by Lisa Andel
I scanned the people that were ranged around the interior, and was happy to note that there were several good looking males.
We found a place at the bar, and Derek ordered for us.
"Any tips?” I could feel the excitement coursing through my blood.
"On how to pick up a man?” His expression at the thought had me laughing.
"I know women have tried to pick you up before.” Several, I would imagine.
"All you've got to do honey, is ask. Believe me.” The glow in his eyes had me cursing Rainth and his dictate.
He handed me a drink, and I took a long swallow. I'd only been drunk once, and that had been on elven wine. I wondered if human liquor was different. “Ever been drunk on this stuff?"
"This stuff, no. But were-brew, yeah.” He shifted in his seat, and looked out over the bar.
"What's it like?” Something in his attitude kept me focused on his face.
"I guess it's different for everyone. For me, it softened life's rough edges when I needed it.” He still wasn't looking at me. “There's danger, though. Sometimes you fall into the oblivion of it, and can't find your way back."
I found myself stroking his arm in compassion.
He slanted a look in my direction, his dark eyes stormy. “I found my way back."
With a wry grin, I leaned into him and kissed his cheek.
"Honey,” he said, smiling again. “You're not going to get a man by kissing me."
"Some things are more important.” I sat back on my stool and picked up my drink again.
"Bite your tongue.” This time his smile lit his eyes.
With a comfortable silence between us, we spent some time ogling the club patrons.
"What do you think of that one?” I nudged Derek and slanted my eyes in the direction of a dark-haired man leaning against the wall by the pool tables.
"Not my type."
I nudged him harder.
"Okay, okay.” He chuckled, and flicked his eyes at the man again. “Hard to say without talking to him. Looks okay."
"Can I ask you a really stupid question?” I chewed on my lower lip, not really nervous, just feeling kind of ignorant.
"I can't wait to hear it.” He smirked.
"How can you tell, well, you know.” How can I be a grown woman and not know these things?
He stared blankly at me.
"How can you tell if he's got a big enough cock?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer.
He choked on his drink. “I'm really going to get Rainth for this."
"You haven't answered my question,” I pressed.
Derek thought about it for a minute.
"Hey, he's heading for the restroom. Why don't you just, you know, go take a peek for me?” I tried to shove him off his stool to follow the guy.
Derek burned me with his look.
"It was just an idea.” A pretty good one, I thought.
We sat there for another minute before Derek spoke again.
"Ask him to dance. A slow one. You can find out a few things by doing that."
He had my attention.
"If there's any chemistry there, you'll know that right away. If you turn him on, you should be able to feel his—erection when you're in his arms.” He muttered something under his breath that I didn't catch. “When you're close, his body pressed to yours, you can try to figure out his, uh, dimensions from that."
Sounded like a plan to me.
The dark-haired guy came back from the restroom and headed in our direction. I listened to his voice while he ordered himself another drink. Trying not to be too obvious, I turned slightly towards him and checked out his body.
He wasn't as big as Rainth, but he was still over six feet tall. Leanly muscled, with slim hips and a tight ass. He started to turn around, and I got a look at the bulge in the front of his jeans. Looked promising.
Nobody ever said I was smart. I was ogling his crotch when I suddenly realized it had moved right in front of me. I swallowed, and slid my gaze up his chest to his face. Yup. He was grinning at me. Hell of a sexy grin, too. I gave him a little smile.
"Name's Justin. Would you care to dance?"
"Allie. Can we wait for a slow one? I'm afraid I don't know how to dance to anything else."
His sexy grin took on a wicked gleam. Resting his hip against the stool next to mine, he waited with me for the music to change.
"Haven't seen you in here before.” He glanced down at me, and I noticed his eyes were a deep blue.
"First time,” I admitted, then wondered if that made me some kind of freak.
The next song came on and spared me from further conversation as he took my hand and led me to the floor.
A thrill raced through my body when he took me in his arms. Then he tightened his hold, and I felt the hard, hot length of him against my abdomen. He scored three for three with me; now all I had to figure out was how to get him out of here and into his bed.
Justin leaned down, and brushed his lips along the side of my neck just then, and I shivered.
"Your place.” The words just blasted out of my mouth on an exhale.
"Now?” He licked a spot behind my ear that made me moan.
"Now,” I answered, in case my turning to mush in his arms wasn't indication enough.
He guided me out of the club with a hand on the small of my back, my skin tingling where he touched me.
Fortunately, I knew what a pickup truck was, so I didn't make a fool out of myself when he led me to his, and helped me climb into the seat. In no time at all, we were pulling into the parking lot of a multi-dwelling complex, not far from the inn.
Hand back in its place, he led me inside and up a flight of stairs. His door was halfway down the hall, and I realized as we entered the room that I hadn't said a word to Derek about leaving.
The minute he shut the door behind us, he pulled me to his chest and captured my mouth with his. Everything from my nipples to my crotch tightened. I parted my lips, inviting him in. He kept one arm around my back, and slid the other under my knees, then picked me up and carried me to his bed without breaking the kiss.
