Vesper cringed. The blow of Maria's tale struck her square in the jaw with an uppercut, then another punch went to her breadbasket. She pushed away the urge to vomit. Forced her shock back deep inside to stew and steep and churn within her guts.
Maria touched Vesper's shoulder. “Are you all right?"
Vesper nodded. Everyone knows? Everyone? Jin shouldn't have divulged their tryst. Jin should have been unable to divulge their tryst. A clouded mind and well-satiated smile were all that should remain. He shouldn't be able to say my name aloud! I'll have to investigate this further. After supper. God, this is the most important event of my life, and I need to go Scarlet O'Hara on it. I'll think about it later. I need to get a clear head and a good meal in me first. “Well, you made the delivery? Now what are we going to do?"
"I hear you're a big tipper,” Maria replied.
"Want to see that round bed?” Vesper asked.
"I thought you'd never ask,” Maria replied.
* * * *
Vesper led Maria up the grand staircase by the hand. Maria's eagerness passed through the soft flesh of her palm into Vesper's bloodstream. An hors d'oeuvre of epic proportions. Maria wore her sexuality on her sleeve, just like the sailors of old. A pleasant change from the buffet lines of late. Thank God there were still innocents waiting for defloration in the world. No need to seduce this nubile co-ed or tip the velvet. She exuded pure carnality just with each eager breath.
The call of lady flesh had started its siren's song. Vesper felt the itch—between her legs, at the tip of her tongue. There's nothing quite like the deliciousness of innocence. That's the curse of the Mooncusser clan. Blood and seed and energies best left expended only between a man and his wife, devoured like so much mutton and taters.
Vesper smiled to herself. She had long lost her appetite for Chinese eggplant and tofu in brown sauce. It had gone cold. She needed something warm. Bad news didn't matter. The certain, though hopefully metaphorical and all-too-impending attack of villagers with rakes and pitchforks didn't matter. Everything in the universe had to be pushed aside until the urge to feed had passed.
Vesper opened the door to the master's bedroom and switched on another floor lamp just inside the door. It sputtered, but finally took on a nice peach-like glow. “This is the master suite. It has a private veranda, a secret staircase that leads out to the former carriage house and the naughty round bed. Very risqué for Victorian times. It suggests that the couple sleeping in the bed might actually enjoy sexual relations. Such perversion! Of course, couples did enjoy sex—but no one was supposed to know about it."
"Incredible,” Maria whispered. “I've never seen anything like it.” She climbed onto the bed, stretching herself out. “This is totally sweet!"
"Have you been with a woman before?” Vesper asked, climbing onto the bed next to Maria.
"Truthfully, I've never been with anyone. I figured the only way I was going to get to spread my sexual wings in this town was to find out who was having sex and see if I couldn't get in on the action. It was you or one of the idiot boys I work with. Either that or go back to college in the fall and end up screwing jocks out of desperation. I'm nineteen and ready to experiment."
* * * *
Maria was so eager, so delightfully eager to walk on the wild side. One short kiss on the lips proved that. A fire ignited in Vesper's belly.
Just like the sailors of old, blessedly like the sailors of old, Vesper just needed to soak up the aura of anticipation to sound the dinner bell. This was the time of control and composure, lest she devour the girl with one bite. Death was not the answer. One should not kill their flock, but shear it as necessary and keep them coming back to a full trough.
Vesper put her lips to Maria's throat. Maria quivered and literally swooned, going back against the bed like a rag doll. This poor co-ed was too susceptible. Had Vesper been a hypnotist, Maria would be her chicken via hypnotic suggestion.
Vesper clenched her fists. She smelled sweet blood coursing through Maria's jugular. One bite away.
Woman to woman was so dangerous a feast.
Vesper bit Maria's throat as if she were a common vampire and not the more enlightened monster of her kin: a Shadow Lover.
Each flick of her tongue against Maria's delicate throat sent the co-ed deeper and deeper into a sensual stupor. As Vesper lapped the slow trickle of blood from the miniscule rents in her flesh, Maria grew more excited, as if experiencing a sexual act and not the theft of her life force.
