Eden's Charms (30 page)

“Aunt Raven!” Savanah’s voice blared. The door to the stall opened again and Raven exited. Seeing Savanah her cheeks went brilliant red.

“How much were you privy to?”

“Too bleeding much. Wow! That man is dangerous, and I can’t believe you can’t see that. I can’t believe you just did that. Here!”

“Savanah, I said I would handle my love life.”

“Yes, and what a beautiful job you’re doing, Auntie.” Savanah turned and headed out. “You coming? Again? Try being a tad more discreet the next time.”

“Savanah, this is none of your business. Leave it be.”

“Really? You of all people taught me to trust my instincts and trust me, they’re screaming obscene things over that vamp and you just allowed that—that whatever he is into your life. Literally!”

Savanah watched Raven climb the steps even slower than she went down. If she had a tail like a few of the werewolves in their home it would have been tucked securely between her legs. Back to the top level of the restaurant, Raven looked around the bar through guilt-ridden eyes and turned away from Savanah’s scorned gaze. An awkward silence suffocated Savanah. It had never been there before, and Savanah didn’t like it one iota. Having a sneaking suspicion the bastard hadn’t vacated the vicinity as easily as he did the restroom, Savanah pointed to the bar. And there Donovan sat, next to Seamus, his arm around the owner making idle chit-chat.

“You should go talk to him. Talk, you know the meaning of the word. Please keep your clothes on this time though.” Savanah couldn’t contain her anger or hurt that her aunt would place herself in this man’s vice and bring with it the possibility of more foul play. Or hurt Payton and Jonah. Was she being too critical? Too judgmental? Possibly, but she knew with every breath the man at the bar was rotten to the core. Making her aunt see the light of day might take some finagling.

“Did you get lost? You don’t look so well.” Serina looked at Savanah and without saying a word or needing to she stood in haste. Savanah’s emotions and thoughts were plastered all over her face better than a billboard with big bold letters exposing Raven’s exploits out there for the world to see.

“I think I might like spend some time with my daughter,” Serina said as she stood and walked toward the exit.

“Works for me,” Oblivious, Jovan babbled through a yawn. “The two in me tummy have been kicking all day. How you feel, Molly?”

Molly rubbed her belly. “Gaseous.”

“Get used to it.” Jovan winked.

Raven made it as far as the door and turned back. “I’ll meet you in a minute.”

Savanah was on her heels better than a wad of gum on a hot sunny day.

Raven approached the bar and stood between Seamus and Donovan. “Seamus, I just wanted you to know—”

Seamus cut Raven off. “Raven St. James. Heard oodles about you over the years. You are very much as beautiful as the tales I’ve been told. Meet my junior partner, Donovan Drake. Donovan’s more like my silent partner.”

Savanah cozied up to the bar and wormed in between Seamus and Donovan. “I could stifle him on a permanent basis if you’d prefer, make him truly silent.” Savanah’s frosted glare met Donovan’s surprised look, and Raven’s seething cast. At that second, she had two things she wanted. One, to grab her aunt and run. And two, to rip out Donovan’s olive-colored eyes, drop them in a martini and chomp them to bits. Instead, she picked up Donovan’s shot glass and downed the smooth bourbon in one long gulp.

Seamus’ amusement spread across his face. “I happen to like my partner, Savanah, and I think I’m not the only one”—he nodded to Raven—“but if the time comes when I want him staked, I’ll call.”

“Promise?” Savanah asked. “Aunt Raven? Let’s roll.” She grabbed Raven’s hand and proceeded out the door, laughter chasing them.

****

The sound of the Payton’s engine revving, wheels spinning, and gravel spitting out raced up the stairs faster than the car could flee down the driveway. “Did you hear that?” Savanah asked Ethan. “That can’t be good.”

“I have a feeling our meal ticket just drove off with the family recipes. I’m never getting those cookies now!” Ethan pouted.

“I knew this would end badly.”

“I can’t believe you found her in the restroom with Vonnie. Wow! Do me a favor, Savage? If you ever feel like you want another lover, don’t sneak off and do it. Invite whoever it is into our bed. I’m not saying I’m willing to make us a threesome permanently like your aunt did, but curiosity wins out sometimes.”

“Not to worry, Mr. Kitt. There’s no need for third parties in our bedchamber. Ever.”

