Up in Smoke (6 page)

Arriving in front of her house, he quickly shut the engine of his truck off and strode to her front door. She answered on the first knock, looking good enough to eat. She wore tight jeans with an equally tight shirt that was tied in the front and showed a peak of her bellybutton.

“Hi,” she greeted with a smile. She seemed to take him in from head to toe, and then her smile faltered a bit as she bit her lower lip. “Do I need to change? Did you have something specific in mind for tonight?” He had chosen a pair of dress slacks and a nice polo shirt, going for casual but nice since he wasn’t sure what they were doing.

“No, please don’t change. You look good.” He allowed his eyes to take her in one more time. “You look damn good. No, I don’t have anything specific planned, I told you to come up with something. We can just go catch a movie or something if you have nothing planned.”

“Well, it just so happens that I do have an idea,” she replied as she grabbed her purse and shut the door behind her. “There is an old-fashion drive-in movie theater at the edge of town. They play old black and white films on Thursday nights and I thought it might be fun to go.”

His eyes lit up with merriment. He hadn’t been to a drive-in in years! “Now that sounds like my kind of evening,” he stated as he lifted her up into his truck. “Give me some directions, darlin', and we’re there!”

Nathaniel paid at the gate and drove through. He couldn’t help the silly grin that was on his face. He’d been to visit Walter and Sissy often over the years, but never once did they mention there was a drive-in close by. He parked toward the back, knowing his truck sat up rather high and would probably block someone’s view if he parked up close. An area at the very front was closed off completely to vehicles where people had lawn chairs and blankets spread out to watch the movie.

“I’ve got an old blanket in the backseat if you want to go up front and sit,” he suggested.

“Why don’t you turn the truck around, so we can spread the blanket in the bed of the pick-up and enjoy the movie there?” Susan countered.

“I can do that, too!” he laughed as he cranked the engine back on and turned the vehicle around. In no time at all, he had them settled in the bed of his truck with her sitting between his legs, leaning back against him as he leaned back against the truck with his arms wrapped around her. She rested her head on his shoulder while he was enjoying the view the gap at the top of her shirt was affording him.

An attendant came around with drinks to purchase and a flyer stating what movies were playing. Tonight’s features were
All About Eve
, starring Bette Davis, and
His Girl Friday
, starring Cary Grant. Not exactly Nathaniel’s favorites, but as long as he got to spend time near his girl, he could care less. He bought her a soda from the first attendant, and then some popcorn a little later when another attendant came around selling that.

The movies were okay, but Nathaniel was more interested in keeping his nose buried in his mate’s hair or her neck. When it turned completely dark and he was certain no one could see, he slowly inched his hand up under her shirt. He was pleasantly surprised to find she was wearing a front closure bra, which made things so much easier for him. Unsnapping the closure, his hand was quickly filled with a warm breast. He massaged it and then tweaked her nipple before going over and doing the same thing to her other breast. By the time he was finished, he could smell her cream sliding out of her body and her breathing had changed to shallow breaths. He leaned his head down as to nibble on her earlobe. When he released it, she turned her head upwards for him to claim her lips in a searing kiss.

She turned herself around to straddle him without breaking the kiss as she rubbed her breasts up against the front of his shirt. He reached underneath them and pulled the blanket out in one yank, throwing it over her so no one would see what was his. He then scooted down into the bed of the truck until he was lying on his back and she was on top of him.

Making sure the blanket covered her completely, he reached and pulled her shirt up, exposing both of her lovely breasts to his view. He grabbed ahold of her sides and pulled her up just enough so he could taste those sweet, delicious berries of hers. While he was suckling on her breasts, she was grinding herself down on top of his erection.

He reached down and unzipped his pants, his engorged dick screaming hallelujah as it burst out of its confinement. She immediately reached down and wrapped her hand around the base of his dick, pumping up and down a few times before lightly running a fingertip across the slit at the top and massaging the drop of fluid that sat there into the head of his dick.

