Tempest of Vengeance (21 page)

“I love you both,” I said, and they
disappeared. I sat down on the couch, rubbing my temples.

“Did they leave because of me?” Lash asked
quietly, startling me as he sat down next to me, his hair still wet
from the shower.
He had hurried to come back as fast as he
could
. I felt a stab of anger at Jenny, because I’d have liked
to have Elle and T spend more time with Lash and me, and also Venus
and Devlin.

“No,” I answered, leaning on his shoulder.
“They have to get back to set up a tree with Theo and Jenny. It had
nothing to do with you.”

Lash hugged me. “I’m sorry. This can’t be
easy for you.”

“You being here makes it easier,” I said,
burrowing into him. “I—”

“You set up a tree?” Devlin exclaimed,
entering the room with Venus. “Why didn’t you tell me, come get me
and V? We would have liked to help!”

Seeing V’s upset expression, I promptly felt
worse than before. Surprisingly, it was Lash who made the save.
“You can still help,” he said quickly. “For some reason, we are
missing a vital part of the tree, unless there is a new fad I’m not
aware of.”

I looked up, then narrowed my eyes. Theo was
not about to part with his memories, not a one of them. Our tree
had no star.

The three of them looked at me.

Time for Mom to save the day
. I went
to my craft room, and came back with a spool of silver thread, a
needle, heavy wire, some silver material, some pipe cleaners,
silver glass beads, a Sharpie marker in black, and scissors.

“Cut out a star,” I said, and handed Devlin
the scissors and material. “Leave me room to sew the edges
together, about an inch.”

“Bend this into the shape of a star,
depending on how big he makes it,” I said, handing the wire to
Lash. “And make a spring on the bottom, to fit onto the tree.”

“What about me?” Venus said with desperation.
“I want to help!”

“You will, when they finish,” I said, hugging
her. “You need to tell me where to put the beads on the star, so it
shines like a real star does. And I’ll need help sewing the edges
closed.”

“Okay,” she said with gusto. “Hurry up,
Dad!”

Devlin grimaced, but he was already nearly
done, and he handed me the cloth. He’d done a good job. But then,
he’d become skilled with scissors, with all the doll clothes he’d
cut out for V.

Lash was having more trouble with the wire,
not because it was so heavy a gauge, but because he was so strong,
it bent more than he wanted it to. But he, too, was nearly
finished.

Venus showed me where to put the beads, and I
sewed them by hand on the silver cloth. And then we all went into
the sewing room, and I helped her sew the edges of the star
together on the machine, leaving a big enough gap to turn it the
right side out.

I slid it over the wire, pushed in a little
stuffing, and then whip-stitched it closed. We went back out to the
tree, and I handed the marker around, and we all signed the bottom
of it, Venus with a wobbly “V”, then Devlin dated it. Then he
lifted her up, and she put it on top, completing our perfect
Christmas tree.

* * * *

Even though Ulysses didn’t show himself in
those last days before Christmas, the feeling of foreboding
lingered in the air like the scent of burned flesh. Lash put in a
few hours every day on the computer looking for Ulysses, and spent
time with Titus teleporting to the places Ulysses had been seen, or
where previous attacks had been made. But he still could find no
trace of him. Devlin told me quietly that had never happened before
and it was easy to see that frustrated Lash, as he came home in
terrible moods and spent hours in the gym afterwards alone,
“working out his anger” as he called it.

But the other problem was Lash himself.

Chapter
Seven

Lash now spent every night with Devlin and
me. He appeared about ten or eleven, and climbed in bed beside me,
usually settling down against my back. Devlin wasn’t about to give
up his favored spot of sleeping on my chest, which he expected to
be empty for him when he wandered in about four or five a.m. But
usually after one coupling each, Lash and Devlin acted content to
just hold me, and sleep. They also both abided by my rule, which
was if I was sleeping, they didn’t wake me, and if they woke me, it
was not just for sex.

