Tempt Me When the Sun Goes Down (30 page)

Frankly, Bishop was relieved when he couldn’t find Carys anywhere.  There was no doubt in his mind she was in an intimate clinch with someone, and that was the last thing he wanted to walk in on.  But after how upset Anja was, he’d conducted a discreet search of the house, and she hadn’t turned up in any of the usual spots, including the suite she shared with Jakob.  He couldn’t find Rob either, and that seemed to cinch it.  Carys was up to her old tricks again.

Even though he knew he should be feeling some kind of jealousy knowing Rob was with her right now, all Bishop could dredge up was relief.   While he didn’t like the idea of Anja suffering for it, he couldn’t help but take a tiny speck of pleasure in the fact that it drove a wedge between her and Rob –
that
troubled him more than anything else.  Shouldn’t he want Anja to find happiness, even if it was in the arms of another man?  He’d moved on, hadn’t he?

He went to go tell Anja that he hadn’t found them anywhere, then decided not to.  She was surrounded by a crowd of admirers, smiling and chatting animatedly.  What right did he have to take her away from all that when she’d found a distraction?  What right did he have to keep any feelings for Anja at all after he’d chosen Carys? 

Her earlier question came back to him – why did he love Carys?  It bothered him more than he liked to admit that he hadn’t had a ready answer.  If asked the same thing about why he’d loved Anja, Bishop could rattle off a dozen ways she’d touched his life and made him want to be a part of hers.  The fact that Anja still took his breath away was something he’d been pondering on his lone search through the mansion.  Should he be feeling that way if Carys was truly the one he was supposed to be with?

He loved Carys, she was everything he’d ever wanted. 

But why?

Amunet tried to draw him into conversation, but he wasn’t interested in fencing with her, or any of the others at the party.  Instead he decided to call it an early night, maybe hole up in his room with his laptop and sneak in some work while Carys was distracted.  He slipped out of the party without making any goodbyes.  If Carys wasn’t worried about being polite to her guests, why should he care?

Bishop was already mentally cataloging a list of tasks he could see to when he opened his door to find Carys and Rob, naked in
his
bed.  He stopped short, utterly surprised that she’d chosen
there
for her tryst.  Was she doing it to make him jealous?  Not in the mood for her games, he was about to leave them be and go find somewhere else to work, when Carys beckoned to him.

“Join us,” she smiled, as Rob continued to kiss her shoulder, unconcerned with his arrival. 

“No thanks,” Bishop replied with remarkable calm considering the fact that he wanted to drag her out of his bed by the hair for being such a bitch.

Carys didn’t lose her sultry smile at his refusal.  “We’ve shared these pleasures before.”

Sure, when he’d been blood crazy or at her insistence, never his.  “That’s not my thing anymore.”  And he definitely wouldn’t have picked Rob to share their bed.

Carys sat up, exposing more of her creamy skin.  “Surely you haven’t changed so much.  You’re not jealous, are you?”  The thought seemed to please her, but all Bishop felt was distaste when he looked at them.

“Nope.  You two can bang ’til the sun comes up for all I care, just leave me out of it.”  His hands came up in a wave of dismissal but before he could turn around and leave, she called him back.

“Ulrik…  Join us.”  Her voice changed, became harder, more insistent, and Bishop couldn’t look away from her terrible gaze.  He knew what she’d done, she hadn’t bothered to hide it, but that didn’t stop him from having to comply.  His feet took him to the side of the bed, even as his jaw clenched in anger.

That only seemed to excite her and she went up on her knees to meet him at the side of the bed.  “Ooh, you’re very angry with me, aren’t you?  Wouldn’t you like to punish me?”

“I’d like to wring your neck,” he answered honestly enough, his hands closing around her slender throat. 

“Perhaps later,” she laughed.  “For now, I have a better use for those hands.”  It wasn’t a request.

His hands slid over her curves, hitting all the spots he knew she liked best, trying to get it over with as quickly as possible.  He’d service her because he had no choice, but he for damned sure wasn’t happy about it.

