Release Me When the Sun Goes Down (20 page)

I laughed at that.  “No, you won’t have to wear a suit unless it’s a special occasion and then you won’t have to wear a tie.  Not even if we go see the crowned heads of Europe.”

Lee’s posture eased at that.  “Then I’m good.  Oh, what’s your stance on cookin’ in the house?  I noticed you had a human on the staff, and I make a pretty mean brisket, but I understand if you don’t care for the smells in the house.”

“It’s fine by me, but we’ll have to see how Rob does with it, he’s still getting used to his enhanced senses.  We can always open a window if it gets to be too bad, I suppose.  Besides, you’re more likely to be cooking during the day while we’re conked out, right?”

“We can spank that pig when we come to it, I
reckon.  Miss Anja, I think this here could work out fine.”

“I do too, Lee,” I agreed, just as Rob poked his head into the room. 

“Everything alright here?”

“Better than alright,” I smiled, waving him in.  “I think Lee will make a perfect addition to the household.  Can you please ask Maggie about getting him one of the rooms upstairs?  Now that Mason’s gone we should have the space.” 

His face split into a rare smile.  “Grand.  I knew you two would get on.  Come with me then, mate, I’ll show you around.”  Rob lingered by the door, letting the older man go through first so he could catch my eye for a private wink before disappearing. 

With that settled, my gaze fell on the small box sitting on the corner of my desk, the gift from my parents.  Guilt settled in over how I’d treated them as I picked it up and untied the shiny red ribbon.  Inside the box was an ornate golden pitch pipe, the kind used to give a single note to a vocalist. 

It was beautiful, sure, but it represented the enormity of the rift between me and my parents.  A year ago I’d have been thrilled with the perfect present, but now it represented a life I no longer led.  Just like my mother didn’t like how bossy I’d turned out, I didn’t like how easily I’d let them guilt me into a life that made me uncomfortable in my own skin.  Well, no more. 

Opening the bottom drawer of my desk, I stuck the pitch pipe in the back corner and shut it away, unused.  No more scared
-of-her-own-shadow, eager-to-please, Anja.  Bossy Anja was in control now, and I’d be damned if I let either
Ellri
take that away from me.

“Does Rob like the ladies?”  Jenessa cornered me in the kitchen as soon as I woke up the next night. 

As soon as I recovered from the tea that went into my lungs instead of my stomach, I managed to croak
, “What?”

“Does he like the ladies, or does he steer the punt from the
Cambridge end?” she asked, all wide eyed and earnest. 

“Ah…”  Not that I had a clue what she meant in the literal sense,
but I kind of got the gist of it.  “He prefers women to men, if that’s what you mean.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

“Rob dated Bridget for a while when we were roommates.  I can guarantee you he likes the ladies just fine.”

“Oh.”  There was all manner of defeat in that one word and even though I knew I should stay out of it, I couldn’t help but ask.

“Why?”

“Because I’ve been laying down my best patter on him and he hasn’t so much as nibbled,” she said with a dramatic sigh, sinking onto one of the seats at the kitchen table. 

Okay, so on the inside I was doing a happy dance, but on the outside I tried my best to sound sympathetic.  “Really?  You two seemed to be getting along famously when you first moved in.”

“I thought so too, but ever since then, he almost seems to walk away whenever I’m near.”

“Maybe it’s a self control thing.  He’s going through a lot of changes right now.  Maybe he doesn’t trust himself around you.”

“I wouldn’t mind if he had a taste.”

Ick, ick, eewh… For the love of God, make the mental pictures go away…
  I clutched the mug so hard the handle snapped off in my hand, and I rose to put it in the sink before she noticed.  “I thought you were um, interested in rekindling things with Mac, or wasn’t there that guy in Seattle you mentioned?”

“I’m not
much into long distance relationships,” she shrugged.  “Besides, Rob’s even sexier now that he’s a vampire.  You’ve honestly never seen him that way?”

