The Polanski Brothers: Home of Eternal Rest Read online

  Blonde, green-eyed and hot. Not quite the way he normally liked them, but doing it for him in a way no woman had for a long time. She was a smart ass too, but he didn’t mind it much. It kept him on his toes. Usually he didn’t like the women he was involved with to talk at all.

  Well, not a lot.

  Larkin looked at the clock on his dashboard and decided he’d better get his ass in gear. He had a date at the Hole. He hoped the club’s name wasn’t a representation of its atmosphere. He’d been in enough dark holes already.

  Now he wanted out.

  * * *

  Music, heavily laden with a throbbing beat, pounded inside the club. Joy’s head throbbed with it. She so didn’t want to be here, but Cathy had insisted. Her cousin loved a good techno club and she didn’t get out much with the new baby.

  Joy’s thoughts softened as she pictured Cathy and Joel’s baby boy. He was such a rare vampire occurrence that no one in her family could explain, yet they cared little how he had come to be because he was so perfect. Vampires so rarely were able to reproduce and that meant little Joel was quite the miracle.

  She was tired after embalming Brian Reynolds and sick with guilt because someone was biting humans and she didn’t know who to tell. Or if she should tell anyone at all.

  Joy sighed as she watched Cathy dance with their friend Sara. At least someone was having a good time. Swirling the glass of red wine, Joy took a sip and hoped against hope that she might taste something.

  It was, of course, pointless, but she hoped anyway. Joy twirled her chair around to face the crowd of dancers on the floor and bumped into a pair of thighs.

  Lean thighs in silk trousers.

  “We meet again.”

  Yeah, look at that -- must have eaten my Lucky Charms today. It was the guy from Alan’s wake. Tall and blond, strikingly pretty. His thick hair was pulled back in a ponytail, sleek and tight. A navy blue suit jacket covered his casual but stylish shirt and made his bluish-white skin a bit pasty if you asked her. “From Alan’s wake, right?” she yelled over the music.

  He nodded as his hands bracketed the arms of the barstool and he leaned into her. His nostrils did that funny thing again before he commented, “You don’t have to yell. I can hear you just fine.”

  A chill raced up Joy’s spine, leaving her strangely skittish. “I’m sorry about Alan. Was he a family member or a friend?”

  His smile was slow and subtle, even just on this side of eerie. “A friend. A very good friend.”

  Hookay. Ixnay on the eepycray. He was sort of creeping her out and Joy didn’t creep easily. Time to ditch the pasty goon. “I’m Joy Polanski.”

  He suddenly seemed to become aware of his surroundings as his eyes focused back in on her. “Liam.”

  Joy pushed her hand through the small space between them and shoved it under his nose. “Nice to meet you.”

  Liam took her hand in his and held it. His fingers were cold and bordered on clammy. “Nice to meet you. Do you enjoy this music?”

  Only if I feel in the mood for a lobotomy when I’m done. “Not particularly. It’s a bit loud for me.” Joy grimaced with her statement as a new, yet monotonous beat began again.

  Liam clucked his tongue. “I think it has a rather sensuous quality.”

  Yeah, I always feel like a good sensuous head banging every so often. Joy shrugged her shoulders and smiled vaguely. “To each his own, I guess.”

  Liam inhaled again, moving closer to her cheek. “It’s what makes the world go ’round.” His breath hissed against her ear, making her squirm, and it wasn’t because her panties were wadding up over him.

  If he got any closer to her he’d be obliged to submit an insurance form for an oral exam. Joy leaned back and looked into his black eyes. “Why don’t you have a seat, Liam?”

  Oh, God, she groaned mentally. Manners were her downfall. She couldn’t be rude to anyone, not even smarmy men who were prettier than she was.

  He was too pretty for her taste. Nothing like Larki -- Hookay, stop right there, missy. No Larkin McBride thoughts. She might be fifty miles away from Easton, but his bionic mind reading range may have widened. Or not, considering she’d thought of horrifying ways to slice him up after he’d left her today and she hadn’t heard a word since then.

  Not a peep.

  Jerk.

  “What are you drinking, Joy?” Liam asked as he took the stool next to hers and settled in.

