Netherworld: Drop Dead Sexy (5 page)

And what a dimension. I’d never
completely lost myself in an orgasm before. And I was so ready for
more. My nether regions throbbed anew as Tristan pulled free of
me.

“On your feet, baby. Bent over the
table,” Dan said, rising.

The rightness of serving him slipped
over me, comforting and secure. I remained shaky from the
mind-blowing climax, but I immediately assumed the position he
wanted.

“Hands behind your back.”

I criss-crossed my wrists at the small
of my back and shivered in delight as big, calloused hand closed
over them, holding me helpless. Dan nudged my legs far apart with
his, opening me. With his other hand, he positioned his cock at my
entrance.

He slowly impaled me, making me feel
every luscious inch of him as he pressed inside. I shuddered when
the hand not holding my wrists closed on the back of my neck,
pinning me down. I keened a high note as he slid further into me,
my flesh yielding eagerly to him.

“Does it feel good to have my cock in
you, baby?”

“Yes Sir,” I gasped. My body already
revved up for another orgasm, my sheath slowly flexing in
uncontrollable spasms.

He groaned. “I’m not going to last
long. She’s too damned hot.”

Tristan chuckled from elsewhere in the
room. “I’m really glad you found her, Dan. She’ll help pass the
time, won’t she?”

Dan’s only answer was a gasp as my
passage flexed around him again. Oh yeah, I neared the brink
again.

He filled me completely, bumping up
against my cervix to make me hiss with sensation. Dan wasn’t the
only one who wouldn’t last long. If he expected me to wait for
permission, he would be very disappointed.

“Hard and fast, Brandilynn,” he said.
“That’s how I like it, so get ready.”

“Please, Sir,” I begged.

With that, he pounded me with all his
strength. By the second stroke I was up and over, screaming in
abandoned delight as he jerked me back and forth to meet his
strength. And again, the blinding pulses stealing my mind, taking
me out of the realm of sight and sound to only feel the
excruciating explosions. As soon as it passed, another arrived
to

take me even higher. I rode that crest
until yet one more blasted through, the carnage leaving my throat
raw with screams I never heard.

I found myself sobbing when I came
back, my face pressed against the cool surface of the wood beneath
me. Dan’s weight laid over me, heavy, his cock twitching inside as
the last of his pleasure bathed my womb. He groaned my
name.

I don’t know how long we lay like that,
trying to recover.

At last Dan pushed himself up and
carefully disengaged from my clinging sheath. I slowly rose,
expecting to be sore from the punishing use. But no, I felt just
fine and dandy. And glowy all over. The sex had been
amazing.

Tristan sat on the leather couch, fully
clothed again. When I turned to Dan, he too was back in his
button-down shirt and tan pants, looking like a businessman getting
ready for his lunch break.

Remembering how I’d shed my clothes, I
thought of myself wearing my prettiest sky-blue sundress with the
ruffles and yellow daffodils on the trim. Just like that, I felt
the soft silk draped over my body. Neat.

“You look as precious as an Easter
egg,” Tristan observed. His appreciative glance made me flush with
happiness.

“Well, Easter is only a couple weeks
away,” I answered, walking over and flouncing down on the couch
next to him. I thought of my gold sandals and pearl drop earrings,
along with a hand-painted wooden bangle I’d bought from a local
artisan. Poof! Just like that, I wore the ensemble.

I wonder if the dead do anything that
requires a Versace gown.

Dan sat on the edge of the table we’d
just had so much fun on. I looked him over, trying to discern what
he’d thought of our romp. He looked back and grinned.

“A Dom is born,” I said.

“I never knew a woman who liked to have
control taken away. You sure don’t act like it when you’re not
naked.”

Tristan stroked my hair, and I shivered
at the touch. He said, “It’s a popular misconception that subs are
doormats. Most of the ones I’ve known are very much take charge
outside of the bedroom.”

