Heathcliff pointed to a pile of wooden stakes on the corner of the desk, beside the orchid I purchased from Tatiana that was already wilting. “I got those from the hardware store, too. They’re for growing tomatoes. I’ve sharpened them to points. How did you get on?”
I opened my purse to show him the wafers, holy water, and aioli. Heathcliff grabbed a wafer and bit into it. “Tastes like cardboard. I can see why you wanted the aioli.”
I grabbed the wafer from his hands. “You know these aren’t for eating. What time should we head out for a spot of vampire slaying?”
I glanced at my phone, then cursed at myself for doing that as a wave of lime-green light bobbed in front of my vision. I had to get used to asking for the time.
“It’s half six.” Quoth glanced at his watch. “Dinner first, an episode of Midsomer Murders, and we can leave about 10PM for our nocturnal criminal activities.”
“It’s not criminal activity if we’re saving the country from a psychotic vampire,“ Heathcliff pointed out. “The Queen would approve. In fact, she should give us all medals.”
“That’s exactly what Morrie would say,” I smiled, but the corners of my mouth wobbled. Morrie’s absence rushed in on me. I gripped the edge of the desk, overcome by the need of him – to see him, to touch him, to know he was okay.
Nothing felt right without our criminal mastermind in our midst. We all felt it, which was why we kept quipping in his comments to fill the void of his absence.
Heathcliff came around the desk, his eyes dark and heavy-lidded. He wrapped his arms around me, pressing me against him. “Quoth and I can make you forget all about Morrie,” he growled.
“I don’t want to forget him.”
“No, but you do want the pain to go away.”
I lifted an eyebrow, catching the desire in his voice. “What about Midsomer Murders?”
“We’ve got more than enough murder to deal with. I don’t think we’ll miss it.” Quoth came up behind me, laying his hands over Heathcliff’s as he fluttered kisses along my neck.
I’d never been withjustHeathcliff and Quoth before. Whenever it was more than one of my boyfriends with me, Morrie’s presence loomed large, and he had a way of taking over and running things. He liked to be in control, which was part of what was so fucking attractive about him. Especially when he bashed heads with Heathcliff’s wildness. No wonder those two had so much unresolved baggage.
And Quoth… Quoth was the glue that held us all together. He was the sweetness, the sunshine, that made everything better. Right now, his lips found mine, and his kiss made everything better. Quoth was like rich Belgium chocolateanda great haircut. He sucked my lip into his mouth, and I melted into his arms.
Heathcliff threw out his arm, and in one swing swiped everything off the desk. A cascade of books, pens, paperclips, receipts, and broken bits of oyster shell toppled to the floor. The cash register bounced across the rug, coming to a stop when it hit the table leg, the drawer popping open and spilling coins everywhere. Grimalkin yowled in fright and dashed off.
It would take us hours to sort out the mess he’d made. And I didn’t give a fuck. Quoth spun me around and pushed me toward Heathcliff, whose rough hands shoved me facedown on the desk. If it was Morrie, he’d be standing behind me now, trailing the tips of his fingers over my exposed arse, purring something filthy that would have me instantly wet.
But this was Heathcliff, and he didn’t go in for teasing and tempting. He brandished his heart – and his cock – like a weapon. I had no choice but to surrender.
Heathcliff slammed into me, so huge and so hard that I gasped for breath. I tried to wriggle my hips and drive him deeper, but his body wrapped around me, pinning me in place. He dug his fingers into the flesh of my thigh, so hard it hurt in the best possible way. I threw back my head and stared up into Quoth’s eyes, swimming with love and lust and need, and I came so hard I blacked out a little.
Heathcliff wasn’t done with me; not even close. He somehow flipped me over while still inside me. His giant hands palmed my breasts as he stared down at me with lust hooding his eyes. His lips crushed mine, hot and savage, and his fingers fisted in my hair, arching my head back to expose my neck.
I ground my hips against Heathcliff, wanting more, more, more, not caring that the corner of the desk was probably leaving a permanent mark in my arse. Above my head I caught Quoth, watching, always watching, with the sweetest and sexiest smile playing at his lips.
I threw back my head and gave myself over to the two of them and their magic.
When Heathcliff came, he didn’t let go right away. He pulled me tight against him, even though I was so high from the orgasms I was just dead weight at this point. His body shuddered against me, and he buried his head in my shoulder as he braced himself for a final thrust.
“I promise you, we’ll get him back,” he whispered against my ear, ragged and raw – so quiet I almost thought I imagined the words.
Heathcliff slid off me and staggered back, his eyes wide as if he wasn’t quite sure what he said. His words hung between us, and instead of forgetting Morrie, they made the longing for him rise like needles in my heart. Heathcliff’s eyes fluttered closed, and his breath escaped in a rasp as he clutched his fist to his chest, as if he too breathed through the pain of losing the man we both loved with a fierceness that corrupted our souls.
Quoth picked me up and carried me to the window, laying me out along the sofa and taking time to arrange my limbs and hair just so, like an artist composing a still life. His hands trailed down my body, searching, exploring. He followed his fingers with his mouth, laying trails of featherlight kisses that turned the needles in my chest into an ache that called to be sated.
The kisses deepened, and the connection between us deepened, too. Quoth pressed his lips to my breast, right where my heart stuttered out its racing, broken beat. And it felt like his lips touched something inside me, like he closed over a hollow in my chest and filled me with his light.
My tortured artist, my beautiful spirit, laying his heart bare.
I parted my legs, angling my hips upward to draw him in. Quoth entered me with a sigh that was both sad and exquisite. As he covered my body in his and became part of me, the words of his creator fell into my head…
“We loved with a love that was more than love…
