Bloodlust 00 The Talisman Read online

  As he had hurt Cassy. Why had he succumbed to the urge to sleep with her when he'd known all along that it was a bad idea? He'd known that he didn't want a relationship with her. So why had he slept with her? Why had he allowed himself to fall under the spell of the Ebony Venus Marie had carved and given to Philippe so long ago as a token of her eternal love?

  He suddenly knew why Cassy had succumbed to him so quickly. It was because she must have The Talisman Philippe had given to his Marie so long ago. Together the two charms had driven him and Cassy into a relationship neither might have sought or wanted on their own. Maybe, given time, she'd realize that she didn't really care for him.

  Recalling the tears filling her brown eyes, he doubted that. He felt a particular ache inside him. He had never intended to hurt her. He'd just found it impossible to resist his growing attraction and need for her. Even now, knowing how much damage he'd caused, he couldn't deny that his yearning for her was as strong as ever. He shivered as he recalled the taste of her sweet lips under his, the feel of her soft supple body shuddering against and under his; the exhilarating feel of her hands stroking his body and holding him as he came. The sound of her quiet voice whispering lover-like nothings in his ear until he felt fully sated—happy and fulfilled. Content with the knowledge that he was capable of satisfying all her needs and desires.

  God, what if he were wrong? What if it wasn't all Philippe and Marie? What if some of the passion and devotion had been Chandler for Cassy alone? What if it had been Cassy who had offered him the sweet gift of anal sex, even though she didn't want it? He had felt Philippe, eager and anxious urging him to take her. But it had been Chandler who'd refused because he knew Cassy didn't want it. It had been Chandler, afraid of hurting sweet Cassy who'd taken her vagina instead. What if, like Philippe, he'd just hurt and turned away his one true love?

  “You want to talk about it now?”

  His eyes snapped opened. Jennifer stood in his door, a worried look in her eyes.

  He sighed. “Ah, Jen, I screwed up big time.”

  She closed the door and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. “You're having an affair with her.”

  That was putting it kindly. Having an affair implied he'd romanced her. But he'd never sent her flowers or called her just to say hi. He'd never taken her out to dinner or danced with her. All he'd done was sleep with her and then told her he didn't want a relationship with her. As he'd done so long ago with Katie. God, he was a real bastard.

  “Chandler?”

  “Nothing as grand as an affair.”

  “Then what?”

  He hesitated, then told her.

  “If making love to her made you feel all that, why don't you want a relationship with her?”

  “Because...she's so much younger than I am. She's one of my employees...“

  “She's black?” she prodded.

  He sat up in his chair. “That is not a problem.”

  “Are you sure? She's not so much younger than you are that it has to be a problem. And with her resume and skills, she could very easily find another job. That just leaves the black part as an obstacle. Chandler, are you sure you're not pulling back because she's black?”

  “I told you—”

  “I know what you told me, Chandler. But let's face it, not every man has Steve's guts.”

  He stared at her. “Steve's guts? What's that supposed to mean?”

  “It takes guts to follow your heart when everyone around you is telling you not to.”

  “It's not his heart he's following. It's his penis!” he snapped, stung by yet another implication that he too cowardly to follow the dictates of his heart.

  “Whatever you choose to call it, Chandler, it takes guts to proceed with a relationship when you know everyone who's close to you will disapprove.”

  “So what are you saying?”

  She smiled. “That you should follow his example, Chandler and your desires and your heart. If you want a relationship with Cassy Thompson, pursue one with her. And if your sister-in-law and others disapprove, too damn bad.”

  He shook his head wearily. “You're jumping to conclusions. I didn't say I wanted a relationship with her. I certainly never said anything about my heart being involved.”

  “You wouldn't say that if you could see your face. Or come to that, Chandler, hers. Did you see how she looked when she left? Even if your heart's not involved, hers certainly is.”

  “She's a grown woman,” he said angrily. “She can't expect every man who sleeps with her to want anything more than just to sleep with her. And before you give me that disapproving look, no one forced her.” Well, at least no one who could be held accountable.

  “Oh, Chandler! Don't talk that way. I know you don't mean it. It just underscores my conviction that she's more than just a one night stand.”

  “Actually, it was a two weekend stand.”

  “Oh, Chandler!”

  “What do you want me to say, Jen? I wanted to sleep with her and she wanted to sleep with me. So we slept with each other. Period. Now we both know where we stand. It's over.”

  He held up a hand when she opened her mouth. “I know you mean well, Jen, and I value your opinion, but I do not want to talk about this anymore.”

  She sighed. “Fine, but if you change your mind—”

  “I won't.”

  “If you do, I'm as near as the phone.”

  “I know. Merci.”

  She blinked at him. “What?”

  “I said thank you.”

  “No, actually you said merci.”

  He shrugged wearily. “Same thing.”

