Cleopatra's Return: A Paranormal/Vampire Romance (15 page)

“
Only for a few hours. I’d love to wake beside you so we can start our evening on an erotic note,” said Michael with a suggestive leer.

Cleo yawned. “You know what. My room can wait for now. I think I’m going to stay right here for
the moment.”

“That would please me greatly.”

This time when she fell asleep, it was in a sandwiched spoon where Michael faced her and their hands twined while Julius spooned her back.

What seemed liked minutes but was actually hours later, she awoke to find Michael watching her with a soft blue gaze, his thumb stroking the back of her hand.

“Evening, my little goddess.”

“Already?” she groused.

“I take it you slept well.”

“Very. You?”

“Never better, but there is one problem with waking beside you.”

“What?” Did she need a toothbrush? Was her hair a mess? Had she gotten the dreaded raccoon eyes from her mascara?

He didn’t tell her but showed her, his hand tugging hers until it brushed against his very evident erection.

“Someone woke up on the right side of the bed?”

“You mean beside the right woman?”

A smile curved
her lips as her hand squeezed him.

A knock on the door
had them both sighing in regret.

“One moment
,” Michael called out as he exited the bed. He yanked on some pants before going to the door and opening it. He murmured with someone in the hall. With a soft snick, he closed the door, but judging by the fact he went to a chest of drawers and didn’t return to bed, it seemed a resumption of their play wouldn’t happen.

Michael
grabbed a clean shirt and tugged it on as he said, “I’ve got to check on something with Thaddeus. I’ll try and make it back soon. Don’t have too much fun without me.” After a hard kiss on Cleo’s lips and a grope of her damp sex that made her squeal, he left her alone with Julius, Julius who’d woken but lay silently beside her as Michael made his exit.

Suddenly shy,
despite the previous night’s activities, Cleo avoided looking at him. He, being a man, of course felt no such qualms, and he rolled her under him in one swift movement that had her gasping. “What are you doing?”

“Making sure you can’t ignore me,” he said with a thrust of hips that left no doubt as to how happy he was to see her.

“You’ve got my attention.” She still couldn’t look him in the eye. His accusations of her being a whore still stung, and after the way she’d practically dragged him into a threesome, she was surprised to see him smiling instead of slinging bitter barbs.

“First
, I need to say how sorry I am for what I said when I saw you the other night. It was uncalled for and unnecessarily cruel.”

“Yes, well
, I imagine the shock of coming face to face, not to mention my involvement with Michael, might have had something to do with it.”

“Don’t make excuses for me,” he said in a biting tone. “Yes, I went through my own version of Hell after I died, but that doesn’t give me an excuse for my behavior. You lived through Hell
, and yet, you’re not bitter.”

Not anymore, but there was a time when anger
had been her closet friend. Given he seemed to want to dredge up the past, Cleo met his gaze. “Yes, I lived through it. But I earned my punishment and had time to come to grips with it. Your torture was the product of a sick bitch.”

“He told you?”
A muscle ticked at the corner of his jaw.

Cleo nodded. “
Michael didn’t want me to hate you.”

For a moment, she wondered if Julius would resort back to some of his earned resentment.
Julius smiled instead, and Cleo was momentarily transported back to a time when their love had formed the whole focus of her life and happiness. “This might sound stupid, but does knowing about my past mean you don’t hate me?” he asked, a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.

How strange of him to ask. The old Julius, the one she’d first met, never showed vulnerability. The old leader eschewed anything that smacked of weakness. Since he asked for reassurance,
Cleo reached up to cup his face in her hands. “I could never hate you, Julius. You’ve always had a piece of my heart. That will never change.” Then she kissed him, a soft and sweet kiss to show him she meant what she said.

And as she made love to
Julius in Michael’s bed, she enjoyed his touch, found pleasure she’d reunited with him again, and discovered something. While Julius had a part of her heart and always would, Michael owned her soul, tarnished as it was.

Michael
never did return that night, his business obviously taking longer than expected. Cleo left Julius after their lovemaking with a promise to speak to him later.

After a shower and a change of clothes, she wandered the mansion, eating in the dining room
, where the courteous staff served her excellent meals, and learning the grounds, aware that Michael’s staff lurked at the edge of her vision, silent guards to her safety.

At one point
, out of boredom, she went looking for Julius, only to discover he, like Michael, had also disappeared.

Only moments before the dawn, as she yawned and thought about seeking out her bed, a disheveled Michael arrived
.

Before she could ask him where he’d been, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Hard. Passionately.

Only once she was breathless did he release her. “Well, hello to you too,” she said.

“I’m sorry I was unable to spend time with you. My business took longer than expected.”

“Anything serious?”

“Nothing. Just some
strange inquiries in to my business that I wanted to investigate myself. One doesn’t live to my ripe old age without developing certain precautions when it comes to nosy people.”

“How do you manage to live amongst mortals without giving yourself away?”

“Lawyers are quite adept at handling the red tape that ensures recycling my identity every so often. I hope you don’t mind, but I took the liberty of having them get started on having a modern identity and paper trail created to explain your existence. By the end of the week, you should have everything you need to move amongst society without problem.”

“Does it include a credit card?” Because if there was one thing this day and age had that she enjoyed it was a multitude of shops to spend in.

“But of course. With unlimited funds of course. I also got you a passport.”

She arched a brow. “Planning to travel?”

