Fergus snorted. “I usually drink whiskey or brandy. Whatever wine you pick is fine with me.”
Shannon bit her lip over the selection, requested four bottles of Merlot and one of Pinot Noir, and hit send. If nothing else, the wine should relax her enough to sleep without dreams.
* * * * *
Maybe she should do this more often. Maybe after this was over, after they’d captured whoever had killed Meredith, she could invite Fergus and Tanny over for a special celebratory dinner and they’d become friends.
A backless, wide-legged, green velvet pantsuit swished with every step Shannon took. Cool air caressed her spine. The one-carat diamond pinned to the high-necked collar matched the diamond studs at her earlobes.
Tanny stood at the bottom of the staircase. A sleeveless scarlet velvet sheath clung to her curves like a second skin. The thigh-high slit gave the perfect exposure to the smooth length of her leg. Diamond dangles at her earlobes cast miniature rainbows against her brown skin. She flashed a shy smile at Shannon. Gloss on the lush contours of her lips gave them a just-been-kissed wet look. “Thanks for loaning me these earrings. They’re beautiful.”
Fergus descended the staircase clad in black slacks and shirt with silver studs in his earlobes and at the cuffs of his shirt. No tie. He’d left two buttons open at the top, giving a teasing glimpse of dark curls furring his chest.
Tanny grinned and strolled to him with an easy sway of her hips. They linked arms.
Shannon turned and led the way into the dining room. The sudden intake of breath she heard when Fergus saw the backless state of her pantsuit was very gratifying.
The double pocket doors for the dining room slid apart at her approach. Spirals of votive candles glowed in the chandelier hanging above the massive table. A single candelabra flickered in front of three place settings. The brilliant white synthsilk tablecloth dripped lace down to the burnished hardwood floor. Embroidered vines and flowers decorated the tapestry cushions on the Georgian reproduction chairs. An oversized fireplace took up the entire back wall. The flames cast dancing shadows on the ceiling.
Shannon took her seat at the head of the table. Fergus and Tanny took the other two chairs positioned on either side in an intimate seating plan. Robo-maids swooped around the table, pouring wine and depositing steaming platters of food, bowls of tossed salad, and crispy slices of garlic bread.
Fergus took his first bite of the entrée. His eyes went black with pleasure. He uttered a soft gasp under his breath. Would his eyes darken like that during the first fragile moment when his cock slid inside his lover? How loud would his cries get when he climaxed?
Shannon lifted her cut-crystal wine glass. Red and violet fragments of refracted light drifted across her hand. “To a joyous holiday season.”
Fergus and Tanny lifted their glasses and drank the toast with her.
The robo-butler stopped in front of the fireplace, spun around, and announced. “Incoming call. Priority-level personal from Angus and Kathleen MacNal.”
Shannon suppressed a groan. Her mom and dad must have ESP. Why else would they call in the middle of her private dinner for three? Should she excuse herself and take the call in the library?
Too late.
The robo-butler’s program had all calls from her parents listed on the auto-accept list. It extruded a holovidphone projector arm and pointed to the empty space between the table and the fireplace. Two 3D images appeared in mid-air, floating six inches above the floor. They’d paid for the normal-sized projections rather than the inexpensive eighth-sized ones.
Her father, Angus, had his black hair tied back in a neat ponytail. Grey at his temples added an elegant air to his rugged face. He wore a pair of casual jeans and a soft, white cotton shirt.
Her mother, Kate, wore her usual rumpled lab coat over faded jeans. A black headband held thick auburn curls away from her face. Freckles dusted her nose and cheeks.
Both of her parents worked hard on their orbital Ark. They’d retired from the business and spent their time recreating extinct and endangered animal and plant species from frozen DNA samples. Just setting up the natural habitats for each species required extensive gene-splicing and ongoing monitoring.
Her mom and dad exchanged startled glances at the sight of Shannon eating a formal dinner with two strangers. Then they smiled, linked hands, and walked around the table, taking their time scrutinizing Fergus and Tanny with obvious approval.
