The Comanche Vampire (27 page)

“I
liked your chicken better,” he replied with honesty.
 
He noticed she ate ham, turkey, and some
roast beef along with more side dishes than he could count.
 

He
nibbled around, but ate little.
 
Ned
didn’t figure anyone would notice but Andrew gazed at him and without warning
asked, “Are you a vampire or something?”

Anne
choked on a hot roll and Ned dropped his fork.
 
“What’s that?” Ned responded.

“I
wondered if you’re a vampire or what.” Andrew didn’t blink as he spoke. “You
don’t eat much, my cousins said they didn’t think you slept a wink, and I heard
Mom talking about how ghost pale you were yesterday
in the sun
.
 
I know a lot of
the lore so I couldn’t help but wonder.
 
So, are you?”

Ned
debated how to field the question.
 
The
truth wouldn’t work, although he indulged in a few moments of fantasy as he
imagined what hell it would wreak on the holiday if anyone believed him. The
kid’s perception surprised him and a harsh denial might fuel the fire instead
of douse the flame.
 
Before he worked out
a way to answer, Anne did.
 
“Of course,
he’s not.
 
Andrew, you’re out of line and
I think you owe Ned an apology.
 
There
are no such things as vampires.
 
You
spend too much time with your head buried in some horror book or watching a
movie.”

Andrew’s
face flushed around his black lips and eyes. “I just
wanna
know, that’s all,” he muttered. “If he’s not a vamp, he’s some kind of weirdo
for sure.”

Anne
jumped to her feet with such speed the card table rocked and if Ned hadn’t
steadied it with one hand, it would’ve pitched over. “That’s enough.
 
Andrew, I suggest you drop this nonsense now
and apologize or we’ll go discuss it with your mother.”

“Sorry,”
he mumbled.
 
Anne’s outburst attracted
the attention of the nearest relatives but after a momentary lull in the noise,
everyone returned to eating without any questions.
 
Andrew stared down at his plate for the
remainder of the meal.
 

Anne
put her hand on Ned’s arm. “I’m sorry,” she said.
 

He
forced a smile. “It’s okay, no big deal.
 
Let’s finish dinner.”

Ned
made a valiant effort but he ate almost nothing else.
 
He turned down dessert and although he saw it
upset Anne, he excused himself from the table.
 
As he headed toward the front door, she caught up with him. “Ned, what
are you doing?”

“I’m
going to take a little drive to clear my head.” He had to get out of the close
house and away from Anne’s curious relatives.
 
By the time the last dish got washed, he figured they’d all know about
Andrew’s question and some would talk.
 
They’d speculate and gossip.
 
He
didn’t want to hear it or become the object of scrutiny. “I’ll be back before
long, I promise.”

“Okay,”
she said. “Are you mad about what Andrew asked?”

He
shook his head. “No, I’m just overloaded with everything.
 
It’s been a long time since I was around so many
people for any occasion, honey.
 
I need
some fresh air and a few minutes alone.
 
I’ll be back before you have time to miss me.”

“I
doubt that.”

He
tried to ignore the hurt in her eyes as he kissed her, but Ned needed space and
time too much to stay.
 
He’d make it up
to her later, he vowed, somehow.
 
And
tomorrow they’d go home where he belonged.
 
Maybe everything would return to the groove they’d had before.
 
Damn, he hoped so.

Chapter Thirteen

By
the time he returned from a long drive over the back roads around Rusk, the
house loomed dark.
 
Ned figured they’d
all gone to bed and cussed because the doors were probably locked.
 
He stepped up on the porch and tried the front
door, afraid the security system would erupt into noise but it opened at his
touch. Anne sat on the bottom stair, waiting for him and his heart
twinged
.
 
He’d
enjoyed his time apart, but remorse he’d stayed away so long gnawed at
him.
 
Her eyes were puffy and he could
tell she’d been crying.
 
“Hey, honey.”

Anne
stood. “I was so afraid you wouldn’t come back.”
 

Ned
opened his arms and she walked into them.
 
He held her without words, unwilling to apologize but reluctant to
fight.
 
Her body against his radiated
warmth.
 
After a minute or more, she
said, “David headed home after supper so you don’t have to share the guest room.”

If
he’d known, he would’ve come back sooner. “Good.
 
I don’t guess you can share it with me,
though.”

She
raised her head from his chest and nodded. “I’m planning on it.
 
To hell with what they all think. I’m an
adult.”

Something
had happened in his absence but right now, he didn’t want to know.
 
“All right, honey. I could use a little
lovin
’.”
 

Anne
laid her hand against his cheek. “So could I, Ned.”

Her
long flannel nightgown concealed her body, but he’d bet she wore nothing
beneath it.
 
Ned snaked his hand down it
and found flesh.
 
Anne shivered. “Your
hands are cold,” she said but she didn’t sound like she was complaining.
 

Beneath
his touch, her body radiated heat. “Then warm me up,” he said.
 
He’d never done it before, but on impulse he
scooped her into his arms and carried her, Rhett Butler style, up the
stairs.
 
Ned paused at the foot of the
attic steps then toted her up the rest of the way.
 
By the time he deposited her on the worn
floorboards, heat crackled between them with the intensity of summer
lightning.
 
The short abstinence fueled
his desire and without another word, he stripped out of his clothing.
 
By the time his jeans landed, Anne stood bare
and beautiful beside him.
 