“Ah…” 
Frak
, what was I supposed to say now?  My ears scanned the house hoping someone was nearby to rescue me from having to answer, but Maggie was poking around in her room and Lee snored softly in his.  Even Hanna was watching TV quietly in my sitting room downstairs.  No such luck.  “I don’t know, what can I say?  He’s probably the best friend I have right now.” 
Not a lie…
  “Starting anything extra with him would probably get complicated.” 
Definitely not a lie…
  “Besides, I have both Jakob and Bishop interested in me, I’m not looking for any more complications right now.”  

“Then you don’t mind if I keep trying?”

I turned away from the sink, my head tilting to one side as I studied her.  Jenessa had an elegant beauty about her that I could never hope to achieve.  Why she felt the need to pursue these men was beyond me.  “Um… excuse me for being blunt, but why would you want to?  If he’s not interested, why keep trying?  Why not find someone who wants to chase you for a change?”

“I suppose it’s my competitive nature, I like to win,” she smiled.

“Happy hunting then, I guess.  Only don’t feel bad if you never turn his head.  Maybe you’re not his type?”  Time to change the subject.  “Other than that, are you settling in well?”

“Yes, it’s
somewhat strange not having my own place, but it’s very comfortable, thanks.  I don’t suppose the new bloke’s open minded?” 

It took me a minute to switch tacks back to the dating thing.  “Lee?”  Wasn’t he old enough to be her… scratch that, I kept forgetting Jenessa was a lot older than she looked. 

“Yes, him.  He’s got a certain weathered charm I can appreciate and there’s something to be said for experience.”

I could vouch for that with Rob, but I held my tongue.  “I don’t know, he didn’t seem to have any prejudices when we spoke, but we didn’t get into his social life.  Have you dated a werewolf before?”

“No, but there’s a first time for everything.  They’ve got more stamina than humans and you don’t have to worry so much about breaking them.”

How romantic.  “You’d probably have to ask him about it.”

“Maybe I will,” she brightened.

* * *

“Hey, sleepyhead.”  I sat on the edge of Rob’s bed to shake him awake.  Normally I liked to let him sleep in until he naturally rose, but Jenessa had taken Maggie out shopping and Hanna was upstairs playing Texas Hold ‘Em with Lee, so we had some relative privacy for the moment.   

“Hey,” he murmured, his voice low and roughened with sleep.  “Something amiss?”

“Nope, just thought I’d ask you something to help settle a bet.”

His brows crinkled closer in confusion.  “What kind of bet?”

“You do like the ladies, don’t you?”

“Come again?”

“Jenessa was wondering, and seeing as how I haven’t been close enough to you to tell lately…”

That’s as far as I got before he grabbed hold of me with one arm and pulled me into the bed beside him, growling, “I’ll show you how much I like the ladies.”  He covered my neck with raspy kisses, making me giggle uncontrollably until we settled under the comforter, my hair half strewn across my face as I fought for breath. 

“Hullo,” he rumbled, brushing the strands away from my forehead.

I smiled up at him, my arms sliding around his waist.  “Hi.”

“You shouldn’t be in here like this.”  But he didn’t make any move to let me go. 

“I know.  It’s
only Lee and Hanna in the house though, their hearing isn’t as good.” 

“It is with you making such a ruckus.”

“I could always say you did something funny to make me laugh.” 

“Because I’m known for acting the comedian?”  He raised a single brow.

“Then don’t tickle me with your scruff and I won’t be so loud.  When’s the last time you shaved anyway?”

“I thought you liked me like this.”

“I do yesterday or tomorrow, today is that super prickly stage,” I said, rubbing my jaw along the side of his.

“I see,” he said seriously.  “And how will you explain what I done to make this sound?”  In the space of a breath he ducked under the comforter, tugging up the corner of my shirt to nip at the tender skin underneath my ribs.  He was probably going for the tease, but the second I arched up under him it became something else.   His mouth closed over my flesh, no longer tickling, but kissing and nuzzling his way back up to my neck.  This time it didn’t tickle one bit as my head lolled to the side, giving him better access. 

