chapter Six
BENNY NEEDS TO JET
STELLA stared at Wyatt. Was he for real? That’s what he was worried about? His manly ability to hold his drink or not? She would honestly never understand men. Eighty-five years and they still managed to surprise her with their inability to ever see what was really important. She felt like a mother who’d never given birth. Instead, she was emotionally rearing a whole band of vampires. Maybe that was why she didn’t want to just toss Benny out into the street. She felt responsible for him as well now.
It was a heavy burden, one she admittedly had placed on herself. If she had any intelligence whatsoever, she’d leave them all to their own devices. They’d starve to death with a bag of blood in their hands.
She fought the urge to sigh. “No one is doubting your studly shots-drinking ability. I’m just saying that something weird happened last night and this guy got dragged into it. Let him take his shower and head to work and back to his own life without you challenging him. Is that really so hard to do?”
“I’m not challenging him. There’s no challenge there.”
“I suppose you’re not acting jealous either?” For all she despised jealousy, she had to admit that somewhere deep in her girlish heart, she appreciated that Wyatt felt something for her, whatever that might be. He cared about her. As a friend. That felt nice, especially now that Johnny was gone.
“Jealous of what? That guy?” Wyatt scoffed, tossing his hair back over his shoulder as he jerked his thumb in the direction of the bathroom. “I think you swallowed too much of the Mississippi and it’s chemically altered your brain. There is no way in hell I’d be jealous of that guy.”
“So you’re denying that you’ve been acting like you might lift your leg and pee on me at any given moment?” She was definitely feeling like a fire hydrant.
His mouth dropped open. “That’s ridiculous.”
Stella just raised an eyebrow. The way his jaw was working and his fist was opening and closing, she figured she’d hit the nail right on the head. Wyatt was seriously annoyed that she was with Benny. Well, not with Benny per se, but that he was around her. The thought gave her a fair amount of satisfaction. She gave him a slow smile. “So you’re saying you don’t want me to bite you, too?”
Watching the way his expression changed from astonished and embarrassed to smoldering with a deep, hot desire aroused Stella. She had just wanted to tweak him, but she’d done more than that. She’d reminded them both of the passion that had exploded between them two nights earlier with just one little kiss.
Wyatt moved closer, stepping in between her legs. Suddenly his jeans, sporting a prominent erection, were at eye level. His hands went into her hair, directing her to look up at him. “Oh, I want you to bite me. And you’re right. I am jealous that you bit Benny. Very, very jealous.”
Stella swallowed. When you play with fire . . .
“You don’t have any reason to be jealous. I only did it out of necessity.”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to feel your fangs in me. Doesn’t mean I don’t want to see that pleasure cross your face.” Wyatt popped open the button on his jeans and exposed his hip. “Just take a little nip.”
Licking her lips, Stella stared up the length of Wyatt to his dark eyes and back down again to his smooth, muscular hip rising above the black waistband of his briefs. It was very tempting. Vampires weren’t supposed to feed off of each other and she was a rule follower.
But this wasn’t feeding.
This was foreplay.
If she bit him, her mouth so close to his cock, she wasn’t going to be able to resist taking a suck. Dragging his blood with the tip of her tongue over to his erection and flicking along the length of his hardness.
The same thoughts were probably running through his head, because he thrust his hips toward her in an unmistakable invitation.
Stella figured it would be inhospitable to turn down his generous offer. Opening her mouth, she bent her head over his flesh, drawing the scent of Wyatt into her nostrils. He had an earthy, masculine scent that tugged at her inner thighs. She already knew what his flesh tasted like, now she was going to draw his blood into her.
As she punctured his flesh, he moaned, and she closed her eyes in ecstasy. It occurred to her that this was an intimate act, more so than sex in some ways, but she wasn’t able to stop, to pull back at this point. Not when it tasted and felt so amazing. The sweet warmth of his blood rushed past her lips and down her throat like honey.
Oh, damn, that was good, good, good. Stella sighed through her nose, her sex wet and throbbing, her fingers gripping his hip tighter.
