Up in Smoke

by Alice Brown

  He gentled his touch, pressing tiny kisses to her abdomen as he watched her come back down from her peak. God, she was beautiful in the throes of orgasm.

  Suddenly, he was climbing back up her body and sharing her own taste with her as he kissed her possessively. It was a claiming in a kiss. He had given her her first orgasm. He had been the one to show her pleasures in bed. Her dead husband might have been a complete idiot not to cherish what was right in front of him, but Nathaniel was not. She was his and he took care of what belonged to him.

  Her legs were still spread wide while his dick nestled up against her. She wrapped her legs around his waist as if she didn’t want him leaving anytime soon. Silly woman. Little did she know he was there to stay, there to love her, there to protect her. Forever.

  They had yet to discuss whether she would remain human or if she wanted to be changed, but frankly, it didn’t matter to him. A few drops of his blood once a week or so would extend her lifespan tremendously and give her some of the benefits of being a vampire without changing her over. Either way was fine by him. It was her choice.

  As he gathered her up in his arms, she clung to him as if her life depended on it. “Ahh, easy, sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Her whispered reply of, “I love you. I don’t think I can let you go,” was pure music to his ears.

  He groaned as he claimed her lips, building her fire back up as he loosened the strangled hold she had on his hips with her legs. Lining up his dick, he plunged in almost three-fourths of the way before meeting a bit of resistance. She was as tight as a glove wrapped around his dick. He gave her a moment to adjust to his girth and length before pulling out and pushing back in, gaining a small amount of ground with each small thrust.

  He reached behind him and grabbed a foot with each hand. “Relax, baby, you’ve almost got all of me. Just relax and enjoy.” He brought each foot up to his lips and nibbled on her toes before bending her knees to spread her wider. He reached above her and grabbed a pillow, shoving it under her butt. In this position, it tilted her cervix a bit, allowing him to gain the final ground he needed to become fully seated within her. He stopped again when he bottomed out, giving her a chance to become accustomed to him.

  “Nathaniel?” He had leaned down and snatched a nipple into his mouth, tormenting it by gently scraping his teeth around it and then soothing it with his tongue.

  “Hmmm?” Damn, but he didn’t want to let go.

  “Move!” Susan’s directions came accompanied by her fingernails raking down his back. A move he knew was purely instinctive on her part. Damn, did that feels good!

  He released her nipple with a pop. “So, my little, sexy kitten has claws, does she?”

  She looked up at him a bit wide-eyed. “Did I—” She never got the chance to finish before he interrupted.

  “And I fucking love it, sweetheart! Feel free to do that all you want,” he punctuated his statement by withdrawing almost all the way out of her, leaving just the very tip of his dick inside her, before slamming back home.

  “Oh, yes!” She moaned long and hard as he plunged back in deep, swiveling his hips and hitting her clit as he bottomed out.

  He chuckled in her ear. “Hmm, you like that, do you? Let’s try this.” He took both of her feet and licked the instep of each dainty foot, nibbled on a couple of toes, and then placed both feet around his neck. This brought them into alignment even better than before, and again, he pulled almost completely out before slamming back into her, adding a swivel of his hips as he came plunging forward.

  Her pussy walls tightened and pulsed a few times around his dick, almost sending him over himself. But he held on, barely. He wanted this to be so good for her that she never questioned herself again. He wanted her to know without a shadow of a doubt that she was a beautiful, open, giving woman. And he would gladly spend the rest of her life giving her mind-blowing orgasms.

  Her hands clutched at the sheets as her body worked itself into a frenzy. Nathaniel slowly picked up speed until he was pounding her into the mattress. He knew she was close, damn close. He brought his thumb up to his mouth and licked it, then placed it on her knotted little clit. Once, twice, three times he flicked it with his thumb and she exploded around him. Three more plunges later and he was following her over, feeling weaker than a baby, but never had he ever been this happy, this fulfilled, this satisfied. His cum shot out of his dick in hard squirts as he ground himself against her, wanting to be up in her as far as he could be.

