Melted By The Vampires: A Paranormal Menage Romance (10 page)

After lunch, I took the elevator down ten floors to visit Maria, and she answered the door with a smile, telling me to come on in. I did, and after closing the door, she paused, smile fading, and just seemed to study me for a moment or two.

"You know...I know I haven't known you that long, but something's different about you today. You look really...." She trailed off, seeming to be studying me again. "You look really well-rested, I think. And not that you looked worn down or anything before, because you didn't, but...you just look really bright-eyed and refreshed today. And it's something else, too. Something I can't put my finger on. You look even more beautiful than usual. Glowing."

Blushing, I was sure, I gave my head a little shake. "Well, I did sleep really well last night. But as for the 'something else'...well, I really have no idea. If I'm 'glowing,' maybe it's just from using facial exfoliating scrub in the shower today, something I don't normally use. That's the only thing I think it could be."

"Liar."

I sputtered, feigning ignorance. "Well, other than the facial scrub, I can't think of anything in particular that might have given me a glow. Except for maybe the light dusting of bronzer I used today, just because in the late fall and winter months, I seem to get a bit pale, and I-"

"What a terrible, terrible liar." Maria shook her head at me, pink-glossed lips twitching with amusement. "Honestly...I have other friends who are pretty bad liars, but...Harper, you
really
suck."

I began to protest, but she grabbed my hand, chuckling, and began leading me out of the foyer in the direction of a short hallway that led to her kitchen.

"Come on. Claire's down for a nap, so it's coffee and chatting time for us. And you don't
have
to tell me what exactly gave you your glow today other than your bronzer, which, har har, about trying to pass that off as the only thing, but if you
do
want to tell me, the least I can do is give you the opportunity."

Despite her saying I didn't
have
to tell her, I had a feeling I was going to have to come clean at least, partially. I wasn't so sure she was going to let me leave her apartment otherwise.

Her kitchen, which was large and airy and painted a vivid, sunny yellow, smelled like brewing coffee and cinnamon. And even though I'd had a fairly substantial lunch not an hour before, my stomach instantly growled.

Maybe having heard it, Maria smiled and told me to have a seat on one of the bar stools around a large island in the middle of the kitchen. "Just one sec, and we'll have piping hot cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven to go with our coffee. I don't know why, but I was just in the mood for something breakfasty for lunch today.

“Specifically, something breakfasty  and sugary. Just because the enormous slice of chocolate cake I had for a midnight snack last night didn't completely satisfy my sweet tooth. Or, as Noah says, my sweet
teeth
, plural. He claims I must have several considering the way I eat sugar."

Like me, Maria also seemed able to indulge in treats frequently while still keeping her trim figure. In fact, unlike mine, her slender body could have been described as downright willowy. She had a gap of several inches between her toned thighs, and even though she'd given birth not a year before, and to a nine-pound baby, her waist was teeny-tiny, and almost literally flat as a board.

In contrast, Amelia had always eaten fairly birdlike portions, and of mostly healthy, unprocessed foods, and yet she'd been on the heavier side her whole life, as she'd told me once, with a very round middle she just couldn't get rid of. Once she'd even tried to use magic to try to whittle her stomach down to the size she wanted. It hadn't worked.

Amelia
. I really didn't want to think about her right then. Being that my ever-anxious mind had only recently seen fit to give me a little peace and rest for the first time since I'd been thawed, I just couldn't handle it.

Once Maria and I were both seated up to the island with a plate of two frosted cinnamon rolls each and mugs of fragrant coffee with cream and sugar, she gave me a little look, and I knew pretty much what she was going to say before she even said it.

"Okay. Time to spill. If you
want
to, that is, but just let me say that I've always believed that confession is good for the soul. And if one doesn't do it every so often...well, I always picture it as something like leaves building up in a rain gutter. If you don't clean them out every so often, something's going to overflow, or something's going to break.

“And maybe that wasn't the very best metaphor. I guess I just have leaves on the brain because I just cleaned about forty pounds of soggy leaves from my balcony planters this morning. But you get what I mean."

