Death Fricassee Read online

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Lucas ran his tongue over my skin again and then pushed himself up so that he leaned over me, looking down into my eyes.

  “Do you trust me, Jackie?”

  I wanted to say yes, and partly, it was the truth. Lucas hadn’t lied to me, as far as I knew. He’d tried to keep himself away from me, tried to avoid getting tangled up. I didn’t have any doubts about the sexy professor part. But the gleam in his eye was that of a hunter, someone who would not be denied. While I couldn’t say I didn’t have reservations, I had to admit that it was that part of him that made me want to ignore every warning bell in my head and open my body to him.

  Lucas was waiting for my answer. I met his eyes and whispered the word.

  “Yes.”

  He reared back and gripped the hem of my shirt. “Then take this off. And your shorts, too. I want to see all of you.”

  As I scooted back to strip off my clothes, he crossed his arms over his front and pulled off his own T-shirt, then sat back on his haunches to look at me. I’d tossed my bra to the side with my shirt and shorts, and I only wore the cotton bikinis I’d put on this afternoon.

  Lucas ran his eyes down my body and made a sound low in his throat. “I promise I won’t hurt you. But if you feel uncomfortable or freaked out, tell me and I’ll stop. Okay?”

  I nodded and reached to touch him. “Were you always this built, or is this part of the vampire thing?”

  He chuckled, taking my hand and bringing it to his lips. “I’m glad you think I am, but no, that wasn’t one of the changes. As far as I’ve seen, the only real symptoms I have are the blood drinking and the garlic aversion.”

  I let my palm roam over his chest. “What about sunlight? And immortality?”

  “Direct, bright sunlight gives me a headache, but it doesn’t burn me or make me sparkle.” Lucas dipped his head to kiss me, slow and sensuous. “Living forever. . .I have no idea. I haven’t tested that theory yet.” He lowered his hand to my breast, cupping it and moving his thumb around the pink tip, which hardened at his touch. “But I have a feeling tonight may be night.”

  I pushed up on my elbows. “What do you mean?”

  A slow smile spread over his face. “Because right now I’m feeling like I might die if I can’t touch you.” He brought his mouth down to take the place of his hand on my breast, and I fell back onto the couch. I threaded my fingers through the hair on the back of his head, murmuring encouragement as he sucked my nipple into his mouth.

  “Lucas. . .” I ran my hands restlessly up and down his back as he moved his lips from one boob to the other. Just when I thought I might be the one to spontaneously combust, he began kissing down the center of my torso, pausing at the navel ring again to let his mouth play with it. The tug of the ring sent a new thrill of desire down between my legs, and as if he could sense that, Lucas covered me with his hand, rubbing over my underwear. I raised my hips to meet both hand and mouth better, and he slid two fingers beneath the cotton to touch me.

  I was slick with want. Lucas mumbled some words against my stomach, but I was too busy coming apart at the feeling of the gentle friction as he explored me, pushing against the tiny bundle of nerves and then plunging his fingers into me. Just on the edge of my climax, he stopped, pulling his hand away.

  “Lucas.” I spoke this time through gritted teeth. “If you stop what you’re doing, we’re going to find out whether or not you can live forever right here and now, because I swear I’ll kill you.”

  He laughed. “Patience, sweetheart. I just wanted to get all barriers out of my way.” He hooked his thumbs around the edge of my panties and dragged them down my legs and over my feet, dropping them onto the growing pile of clothes. He settled lower between my legs, pushing them a little further apart.

  “You see? Good things come to those who wait.” His breath teased against my sensitive flesh.

  I writhed, hissing. “‘Come’ better be the operative word in that sentence, buddy.”

  He didn’t answer. Instead, he licked up the inside of my thigh, pausing at the ridge of muscle just below the juncture of my legs.

  “This. . .” He growled the word and bit me softly. “This right here makes me insane.”

  Before I could respond, his mouth finally covered my swollen sex, lips and tongue stroking and sucking. Every nerve in my body was on fire, and everything in the world centered right there. Pleasure pulsed ever faster, building to a crescendo.

