(Jared)
Before she could pull away from me, I aligned her body to mine, took her arms and curled them around my neck. I then slid both of my arms around her, settling one under the curtain of her dark hair that covered the bare skin of her upper back, and snaking the other down her body. It was with great reluctance that she joined in the dancing. As usual, I found myself enthralled at how snug she felt against me…even if she was stiff as a board. “Relax.”
“I will when you move your hand from my arse.”
“But it’s comfortable there.”
“You know I don’t like slow dancing.”
“Dancing is just like sex – get the rhythm right and you can’t go wrong.”
“We could just go back to the apartment and have some more sex?” she said hopefully.
“We can’t leave our own gathering early.” Could we?
“You know you want to,” she breathed into my ear before nibbling on the lobe.
“None of your little tricks,” I admonished with a smile, tapping her ass lightly but punishingly. Ignoring her scowl, I tightened my arms around her. When that scowl morphed into a grin, I narrowed my eyes. “What?”
Sam tipped her head toward her left. “I think I may have been right. I think Jessica Rabbit might have sensed us shagging.”
Glancing briefly in the direction she had indicated, I almost laughed. If the look on Magda’s face was anything to go by, Sam was right. Hell, steam might as well have been coming out of her ears. I personally didn’t give a shit either way, but I could feel that Sam was smug. If that cheered her up, fine.
Nuzzling Sam’s neck, I breathed her in, took inside me that vanilla scent that was tinted with honeycomb. It was the best smell in the whole damn world. My cock was in total agreement; it rose to attention when even a hint of it was in the air. I let my tongue flick out to taste her pulse. Her skin tasted slightly like her scent; like vanilla and honeycomb, and like energy and mine.
“Stop it, or I’ll get horny again.”
I smiled at the breathlessness in her voice. I loved how sensitive her neck was. “I’m already there.” Subtly, I ground my once-again-hard cock against her.
She laughed and moaned at the same time. The sound of quick, purposeful footsteps had us both swerving to see our personal assistant coming toward us.
“I’ve been looking for you.” Fletcher’s perceptive eyes scanned both of us. “Been for a bonk, I see.”
“What’s your excuse – you being my best friend – for being so late?” she snapped.
“Oh chilax, will you.”
“Chilax?” I chuckled, confused.
“It’s a mix of ‘chill’ and ‘relax’,” Fletcher quickly explained. “Norm and I were busy preparing your gift from us.”
“Gift?” Sam repeated. “Maybe you’re forgiven. What do you mean by ‘preparing’?”
A huge and very self-satisfied grin spread across his face. “Come see.”
Exchanging a smile with Sam, I walked with her hand-in-hand behind Fletcher. The other guests followed as Fletcher led us out of the parlour, down the everlasting pristine hallway, and out of the mansion. I frowned as I immediately scented fire and the unmistakable smell of meat cooking.
As we neared the white sandy beach, Sam gasped loudly. There was Norm flipping burgers, hotdogs, and steaks on a barbeque grill. Not far from the grill was a large bonfire around which some members of the legion stood drinking beer-flavoured NSTs. There was also a reggae band sitting there expectantly, waiting to be given the signal to play. And, in a typical beach set up, Norm and Fletcher had decorated the space with bamboo tiki torches, colourful lights, and lantern garlands.
Fletcher elbowed Sam. “Well, what do you think? I knew you’d be bored and miserable as hell in that parlour – ooh, no offense, your Grandness.” His expression was one of total innocence when he smiled at the Keja vampire not far behind him.
Antonio’s mouth twitched. “It’s quite all right.”
Fletcher mouthed ‘phew’ at Sam before speaking again. “Anyway, I knew you’d be more comfortable having a gathering like this.”
She hugged him tightly. “Thank you.”
Sensing Sam’s spirits instantly lifting, I nodded my thanks at him. In all honesty, I’d have preferred a barbeque on the beach to champagne in a grand mansion any day. It seemed that everybody else did, too, because the atmosphere became much more relaxed and there was a lot of laughing as opposed to formal chatter.
Fletcher had even set up a beach bar and elected Damien to be the cocktail barman, ordering him to wear a brightly coloured shirt that matched the ones being worn by the reggae band. He didn’t look too happy about that. Not only was Norm serving hotdogs, burgers, and steaks, but also baked potatoes, salads, and kebabs. None of it went to waste.
Hell, they’d even arranged for party entertainers to do fire eating and fire juggling. To add to that, they had provided beach balls and water guns for the more immature members of the legion – the ones who weren’t so unbelievably childish that they were burying each other in the sand, anyway. Yes, Fletcher and Norm had pretty much outdone themselves. I knew they’d mostly done it for Sam because they adored her, but I was still grateful.
Relaxing with Sam between my legs on one of the many beach loungers that were gathered around the bonfire, I laughed as Wes told funny stories about Antonio’s first years as a vampire. Apparently, he hadn’t been much different from me back then. I wondered if maybe one of the reasons he had selected me to be part of the legion was that he had seen something of himself in me.
“Evan,” drawled a sultry voice that had the effect of nails on a chalkboard to me. “Aren’t you going to tell us some stories about what Jared was like in the early years…maybe even his childhood?”
Of course Magda had known exactly what she was doing, just as she had known that Sam would instantly tense up. What Magda hadn’t known – I doubted that any of us had been expecting it – was that her hair was suddenly going to catch fire.
Eating her kebab, Sam watched in an almost detached interest as a screaming Magda shot up from the lounger beside ours, patting her hair. Then, still looking bored, Sam raised her hand and sent a gush of water at Magda, calming the flames.
With her soaking wet hair plastered to her head, a quivering extremely-cheesed-off Magda honed in on the amazing female between my legs.
Sam merely shrugged one shoulder delicately. “I did warn you.” How she managed to keep a straight face when the majority of people around her – including me – were shaking with silent laughter, I had no idea.
Somehow, Magda remained dignified as she left with her consort in tow. That was when everyone erupted into laughter again, not bothering to keep their laughs quiet this time.
Sensing Sam’s smugness, I couldn’t help smiling. Cupping her chin, I turned her head and brought her face to meet mine, speaking against her mouth. “You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
She gasped in mock horror. “You can’t seriously be insinuating that I enjoy inflicting pain on another person?” She jiggled her head. “All right, I did. But she’s not a person, she’s a bitch who hurt you, so I don’t give a fuck.”
Who wouldn’t love a girl who’d set someone on fire for you?
The person who was laughing the loudest was actually Wes. He even nodded approvingly at Sam. I felt that she was surprised by it. I wasn’t. Earlier, I’d noticed that Wes was testing Sam. It might have ticked me off if I hadn’t been one hundred percent positive that nothing he did could faze her.