  Why did his question seem too personal? He wanted to know what she was drinking, not her cup size. Nonetheless, when he spoke, it was like he was prying, prodding in a place he shouldn’t be. “Red wine.”

  “Red wine it is,” he said as he called the bartender over and held up her glass to suggest a refill. His long tapered fingers wound around the stem and Joy shuddered, but she had no idea why.

  Larkin’s hands made her think of -- Ding-ding-ding! This is officially a Larkin warning. No Larkin McBride. He was dangerous and rugged and brash and -- and. Well, and.

  “And what?”

  Joy rolled her eyes and blew out a breath, tilting her head back to look up at the hulking form that was all Larkin. “Well, look. It’s the caped crusader. What brings you to Gordonville, Detective?”

  Larkin chuckled low near her ear as he sat on the other side of her. “You, my little mistress of the night. Who else would bring me out this late to listen to crap like this?”

  Joy fought a grin mingled with relief at his appearing out of nowhere. For some reason the pushy detective seemed a far better bet than pasty-white Liam.

  “A detective?” Liam asked as his eyes shifted from Joy to Larkin.

  Larkin popped a peanut in his mouth from the bowl on the bar. “Yep. A detective.” Larkin reached over Joy and stuck his hand out to Liam. Liam’s thin, pasty hand was swallowed by Larkin’s more bronzed, sculpted one.

  “What brings a detective to this neck of the woods?”

  “A funeral.”

  “Detective McBride was one of Alan’s friends too, Liam. Maybe you know each other? Although I don’t really know how either of you knew Alan.”

  Larkin ordered a draft and drummed his thumbs on the bar top. “We were in the Army together. He used to bring me home to Easton for holidays. Adelaide makes the best pumpkin pie.”

  Joy watched as Larkin chewed the peanuts and licked his fingers free of salt. She gulped and turned to Liam to distract her from “thinking” anything. “How did you know Alan, Liam?”

  Liam’s eyes shifted back to Joy’s face, yet again he had that strange unfocused look in his black eyes, leaving her uneasy. “We traveled in the same social circles due to business.”

  Larkin slugged back his beer with a hearty chug. “So you’re a day trader?”

  Liam’s answer was vague. “Sometimes.”

  How were you a day trader sometimes? What the fuck was this guy’s deal anyway, Joy wondered.

  Larkin nudged her and whispered in her ear, “I was thinkin’ the same thing.”

  Christ. Get the fuck out of my head, McBride!

  Larkin tipped his bottle to motion at the crowd of people. “You come here often, Larry?”

  Liam bristled and Joy fought back a snicker by biting her lip.

  “It’s Liam. Sometimes. I like the atmosphere,” he drawled.

  “I don’t know about you, Lou, but I can’t get into all this loud banging and shit. It gives me a headache.”

  Joy watched the look on Liam’s face turn from the serene calm of a few moments ago to a mask of control. “It’s Liam, Mr. McBride, and like I was telling Joy earlier -- to each his own.”

  “It’s Detective McBride, Li-am.” Larkin let the letter “M” in Liam’s name linger on his tongue, drawing it out.

  Liam pushed back his chair and stood, his lanky frame paling in comparison to Larkin’s bulk. “Of course it is, Detective. Joy, it’s been a pleasure. I’m sure we’ll see each other sooner than you think.”

  Oh, yeah. Like not if the fucking world were coming to an e
nd and Liam here held the key to saving humanity. “Goodnight, Liam. It was nice talking with you.” Not.

  Liam sauntered his way through the crowd and disappeared into the throng of dancers.

  Larkin chuckled. “Not even if he held the key to saving humanity?”

  Joy let her head fall to her folded arms. God save her from herself and her rampant thoughts.

  “So, what brings you here, Joy Polanski?”

  “My cousin’s need to fulfill her ‘girls just wanna have fun’ quota.”

  “Your cousin?”

  Joy pointed over her shoulder. “The dark-haired one on the dance floor with the black miniskirt.”

  “Does she work with you?”

  “She worked with her dad in Tucson, but she just had a baby so she’s decided to take some time off. She’s just helping out until my brother comes back from vacation.”

  “Wow, how long ago did she have the baby?”

  “About two months.”

  “Talk about bouncing back.”

  “Her husband Joel is big into fitness. He helped.”

