by Nina Bangs
Without a word, Jinx stumbled back into his room and slammed the door shut.
Conall picked up the chair as they walked to the dungeon. “I’m impressed. With a few more vampire skills you’ll throw terror into the hearts, or whatever passes for hearts, of all evil entities.”
Gerry studied his face for sarcasm, and then nodded. “The enhanced strength and speed come in handy, but I’ll need a lot more than those to move up the ladder.”
“Oooh, a dungeon. I’ve never been down here before.” Fo bubbled with excitement. “Take us out, Conall, so we can see everything.”
“Don’t overdo it, honey. You need to rest.” Gabriel looked at Gerry. “Fo’s due in a few days.”
“Oh.” Gerry looked a little worried. “How will Fo—”
“Through her SD card slot.” Conall was becoming an expert on demon detector births.
He took Fo and Gabriel from their pouches and held them up as he circled the dungeon. While he walked he listened to Asima and Gerry.
“Okay, what do you want for helping me, Asima?” Gerry sounded suspicious.
Smart woman.
“I want you to take an interest in cultural events.”
“Such as?”
“I have a DVD of Swan Lake. Watch it with me tomorrow night.”
Conall was never sure what Asima was really feeling because her cat face didn’t show emotions well. But he figured she was expecting rejection. The rest of the castle hadn’t tuned in and turned on to her brand of entertainment.
Gerry nodded. “I’ve always loved ballet.”
“I never thought I’d find anyone in this castle who appreciated the finer things in life. Come up to my room tomorrow night.” Asima didn’t try to hide her excitement.
Gerry looked bemused as she watched Asima pad happily from the room. “Do you know she spent last night outside this door? I tripped over her when I left.”
That bit of news made Conall uneasy. Of course, everything Asima did made him uneasy. She’d shown up at the castle one day and stayed. No reason. She’d just given everyone her “I’m a messenger of Bast” speech. But she was a powerful being, and no one wanted her gone badly enough to try throwing her out.
“We’ll watch TV for a while. Gabriel can get all kinds of channels that no one else can get.” Fo peered at Gerry. “When dawn comes we’ll be very quiet. Kimmie said she’d hook up our computer in here so we can play games and surf the Web for interesting sexual sites.”
“Well, that’s . . . nice.” Gerry glanced helplessly at Conall.
Conall gave her his don’t-ask look.
The TV clicked on. Obviously Gabriel didn’t need out-of-date technology like remotes.
“Conall, would you get our cradles from the pouches?” Fo was already engrossed in the program.
Holy shit. Conall stared. When Computers Go Wild? “What the hell is this about, Gabriel?” He groped for the cradles.
“It’s a video about chips interacting with other chips. Lots of sexy dialogue and erotic graphics.”
Conall set the cradles on the coffee table and then put Fo and Gabriel in them without taking his eyes from the screen.
“Not exactly mainstream, is it?” Gerry stared unblinking at the TV.
Gabriel chuckled. “Artificial intelligence has a world all its own. We didn’t even know it existed beyond us until I fooled around with our computer. There’s a whole alternative artificial intelligence culture out there.”
“It’s sad though.” Fo was in thoughtful mode. “AI fantasies are all about having a human form. We’re not very accepting of how we look.” She blinked. “Of course, I think Gabriel’s form is supremely hot.”
“Yo, no one told me about the party.” Ganymede padded in and leaped onto the coffee table. “Good thing I thought of refreshments. I ordered a few chips, a few dips, a few . . . Anyway, the goodies are on their way.” He glanced at Gerry with those amber eyes that looked so harmless. “I charged it to your account, babe. After all, I’m here to protect you. Gotta keep my strength up while I’m doing all the tough stuff.”
Gerry glared as a hotel employee delivered Ganymede’s snacks. Conall sucked in his breath. This wasn’t going to end well.
“I can’t believe this.” Gerry flung her hands in the air to emphasize how much she didn’t believe it. “I’m a vampire, people. V. A. M. P. I. R. E. Deadly creature of the night. Voracious bloodsucker. I’m fanged, ferocious, and one scary gal. So why do I have a roomful of protectors? I don’t need you. Go home.” She hissed at them.