  He gently lowered her legs from around his neck while raining kisses across her damp forehead, eyelids, tip of her nose, and finally, her lips. He sipped from her lips sweetly, not demanding anything, but trying to convey his love for her. “Ahh, darlin', you have made me one very happy man. Thank you for coming into my life. I feel like I have waited a lifetime for you, and now that I’ve found you, I’m never letting you go. I love you.”

  Chapter Five

  The next afternoon when Lucas and Nathaniel came strolling back into the office, the look of pure, black fury on Nathaniel’s face was hard to miss. He walked straight up to the front desk, snatched Susan up out of her seat, and kissed her hard.

  When he finally let her take a breath, he looked deep into her eyes. She wondered what in the world had made him so mad. Had she done something? “Nathaniel, what is it? Have I done something to upset you?” She should have known that happily ever after only existed in fairy tales. Oh well, she figured it was better that things broke off now before she was even more invested in the situation.

  “Stop!” he barked. “I can smell your fear. You should know by now I would never hurt you.”

  “Put me down, you’re hurting me!”

  Walter stepped out of his office. “Susan, Nathaniel, a moment in my office now, please.” Although spoken calmly, Susan got a glimpse of her employer’s eyes as she headed for the office and could see the dark storm clouds building. Lovely, was he going to fire her?

  Behind her, Nathaniel was growling…actually growling! Great, lose a mate and my job all in less than twenty minutes. Now, that has got to be a record!

  Susan walked into the office and sat down in an empty seat. When Nathaniel sat down in the chair next to her and reached over to pick her up, she moved her seat further away from him. He was not going to manhandle her anymore. She would take Walter telling her she was fired like a big girl. She glanced over to Nathaniel to see his eyes narrowed at her. Too damn bad. He could just get over himself.

  Walter sat down and frowned at both of them. “Someone want to tell me what is going on between you two? And, Nathaniel, quit the caveman act and stop growling. The only thing you’re doing is scaring your mate.”

  Susan dropped her eyes to the floor and clasped her hands in front of her. What was she going to say? She had no idea why Nathaniel had acted the way he did. Prior to him coming in, she had been sitting at her desk, doing her work, minding her own business.

  “Walter, I think it might be best if I turned in my resignation,” she choked out in a hoarse whisper.

  Total silence met her. The only thing she could hear was her own labored breathing as she felt the tears pricking the backs of her eyes. Just hold off a little while longer. Just don’t break down here where they both can see you.

  Then, in a tone pitched low and soothing, she heard Walter’s voice. “Susan, please look at me.” When she did, the tears were forming fast in her eyes and she blinked several times in an attempt to hold them back. “What did my numbskull brother do to you? Do you need me to call Sissy?” Walter would be the very first to admit he didn’t deal with emotional females very well, which was the main reason his wife was spoiled rotten. The tears forming in his secretary’s eyes were almost his undoing. He liked this little slip of a human. She had gained his respect over the past few months and he had no intention of letting her leave the department. And he would tell her that, right after he pummeled his brother into next week for being a jackass.

  Susan s
hook her head at him, but then her eyes fell right back down to the floor. He looked over at his brother and cocked his eyebrow at him. Whatever Nathaniel had done, Susan’s tears were currently eating a hole in him, at least if the look on his face was anything to go by.

  Instead of answering his brother, Nathaniel stood and turned, dropping to his knees in front of Susan. “Ahh, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m not upset or mad at you at all.”

  Trying her best to keep herself put together, she never even looked up as she whispered, “You certainly could have fooled me.”

  Behind him, Nathaniel heard his brother. “Nathaniel, explain yourself, and quickly.”

  He ignored his brother for the moment. This was his mate and he had upset her. He had to make sure she was okay, and then he’d explain everything. “Baby, will you please let me hold you? You are killing me here.” He clutched his chest to make his point.

