Come As You Are (9 page)

“No, but you only let me see half the fantasy. That’s not playing fair. I want it all, Tempest.” He pulled her up and grabbed the bag, taking her hand firmly in his. When he started to walk back toward Decatur, she pulled back, trying to stop him.

“We’re not done.”

“One of the best things about my gift is being able to please you,” he said. “I can tell when you’re right at the edge of orgasm and I can stop, then start again, building it to wonderful levels before allowing you to peak. I can also read exactly what’s in your mind.”

That means he saw—Tempest tried to dig in her heels but he was already leading them across Decatur. “No, Franco stop.”

He did stop, turning to her with a dark, purely sexual look on his face. “I can carry you, if you like. But we’re going.”

She had no doubt he would follow through on his threat so she followed him back to Franco’s Grill. The party was in full swing, a live band filling the place with a mixture of jazz and rock. People filled the dance floor and smoke filtered across the haze.

Instead of going to the stairs that led to his apartment, he took her to the back where a pool table and a few pinball machines sat, none of them in use.

The lights from the machine lit up the otherwise dark area and he dropped the bag under it, then fished into his pocket. He handed her several coins before leaning over to kiss her. “Play the game. I’ll be right back.”

Her mouth opened in shock as he disappeared into the bathroom. A server appeared and sat a beer down on a table next to the machine. “That’s for the boss. What about you?”

“Nothing, thanks.”

The woman shrugged and left, and Tempest fed coins into the machine. She was tempted to leave, since he’d not followed through on her plans, but she stayed in place, launching the ball before hitting the flippers.

The machine whirled and tweeted, lights flashing and dings sounding. When male hands encircled her hips, she blinked, looking back to see Franco. He’d placed a stool behind her and was now moving it closer. He sat down and pulled her into his lap, lifting her skirt.

She gasped when his cock ran the length of her pussy, which was still pulsing with need from earlier. “No. Not here.”

“Yes, here.” He moved his fingers quickly, sliding up and down her pussy, teasing the entrance. He didn’t enter her, though, and she wanted to scream at him to fuck her.

“All in good time.” He grasped her hips tighter. “You better play that game while I tell you why we’re here. You wanted public sex, but you wanted to do it in a place, and at a time, when we were unlikely to get caught.”

She flushed as her orgasm built. His hand snaked under her skirt to tease her clit, taking her right to the edge before moving back to her hips. The urge to scream increased and he put his lips on her ear.

“I know what you were thinking, that you didn’t want to be fucked in a crowded place because if someone saw you, their first thought would be ‘look at the fat chick getting screwed.’ Well, I’ve got news for you, Tempest. I want your body, every delectable inch of it.”

His words swirled around her, almost as if she could see them. Her hands were trembling and she was trying to follow his instructions, to play the game, but all she could do was think about the cock sliding up and down her pussy.

“I want you just as you are, and I want you to come just as you are.” He moved his cock to her entrance and slid inside in one hard, long stroke. Tempest gasped, grasping the table as her orgasm slammed into her.

It filled her completely as he banged in and out of her, lifting her up and bringing her back down. If anyone could see them, they would probably think she was moving as she played the game.

His hand moved back to her clit, where he stroked and pinched, and a second orgasm flooded her, leaving her feeling breathless.

Franco was not moving now, his cock firmly embedded inside her. She pulsed around him, willing him to start moving again.

Instead, he turned her head and kissed her lightly. “Don’t ever hold back from me again. Understand?”

He moved his hips very slowly, sliding in and out before a deep, dark sigh escaped him. She moved along with him, wanting to feel him as he came went over the edge. He grasped her hips and growled, “I asked you a question.”

“Yes, I understand.” His cock pulsed inside her and she felt the warmth of him fill her, from her insides all the way up to her heart. She closed her eyes to hold back the words that threatened to spill out.

“I think I love you, too,” he whispered against her neck. “As a matter of fact, I know I do.”

He put his hand on hers and guided it to the mechanism that launched the ball, pulling back and letting it fly. He kissed her neck as they worked the flippers together, moving the machine as they jiggled.

“We’re going to make it tilt,” she said.

“Life is full of tilts. And I can’t wait to face each one of them with you.”

No, stay with me

I command it

The room is cold, oh so cold

How dare this man and his two companions presume to come in here and take my toy

She may not be worth anything, but she’s all I have now

Candice!

I can see you floating, wavering

Your spirit is lighter than it has been in years

She’s mine! Mine! Mine!

You’re happy now, laughing

Talking with the woman who tried to take you away from me all those years ago

It didn’t work then, it won’t work now

Wait…wait…wait

No!

She’s fading…fading…fading

The woman is crying

The man is smiling

Candice is gone

Now I’m alone

Until my new love comes back

And she will

She must

Or I will have nothing

* * * *

“Are you sure you’re up to this, Martin?” Franco put a hand on his friend’s shoulder and gently squeezed. Tempest could see the concern in her lover’s eyes as he studied his friend.

“Yes, I’m sure. Besides, Pebbles will be doing most of the work since I crossed Candice over this morning.”

“That takes a lot out of him, but we helped build his energy back up today.” Rumer stepped up and kissed Martin. Behind him, Noah wrapped his arms around Martin and pulled him into his chest and they effectively made a sandwich. Martin and Noah shared a kiss and Tempest smiled.