Her head fell back, lips parted in delight as she reached behind her for Rob.  “Kiss me,” she urged the other man and Bishop didn’t care, as long as he wasn’t the one who had to do it.  If she got her jollies from having them both rub up on her, maybe it’d be over faster.  “Very nice,” she approved, stroking both men intimately, and Bishop was ashamed to feel his body starting to respond. 

“How do you want it?” Rob asked, his voice low and gravelly at her ear.  “The both of us taking turns, or at the same time?”  Whether by compulsion or his own sexual freedom, he didn’t appear to have a problem with the threesome.

“Mmm, I think I’d actually like to start with something else,” she decided, letting go of them to scoot to the edge of the bed.  “Bathe me,” she declared imperiously.  Rob didn’t miss a beat, scooping her into his arms and heading for the bathroom.  Carys crooked her finger at Bishop, and he followed along with leaden steps. 

Too bad you couldn’t drown vampires.

There was a big to do with selecting the right bubbly scent and filling the enormous corner tub with steamy water, and then Carys lowered herself into the tub.  Rob immediately grabbed a cake of soap and started washing her back.  Still under the compulsion, Bishop reluctantly grabbed a bottle of body wash and started in on her arm. 

“Very nice, Rob,” Carys approved, as his hands dipped under the water.  “Very nice indeed.  Your technique could use a brush up though,” she complained at Bishop.  “I think my arm is clean enough.  Strip down and join us.”

Once more, Bishop obeyed, his movements short and angry as he pulled off the boots and suspenders, and finally the rest of the costume and cast them aside.  Stepping into the other end of the tub, he glared down at her, technically complying, but not how she’d had in mind.  “There, are you happy now?” he growled. 

He shouldn’t have goaded her.  What he should’ve done was go along with it and pretend like he was having a good time.  Then, at least, he would’ve maintained his free will, but Bishop couldn’t keep a lid on his temper, and the idea of touching her in anger to punish her the way she wanted sickened him.  All his complaining did was distract her from Rob’s touch to shine a light on the fact that Bishop wasn’t a willing participant.

“Relax,” she said in that voice he couldn’t ignore, her hands sliding up the front of his thighs.  “Relax and enjoy it.”

Bishop hated that she had this power over him, hated the way his body betrayed him, but her skilled hands brought him to life in a way that both sickened and fascinated him as the anger drained away, replaced by desire.  He sank to his knees before her with a splash of soapy water, a slave to her touch. 

“Love me,” Carys whispered, her hands spreading moist heat between them, and Bishop’s fingers sank into her damp curls. 

“I do.  God help me, I do,” he breathed before his mouth covered hers in a passionate kiss.  Their bodies crashed together, slick with soapy lather, and then he felt Rob’s strength surging up behind her, pushing her upright against him as they pinned Carys between them.  They pulsed together, sliding against each other in a mass of exploring hands and mouths.  Under her directive to relax and enjoy it, Bishop hardly cared whether a caress came from Carys’ delicate hands or Rob’s rougher touch. 

Carys purred with delight between them, her soft, breathy pants spurring him on.  Suddenly
he
wanted to be the one to make her whimper like that,
he
wanted to be the first one inside her.  Probing her deep below, he tested to see if she was ready, his chest tightening when he saw her shake of the head. 

“Ah, ah, ah… not yet,” she laughed, turning away from him to kiss Rob deeply.  A surge of disappointment flared, but Bishop kept touching her, wooing her back with his hands.  “Just like that…” she panted at his efforts, her thighs trembling. 

“No, not just like that,” Bishop growled, grabbing her by the hips as he surged up behind her.  “I want to be inside of you when you come.”

“There’s my Ulrik,” she gasped as he took her from behind in one deep stroke.  “There’s my love.”

Bishop’s eyes squeezed shut at the exquisite feel of her clamped tight around him, giving himself a moment to adjust so he didn’t disgrace himself and erupt right there.  But then she started to move.  Slowly, almost lazily, pushing back against him and then drawing forward again, and he opened his eyes to see her mouth wrapped around Rob’s cock.   

