by Anh Leod
He shook his head. “You think like Joe.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“He’s a bit of a schemer but it works for him. Even with managing the band and singing lead, he still has a solid construction company.”
“Some people just have the knack,” Holly said.
“You’ve done okay for yourself,” Greg said.
“Dylan more than carries his weight,” she said. “I’m lucky to have him as a brother.”
“Yeah, he seems like a cool guy. Travels a lot?”
“Yes, all over the world. The glamorous life of an architect. Did you come by to see him?”
“No, I got your address from Claudia. I hope you don’t mind.”
Holly shook her head. “I went by the hospital right after work. She didn’t say you were coming over.”
He looked sheepish. “This visit has been a few days in the making, actually.”
Holly knew if he’d stopped by looking so adorable a week ago that she’d be panting like an eager puppy for his attention, trying to impress him. But she was so tired and sad. An attitude adjustment was in order. Greg had been there for her and she owed him a lot.
“Okay. Did you want to talk about Saturday?”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“I hear that.” She waited for him to say more and then when he didn’t, she asked, “What then?”
“You lost all your stuff,” he said simply. “Your clothes and then I know your shoes were ruined.”
Lost wasn’t exactly the word. She’d left her clothes behind in the storeroom when she’d gone after Glaukos. They had probably burned in the fire.
“I never thought I’d use my Guccis as weapons,” Holly said. “But they played a small part in the Glaukos’ battle with Torc, so I’m cool with it.”
He shook his head. “I’m not. Here.” He handed her the Gucci shoebox.
Holly felt her skin go cold as she took the box and opened it. Inside rested a pair of gunmetal-colored, t-strap, platform heels decorated with crystals. “These cost almost a thousand bucks. Where did you get them?”
“My sister works at a fashion magazine. Here.” He handed her the other boxes.
“Valentino?” she said incredulously, staring at a pair of sparkly sandals. “Donna Karan? I love this dress!”
He blushed. “I’m glad you like them. I asked my sister to overnight sparkly shoes she could get in your size. I got the dress at one of those high-end resale shops where the stars supposedly consign their clothes. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind? Are you kidding?” She dropped the boxes on the table and leapt onto his lap to give him a hug. Her lips smacked his cheek. “I love the color of the dress and everything about the shoes. You’re crazy!”
His color deepened. “I had an ulterior motive.”
She wiggled on his lap, suddenly realizing where she had landed. Something hot and hard rested under her hip. She jumped off him, almost tipping over the beer mug in her haste. Her libido might be ready for this but her psyche was in mourning.
She cleared her throat. “Sorry. What motive?”
Greg licked his lips. “I ended things with Jewel. She’s desperate to be a fangbanger and I’m not really into vampires.”
“She thinks vampires are real?”
He laughed self-consciously. “Hell, after Saturday, who knows?”
Holly blinked. Dear Lord. “Who knows?” she echoed.
“Yeah.”
“I think that owing a goddess a favor is enough trouble for now.”
“For saving Ellery’s life?”
Holly nodded. “Not that we’ll have to pay the favor ourselves but who knows what will happen next. Getting mixed up in Cherokee’s life sure seems to make things complicated.”
“Yeah.”
“So, you didn’t tell Jewel about what happened, did you?”
“No, of course not.”
Holly let out the breath she’d been holding. “Good. I’d hate to mess things up for my brother. Cherokee might have to leave if stories about him got out.”
“I can hardly believe what’s happened myself. I figure I should keep it in our little, I don’t know…gang?”
She smiled. “It’s a big enough group as it is.” Realizing she was still hovering over him, she sat down again.
“Hopefully, the next club we play regularly isn’t run by a monster,” Greg deadpanned.
“Yeah, let’s hope Joe has some discernment.”
Greg chuckled. “I hope he doesn’t get a referral from Cherokee at least. Look what happens when one of his friends comes to visit. We lose our job and one of our friends almost gets killed.”