Kate tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and said, “Please introduce us to your new friends, Shann.”
Shannon managed to return her wine glass to the table without spilling a drop. The avid delight on her parents’ faces meant only one thing. They envisioned their only child and heir becoming part of a happily married triple and producing a horde of grandchildren. “Mom, Dad, my friends are Detectives Fergus DeSoto and Tannamae Jones.”
Shannon almost jumped out of her chair when Fergus and Tanny reached out from either side of the table and covered her hands with theirs. Did that mean they were going to let her parents assume they were her lovers, rather than cause them to worry with the real reason for their presence in her home?
Fergus said, “We’re very happy to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. MacNal.”
Her parents’ smiles widened into ecstatic grins. Her father nodded his head but he kept his voice clipped and businesslike. “My apologies for interrupting your dinner like this. We hadn’t expected Shann to have company.” He turned to Shannon. “We’ll be coming down to see you on New Year’s Day. Can your friends be there for our visit?”
Fergus and Tanny both gave Shannon’s hands an extra squeeze. Did that mean yes or no? She gulped and said, “I’m not sure if they’ll be able to make it on such short notice. I hope so.”
Her mom blew a kiss at her. “Goodbye, sweetheart. We’ll see you on New Year’s Day.”
Their images shimmered and disappeared.
* * * * *
Shannon gathered her neatly folded pajamas from the foot of the bed and jerked her chin at the bathroom door. “I’ll take the first shower, if you don’t mind.”
Fergus swiped his hand through his hair and exchanged a smoldering look with Tanny. “That’s fine. No problemo. We don’t mind, do we?”
“That’s all right,” Tanny said in a husky murmur. “We can wait.”
Fergus held up his hand. “Let me check out the room first.” Then he strolled inside the bathroom, peered inside the linen closet, and pulled the shower curtain aside to make sure no one was hiding there waiting to attack her. He exited the room and gestured at her to enter.
Shannon ground her teeth and carefully placed her necklace and earrings in the jewelry box. She hustled past him but left the door open so he could continue to monitor her safety. With an abrupt flick of her wrist, she tossed the pajamas on the toilet seat, then glanced over her shoulder. Tanny and Fergus had already turned their backs to give her a modicum of privacy.
She peeled off her pantsuit and underwear and dumped them in the laundry chute. Two thick towels hung on the wall beside the tub. Hot water, plenty of hot water, was what she needed to ease the sexual tension coiled in her body. She turned the dial to a hot and pulsating mist and pulled the curtain shut. Steam billowed past her ankles to her waist and then over her head and past the top of the curtain.
No lingering this time. Just soap her body and get the hell out before she went crazy from thinking about having both Fergus and Tanny shower with her.
She stood under the water and let it sluice over her and remove the soapsuds. Shampoo next. This time, she took a little longer letting the water rinse her hair clean. She reached for the conditioner. There wasn’t any. Fergus must have emptied it last night and discarded the empty bottle in the trash for her. No big deal. She had another bottle by the sink.
Shannon twitched the curtain to the side, leaned out, grabbed the new bottle, and stopped.
Tanny stood in the doorway with her eyes closed. Fergus knelt in front of her. The top
of Tanny’s dress had been pulled down and the hem yanked up so that the fabric was now tucked in a thick roll at her waist. Her large nipples were dark chocolate tips upon the creamy caramel skin of her small, perky breasts. The areolas were wet and swollen from sucking. Shannon caught a glimpse of the sable curls on Tanny’s pussy, trimmed to a narrow strip, just before Fergus moved his head lower.
He splayed his hands across the top of her thighs. When he fastened his mouth upon her pussy, Tanny sighed and tightened her grip on his hair.
Shannon carefully placed the bottle of conditioner on the side of the tub. She pulled the curtain back and left it open a crack, just enough to see them without them seeing her. This was nothing like any of the porno vids she watched when she jacked herself off. The men and women in the porno vids made exaggerated faces and their loud moans always sounded so fake and crude.
