NYC VAMPS (The Italians): Vampire Romance (Book Book 2)

by Sky Winters

  He continued to move at the same pace, holding her close. He came inside of her and then surprised her by staying there for a moment. Carefully, he slipped out of her and then cuddled her for a bit as their heartbeats slowed back down to normal.

  She smiled at him as he held her. “You spoil me,” she said.

  Luke chuckled. “I didn’t know you would be so turned on by casserole.”

  “I’m turned on by you.”

  They kissed and then went together to the bathroom to clean each other up. They took a hot shower together and Jolene rubbed her light blue shower pouf all over him. She could never get enough of looking at his naked body. He had an interesting, crescent moon shaped birthmark on his neck. She hadn’t noticed that before, though she had been so preoccupied with his chest when they were last together that she was sure there were plenty of things she’d missed.

  The way he was staring at her, she was confident that the feeling was mutual. He gazed at her, letting his eyes explore her now that his cock had had its turn. Jolene was curvy. Some might even say voluptuous. But she did not feel like she was model material like he was.

  After their shower, they dried off and went out to the living room together. She did not care about their dampness as they sat on her canvas couch. “Are you off for a bit?” she asked him, resting her chin against her fist as she looked at him. “Please say you’ll stay a while?”

  There was something that seemed a bit uneasy in Luke’s expression now. “I will stay as long as you want…” he said, trailing off. He looked over at the counter and, realizing that the casserole was still there, he stood up and went to put it in the refrigerator.

  “Aww,” Jolene said. “We could eat it together, if you want.”

  “I made it for you,” he said, seemingly shy. “I don’t want to eat your welcome present.”

  She smiled at him, flattered by the fact that he had made her a casserole, especially after everything else they had already done. “That was very thoughtful of you. Most people do that sort of thing as an ice breaker. You know, when they’re going to introduce themselves to a newcomer to the neighborhood or whatever. This is actually the first time anyone has been this welcoming to me. Is it a Vermont thing, or just a you thing?”

  She gently pressed a finger into his pecs, noticing that they did not feel quite so rock hard this time. She wondered if he had been flexing before… Luke did strike her as a bit of a show off, though not in a bad way.

  Luke laughed softly, looking down at the casserole on the counter in a sort of shy way. “I guess maybe it’s just a me thing.”

  With that, she hugged him, nuzzling into his chest. She listened to his heartbeat and wondered to herself how she was ever going to live there without him in her house with her. Jolene was resilient enough to live on her own, but that didn’t mean that she particularly wanted to… She preferred the company of others.

  Especially this particular other.

  “I would be living alone in the dark if it wasn’t for you,” Jolene told him in a hushed sort of tone, almost as though uttering it softly would make it a less embarrassing admission. “I don’t know where I’d be without you, Luke.”

  Suddenly, his face went white. He gently pushed her away. “I should go,” he said. “I, uh… I just remembered that I have to do something.”

  With that strange announcement, he rushed into his room and put on his clothing. She followed him, baffled and watching his crescent moon, and how his face was making it show up a milky white against his skin.

  “When can I see you again?” she asked him, yearning in her voice.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Probably soon… It’s a small town.”

  Now fully re-dressed, he left the bedroom and went out the front door before Jolene even had time to stop him from going. She couldn’t help feeling like she had said something amiss, but she could not think of what it was.

  She carefully put his casserole into the refrigerator, not willing to eat it because it was special to her. She was sure she would feel like it later on, when she started to run out of food or long for his presence again.

  If nothing else, at least she could say that she had made one worthwhile friend in Vermont. She just hoped that she wouldn’t do anything to fuck it up.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Room Where It Happened

  Jolene ended up getting a lot of work done in the long week that followed, but she was not happy about it. She missed having Luke around. She hadn’t heard anything from him ever since his sudden departure, which made her firmly believe that she had said or done something to upset him. She didn’t have his phone number; only the number for his electrician company and she was not about to call him there in an attempt to track him down. That would be decidedly uncool.

  So, instead of making any attempt to get in touch with him, she threw herself into her work. She was pleasing her clients at least. The change of atmosphere and the complete freedom to write copy while in her underwear made the move completely worth it. Add to that a certain sexy electric man and Jolene was pretty much set.

  There were several messages on her phone from her ex, but the last thing she wanted to do was open that can of worms—especially when she was vulnerable from feeling lonely.

  One of the hardest things for her was something that she had for so long envisioned would be the easiest, most freeing thing. She was having a hard time going to sleep in her room. It was the room where it happened. The room where she had had a crazy, fast love affair with Luke. She hadn’t even claimed it as her own before they had claimed it together, and the bed felt so besmirched without him.

  Luckily, just as Jolene was starting to really feel down in the dumps, she got a call on her cell phone from someone who so thankfully was not Kenny.

  His name was like a magical incantation.

  “Hello?” she asked brightly, feeling silly for answering in such a bland, unexciting way.

  “Hey,” Luke replied. God, his voice was sexy over the phone. The time away from him had evidentially turned her into even more of a middle school girl.

