Lover's Kiss (7 page)

Chapter 10

Beth smiled at the man after handing him his last beer of the night and picked up the wad of cash on the table. "Thanks for stopping by, don't forget we'll be closed for the next eight weeks remodeling."

"You should model, sweetheart," he suggested. "You don't need any new ones."

Beth forced a laugh and a smile. "Aw, thank you so much! But trust me, this place is going to be awesome when it opens back up. More stages, more girls, more everything!"

He grinned and took a drink. "The bill's all set."

Beth glanced down at the pile of bills and nodded. She leaned forward and said, "I'm not supposed to do this, but you're so sweet."

He grunted and then grinned as she pressed her lips to his cheek and brushed her boobs against his shoulder. She backed away and gave him a wave before turning and gliding back through the club on her heels. She could almost feel his eyes on her thong covered ass.

She made her way to the bar and ducked behind it to cash out his bill. He slipped in a little over an extra twenty bucks as a tip. She smirked and slipped it in the till, then recorded it in the computerized cash register system. In tips alone she was making enough to live on. Well, for a normal person to live on. Other than a place without sunlight to sleep, she needed nothing.

Then there was the fact that Penny had signed over half the club to her, which meant Elizabeth Adams received fifty percent of the profits. She'd always wanted more money so she could live like the cool kids did. Her parents wouldn't have to worry about bills and they could have just about anything they wanted.

But that hadn't happened. Instead she'd been run off by werewolves and crooked cops. Now she had money and the life she'd always wanted. The people that insisted money couldn't buy happiness obviously didn't have money.

She grinned and turned away. Penny was clearing up another table and Maddy, short for Madeline, was in the back changing and getting ready to head home for the night. Maddy was one of the other two waitresses that worked at the club.

"Damn, girl, you set a new record!"

Beth glanced over her shoulder at Candy and grinned. The blond was watching her totals and shook her head. Beth backed out of her report and brought up Candy's results for the night. She laughed. "Doesn't look like you're hurting any."

The bartender grinned and turned to take care of the other side of the bar. Over her shoulder she said, "The new wardrobe designer really knows what she's doing."

Beth smiled again. She was the one picking outfits for the wait staff now. Tonight was the sexiest by far. Heels, bikinis or thongs, thigh highs and garters, and either a bra or corset. Black, white, pink, or red were the colors she'd bought. She wore black while Candy wore white.

"Sorry, last call already went out. We're closing— oh! Can I help you, Officer?"

Beth jerked her head to the right and saw Officer Retkin walk around the corner of the bar. He opened his mouth and then saw Beth and turned. "I'm off duty," he said to the blond.

"Oh, well in that case, we're closing."

"It's all right," Beth said. "He's here for me."

"He is?" Candy frowned and then grinned. "Is this a stripper gram?"

"Oh my— Candy!" Beth rebuked her. She laughed and shook her head. "What can I do for you,
Officer
?"

John walked down the bar and stopped in front of her. "Liz, what's going on with you?"

"Wow? Really? Just like that?"

"What?" he frowned.

"Hi John, how are you? You look good. How are things? How's your partner, Officer Smashnose?"

Candy snorted down the bar but kept her silence.

"Officer Nettles," John corrected. "And I tried that the other night when I saw you with that old woman. Speaking of her, how did you know she was sick? Do you know her or something?"

Beth shrugged to buy herself some time to think up a good story. "She didn't look like she felt good. Remember what I went through? I've seen a lot of people that were sick. Like, terminally sick, you know? She had that look. You can see a lot when you pay attention to people."

He raised an eyebrow. "You know what I do for a living, right?"

"You missed that one, didn't you?" Beth teased.

He tried to scowl but he couldn't keep himself from laughing. "All right, you win. But come on, what's going on? Are you okay? I mean, I thought you were a goner after, um, you know."

Beth glanced at Candy and then back at him. "After you fucked the daylights out of me in the snow?"

His eyes widened. "Uh, Liz, I—"

"It's okay," Beth assured him. "You did. You fucked me good and it was incredible. I'd shout it to the world and not regret it. I needed it and I loved it. I'd never had anyone that cared about me do that before. You did and it was amazing."

"Jesus, Liz!"

Beth grinned. "John, I died."

His mouth dropped and he stared at her. After several seconds he gathered his thoughts and sputtered, "You— you what? But…you're here?"

"The next night," Beth said. "I made it through the day and I dreamed of you. I loved you, John. You were wonderful. Not just the sex, but caring for me and treating me so good."

"But— I don't understand?" he shook his head.

"I came back," Beth explained. She left out the part about staying dead, technically, and continued, "I can't say how or why, but the medication is working a lot better now. My condition is improving, but those side effects I mentioned before? Worse than ever."

"Side effects, you mean sunlight?"

"And my diet, I'm on a liquid diet now. Pretty much forever."

"Holy— that's got to be hard."

Beth grinned. "It's easy to get used to. Besides, look at me."

"How could I not? You look amazing," he said. "I mean, not that I'm staring, but—"

Beth laughed at him. She held out her arms and backed up a step. "Look all you want, I don't mind."

"Liz, I—"

"Everything okay, sweetie?" Penny asked as she approached with a tray in hand.

Beth smiled. "John, this is Penny."

He spun and nodded. "Yes, you came out and helped me with Liz when I brought her back."

"Thank you for bringing her to me," Penny said with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Penny is my partner, John," Beth explained. "We run this club."

His eyes widened and he turned to stare at Penny again. "You guys run— you own this place? Aren't you kind of young?"

"Dark lighting and makeup can do wonderful things," Penny said. "But thank you."

He dropped his eyes to her red underwear and then jerked them back up. "Some things even bad lights won't fix."