Fo never took her eyes from the TV. “Oh, look, Gabriel. The pretty PDA is having a fantasy about being human and . . . Can a man and woman really do that together? I don’t think human body parts bend that way. Did you research that position?”
Ganymede tore open a bag of chips with his teeth and then looked at Gerry. “Sure you need protecting. All women need a strong guy to keep them safe. Uh, don’t tell Sparkle I said that. How about opening the dip for me, sweet stuff?”
Conall could see Gerry thinking about what kinds of creative things she could do with that dip. Time to defuse the situation. Without saying anything he nudged her toward the break room door. “Let’s talk.”
Surprised, she let herself be guided. Once inside, he closed the door and switched on a light.
Gerry felt like her head would explode if she couldn’t go back into the dungeon and rip out a few throats. Something else to add to her “unfulfilled wishes” file. “I want everyone gone from my dungeon. I need some downtime to think. I can’t concentrate with weird sex on my TV and Ganymede littering my coffee table with popcorn and chips. So if you’ll move out of the way, I’ll go back in there and kick some ass.”
“Relax for a minute.” He locked both doors to the room before sinking onto a plush green couch and drawing her down beside him.
Relax? How could she relax when she had so much to do? Discover who wanted her dead. Ride herd on Jinx the Slippery. Find another wife killer in the castle with amber eyes and a grim reaper tattoo so she wouldn’t have to go after Edge. And toughest of all? Satisfy her gnawing need to touch and be touched by Conall without Morrigan’s vengeance descending on both of them.
Wow, can we say overwhelming? She leaned her head back against the couch and really looked at the break room for the first time. What the . . . ? “Some break room.” She ran her fingers over the arm of the couch—smooth, sensual.
Conall watched her from eyes dark with need.
She knew her eyes promised she’d do a much more thorough job of touching and smoothing if she got her hands on his body.
“This stuff didn’t come from Danny’s Discount Furniture Barn.” Gerry looked past the designer chairs and tables to the far wall. “The wall looks like one giant screen. What’s with that?”
He picked up a small remote from the table beside him and clicked it. The wall became a beach scene complete with wild surf, sun-warmed sand, and the sound of waves crashing on the shore. Amazing, she could actually smell the salt air and feel the sea breeze drifting across her face. This had to be as close to virtual reality as you could get with today’s technology.
“I’m totally impressed.”
He grinned, and Gerry knew she was in deep doo-doo because his smile actually looked boyish to her. She suspected Conall had never had a boyish moment. He probably popped from his mama’s womb, picked up his sword, and went forth to do battle wearing diapers and a gorgeous scowl.
“Gabriel did the programming. He’s our secret weapon. There’s not much he can’t do with a computer.”
“Hmm. Beautiful, but I don’t see any trees. Specifically, no trunks.” She slid him a sly glance. “Gotta have trunks.”
Excitement flared in his eyes. “Trunks? Sure, I can find you a trunk.” His expression said he’d find her a trunk even if he had to gnaw a tree down with his own teeth and drag it into the break room.
His eagerness made her laugh, but beneath the laughter desire stirred. She knew tree
trunks and memories of Conall would always be intertwined.
Memories? A sad word, because each day of her existence would be filled with all the things he said and did, tucked away to be taken out when she felt lonely. Yes, even with him always with her, she’d be lonely, because Conall O’Rourke would never let himself feel deeply about a Kavanagh.
Did she want him to feel deeply? Maybe, yes.
He clicked the remote and a scene from the Saguaro National Park in Arizona filled the screen. All cactus and brilliant blue skies.
“Ouch. Saguaros are awesome, but kind of prickly for what I had in mind.” She sighed and snuggled closer as he gave in and put his arm across her shoulders.
The click-clicks became more desperate as scene after scene flashed across the wall. “Where the hell are the forests? Who chose these freakin’ scenes?”
Gerry slid her fingers over the top of one muscular thigh—teasing, hoping. “They were all shot during the day. Any night scenes?”
Click, click. “No. The vampires use this room the most. They like pretending they’re out on a sunny day.” Click, click, click!