He knew what she wanted, what she’d had in mind all along.  His hips pistoned out, shoving her forward so that Rob’s length disappeared between her sweet lips.  Her sound of satisfaction was immediate, as was the way her inner walls clenched around him in approval.  The sound more than anything else was his undoing, and Bishop’s hand slid around to stroke the center of her pleasure, desperate to make her do it again. 

“There’s a good girl,” Rob grunted, his fingers fisting in her hair, guiding her as she bobbed between them. 

Carys’ cries rose higher and higher as she writhed between them, music to Bishop’s ears as he recognized that fever pitch right before she came apart.  Rob gave a sudden guttural cry, every muscle tensing as she milked him dry.  Only then did she release Rob’s cock to breathe hard against his thigh as Bishop pounded into her harder and faster, bringing her to a shuddering peak.  He spilled into her, hips bucking as his head tipped back in his own climax, the sounds of their harsh breathing mingling in the steamy room. 

Bishop wanted nothing more than to pull Carys to his chest and collapse into the hot, soothing water, but she wriggled her way free of him almost as soon as the last tremors had passed.  Kissing first Rob and then Bishop, she rose from the tub to step dripping onto the floor in all of her glory. 

“That was a lovely appetizer,” she smiled, wet hands sliding over her own breasts.  “Time for the main course.”  With a playful tilt of the head, she beckoned them to the bedroom, where she stretched out on the bed, all slick and glistening. 

Rob didn’t have to be asked twice, bounding out of the tub to join her without a care for the slippery mess they left behind on the bathroom floor.  Bishop sat in the water for long seconds to clear his head before he followed, watching the two of them on the bed for a few moments before he picked up his clothes.

He got all the way to the door when Carys noticed he hadn’t joined them on the bed yet.  “You’re leaving?” she called out in surprise. 

“You asked me to join you, and I did.  It’s over now.  Lock the door on your way out.”  With that, he stepped out into the hallway, still dripping wet, but he’d rather give a few random people an eyeful than stay and risk being compelled again.  Unfortunately, it was Anja he ran into out in the hallway. 

Her eyes widened in surprise, taking in his current state before she averted her eyes, cheeks staining a rosy pink.  “Oh, you’re um… kind of naked, aren’t you?” she managed to get out in a squeaky voice.

“Ah… yeah.”  Embarrassed, he dropped everything but the pants, tugging them on quickly, but the fabric fought him, clinging to his wet skin.  “Sorry about that,” he apologized, reaching for his shirt next. 

“Hey, it’s fine by me.  You want to run around naked, go for it.  It’s a free country, right?”  She still wasn’t looking at him though.  “Is there a problem with your hot water, maybe?  You can borrow my shower if you want to,” she joked. 

Bishop had his shirt on now, the suspenders dangling awkwardly as he tried to decide if he wanted to put his boots on without socks or not.  “No, it’s not, um…”  God, what was he supposed to say?  “Well, it’s Carys is…”

“Ah.  Enough said,” she cut him off. 

Deciding to give up on the boots, he ran his fingers through the mess of his hair.  “No, it’s…  You should probably know…”

“It’s okay, Bishop.  I’m a big girl.  I know what goes on behind closed doors.”  A sharp cry of pleasure sounded from inside the room, punctuated by a deeper groan and her brows drew together into a single line.  “Or at least I thought I did.”

Carys’ pants grew louder and Bishop saw it the instant Anja recognized Rob’s answering moan.  She looked to him for confirmation, but what could he say?  He knew exactly what it looked like, and he had no excuse for it. 

“Anja…” he started to say, but she brushed past him to open the door.  Carys’ slender back rose up from the bed in plain view as she straddled Rob, both of them too attuned to each other to notice the interruption until Carys turned to look over her shoulder.  “Would you care to join us?”

Anja pulled the door shut as if the room were infested with giant spiders, her shock no less great. 

“Anja, it’s…”

She just shook her head, a world of disappointment in her eyes as she disappeared into her room across the hall without a single word.   