Holly felt her stomachache return. Greg obviously didn’t know she’d formed a genuine connection with that friend of Cherokee’s. “He wanted to avenge his sister.”
“A sister who’d been dead thousands of years.”
“Maybe, but she’d have been practically immortal if Torc hadn’t messed with her.”
“You think that’s a good thing? Immortality? I always figured that wouldn’t be a great deal. You’d end up so decadent after a while.”
Glaukos hadn’t seemed decadent. “You’ve read too many vampire novels.”
“And you haven’t? All the erotic fantasy you read?”
“I never liked the vamps much. I liked the pirates and fae and shapeshifters more.”
“Good, I’m done with vamps, though I’m still all for erotic fantasy.” Greg shifted in his seat. “I’ve had some interesting dreams about you.”
Her senses prickled. He had? Holly folded her hands in her lap and bent forward. “I’ve had one or two about you too.”
Greg stood. “You ever have an interest in acting one out, you give me a call, okay?”
Holly rocked back and forth, not sure how she felt. “I’ll think about it.”
“Add this into the picture.” Greg leaned over her, his lips brushing the corner of her mouth. When she didn’t pull away, he licked his way along the seam of her mouth.
The light touch felt unbearably sexy to Holly and she gasped. Greg took the opening and slid inside, taking the time to explore every nook and cranny.
This was what she didn’t have time to do with Glaukos. Their time had been so short, but Greg wasn’t going anywhere. He was part of the crowd in the know too, the gang. She didn’t have to hide anything from him, unless he’d be turned off if he knew she’d slept with Glaukos. Well, if he hadn’t figured it out she didn’t need to spell the details out to him.
He’d offered her fantasy, not reality, after all. Her face tilted up and his lips slipped to her neck. He nuzzled up under her chin and reached for a breast.
She jumped back. “Maybe next time, okay? I’m beat.”
Greg’s lips were swollen from their kiss. “Yeah. Call me, okay?”
“You’re sweet.” She was blinking back tears now despite herself. “Sorry. I’m not a nutcase. Just tired.”
“I know. It’s been rough. Hard not to keep reliving that fire.”
“And the blood and smoke. And fear.”
“Say no more.” The corners of his lips tilted up though his gaze was sober. “Call me this weekend if you want. Obviously we don’t have a gig so I’m open.”
“I’ll remember that.” She walked him down the hall and out the front door. As she shut it, she heard the back door open. Dylan was home. As she recalled, he had a trip to pack for since he was leaving for Singapore in the morning. They had some catching up to do before he left.
Hours later, Holly finally went to her bedroom, much too late for a weeknight. On the other side of Holly’s bedroom wall, the floor creaked as Cherokee crept in to spend some last-minute time with Dylan before he left for the airport.
She thought her rest would be troubled, but she was so tired she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Still, she wasn’t too tired to dream. She was back in that dusty, box-filled storeroom with Glaukos…
&
nbsp; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Yes, come for me, my rodi,” Glaukos crooned. “You’re so beautiful.”
He was impossibly handsome even in the near dark, all flashing eyes and teeth, softly curled black hair, strong muscles. Her finger slipped from his sensitive pucker and she grasped his hips as he thrust harder. She found it hard to hold on as sweat beaded under her fingers.
All of a sudden, Glaukos stopped moving. Her ascent to a second orgasm stopped and he pulled out, leaving her rocking on her stilettos.
“What?” she repeated, dizzy with lust.
“Torc,” he rasped. “Cherokee is calling me.”
“But you didn’t come,” she said, frustrated. In her passion-dazed mind, that was all that mattered.
“No time. I have to take care of this. After, we’ll finish. I promise. Go find your friends,” he ordered. “Stay safe.”
She was left bereft as he moved away from her. Outside, the band stopped playing too as an air of menace crept through the club. This time she knew he didn’t need her to bring him Cherokee’s coat.
A cool breeze wafted in though the door. Shivering, Holly reached for her dress and pulled it over her head.
