TheSmallPrint

by Barbara Elsborg

  Matty had regained control of her money and re-found her friends. The inhabitants of Milford had been delighted to learn reports of her death were premature. The vicar had praised Matty’s magnanimity in sharing her home with the man who’d unknowingly but illegally bought it. And his friend. Turner suppressed a snigger. An investigation of her accident revealed little in the way of facts, but enough supposition for Turner to conclude her uncle had pushed her in front of an arriving train. That he’d witnessed her “accident” was too much of a coincidence to swallow. Matty couldn’t remember a thing, and according to witnesses the station had been crowded but Turner was biding his time. The hospital wanted her back for tests after her miraculous recovery, but Matty had refused.

  She’d come to accept her life as a vampire. Finding out she could still eat had been a significant factor. George happily cooked for three, thrilled he no longer had to eat alone. Matty had Catch’s metabolism and only needed Plasmix when she was over-tired or stressed. Or when they’d exhausted her with sex.

  “It’s no fun playing with you,” Matty said. “Turner? I want to whoop your ass. Have you finished working?”

  “Nearly.”

  Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken on Catch’s tolerance to light, and like Turner could barely keep her eyes open once the sun rose. But he hoped that would change. His fingers strayed to the last book and he laid his palm over it. Matty had no idea how important she was and Turner wasn’t sure how to tell her.

  “Turner.” He loved the way she said his name.

  Those names on the brown paper wrapped around the book traced her ancestry back to the vampires who landed on Earth. Turner had been made immortal and was therefore only as pure as his sire, while Matty had direct links to the original vampires going back for millennia. They still had no idea who Stefan was, but Turner suspected he might be her uncle or even a long-lost brother.

  “Turner?”

  This final book, called Deliverance, described the plant they managed to cultivate on Earth using the large stone mineral transported with them. The book also detailed the consequences of consuming too much. The plant made vampires light-tolerant but changed their nature, rotted their fangs and removed their need for blood. They lost their immortality but retained a powerful resistance to disease and to aging. In other words, they became a little more and a little less than human.

  “Turner!”

  Matty’s grandfather hadn’t started life as a Hobsbawn. His surname had been Nerian. The word meant guardian or protector in Old English. Her family had become sentinels of their race, the original doggens or vampire servants and yet far more than that. Not only had they looked after those who hadn’t eaten the plant but they’d protected the books and the mineral. Perhaps they’d been forced to sacrifice three books to keep the last safe until the time was right for the truth to be revealed? Turner wasn’t sure that time was now. Though was it his decision to make? Should he take this to the Council? Golding had called to tell them Feynman was dead. Turner hoped no others waited to step into his shoes.

  Perhaps Matty wasn’t the last of her kind and there were others apart from this Stefan. There was a strong hint in the book that more than one spaceship had landed. What happened to the rest? Did it explain vampires in North America? Australia? Asia?

  Turner oomphed as Matty landed on his lap, stark naked, smelling of roses. George was out, the local pub proving a big attraction, but then his valet was skilled at disappearing at the right time.

  “You play with me,” Matty whispered. “Catch won’t let me win.”

  “Want to try a different game?” Turner kissed along her shoulder.

  She looked straight at him. “Yes.”

  He knew her so well. She chewed her lip when she concentrated, blinked hard when she was lying, looked down when she was hungry and looked straight at them when she wanted sex.

  “Tennis,” she said, and kept looking into his eyes.

  “Naked tennis?” Catch stood a few feet behind her. He’d taken off his clothes.

  “Yep,” Matty said.

  “You can be the ball.” Turner stood and threw her to Catch.

  She squealed and Catch kissed her. By the time he threw her back, Turner had stripped. A few more tosses and she wailed, “No more.”