“So what’re we going to do with the mob in my dungeon? Oh, and don’t forget the Siamese diva outside the door.”
Click, click. “Fo and Gabriel only have to be here when I’m sleeping or if we’re hunting paranormal entities. Ganymede’s a freeloader. He’ll leave when we cut off his food supply. Asima? I don’t think anyone except maybe Ganymede or Morrigan could make her go away. But at least she’s outside the door.” Click! Click! CLICK!
Gerry watched the screen anxiously. If a tree trunk didn’t appear soon, Conall was going to put his foot through the wall.
“Trees.” He sounded like he’d just run a marathon.
But there they were. A forest of glorious trees in fall’s brilliant colors. Like Pavlov’s pooches, she immediately started salivating for Conall’s hot bod. Okay, so she didn’t need the trees to do that.
Taking her hand, he dragged her from the couch and over to the left side of the screen where one large maple tree stood, its leaves rustling in the crisp breeze.
“This trunk good enough for you?”
From the heat in his gaze, she didn’t think he gave a flip whether the trunk was perfect or not. “Wonderful trunk.” She fixed her gaze on those broad shoulders along with the sculpted pecs and abs clearly delineated by his black T-shirt. Down, down her gaze glided to his strong thighs and muscular legs showcased by worn jeans.
Was there any part of this guy that wasn’t a savory sensual treat? She had to get him naked to do a more detailed investigation. There must be at least one tiny spot on him that was just ordinary, maybe a mole or an ugly toe. Something.
As he lowered his head to take her mouth, she tangled her fingers in all that thick dark hair. No need for preliminaries. She parted her lips for him and welcomed his tongue, parried his every move as she let his taste of hot male animal carry her to the next level of sexual excitement.
He’d taken an instant leap up two levels if his erection was any indication. She walked her fingers over the bulge. He groaned as he transferred his magic mouth to the swell of her breasts. Sparkle’s easy-access top worked perfectly.
Gerry’s thoughts became a blur of need, overpowering everything rational, as Conall slipped her top off and then made short work of her bra. He didn’t just free her breasts to his touch, he freed everything sexual dammed up since she became vampire. The flood threatened to sweep her into stormy seas with no lighthouse in sight. Oh well. Drowning in sex wasn’t a bad way to go.
Before her brain locked the door and took off to party with the sluts living on the ground floor, it gave a shout-out to Sparkle.
“Lookout needed. Now.” If Sparkle didn’t hear that, Gerry hoped Morrigan was doing her bitch act far, far away. Because Gerry didn’t think she’d be able to stop this time.
She leaned back against the screen. Nope, wasn’t a tree trunk, but she’d save that fantasy for another time. Gerry didn’t need a fantasy when Conall was sliding his tongue across each nipple and then nipping gently before closing his lips over a hard, super-sensitized nub.
He did the suction thing, and her enhanced senses jump-started every nerve in her aroused body. Tiny nerve messengers put on their running shoes and raced to her brain—her brain was still kicked back drinking a wine cooler with the aforementioned sluts—so they could deliver the news. The little guys were so excited all they could say was “Wow, wow, wow.” Her brain thought that was pretty cool and went back to party some more.
As each nipple became the power center of her personal universe, she wanted to do her amoeba imitation—absorb him into her body so the pleasure would go on and on and on from the inside out.
“Oooh, Gabriel, that looks like lots of fun. Turn up the volume so I can hear the groans. I wonder what it feels like to get all naked and then kiss and touch until every inch of your body is slick and hot—”
Damn. Gerry tried to block out Fo who was shouting to be heard above the TV. Now, if she could just get Conall’s T-shirt off.
He rolled her nipples between his fingers as he sank to his knees and kissed a heated path over her stomach. Whimpering, she grabbed his shirt and pulled.
He obliged by pausing long enough to yank it off and fling it on the floor.
Gerry closed her eyes as she slid her splayed fingers across the wonder that was his muscular back and shoulders. There couldn’t possibly be anything more sensual than warm, bare male flesh.