“Damn.”
Someone was behind her. She started to turn.
“Don’t move.”
She stopped, unsure if friend or foe was behind her. Her dress was covering her face and neck, trapping her in a silky prison.
She heard someone take a deep breath. The lightest of touches brushed her Achilles tendons on both legs. Fingers encouraged her to spread her legs a few inches farther apart. Her breath caught in her throat. Who was behind her? Surely Glaukos hadn’t returned. He had a monster to fight. Could she be disloyal to him? But he only had minutes still to live before they would be parted forever.
Those mysterious, clever fingers were inching their way up the back of her legs now. Her pussy was stretched and softened by her recent orgasm but she felt fresh tendrils of dampness lubricating the folds between her legs. How could she let a stranger do that to her?
When the fingers reached the backs of her knees, they found an erogenous zone she hadn’t known existed. She had to dig her fingers into the boxes to keep from sagging. Did she want this torture to stop or go on forever? Her pussy was creaming freely now and she knew she couldn’t stop this if she tried.
She bit back a moan of protest as the hands left her knees and ventured to her inner thighs. They didn’t steadily progress upward now but drew circles and swirls with fingertips soaked in her musk. Helpless, she spread her legs farther. Her breathing was restricted by the folds of cloth around her mouth and nose.
The fingers were brushing her tender, soaked skin now, ignoring her inner folds. Before she could protest, her belly was caressed. As he used his entire hand, she felt calluses at the base of the fingers. Workout marks—definitely a man’s hands.
One naughty finger dipped into her bellybutton, then made circular motions around her stomach to the tops of her rounded hips.
“So beautiful,” he crooned in a whisper. “So ready.”
“Were you watching us?” Holly asked.
“No. But I know tasty goodness when I see it.”
She heard the sound of a zipper being lowered. Then her dress loosened its hold on her face. She found it easier to breathe again as the material mostly puddled around her neck.
Holly felt a long, hot cock caress the dent between her cheeks. She bent over the box, giving in to the naughty pleasure being offered. The stranger angled his cock between her legs, touching the petals of her sex. He grunted then pushed into the damp flesh, riding her cream until he’d seated himself deep.
“Dear god,” Holly groaned. “What are you doing to me?”
“Just what you’ve been asking for since Halloween.”
Holly looked over her shoulder and saw Greg’s face. “I thought you were on stage.”
Her stilettos rocked as he thrust into her willing flesh. “Someone just yelled fire so we stopped playing.”
“And this was your highest priority?”
He thrust again. “Isn’t it yours?”
“I have to help Glaukos. I need to throw my shoe.” The last sentence was pitched increasingly higher as Greg rocked against her, grunting.
His arms reached around and pinched her nipples. Holly arched, pressing her breasts into his hands. Then she let her spine bend the other way to get the full benefit of his thrusts.
“We’ll have to help Glaukos some other way.”
“How?”
One of Greg’s hands drifted down to palm Holly’s mons. She used her hips to increase the pressure above her clit.
“I can’t stop,” Holly sobbed. “I’m going to lose him.”
“You’ve got me,” Greg said. “You aren’t alone. I’m not a fantasy.”
“Fantasy is all I’ve had in forever,” Holly said, screwing up her face in concentration as her orgasm neared. “Books and vibrators and…oh!” She jerked against Greg’s hand and spiraled off.
“We can do better than that.” Greg grabbed her hips so tightly that it would have hurt if she’d been paying attention and slammed his cock into her until he came.
She felt his semen drip down her leg. No condom, but then. Slowly, he pulled out of her and kissed her shoulder.
“You aren’t alone,” Greg repeated.
Holly smelled smoke and when she turned around, the room was empty. Her dress was still lying under Cherokee’s jacket on the box…
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
A low groan came through the wall as Cherokee entered Dylan. The bed began to rock, creaking against the sheetrock.
The bed rocked harder, bumping their shared bedroom wall at every thrust. Both men were groaning now, words of love and passion.