  Turner set her down on her knees on the couch, facing one end, and pulled her legs apart. While he knelt behind her and kissed down her spine, Catch stood facing Matty and stroked her face with his fingers. When Catch’s eyes closed, Turner leaned over Matty and gripped the hard length of Catch’s cock, bending it to their lips. They licked him together while Catch moaned, worked up and down with their tongues, balls to tip until Turner slanted his mouth over the sensitive head and sucked.

  Sweet and sour, the salty musk that was so clearly Catch filled his senses and Turner’s mind fogged. Pulling back to watch Matty’s smaller mouth copy what he’d done made Turner’s cock weep pre-cum onto her back.

  Catch’s hands settled in their hair and he groaned and sighed as they took turns.

  “Fuck him,” Matty mouthed, and Turner slipped away from her to press up against Catch’s back.

  The slurping sounds Matty made as she licked and sucked at the ruddy length of Catch’s cock drove Turner’s balls into a frenzy of need. He pulled Catch’s head round for a kiss and Catch’s eyes flickered half open.

  “Oh God,” Catch groaned. “Have I told you how much I love this?”

  “Repeatedly,” Turner whispered, and brushed his tongue over Catch’s bottom lip, asking for entrance. Catch’s lips parted, Turner slid his tongue into his mouth and then drew Catch’s tongue back into his and sucked on it. Catch had one hand on Turner’s butt, the other in Matty’s hair as he rocked between them. Turner ground his erection against Catch’s backside as Catch’s hips flexed back hard into Turner’s groin then gently forward to Matty’s mouth.

  A hand tugged at his hair and Turner lifted his head.

  “I’m caught between a rock and a soft place,” Catch said with choked laugh. “Lube while you can.”

  Only a couple of steps but back in time to see Matty drawing Catch’s cock deep into her mouth, her hand gripping the root before she pulled back to suck fast at the blunt crown. Turner could almost feel the pressure of her lips on his own cock. He wiped a finger over his glistening tip and brought it to Catch’s mouth. When Catch sucked, Turner shuddered with pleasure.

  “Oh God,” Catch moaned.

  As Catch’s fingers sank into the arm of the couch, a low growl burst from his lips. Catch’s excitement fueled Turner’s. Lubed in a moment, he knocked Catch’s knees farther apart and bent him over the arm of the couch. Matty turned so she lay on her back, her legs stretched to the other end of the couch. Catch stuffed cushions under her butt, grabbed her thighs and planted his face between her legs.

  The moment Turner breached the muscle barrier of Catch’s anus, his cock was suctioned in. Tight heat embraced him as he kept pushing hard until his groin pressed against the firm, muscular cheeks of Catch’s backside. A moment for both to adjust and then it was Catch who began to move, pushing his cock deeper into Matty’s mouth and fist, before arching back into Turner’s hard shaft. Catch moaned into Matty’s pussy and she hummed around Catch’s cock.

  Long, deep slides into Catch’s tight channel sent shock waves of delight rippling around Turner’s body. He withdrew until just the tip of his cock remained inside only for the pleasure of thrusting back hard. Turner surmised from the noises Catch made that Turner was nailing his prostate. Good. See how long he could hold out.

  Matty found it hard to concentrate on doing more than one thing at once. She couldn’t even pat her head and rub her tummy at the same time. As the smooth flesh of Catch’s cock glided into her mouth, she sucked up tangy pre-cum, tightened her mouth and curled her tongue around him. Matty pressed one hand down on his balls while the fingers of the other clutched his hair. Or was she clutching his balls and pressing on his head? And all the time his m
outh was busy, lips teasing her clit, teeth lightly nipping, tongue spearing her pussy, slurping her, eating her, working her expertly while he pinned her down by her thighs. Matty could barely keep his cock between her lips.

  Her clit tightened as orgasm built in her core, the slight hum turning to pleasant buzz, flashing to soaring flight. As spasms seized her pussy, Matty opened her throat and let Catch take control. She swallowed against his cock, her body’s release of pent-up power feeding his. Shoved forward by Turner, Catch’s movements became more forceful and as he fucked her mouth, she massaged the plump sac of his balls.