Suddenly Wyatt made a low sound in the back of his throat, and he pulled her away from him and up. He was strong, like all vampires, but usually he wasn’t so commanding. Now she had no choice but to stand up at his urging. He kissed her, the taste of his blood still on her tongue, mingling with the deliciousness of his lips, the pressure of his body pressed against hers exciting and a little bit scary.
She wasn’t sure where this sudden passion between her and Wyatt had come from. Or maybe it had always been there and she had ignored it. She didn’t know. All she knew at the moment was that they were wearing too many clothes.
Grappling with his shirt, trying to lift it, only to have it catch on the thick chain necklace with a gun dangling from it that Wyatt always wore, Stella didn’t hear the shower turn off.
She had forgotten Benny altogether until he spoke behind her. “Stella.” His voice sounded crushed.
Oh, no. Wincing, she pulled away from Wyatt. While she wasn’t thrilled with Benny’s infatuation for her and her fangs and didn’t intend to encourage it in any way, she didn’t want to crush the poor guy either. When she had been mortal, fresh off the boat from Ireland, she’d had a substantial crush on a banker in Chicago. He’d married an heiress and left her heartbroken.
Only not that Benny really liked her. He was more into the idea of vampirism, but still. She didn’t want to hurt anyone ever, and she clearly had.
“Benny, how was your shower?” she said in a cheerful voice as she turned, licking the last remnants of Wyatt’s blood off her lips behind her palm.
Wyatt made a sound of amusement, his T-shirt falling back into place over his chest.
“It was obviously long enough for you to get busy with rocker boy here.”
Resenting that she was feeling guilty and more than a little sheepish, Stella frowned at him. She could make out with whoever she wanted. She wasn’t married. She wasn’t dating anyone. She was over a hundred years old and perfectly capable of making good decisions. Most of the time. Barring alcohol and impulsive bat-morphing incidents.
“What Wyatt and I do isn’t really any of your business,” she told him as gently as she could.
“I thought I was special,” Benny said glumly, hands on hips above his orange Speedo.
If he asked what Wyatt had that he didn’t have, Stella was going to walk out. “Wyatt and I have known each other for a long time, Benny. He was really good friends with my brother and my brother just committed suicide.”
“Holy shit, that sucks. I’m sorry, Stella. That’s awful.”
It was. Stella’s throat tightened and she was digging her fingers into her palms. “Thanks.”
“So, he’s like comforting you? Okay, I get that. I nailed my girlfriend after my dad’s funeral. Made me feel alive, you know?”
Actually, she did know. The way Benny put it was a little crude, but there was totally truth to it. It was why she’d unzipped Wyatt the other night. “I definitely understand. It’s really hard to lose someone.”
“Dude.” Benny held his fist out for Wyatt to knuckle bump and to her surprise Wyatt did. “Take care of her, you know what I’m saying? Stella’s a cool chick.”
“I will, thanks, man.”
Now that they had worked out their little man issue, Stella felt superfluous. If they started back thumping and one shoulder hugging she was going to throw up in her mouth. Thankfully that didn’t happen.
“I’m heading to work now,” Benny said. “If you ever need anything, let me know. You know where to find me. If you ever get thirsty just look me up. Anytime, my goddess.”
Again with the goddess thing. She didn’t think she liked it. It made her feel ridiculous. “Thanks, Benny, I will. I appreciate it.”
Benny looked reluctant to leave, his little mortal heart still bruised, but she figured in the end it was better that he’d seen her kissing Wyatt. There hadn’t been time for him to really get attached.
“Thanks for looking out for Stella,” Wyatt added.
It seemed to be enough to send Benny out the door. With a final look of longing and a wave, he left Wyatt’s apartment.