I took a little sip of coffee to wash down a bite of cinnamon roll, then set the mug down with a sigh. "I do get what you mean. And all right. I'll 'spill,' because I don't think I'm getting out of here alive if I don't. But I'm still sorting some things out, some things that are just very complicated, so I'm just going to be brief.

“I've had...just, a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about certain things lately...things I really don't want to get into right now...and this is the first day since I've been thawed that I kind of feel okay, and I'm just feeling like I want to ride that good feeling while I can, I guess, before having to do any more thinking about...well, just, certain things."

I'd basically come to a point where I'd realized that Abbott and Daniel likely hadn't been behind the killing of my coven. That scenario didn't seem to fit. However, the smallest sliver of me still wondered if they
had
been and had just changed their ways since then. But in my gut, I just didn't feel like this was the case.

Which left me completely clueless about who else could have possibly killed my family. Clueless and vaguely in shock, because from the day it had happened, I'd been so sure that the vampires responsible were the Darkness Coven leaders. Now I had to rethink everything, feeling as if some rug had been pulled out from under my feet. But, as I'd told Maria, I just wanted a short break from thinking. Maybe a break long enough to enjoy the rest of the day, and then the evening with Abbott and Daniel.

In response to what I'd said, Maria nodded, licking a bit of frosting off her thumb. "Well, you're certainly being cryptic, but I think I understand. And you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, really. Just tell me whatever you're honestly comfortable with sharing. I really don't mean to be pushy."

"Oh, so I can just grab my cinnamon rolls, hop down off this bar stool, and trot right out the door, and you won't do anything to stop me?"

"Well, no. I'd definitely tackle you in that case. Then I'd drag you back in here and withhold all treats from you until you talk."

"All right. That's what I figured. I'll briefly share what I'm going to share, then. It's basically just that...well, part of my glow might be because things have...'progressed physically,' I'll say. And things are going to continue to progress physically tonight. And as far as emotionally...that area is kind of gaining speed, too."

Maria set her coffee mug down, smiling. "That's great...and pretty much what I expected you to say, but I guess I just wanted my suspicions confirmed. So, do you care to share what's brought all this about? Anything in particular? Or did things just kind of naturally and slowly progress."

"Well...kind of. But I guess what really caused the progression is that I realized that I might have...." I trailed off with a sigh. "This is really hard to explain. In short, I realized that I might have been thinking some things about Abbott and Daniel that aren't really true."

“Like that they would drain humans dry to kill them, or whatever it was that you said when we had breakfast at the cafe?"

Stalling while I planned my response, I took a sip of coffee, and then another, before setting the mug down. "I guess I'd just heard some crazy tales about vampires in general, and I was struggling to figure out exactly what was true and what wasn't. But...I think I've got it now. At least I hope I do. I've come to believe that Abbott and Daniel aren't the type of vampires who'd kill humans. Though, unfortunately, this realization leaves me with many more questions."

With a shaft of sunlight falling on her curly brown ponytail, giving her hair a slightly reddish hue, Maria swallowed a bite of cinnamon roll, frowning. "Well, questions about what? I don't understand what you mean."

I was tempted to tell her everything. Like she did, I also believed that confession could be good for the soul. Especially since I hadn't been able to tell a single soul what I'd been going through since being thawed. Which had greatly intensified the sense of profound loneliness and emptiness I'd felt since my coven had been killed.

I knew I couldn't tell Maria everything, though. At least not right then. I liked her, but that didn't mean that I trusted her a hundred percent yet, or even fifty percent. I'd always tended to be like that with friendships, and really, with relationships of any kind.

A person had to really earn my trust before I would give it fully. Which made it strange that I was beginning to trust Abbott and Daniel, particularly Abbott, already, when just a few days earlier, I'd been convinced that they'd murdered my coven in cold blood, or at least had had something to do with it.

In response to what Maria had said, I just gave her a little smile and picked up a cinnamon roll. "I'll fill you in on more another day. But right now, I want to get serious about eating these rolls while they're still warm."

