Sundown & Serena (9 page)

This went on for the next few months, until
it was nearly fall. Lash never said he’d be there the following
Thursday, or that he was looking forward to seeing me, but he was
always polite, and most nights he bought me a drink or two. After
that first night, he had always refused my offer of buying him
drinks, saying he was the man, and men were the ones who bought
drinks. But I understood in time from the way he talked, and the
things he said, that he was a much older man than he looked, so I
wasn’t surprised he was a sexist. That was one of the things I
liked about him, actually.

Soon, the days were turning colder, and I was
thinking of getting out my sweaters.
Maybe it’s
time I moved on. What am I staying around here for? For Devlin to
catch sight of me one night? For Terian to decide his life with his
one true love isn’t worth it, because of what we were to each other
once? Yeah, right.

That cool September Thursday night, Lash
dropped a bombshell on me. While sitting at the bar, he said out of
the blue, “I won’t be here next week, Sun. Dev is moving our
operations overseas for a little while. I don’t know how long we’ll
be gone, but it will be at least a few months, maybe even years. We
can’t stay there long, or Samuel, the Ruler there, will notice us.
Devlin’s got business there that has to be dealt with. Well, so he
says, but I think really he just misses Anna, and wants to go where
they spent their honeymoon, so to speak. I don’t care. In fact it
will be better to be where it’s warm, with winter coming.”

“Who is Anna?” I got out. I was floored that
he was just springing this on me with no warning, then I reminded
myself that we weren’t exactly friends. He had never invited me to
drink with him; I’d sort of invited myself.

“The only woman Dev ever really loved,” Lash
said, finishing off his scotch, and standing up. “The one with
blood similar to Sar’s. She’s been dead a long time. Anyway, I
wanted you to know I wouldn’t be here.”

“Thanks,” I said, not sure what else to
say.

Just like that, Lash threw down some money on
the counter, and left. I sat there for about five seconds in shock,
and then I got up and went after him.

Chapter
Nine

He’d already made it to his truck as I banged
out the exit door to the parking lot. But he heard me coming, and
turned around with the door open, facing me with a little surprise.
“You want something?”

“To say good-bye.” I stepped into him, and
kissed him hesitantly.

Lash pulled me close in an instant, and
kissed me back hungrily, his mouth moving on mine. Then he drew
back from me, an intent look in his eyes. “Why’d you kiss me?” he
asked, curious.

“I felt like it.” My response was defiant,
though I was smiling.

“There anything else you feel like doing?” he
asked with a grin.

“Maybe,” I said, grinning back, and leaned
into him to kiss him again.

He held me away from him, his hands clasping
my wrists gently. “You know I’m snake,” he cautioned. His forked
tongue darted out to scent the air. “And you’re human. You really
want me wriggling around inside you, Sun?”

I shivered when he said it like that. But it
had been a long time for me, and I just didn’t care that he wasn’t
human. I wanted to feel loved, just for a while. “Yes.” I went to
kiss him again.

Again, he held me off. “Get in,” he said
gruffly, sliding behind the wheel. He opened the door for me from
inside, then started his truck. I climbed in beside him. Five
minutes later, we were at a nearby motel, and Lash was inside the
main office, getting us a room.

I was surprised that he hadn’t just asked to
come home with me, but he’d said nothing more to me after telling
me to get in his truck. I guessed this was more chauvinism, that
since I had said I’d be with him, he owed me at least the price of
a bed to have me in. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. On one
hand I liked that he felt that way, as most other men I’d known,
Terian included, had just assumed that they were welcome in my bed,
and had never offered to take me anywhere, not even to their own
beds. Yet part of me was glad of the hotel because I remembered too
well the one male I’d known who’d taken me to his bed, and how much
of a mistake that had been.

Lash came out of the office, and motioned to
me. I got out of the truck, locked the door, and followed him a few
feet to the door of our room. He unlocked it, pushed the door open,
and then turned to me. “You sure, Sun?” he hissed. “I won’t ask
again. You walk into that room, there’s no changing your mind. And
you won’t be walking out until its morning.”

