Hot Licks (15 page)

Sometime later she was able to finally hang up. Lance promised to check into Claude Morgan and do some research on the estate. He told her that it was quite possible the old cabin in the clearing was an escape hatch, connected to the main house by a tunnel, and might not be the only one. It wasn’t an uncommon practice for those with dangerous professions. Should that be the case, treasure may still exist. Buried twenty feet underground and hidden somewhere along miles and miles of tunnels.

Weary, she stretched out on her bed, not really thinking sleep would come as she stared at the blackout curtains covering the slider to the balcony. Her brain was too wired.

Not only because of all she’d seen and endured today, but because Lance had ignited a spark of interest in what might possibly lay under the estate, along with a lot of ifs. If Claude Morgan actually lived here, and if he cached a trove of treasure, and if he’d had tunnels built, and if there were more than one that wound all under the property, then it was a miracle none of the buildings had fallen into one. It was also pretty amazing all the trees on the Orchards were thriving.

She looked up at the ceiling fan, watching it go round and round, her eyes growing heavy. On Saturday’s hike, Rome had told the kids that he and his brothers had searched the house, down to the studs, for treasure.

But he never mentioned finding a secret way out.

Dinner that evening consisted only of Melinda, Annie
and Gwen. The women of the household.

The men, Melinda informed Gwen as she set the
kitchen table for the three of them, were out searching and
protecting and doing
manly
things.

Gwen rolled in her lips to suppress a grin at Melinda’s peeved expression. “Did they say exactly what kind of manly things?”

Annie lay a bowl of mashed potatoes and a plate of thickly sliced roast beef on the wood surface, the sight and scents causing Gwen’s mouth to water. “Even my Bob is out there. Tromping through the reserve, the old coot. He’d better be careful he doesn’t get heatstroke. I don’t have time to fuss over a stupid, stubborn man.”

“Andreas will watch out for him, Annie.” Melinda lay a comforting hand on Annie’s arm.

The housekeeper blew out a hard breath. “I know. It just ticks me off he thinks he’s stronger than I am. Who was it that was in labor for over twenty hours with all three of our children? It sure wasn’t him.”

Melinda’s face softened with understanding, her eyes crinkling with mirth. “I know. A lot of men think women the weaker sex, to be coddled and protected, and my men have the alpha male dominant attitude down to a tee. It’s a good thing I love them all dearly, else I would have taken a pot to their thick heads years ago and buried the bodies under the orange trees.”

Gwen pulled out a chair to sit, snickering. “It would have made excellent fertilizer.”

Annie let out a whoop and sat as well. “Amen to that.”

“How are you feeling, Gwen?” Melinda asked as she dished out green beans onto Gwen’s plate.

“Oh, that’s enough. Thank you. I’m alive so I’m doing pretty good.”

“And we’re all very thankful for that. My son took care of you down there?”

Fork midway to her mouth, Gwen froze, staring wideeyed at her boss. A flare of panic tightened in her chest.

Surely she didn’t know
. “Pardon?”

Melinda calmly cut into her meat. “Your injuries. He said your back was bruised from your backpack and you received a nasty cut on your leg.”

The muscles in Gwen’s belly loosened at the statement, because for the tiniest second she’d thought Melinda knew more than she needed to know about what happened down in that pit. And remembering just how
thoroughly
Rome had taken her – ahem, taken care of her – Gwen’s body reacted with disturbing predictability when it came to the ex-ATF agent. Only this time the desire wasn’t a slow burn, it was a firestorm, causing her nipples to bud in taut peaks and her womb to clench with need. She squeezed her thighs together to combat the arousal threatening to dampen her panties.

The physical response was nearly instantaneous, as if her body, once having experienced the intimate pleasure of Rome surrounding her, filling her, was primed for another encounter at the slightest provocation.

“Gwen?”

Gwen sucked in a breath and reached for her glass of iced tea for a cooling gulp. “I’m good.”

Tackling the food on her plate, Gwen ignored the shared look between Melinda and Annie, maneuvering the conversation away from what happened in the collapsed tunnel to the events prior. “Did Rome mention how it all happened?”

“You mean how you were chased by a group of trespassing thugs and climbed into the cabin to hide?”

Gwen would take Melinda’s response as a resounding yes. Her next question was a bit more delicate. “And did he happen to mention anything...strange?’ She picked up her glass again, slowly swirling the contents before raising her eyes to Melinda. “Anything...” Gwen paused, racking her brain for a proper definition of what she’d seen. “Not human?”

Melinda’s head tilted, one beautifully shaped brow arching. “You mean the jaguar or the vampire?”