  “Tell me, Joy. I thought vampires couldn’t have babies?”

  Joy kept her face placid. “Well how can that be true, Detective? If that were the case then where would more wee little Draculas come from? Wouldn’t we be a dying breed?”

  “You’d bite people to keep your breed from dying.”

  Good thing he couldn’t read her stomach, because it was in a big knot. “Where are you getting all of this information anyway? Is there a big book of vampires? Or maybe you’ve been reading Vampires for Dummies?”

  Larkin leaned in to look at her again, making her stomach clench tighter and her nipples burn the inside of her Miracle Bra. “Is there such a thing?”

  Joy pushed her chair back and hopped down, almost teetering on her heels. “I don’t know, Detective. You tell me. You seem to know everything.”

  He grabbed her arm and stopped her from leaving. “Oh, no. We’re not done. Tonight you’re all mine.”

  Oh, those words… “Pardon me?”

  “I said you’re not leaving. Not without me anyway.”

  “Don’t make me hurt you, Detective. I took self defense and I’m not afraid to make a scene,” she said through clenched teeth. Partly because his hand on her arm was going to shoot off sparks from their combined friction and partly because she was afraid he was straying into dangerous territory.

  Larkin yanked her closer, letting his hand slip to her wrist. Their bodies pressed tightly together. “Don’t make me use my handcuffs, Joy.”

  All righty, playtime was over. Joy whipped her wrist from his grasp with eye blinking speed and latched onto Larkin’s thick forearm. If he was surprised by her strength he was pretty good at masking it. Joy dug her fingers into it and twisted. “Ya wanna see a grown man cry, Detective?”

  Larkin’s teeth gritted and his jaw ticked, but he didn’t budge.

  Joy narrowed her eyes at him. “You forgot about a vampire’s strength when you were doing all this research, not to mention a vamp’s speed. I could kick your sissy ass all over this bar, Detective, if you don’t go the fuck away and leave me alone.” She twisted harder, feeling the strain of hard muscle beneath her hand.

  “You’re a vampire, Joy, and I intend to find out what this all means to me.” He spoke calmly, succinctly, but beads of sweat had broken out on his forehead, a sure sign he was getting ready to fold.

  “Heeeyy!!! Who do we have here, Joy?” her cousin Cathy asked breathlessly as she came to stand beside Joy and Larkin. Joy shoved his arm away and took a deep breath, turning to a smiling, but confused Cathy.

  “Just a guy,” Joy said as indifferently as possible. “Can we go now, honey? I’m tired and my head hurts.”

  “I’m sorry, Joy. I didn’t realize it was this late. I want to get back so I won’t miss the baby’s feeding anyway. Let me go get Sara and we’ll go, okay?”

  Joy latched onto Cathy’s hand and said, “I’ll go with you.” Over her shoulder, she turned, winked at Larkin, who was rubbing his forearm, and wiggled her fingers.

  Never fuck with girl power, Joy thought. Ya hear that, McBride?

  Chapter Five

  Joy was exhausted. After her bout with Liam and then Larkin, all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep. She didn’t even bother to turn on her lights in her small apartment. Not that she needed to -- her vampire eyesight was just right.

  Good eyes sure as hell didn’t help her keep tabs on the detective. Not like a good sense of smell would. How was it that a mere mortal could read her mind and she couldn’t smell a friggin’ thing? She was a vampire, for crap’s sake!

  The fates were cruel indeed.

  Joy wandered down the hall as she kicked off clothing and berated herself the entire length of her hallway because she’d all but admitted to being a vampire.

  Damn her temper. It might have made things much worse for her family. Larkin McBride could fuck up their carefully constructed world and it would be her fault because her mouth got the best of her.

  But -- she smiled to herself -- she could have made him squirm like a girl. Wanna wrestle, Detective? Joy giggled as she entered her bedroom just thinking about the surprise she knew the detective must have experienced.

  “No one makes me squirm like a girl.”

  Joy jumped. Arggghhhhh!!! Larkin sat in the chair by her window, his legs crossed at the ankles, looking like he was right at home.