She looked down as she continued to handle him. “You’re so big!” she stated with a whisper, in complete awe over her newfound toy. Before Nathaniel could even open his mouth, she had ducked under the blanket completely. The next thing he felt was her tongue gliding across the head of his shaft. She wrapped her hand around the base and took him into her mouth, sucking on the head at first and then coaxing more pre-come out of the slit with her tongue. Suddenly, she turned serious and started taking as much of him into her mouth as she could while running her tongue up and down the vein running along the bottom of his dick. There was no way she’d ever be able to take him completely, but she gave it a good try. What she couldn’t fit into her mouth, she pumped up and down with her hand.

Soon, too soon, he felt that tingling at the base of his spine, alerting him he was getting ready to blow his load. Quietly, he lifted the blanket just a bit. “Baby, I’m getting ready to come. You need to let go, sweetheart.”

But instead of listening, she applied more pressure as she continued to suck as much of his cock as she could. His orgasm was fast approaching, he could feel it like a runaway freight train, and he just barely got in another warning. “Sweetheart, I’m serious. I’m getting ready to blow,” he whispered frantically.

She kept going as he started shooting cum down her throat a few seconds later. Much to his surprise, she took it all, never gagging, swallowing all he had to give her.

When she had licked him clean, she poked her head out from under the old blanket that covered them. He hooked his arms under hers and finished dragging her up, claiming her mouth the minute her face was in front of his. That had been the hottest blowjob he had ever received in his life and he was going to make damn sure his mate knew how special she was.

“Woman,” he whispered in her ear, “you’ve got a wicked mouth. Now it’s my turn.” That was the only warning she received before she suddenly found herself flipped over onto her back, somehow still under the blanket. She then felt his wicked tongue start licking along her belly, working his way down as he peeled off her jeans.

Chapter Three

He pulled into her driveway to drop her off after the movies and growled the moment he saw it. “What is that dark stuff on my house?” she asked. With it being almost black outside, her human eyes couldn’t make out what it was, but he could see perfectly. And what he saw made his temper boil.

Jumping out of his truck, he turned to instruct her, “Lock the doors behind me and don’t get out of this truck until I come back and tell you it’s safe.” He walked around the front of his truck and waited until he heard the sound of the locks being activated. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply as he separated the different scents. He weeded out the smell of the dog urine in the bushes, the trashcan that sat on the side of the house, the exhaust fumes from vehicles, and Susan’s scent. Digging deeper, he came across what he was looking for. Vampire.

He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and hit speed-dial for his brother. Walter answered on the first ring, “Are you calling me for dating advice, bro?”

“I wish I was, Walt. No, I’m standing in front of Susan’s house. The word WHORE is spray painted across the front of it. But that’s not all,” he paused for just a second before continuing, “there’s been another vampire around here, very recently.”

“Keep her safe, I’m on my way.”

Nathaniel walked around the exterior of the house to make sure that whoever did this wasn’t still lurking around. Finally convinced that whoever did this was long gone, he went back to the truck. He found his mate squinting through the windshield, trying to make out what was on the front of her house.

He motioned for her to hit the unlock button and opened her door. “I’m so sorry, baby. We’ll find out who did this, I promise.”

“Did someone paint the word ‘WHORE’ on the front of my house?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. You don’t by chance know any other vampires, besides the ones at the station, do you?”

Before she had the chance to respond, two pickup trucks pulled up right behind them. Her breath hitched, not knowing who to expect at such a late hour.

“Relax, babe. It’s just Walter and Lucas. I called Walter in because this is officially a crime scene.” Only after the doors to both vehicles opened did he realize that Sissy and Meredith had come along, as well.

“Hey, hon. Are you okay?” Sissy wasted no time in pushing past Nathaniel and enveloping her friend in a hug.

“Sis, who would do this to me? It’s not like I have any enemies.” Susan shook her head, clearly at a loss as to who could have pulled such an ugly prank.