  He chuckled into the phone. Oh god, he could hear it too. She was really going to need to work on upping her coolness factor. She had always thought she was the smoothest woman ever, but apparently not. Not at all.

  It was telling that Vermont was making this Bostonian feel lame.

  “What’s up?” she asked, doing her best to remain calm and casual. Luke had a life outside of her and she had a life outside of him. Sure, most of her life outside of him consisted of staring at screens for hours on end, but it was a life anyway. She did not particularly enjoy long walks in the wilderness in the hot summer… especially not alone.

  “Not much, you?” Luke replied. The short responses were kind of making her mental. Not that she was expecting a loving sonnet from him or anything, but she had hoped that he would sound a bit more… excited to hear her voice? Because she sure as shit was excited to hear his.

  She decided to amp it up a little to make it more obvious. “I was beginning to wonder if you had lost interest in me.”

  There was that deep chuckle of his again. “No, no,” he said. “I’ve just been busy with work. You know how summer can be, with the heat knocking out power and stuff. At least there weren’t any storms.”

  Aww, she did not want to talk about the weather with Luke. “Oh, I guess I can’t blame you for that, then. I’ve been busy too, though my job’s nowhere near as exciting as yours…”

  Talking about work was not any better.

  “Heh,” he said. “So listen. I was thinking that, since it’s my day off again, you might want to come out with me to Vermonster again.”

  Jolene chuckled a bit. “Do you live there?”

  He laughed back. “Pretty much… So what do you say? Are you in?”

  She would honestly go anywhere with him. The bar had been pretty cool, though Jolene could not remember every detail of their first time there… Their first night to
gether. “Sounds good,” she said. “I’m going to end up addicted to those—what were they called?—Vermillion something or others.”

  “I could tell you liked them,” Luke teased. “Every time I blinked, I had to get you a new one.”

  “That is not true!” she laughed. “You did not have to keep getting them for me.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  She could almost imagine his face, the way he was smiling. She knew that he was smiling. It was so evident in his wonderful, growly voice. Luke sounded like he had smoked for years but then quit fairly recently. Jolene did not feel like she needed to worry about his health; the effects of past mistakes lingered but were benign.

  “I’ll pick you up in about an hour?” he offered then. “I hope you’re stocked up on Pop-Tarts.”

  Jolene was all set to answer with a clever retort, but he ended the call before she could say anything. She stared at her phone, attempting to memorize his number by keeping her eyes on it, and then she swiftly saved it in his contacts.

  Luke.

  She put him in her phone as Luke. No last name needed. No explanation.

  Her bedroom was a wreck. She had been in such a funk that she hadn’t done laundry yet, and therefore she had to wear a long-sleeved black and white striped sweater and some dark jeans. The jeans were very tight on her, a fact that did not help Jolene feel better about this new date. She was nervous and excited, and when she got nervous and excited she sometimes felt like just staying in bed was a better option…

  The sweater looked nice on her, at least. She rolled up the sleeves so she would not die of heat stroke. At least Vermont was not volcanically hot.

  It didn’t take Luke long to come to her cottage. Jolene heard the familiar purr of his motorcycle in her driveway and rushed to open the front door before he was even off of his bike. He even still had his black helmet on.

  She swiftly locked her front door, threw her bag over her shoulder and went out to him. She threw her arms around his shoulders in greeting. Luke grinned a devilishly handsome grin at her, obviously glad to see that she was so pleased to see him. He was always willing to have his ego stroked.

  “Hey, you,” he said. “Hop on and let’s go somewhere.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to stay a minute?” she asked him, placing her hand into his pocket and feeling around for the edge of his cock, which she rubbed up against as soon as she could find it.

  “Whoa!” he said with a laugh. “Well, I can’t exactly turn that down.”

  Luke got off his bike and secured his helmet in the storage space before following Jolene back up to the house. She unlocked the door, which made him laugh. “Why did you even lock the door if you wanted to come back in?”

  She smiled at him. “I wasn’t sure you’d say yes.”

  Once the door was open, they rushed inside, holding hands. They threw off each other’s clothes on the way to her bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake. By the time they reached her bed, they were naked. He took charge however and moved her to the closet instead. He closed the door of it and held her up against it, taking her from behind.

  Jolene let out a yelp when he entered her, stretching her and not even pausing before thrusting fast and hard against her. She loved it so fucking much. “H’ahhh,” she shouted, clutching the doorframe as best as she could. She brought a hand to the doorknob and turned it to and fro. She rocked and gyrated against him, feeling like she would lose her footing.

  Luke grabbed her by the waist and carried her that way to the bed. He threw her down against the mattress, and then proceeded to take her that way, holding her down by her wrists as he plowed into her. “Yeah, take that,” he growled at her. “Take that, you little slut.”

  Jolene groaned and squirmed against him. “Mmm, yeah. Yeah, I like that. Ohh, Luuuke.”

  It was not long before, in their frantic, lustful fucking, they came together, unleashing their fluids into and onto each other.

  There was nothing for it; Jolene was going to need to do laundry that night.

