Love Bites Part 3

Darcy whirled, fighting tears and embarra.s.sment. "Joe, this is none of your business. I'm fine."

"Then why are you lying?" Joe's gaze pinned her.

Darcy fought to remain immobile and not give him a clue concerning her conflicting emotions.

He must have seen something anyway, because his lips twisted and he grabbed her arm. Pulling her

behind him, he entered the living room, then dragged her down the hallway to the guest bedroom.

When the door closed behind them, she shook off his hold. "I'm tired. I want to rest."

"After you've satisfied me," Joe said, his jaw set.

Darcy jerked. "What did you say?"

"Just take off that robe."

"I will not. Get out."

Joe's hard-eyed gaze narrowed, and Darcy felt a moment's uncertainty.

"I said, take it off." His voice was low and menacing.

Her gaze swept over his bare chest to the top of his jeans. The snap at the waist was undone, but she

detected no bulge of s.e.xual arousal.

"Stubborn..." he said, stepping close to her. His hands landed on the collar of her robe and he pushed the lapels wide. "...foolish..."

So shocked she could only stand there while he stripped the robe from her body, Darcy didn't realize she was naked again until the cool, conditioned air hit her moist skin.

"...stunning..." Joe's hands hovered just above her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His brown-eyed gaze stared at her nipples, which were drawing to painful, rigid points.

It was the cool air, she told herself. Not the heat that flushed his cheeks, nor the muscle that clenched his jaw. One palm lowered to cover her breast and she gasped. Already abraded from Quentin's play, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were sensitive, tuned to the powerful, sensual pull of Joe's rigid posture and the deep breaths that billowed his broad chest.

His gaze rose to her face. "I'm sorry, Darc," he voice raw. "I meant only to see if he'd harmed you." Still, he stepped closer.

Darcy didn't step back. Their chests met and her head fell back. Their mouths were inches apart. When his arms closed around her, she whimpered and widened her legs to let him nestle between her thighs.

"I won't hurt you, I swear," he said, then his lips closed over hers.

Too lost in his kiss and the confusing maelstrom of her awakened desire, she didn't protest when he walked her backward to the bed. Her mouth latched onto his and she sat on the edge then allowed him to follow, dragging her into the soft center. His body blanketed her cooling skin, and she welcomed him, opening her thighs wide around his hips.

His kiss deepened, his tongue swirling into her mouth. Not wanting to surrender, but helpless against his sensual a.s.sault, Darcy reciprocated, murmuring unintelligible protests until his mouth lifted from hers. His expression was still angry, but the hurt lingered in the stark clarity of his gaze. "Tell me to stop."

His command echoed Quentin's-jarring and direct. But she knew she wouldn't ask him to stop. He'd been her partner, her best friend. And she wanted him every bit as much as she had the big, bad vamp. Clasping his face with her hands she pulled his face to her breast and cried out when his mouth closed around her nipple.

He shifted to the side and his hand glided over her belly and below. His strong fingers delved between her swollen flesh. Darcy widened her legs and pushed her hips up to take him deeper.

But she flinched when a second finger joined the first. She was too sore to take him.

He withdrew.

Afraid he'd reject her after being reminded of why she was sore, she was surprised when his mouth continued to suckle her breast-softer now, his tongue sliding over the tip.

Darcy's hips lifted off the bed again, and Joe slid a jeans-covered thigh between hers, pressing gently into her soft core. The gentle abrasion was almost too much, but she rode his thigh.

Needing him closer, Darcy smoothed her hands over his bare back, then down to slide her hands beneath his waistband, cupping his firm b.u.t.tocks. Joe's b.u.t.tocks tensed and he murmured, and then pulled away. Without breaking with her gaze, he stripped his pants down his long, lean thighs and kicked them to the floor.

Darcy's chest constricted. She'd seen him in gym, wrestled him to the floor during workouts, but she hadn't any idea how beautiful his male flesh was-like warm, creamy cocoa. His c.o.c.k was a shade darker, springing high and tight from a nest of black curls.

"I won't come into you," he whispered, his brown eyes soft and caring. "You're too tender. But let me love you." Darcy let her legs fall apart, splayed wide for his hot gaze. Joe's hands cupped her knees and glided along her inner thighs, pausing inches from her p.u.s.s.y. He leaned down and blew on her heated flesh. His fingertips rubbed briefly around her opening, and then he raised them. His expression grew dark. "You're bleeding."

"Not much," she answered quickly. "It's just...it's been a long time."

"He hurt you. Why did you lie for him?"

This was the one person in the world who deserved the truth from her. "Because I liked it."

"Why him?"

Darcy looked away. His disappointment burned a hole in her stomach. "I don't know. Watching him

with that other woman..."