There are times when you should respond to a crisis with dignity and a level head.  This was not one of those times.  The moment I got back into my room, I buried my face into the nearest throw pillow and screamed my throat raw, and then screamed some more.  I wasn’t sure I’d ever get that image out of my head, Carys naked on top of Rob, Bishop standing there with that guilty look all over his face, leaving no doubt what they’d all been up to.  And the nerve of her, the frakking audacity of her to invite me to join them!

I screamed again for good measure, feeling something tear in my throat, but thanks to vampire healing, it settled to a raw burn after a few seconds.  I couldn’t stay there, knowing what they were up to right across the hall, not for one more instant.  My fingers scrabbled at the dress zipper, kicking my way free of the beautiful gown before it reached the floor.  The stupid corset strings were all tangled up and knotted though, and I ripped them apart trying to get the damn thing off. 

All the jewelry, the hair pins, the make-up… I got rid of it all until I stood in the bathroom in my underwear, dry heaving over the toilet as my stomach lurched.  Catching sight of myself in the mirror, I looked myself in the eye.  “Looking really good, Anja.  Super sexy.”  Hysterical laughter bubbled out of me, I was losing it.  What I needed was to get the hell out of there and fast before someone came looking for me and I had to explain what was wrong.  Or even worse, Bishop or Rob showed up and I had to hear their side of the story.

Pulling on the first set of clothes I could put my hands on, I didn’t care if it was clean or dirty.  I couldn’t even say what color the top was or if my socks matched.  I knew I looked crazy, my eyes too wild, my hair damp and stringy around my face from scrubbing it with a washcloth.  Regardless, I set off down the hall without a specific destination in mind, only knowing I had to get away.  At least Bishop wasn’t still hanging out in the hallway. 

The first look I got from a wandering partygoer confirmed it, I definitely did not look okay to the random passerby. 
I am a strong, confident vampire.  I’m a strong, confident vampire…
the little voice chanted supportively in my head, and the hysterical laughter bubbled up again.  I had to get out of sight before somebody saw me like that, and I ducked into the room I’d come to think of as my parlor. 

“Don’t see what there is to laugh about,” a voice sounded from within, and I whirled, peering in the darkened room to find Aubrey lounging on the couch, an open bottle of something in his hand.  It was obvious he’d been drinking for a while, his words running together and sloppy.

Somehow seeing his misery lessened my own, and my brain took one step closer to rational conversation.  “Have you been hiding out in here all night?  I barely saw you at the party.”

“Wasn’t in a festive mood.” 

“And here I thought you liked parties,” I smirked, plopping down beside him on the couch.  Maybe it gave me the tiniest bit of a happy to see him down in the dumps. 

“I adore them, but it’s a trifle hard to celebrate losing everything I’ve been working towards for the better part of a century.”

“Ha, I’ll trade you Carys problems any day,” I muttered, stealing the bottle to take a deep swig of alcohol.  Bourbon,
blecch
, not my first choice, but I didn’t much care at the time.  The fact that his plans had such a long tail was surprising to me, and I wondered what kinds of promises had been exchanged between him and Corley while Sylvius was still alive.  Still, there was no point in rehashing it all now.  “Look on the bright side, you’re essentially keeping the same job.  You know she’s going to get bored with all the day to day stuff.  I bet she won’t interfere with much once the idea of being Elder loses some of its shine.”

“I’ve had time enough to get used to her whims.  Mark my words, this is an ill conceived notion.”

I took another drink, some of the hard edges of my anger starting to dull.  “Are you sure you’re not just saying that because she took your cookie?  The same cookie you stole from Sylvius in the first place?”  At his disgruntled pout, I took pity on him.  “Cheer up, Aubrey.  Keep her in parties and frills and I’m sure she’ll leave the real power to you.”

“Ever the optimist,” he smiled.  “Perhaps I should’ve dressed as a marionette for her to toy with.” 

“Nah, I like the Spike outfit much better than Pinocchio.”

“Spike?” he snorted, his head tilting to one side.  “I’m not bloody Spike.  I’m Billy Idol.”

He looked so disgruntled, I couldn’t help but giggle.  “Oh, sorry.  He’s still pretty cool though.”