  When she didn’t move or acknowledge him, he took matters into his own hands and stood, leaning over and plucking her out of her seat. He turned, sat down in the same seat she had just been occupying, making sure to wrap both arms tightly around her. He didn’t want her going anywhere, especially away from him.

  When he was assured that she was comfortable on his lap, he placed a kiss on her brow before whispering the words, “I love you.” He looked over at his brother. “We uncovered a bit of disturbing news this afternoon. It looks like Joe’s brother, Parker, is one of us.”

  “What?!” This bit of information snapped Susan’s head up like a whip. “You mean he’s a vampire?” She turned her head to look at Walter. “Are half the people in Texas vampires and did someone just forget to tell me?”

  Walter chuckled as he shook his head. At least he wasn’t looking into tear filled, lost eyes anymore. This firecracker of a secretary was what he was used to. “No, although, I can see why you’d think that sometimes. I take it you had no idea that Parker was a vampire?”

  She shook her head. “No… I wonder if Joe even knew?”

  “I have wondered the same thing about him when I found out he was working with Eddie. I wondered if he knew he was working with a group of rogue vampires or if he just thought that he had fallen in with the wrong crowd.” Walter stopped for a moment. “I think in light of this new information, we may want to dig some more into Eddie’s case. It still feels like we are missing something. We already know Eddie wasn’t the head honcho of the operations. There’s at least one other vampire that was the leader of the entire mess, and they are still very much at large.”

  “Yeah, I couldn’t help but wonder about that,” Nathaniel stated to his brother. “After talking with Lucas today and Susan yesterday, it seems like Parker took off about the same time as you all busted Eddie. Only it gets better.” Nathaniel stopped and tightened his hold on Susan a bit more. “We also have reason to believe Parker was the one who vandalized Susan’s house.”

  “Tell me what you found,” Walter growled.

  “There were traces of blood in the refrigerator at Parker’s house with one bag in the very back, hidden away. But I recognized the scent in the house immediately, as did Lucas. The scent matched the lingering scent that was around Susan’s house the night it was vandalized.”

  “Okay, so we have a positive ID on who vandalized Susan’s house. Now the question is why? Obviously, he is still in the area, even if he isn’t staying at his house. Susan, you told Ethan yesterday that Parker didn’t like you. Do you know why? Did you two ever have a fight or is there any chance that he wanted you for himself and you choose Joe instead?” Walter watched his brother’s arms wrap even more possessively around his mate. “I’m just trying to cover all angles here, so we can get to the bottom of this.”

  Susan shook her head. “No, I didn’t even know Parker until after Joe and I were married. From the very first time I met him, he just leered at me and was never nice.”

  “Baby, you said yesterday that Joe was not close to his family. Do you know for a fact that Joe and Parker were true brothers?” Nathaniel inquired.

  “Well, no, not exactly. That’s just how he was introduced to me and that’s what Joe always referred to him as. Why?”

  “Did Joe ever tell you any childhood stories involving Parker?” Nathaniel pressed.

  “Umm… Come to think about it, I don’t think he did. He rarely ever talked about his family. It was as if they didn’t exist, and hadn’t for a long time.”

  “Okay then. Now, dear brother, do you think you can stop overreacting toward your mate and scaring the shit out of her? And, Susan, you are not leaving. Got it? I’ll throw your numbskull of a mate out on his ear before I see you leave us,” Walter stated in his ‘don’t bother to argue with me, I’ll just override you’ voice.

  She smiled at her employer. She had no intention of arguing with him. She loved being part of the team and she loved the fact her boss considered her an asset that he didn’t want to lose.

  As Nathaniel stood, taking Susan with him, Walter called out, “I’m scheduling another meeting for first thing tomorrow morning. I want everyone on the same page regarding this matter.” Neither Susan nor Nathaniel acknowledged him, but then again, he didn’t expect them to. If he knew his brother, he would be walking over to Susan’s desk only long enough to grab her purse. After that, the two of them wouldn’t be seen for the remainder of the day.