My heart began to race, fear tingling up my
spine at his proclamation. I looked him over: his cold eyes, and
the well-used weapons at his belt.
How well did I
know him, really? Well enough to do this?
“Promise me right
now you won’t hurt me?” I asked in a small voice. “That you
aren’t...like him.”

“I won’t hurt you,” Lash hissed, eyeing me as
he leaned up against the doorframe. “You’ll be walking out, not
need to be carried out. The only wounds you might have tomorrow are
ones you ask me to give you, or soreness from normal wear and tear.
I don’t go in for that.”

I wavered for a few seconds, and then
thought,
screw it.
Lash had protected me.
If he’d wanted, he could have had me any way that he liked while
sharing me with Devlin. Instead, he’d saved me with a bus ticket,
for no more reason than it had been the right thing to do.

I pushed past him, and walked into the
room.

Lash was right after me. As soon as we were
both through the door, he locked it behind me. He turned and
grabbed hold of me, kissing me passionately as he pushed me down on
the bed, pulling off my jeans as fast as he could. I was as eager
for him as he was for me, and I helped him, crying out a little in
my arousal. He pushed down his jeans, holding me down with one
hand, baring his erection, as he pushed aside my underwear, and got
himself into position. Suddenly he let out an irritated hiss, drew
back from me, and quickly slid on a condom from his back pocket.
The second it was fully on, he was on top of me, shoving himself
into me as fast as he could, grunting with each thrust, his hands
under my buttocks as he pistoned in and out of me. I moaned,
feeling his thick hard length filling me like no one had in so
long. I wanted it to last, but a few seconds later he let out a
long hiss, then went limp on me.

Lash withdrew from me right after he came,
pulling off the condom, and throwing it away. He stripped off his
jeans, put his weapons within reach of the bed, and took off his
sweater, though he left his T-shirt on. I took that time to pull
off the rest of my clothes, and toss them aside. Lash crawled back
across the bed, and took me in his arms.

“I broke up with my lover yesterday, when I
told her I was leaving,” he hissed softly, kissing my face gently.
“We’d been together in our other forms, but not as humans. She was
bent out of shape I was leaving, and that I hadn’t told her until
then, and so she refused to. I needed it bad, Sun, I apologize for
not waiting for you.”

“It’s okay,” I replied, hugging him. “I’ve
been there myself. But I hope that this isn’t the end.”

“Of course not, I’m a weresnake. Just give me
a minute, and I’ll pleasure you, I promise,” Lash hissed with a
lecherous smile, still kissing me. “Tell me what you like, while we
wait.”

“What?” I said, furrowing my brow.

“What you like in bed,” Lash said easily,
giving me a serious look. “I want you to enjoy tonight, Sun. All
women are different, they want different things. So tell me
honestly what you like, so I can make it good for you. I won’t
judge you, whatever you tell me. Just tell me the truth.”

“Sex,” I said uncomfortably, not sure what he
was asking. No one had ever asked me that question before, ever.
“Regular sex.”

“What positions?” Lash hissed gently. “And do
you like oral sex? ‘Other’ sex? Any particular place you like it,
besides the bed? You want me to talk dirty to you, or say nothing?
What turns you on?”

I felt myself blushing. No one had been so
frank with me ever, asking about what I wanted or needed to feel
satisfied. But I thought it was nice he cared, even if the way he
was asking me was a little blunt. “Any position, and the bed’s
fine,” I said, blushing slightly. “You can talk or not, whatever
you like. But just regular sex.” I actually would have liked some
oral sex quite a bit, but I remembered his tongue was forked like a
snake’s, and there was just no way I could face it, not at all.
And what about his fangs? Shiver.

“Got it,” Lash said, nodding once. “Would you
mind if I didn’t wear anything?”

I gave him an irked look out of the corner of
my eyes.

He sighed. “I will if you want me to,” he
said reluctantly. “It just feels better if I don’t. And if you want
me to, I’m going to have to leave to get some, because I’ve only
got another two in my wallet, and they are probably expired by now,
or damn close to it. I’m lucky that one didn’t break on me.”

“Aren’t you worried about catching
something?” I interjected.