One last wall pound, two exclamations and all was silent on the other side of the wall.
Holly smiled in her sleep and rolled over, dislodging her fingers from where they’d been massaging her clit. Another night, another ride-along with the lovers next door.
Chapter Six
On Friday after the day job was done, Holly drove to Brandi’s luxury condominium to put in a couple of hours on the Moving Pictures website. Brandi handed her a list of small updates to make then zipped over to Gelson’s to pick up groceries.
Holly was always motivated to do her work for Brandi, knowing the extra money was her ticket to another pair of shoes, or in this case, maybe a pair of the adorable open-toe black leather booties that were so popular, but thinking about shoes led her thoughts to Greg and his amazingly sweet gesture. How could it only be a week since she’d seen him at the bookstore? He’d had big changes in his life too, with the breakup on Tuesday. She didn’t want to be a rebound, but if she waited too long she knew someone would snap him up. Plus, that dream she’d had last night kept her nerves and hormones jingling all day.
The feeling she had reminded her of those days back in middle school where she, Dylan and their friends had broken into their parents’ cars at night and stolen radios for the kinds of stupid kicks only teenagers can appreciate. At least they had only jimmied locks versus busting in windows.
So, this feeling meant she knew she was doing wrong. Or thinking about wrong. Or dreaming about wrong. But what was wrong? Dylan had two lovers. Maybe it was simply in their family genes.
Except she had no lovers at all. Her lover was dead and another one was only a possibility. She pressed her thighs tightly together, as if that would stop threatened tears, and clicked her mouse button.
There, the website had a new, more subtle color scheme. Right on cue, she heard the front door open and the rustle of canvas bags brushing the doorjamb.
Maybe Brandi had some advice to offer. Her friend didn’t comment as Holly helped her unload cartons of deli food and the makings of marinara sauce.
“What’s up?” Brandi finally asked as they sat down on her deck with tall glasses of iced tea. “Normally you book out of here the first chance you get.”
&nb
sp; “I guess there’s more on my mind than cruising the internet for shoes or reading,” Holly admitted.
“I noticed those new Guccis you have on,” Brandi commented. “Blown your budget for the month?”
Holly admired her new shoes. “No, they were a gift.”
Brandi’s cheek twitched. “Oh crap. Did I forget your birthday? I thought you and Dylan were only a few days apart.”
Holly shook her head. “No, Greg gave them to me. He brought me a bunch of stuff, mostly from his sister who gets it for free from her job.”
Brandi lifted her glass to pink-glossed lips. “Sounds like a good sister to know.”
“And he broke up with his girlfriend,” Holly blurted.
“Did he tell you that?”
“Yes. He showed up on my doorstep two days after doing the deed.”
“Sounds like you’re next on his list.”
“Yeah, but do I want to be?”
Brandi folded one slim, olive-skinned ankle over the other. “I thought you had this big crush on him. You couldn’t stop talking about his cock after Halloween.”
That was true. “But it was before Glaukos.”
“Who was barely more than a ghost and is gone now,” Brandi pointed out.
“He wasn’t a ghost.” Holly pressed her lips together. This wasn’t an argument.
Something in Holly’s tone clued Brandi in. “I know you fucked him. Don’t tell me you felt something for him.”
“He was a gentleman and a hero,” Holly said after a pause. “I guess that’s it. Other than the incendiary sex, of course.”
“You have to respect a guy who avenges his sister, no matter how many centuries he has to wait,” Brandi agreed.
“Exactly. Not that Greg doesn’t have his heroic qualities.” Holly leaned forward. “I mean, who brings a girl shoes?”
“Who meaning straight guys, of course. Also, Greg helped you out of Torc’s.”
“Well yeah,” Holly amended.
“So you’ve got one hot encounter with a dead guy.”
“Two,” Holly corrected. “He sexed me up at Torc’s right before Cherokee called for him.”
Brandi made a celebratory fist. “Good way to seize the moment.”