He tumbled onto the bed, with me still in his arms, rolling until I was trapped underneath him. He deepened the kiss, the two of us fairly eating at each other as desire blazed hot and fast. Wrenching his lips from mine, he ducked his head, untied my shirt so that it hung between my breasts, and dove onto a nipple. My back arched, and I cried out as he sucked it into his mouth and nibbled on it.
"Too many clothes.” I struggled with his shirt, burning up with the need to have him inside of me.
He released my nipple, and yanked my shirt over my head, throwing it off the side of the bed. Kissing and sucking on my stomach, he worked my skirt off, and threw it out into the room. Panting, he quickly shed his own clothes, kneed my legs apart, then dropped on top of me, capturing my mouth again.
I'd tangled my fingers in his hair, and was sucking on his tongue, when he traced across my clit with his fingers. “Ohhh.” I jerked against his hand at the jolt of pleasure that shot through me.
He slid his fingers down to my opening, then inserted one inside. Moaning, I tilted my hips up, to take more of him. “Christ, you're wet,” he rasped. He inserted a second finger next to the first, and pumped them slowly in and out.
"I need you in me. Now.” I could barely catch my breath.
He growled, removed his fingers, then rolled away from me. I grabbed for him, wondering where the hell he was going.
"Hey.” I turned onto my side to see what he was up to.
He waved a glittering metallic square at me.
What the fuck is that? I didn't know how I was supposed to respond, but since he was smiling, I grinned at him.
"I've got plenty,” he said.
I just bobbed my head and widened my grin, undoubtedly looking like an idiot.
Then he ripped open the square and withdrew a circle. He waggled it at me, then placed it on the end of his cock, and proceeded to
unroll it down the length of his shaft. When he was done, the opaque substance looked like it was strangling him.
I desperately wanted to ask him what the thing was, and why he had it on, but I didn't know how to say it without alerting him to the fact that there was something—alien about me.
He moved back between my legs, and lowered his body over mine.
"I'd much rather fuck you without it.” He kissed the tip of my nose, then stared straight into my eyes as he aimed his cock, and slammed it home. “Is this better?” he groaned.
"Ohhhhhhh.” He felt great. I forgot all about the strange coating on his cock, I forgot about wanting to ask questions, I just wanted him to start moving.
He did, slowly at first, then increasing his pace. I thrust my hips back at him, stroke for stroke. Face flushed, his cheekbones stood out harshly as he pounded and ground his way into me.
"God, you feel good,” he grit out between his clenched teeth.
I tipped my hips a little higher, and his cock rubbed across the bundle of nerves that lay deep inside my sheath.
"So do you.” I felt my entire groin tightening as the head of his cock stroked repeatedly over that spot.
He wrapped his arms around me tighter, then increased his pace again. I exploded, crying out his name as I shook with my orgasm. Every contraction of my vagina around his cock sent another shockwave of intense pleasure ripping through me.
His cock grew larger, harder yet inside of me. He thrust wildly, then stilled. With a muffled curse, he started moving again. He lowered himself onto me, careful not to crush me with his weight, then held me tight while we both waited for our breathing to slow down.
When he eventually rolled off to the side, he took me with him so that I ended up resting against his chest. I must have dozed, because I woke up with a start when he speared his way into me a second time.
* * * *
Rainth had not enjoyed his evening. It had been several years since he'd bedded a human, and now he remembered why he didn't do it more often. They didn't just lack stamina; they lacked imagination as well. At least, this one had.
He walked back to the inn, thinking about Allie, sighing when he opened the door, and finding the bed empty. She'd obviously found someone else to spend the evening with. He suddenly hoped, with a fierceness that disturbed him, she was having as lousy a time as he'd had.
He shucked his clothes as he walked to the bathroom, getting ready to take the shower he hadn't bothered with in his hurry to escape the human.
He pitched his pants onto the bed, the scent of elf wafting up to him as the sheets were disturbed. His cock immediately rose to attention. Cursing, he turned the shower on cold, and stepped into the spray.
* * * *
Justin screwed me awake later that morning, then helped me into the shower, where he washed every inch of me, then took me again. I never would have suspected that humans were capable of such stamina. Not nearly as much as the were possessed, though.
He'd just offered to feed me, for which I was mighty grateful, when his doorbell rang.
I was sitting at his kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee that he'd made when Rainth walked in.
"Allie.” His eyes skimmed over me, the muscles in his face taut.
I blinked at him, surprised. “Hey, Rainth. Didn't expect to see you here."
Justin offered Rainth a cup of coffee, which he accepted. Taking it, he sat down at the table next to me. Justin sat on my other side, an eyebrow raised in question.
"Justin, may I introduce Rainth. Rainth is my keeper. Rainth, this is Justin. Justin is one incredible sex machine."
Rainth shook his head, a low groan vibrating in his chest. Justin relaxed, a look of male pride on his face.
"We need to head out,” Rainth told me. The look on his face stopped me from questioning his statement.
We all rose from the table, and I moved into Justin's arms. I stretched, then looped my arms around his neck, drawing his face down to my lips. He kissed me thoroughly, and I regretted that I wouldn't get to go another round with him.
"Will I see you again?” Justin asked as we pulled apart.