  Catch’s cock jerked, pulsed against her tongue and the first splash of his cum coated the back of her throat. Matty swallowed and swallowed as Catch trembled on top of her while his tongue still worked magic on her folds. How come he could manage two things at the same time? Matty let his softening cock out of her mouth as she felt her body on the rise again.

  Oh literally. Turner had lifted her to sit on his face while he lay on his back on the couch while Catch knelt on the floor and wrapped his lips around her nipple. Too difficult to think. Too complicated to do anything but come and come and come.

  She pretended to be exhausted when Turner carried her to bed, but although she was tired, Matty couldn’t get enough of the pair of them, separately or together. When they slipped into the bathroom, Matty curled up with her eyes closed.

  Her life had changed in ways she could never have imagined, and if Turner was right, that her uncle had pushed her in front of that train, Matty was almost grateful. Almost. She was gearing herself up for a conversation with him, pretending her memory had returned and she recalled his shove, just to see the expression on his face. Little chance she’d die before what remained of her family snuffed it, but Matty had made a will and left everything to Catch and Turner and George. Bernard Strachan would never get another penny.

  Matty had a soft spot for George. He didn’t look old enough to be her father but that was the role he’d assumed. He looked after her and made sure she ate properly. He kept telling her how much easier Turner was since she’d come into their lives. He no longer had to iron his newspaper.

  Turner was excited by what he’d discovered in the last book but trying not to show it. He looked at her sometimes as though he couldn’t quite believe his eyes. Matty couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he hadn’t bought Milford Hall, if George hadn’t seen her, if they hadn’t added those details to the small print. Turner said the third book led him here but if it hadn’t, would she still be “invisible Matty”, waiting for someone to discover the truth?

  After the incident with the train, Matty had left part of herself in the hospital and come home because, although she didn’t know it, she had a responsibility to the books. Maybe that responsibility was not to reveal the final truth, even if it meant giving up a chance of life in the sun for her and Turner. Whatever the decision, it was one they’d make together.

  Catch groaned when they came out of the bathroom and he saw her eyes closed. “Is she sleeping?” He didn’t try to conceal the disappointment in his voice as he dropped to lie facing her. Nor did he try not to bounce hard as he landed.

  “Pretending.” Turner slipped behind Matty and tickled under her arm.

  Matty squirmed straight into Catch’s embrace, collided with his erect cock and he chuckled.

  “We’ll be quick. You’ll hardly notice.” Catch landed a flurry of kisses over her face.

  Matty laughed. “You make that sound so enticing.”

  “Want us to be slow? That’s fine,” Turner said.

  Turner pulled her leg back onto his hip and Catch licked his way over her breasts—Don’t linger or she’ll fall asleep—and down to explore the folds and hollows between her legs. As he kissed and nuzzled and tongued her, Matty moaned and sank her fingers into his hair. A gush of her honey coated his mouth and the taste sent Catch’s libido racing. Slow might not be an option.

  Catch licked from the tip of Turner’s cock back to Matty’s slick valleys and then shared the moment Turner slid inside her anus. His tongue buried in her pussy, Catch could feel the hardness of Turner though the thin wall. He kissed his way back up Matty’s body and stared into the eyes of the two he loved more than his life.

  Turner licked the slender column of Matty’s neck, his dark eyes fixed on Catch. They’d not bitten Matty since the night they’d turned her. Her inability to take blood from them acted as a restraint though Catch knew how much Turner wanted to, needed to. Not that Catch wasn’t tempted but he was scared.

  “Catch, Catch,” she moaned.

  It had been different when they’d needed to turn her but what if they hurt her? Matty rocked her hips and pushed against Catch’s cock, trying to impale herself.

  “Hold it, Vlad,” Catch gasped.

  “I need you now,” Matty said with a wail.