"If you were h.o.r.n.y, why didn't you turn to me?"

Cra.s.sly put, but honest. Darcy couldn't give him anything less. "I didn't know you wanted this. With

me."

"Who's watched your back for three years?" His voice rose. "Who held you when you cried your eyes out after Manny left?"

"We're friends, Joe. It's what friends do. I thought that was all you wanted us to be." Darcy sighed

deeply. "It isn't like you haven't had other women. You told me all about them."

"Maybe, I wanted to see whether it bothered you."

"You were testing me?"

He raked a hand through his hair-the gesture evidence of his frustration. "If you'd given me any

indication you cared..."

"I do."

"Not the way I want you to. h.e.l.l, you'd let me f.u.c.k you, now."

"Aren't you going to?"

He glanced down at his c.o.c.k, a look of disgust twisting his mouth. "You may not want me the way I

want you to, but I won't refuse what you offer."

Regret tore at her heart. "I'm sorry Joe."

"For f.u.c.k's sake. Don't apologize. I'll really feel pathetic."

"You don't look pathetic from where I'm laying. And this isn't a pity f.u.c.k. We're friends. I love you."

"Don't look at me that way. I was just...surprised. When I heard you in there... with him...I thought

he'd forced you." "Well, he didn't." Joe's eyes closed briefly. "Why a vampire? We kill them. Was it his c.o.c.k? Did his size fascinate you?" "It wasn't...just that. I wanted him. He makes me insanely angry, but at the same time I've never been so...turned on by a man."

"And now? You want me?"

Darcy blinked. Stated baldly, she sounded like a wh.o.r.e. "Yes."

"Will you have him, again?"

She shook her head. "I shouldn't. I know that. But I don't know. He pulls me."

Joe took a deep breath and his gaze raked over her body, coming to rest on her open legs. "You've got

a gorgeous c.u.n.t, Darc. Especially now-pink and wet." His hands clasped her knees again, but he pushed them closed.

"What are you doing?"

"Being a friend. Get some sleep, Darcy."

Quentin woke to the rumble of male voices outside Darcy's bedroom door. The SU team had arrived.

He stretched and then turned to his stomach, rolling his face in her flower-sprigged, pink pillowcase. The sweet scent of her shampoo and natural musk filled his nostrils.

Darcy had been quite a surprise. As surprising as the feminine decor of her bedroom, which contrasted

with the spare iron bed that dominated the center.

He'd expected tensile strength and endurance to match his. But her lithe, spare body had been unexpectedly feminine. Nor had he expected her pa.s.sion-his back still bore the marks her fingernails had scored in his skin.

Just this once. She'd said it with her eyes clouding with desire. Quentin hadn't a doubt in the world

she'd be back in his bed before morning-unless her partner put a spanner in the works. He regretted her humiliation. A super-cop caught with the enemy. That wouldn't go down well with a straight arrow like Joe Garcia. And Quentin hadn't missed the hot look the other man had swept over her naked body. Well, he could look all he wanted. Quentin wasn't going to share this one. Although, he wouldn't mind if Joe watched. He'd rather enjoy rubbing the other man's nose in his jealousy. Quentin's stomach growled and he recognized the aroma of streaks frying on a grill. He rolled out of bed, intent on halting the group from cooking the essence out of a perfectly b.l.o.o.d.y steak. But there was the problem of a lack of clothing. He refused to contemplate donning the rumpled orange uniform he's tossed in the corner of her closet. And there wasn't any sign of his bags. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom, knotted it around his waist, and headed for the door. As soon as he swung the door wide, all eyes turned to him. "Now that's your color," the large, beefy man named Max said, biting the side of his lip. Quentin swept the room with a glare and hitched the pink bath towel higher. He spotted his bags next to the door. As he retrieved one, chuckles followed him. Quentin stalked toward the privacy of the bedroom to change when the door to the kitchen swung outward and Darcy strode into the room.

Her gaze raked over him, and her cheeks flushed.

Joe followed her out, and his arm curved around her waist. By the interested stares from the rest of the team, his gesture wasn't a common occurrence. Joe intended to mark her as off limits to Quentin.

Quentin smiled and let go of the towel.

Darcy froze, but her gaze dropped to his c.o.c.k.

Quentin took his time unzipping his bag. He pulled out a cotton shirt and blue jeans and dressed.

Darcy glanced away and folded her arms over her chest. Her mouth drew into a tight line. If not for the

spots of bright color on her cheeks, Quentin would have thought she'd been unmoved by the sight of his

naked body. "We don't hold with vampires flashing their privates in our homes," Max said, his rough-hewn features hardening to stone.