“Definitely. My private jet is always fueled and ready to go. Just name the destination, and we can leave.”

“You’re spoiling me,” she said as she twined her arms around his neck.

“I think it’s about time someone did,” he murmured against her lips before kissing her.

How she would have loved to prolong the moment, but his hiss of pain as dawn dared to peek between a crack in the drapes brought her to her senses.

“You need to get downstairs,” she chided.

“Will you come with me?”

Oh the temptation to snuggle with the man whom she felt such a connection to. She almost said yes, but through their bond, she sensed not only his fatigue but his guilt. Guilt because, despite his friendship with Julius, he wanted her to himself and yet feared hurting his friend.

“Not tonight, or should I say today
?” she said, making the decision for him. “You’re exhausted, and I wouldn’t want to keep you up.”

“I will come for you as soon as I wake,” his word
s less a threat and more a sensual promise.

“
You’d better.”

Another passionate kiss, and then Michael was gone.

Despite her decision to sleep alone in her gold room, Cleo couldn’t help but wish she’d instead chosen to snuggle with Michael. Sweet, sweet Michael.

A part of her wondered that she didn’t feel the same urge to find Julius. Yes, sleeping with him was nice, but, as she’d discovered, while a part of her would always love him, she was no longer
in
love with him. With their reunion so fresh, she didn’t want to unduly hurt Julius by showing a preference for Michael.

Funny how sleeping with a man, and not just any man but her first love, made her realize just how much she cared for Michael already.
It makes no logical sense because, technically, I’ve known Julius longer, but with Michael, it’s like I feel more than love. We have a spiritual connection.
When she was around Michael, it was like coming home.
He completes me.

With thoughts of Michael lulling her
, she slept, but her mind whirled, and she woke from troubling nightmares, where the only clear thing she remembered was pain.
But that’s nothing new.
She’d spent most of her life and time in Hell hurting in some way. Now with her second chance on earth, perhaps things would finally change.

Needing to exercise
and work her muscles—and not just her libido—Cleo headed outside. The grounds surrounding Michael’s home spanned several acres and featured a massive meandering garden. Cleo inserted the buds for the MP3 player Chester had hooked her up with into her ears and, to the pulsing rhythm of the newest techno dance hit, took off at a brisk jog.

Don’t let her curvy frame fool. While not muscle
-bound, Cleo enjoyed running for exercise. It limbered her muscles, pumped her veins full of adrenaline, and, best of allowed, her to clear her mind. Even though the thoughts plaguing her lately were of the good kind, she still felt a need to sort through them.

It still amazed her that she
’d found acceptance and affection with Michael. He was perfect, and in his presence, she felt happy, happier than she’d ever thought she’d experience again. The only cloud on that horizon was Julius.

She was
still trying to come to grips with Julius coming back into her life. Her first love, who had not only apologized for his actions but appeared to also care for her still. While a part of her didn’t mind that they’d come to an agreement about engaging in a three-way, at the same time, Cleo almost wished it hadn’t happen because, given the choice, Cleo knew who she would have chosen—Michael. However, pushing Julius away now, whom a part of her cared for, as did Michael, wasn’t something she could do, not without hurting him. So it seemed, for the moment, she was stuck with no one but two lovers.

Caught between two men.
And enjoying it, the sexual part at least. There was something sensually satisfying about being the woman worshipped by two handsome and skilled lovers. Shocking or not, she’d enjoyed it and, like a glutton, wanted to indulge again and again. She also found herself intrigued by the idea of a dual penetration even if the idea of anal sex had previously repulsed her.
I’ll admit I’m intrigued by the idea of being sandwiched between them, their bodies pumping me at the same time, their flesh sliding against mine.

Heat, the lust
-induced kind, roared through her body, and the crotch of her panties soaked as her sex reacted. Twilight couldn’t arrive soon enough for her.

She
smiled to herself as she planned how to greet them.
Perhaps I’ll splay myself across the dining room table amidst decadent desserts with lots of whipped cream, chocolate, and other gooey sweet things.
The idea of feasting off their bodies as they feasted off hers made her shiver.
If one bite makes me come hard, I wonder how two bites would feel?

S
he needed to stop thinking about all the erotic delights they could partake in, else she was liable to fall to the ground and masturbate to the shock of the gardening staff.

Singing aloud the lyrics to
“Bad Romance,” she pounded through the winding paths. She sensed instead of heard she wasn’t alone. She didn’t panic because she knew the lycanthropes and other guards patrolled the area. But when the really big fucking demon landed in front of her, she skittered to a halt. Somehow she didn’t think Michael employed him.

This isn’t good.

Cleo had made the erroneous assumption that Marc possessed more sense than to attack her so soon and on Michael’s home turf after his ignoble defeat at his hands. Wrong!

She popped the ear buds out
, and while she couldn’t see the demons drawing around her in a tightening noose, she could smell their distinctive sulfuric calling card, and here she was, without even a fucking knife.

Stupid and complacent, basking in the glow
she’d found with Michael and Julius, she’d forgotten to never assume anything, especially where her safety was concerned. She took quick stock of her options, of which there were few.

Where are the damned guards?

Drawn away or distracted she could only assume because they sure weren’t rushing to her aid.

As the big one in charge leered, displaying jagged
, sharp teeth, she tried reasoning. “Hey boys, come to say hi? How is the pit these days? Still hot and dusty?”