To my relief, she didn't argue, and for the rest of the day, while we did some serious shopping at the various little shops and boutiques within the city, she didn't press me for any more personal sharing.

When I got back to my apartment around six, I made and ate a quick dinner and then took a long, leisurely shower before dressing in the short red dress that I'd deemed too sexy the night Abbott, Daniel, and I had drinks. Now it struck me as just perfect, particularly the plunging neckline.

Adding to what I hoped would be an incredibly seductive look, I put on a pair of red heels, too, with my mind wandering to the activities that might be happening in less than an hour. And by the time I'd dried my hair and had applied a little makeup, my mind wasn't so much wandering as it was
fixating
.

The ill-fated night of the drinks and my near-drunkenness, when I'd been sitting on Daniel's lap, feeling his large erection beneath my seat, had given me a unique and unexpected thrill to know that Abbott was just sitting there, watching us while we kissed. He'd even been watching while Daniel had been toying with one of my stiffened nipples.

Since then, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about the unexpected erotic thrill I'd gotten, and I'd decided that I wanted to experience it again. But this time, I wanted to take things a little further, and I'd made up my mind that I was going to just come right out and tell Abbott and Daniel exactly what I wanted. After all, being blunt with Abbott had worked out pretty well for me the night before.

When I heard a knock on my front door exactly at eight, I had to fight not to race over to answer it, possibly wiping out in my heels. Instead, I simply walked, despite a hundred butterflies in my stomach wanting me to run. Those butterflies suddenly seemed to turn into a thousand the moment I opened the door and saw Abbott and Daniel dressed in dark pants and collared Oxford shirts, each of them so handsome that the combined effect nearly took my breath away.

Trying not to grin like an idiot, I stepped aside so they could enter. "Please come in, both of you."

Seeming like they were both struggling not to grin like idiots themselves, even Abbott, who was normally so stern and serious, they both strolled inside.

Daniel looked at me for just a brief moment before pulling me into his arms and speaking in a low voice near my ear. "We want you to tell us your deepest fantasy...what you want us to do, and what you want to do...and we want you to be very, very detailed."

CHAPTER SEVEN

Not ten minutes after Abbott and Daniel had entered my apartment, I was flat on my back in my bed, completely naked, and my legs spread. The two of them were also completely naked, their lightly tanned skin glowing in the warm light of two lamps, which I'd specifically requested be left on.

Daniel was between my legs, or his face was, anyway. He was flicking his tongue across my throbbing feminine bud, making me moan as I clutched at the bedsheets, perspiring even though the room wasn't overly warm. Across from my bed to my right, watching the scene intently, Abbott sat in a chair, gripping the wooden arms of it so hard his knuckles were white.

As if this alone wasn't enough to show me that he was very interested and engaged in the scene he was witnessing, his thick pole stood ramrod straight, so erect it looked like it was straining against thin air.

After a short while, I began tangling my fingers in Daniel's thick, dark hair, pulling him, and his rapidly stroking tongue, closer against my most sensitive spot. Seeming to appreciate my undisguised greed, he groaned and began moving his tongue even faster.

I glanced over at Abbott and saw that he was now slowly stroking his rock-hard shaft with a fist, grunting. It was that image, combined with that very masculine sound, even more than the feel of what Daniel was doing with his tongue, which sent me tumbling over the edge, crying out in complete rapture.

Not a second after the last spasm of my ecstasy had passed, Daniel pulled me down to the edge of the bed, flipped me over, and then entered me from behind so fast and forcefully that I gasped, clutching a handful of bedsheets. What he'd done might have seemed a bit rude, to say the least, except that I'd specifically asked him to do this in a very detailed and very graphic sort of way.

Once he began thrusting, I glanced over at Abbott, who was now stroking his beyond-erect shaft fast and furiously, with his breathing becoming increasingly ragged.

Actually trying to tease him a little and work him up further still, I moaned, closing my eyes. "Oh, Daniel. Don't stop. You feel so good."