Vesper tasted a weighty presence in Maria's blood. One of recognition. Remembrance. It gave the sweet nectar a tinny after-taste that left Vesper unsettled.
It was too late, the nectar too sweet. It was honey on her tongue and nourishment for her soul. Nothing satisfied like blood. Nothing was more damning, either. Maria should never know what hit her, either. At least she hoped that would be the case.
It was regret she tasted on her lips. Deep inside, Vesper knew her cup had runneth over. Sadly, she sensed, too, that Maria was not the first spilled soul to seep into the bay at Mooncusser Cove.
Chapter Two
With Maria lying beside her in a stupor caused by envenomation and lust, Vesper rested against the cool velvet bedspread, satiated. Maria had been responsive, eager and delicious. Now, she just needed to go away.
"Oh, my God! That was fantastic!” Maria sat up. “It was like in a dream. I think we ... I don't know ... did we ... have sex? Jesus! I haven't felt this high since I ate three of my cousin's brownies before knowing they were laced."
Vesper sighed. “You should get back to work."
Maria stuck out her lower lip like a spoiled child. “Can I come see you again?"
Vesper crawled backwards off the now-tousled bed. She'd fed—and wanted to be alone. That was part of the family curse. The strong desire to feed, followed by the stronger desire to wallow alone in the sweet euphoria of human essence. “I'll call out for egg rolls sometime."
Maria slid off the bed and straightened her clothing. “Should I hold my breath?"
Vesper sneered. I don't need this. “Don't be that way. You came here expecting the same treatment Jin received, and I gave it to you. Incidentally, what did Jin say about me?"
"He said you gave him one Hell of a tip,” Maria replied. She sat back down on the bed. “I feel dizzy."
"That will pass. Best thing is to get back to work so that you don't get fired. I like Chinese food. I'll call again."
"I work Thursday through Sunday."
"I'll remember that,” Vesper replied. Go! Now!
Maria stood and stretched. “What if Jin and I show up at the same time some night?"
Vesper smiled. “Hmmm ... I might end up biting off more than I can chew. Sounds engaging, however.” Sounds impossible. You shouldn't remember this whole sordid affair and will never know where those little round scars on your throat came from. If you're anything like the other residents of the Coomb, you'll believe a mosquito bit you. You'll joke about your vampire bite and never know the truth. Damn. I need to quit fooling myself. You'll remember me. Just like Jin has. I am in phenomenal trouble.
"I'll see what I can do. Show me out, Vesper Adaire. This house is a dark maze of sexual memories, both old and new. I'll never find my way without your help."
Hmmm ... very poetic for a co-ed. I'm impressed. Vesper turned off the lamp and led Maria out of the house.
Maria strolled to her car with a new, more self-confident sway in her walk and drove away without looking back.
Vesper watched as Maria's taillights faded in the distance. No more Chinese for me.
She looked up into the darkness. There was no place left to hide. Jin had revealed their tryst, and Maria had come seeking same. Thank God she hadn't had to sleep with Maria to feed. She felt la fièvre de la femme in her now—and couldn't imagine how much hotter it would have been had Maria not been so eager to expend sexual energy. Thank God for that. If she'd had to make love to the girl, she'd more than likely be screaming
like a banshee by now.
She turned and faced out to sea. Her mansion, Mooncusser Mansion, stood between her and the bay. That house had saved the lives of her kind before—and as the first ads for her bed-and-breakfast hit the newsstands, it was about to do it again.
Vespers by the Sea. Sounds like a prayer—but is really a stellar location for sex on the beach—in your glass or on the sand.
The beach house had long ago been an exclusive boarding house. Permitted during the roaring twenties, and still legal due to unchanged blue laws, she had only to hang her shingle and advertise. She'd need to hire staff—and therein lay her biggest obstacle to opening Vespers by the Sea. Locals wouldn't do. She didn't want vampire groupies, either. She needed loyalty. She needed Paladins. And one could not advertise for a Paladin in the Times. She'd found hers in a hospital—and his arrival was at hand.