  I gripped his head against me, lifting my hips to grind against his mouth. As I tensed, on the edge of coming, I felt a sharp stinging at the spot he had bitten moments before, and then his fingers were on my pussy, moving faster and faster, and his mouth had lowered to the inside of my leg. The orgasm that gripped me was the most intense, mind-blowing sensation I’d ever felt, and I screamed his name over and over as my hips worked up and down.

  Lucas slowed his fingers, stroking me down, and his tongue circled the place on my leg he’d sucked. My breath began to slow to a normal rate, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever move again. My bones had melted right here on this couch, and I was perfectly okay with that.

  I barely registered his kisses up my stomach and between my breasts until his head was even with mine again. He wore an expression that was a mix of bliss and desire, and I remembered the bite and the stinging.

  “What did you do? On my leg, I mean.” I realized I sounded less than grateful—after all, the man had just given me what was undoubtedly the best orgasm of my life—but I had to admit I was more than a little unsettled at the idea of him drinking my blood.

  Lucas glanced down my body, and I picked up the glimmer of guilt in his eyes. “It was like I had to do it. I had to. . .taste you. I didn’t actually bite you deep, though. Just enough to break the skin. It’s not even bleeding anymore.” He paused, searching my face for some sign of how freaked out I really was.

  “I. . .” I bit my lip. “Lucas, you’ve got to understand. I’m not the most experienced woman when it comes to sex, and what I do know has been pretty vanilla. Basic. So, yeah, that’s a little bit on the wild side for me. And I guess I have to admit that I’m still not sure what to think of this whole vampire idea. What if it’s something else completely?”

  He squeezed himself into the space between my body and the back of the sofa, sighing. “Jackie, I didn’t taste your blood because I felt it was something a vampire would do. It was. . .a compulsion. In the heat of the moment, I couldn’t not do it.” He trailed a finger between my breasts. “Any more than if I were inside you, I wouldn’t be able to not come. It was like a pounding in my head.” He captured one of my nipples between his fingers, and I drew in a shuddering breath. I felt him against my hip, his erection hard through his shorts.

  I slid my hand between our bodies and wrapped my fingers around his length. He moaned and shifted to give me better access.

  “So you’re saying if I were. . .in the same position, and I decided to make you bleed and taste it, you’d be okay with that?”

  Lucas raised himself on his arms and looked down at me. The dangerous glint was back, and so was the dimple. Damn, I didn’t stand a chance.

  “If you were in the same position, lying between my legs with my cock in your mouth. . .you could do whatever the hell you wanted. Other than bite it off, of course.” One side of his mouth lifted. “But do you really want to drink my blood?”

  “God, no. That’s disgusting.” I made a face, and Lucas collapsed back onto the couch, careful to avoid dropping his weight onto me as he laughed.

  “Does it disgust you that I did it?” He was keeping his voice neutral, but I could tell he was concerned, no matter how much I amused him.

  “No. Not disgust.” I hesitated, thinking. “Concern, I guess. And. . .” This was harder to explain. “I think part of that is wondering if you only want me for my blood. If the rest of me doesn’t matter to you.”

  Lucas gathered me against him. “That’s absolutely not true. If you told me t
hat I couldn’t taste you again, I’d still desire the hell out of your body. I’d still want to touch you, make you come. . .” He pressed against me, reminding me not-so-subtly that his arousal was still right there by my hand. “Let you touch me. However you wanted to. Whenever you wanted to.”

  I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a man. You might be a death broker and a sort-of vampire, but deep down, you just want me to get you off.”

  Lucas kissed my ear lobe. “That may be the best compliment I’ve ever had. Yes, please.”

  “Hmmm.” I pushed myself up so that now I leaned over his body. And what a body it was. His firm chest was rivaled only by the tight abs, all lightly dusted with brown hair that formed a trail leading down to the button on his shorts. I gave him a saucy smile as I flicked it open. “Oh my! Look what just happened there.”

  “Yeah, look at that. What’re you going to do about it?” He put his hands behind his head to watch me.