“Toys?” The ever-present twinkle in his eye glistened. Angling his head into the side of Savanah’s neck, he nibbled.

“What toy have you stashed away under here?” Savanah bit at her bottom lip as she tugged at the zipper on Ethan’s pants. It didn’t budge. “What? Is this thing crazy glued in place?”

“You’re joking right?”

“Hell no! You’re glued shut.” She tugged harder at the zipper.

“I’ll bet your father and uncle did this to me when I fell asleep during the baseball game.”

Laughter bellowed through their room. “That’ll teach ya for nodding off during the game. That’s almost as bad as going to church and napping.”

After a minute of struggling with his zipper, Ethan gave up.

“Come on, Savvy, tell me you’ve never crashed in church. That’s how I survived most of my Sundays as a kid. It was that or fake sneezing when Father came down the aisle with his incense and left everyone in a hazy cloud.”

“Eth, I haven’t prayed in church in eons. My Mum always told me I could pray anywhere I deemed fit.”

“Pip, help me out of these things! Can’t you use some magic on them?” Ethan tried to wiggle out of the pants.

“Eth, you’d be naked all day if I could do that. My mom has that ability. She can fashion up a wardrobe in a split second. Me? I can make Holland’s flowers look like a little roadside stand. I have the original green thumb.”

Ethan’s half grin appeared. “What of God? Do you believe in him?”

“That’s a loaded question. I want to believe there is someone up there looking after my family, but then you flick on the telly and all you see is doom and gloom and how people blow each other up, children shoot their friends in schools or malls or even worse, all the sickness and death, it’s hard to trust in faith. Doesn’t sound like God, but more like the Devil, if you ask me. What about you?”

“Complete believer in heaven and hell, the devil, the antichrist, the archangels, cupid…the tooth fairy, Tinkerbelle. I’m a freakin’ werewolf, Savanah, what’s not to believe? Everything is a balancing act. The sun, the moon. Some days God’s got the scales tipped in his favor and other days Lucifer’s tampered with the weights. ’Course you’d have to expect that from the devil. We can’t control the weather any better than we can control our neighbor’s actions.” His face red, he still struggled to free the zipper.

Savanah cleared her throat.

“All right, Mother Nature’s helper, but for the most part…when we were created we were given free will and each one of us made our own Heaven or Hell. That, of course, impacts everyone else. How we deal with the situations tossed at us is what counts. I think everything is fate related. It’s what brought me to you.”

Savanah smiled as Ethan babbled and finally got the zipper apart. Broken, but apart.

“Let me change, and we’ll go for a ride and grab some dinner.”

Savanah pouted.

“There’s a pretty face,” he teased, as he ran a gentle finger across her lips.

“I wanted to blow up your balloon.”

Ethan stopped dead in his tracks and with a fist pump, mouthed the word “Yes” to her.

“Looks like I’m getting a little help. Your balloon’s rising on its own.” Savanah stood by the side of the bed, and slipped out of her sweater. With a slowness only a sloth could appreciate, she undid her pants and wiggled them to her knees. With a quick turn she flashed him her bottom.

Enthusiasm high, Ethan watched. After getting the pants down around her ankles, she slid onto the bed and kicked her feet in his face.

“Would you be so kind as to remove these pants?”

In a flash her pants and panties disappeared.

“You cheat, Eth. I was going to finish my little dance and get the undies off for you.”

“Another time. Right now, my balloon’s ready to set sail.” Ethan pointed south.

Savanah dipped her head toward him. Licking her lips in a slow seductive manner, which almost cost Ethan the ride.

“Come to me, baby,
please
?” Hands clasped in front of him.

Ethan closed his eyes when her lips met his flesh, and she trailed kisses down his shaft. He threw his head back and relaxed to the rhythm of his woman while she worked her magic and sucked the very life out of him. “Jesus, you know what you’re doing.”

“I’m cheating, Baby…”

His fingers tugged her hair. “No—no talking yet.” She couldn’t stop. He’d never experienced anything in his life like this.

Savanah tightened her lips around his shaft as she went down, then she released pressure and dragged her tongue slowly up his pleasuring tool. He wasn’t going to last long at all with this attention. With pursed lips, inch by slow inch she swallowed him down. At the base of his penis she feathered her fingers over his balls as she sucked his shaft and in the next breath of his air a sensation started right where her lips were…Coincidence? Not this time. Pleasure pulsed throughout his entire body. She had him. It was over that fast. He lost his control and felt his body come. Savanah’s eyes watered when his seed spilled down her throat. One huge gulp and it disappeared.