None of the women in the vids had ever uttered the soft mewls that escaped from Tanny’s half-open mouth while she rubbed her pussy against Fergus’s mouth in fierce demand. The muscles in her thighs bunched with her eager thrusts.
Fergus unzipped his pants and released his cock. It sprang out into his hand. He was uncircumcised. The foreskin slid back under his fingers and exposed the bulbous, blood-engorged head. He stroked his hand up and down the length of his cock with a slow, steady motion.
The tightness in her throat made her shake. It became an itch in her breasts, then her cock, and a hot wetness in her pussy.
Shannon wrapped her right hand around her cock and duplicated his movements. Would he like to stroke her while she stroked him?
Water splashed into the ceramic tub and gurgled down the drain. Steam billowed against the ceiling and fogged the mirror above the sink.
She pictured the three of them lying in bed together with her in the middle. She reached for Tanny. They shared a kiss while Fergus pressed his cock against Shannon’s ass. He moved his hands between them and played with their breasts.
Shannon visualized Tanny sighing with pleasure and opening her legs for Shannon’s erect cock.
Shannon moved her left hand from her breasts. She feathered her fingers down her belly, past her cock. She imagined the feel of Fergus’s strong, muscled body lying behind her while he parted her wet pussy lips with his fingers from the rear. Then she inserted two fingers into her pussy.
It would never happen.
But that didn’t stop her from imagining it.
In her mind’s eye, she mounted Tanny at the exact same moment Fergus penetrated her with his cock. She imagined the tender joy of being able to leave her heart and body open and vulnerable to both of them.
Shannon’s cock jerked within her stroking fingers. The image of Tanny shaking and crying out in pleasure while Fergus rode both of them to a shattering climax filled her mind. Her cum spurted out in a long, shuddering release of sensation.
Shannon sagged against the wall. Her legs shook under her. She felt as weak as a baby, unable to walk or move.
Finally, she opened her eyes, opened her hand around her cock, and pulled her fingers from her pussy.
The shower continued to spray water and steam into the tub. The curtain remained cracked open just enough for her to see Tanny and Fergus pulling their clothing together again.
Crumpled wrinkles marked the scarlet velvet of Tanny’s dress.
Shannon picked up the hair conditioner bottle, squeezed out a generous dollop, and raked it through her snarled, wet hair with both hands. The tangles smoothed out and strands of loosened hair clung to her fingers like spider webs. She stepped back under the shower and let the steaming hot water rinse her hair and body clean from conditioner, soap, and sex.
Coming after watching Fergus and Tanny was so much more intense than any orgasm she’d ever felt before. Much better than she’d ever felt after watching a porno vid. Was she a voyeur? Would she freeze up if her fantasy became reality?
Shannon shrugged and turned the shower off. No use thinking about a fantasy that would never happen anyway. She squeezed the excess water from her hair. Now that the three of them had released their sexual frustrations, tonight should be a little more restful.
One night at a time. That was the best they could do for now.
Chapter Eight
Shannon staggered into the kitchen after Fergus. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. Tanny stood at the counter slicing thick hunks of crusty French bread, hot and fresh from the oven. Butter, cream cheese, honey, grape jelly, apple jelly, and orange marmalade waited on the table.
Tanny stopped cutting bread. She picked up a steaming mug of coffee and turned around with it cradled between her hands. The handle was chipped and the phrase “Save a horse, ride a cowboy” had been inscribed on it in a lopsided red script.
Shannon almost stumbled under the impact of Tanny’s open smile. Stop reacting like a lovesick fool! she warned her heart. That smile didn’t mean a damn thing. She’s just being friendly.
A faint blush flared on Tanny’s face. She gestured at the table. “I took the liberty of ordering a brunch from French Twist’s. Do you mind?”
Shannon clung to the back of a chair and caught her breath. Keep the conversation simple. Don’t overdo the platitudes. “Oh, no. This is great! French Twist has an excellent breakfast menu. Thank you.” Gah! That was terrible! Now she sounded like a teenager in the throes of her first crush!