"Probably not.” I smiled sadly at him. “Thank you for an unforgettable night."
"I would say the same.” He smiled back at me.
Then he walked us to the door. I kissed him once again before Rainth yanked on me to get me moving.
"Goodbye,” we called to each other as the were dragged me down the hall.
Chapter Three
Rainth opened the passenger door of a big SUV and helped me into the seat. I was surprised to see all of his men crammed into the back of the vehicle. He swung into the driver's seat, then turned the vehicle out of the parking lot, away from town and the inn we'd been staying at. “What's going on?” Somehow I knew it had nothing to do with my spending the night with Justin.
"Shortly after I left Giselle this morning someone murdered her,” Rainth stated, calmly.
"No way.” I twisted in my seat, so I could see his face better.
"I didn't get a look at her, but Amos assured me she was dead, and that it looked like she'd been tortured as well.” He didn't even grimace.
My stomach turned, and I was glad that I hadn't had time to eat anything. “Why?” I didn't want to think about what it might mean. “Why would someone do that to her?"
Rainth shot a look at me, that I couldn't miss. “I think you already know."
She'd been killed because of me. Because she'd told me of the curse. “If it was someone from my House, they could have done it without leaving any evidence."
"Not in a human town. They wouldn't do anything that would lead to questions by the authorities."
Despite my shock at his news, admiration shot through me at this man who knew so much more than I did about the world I lived in. “So what happens now?” I slouched down in my seat, figuring I wasn't going to like his answer.
"If I'm going to keep you alive, then we have to find out what this curse is, what it means."
At least he wasn't taking me out into the country and shoving me out of the truck.
"Krand said he knows a man who might be able to help with that,” he continued.
"Krand?” Was I supposed to know a Krand?
Rainth jerked his head towards the rear of the vehicle.
I peeked around the back of my seat and met the hard looks of the eight aggressive men. Derek winked. I turned back around, caught Rainth watching me, so I pretended I was interested in the passing scenery.
"How did they know?” It suddenly occurred to me that the only ones who knew I had visited Giselle, and what had transpired there, were mostly in this truck.
"My guess,” Rainth began, “is that blond guy you saw had something to do with it."
"Do you think the vamps were involved too?"
"Hard to say, but probably not, seeing how they were different vampires night before last than the ones you ran into in Brookmoor."
That was the last thing anyone said for the next several hours.
We finally stopped late that afternoon in the middle of nowhere to stretch our legs and relieve ourselves in the woods at the side of the road. We were heading back towards the truck, coming from different directions, when I heard a strange whistling sound. Glancing around I noticed some of Rainth's men had flattened themselves to the ground.
Just then the SUV blew up in a bright flash of light, sending little pieces of itself shooting off in all directions. Several of the tiny missiles smacked into the front of my body. I was staring at them, where they'd fallen to the ground, when a larger object dropped out of the sky and landed with a plop at my feet.
It was my traveling bag. I picked it up and slung the strap over my shoulder, only then realizing that Rainth was standing right beside me.
"Do they often blow up like that?” I asked him, tipping my head in the direction of the smoldering vehicle.
"Rarely without help,” he said, his voice strained.
&nbs
p; He'd moved around to my front, and was staring at my chest. “How come you're not hurt? I saw you get struck with shrapnel."
"If you mean bits of truck, why would it hurt me?"
He showed me his arm, where he sported a gash that was already healing. “Because it cuts through your flesh?"
"Oh.” I shrugged. “I'm pretty impervious to that kind of stuff."
He blinked at me. “That elf of yours was pretty adamant that I protect you. What, exactly, am I protecting you from?"
Not having been physically attacked a lot, I couldn't really answer his question. “I don't really know. Though I've heard there are certain magics that we're especially susceptible to. And, of course, don't ever let me ingest amaranth."
"Why not?” He tilted his head, waiting for my answer.
"It's a drug, to us, that causes us to totally lose control.” I shivered. I'd heard stories of what happened to elves who had accidentally eaten the substance. In fact, there was a single grain of it in an entire bottle of Chivarous, so diluted that it only intoxicated us instead of annihilating us.
"Interesting,” he murmured, then turned to study the wreckage. “What a pain in the ass.” He started walking towards the still-smoking heap.
His men had gathered around it.
"I suppose we lost everything?” Rainth asked them.
"Actually, several items were jettisoned,” one of the men answered. “We've got about two-thirds of our weapons, and half our luggage.” He gestured behind him, where the items had been piled.
"Let's divide this stuff up and start walking.” Rainth said.
He took a look at the bag I was carrying. “You have any food or water in there?"
"I've got water, I don't know about food,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow at me. “It's not that big. Though I know it holds more than you'd guess from looking at it."
"Actually.” I took it off and handed it to him.
He untied the drawstring, and peered inside. “What the fuck?” He reached into the bag, and rummaged around for several moments. Then he started handing out packages of briochetor, a compressed meat roll that elves often carried when they traveled long distances.
"More grain than we usually consume, but we can get by on it,” he said as he continued passing out bricks of the stuff to his men. He dug around in the bag some more, and produced three botas.
