Page 15 of The Mermaid's Bubble Lounge
Back bowing off the bed, I thanked all those forces in the universe that had conspired to bring us together. What this man could do with his mouth should be celebrated in epic poems. His stubble tickled my waist, and I couldn’t control the giggle.
He looked up, eyes hot, and proceeded to use his fingers and tongue, and every part of his body to turn the laugh into a moan. When he finally settled between my legs, I was a panting, needy mess. Clinging to him like a spider monkey, I squirmed, trying to impale myself.
Clive rolled us, putting me on top, and I got to take control. Desperate, I braced myself on his chest and rode. Eyes vampy black, fangs pressing against his lower lip, he watched, one hand plucking and rolling my nipple, his other sliding down my body to where we were joined, making me lose my mind.
When I was close, he reared up and sank his fangs into my neck, pushing us both over the edge. I rode the aftershocks and him until he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me down, so I was sprawled on top of him, too boneless to move.
My heart was still galloping as he traced designs on my back with his fingertips. Finally, my breathing began to slow, but my limbs weren’t yet responding. The circuits in my brain appeared to be misfiring.
“I got that you didn’t find anyone when you were looking for the killer. I felt that. Did you see anything interesting we should know?” he asked.
I kissed his chest and snuggled in. “Were you seeing what I was?”
“Don’t get too comfortable. I’m not done with you.” His voice was deep and dangerous. “And, no, not really. I couldn’t see what you were seeing, but I felt your disappointment that you weren’t locating a suspect.”
I stacked my hands over his heart and rested my chin on them so I could see him better. “I found all the usual suspects. There’s a new guy at the nocturne, but he seemed fine. The dragons were where I’d expect them; the fae too. I can’t see wicches or demons. Or humans, for that matter. Maybe we’re looking in the wrong direction.”
He took out my braid and ran his fingers through my hair, massaging my scalp. With a contented purr, I dropped my head back to his chest.
“It’s possible,” he responded. “If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, though, we still need to be investigating ducks. And as you know, demons and wicches have their own scent.” He wound my hair around his finger. “I keep thinking about that necklace your mother spelled for you. It wasn’t until after you lost it that your scent changed and notes of wicche appeared. We could be dealing with a vampire carrying a wicche’s talisman.”
He ran his hand up and down my arm. “How are you feeling?’
“Blissed out.”
He tossed me to the other side of the bed and pounced. “Perfect. Time for round two.”
EIGHT
Geez, You Again
The hunter leans over the side of the roof, watching a merman, reeking of the ocean and dressed as a human, exit the back door of the nightclub. He carries two large garbage bags to the dumpster. He tosses them, letting them thump against the open lid before they slide in. He checks his phone and then returns to the club, slamming the door.
Cats come slinking out of the night to hop on the edge of the dumpster and sniff. The hunter scans the area for lone humans. He sees one moving silently around the corner of the building. The wind changes direction, and he gets a whiff of vampire. Interesting.
The hunter tips his head, studying the bloodsucker, especially his facial hair. The vampire moves slowly. When he circles back toward the front of the nightclub, the hunter follows along, tracking him from his perch on high. It’s odd how rarely people look up.
The vampire pauses right where that terrified woman met her fate last night. A second one joins him. He looks up but he doesn’t notice his observer. And then a third. This one has light hair that reflects the moonlight. He crouches over the spot where the hunter discarded the woman’s body.
The front door opens and the vampires disappear. The mermaid stench has the hunter rearing back. A tall woman ushers out her employees and locks the door. They walk to the far end of the parking lot and pile into three cars. Once they leave, the vampires return. The hunter loves this stage of the game. The poor things have no clue who the hunter is.
The hunter smiles. He should at least make it sporting, he decides, kicking a pebble. All three look up at the same time. The light-haired one goes around the back, while the other two stare up at the roof.
Where did the other one go? The hunter moves beside a large piece of machinery and looks over the side of the building for the light-haired one. A shadow blocks the moon for a moment, and the third vampire walks across the roof. He gets to the edge, glances toward the machine, and then drops to the ground where the other two wait.
After a quick conversation, they all head in different directions. The hunter wonders if he should follow, to see what they’re up to, but then he hears it. Someone is rummaging in the dumpster. That’s his dinner bell. He races to the back of the building and leaps, landing silently beside a man balancing on the dumpster’s edge while he rips open a plastic bag and pulls out half-eaten food.
The hunter decides it would be rude to interrupt, so he moves to the deepest shadows by the back door and waits until the man has eaten his fill—before the hunter eats his.
NINE
Not Again
I woke to scratching at the bedroom door. Exhausted, I dragged myself from bed and opened the door. Fergus gave me a look that said I’d betrayed him, barring him from the bedroom last night.
He moved past me and curled up in his bed with a disgruntled hmph.
“I’m sorry, buddy. Mommy and Daddy were doing grown up things and you were snoozing on the couch.” I scratched his tummy and he rolled onto his back, giving me full access while his big paws treaded the air.