During the days while Devlin slept, I was
awake and busy. And Lash began to come to me for sex. When he
showed up at nine a.m. Monday morning in my sewing room, and closed
the door behind him, I knew at once by his grin what he had in
mind. I didn’t mind: I’d half expected it, that he would come to me
in the days so we could be alone. I was as eager as he was, as we’d
been unable to touch like that for so long. I put my sewing aside
at once, and almost ran to him, throwing my arms around him as my
mouth opened on his.

Lash kissed me passionately, immediately
easing me down to the floor, as he unbuckled his belt. He had me
there on the carpet quickly, amidst the piles of old velvet. Lash
kissed me gently afterwards, as he was pulling on his pants, then
helped me to my feet. “Will you be here, for the next few hours?”
Lash said, his hand already on the doorknob.

“Yes,” I said, confused. “I want to put in a
few hours on this—”

“Then I’ll be back soon, for a longer visit
with you,” Lash said with a leer. “I didn’t get to hear my name,
and I’ll be looking forward to that later.” He left with a last
parting grin.

Why was he acting so oddly? Maybe he was
trying to be funny? Guess I’d have to wait and see.

An hour later, he was back and had me again.
And the next hour, and the next. We had lunch together at noon with
V and Serena, some sandwiches I had made. The afternoon was the
same, though by then I was in Devlin’s office using the computer,
and the floor there was a little harder, but I didn’t mind. I liked
Lash’s enthusiasm, and enjoyed his caresses. I loved that he
couldn’t seem to get enough of me, and to hear that satisfied note
in his voice after I’d come for him.

But by the middle of the second day, I was
beginning to get sore from all his attention. It was also getting
hard for me to orgasm, because I’d had so much sex. There was also
the problem that I couldn’t get much work done, as just as soon as
I got back into whatever I was doing, Lash would show up again. In
short, I needed a break. So, after the eleventh time, as he was
pulling on his pants, I stopped him.

“Lash, I have to ask, is this, um, normal for
you?”

He buttoned his jeans, then buckled his belt.
“It’s because I’m younger than I was,” he said proudly. “Theo
probably wasn’t like this, I know.”

Well, sometimes he had been, but I wasn’t
going to say anything. Next Lash would think this was some sort of
competition.

“I just feel like I’m twenty again, Sar. And
now that we can be together like this, I want you as much as you
will let me have you.” Lash looked down at me, suddenly concerned.
“Are you sore? Did I hurt you?”

“I’m a little sore,” I admitted. “I want you
to be happy, but—”

“I am very happy, to be your lover again,”
Lash interrupted, kissing me. “But I don’t have to take so long, if
it’s a problem. I’ll be really quick from now on.”

Wait a minute. He is going to be quick?
That’s his solution?

“Just tell me, when you want to come, when I
have you,” Lash said lustily. “And I’ll make sure you do. Tell me,
too, if you want me to go down on you, or...other things. I need to
get back to my training. I’ll see you shortly, Sar.”

Abruptly, he was gone again, leaving me to
sink back into my chair and ponder what he’d meant by “other
things.” It was surprising that he hadn’t offered to give me a
break, like he had back in the Everglades. Maybe with enough time,
he’d relax, and some of his desire for me would lessen. As much as
I wanted him to want me, this was too much.

Wednesday, Lash was gone on his job. But
Thursday, Lash seemed to be insatiable. No matter how many times he
had me, he still seemed to want me as much as he had the first
time. But he had me fast now, climaxing in the space of a minute,
where before he’d taken five or ten. Since I spent most of that day
working on my sewing, trying hard to finish Venus’s present, he
knew right where to find me. Even then, I couldn’t make myself
refuse him; I loved pleasing him that way. I treasured his eager
moans when he first pushed into me, and his loud cries as he came
inside me. As always, I cherished the way he held me so tightly to
him when he came, as if he could never put his body far enough
inside mine. But part of me was sad, too, because for all the times
he’d made love to me, he never said anything to me about his
feelings for me. He never told me he loved me, or that he was in
love with me. And being told I felt good just wasn’t the same.

I told myself not to be surprised. He wasn’t
the type to bare his heart easily. But as the days went by, I began
to wonder if he did love me.

