have its way with his silky, throbbing flesh and made sure to pay special attention to his head and hairy base, which she knew to be his favorite spots. She fingered his balls only briefly and grinned around his cock when he swore at her. Half the time Jeremy rushed through his foreplay and rode her hard and fast. Fun, but not for every encounter. Maybe after this he’d take the hint.

Jeremy blurted something. It came out muffled. Curious, Colleen cricked her neck to see what was going on upstairs. She got a glimpse of Wallace’s wrist crushed against Jeremy’s mouth, and Jeremy’s lips working hungrily. A line of blood ran down Wallace’s forearm.

Holy God, was he—

Jeremy’s hips spasmed, and he came explosively at the back of her throat. Colleen sat down hard on the kitchen floor and swallowed reflexively. Far above her, Jeremy swallowed as well. Wallace coiled around him and kissed his lips and chin. When the vampire leaned back, all smudges of blood had been cleaned from Jeremy’s face.

“Now that,” Wallace pronounced, “was hello.”

“Oh. Oh God.” Jeremy clutched at Wallace’s arms to maintain his balance. He glanced at the clock on the wall and swore afresh. “Gus will be here any minute, and I don’t even have dinner started.”

“Gus will run late like he always does, and you know he’s not staying for dinner. I’ll bet you’ve got time for a shower.” He slapped Jeremy’s naked ass. “Go on, go make yourself pretty. We’ll hold down the fort.”

“You’re monsters. Both of you.”

“Just the way you want us, you bat-loving slut. We’re always happy to oblige. Right, sweetheart?”

Colleen wiped her mouth to buy time. “I’ll make dinner. I was planning to anyway.”

“You heard the lady. Go get yourself cleaned up.” Wallace smacked a wet kiss on Jeremy’s cheek. “Better hurry, before we muss you up again.”

“I hate you both,” Jeremy said, though with a sated smile that proclaimed just the opposite. He paused to brush Colleen’s tousled hair away from her face before he tugged his briefs and slacks back up over his hips. He stumbled from the kitchen without bothering to zip up. At the doorway he paused. “Nobody touches anything until you wash your hands.”

“Yes, Mom,” Wallace said. Jeremy made a face at him and headed for the stairs.

“I should clean up, too.” Colleen started to scramble off the floor. Wallace caught her arms and lifted her easily and set her on her feet. “Thanks,” she said, with a little too much heartiness. “I left groceries by the front door. I hope you guys like Swedish meatballs.”

“I’ll tell you what I like.”

His mouth attacked hers like a predator. Colleen stiffened involuntarily, instinctively. Wallace didn’t seem to care. He took his time, fully exploring her mouth, all the places Jeremy’s dick had been only minutes ago. He withdrew at last with a half growl, half chuckle.

“You and Scarecrow,” he rumbled. “Two great tastes that taste great together.”

Taste. She had the taste of Jeremy’s blood on her tongue now, stolen from Wallace’s mouth. “I saw what you did,” she said. “You made him drink your blood.”

“I can’t make him do anything. You should know that by now. He only took a gulp or two, same as I did. We do it all the time.”

“You’re turning him into a vampire.”

“No way. I’d have to drain him for that to happen. A sip every now and then won’t hurt him, and he knows it.” He leered at her wickedly. “In fact, it gets him horny. Want to go surprise him in the shower?”

“Don’t you ever quit?”

“Never. When you quit, you die. I’ve been fighting dead for way too long.” He pulled her more tightly against him. His lips teased a line down her cheek to her neck. He made no attempt to bite down. His hand crept under her blouse and found her nipple through the thin barrier of her bra. Colleen gasped and pressed into his caress.

“This is why I keep going back to chicks,” he murmured. “Dicks are a blast, but sometimes I just miss tits.”

“You’re so deep.”

“Don’t get all self-righteous with me, sweetheart. You’re not any different.” He scraped his teeth along her throat while his hand continued to torment her breast.

Colleen knew she ought to be terrified. She’d just seen him bite and drink from Jeremy. Right now, though, terror of him was the furthest thing from her mind. She made no effort to escape, even when he released her breast and transferred his hand to her thigh. His palm slid brazenly inward and upward, stopping just short of the spot that ached the most for his touch.

She tightened her legs to trap his hand. Without meaning to, she growled aloud.

Wallace answered in kind. His finger pressed against her panty-shielded slit. “I know you, sweetheart,” he rumbled against the pulse in her throat. “I’ve been in your head. There’s a predator inside you. She likes to play with fire. You’re as close to a bat as a breather can get. No wonder Scarecrow’s so hot for you.”

The reference to vampires doused the fire Wallace was playing with. She pushed at his chest. “I should get dinner started.”

He caught her arms. “Stay.”

“Gus is coming over. We need to get ready.”

“I meant when this is over. Stay with us—him. Will you stay with him?”

Taken aback by his intensity, Colleen stumbled over her answer. “You mean live here? With both of you?”

“Forget about me for a minute. Think about him. You care about him, right?”

Care
sounded so inadequate when she considered her feelings. “It hardly matters, does it? He belongs to you. He loves you.”

“That’s because he’s an asshole. A stupid, stubborn, human son of a bitch.” He looked away from her to the corner where he’d tossed Jeremy’s shirt. “He’s going to die.”

Colleen’s blood dropped a good ten degrees. “But he’s—”

“Mortal. He won’t let me turn him. I keep asking, and he just laughs. He says he’s happy with the way things are. Well, I’m not.” His undead body mimicked a sigh. “Maybe that’s just as well. He’d make a sucky vampire, no pun intended. But being mortal’s suckier. Mortals age and die. I used to be the old man of the team. Now Annie and Gus are older than I am. Someday they’ll be gone, and so will he, and I’ll still be like this.”

Tentatively, Colleen touched his face. “Maybe he’ll change his mind.”

“He won’t. Jesus Christ, I thought I was stubborn. He’s got me beat by a long shot.” He wound his fingers through her hair. “I guess mortality has its perks. I look at Annie and Gus, and I can see how happy they are. I want that for him. If he’s going to stay human, then he deserves someone to grow old with, somebody he can have a family with. A real family, not a flock. That isn’t me. That can’t be me. He shouldn’t want to give up his life just to be my bitch. He should have the life I got gypped out of.”

“Maybe,” she said tartly, “he doesn’t want that. Maybe, just maybe, he really does love you. It sounds to me like he’s capable of making his own decisions.”

“Yeah, well, Scarecrow’s got a history of making piss-poor ones. I don’t want to see him having regrets when he’s eighty. I’d rather see him surrounded by grandkids, with his wife by his side.” He smiled wistfully. “Grandkids would be nice. Especially if they had your eyes.”

“That won’t happen.” Colleen struggled to free herself from his embrace. He refused to let her go, which only made her angrier. “What do you think I am anyway, some toy you can throw at your boyfriend? Maybe you’d like to bounce me against the wall and play catch.”