Chapter Three
Castaneda was not a Paladin name. At least not one she knew of. The name was not a part of the memories of her kin. She'd traced the lineage of the first Paladin, who bore the name all took after that time. The lost descendents of Captain John D. Paladin owned a good portion of the land adjacent to hers. But no Paladins had ever returned to the beach to claim their estate. When her family had fled the beach, the last of the Paladins disappeared with them. She was too busy saying her good-byes to her sisters to have paid attention to the argument between the last Paladin and her uncle. He'd left—but being human, he'd left a trail.
It took time.
It took money.
It took very shrewd lawyers and a stable of genealogists.
But she found the last living descendent of Captain John D. Paladin. And she'd invited him to return home.
Or rather she had her people contact his people and let him know of his late father's secret. A secret now revealed and one quite worth its weight in gold. Beachfront property. You couldn't buy it any longer. You couldn't build on it unless a footprint already existed. But you could inherit it. And one J. Castaneda had. His father hadn't revealed that fact in his Last Will and Testament. It was like a dirty little secret discovered while cleaning out a decedent's underwear drawer.
Seems daddy didn't want his little boy to know about the beach property. She knew it was because daddy had turned his back on his family oath to serve the Mooncusser clan for all time. Daddy had skirted his responsibilities and hidden them from his son. Bad daddy.
She vaguely recalled her uncle whispering with the other elders about John D. Paladin. One word struck her as unusual—to describe a Paladin and coming from her uncle's mouth. Asshole. John D. Paladin had been an asshole. Whatever his son was, she needed to make their relationship work.
* * * *
Vesper warmed her Chinese food in the microwave. The brown sauce over the eggplant and tofu looked unappealing in its cold, gelatinous form, and the fried rice had a taken on a greasy shine. The decision to forego Chinese for a while stood. She took her plate of steaming, hours-old Chinese take-out back to her computer desk. She logged onto her bed-and-breakfast's website. It wasn't live yet. It comforted her knowing that, soon enough, she'd never need to order Chinese again—and that she'd have company on the beach. A Mooncusser and a Paladin—together again, at last.
She wanted company. A full-time companion. A partner. A lover. A friend. Her curse forbade such things. She could marry another Shadow Lover—though she cringed at the thought of committing spiritual incestuousness to fill her empty heart. Though not all Shadow Lovers were her kin, they were still a part of the same accursed race, and the thought of coupling with one of her own repulsed her. The thought of begetting children with another accursed soul—and possibly condemning that child to a life of such as hers, was unconscionable.
Alternatively, she could love a mortal man to death. Literally. Her love could kill. To preserve his life, she'd need to feed elsewhere—meaning she'd continue to use flirtatious acts and adulterous maneuvers to get a meal. Immortal immorality. Vesper stabbed a cube of firm, brown-gravy covered tofu with her fork. Sucks to be me!
Chapter Four
Maria barely recalled the drive back to Lucky Panda. Had she driven the route many times beforehand, she would have laughed it off, saying the car knew its way home. But she'd never driven out to Mooncusser Cove before. She honestly, did not remember getting into the car, driving back to the Coomb and picking up her next delivery. She did remember red. Crimson red. Soft lips. Smokey eyes. A name like a prayer. Vesper. She remembered Vesper.
She felt wound-up inside. All antsy and eager. She found it hard to sit still. Back at the Panda, she caught herself looking at the disgusting dishwasher with new eyes. And those eyes were focusing on his package way too often. All she had to do was ask him to reach something off a shelf for her in the walk-in cooler, and she'd find out if that bulge in his jeans was rolled-up socks or all him. He'd been hitting on her since day one. She could nail him in two seconds and be back to work by the third. Just get him alone in the cooler for five minutes. Yeah. That would do it. Any dick in a storm would do.
Only thing stopping her from doing the dishwasher was the way he smelled. He had all necessary physical attributes she craved, sure, but he didn't smell right. She wanted someone who smelled like the beach.
In walked Jin Park for a late night slice and chop. And he was eau de beach, big time. He brought the ocean in with him. She could taste salt-spray on her lips, and the room seemed to move, ebb and flow like a current, as he went from coat rack to apron and wash-up station to work counter.