“So you swallow?”

She licked her lips. “I was taught it isn’t polite for women to spit, ever. I’m pretty sure my mom didn’t have this in mind when she said it though!” She produced a sinful grin.

Ethan pinned her to the bed on her back. With one hand he slid his fingers between the folds of her private lips, and he tapped out his own tune on her mons. Savanah’s hips danced with Ethan’s fingers slow, intimate as her orgasm built.

Ethan kissed her through the soft murmurs, and shakes her body delivered. “You’ve taught me the meaning of love, Savanah St. James. And I’m going to spend eternity practicing it on you.”

From the tip of her nose to her toes, Ethan kissed every square inch of Savanah’s body. A few ticklish spots were stored for a rainy day; behind her ear, inside her thigh, and the bottom of her foot.

“Eth, do we have to go out tonight? I’d just as soon stay here with you all night. I can go raid the fridge if you like.”

“I got this one, Baby. I’ll be back soon.”

“Eth, I…”

He placed his finger to her lips, silencing her. He winked as he finished pulling the belt through his new pants and headed out the door. “Don’t move. And dear God, don’t get dressed.”

****

Two hours later empty cardboard cartons covered the floor. Savanah lay draped over Ethan’s exhausted body, both of them spent from a marathon lovemaking. His arms held her safe within his, his lips pressed to her forehead, sound asleep. Lying beside him, she’d never been more fulfilled, complete. Savanah focused on the television’s pretty blue screen and listened to Korn’s,
Tearjerker
sifting through the vents from Julian’s room. She finally gave in to the need to close her eyes. She didn’t want the day to end, it had been so perfect.

Chapter Fourteen

“I smell steak and eggs. Payton’s back! Come on, Eth.” Savanah sprang out of her retreat rejuvenated, headache she’d acquired earlier—gone, her appetite voracious. She tugged on Ethan’s limp arm.

“Sweets, save yourself. I need sleep. I can’t keep up with your body’s demands. You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” Ethan growled as he dragged her back into their bed and under the covers. “Get over here you little minx.”

Without struggle, Savanah scooted under Ethan’s large frame and angled herself for easier access to anything he had planned or more importantly, what she hoped he had in mind. Legs were spread, her tummy growled, but no longer for food.

“Hey, you,” she teased as she slid her hands over his muscle-clad buns of steel. A wee bit lower and around his front she found her personal vibrator solid, warm, waiting to be inserted and ready to pulse. “Who’s trying to kill whom?”

“Good morning, little nut. My plan today is to love you to death.” Ethan’s lips met Savanah’s gently. “Want to work up an appetite first?”

“What? You want to go to the gym?”

“No. I thought you could be my work out buddy. We could pump a few things…” Ethan pressed his hips into her groin, his erection in hard contact with her more sensitive areas. “Then maybe we could lift a few weights.” This time he fondled her breasts, flicked her nipples and watched them pebble. Dipping his head, he said, “Ah, an appeteaser.”

“A what?” she asked, watching his eyes go dangerously dark.

“An appeteaser. Kinda like an appetizer, but more fun and zero calories.” He traced circles around her areola, enticing her nipple to the point it could explode. “Then I thought maybe we’d work up a sweat, ya know, get really physical and then hop into a nice steamy shower and relax. Then round number two….”

Savanah laughed at his antics. “Hum…. Do I really need a workout?” She felt his hand move between her thighs to work out the one area the sun wasn’t going see, not even if she was on a nude beach—alone. His fingers were meticulous, delicate, stroking her in sweet tantalizing brushes. Breathless she said, “A—workout—seems most doable.”

“Ah—one—and—a—two.”

“All right, let’s get physical,” Savanah grunted back.

Ethan began to sing, and Savanah laughed. His voice melted her even more so when he slid his microphone in between her legs. Ethan’s female impressions of one of the 1980’s notorious pop queens left a lot to be desired.

“Stop with the singing, Eth, and just do me like an animal.”

“There’s another one of my favorite songs in there.”

“When isn’t there?” she teased. “Stop those flapping lips and mount me, you animal.”

And he did. One hour later the two of them were in the shower, on the floor, both too exhausted to stand.

****