“Too right he’s cool,” Aubrey insisted, stealing the bottle back with a defiant lip curl.  “Billy-fucking-Idol is the king.”

“No, I think that’s Elvis.”

“That ponce,” he chuffed.  “Billy Idol could tear him a new one, easy.”

“You bet, especially because he’s not dead,” I laughed, taking the bottle back.  We lapsed into a prolonged silence, passing the bottle back and forth, pretty much getting blindingly drunk. 

“Did you ever…” I started to ask, but changed my mind.  I didn’t want to know. 

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No, what is it?  I’d like to know,” he said, shifting himself higher so he could look me in the eye. 

“I was wondering if Carys ever had you participate in a threesome.  I mean, is that something you, she, and Bishop did all the time?”

Aubrey shot me an amused look.  “You were just sitting there wondering that, were you?” he said with a sloppy grin, reaching out to poke me in the ribs, and jostling his shoulder into mine.  “Feeling a bit randy this evening?  Would you care for a few anecdotes to titillate?”

I slapped his hand away, careful not to spill the bottle.  “No, I didn’t mean because I wanted a play by play,” I scowled.  “I just wondered if that was her usual M.O., you know?  She’s up there right now, with Rob and Bishop.”  With Rob at least, but it was easy to imagine Bishop had gone back in there after getting a snack or Gatorade or whatever he’d ventured forth for.

“Ah, I see.  And you wish to get her back by stealing two of her men?  I accept,” he said, making a mess of a bow from his slouched position.  “Who else shall we choose?  I always did sort of fancy that boy of yours, the wolf.”

Bourbon went down the wrong pipe and I coughed and coughed until I remembered to go still and wait for the burn to subside.  “No,” I croaked when the worst of it was over.  “I’m not inviting you to a threesome with Tucker or anyone else.”

“Why not, sweets?   They say the best way to forget someone is to dally with somebody new.  You have to admit, we do have a certain amount of chemistry between us,” he said with what was meant to be bedroom eyes, I’m sure, but came off as more ridiculous with the unfocused slant of intoxication. 

“Ha, in your dreams!  I’ve never even thought once about going to bed with you.”

“No beds needed, luv.  We can always do it here.”  His hand slid up my thigh and I slapped it aside.  

“No way, you’re
so
not my type,” I scoffed, and all of a sudden he lost the leer.

“No need to rub it in.  I’m nobody’s type,” he sighed, abruptly morose as he took another drink.  “Definitely not hers.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”  A wave of pity washed over me at the pitiful slump of his shoulders.  “You’re a good looking guy.  Sexy even, just not for me.”  He could have a zillion girls without even a hint of compulsion with those sculpted cheekbones and full lips that made you want to nibble on them.

He turned to face me head on, as without guile as I’d ever seen him, made honest by alcohol.  “I could be.  I’d be willing to change.  That’s what I told her, you know.  Tell me what you want me to be and I’ll be it.  But it was never good enough for her either.  I don’t think she ever loved me.”

“Don’t say that.  I’m sure she loved you in her own way.”

His head hung in shame, fingers tearing at his bleached blonde locks.  “No, I was a means to an end, a diversion.  There was never tenderness or love from her, only lust and dominance.”  Out of nowhere he started to cry and my eyes teared up in sympathy. 

“Shh, don’t cry, Aubrey,” I crooned, gathering him close.  “She doesn’t deserve your love, she doesn’t deserve anything but a stake through the shriveled up thing she calls a heart.  We can’t let her take everything from us.  We can’t let her win.  We’re not dependent on Carys for our happiness.”

He snuffled against my shoulder and pulled back to look at me.  “We’re not?”

“No, of course not.  Let her have her way, built on an empire of lies.  We deserve something better.  Something real.”

Aubrey touched my cheek, and yearning mingled with regret on his face.  “Why couldn’t it have been you who found me all those years ago?”