  Mutually pleased and grinning, they went into the bathroom and cleaned each other up with some toilet paper. She could see that his big cock was still throbbing and it made her pleased as punch.

  A quickie was a good way to start the evening. They put their clothes back on and went out again to actually climb aboard the motorcycle and go somewhere. Luke seemed supremely amused as he watched her lock the door again.

  He climbed onto the bike and snapped on his helmet while he waited for her. She noticed that the smile had not left his face since he had arrived. Jolene took a great deal of pride in making him so happy. She didn’t know how the hell she did it, but she would take it as the best compliment.

  She put on her helmet and got onto the motorcycle behind Luke, carefully wrapping her arms around his middle so she wouldn’t fall off. She was a lot more confident about riding that thing ever since they had ridden it while drunk during a storm. She could not believe herself sometimes. That was totally not a thing to proud of, and yet she was.

  Neither of them had gotten hurt, so…

  Luke drove the bike back to Vermonster. She was starting to think that he owned shares in it or something. Maybe his electrician business was just so he could help fund the club.

  “Okay,” Jolene said with a sly smirk as she got off the bike. “Cut me off after five Vermillion Vipers, okay?”

  He laughed. “Five? That’s ambitious.”

  “I don’t come here to not get at least a little tipsy,” she said. “Do you think I’m a lightweight?”

  “No never,” Luke replied, chuckling and shaking his head a little as he followed her into the club. They went up to the bar together to order their drinks this time. She hadn’t realized before that everyone in the place was dressed like they were part of a motorcycle club as well. Were they members of the Lone Wolves?

  “Is it just me or does your motorcycle club have like a million members?” she asked him as she examined everyone else in the bar.

  Maybe it was just her, but leather attire and metal-spiked collars and wristbands indicated ‘motorcycle rider’ to her.

  Luke laughed again. “There’s not a million of us, but yeah. There are a lot of members. Why? Do you wanna join?”

  The idea of Jolene being in a motorcycle club was laughable. “Uh, well, I don’t have a bike. But I’m in marketing? I could be your club’s marketing advisor?”

  They laughed together and took their drinks from the gruff bartender. Luke led them over to a high table with stools. They sat down. Jolene’s stool was slightly wobbly which was like an omen. She was in for another fun night.

  After their several glasses of highly-alcoholic drinks, Luke took Jolene by the hand and brought her out to the dancefloor. She felt like she was experiencing déjà-vu but that was not necessarily a bad thing. It was a memory of a good time. When they hit the floor, she brought her arms up around Luke’s neck and swayed with him.

  Suddenly, she saw someone across the room who looked just like Luke.

  “Now I know I’ve had too much to drink,” she said jokingly. She nodded her head towards the tall, dark, and handsome man across the way.

  Luke looked over and smiled at little. She could not help but notice that it was not exactly a happy smile… “Oh, yeah. I suppose I should introduce you.” He took Jolene by the hand and led her over to the stranger. “Jolene McNulty, this is my twin brother Zebe. Zebe, this is Jolene.”

  A flash of recognition came over Zebe’s eyes. Jolene had a funny feeling that she had seen him before. Well, obviously. She was dating his twin brother. Although…

  She giggled a little, imagining a Prince and the Pauper type situation was going on. She had read too many books and drunk too many Vipers. That was all.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said to Zebe, giving him a smile.

  He tilted his head a bit after and she got a sense that he wanted to say something but was holding back. “It’s good t
o see you.”

  “You should come sit at our table,” Jolene invited.

  Luke appeared less than enthused, but he didn’t say anything. The three of them sat back down at the tall table. Zebe pulled a stool over so he could join them. He sat beside his brother, looking across the table at Jolene with a strange, contemplative sort of expression on his face. She could not figure him out. Maybe if she weren’t so buzzed, she would have been able to understand why he was looking at her so strangely.

  Suddenly, Zebe scratched at his neck and she noticed a crescent moon shaped birthmark on it. It was near the back of his ear and it looked a bit like a brand. She realized that she had seen that exact mark on Luke the other day!

  Weird. Did twins usually have the same birthmark? Jolene didn’t know much about twins except that they could be identical or fraternal. These two were clearly identical.

  She narrowed her eyes a bit, trying to find the birthmark on Luke’s neck. Leaning forward, she kissed him on the mouth, moving towards his neck to kiss him there too. She was subtle, making sure Luke wouldn’t know she was searching for the birthmark on him.

  It wasn’t there. He didn’t have it. She sat back in her chair.

  That could only mean one thing…

  She fixed a stare on Zebe, and his eyes flashed. The corners of his mouth lifted up into a shy smile.

  The man who had brought the casserole… The man she had pounced on and had passionate sex with…

  That man had not been Luke. That man had been his twin brother, Zebe!

  Jolene felt sick to her stomach. She excused herself from the table, not knowing what to do, and went to the bathroom to throw up. The alcohol was finally getting to her. Well, that along with the realization that she had had sex with a complete stranger while dating his brother… without knowing! God, she felt horrible. So that was why he’d run away when she called him Luke! Zebe probably thought she was insane. She had been so brazen, so openly affectionate, and the guy had not known what was going on.