“I know, hon. The boys will get it figured out. Just give them a bit of time. You know Walter is going to make sure you stay safe. And with Nathaniel as your mate, you have nothing to fear, hon,” Sissy replied with confidence.

Meredith was standing behind her. “I’m going to go make sure the guys don’t miss anything.”

Sissy stayed with Susan as they watched the others comb through everything that was around the outside of her house. She couldn’t believe someone had done this. And why? Just a few short hours ago, she’d been having a wonderful time watching old movies with Nathaniel. It just didn’t make any sense.

She looked over at Sissy. “Maybe this isn’t about me. Does Nathaniel have any ex-girlfriends that are mad at him?”

Her friend was already shaking her head before she had even finished the question. “No, hon. Nathaniel hasn’t dated anyone in a really, really long time. The town he was sheriff in was too small, and as far as I know, he never even went out with anyone when he came here to visit. No,” Sissy shook her head with a frown, “this was done by one of our kind. Now, we just have to figure out who and why.”

“This was done by a vampire?” Susan’s voice shook as a chill went down her spine and the question came tumbling out. What possible reason would a vampire have to do such a thing to her property? Unless this had something to do with the mess regarding Eddie and the trouble her deceased husband got into along with himself. But still, that had been several months ago and she had been living alone ever since with no trouble.

Sissy seemed to read her mind. “We don’t know if this has something to do with Eddie’s case or not, but I can guarantee you that Walter won’t rest easy until he has turned over every rock to find out who did this.”

All three men and Meredith walked back over to the truck. It was Nathaniel’s turn to push his sister-in-law out of the way and envelope his mate in a tight hug. He could smell the fear coming off her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. You know I’m not going to let anything happen to you,” he crooned as he gently rubbed her back.

“Susan, I don’t want you staying here by yourself until we have this situation under control. You are welcome at our house if you need a place to crash,” Walter stated.

“She’s going home with me,” Nathaniel growled at his brother as his arms tightened around her body.

Then as if he had just realized how he sounded, he eased up on his hold and leaned back to place a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Baby, will you please come home with me so I can protect you? Otherwise, my brother is going to end up with a house full of guests, because I’ll be camping out over there for peace of mind.”

Susan watched her boss give her a grin and a wink before looking over to his mate. “Sissy, did you hear me extend an invitation to my brother? I could have sworn I said Susan...”

Susan rested her head on Nathaniel’s shoulder. Whenever she was near him, she felt at peace. She felt at home. She felt...loved. Knowing it was way too soon for these feelings, but yearning for them nonetheless, she took a leap of faith and hoped she didn’t come crashing down.

She turned her head up to meet his eyes. “I’ll come home with you, but if you get tired of me, just say so and I’ll stay with Sissy and Walter.”

“Tired of you...as if that were possible,” Nathaniel growled out before leaning down and snatching a kiss.

She heard Walter chuckling off to her side. “Well, I’m going to call a cleaning crew and see if we can’t get this taken care of before the neighbors wake up in the morning.”

Nathaniel broke off the kiss. “Let’s go inside and pack you a bag or two. Then we’ll head home.”

Home, she liked the sound of that. Even though she knew it wasn’t her home, she could always wish. He had such a beautiful home and she knew it would take no time at all for her to become accustomed to living there. She just had to be careful enough to guard her heart, because she didn’t think she would survive if she allowed her heart to fall for him completely, only to have him reject her. Oh sure, she had heard all about vampire mates and how they were supposed to be forever and all that. But really, what did someone like her have to offer to a big, strong, powerful man such as Nathaniel?

*****

Nathaniel helped a subdued Susan back into his truck. She was sad, but he couldn’t figure out why. He knew she was upset about the damage to her house, but it had been after he had mentioned her packing a couple of bags that her scent had changed.

They rode back to his place in silence. He carried her bags in for her, and then wrapped his arms around her and cradled her against his body. “Welcome home, baby.”

She looked up at him with a perplexed look on her face. Frowning, she shook her head. “This isn’t my home, it’s yours.”