  When he heard some of his staff teasing Nathaniel about wearing a purse, Walter chuckled. Damn, he knew his brother well.

  *****

  Nathaniel kept Susan’s head buried in his neck while he retrieved her purse and then walked out the door. Only after he had hit the unlock button to his truck did he release his hold on her long enough that she could get into the truck.

  “Nathaniel, maybe it would be best if I stayed at my house tonight,” Susan suggested with resignation in her voice.

  “No, I’m taking you out to dinner as an apology for acting like an ass. Then, we’re going home where I plan to spend the remainder of the night showing you how much I truly love you.” He stopped after he had her buckled into her seatbelt. Tenderly brushing his fingertips down the side of her face, he continued, “Look, I was an ass. I freely admit it. I’m so sorry for upsetting you. It’s just that after we found all of that information regarding Parker, I couldn’t wait to get back to the base and see for myself that you were alright. Had you left before I got back, I probably would have lost my mind.”

  Susan reached up and grabbed the big hand that was currently sending goose bumps up and down her spine. It’s amazing what a caress from him could do to her. She brought his hand to her lips and placed a light kiss to his palm. “Okay, you just scared me. You came in looking like a huge thundercloud and I just wasn’t sure what I had done to piss you off.”

  “You did nothing baby, I promise. Will you forgive me for being an ass?”

  “If I say yes now, are we still going out for dinner? Because I have to tell you, I’m starved!”

  Nathaniel chuckled as he leaned down to steal one last kiss. “Yes, let’s go get you something to eat.”

  *****

  First thing the next morning, Walter had everyone gathered in the conference room. Lucas stood and filled everyone in on what he and Nathaniel had found the day before.

  “Susan, could you work with me after this meeting and give me a detailed description of what Parker looks like?” Donte inquired.

  Susan looked over her shoulder from her spot in Nathaniel’s lap. “Sure, if you think it will help.”

  “I think that if I can get a sketch of what this guy looks like out to the community, then everyone will know who we are looking for and we might have a chance at catching him off guard.”

  “Good idea!” Walter interjected. “By the way, Susan’s house got hit again last night.”

  Both Nathaniel and Susan could be heard talking at the same time. “What? When? How bad? What happened?”

  Holding his hands out in front of him, Walter shook his head and chuck
led. “Calm down, you two. It was another act of vandalism. This time with the word ‘bitch’ was spray painted on the front of the house. As for when, as far as we can tell, it was between 2 and 4 a.m. this morning.”

  Walter stopped and looked at Susan. “Starting tonight, I’ll have someone watching over the house all night long. I had thought the occasional drive by would be enough of a deterrent, but obviously it’s not.”

  “Was there any other damage besides the spray paint?” Nathaniel inquired.

  “No, there didn’t seem to be. I managed to get a cleaning crew out there and they finished right before dawn. I’m hoping nobody saw anything,” Walter replied. He then glanced at his entire staff. “Okay, my gut is telling me we’re missing something, something that ties everything in with Eddie’s case. I want this to be top priority and I want everyone working together. Our goal is to get questions answered and mete out justice to a certain vampire before this escalates any further.”

  Susan spent almost the entire day working with Donte to work up a sketch of Parker. She was impressed with the final result. She looked at the sketch and it suddenly hit her. She was looking at a killer. She didn’t know how she knew this, but she felt something tug at the back of her mind. A shiver ran down her spine as she handed the sketch back to Donte.

  “You couldn’t have drawn him any better, even if he was sitting in front of you, Donte. I had no idea you were such a talented artist.”

  If it were possible for a vampire to look embarrassed, Donte would’ve won a metal. “Let’s just keep that little tidbit between us, shall we? I really don’t want to get ribbed by these guys just because I like to draw.”

  Susan reached over and placed her hand on top of his. “You know, you have nothing to be ashamed of.” She made sure to keep her voice at a mere whisper so no one else would hear them. “Look, your secret is safe with me. I would love to see some of your work someday. Only if you are comfortable, though.”