  “I guess I’ll have to do. . .this.” I found the tab of the zipper and tugged it down, letting my fingers caress the hard ridge beneath. Lucas groaned, and I grinned. “And then I think I should probably do this next.” I wriggled my fingers into the opening of his shorts and through the placket of his boxers, covering him with my palm, skin to skin at last.

  “God, Jackie, that’s—no.” He ground out the last word, and I looked back at him, puzzled. He didn’t want me to touch him? What was up with that?

  “For the love of anything and everything holy—why now? Shit, damn, hell, fuck.” Lucas struggled to sit up. “Jackie, I’m sorry. I’m about to be called. Better move away from me. I’m pretty sure you’ll only be transported with me if we’re touching. I’m so sorry about this.”

  I slid to the floor and grabbed for our pile of clothes. “No reason for you to be sorry. I feel amazing. You’re the one who didn’t—uh, get to finish.” I found his shirt and turned it right side out. “Here you go.”

  But when I turned, he was gone. I sat there on the floor for a few minutes, staring at the spot on the couch where he’d been and still holding his shirt. I’d heard of men leaving fast after sex, but this had to be new record.

  I sighed, gathered up our clothes and went to bed. By myself.

  ***

  WHEN I OPENED my eyes the next morning, I was immediately aware that I wasn’t alone. And it wasn’t the pup in bed with me this time. Strong arms circled my waist, snugging my back against a hard body.

  Hard was definitely the key word here.

  I’d half-expected Lucas to come back to my house after his Reckoning call. After all, as he’d pointed out, he was a man, and last night he’d been a man interrupted in the middle of sex. No one would fault him for wanting to pick up where we’d left off. Least of all me.

  But he hadn’t returned by the time I’d climbed into bed, and the combination of the day of mourning and the night of passion knocked me into a deep sleep faster than I’d expected. As I looked down at his hands, relaxed in sleep and lying just beyond my boobs on the mattress, I wondered how long he’d been here with me. And why he hadn’t woken me up when he’d come in.

  “I can feel you thinking, Jackie. It’s too early.”

  I shifted within his embrace. “You cannot feel me thinking.” I paused, suddenly doubtful. “Can you?”

  He shook once with a short laugh. “No, but I could feel you start to tense, and your breathing changed. You’re lying there wondering when I got here, what happened last night, and what comes next.”

  I turned so that I could face him, and his arms slid around to hold me tighter as I spoke. “Smart-ass. You got one of out three right. I did wonder when you came in and why you didn’t wake up.”

  His lips curved, but his eyes stayed closed. “I got in about three. Apparently—and I didn’t know this until last night—I get transported back to wherever I was when the call came in, so I ended up back in your living room, not at my house as I’d thought. I considered grabbing my shirt and walking home, and then I came in to check on you, and I decided to take off the rest of my clothes and climb into bed with you, instead.”

  Warmth swelled within me. “I’m glad you did. It was nice waking up with you.”

  “And the reason I didn’t wake you up to finish what we started? You looked too peaceful, and I remembered what you said about me just being here for you while you’re grieving. So that’s what I wanted to do.”

  I leaned up to kiss him. “Thank you.” Settling back down under the covers, I tried to drift off to sleep again, but my mind wouldn’t quiet. I thought of Al, and with a pang I wondered if the police were any closer to finding the killer. The memorial service was tomorrow, and while I knew it wouldn’t comfort his children to know the truth, it might bring us all some sense of justice.

  Thinking of Al and all of my older friends brought to mind something that had been lurking for the last day. “Lucas. . .you knew when Al was going to die, didn’t you? When you met him that day. . .you heard it. And you didn’t tell me.”

  He stroked one hand down my back. “Yes, I did. I’m sorry. At the time I met him, you didn’t know about me yet. What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, don’t get attached. He’s not going to be around much longer.’”

  “No. But. . .” I wanted there to be a way he could’ve warned me, but I knew Lucas was right. Still. . . “So you know when Mrs. Mac and Mr. Rivers and everyone else is going to die, too?”