Penny let a laugh slip and looked at Beth. "He is a charmer, I like him."

"Does that mean I can keep him?" Beth asked.

John spun back and forth between the two. "Hey, now wait a minute—"

Penny laughed while fixing her eyes on Beth. Beth smiled and nodded back, letting her know she could handle the situation. Penny held her gaze a moment longer and then smiled. "I'm going to check on the girls and lock up when they're ready to leave."

"Okay," Beth said and turned to glance at Candy. She could tell the blond was doing her best to appear uninterested, but she knew damn well Candy was listening to every word. "Candy, can you handle the bar?"

Candy turned away from where she was stretching up to place some glasses up on a shelf. "What's that hon? Oh, yeah, I can handle this."

Beth smirked and turned to John. She motioned for him and walked out from behind the bar and down the hallway into the back. She stopped at the office and held the door open for him. She followed him in and waited until he sat down in front of the chair. Beth took her spot on the edge of the desk, same as she'd sat when the contractors were in the room.

"This is something," John said and glanced around the room. "I'm not sure I want to know how you got wrapped up in this. Oh wait, your cousin, wasn't it?"

Beth smiled. "I missed you," she said. "I didn't want to hurt you though. I was waiting until I knew what was going on with me. I—"

"Liz, please stop," John said. He hesitated and sighed.

"Excuse me?"

"I did some digging. It's the cop in me. Or maybe the man in me that cared about you. I wanted to know what happened to you. You know what I found?"

Beth stared at him and had to remind herself to breathe. "What's that?"

"You're presumed dead."

"I told you I died."

"No, that's not it. I saw pictures from your funeral, but it was a service without a body. Just some ID found at the sight of a fire. Nobody's seen you since. Nobody except me."

She shook her head. How dare he look into her like that! She hadn't even told him her last name, had she? How would he know? "That's impossible," she insisted.

"There haven't been that many women named Elizabeth, Lisa, Beth, Liz, or Elise, Bethany, or any other form of that name that had passed away in the area recently. And only one of them had a picture that looked like you. A heavier version of you, to be fair, but still you. I'm sure of it."

Beth shook her head. "I'm here!"

"Elizabeth Stenger," he said and waited.

Beth realized she'd crossed her arms over her chest, a subconscious action that made her feel like she was trying to protect herself. She uncrossed them and stared at him. "That's not my name."

"You can tell me, you know," he said. "I'm not going to arrest you. Are you in some kind of trouble? Does this Penny woman have something over you?"

Beth shook her head and slipped off the edge of the desk. She leaned against it and put her palms on the edge behind her. "Penny is… it's hard to explain. I love her, John. Love her like a sister and a friend. She's a kindred spirit. A soul mate."

"I see. So you two are together? After what we did— what you said— I didn't have you pegged for being a lesbian."

Beth smiled. "I'm not a lesbian."

"But you just said—"

Beth pushed herself off the desk and let her hands fall to the arms of his chair. Before he could do much more than rear his head back in surprise she kissed him again. This time she didn't let up. She kept kissing him, licking his lips open and then taking the kiss to a deeper level. He shifted in his chair and she felt him coming alive under her. Beth smiled around his lips and worked her hands under his jacket, spreading it wide and then unbuttoning his shirt.

He groaned in her mouth when her fingernails traced lines up the sensitive skin of his belly and chest. She tickled his nipples with her fingers, making him squirm in his chair. Before the teasing became too much for him she dropped her hands back down and began to work on his belt. He sagged in the chair, his body recovering from the unfamiliar and intense stimulation.

Beth teased his tongue, baiting it into her mouth and then capturing it between her teeth. She wrapped her lips around him and sucked on it, earning a surprised grunt deep in his throat. She let go and kissed her way down his neck, pausing for a moment as her body took over and guided her to the sweet spot on his neck that would give her the gift of life.

Beth shook her head just enough to remind herself that she was in control. She forced herself down again, kissing down his chest and pausing to nip at his right nipple. John cried out and then gasped all over again when she yanked on his pants hard enough to yank them down to his knees. She pushed them down further while kissing down the furry strip that led down his belly to his aroused flesh that was jutting upwards toward her.

Beth sank to her knees, forcing his legs apart, and dropped her mouth on him without any further foreplay. John let out a guttural yelp and then groaned when she sealed her lips on him and began to twist and rise up and down. She kept working him, trying different tricks along the way. One moment she'd take him deep until her lips brushed his trimmed pubic hair. The next she offered only shallow thrusts that had her tonguing and sucking on his spongy head.

He groaned and grabbed the arms of the chair. "Baby! Oh shit. Slow down or— or—"

Beth slurped her way up and grinned at him as she pulled free of him. He sat in the chair and lay trembling. His penis throbbed in the air, aching and twitching. Beth didn't waste any time before she grabbed her bra and pulled it up and over her head. She tossed it aside and pushed her chest into his lap, smothering his aching flesh between her breasts. She grabbed his hands and pulled them from the chair to the side of her boobs.

"Fuck them, baby" she hissed. "Fuck me."

John growled and squeezed her breasts against him. His hips jerked and he started sliding himself between her breasts.

"Yeah, that's it. Harder baby! Let me have it."

John's growls turned to gasps of air as he drove himself harder and harder. His body jerked and he began spastic thrusts that resulted in hot splashes filling her cleavage and spilling onto the slopes of her breasts.

John's movements slowed until he collapsed in the chair. His hands relaxed, freeing his grip on her. Beth grinned and leaned back until he slid free. She rose from her knees and leaned against the desk before glancing down to see the cloudy pearls slowly sliding down her skin. "Still think I'm a lesbian?"