“I like the sound of that combination.
Strong as nails during the day, soft in my arms at night. I take it
you’re feeling much better, Brandilynn?”

“Much.” I frowned at them now that my
hormones didn’t rule my brains. “You said something about I was
your only witness to the killer. “Where are the ghosts of the other
women who were murdered? There were what, more than a dozen in the
last two years?”

Tristan answered that one. “Not all the
dead come back as ghosts. There was one other victim we found a few
months ago, but she also suffered from amnesiatic trauma and
disappeared before we could get any information from
her.”

I stared at him. “If the dead don’t
come back as ghosts, where do they go? Heaven and Hell?”

Dan shrugged. “No one really knows. It
seems those with strong personalities manifest as spirits. And if
there’s a Heaven or Hell, we’ve never seen a sign of
either.”

Tristan added, “Most spirits haunt
beloved homes, follow loved ones around, or stay with their
bodies.”

“Like I did.” My voice sounded very
small as I thought about the long frightening days and nights in
the woods. “I thought I was having a nightmare. It was
horrible.”

Dan said, “It’s a miracle you’re sane.
Most of the serial killer’s victims are savaged beyond the simple
blood draining vampires usually do. No doubt the pain you suffered
was horrific.”

“Stop trying to cheer me up.” I pushed
aside the grief that wanted to overwhelm me once more.

Tristan asked, “You didn’t extend your
escort services to vampires, you said.”

“Human only. One of your fellow
commission members was a regular of mine, George
Stansfield.”

Tristan grimaced. “I’m sure it will
come out during the investigation. These things always do. I’ll
have to prepare a statement.”

“If the police dig too far, it’s going
to hurt some big names in the community.”

“Oh, you can be sure they’ll dig.
There’s a lot of pressure to get these murders solved and the
killer staked.” He changed subjects. “How did you get into being an
escort? I’ve seen the news reports. Your family is Fulton Falls’
high society.”

My answer was short.
“Rebellion.”

Dan stared at me in shock. “That’s
it?”

They always wanted explanations. I
sighed. “My life was stifling. My parents had my entire future
planned out. I went to the right private school, had all the right
friends, attended the right college … they even picked the right
man for me to marry.”

Tristan nodded. “That wouldn’t have
been not too strange for my time, but these days it’s a little
extreme.”

“I couldn’t breathe without their say
so.” Eager to change the subject, I asked, “How old are you, Mr.
Keith?”

He blinked at the turn of conversation,
but he didn’t press the issue. With a smile he said, “After sharing
carnal relations, I think you should call me Tristan.”

“Okay. Tristan.” I smiled. Why had I
been so afraid of vampires? He really wasn’t a bad sort. A little
old-fashioned, at least when he wasn’t humping me on a library
table, but I liked it.

“I was born at the turn of the century
over 100 years ago,” he said. “I’ve been a vampire for almost 75
years.”

“You’re kind of young for being such a
big time player among the vamps, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “While we gain in our
supernatural powers as we get older, it becomes harder and harder
to keep up with the changing times, especially those born before
the Industrial Revolution. Most elders retire from public life
around the 300-year mark.”

Dan added, “We have only one vampire
around that age among Tristan’s trusted group.”

“The Judge,” I whispered and
shuddered.

Tristan had two attendants accompany
him at public functions. One was his sister Patricia. Rumor had it
he’d made her a vampire himself. The other aide was Pembroke
Keimer, better known as The Judge. He’d been around Fulton Falls a
couple years now, quickly becoming Tristan’s right hand vamp. The
man had the most severe attitude I’d ever seen, looking for all the
world like the Puritan judge he was reputed to have been before a
vamp turned him. The Judge looked terrifying even on TV.

To the men I said, “He’s scary all
right. Was he really in on the Salem Witch Trials?”

Tristan shook his head, his chuckle
telling me he was used to the rampant rumors that swirled around
his assistant. “No, though I think he attended them as a
bystander.”