What I'd said hadn't been just for Abbott's benefit; Daniel did feel incredibly good. So incredibly good, in fact, that within just a few short minutes, I felt myself approaching another powerful climax. While it rolled over me in waves so intense that each one brought a cry from my lips, I looked over at Abbott, who was now breathing as fast as if he were sprinting in a hundred-yard dash.

The moment Daniel pulled himself away from me after experiencing a powerful climax of his own, Abbott was behind me, and then he slid his rock-hard member inside of me just as fast and forcefully as Daniel had done.

Before the evening's sexual activities were over, I'd had a total of three climaxes, each one more powerful than the last. While Abbott had been bringing me to my third, my legs had begun shaking, something that had almost amused me, even while at the same time, I'd found it almost unspeakably erotic as well.

When the grandfather clock out in the living room struck eleven, the three of us were in bed resting together, Abbott at my back with an arm around me, and Daniel at my front, also with an arm around me.

With his free hand, he toyed with a stray lock of my hair. "So, so beautiful. Gorgeous. And not just your hair. All of you. Every single part, from the top of your head right down to the tips of your pretty little toes."

"You mean my stubby, short toes? I'm not quite so sure they're very pretty."

Daniel snorted, smiling. "Well, you're wrong. The very first time I saw them, when you were sporting the very unusual look of one sock on, and one sock off, I thought they were the daintiest, prettiest feet I'd ever seen in my life."

Doing the same as he'd just done, I snorted, smiling. "Well, I'm glad you think so highly of them, because I have to admit, I've never been a fan. But, hey...better than having no feet, or feet so big I'd have to special order clown shoes, right? I have to count my blessings."

Daniel smiled, still toying with my hair, and we both fell silent, just looking into each other's eyes. Several long yet comfortable moments went by before I spoke.

"I'm sorry that I made you think that you'd said something wrong the other night. It wasn't you; the whole Thanksgiving thing was an incredibly sweet gesture, but I was just upset because of some personal memories. Well, that and maybe the three glasses of wine I pretty much slammed. I'm not a very 'experienced' drinker, as if you probably couldn't already tell. But please just know I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, if I did."

It was true, and I genuinely was sorry. Which was something I'd never in a million years thought I'd feel in regard to a Darkness Coven leader.

With his pale blue eyes filling with pain, Daniel let my lock of hair slip through his fingers. "Please don't be sorry. I completely understood what was happening, and I understood that you were probably truly upset about something that you didn't want to talk about. If anyone should be apologizing, it's me.

“I wasn't really thinking, and I kept refilling your glass time and again, without realizing that you hadn't even yet had dinner. That wasn't very thoughtful or chivalrous of me, and I'm sorry for that. I want to let you know that I'm going to be more considerate of your needs in the future."

Just then, my stomach growled, and loudly enough to leave me absolutely mortified.

Daniel just smiled. "Did I just hear a need?"

I smiled in spite of my extreme embarrassment. "I'm afraid you did. I'd be lying if I said that a sandwich wouldn't hit the spot right about now. I can go get it myself, though. I'll just go make it and bring it right back to bed here."

"Not a chance. Let me go make it and bring it to you. What kind of a sandwich would you like? Do humans still enjoy bananas and sauerkraut on whole wheat?"

Not sure if he was joking or not, I didn't respond right away. "Did humans ever really like that kind of sandwich?"

Daniel frowned, furrowing his brows. "Sorry. I'll make you a different kind if you'd like. I tend to suggest the most asinine things sometimes. Makes me feel like a complete idiot."

At least two whole seconds ticked by before I could even speak. "Oh, Daniel...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to imply that what you said was stupid, or that I didn't appreciate your suggestion for my sandwich. It was just that that particular combination of fillings isn't something I'm familiar with, but I never meant to make you feel like-"

"Gotcha." He just looked at me, grinning. "That was
so
unbelievably easy. You fell for that hook, line, and-"

"Jerk!"

I swatted at him a few times, a little bit genuinely angry, but also trying to stifle laughter at the same time.

Chuckling, he didn't even bother to shield his shoulder and arms from my blows. "Bananas and sauerkraut on whole wheat? I may have not eaten regular food for hundreds of years, but even I know that's disgusting."