  Catch slid into her wet heat and his balls tingled. Maybe there would never be a time that he didn’t feel desperate for her. His eyes closed for a moment as ripples of bliss trickled down his spine. Then he looked at her and began to move.

  He and Turner worked together, Matty rocking between them. Turner withdrew and Catch surged in, tempo matched in a perfect rhythm. Each slide sent current sizzling through his veins, each withdrawal brought a longing to be back inside her. Catch saw the desperation on Turner’s face, his fangs out and that raw primal need triggered Catch’s own.

  “Matty,” Catch whispered.

  “Yes. Bite me,” she said.

  Catch jerked as Turner slammed into her and his hips thrust back in order to dive deeper into Matty. Their movements segued into a parallel thrust that increased in speed. As Matty screamed her release, their heads dropped to either side of her neck and Catch bit down.

  He’d never had an orgasm like it, his whole body caught up in the explosive power. Her hot, sweet blood flooded his mouth as his cock spurted inside her. The spasms didn’t stop but grew stronger as Matty clamped around him. My head’s going to explode. His head full of bright light, for a moment Catch thought he’d died. Then the slide into post-coital bliss allowed him to relax his hold on her body and he licked the wounds in her neck closed. Turner did the same.

  “Oh my God,” Matty muttered. “Don’t do that again. Well, not tonight anyway.”

  Catch didn’t have the energy to laugh. They sprawled on their backs, hands clutching Matty’s until she got up to go to the bathroom. Catch shifted to look at Turner.

  “Thank you,” Turner whispered.

  “What for?”

  “I couldn’t do that until you did. I didn’t want to do it until you did.”

  Catch smiled until a shriek from Matty had them running for the bathroom.

  “What’s wrong?” Turner asked.

  She put her hand between her legs and showed them the blood. Catch was horrified. They’d hurt her?

  “Oh God. I am so sorry,” he blurted.

  “No, no,” Matty said. “It’s not that sort of blood.”

  Catch looked at her blankly.

  “Oh Christ,” Turner whispered, and pulled her into his arms.

  “What am I missing?” Catch asked.

  Matty reached to pull him close. “I’ve started my period. I haven’t had one since before the accident.”

  “Um, that’s good then.” Catch still didn’t understand why she’d yelled like that.

  “I can get pregnant,” Matty said, a nervous smile on her face.

  Now he did, but his gaze drifted to Turner. Catch could sire a child but he didn’t think Turner could. When he saw Turner’s smile, Catch managed one too.

  “You’re not surprised?” she asked Turner.

  “Not really. The requirement for you to have children to carry on looking after Milford must be very strong.”

  “Huh?” Catch gave him a puzzled look.

  “There’s a lot to explain and I don’t know how much of it is fact,” Turner said. “But somehow I think all this was mea
nt to be. Me, you and Catch living here in this house. Guardians of the truth.”

  “Home,” Matty said.

  Turner smiled. “Home and you’re ours forever. It was in the small print.”

  About the Author

  Barbara Elsborg lives in West Yorkshire in the north of England. She always wanted to be a spy, but having confessed to everyone without them even resorting to torture, she decided it was not for her. Vulcanology scorched her feet. A morbid fear of sharks put paid to marine biology. So instead, she spent several years successfully selling cyanide.

  After dragging up two rotten, ungrateful children and frustrating her sexy, devoted, wonderful husband (who can now stop twisting her arm), she finally has time to conduct an affair with an electrifying, plugged-in male—her laptop.

  Her books feature quirky heroines and bad boys, and she hopes they are as much fun to read as they are to write.

  Barbara welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

  Tell Us What You Think

  We appreciate hearing reader opinions about our books. You can email us at Comments@EllorasCave.com.

  Also by Barbara Elsborg

  Anna in the Middle

  Doing the Right Thing

  Finding the Right One

  Lucy in the Sky

  Perfect Timing

  Power of Love

  Saying Yes

  Something About Polly

  Snow Play

  Strangers