  “Okay, I’ve had enough! Now I am going to kick your ass and I’m pretty sure you have no doubt in that pea brain of yours that I can,” she said as she stomped over to her bed and jumped off the other side in front of him. “Get up and take it like a man, McBride.” Joy hovered over his sitting form, hands on panty-clad hips.

  Shit. She was in her underwear. Way to intimidate, Joy.

  Larkin’s hand snaked out to run a finger under the leg of them. “They’re pretty too.”

  Heat, sharp and stabbing, slithered over her skin.

  Oh, crap.

  Joy swallowed hard.

  Larkin sat up and his finger slipped deeper into the leg of her panty, skirting the smooth skin of her pussy. Joy’s hips jutted forward unwillingly at the contact.

  Larkin bent his head and nuzzled her hip, his shortly cropped hair tickling her sensitive flesh. He slid his other hand between her legs and cupped her ass, pulling her roughly to him.

  Joy was immobile, helpless to stop him for the delicious throb that grew in her cunt. The hand that cupped her ass yanked her panties down roughly in one forceful tug, leaving her exposed. He spread the flesh of her ass with two rough hands and laid his mouth over the outer lips of her pussy.

  Joy’s hands balled into tight fists at her sides and her teeth were ground so tightly together dental floss couldn’t slip between them. A scream settled at the back of her throat as Larkin didn’t move. Instead he remained still, allowing her to become wet with anticipation.

  Joy licked her dry lips, stood on her toes and suddenly she could no longer stand the wait. Tilting her hips she thrust forward, and at that moment Larkin’s hot, silken tongue sliced through her soaking flesh in one sizzling stroke.

  He circled her clit, needy and almost painfully swollen, tugging at it with lips that seared her. Joy clutched at his hair frantically. He had just enough to cling to. She gasped as he ran his tongue rapidly over the fleshy folds, stroke after long stroke.

  Her already sensitive vampire nerves were ablaze, heightened by the sound of Larkin suckling her flesh with his mouth.

  The soft suction of wet on wet made Joy insane with a need unfulfilled for five hundred years. She rammed his mouth against her in search of something she didn’t understand, but sought to relieve.

  Larkin drove his tongue into her, spreading her wide and lapping at her until a rush of flames roared through her.

  Her mind was completely blank, nothing but her desperate ache to reach whatever destination she was bound for flew through her head as
she pounded against him.

  Her first orgasm hit her hard, making her back arch sharply and her nipples tighten almost painfully. Larkin braced her back with his hand, spanning the width of her with ease as he relentlessly lashed her with his tongue.

  Tears stung her eyes when she came again, the pleasure so intense, so all-consuming she could almost see the white-hot electricity race through her body as it tore through her.

  Joy didn’t remember how they got to the bed, or where Larkin’s clothes went. She only knew when his body covered hers, hard and rigid, that she had to have his cock in her. The long shaft, scorching hot and thick, lay between them, taunting the lips of her pussy, grazing her swollen clit. Instinctively her legs wrapped around his waist as she arched her back and hung on his neck.

  Larkin’s thick length tensed above her, his cock nudging her entrance.

  Joy moved frantically beneath him, desperate, burning, aching and then he drove into her, fierce and with a power that ripped the breath from her lungs. Joy’s nails tore into his hard back, gripping his flesh upon entry.

  Larkin’s body stiffened against hers momentarily and Joy opened her eyes to find he was gazing at her, his blue-gray eyes dark and searching. Joy ignored the question in his eyes and tilted her hips toward his, grabbing handfuls of his tight ass and pushing him deeper into her.

  Larkin’s thrust was followed by a fierce yell as his neck arched and the firm bronze skin pulled tightly to reveal the thick cords of muscle.

  Joy was on fire. Slick and hungry, she rose up on her heels and met Larkin’s hips as he embedded himself in her over and over, his balls slapping against her ass. The carnal sound rang in her ears as he rode her, the delicious scrape of his pubic hair against her clit making her mad with want.

  Her muscles clenched him, stroking his silken length, taking him deeply, burrowing beneath the strong shelter of his body.

  Joy raised her arms above her head and Larkin collared her wrists with his big hand, holding her still as he pounded into her.

  Joy pushed against the restraint of his hands, knowing she could yank out of his grasp, but the force with which he took her was intoxicating and driving her over the edge to that vague, yet familiar haven of release.