He
intended to go slow, take his time and tantalize Anne.
 
Ned planned to savor every erotic moment,
tasting and touching with purpose.
 
But
his need increased until a powerful lust took hold and fueled his want.
 
The fresh blood he’d taken from a stray
jogger while he’d been out provided additional launch power.
 
He grasped her arms hard and held her in
place as he ground his mouth onto hers with hunger.
 
Anne’s lips yielded to his.
 
Her hands joined behind his head as she clung
tight, her mouth hot and sweet.
 
Ned used
one hand to stroke her body and caress her nipples.
 
Then he parted her legs and rubbed her cunt,
hard and fast.
 
She moaned and thrust her
hips at his hand.
 
Ned’s finger probed
until he found her center and then he worked her clit with furious
motions.
 
Anne almost toppled over as she
whimpered.

“Please,”
she whimpered. “Oh, god. Please, Ned…now.”

Ned
needed no encouragement.
 
He grasped her
and flung her down on the bed then came down on top of her with wild
force.
 
His dick slipped into her slit
and fit, tighter than a fist.
 
He rocked
in and out, back and forth without remorse.
 
The friction increased his need.
 
He sought release so much his cock hurt as it grew.
 
He enjoyed the wet warmth of her pussy walls
as they pulsated around his shaft.
 
Anne
clawed at his back in between caresses.
 
The sounds brought his passion to a bursting point and so he rode her
with swift, harsh motions until he came in an explosive burst of pleasure.
 
Anne convulsed beneath Ned and shrieked with
such noise he brought his mouth down to silence her outcry before her daddy
stormed up the stairs to save his little girl.
 
As his lips met hers, Anne plunged her tongue deep into his mouth and
they came, linked in two places.
 
Ned
shuddered and trembled until spent, then rolled over to lie beside her.

Neither
said anything for a few minutes.
 
Anne
turned onto her side and her fingers played across his chest, light and
teasing.
 
She exhaled a long, slow sigh
and he echoed with a contented one of his own.

“Ned,
I love you.”

He
caught her hand and kissed it. “Good to know since I love you, too,
honey.”
 
He rolled over to face her and
she scooted so she could lay her head against his shoulder.
 
Her breath wafted warm against his skin and
his dick twitched.
 
It wouldn’t take much to go again
.
 
He considered it until he realized she’d drifted into light sleep.
 

Ned
managed to pull a cover over Anne without waking or dislodging her, then
settled down to wait through the night so they could head home.
 
He never slept, but he watched Anne and found
it restful enough.

In
the morning he wanted to make an early start but when Anne woke, she erupted
into a flurry of activity.
 
She showered
and dressed with speed.
 
Afterward, she headed
to the kitchen to start the coffee.
 
He
found her talking with her mom in low whispers at the kitchen table when he
joined them but they fell silent when he entered the room.
 
He caught low vibrations in the air, strained
tension, but Ned didn’t ask.
 
Some things
were best left alone.
 
Although he’d
offered to stop for breakfast on the road, Anne decided to stay for what turned
into a two-hour long morning feast. He endured the meal as long as he could,
then he went outside to smoke.
 
When he
returned, Anne went upstairs to finish packing and he followed to carry the
suitcases down.

While
he carried their luggage out to the truck, Anne joined in a hugging frenzy. She
clung to her mother the longest, gave her dad a brief embrace, but he saw the
way Bob held back, almost unwilling.
 
Ned
waited with little patience while she hugged her siblings, her grandmother, her
niece and nephew although he noted the hug she gave Andrew was briefest of all.
 
 
He
shook hands with a few of them and Rose kissed his cheek. Once she’d hugged her
folks, he figured they’d be able to leave, but some of her aunts and uncles
dropped by to say their farewells and it was almost ten-thirty before they hit
the two-lane highway heading out of town. He wanted to push the truck far past
the speed limit to get out of town, but he restrained the impulse.

Ned’s
spirits lifted the farther west he drove, but Anne said little although she sat
close to him, her hand resting on his leg. Back in Rusk, she’d been chatty, but
she became taciturn by the time they rolled through Dallas-Fort Worth.
 
In the hectic traffic he focused on driving
but on the outskirts of town, he turned to her. “You’re awful quiet.
 
Is something bothering you?”

She
nodded. “We can talk about it later, Ned.”
 

Damn
it to hell.
 
He preferred to face
problems head-on. “When?”

“I
don’t know, maybe when we’re home.”
 

Her
voice didn’t sound mad, just sad so he decided not to stir up trouble. “Okay.
 
Do you want to stop to eat somewhere?”
 

Anne
wrinkled up her nose. “I don’t care.
 
I
suppose we should.”

“Aren’t
you hungry?” he asked.
 

She
offered him a watery smile and he saw tears in her eyes.
 
Something was up and he doubted it would turn
out to be positive.
 
She shook her head.
“Not really,” Anne told him. “Are you?”

He
wasn’t, of course. “I could eat.”

“Whatever.”

Her
lack of interest in conversation or food bothered him.
 
At Decatur, Ned headed down into the heart of
the small town.
 
He noticed a park on the
way and after he picked up a couple of burgers, Ned headed back to it.
 
He parked out of the way and handed her a
sandwich. “Now, tell me what’s got you upset, honey,” he told her. “Something
happened after I left Christmas, didn’t it?”