It was a good thing Gwen still had the glass to her lips, because she spat out the tea she’d attempted to swallow.

As she choked and gasped for air, both women jumped from their seats and ran over to help. They each grabbed an arm and lifted it high over Gwen’s head. “This helps open the lungs and airways.” Melinda explained, her voice pitched to a soothing, steady level. “Don’t force yourself.

Let the air flow naturally.”

Gwen’s coughing fit eased off after a minute and, once reassured she was good, the two older women resumed their seats.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t realize my question would surprise you so.” Melinda said.

Gwen shook her head. “I guess I wasn’t expecting such a...” Unable to think of anything, she shrugged.

“Candid response?” Melinda’s gray-blue eyes twinkled. “No sense beating around the bush. I believe it’s better to know what resides in this vast world than to stick one’s head in the sand.”

Gwen mulled that over. “Forewarned is forearmed?”

Melinda’s lips pursed in thought. “Sometimes yes, but not completely. But it’s important not to jump to any conclusions about what you saw.”

Gwen blinked. “You mean the kind where I thought I saw a vampire with my own eyes and then had that startling discovering backed by several individuals I respect?”

Melinda wagged a fork at Gwen. “No. I mean just because you saw a supposed mythical creature being bad, evil or downright naughty does not mean they are all like that.”

Gwen slumped back in her chair. “All?” Was Melinda about to confirm her suspicions regarding her sons? She didn’t even breath as she waited, flitting her expected eyes from Melinda to a stoic Annie and back again.

“I don’t care what size, shape, gender, nationality, race, color or religious belief, humans have the good and the bad. The lazy to the workaholics, scatterbrained to the brainiacs, and vampires are no different. They’re just a different, uhm, species I guess you could say. And, by the way, they come in all sizes, shapes, genders, nationalities, races …”

Gwen held up a hand. “I get it. Don’t be judgmental about someone because of their outside appearance and don’t base a whole, er, species on the actions of a few.”

Melinda beamed as if Gwen just came up with the answer to end world hunger. “Exactly.”

“So you’ve met many? Vampires I mean?” Gwen still felt weird saying that word to describe reality rather than fiction.

Another nod from Melinda. “One time I treated a very special young girl in the ER when I was in nursing school.

She was maybe six and her parents were frantic. She’d lost a tooth and they couldn’t stop the bleeding. It took awhile, and a tea bag of all things, but we finally got the area to clot.

When I went in close to check her progress, a second set of teeth descended from behind her canines. The poor child was horrified, the parents terrified and I... Well, I have to admit, I was more than taken aback. But once the shock passed, I winked at her and simply continued the exam. A day later I received a dozen yellow roses and the sweetest thank you card with a crayon drawing of a little girl hugging a woman in blue scrubs.”

The glitter of unshed tears in Melinda’s eyes at the memory caused Gwen’s throat to thicken with emotion.

“Wow.” It took several more moments before she could form the words of her next question. “Where you married at that time by any chance?”

Melinda frowned in confusion. “Andreas and I were engaged. Why do you ask?”

Oh no reason, Gwen thought, except she wondered if Melinda would have been so nonplussed at the discovery if she hadn’t already met a werecat. “Just curious. So, if they’re pretty normal, why are they in hiding?” Gwen wasn’t asking just to gain insight into vampires.

“Because they’re observant.” Annie said, her voice gaining heat as she spoke. “They see how humans interact with one another. How judgmental, biased and cruel we can be. My dad was black and my mom white, and they were subjected to a lot of prejudice. Not everyone, mind you, but enough to make their lives uncomfortable at times. But when they had me, we moved to a more racially diverse city so I wouldn’t have to grow up with that kind of crap filling my head every day. Think about it. If humans can’t even handle human differences, we’d be up in arms and pitchforks at the reality of vampires living next door to us.”

Annie’s passion hit home for Gwen. Her own mother, the daughter of a Native American, had suffered the same, and from kids of all colors. It wasn’t until some well-liked boy had gone all kung fu on her tormentors that it stopped.

Her Asian dad. God love him.

As Gwen had been thinking, Annie had risen from the table and was taking something out of the refrigerator.

Something in a big, clear bowl filled to capacity with chunks of strawberries, pound cake and whipped cream in several tongue wagging layers. “Oh, Annie.” Gwen aahed in appreciation as the housekeeper placed the delicious confection on the table. “You don’t plan on retiring any time soon, right?”

Melinda slapped a hand over the one Gwen had on the table. “Bite your tongue, child.”