Stella sighed. “Geez. What a night. I’m exhausted.” She dropped down onto the sofa. Wyatt had a shotgun apartment on a quiet street. Well, quiet for the Quarter anyway. The front of the little yellow house was flush against the sidewalk, and closed up with shutters. The living room spilled into the kitchen, which led to the bedroom. Beyond that was a courtyard, but she’d been out there only once, when Wyatt had thrown a party. He was much tidier than Johnny had been, with a wide array of electronics and a cool collection of black-and-white photos hung on the wall. It was comfortable to be sitting there with him, away from the chaos of Johnny’s death and waking up with no clue as to what was going on.
“You probably need to feed.” Wyatt moved into his kitchen. “I think we were all drugged, which means we’ve got to be dehydrated, despite your little nip on Benny. And me.”
Stella sat straight up, peering over her shoulder as he went into the refrigerator. “So you seriously think we were drugged?”
“How else would we all black out?”
He’d mentioned that earlier, but she’d been so focused on Benny and the news about Johnny’s apartment being torn up, that she hadn’t really thought the implications through. “I don’t know. But who would want to drug us? And why?” In his lifetime, Johnny had irritated a person or two, but Stella didn’t see how that could be relevant to any of this.
Wyatt came back with two blood-filled wineglasses. Stella’s mouth watered. She was hungry. Gratefully, she accepted one and took a drink. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as taking a sip from Wyatt’s hip but she clearly needed it. Instantly her head felt a little clearer. “Oh, that’s good, thanks.”
“I just can’t think of any other explanation. Something weird is going on.” Wyatt sat down next to her.
Stella was acutely aware of his presence. “So what should we do?” This wasn’t her thing. Her thing was organizing the band. Making sure they were on time and well fed. She was a vampiric den mother. Not a detective.
“We need to ask around. See what the hell went down last night. Then go back to Johnny’s. I wasn’t looking for anything but you when I was there before, so maybe you’ll notice something that will clue us in.”
The whole thing made Stella’s head spin. “Until two days ago, nothing seemed abnormal at all. Now I feel like my world has imploded. This is just crazy. Like I can’t even process it.” She set her glass down on the coffee table, aware that her hand was shaking a little. Maybe she sounded a little hysterical but she avoided conflict. She normally acted as the mediator, and even that was never huge drama. Drama made her itch, and vampire politics made her sick.
“It’s okay.” Wyatt set his glass down, too, and took her hand.
The words were starting to sound familiar coming from his lips. He’d been there for her since they had found Johnny on the floor in an ash pile. And she’d yelled at him at the wake, which was really sucky of her.
“Hey, I’m sorry about being a bitch at the wake. You’ve been really sweet about everything and I just lost it on you.”
Wyatt shook his head. “Nah, it’s cool. That was totally bad timing of me. It wasn’t the place to bring up the fact that I dig you.”
He dug her. He was sticking by that statement. Wow. She wasn’t sure what to say. Stella looked at Wyatt reflectively.
Damn, he was good-looking. She had always thought he was, but she’d managed to ignore it. It was impossible to do that when he was sitting a foot away from her on his couch looking compassionate and strong. Had his hair always been that perfect caramel color, like the sun had kissed the brown tips? Which was, of course, impossible since he was never in the sun. So it was all natural. All him. All gorgeous. She wanted to run her fingers through it while he went down on her.
The sudden turn of her thoughts shocked her, and she went for her glass again so she didn’t have to look at him. “I don’t know why. I’m a total nag.” Johnny told her that on a regular basis. Or he had told her that.
“That’s true.”
Stella gawked at him. “What?” She had expected him to deny it. Or had wanted him to deny it, anyway. Of course, that’s what she got for dangling a hook like that. A tin can instead of a fish. The truth instead of smoke blown up her ass. There was something to be said for a man who wouldn’t lie to her.
“But you nag because you care, don’t you? Not because you want to be right or want to drive everyone crazy.”
No, it wasn’t a drive she had to make her friends and family insane. She just wanted things to run smoothly. Everyone to be safe and healthy. If Dr. Phil were there he would probably tell her she was displacing her unfulfilled desire to be a mother or some shit like that. Hell, maybe she was. She had wanted to have kids but she and Johnny—okay, mostly Johnny—had fallen into a bad crowd back in their mortal days. Growing up piss-poor in Ireland, the riches to be had in Chicago in the Roaring Twenties had been enticing.