Fergus grinned at Shannon. "Good morning. I like your coffee cup collection. You must have spent years at estate auctions snagging all the good ones.”
He grabbed three ragged hunks of bread from the countertop, then sat at the table and buttered them. The words inscribed on his mug said “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.” He stirred generous helpings of cream and sugar into his coffee.
The way Fergus was acting, it felt like the three of them had been living together for months instead of only two days. Shannon picked out a mug that said, “Hit Shappens!” and filled it to the brim with black coffee.
She’d chosen black slacks and a heavy black sweater to wear for the memorial service. Fergus and Tanny wore black pants and shirts, too. All they needed now were matching sunglasses to complete their look of a covert-ops team getting ready to go out on assignment.
Fergus shook his head and grumbled. “I don’t like it.”
Shannon licked her lips and stared at him over the rim of her mug. The memory of Fergus on his knees, jacking off while he ate Tanny’s pussy, flashed into her mind. She placed the mug on the table and managed to sit without knocking anything over with her shaky hands. Now was not the time to be thinking about sex. “What don’t you like?”
He pointed at the data stream scrolling across his wrist screen. “I don’t like the setup for the security at the Herm Foundation Chapel. It’s too risky for you. Anyone can walk in whenever they want during the memorial. The building comp system has no weapons-scanning capabilities. There’s no security vidcams or audio recordings, either.”
Shannon sucked in a deep breath and focused her attention on slathering apple jelly onto a warm chunk of bread. Fergus didn’t have any personal feelings about her. Worrying about her safety meant he was just doing his job. “That’s because everyone is scanned at the Enclave’s main entrance before they enter. Only private residences like mine have the secondary, deep-scan set-up.” She steeled her heart against the thought that he actually cared for her. “Besides, from what you’ve told me, this killer prefers to work one-on-one inside the victim’s home, not at public locations.”
Fergus scowled. “None of the other victims were under police protection at the time of their deaths. The fact that we’re with you twenty-four hours a day could force the killer into changing his plan of attack.”
Tanny leaned back in her chair and narrowed her gaze. Her dark lashes curved against her café-au-lait skin. “I’d rather force the killer out into the open than play cat-and-mouse games for days and weeks at a time.”
Shannon looked away. She didn�
��t blame them for wanting to leave. Hell, she’d be just as anxious to end this charade if she were in their shoes. Judging by what she’d seen last night, staying here with her was putting a serious cramp in their love life. The sooner they captured the murderer, the sooner they could leave and resume their usual routine of love and laughter. And the sooner she could return to her normal life of celebrating the holidays alone in an empty house.
* * * * *
Tanny hunched her shoulders under her thick coat. Her breath puffed out in a white cloud in front of her face. At least it wasn’t as cold outside as it had been yesterday. Unfortunately, the moderate increase in temperature meant more snow. Thick clouds smothered the city and turned the sky to the color of dull pewter. Even though it was morning, it felt like late afternoon under the dark clouds. Fat, wet snowflakes fell in a steady monotony. The city had declared a snow emergency thirty minutes ago. The only vehicles allowed out on the streets and in the sky were police, fire, and EMS.
Tanny took the rear-guard position behind Shannon while Fergus led them on a two-block hike to the chapel. They trudged single file in each other’s footsteps along the path Fergus broke for them on the snow-covered sidewalk. The chapel with its stained glass windows loomed in silent gloom at the bottom of the hill. Signs, trees, mailboxes, and parked groundcars wore fluffy caps of new-fallen snow.
More mourners trudged on the sidewalk in front of them. Their coats swung back and forth as they struggled to keep their feet inside the narrow path carved through the snow.
Shannon had remained very quiet and distant last night and this morning. Was it because she was thinking about today’s memorial service? Was it because her parents were coming down for New Year’s Eve under the mistaken belief that they were Shannon’s lovers? Or was it because Shannon had seen them stealing a few moments of pleasure while she’d showered?
Rated: X-mas Page 19