Annie let out a laugh that was part cackle. “Ha. You sound like my kids, and I’ll tell you the same thing I tell them.

Where am I to retire? On the beach in Florida?” She snickered, spooning up large amounts of the strawberry shortcake into bowls. “I’d still have to cook and clean for Bob and myself. Besides, it’s not like this one,” she nodded at Melinda, “lets me do anything more strenuous then lift a casserole or a platter of sandwiches.”

“We don’t want you to overdo it, Annie.” Melinda sighed as she picked up a spoon for her dessert. “Besides, I need you healthy and happy so you’ll keep creating these heavenly desserts.”

And heavenly it was. Gwen had two helpings – hey, she’d had a strenuous day – before she pushed back from the table and carried her dishes to the sink. Between the three of them, the cleanup was done in short order. As the men had yet to make an appearance – or even call, not that Gwen was worried or anything – the ladies moved to the library off the foyer and sat around a half-finished jigsaw puzzle depicting a dazzling castle in Ireland.

There was a
lot
of green.

Still they chatted and laughed and had another helping of shortcake before winding down and separating to their own rooms as the evening wore on. Because of her nap earlier, Gwen wasn’t the least bit sleepy and she knelt in front of the entertainment center, flicking through her movies. According to Melinda, the Orchards was going to cable, but as it wouldn’t be installed until Thursday, Gwen was left with either three whole channels to watch or pick a movie.

She ended up playing solitaire on her computer for twenty minutes before heading back down to the library.

Her brain was spinning, her body restless and she didn’t know what she wanted.

Other than a six-one, darkhaired, dark-eyed, wideshouldered, narrow-hipped, muscle-ripped male with a scar over his right brow that made her libido break into a polka.

Her nerves were bouncing all over the place, she couldn’t focus for long, and she felt
needy
. Like in the tunnel.

Frustrated, she pulled on her braid, hoping the slight pain would wipe out the naughty thoughts of Rome standing between her open thighs, pumping into her, his thick cock giving her the hard, fast friction right where she needed it until she’d come with such abandon she’d practically screamed with her release.

Remembering the sounds she’d made, Gwen pressed her palms to her heated cheeks. She’d never behaved so wantonly before in her life. It had been beyond liberating. As if something untamed had broken free inside her, and she wanted to experience that feeling again.

As if by habit, her feet led her assuredly through the dimly lit house towards the kitchen, out the back door and toward the garden swing. Telling herself she only needed some fresh air and she most certainly wasn’t hoping to encounter Rome, she turned left at the tall hedges. Her heart kicked into high gear at the man lounging on the thick cushion. His arms were spread out from his torso, a t-shirt covering a smooth chest she knew was roped with sinew and muscle. His legs were splayed wide in a purely masculine stance, a pair of loose shorts displayed the heavy muscles in his thighs that bunched as he gently swayed on the swing.

She almost turned tail and ran before he saw her.

Almost.

“Hey,” Rome’s low voice carried over the soft breeze. “I was hoping you’d come out tonight.” He lifted a hand in invitation. One she accepted after only the slightest of delays. She was only going to sit next to him. Nothing more.

No matter what her hormones wanted.

He stopped the swing until she’d settled herself in, only to find herself cuddled next to his chest seconds later when she apparently sat too far away. One arm draped behind his back, the other rested over the steady cadence of his heart. Her head fit into the hollow of his shoulder with the surprising familiarity. One of his hands stroked down her braid in long, repetitive, soothing motions.

She should pull back. She didn’t want him to get any ideas that what had happened this morning was in any way indicative of a future relationship. No more sex between them. No way, no how. Unfortunately she felt too good to move so much as an inch. Besides, his arm was a heavy band about her waist and she didn’t have the strength to break it.

Uh-huh. Right.

Gwen frowned at the sarcastic voice in her head and closed her eyes, blocking out everything except the peaceful feeling of being in his arms.

Too bad her curiosity, and mouth, didn’t get the memo.

“What were you guys doing all afternoon?”

Rome turned his head and pressed his lips to Gwen’s brow. “Rechecked all the fencing. Strategize on where to place the cameras. Went back down in the tunnel to see if we could figure out which direction it goes and if we can open it up.”

“Ah. So a lazy afternoon.”

Like an aphrodisiac, his soft laugh had her belly clenching in need, her blood to heat and burn under her skin.

It’s just a damn laugh
, she chided her body. The dampness between her legs didn’t care.

Above her head, he drew in a deep breath, letting it out on a low sound that was caught between a groan and appreciation. “Gwen...” His hand flexed on her ribcage.