“Yo, Fo and Gabriel. Hot video you got there. Sort of reminds me of what turns Sparkle on. When we visit this island I bought in the Caribbean, I pretend to be a pirate. My wicked lady gets off on pirates. See, my ship sank, but I manage to crawl ashore. Naked. Hey, whatever makes my sweetie happy is okay with me. She meets me on the beach wearing nothing but her whip. Big freakin’ whip. She spreads those long, long legs and then—”
Ack! Focus on Conall—his fingers, his mouth. Sometime during Ganymede’s little sexual trip down memory lane, Conall had rid her of her shorts and panties. Spreading her legs, she assumed Sparkle’s position. She didn’t have a big whip, though. She’d put it on her shopping list.
“Do you think you could hold that position while I smash a TV and strangle a cosmic troublemaker?” Conall’s voice was a low rumble filled with arousal and frustration.
“No.” She locked her fingers in his hair to keep him there. “Leave me and you’re dead.”
His soft laughter prickled across her super-sensitized skin. “And right here is where I want to stay.”
He demonstrated exactly where he wanted to stay. Reaching around her hips, he clasped her cheeks in his big hands and massaged them as he drew her closer.
Hey, she understood body language, and her body was screaming, “He’s going to put his mouth there.” The realization dragged a moan from her.
Crash! “Sparkle Stardust is here to protect all those who want to have sex without fear of interruption from vindictive old crows.”
“Jeez, babe, you didn’t have to break down the door. It was unlocked.” Ganymede sounded like he had his mouth stuffed with chips.
“I looove your outfit, Sparkle. Gabriel, can I have one just like it?”
Conall’s grip on her behind tightened, and he growled low in his throat. “Where’s my sword? I feel a killing spree coming on.”
“Easy.” She tried to soothe him while her fingers itched to wreak mass destruction on the whole bunch of them. “Where were we?”
“Right here.” He put his mouth high on her inner thigh and swirled his tongue over her skin. Warm, wet, and pretty spectacular as coming attractions went.
Gerry was a weak-kneed wuss. She knew that because the higher Conall’s magic tongue slid up her thigh, the more her knees shook.
“I won’t be standing much longer.” Was that wispy excuse for a voice hers?
“Won’t have to.” Ignoring her startled squeak, he picked her up and deposited her on a near
by chaise longue. “It’s not a tree trunk, but you won’t have to worry about bark burn.”
“Caw! Caw! Someone get this damn cat off my tail feathers before I donate her gut to some needy stringed instrument.” Morrigan?
“You’ll be missing more than a tail if you don’t leave Conall alone.”
“Get lost, Asima. I’m the lookout around here. Hello? See my skintight and very awesome black, kick-butt bodysuit? Notice my black boots with the four-inch heels? Do you have a sexy black mask? I don’t think so. Cast envious eyes on my guns and knives. I’m ready to rip a strip from some goddess booty.”
“I don’t need help from a slut queen to take down this oversized bag of feathers. Go sell some gumdrops, Sparkle. I’m a messenger of Bast. I can do it all.”
“Uh, Sparkle? Love your ass, honeybuns, but it’s blocking the screen.” Ganymede sounded grouchy.
Conall knelt on the floor beside where Gerry sprawled naked on the chaise. He rested his forehead on her tummy and whispered curses she’d never heard before.
Gerry smoothed his hair with trembling fingers. “They will not cheat us out of our orgasms. Get naked, O’Rourke.”
She half expected him to proclaim that he’d found his self-control hiding under the coffee table, and they had to stop before Morrigan fought her way past Asima and Sparkle.
He didn’t. Instead he stood and shucked his shoes, jeans, and briefs.
If she’d really had to breathe to live, Gerry would’ve been doing the openmouthed guppy gulp. He hadn’t lost any of his wow from the first time she’d seen him naked. Conall was all smooth, supple flesh and gleaming muscle.
His erection jutted thick, long, and hard. She wanted to wrap her fingers around it and let his heat melt any misgivings about what was happening in the other room.
She moved over as he knelt beside her. Reaching out, Gerry ran the tip of her finger around the head of his cock. He sucked in his breath.
“Where were we?” His smile was a flash of white teeth.
“We were—”
“Hiss! Meeeow!” Crash!