“Aw, Aubrey, I…” I wasn’t able to remind him that I hadn’t been born until twenty-two years ago as his lips covered mine in a desperate kiss.  No, he wasn’t my type, and no, I didn’t want to start anything up with Aubrey, but to my bourbon soaked brain, all I knew was his pain called out to me and I responded.  It wasn’t about sex, it was about two people reaching out to each other to keep the hurt and loneliness at bay. 

In Aubrey’s kiss, I found the acceptance and desire that I badly needed at that moment, and I felt his hunger for the same.  Most of all, what I craved was
not
to think for once.  I wanted to forget who I was and what I’d seen, and it was impossible to think as long as he kept kissing me.  Without knowing how it’d happened, his leather jacket and t-shirt ended up on the floor next to my bra and I didn’t question it, reaching for his belt. 

The sound of the parlor door opening and closing didn’t penetrate the fog swirling in my brain until a deep clearing of the throat sounded, right next to the couch.  Aubrey didn’t stop, but my eyes cracked open to see Lee standing there, looking down at us, his face drawn in a mask of disapproval.

“Ain’t it about time for you to be headin’ on up to bed?  Your
own
bed?” Lee drawled, one eyebrow cocked to the heavens. 

Aubrey barely gave him a second glance, his hands still busy.  “Piss off,” he muttered, but I pulled back guiltily, my cheeks staining red like a teenager caught necking on my parents’ couch.  Reality flooded through me in that instant as I realized the path I was on.  What the hell was I doing?  I did
not
want to hook up with Aubrey, that would only complicate things for everyone. 

“He’s right, I should get some rest,” I mumbled, pushing the hair back over my ears as I tried to think straight.  “I’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow.”  What’d happened to my bra again?

Aubrey caught my wrist when I staggered to my feet, his eyes pleading.  “Don’t go.”

“Lee, would you please wait outside for me?” I said without looking away from that stormy gaze.  Lee bristled, but left, and I could hear him pacing out in the hallway.  I was immediately rewarded by Aubrey’s brilliant smile as he pulled me close, but I put my hands on his shoulders, keeping a cushion of space between us. 

“Come on then, you’re not going to really leave me here, are you?”

“Aubrey…”  I shook my head.  “I’m not the girl for you.  I never was.”  For half a moment I was afraid he’d challenge that and insist that we belonged together in a bout of flowery poetics, but to my relief, I saw nothing more than desire in his eyes.  Desire, I could stand up to.

“I’m not professing my undying love, but don’t we deserve some happiness after all they’ve put us through?”

“This won’t make us happy, not really.”

“If you honestly believe that, you ain’t been doing it right, luv,” he grinned and I couldn’t help but smile back. 

“Sure, I could send Lee on his way and we could spend an hour or two getting hot and heavy, but it wouldn’t be getting back at them.  All it would do is ruin our friendship.”

Aubrey fell back against the couch in a huff.  “Are we friends?  I thought you despised me.”

“I despise you when you’re being an ass.  I kind of like you when you’re being yourself,” I said with an indulgent smile and he cocked a brow at me.

“Who says the ass isn’t my true self?”

“Because I think we were both ourselves tonight, weren’t we?”  I reached out to touch his cheek.  “Hang in there, okay?  Your happiness doesn’t revolve around Carys if you don’t let it.”

He squeezed my hand for a long moment before his trademark wolfish grin appeared.  “I’d be glad to let it revolve around you for a decade or two.”

“I think it’s for the best if I steer clear of all men for a decade or two.”  Maybe longer.  At least until I got both Rob and Bishop out of my system.  I leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.  “Goodnight, Aubrey.”

“Goodnight, sweets.  And for what it’s worth, I think they’re both insane for picking her over you.”

I wasn’t sure if he knew about her compulsion or not, but it seemed like a dangerous subject to bring up, so I let it go.  “Thanks.”

Lee was waiting for me outside of the parlor and fell into step beside me for an awkward walk through the hallway and up the stairs.  At least he’d come in when he had, five minutes later and he might’ve gotten quite an eye full.  Neither one of us talked until we reached my bedroom, and I tensed, half expecting to hear more amorous noises coming from Bishop’s bedroom, but all was quiet.