Unfortunately, they’d mostly been illegal, too. Johnny had found himself in the rough crowd and at the wrong end of a mobster’s bullet spray. He had woken up a vampire and before she could say “all that jazz,” he’d turned her, too. Twenty-two and her mortal life was over.
“I honestly don’t mean to nag. I just want things to . . .” How did she describe it? She went for humor. “I just want everyone to live long and prosper.”
Wyatt grinned. “No one can fault you for that.”
“I care about all of you guys in the band, even when you drive me nuts. Though you personally don’t really drive me nuts.” She thought about the way he kissed her. “Well, actually you do drive me nuts but in a, you know, good way. A sexual way.”
She probably didn’t need to be that specific, but once she started babbling, she couldn’t seem to stop. Going for another sip of her blood, she banged her teeth with the rim of the wineglass. She sighed. She was such a dork. It was a fact.
Wyatt gave her a low, slow grin that did strange things to her insides. “I drive you nuts? Sexually?”
Duh. “Yes.”
“That’s good to know. Because you drive me nuts. Sexually.”
He was leaning closer to her. That was good. “Oh,” was her brilliant response.
“Want to drive each other nuts right now?”
There were probably mysteries that needed solving and Johnny’s possessions needed cataloging, but what was another thirty minutes? Wyatt’s hand landed on her knee. Or an hour.
“We could do that,” she said breathlessly. Who the hell did that voice belong to? She’d never heard herself sound like that before. Next she’d be giggling and getting a purse pooch.
“Where should we start?” Wyatt’s thumb moved in a circle on her knee, over and over, a slow, steady touch that made goose bumps raise on her skin underneath the denim of her jeans.
The problem with not having had sex in three decades (before the other night, that is) was that she didn’t really know how to play the seduction game. Then again, she’d coughed up that weird girly voice, so maybe she needed to stop thinking and just go with it. “You’re definitely heading in the right direction,” she told him.
“Should I go north?” His hand started to slide up her thigh.
“That works.” Stella studied his lips, so close to hers. She wanted to be kissing him again. She honestly had forgotten how lovely making out with someone could be until twenty minutes ago.
Instead of waiting for him to kiss her, Stella decided to take matters into her own hands and move in on Wyatt. Going with her impulse, she buried her fingers in his thick, wavy hair. It felt as good as it looked. A man shouldn’t have hair that sexy. It was just criminal. His eyes darkened as he realized her intent, his feathery touch moving closer and closer to her inner thighs.
Stella let her eyes drift closed as she dropped her lips onto his. It was amazing how easy it was to kiss him, how naturally their mouths fit together, how comfortable she was taking the lead and teasing her tongue inside him. Within seconds, their kisses heated up, an urgency entering their movements as their tongues dueled with each other. Stella’s nipples thrust forward against her bra, and she felt a warmth spreading throughout her body and coalescing in her most intimate spot. Remembering the thrust of him into her against the counter, Stella gave a soft moan. Her body was aching to repeat that particular pleasure.
Wyatt’s thumb finally reached the apex of her thighs and rubbed over her jeans right where her clitoris was. She lifted her right leg onto his to bring herself closer to his touch, wanting more of the delicious sensation. He took the obvious invitation and cupped his hand so that he was touching her from the seat of her backside to the zipper of her jeans. It was a simple touch, but intimate and dominating, one that heightened her arousal. Instinctively, she started rocking onto his hand, wanting harder contact.
“Stella,” he murmured, nipping at her bottom lip.
Oh, that was such a mistake if he wanted to take this slow. It sent her desire into overdrive, but maybe that had been his intention. Going onto her knees, she yanked her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor so that when she kissed him again, her breasts were up against his rock-solid chest. Good, but not quite good enough. Reaching back, she undid her bra and sent that sailing. She wanted her flesh against him, her tight nipples brushing on the cotton of his T-shirt while his tongue plunged into her with hard, possessive kisses.