“So soft…” he murmured against my skin, pressing intimately against me and my legs parted to accept him.  This was dangerous, and I never wanted it to end.  Rob’s lips closed over mine and I moaned against his mouth.  I couldn’t help it, I wanted to taste him so badly. 

“We have to stop,” he whispered, even as his hands skimmed lower.

“I know.”  But neither one of us did.

He was the one to break the silence as my hand wrapped around his length, hard and ready for me
, and I laid a finger to his lips.  “Shh, the only way this works is if we’re absolutely silent.  Or do you want me to stop?”

He looked up at me, helpless to the passion clouding his hazel eyes when I held him in my grasp.  “Don’t stop,” he breathed.  “Don’t ever stop.”

There was a bit of maneuvering and then I slid down onto him, our gazes holding each other as tightly as our bodies, intent on sharing the exquisite joining the only way we could when deprived of our voices.  It built between us, a sheen of sweat lending an extra glide to our bodies that made it harder to control when everything inside me screamed to take him hard and fast. 

It was torture, it was bliss… it went on and on, lips muffling all but the sound of
shaky breaths and the soft press against the mattress.  And slow, so slow I thought I might die as every slide of flesh against flesh was drawn out until I practically vibrated to let go and grind against him like I wanted to.  Rob felt it too, I could sense it in the coil of his muscles, the way his hands gripped my hips with bruising strength, desperately fighting against his own need to break free and give in. 

“Bugger this,” he muttered finally, tearing his mouth from mine.  The next thing I knew, Rob flipped me onto my back.  Before I could so much as protest the withdrawal
, he grabbed me roughly by the hips and hooked my leg up high over his shoulder, plunging into me with a long, hard stroke.  After the slow, drawn out beginning, it only took three strokes before I was gasping and straining at the sheets, my face turned into the pillow to keep from crying out as he pounded into me deeper and faster with every piston of his powerful hips. 

My body trembled under his, sharp teeth piercing my own lip in an effort to keep quiet.  As the scent of my blood filled the air he plunged his fangs into my neck, his hips never slowing as he drank.  It was all I could do to clamp my own mouth over his shoulder in time to bite back the cry of ecstasy as I soared higher.  There was nothing slow or soft about the release that tore me apart, and in that instant
, I couldn’t care less if the entire house heard the sounds of the pleasure that pierced my soul.   

Rob shuddered above me as I drank from him in kind and all of a sudden
, I believed those stories Jenessa had told of vampire lovers who withered away and died, lost in each other’s embrace.  I never wanted to move again.  All I wanted was for it to go on and on forget the world even existed. 

But eventually sanity prevailed as our bodies slowly returned to Earth.  I listened intently, but couldn’t make out the sounds of anything other than the continued card game upstairs, Lee’s deep voice eliciting softer chuckles from Hanna.  Maybe they’d heard us and maybe not.  At the time I couldn’t bring myself to care very much. 

“You make me reckless,” Rob said finally, kissing the top of my cheek as he released my leg.  “That was far too dangerous.”

Dangerous, but definitely worth it.  “I don’t think they heard anything.  We weren’t all that loud, no thanks to you.” 

“I didn’t hear you complaining none at the time,” he smirked, full of male pride. 

“Where’s that gag when I need it?” I teased.

“That’s something we can try later, but for now, you’d best be off and get cleaned up before the others are about.” 

Raucous laughter came from above as Lee entertained my sister. 
If we could hear them… 
“Fine, I’ll go,” I sighed, rooting around under the covers until I came up with the rest of my discarded clothes.  “You know, we could shower together.  Aren’t we in a drought right now?  It’s our civic duty to conserve water.”  I could see him actually think it over and that made me laugh as I climbed out of bed.  “On second thought, you remember what happened the last time we showered together, don’t you?”