  He sighed. “Did I hear the time when I met them? Yes. Do I remember? No. I hear that so much, Jackie. I push it out of my mind. If I’d realized when I met her that Mrs. Mac was important to you and that you were going to be important to me, I probably would’ve paid more attention. But I didn’t. And I wouldn’t tell you even if I did, because it would make you crazy. Why should you have to suffer when you could be blissfully ignorant like the rest of the world?”

  I rested my forehead on Lucas’s shoulder. “I could be prepared. I’d know to be ready when the last times came.”

  “Jackie, that’s not how life works. Isn’t it better that you appreciate her all the time rather than worrying as it gets closer?”

  I wasn’t ready to concede that, but I couldn’t come up with any decent argument either. I settled for making a non-committal hum. Lucas brushed back the hair from my face and kissed my forehead. “Are you hungry? I make a mean omelet.”

  “You’re going to cook for me? Really? And right now? Don’t you want. . .you know.” I managed to sneak my hand between us, where there was no doubt Lucas was interested in something other than food.

  “Of course I do, but I think you should eat. Plus, you’re sad again. I don’t want to force the issue when you’re dealing with so much.”

  I rolled to my back. “I started to feel guilty after you left last night. I loved Al so much. What does it say about me that I ended up naked with my next door neighbor the night he died?”

  Lucas leaned over me and kissed my lips, quickly but firmly. “It says that you honored your friend by embracing life. Appreciating the benefits of a mind-blowing orgasm doesn’t make you a bad person.”

  “Mind-blowing, huh?” I smirked. “Someone’s a little cocky.”

  “Please don’t use the word ‘little’ and ‘cock’ in the same sentence when I’m naked in bed with you, okay? You’ll give a guy a complex. And what you said before? I’d like to think that I’m more than just your next-door neighbor by now.”

  I pulled him down for another kiss. “I guess you do qualify for a better title. And as far as I can feel. . .” I took him in my hand. “The word little doesn’t apply.”

  “Keep it up and I’ll forget I’m trying to be supportive.” Lucas rolled over and planted his feet on the floor. “Why don’t you see to the pup while I start the eggs?”

  “Okay.” But I lay still for a few minutes and enjoyed the view as a very fine, very naked Lucas walked across the room to put on his shorts.

  “What does his name mean?”

  I glanced across the table at Luca
s as he forked some eggs onto his wheat toast.

  “I’m sorry?”

  “The dog. What does Makani mean?”

  “Oh.” I grinned. “It means ‘the wind’ in Hawaiian. I spent a lot of time looking for the right name for him, and I thought that was cool. Of course, he doesn’t usually run like the wind, unless he’s racing into my new neighbor’s yard on moving day.”

  Lucas reached down to knuckle the pup’s fluffy head. “He was just welcoming me to the neighborhood, weren’t you, boy?” He leaned back in his chair, wiping his hands with the napkin. “So what’s on your agenda for today?”

  I wasn’t used to anyone asking me that question. I cast my eyes upward. “I’ll probably work on next week’s column and call Al’s daughter Dena to see if they need anything for tomorrow.” I dragged a bit of omelet around the plate with my fork. “How about you?”

  “I was thinking I might actually write today.” He grinned. “You might remember I moved down here to do that. I’ve been a little distracted, what with the death brokering, the blood drinking and the sexy neighbor.”

  Pleasure put a smile on my face. “Sexy, really? Are you sure you don’t mean nosy and clumsy? The one who falls into your bushes and on top of you?”

  Lucas reached across the table to snag my hand and brought my fingertips to his lips. “The day you fell into my bush, I got my first look at your killer ass. And when you fell on me, I totally felt you up. Didn’t you realize that?”

  I shook my head. “Thanks for trying to make me feel better.”

  “Seriously, Jackie.” He wouldn’t let go even when I tried to pull back my hand. “I didn’t want you to know what I am. I tried to hide it from you, keep my distance. But because you wouldn’t let me do that, I ended up having someone I can share this craziness with. And I can’t tell you what a relief that is.”

  I squeezed his hand, unable to speak. The moment was broken when we both heard a buzzing coming from Lucas’s pocket. He leaned back to retrieve his phone and glanced at the screen.