* * * *

Things came to a head on Friday afternoon.
I’d just finished sewing for the day, and been heading into the
kitchen for a drink of water. I grabbed a glass, filled it at the
sink, and drank it down greedily. It tasted so good, but I was
thirsty. I’d been having sex all afternoon. Lash had come to me
almost every half hour.
It’s good I was almost done, or I never
would have finished V’s present...

Then I felt Lash behind me, rubbing his body
against mine. I didn’t have to look to know he was erect again; I
felt him against my rear as he moved his hips suggestively against
me. I gave a mental sigh as I felt him reaching up from behind me
to squeeze my breasts.

“Come upstairs with me,” Lash hissed. “We
have a few minutes.”

I’d had enough of the “wham, bam, thank you,
Sar” treatment. “Sorry, I’m busy,” I said, not turning around to
him. “Maybe later.”

“I’ll make it worth your while, my
Sweetness,” he said in my ear. Then he began kissing down my neck,
his hooked fangs brushing me.

“Anything I want?” I said, keeping my back to
him.

“Anything you want that won’t take more than
a half hour.”

“No can do,” I answered, smirking a bit. “I
need more than that.”

“Why does it always have to be what you
want?” Lash hissed in my ear, real anger in his voice. “What about
what I want? What I need?”

I turned my head to look at him, anger in my
eyes. Why was he irritated? I’d given him what he wanted all
fucking week! Almost every fucking hour! Today had been too much.
What was I? A sex slave?

Then it hit me.
Lash needs to have sex as
a snake
. He’d told me that human sex brought the desire to have
sex in animal form. Well, maybe it was Theo who had told me that, I
couldn’t remember. How could I not have known that at once? Maybe
Devlin had told him I was planning on coming to him as a snake, and
he was just trying to hold off until I could, but he needed this in
the meantime.

My anger left me in a rush, and my love for
him welled up inside me. I turned around, and reached down for him,
sliding my hand over the hardness of him. He hissed sharply, and
kissed me hard, grinding himself against me.

“Come upstairs,” he whispered, breaking the
kiss.

“If you need me, I’m always here for you,” I
whispered, stroking him.

“I need you
now
,” Lash hissed eagerly.
“Come with me. Now!”

I put down the glass I was holding, and took
his hand. He half led, half dragged me to Devlin’s bedroom, and lay
me back on the bed, pulling off my jeans, hissing loudly. He pulled
off my underwear next, and pushed my legs apart, sliding into me
immediately. He let out a loud hiss of pleasure, hammering himself
into me as fast as he could, sliding his hands up under my top to
cup my breasts. He squeezed them, massaging them as he thrust into
me again and again. A second later, he shoved himself deeply into
me, riding me to the bed as he came, reflexively clenching his
muscles again and again as he let go inside me with a snarl of
pleasure. It was then I realized the door to the bedroom was still
wide open.

Thank God Devlin had taken Venus to Titus’s
house for the afternoon. He’d said they had some business matters
to discuss, and I’d just nodded, not wanting to hear if it had
anything to do with anymore fake construction work. At least there
was no one here to walk in on us.

Lash pulled out of me almost immediately, and
I felt suddenly used. He’d done that all week, as soon as he was
sated, after I’d told him I was a little sore. Why didn’t he want
to cuddle with me like we used to? We did at night, but only when
we slept, when Devlin was with us. Did he not care about me
anymore, besides liking sex with me? Or was this all it had been
all along, and I’d been too blind to see it?

I rolled over on the bed away from him,
drawing my knees to my chest, trying not to give in to tears.

Lash went to reach for me, and I recoiled. He
froze, and pulled his hand back at once. He sat on the bed, his
arms close to me but not touching me. “I want to be with you again,
if you’ll let me. But I needed to come first, Sar. I wasn’t going
to last long enough to bring you this first time.”

There was more going on here than that, and
it was time I said something. “Never mind that. You said you’d do
what I asked.”

I felt him move closer, and run his hands
over my arms. When I didn’t flinch, or tell him to stop, he hugged
me. “What do you want?” he said, kissing my neck. “Oral sex? To be
in the shower? In the truck? On a table? To be on the piano
keyboard? Just tell me what you want and I’ll do it.”

Where had he got that last one?
Whoa.
“No,” I stammered, trying to focus. “I need to know something.”