Blood and Mint Chocolates by Adrianne Brennan (summer books .TXT) 📗

with delicate caution inserted a finger into her ass. The double penetration sent Merideth sailing over the edge into madness.

But Erin wasn't about to let up on Merideth. With Kalia's help, she lifted Merideth's hips up and hoisted her legs onto her shoulders.

"Now's my turn to taste you," purred Erin.

Merideth's eyes widened, both surprised and intensely aroused. The sensuous, silky but rough tongue caressed her labia with delicate strokes, resting on her clit before giving it one slow lick.

She groaned. Oh, this was torture. This human tormented her on purpose--and oh, did it make her want her even more. Erin continued to afflict the most exquisite sensations in Merideth as she writhed with frantic twitches in the clutches of both Erin's and Kalia's grip.

Erin slowly led a trail of unbearable waves of ecstasy down from her clit to her now soaked entrance. With great deliberateness and glee, she thrust her tongue into Merideth and sucked down her juices.

Through the haze of bliss, Merideth realized the blood exchange would happen after all--enough blood mixed with the fluids dripping from her pussy to create the psychic bond she needed in order to keep tabs on the woman after they both left for New York the next day.

That was her last coherent thought before an intense orgasm slammed into her like a freight train. Her body seized by earthquakes, she could do nothing but clench her fists until her palms bled from her fingernails--which Kalia obligingly licked clean.

Then the visions hit her, and she saw from their brightness that they were of the future. From them she determined that yes, Erin could be trusted--and either way, with or without their help, Clan Gladius as well as the rest of the Order was in extreme danger.

Moments later, the three women managed to make it to the bed where they collapsed in a tangled embrace, just barely managing to avoid knocking Steve off the bed. As Merideth lay there with both Kalia and Erin, she never felt more alive.

Chapter Ten

Back, for now....

The plane ride back to New York was agonizing. Merideth loved her time spent at Crystal Island, the Venus Estate ... and every time she thought of her night--and the subsequent nights afterwards--spent with Kalia and later with Erin, her stomach tightened with desire. Blood, Kalia.... The magistra was without a doubt one of the best, if not the best lover she'd ever had, and Erin had been the sweetest accident that ever fell into her lap. Her partners within the Order had always been of both genders, but she enjoyed her times best with women. There was something smooth, delicate, and deliciously sexy that she couldn't quite get enough of--and she had dreamed of Kalia in her bed more than once over the years.

Kalia was far, far better than anything had been in her dreams.

She smothered a sigh. Human habit again. You'd think after decades of being a vampire.... There was just something ingrained, beyond habitual about the action of sighing that couldn't be duplicated with a hand gesture or some other bodily performance. While she understood the quest to be more than human--and not just a bloodsucker, as James had put it time and time again--she believed that sighing was a necessary evil as means of a release of tension and self-expression.

There had been another single, beautiful blood-red rose delivered to her hotel room that morning. Only a simple note: "To Merideth, with love from Kalia" was all that came with it.

Strange. Kalia is her Order name. All those times we had, and I still don't know her real name. She wondered if she would ever know--or if anyone in the Order did, for that matter. It was taking a bit of a security risk, having her name like that even on just a rose. But Kalia seemed to be a good deal more ... lax than other magisters and magistras. Such as James, for instance.

She stifled a giggle. Oh, Blood. James. Merideth wondered how he would react to them having hooked up during her trip. Then she wondered if that night ever would've happened had she not wished for it.

The vampire's mood turned sour. Was Kalia's attraction to her due to the wish granted by Babalon? Or had she genuinely enjoyed her company? It seemed to her that Kalia's response to her was genuine, but she truly had no idea.

Like her real name, perhaps she would never know.

She fingered her pocket where scrawled on a piece of paper was Erin's cell phone number. The two exchanged numbers before going their separate ways on planes back to New York, and she remembered Erin's tears with a sad fondness. She would have to call her so they could get together during one of her few nights off.

But Merideth would not stress too much about keeping in touch with the young woman, as she now possessed a degree of awareness of her location at all times, not to mention glimpses of her thoughts and emotions. The small psychic link provided via the magick of the blood exchange gave her that much.

She found it odd, but she couldn't tell who she missed more at that point--Kalia or Erin. Never had she pictured herself having one, let alone two lovers, but somehow this worked.

Now all she needed to do was to find a way for them all to keep safe. The visions she had about the future of her and Clan Gladius reassured her to some extent, but elements of what she had seen were foreboding. She could only pray that Kalia's idea would work....

* * * *

Merideth arrived at the Sanctuary about half an hour before dawn. That was cutting it a bit too close for her liking, but with the airline schedule and subway, it was the best she could manage. Choosing to unpack later, she decided that it would be best to bury herself in her work as usual.

Oh, but that vacation. Four nights in paradise, all but one of