She turned to the night shift supervisor. A serious jerk, but now in complete control of the next three hours of her life. “You still need someone to work the chop line tonight with Jin?” she asked.
Her supervisor nodded.
"I'll do it,” Maria replied. Midnight to three in the morning. Alone in this greasy joint with Jin Park during the Witching Hour. Damn. I'm gonna get some from him if it kills me.
* * * *
Jin had changed. Since delivering to the beach house, he had changed. At first his co-workers chalked it up to sex with an older, more experienced woman. Lucky fucker. He'd always been kind of an asshole, but now he was a cocky son-of-a-bitch.
One of the employees of the Chinese food joint pegged it on the nose. “He's turned to the dark side of the Force, man. Jin's gone Lord of the Flies."
His senses had sharpened. Where once Lucky Panda smelled of nasty, greasy Chinese/American food, he was now able to discern the subtle nuances of lemon grass, five-spice, turmeric and the sweat of the cooks over their heavy, gas-powered cook tops.
He'd had an epiphany on the way home from Miss Highgate-Adair's place. A revelation. She'd done something to him. Like a Filipino psychic surgeon she'd ripped him open without so much as a scratch on his flesh, removed his soul, chewed it up and spat it out back into place.
He likened it to being born again. He felt that hungry. Newborn hungry. Every nerve-ending in his body craved fulfillment like a drug addict needs a fix.
He craved sex. The control and power of dominant sex. Every man should have a special purpose in life—and he'd found his while driving that deserted stretch of road bordered by stinking salt marshes leading to the Coomb. He pulled over on the side of the road to take a leak, and this bizarre calm fell over him. Only the hard-coursing blood in his veins and throbbing in his groin even made him recognize that he was still a part of the world.
He wanted her. Vesper. The flaming hot bitch who'd sucked his youth away with a kiss and devoured his innocence with a slow fuck up against the side of her house. Vesper. Like a prayer and a curse—she was both.
He didn't remember what happened between pissing on the side of the road and walking into the kitchen to snag a quick soda and pack up his next delivery. He wasn't sure he remembered where he lived. How he got home. When he changed his shirt.
Twenty-eight days sailing through fog. That's how it had been. Until he walked into the kitchen at Lucky Panda ready to tackle the late nig
ht prep shift. He stopped dead in his tracks when a glorious new aroma filled his senses. Lemon grass, saffron, garlic—and Vesper.
He checked the delivery log. Someone had gone out there. He glanced with maniacal intent over at Maria as he spied her name on the route. It had been she. That skinny blond chick had made a trip to the cove.
He put on his apron, washed his hands and removed a crate of onions from the dry storage. His hands trembled as he chopped.
Maria sidled up to him at the prep line.
He caught her scent and began to salivate like a freakin’ dog. He wiped his wet lips with the back of his hand. She had Vesper on her. He became a wolf stalking the trail of a female in estrus. Maria smelled like the beach. A beach in heat. Vesper's beach.
Working the prep line next to her made him crazy. Crazy with a razor-sharp knife in his right hand and a hard-on at his groin, hidden under a crisp, white apron. Stealing glances and quick smiles told him everything he needed to know. Little college bitch hadn't given him a second glance before—and now she was stripping him with her eyes. She had the itch for Vesper, too.
"You delivered to her, didn't you?” he asked softly over the precision-chopped celery and leeks.
Maria nodded. “Earlier, yeah."
"You feel all funky?” Jin asked.
Maria brought her blade down through the end of a large zucchini. “I feel like I should be sitting on this thing.” She held up the intact end of the vegetable.
"Yeah.” Jin nodded toward the walk-in cooler.
"Yeah,” Maria replied. She turned to face Jin. “Look, you seem to be just what the doctor called for, ya know?"
Jin nodded. “Want to do it? There, in the walk-in?"
Maria pursed her lips. “Let's. I like the way you smell."
"I have her in me. So do you, I can tell. We need..."
"To do it.” She stood before Jin, hands on hips. “However you want it, baby. Whatever you want.” She paused. “I'm a virgin, too."
Mooncusser Cove Page 3