The love these three had for each other was strong, as strong as that of Quinn, Dev and Fletch.

Franco turned to her and winked. The message was clear. “We’ll get there. Allow the game to play out, tilts and all.”

“Tell me exactly what we have to do,” Tempest said as Pebbles stepped through the gate. They were all in her garden now. It was the first time she’d been back to the house since “the incident” almost two weeks now, and she hadn’t realized how much she missed it until she’d seen it.

She wanted to be back here, at the place she was making her own. But she didn’t want to live here alone anymore. She wanted Franco here with her. They’d discussed it quite a bit lately, finally deciding that, when the incubus was gone, he would move in with her. He’d go to work at Franco’s Grill every night but he’d come home to her.

There had been no declarations of everlasting love and marriage. Yet. But she knew they were coming. With Franco, you couldn’t rush things, and that was something she loved about him.

“I’m going to cast a circle in the middle of the room,” Rumer said in answer to her question. “You two will be in the center of it.”

This was the part that Tempest wasn’t sure she liked. Sex would attract the incubus, but it would also give him power.

“That’s why we’re not going to have sex,” Franco said. “Remember what we said. The one thing the incubus doesn’t understand is love. He understands the physical aspect of it, but not the emotional. We’re going to neck and pet, just enough to attract him, but not enough to give him a jolt of energy. When he’s there, Pebbles will do the rest.”

“Which is?”

“Incubi are hard to kill,” Pebbles said. “I’m going to try and banish him with a prayer, and if that doesn’t work, then Rumer and I will work together to capture him in a spirit jar. There he’ll stay until I can find a way to get rid of him permanently.”

Tempest nodded, grateful when Franco wrapped his arms around her. She felt cold, and more than a little frightened. This was something she’d never expected to happen in her house. Hopefully this would work, and the thing would be gone. Forever.

“It’s getting close to eleven,” Dev said. “We need to go inside and get this done before Samhain ends.”

Franco took her hand and led the group into the house. It felt cold to her, and she grasped Franco’s hand more firmly. He squeezed her, the movement telling her it would be okay, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

They moved into the living room and Tempest saw all the furniture pushed against the wall, except for one fainting couch that sat in the middle of the room. Candles glowed around it, and Pebbles and Rumer went to work, quickly lighting them all.

When they finished, Fletch turned off the overhead light, leaving the room bathed in candlelight.

“On the couch, you two.” Pebbles indicated they should move, but when Franco started toward it, Tempest stood still.

“Shouldn’t it just be me? Won’t Franco’s presence scare him off?”

“If you think I’m letting you go in there on your own, you’re nuts,” Franco said. “We’re in this together.”

“But if he gets angry…”

“He’s drained,” Martin said. “That’s why we left him alone for so long, so that he wouldn’t have any energy left to fight us tonight. He might have a little, but not a lot. And Franco’s right. There’s no way we’d let you go in there alone, not after what happened before.”

Tempest wanted to remind Martin that the beast had been feeding off her then, and he’d had power. She decided, though, not to fight. This was their bailiwick and she should follow their directions.

Franco lay down on the couch and guided her on top of him, caressing her sides before settling his hands on her hips. Her heart was beating like an overworked drum, and he reached up and stroked her cheek.

“Relax, darling Tempest. I’m here, don’t forget that.”

Yes, he was there, and now that she was on the couch, she was thrilled that he was. She wanted to be brave and say she should attract the demon on her own, but in truth, it felt right to be here with Franco’s arms around her.

She leaned down and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Tempest lost herself in the feeling, vaguely aware of words floating around her, of motion near the couch. Rumer, the witch, casting the circle.

Franco deepened the kiss, darting his tongue into her mouth, licking her gently as his hand stroked her cheek, her neck, her shoulder.

Soon everything was gone but the two of them. She wasn’t aware of the cold, the light or the other people. All that mattered was Franco, the man laying under her, the man wanting to protect her from the evil that had threatened her house, her very life.

“I love you,” she whispered against his lips. “Can you read what I’m thinking?”

“Always.” The air around them stirred and Tempest heard a voice call her name. It was him. The demon. But she didn’t care. All that mattered was the man under her, who was now describing how their life would be together. “Home. Life. Babies. Us. Forever.”

“Yes.” She arched into him as he cupped her buttocks, then traced his fingers up her spine, causing tiny tremors of bliss to rush through her.

“I love you, too, Tempest.” He grasped her face between his hands and kissed her possessively. The air around them seemed burst with static and from what seemed like far away Tempest could hear chanting. It was Pebbles, or was it Rumer? Or was it both of them?

Frankly, she didn’t care. Franco had flipped her expertly, his hands pulling up her shirt, roughly pushing up her bra. His lips found a nipple and she gasped, seeking to hold him as close as possible as he suckled her.

A male voice screamed “no” and the voices around them rose in anger. Tempest ran her hand down Franco’s side, grasping his hips, then fumbling with the zipper on his jeans. He groaned in pain and she whispered she was sorry. When she finally had them undone, she grasped him tightly in her hands, stroking him up and down.

His own hands had found their way up her skirt, his fingers probing her wetness.

“It’s working.” The words barely registered with Tempest as she built toward climax. Energy seemed to run in circles around herself and Franco as they worked to bring each other to completion.

His cock pulsed in her hand as her clit twitched under his fingers.

“Now! Now!” That was the same voice she’d heard earlier. Pebbles.