I gave his arm one last blow, an actual punch, and not a feather-light one, either. "Complete jerk. You made me feel terrible."

"Well, would a tuna and grape jelly on rye make you feel any better?"

Now I couldn't hold back my laughter, and I let it loose with my face pressed against his chest. "Please stop. You're ruining my appetite."

"Then let me go make your sandwich before you lose it completely. What kind of a sandwich would you
really
like?"

"A turkey-and-Swiss on whole wheat, please. With lettuce and tomato slices, and just a little bit of honey mustard. Oh, and now you made me want something else along with it, too."

"Just name it."

"Could you bring me a bowl of oatmeal with a spoonful of grape jelly on top?"

"Well, who's into the weird combinations now, Harper?"

I laughed again, snuggling even closer to him. "Yes, I know. I know. But it's something I used to eat as a kid, and it's actually really good. I'd make you try it if you weren't a bloodsucker."

"All right. Now you're using slurs. Not very nice. I'm so out of here."

I giggled, and Daniel pressed a kiss to my forehead before getting out of bed. "I'll be back with your sandwich and your weird oatmeal concoction as fast as I can. Keep your pretty little toes nice and toasty warm under the blankets until I return. I might want to nibble on them later."

With his full lips twitching, he leaned over and gave me another kiss, this one on the mouth, before pulling on his boxer-briefs and leaving the room.

Once I'd heard his footfalls down the length of the hallway, I rolled over to look at Abbott. "Did you hear the way he was teasing me? He actually-"

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

With my breath suddenly stuck in my throat, I didn't answer right away. "What?"

"I think I actually started falling on love with you the moment I saw you. You pulled open the door with a fire in your eyes that instantly seemed to melt some layer of ice around my heart that I didn't even know was there. And then a few nights ago...when you cried when you were upset about your Thanksgiving meal...as irritated as I was by some of the things you were saying, all I truly wanted to do when I saw that single tear roll down your cheek was take you in my arms and tell you that everything was going to be okay.

“And then when we made love the other day, and then again tonight...Harper, it's been a very long time since I've felt this way. I'm falling in love with you."

With some last fragment of ice around my own heart feeling as if it were melting, creating a lump in my throat, I couldn't respond.

After a few seconds, Abbott pulled me closer to his chest and looked at me with his expression pleading. "Well, do you feel the same? Is there any part of you, even a very small one that feels like you might be falling in love with me, too?"

Eyes misty, I extricated myself from his embrace and slowly sat up in bed, making a decision. "I have to tell you something, Abbott. Before we can go any further, I have to be completely honest with you about some things."

Suddenly frowning, he sat up in bed, too, glancing over at the open doorway for some reason as he did so. "Harper, don't. Don't do this. Not now."

"But I
have
to. I have to come clean about something. I misjudged you and Daniel about something, or you've changed from who you both once were a long time ago, before I was frozen, and I have to tell you both-"

"I know. I already know everything you're going to say."

Confused, I wiped my misty eyes with the back of my hand. "No, you can't possibly. What I'm going to say is something that is going to shock you, and probably even make you angry that I could even think such a thing about you, but-"

"Harper, please believe me. I already know everything you're going to say. I know. Please just trust me about this."

I wiped some other tears away with a strange, growing sense of urgency, feeling as if I had to continue now that I'd started. "Then, if you already know everything...if you really know the secrets I've been hiding...then, I need to call Daniel back in here so I can tell him, too, about who I really am, and why I was frozen." 

"Harper, please. You don't understand that-"

"I understand that I need to say everything out loud, right now, before I lose my nerve. I'll never be able to move forward with you and Daniel unless all three of us-"

"I am begging you, Harper. Not now."

"Why? So I can go through another day deceiving two men I now care about? I can't do it, Abbott. Even if you already know, there's still another person involved, here." I took a deep breath and cupped my hands around my mouth, facing the open doorway. "Daniel! Dan-"

My second shout of his name had been cut off by Abbott clamping a hand over my mouth.