“I’ve been with my current lover for more
than a year,” Lash said with irritation. “I trust Lys, and I know
she never—”

“I meant from me!” I said exasperatedly. “You
don’t know my sexual history.”

“Have you been with anyone since Devlin?”
Lash said with a steely gaze.

I shuddered in his arms, just hearing that
name. “No,” I got out finally. “I haven’t been able to bring myself
to be. I haven’t wanted anyone for a long time,
except...except—”

“Except him,” Lash supplied very softly.

I shuddered again.

“I thought not, Sun. That’s the way the drug
works on most women. I’ll bet you had dreams too, dreams of
him—”

“Can we not talk about that?” I interrupted.
“Please, Lash?”

“Sorry,” Lash hissed apologetically. “My
point is that knowing that, I know I’m safe being bare with you,
because I had your blood tested. Because you were clean then.”

I narrowed my eyes, suddenly irritated.
“Why’d you do that? You said a vampire couldn’t give me
anything.”

“Because he wanted me or another were to join
in the next time he was with you,” Lash said bluntly. “I know Kev
had you that night and the condom broke when he did.”

I let out a cry, struggling hard to get away
from him.

“Stop, shh! Relax,” Lash said calmly,
restraining me easily. “That’s one of the reasons I helped you get
away. I don’t want any woman who doesn’t want me. He was being an
ass though, and wouldn’t drop it. Anyway, I took some of your
blood, and tissue when I bandaged you up, and Dr. Camlyn said you
were safe, completely clean. Kev said he was, but I made him get a
test anyway to make sure. I don’t trust that bastard. I never have,
he’s too much of a fucking deviant, the things he likes to do.”

“But why trust me, when it’s been months
since that test? I could be lying to you now.”

“Are you?” Lash said, grabbing my face and
making me look into his flat eyes.

“No,” I said honestly, staring back at him.
“But how about you? Why should I trust you?”

“You shouldn’t trust me about much, but you
can trust me about this,” Lash hissed, his eyes boring into mine.
“I got tested today, because I always get tested between lovers. I
prefer not to wear anything, and I know damn well that can be
risky. I’ve had lovers lie to me; tell me they were safe when they
weren’t. But I’ve never given anyone anything to my knowledge, not
ever. It’s my prerogative, when I have permission.” He paused. “We
are both clean. So yes or no?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Lash leaned in and kissed me again, rolling
his body on top of mine. A second later, he penetrated me, his bare
shaft stroking me slowly and deliberately. Aroused, I ran my
fingers up over his back, then went to move to his chest, to slide
them under his T-shirt. He stopped me gently with a shake of his
head, moving my hands back to his shoulders before he resumed
kissing me. I thought it odd, but left it alone. He probably had a
scar there he didn’t want me to see or touch.

Lash took his time with me, until I was
panting and moving under him, straining to come. He clearly knew
how to please a woman, and before long I felt myself shaking as my
orgasm broke over me. It had been a long time for me, and it was
such a relief, so satisfying as it washed over me, to know I could
still feel that feeling, that it wasn’t just something that I used
to know and never would again.
God, I felt like
that for so many months...

Lash came a second after I did. This time, I
felt his climax as he spilled himself deep inside me with a long
satisfied hiss. With that familiar shudder within, his muscles
tensing, then relaxing completely, something broke in me. I began
to cry softly.

Lash drew back from me, though he didn’t pull
out of me, or let me go. “What is it?” he said gently, looking at
me intently with his flat eyes. “Was it because it had been so long
for you, Sun?”

It wasn’t just because it had been so long
since I had a lover of my own. It was because it had been so long
since I felt like my lover cared about my pleasure, as well as his
own. None of the men I’d been with in my life besides Terian had.
Terian and Lash are the only ones in my life
who’ve ever even made the pretense of caring about me, caring that
I was satisfied, or that I enjoyed the sex at all
. I’d been
used or objectified so often by everyone else in my life, my
clients, my bosses, my father, my lovers, and even my mother a
little, as a shoulder to cry on. No one had ever really cared about
me, the me I was, or my happiness.