Dan wasn’t as amused. “I think
Brandilynn should steer clear of him if possible. He’s not a fan of
women of, uh, questionable virtue.”

Tristan pondered the suggestion. “His
insight is invaluable. But since she has no memory of the attack as
of yet, we’ll give her a chance to acclimate to her new afterlife
before exposing her to him.”

I switched the subject, not enjoying
the current one too much. “How do you two know each other? I mean,
you don’t make a habit out of sharing girls, right?”

Dan answered that one with a shake of
his head. “No, this was a new experience for me.”

“So, what’s your
connection?”

“Death is incredibly boring. Even
filling the time with sex can get old.” He grinned at Tristan.
“Vampires always have some drama unfolding. They’re a manipulative
bunch, forever trying to outmaneuver each other as well as
humans.”

Tristan laughed. “We do love power
plays, don’t we? Politics came naturally to me once I became
undead.”

Dan smirked his agreement. “Tristan is
one of the more ambitious of his kind, as well as a fair dealer. So
when death got a little too mundane, I offered my background in
business to help him in his many ventures.”

I nodded. “You have a lot of
businesses. Property development and management, construction, and
that trucking company.”

“Plus I’m the silent partner in several
other fields.” Tristan preened. “Dan’s help has been invaluable.
Unlike my subordinate vampires and shifters who are looking to
promote their own agendas, I can trust him with
everything.”

“I’m just looking to be kept busy and
entertained.”

Dan suddenly went on alert, standing up
straight as he looked towards the library’s double doors.
“Someone’s here.”

I stood up, not sure why I felt alarm.
“Another ghost?”

“No, the living.”

Taylor and Lana, the two women who’d
helped Sheriff Grayson locate my body, walked in through the
library’s main doors. Once they were inside, Lana halted and closed
her eyes. “I feel Dan and the woman and—” her brow creased as she
concentrated. Tristan rose from the couch and stepped to her side.
He gently touched her shoulder, and she stiffened. “Vampire. Is
that you Tristan?”

He squeezed her shoulder, and she
relaxed. “It’s him.”

Taylor cast her gaze around the room.
“Is it safe to report?”

Tristan patted Lana’s shoulder this
time. “It’s safe. Go ahead.”

Taylor’s delivery came out crisp and
very matter-of-fact. “It does look as if Ms. Payson is the latest
victim of the Ripper. No one’s saying much until the autopsy, but
my source says it was a particularly nasty death. The mutilations
are definitely getting worse. Like the previous victims, she wasn’t
killed in those woods. The Ripper dumped her there afterwards.
We’re just lucky the wild pigs or dogs didn’t find her first. She’s
the freshest kill they’ve gotten since the Ripper
started.”

I swallowed hard and my knees knocked
together. Freshest kill. Not a description of myself I enjoyed
hearing. “If I wasn’t dead I’d throw up.”

Dan joined me and wrapped his big,
strong arms around me. “Why don’t I take you somewhere else while
she reports?”

Before I could answer, Taylor said,
“The autopsy is day after tomorrow. That’s about it for now. Oh,
except no one wants the body.” She grimaced sympathetically. “I
guess she wasn’t on good terms with her family.”

Lana had her hankie out again and
dabbed her eyes. “Poor soul. That’s too bad.”

As the women turned to leave, I pushed
Dan away and dropped back down on the sofa. “No surprises
there.”

But I was surprised, a little. Sure,
I’d been disowned and had no expectations of rejoining my family in
life. But they wouldn’t even bury me? That kind of cut.

Fortunately I was too wrung out to cry.
At this point, I accepted even small blessings. I had no intentions
of blubbering like a weakling, and certainly not over something
done by my parents. They had no right to my tears, not now, not
ever.

Dan and Tristan sat on either side of
me. Each took a hand, and I warmed to feel the gentle strength
flowing from them. I had lucked out to meet such gentlemen, the
kind that were protective without belittling me.