  “Since when do you speak French, Chandler?”

  “I don't speak French, Jen. I know a few words. After all, my great grandfather was from Louisiana and my grandfather grew up there. It's not a big deal.”

  She gave him a long look. “I wonder.”

  “Don't. It didn't mean anything.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Hello. It's been awhile. How have you been?”

  Chandler stared. The last person he expected to find on his doorstep was Jane. No, actually Cassy was the last one he expected to seek him out. Cassy, at least would be welcome. Which was probably why he'd rescued the Ebony Venus from the trash can before trash day. And not for Serge's sake either. Although he had gladly turned it over to him.

  “Jane! This is a surprise.”

  “A not unpleasant one I hope. Can I come in?”

  He hesitated, then shrugged, stepping away from the door. “Of course. What brings you here?”

  She came into his foyer and opened the white, car length jacket she wore to reveal her naked body. “You-or more directly your dick. That last time we had sex was wonderful. I can't stop thinking about it. If you don't want a real relationship, fine. Just let me feel that lovely dick of yours pounding my pussy again.”

  He felt his cock stir as he looked at her firm petite body. His gaze lingered on her mound. To his surprise, she had allowed her pubic hair to grow. One of the many things he'd liked about Cassy was her bushy mound. He loved the experience of working his cock through the hair covering a woman's vagina to discover the delights within; especially when that woman was sweet, sexy, passionate Cassy.

  He wanted sex, badly. His cock ached to slide into a warm, welcoming woman. But he wanted that woman to possess a moist, heated body that hugged and massaged his pumping cock like a vice while driving him to one incredible climax after another.

  “Well? I need your dick, Chandler. In me. Now.”

  His licked his lips and spread his hands helplessly. “Jane, I'm flattered. I really am.”

  “It took a lot for me to come here, Chandler. Please. Stop talking and drop your pants. I just want your dick. “

  “I'm sorry, but—”

  “You're sorry? You mean you're not going to...“ Her face flushed and she snatched her jacked from the floor and put it back on. “What are you sorry about, Chandler?”

  “Jane, I do
n't want to hurt you anymore, but—”

  She blanched. “You mean you don't even want sex with me now? Is that what you're telling me, Chandler?”

  “I'm sorry,” he said again.

  “Is there someone else sharing your bed?”

  “No.”

  “Then what's the problem?”

  His temper began to rise. Why the hell wouldn't she allow him to be tactful? “There is no problem. I'm just not interested in resuming a sexual relationship with you. I'm sorry to be blunt, but...“

  “Oh, to hell with you, Chandler Raven!” As she left, she slammed the door so hard that for a moment, he thought the stained glass panels on either side of the door would shatter.

  This seemed to be his month for breaking hearts. Way to go, Chandler. Real smooth.

  * * * * *

  “Of course you know what this means, don't you?”

  The cool, impersonal tone sent a chill through Chandler and enraged him.

  “You bastard! You stay the hell away from her!” He snatched up the baseball on his desk, spun around, and hurled it across the room straight into the face of the man who lounged against his office door. In college, his fastball had been clocked at ninety miles an hours. He'd lost a bit of his speed, but he could still hurl a baseball much faster than a man could dodge it.

  Lucky for his intended target, he wasn't completely human. “Why? If you don't want her, what's it to you?”

  Serge didn't even bother to duck. He simply reached up a hand and caught the ball within an inch of his face. Grinning, he tossed it back across the room with much less force.

  Chandler caught it and took several deep breaths before throwing himself into the chair behind his desk. “You stay the hell away from her, Serge!”

  “You know, Chan, I begin to despair of you. You meet a beautiful woman who loves to have you fuck her as much as you like to fuck her. And what do you do? You send her packing because you think it might not be you lusting after her. Trust me, Chan. It's you. You threw that ball faster than you ever have before. Its speed was propelled both by your jealous rage and the lingering vamp blood running through your veins. But I think you should know that if you're finished with the sexy Cassy, I intend to get some of that sweet smelling pussy of hers for myself.”

  He shot to his feet and crossed the room. He stared into Serge's eyes, gray eyes to gray eyes. “I suggest you take your greedy ass back to Boston while you're still in one piece, Serge. I swear that if you hurt her...“

  “What's with this hurt? I have no intentions of hurting her.”

  “If you touch her...“

  Serge arched a brow, an amused smile on his face. “You'll what?”

  “I will kick your ass all the way back to Boston,” he threatened.

  Serge's smile vanished. “You mean that.”

  “Damn straight I do.”

  “You mean you'll try,” Serge said coolly. “Don't let that vamp blood go to your head, Chan. You don't have enough of it to take me on.”

  “Don't you fuck with me, Serge!” he snapped. “I am not afraid of your greedy ass. For God's sake, how much pussy do you want?”

  “As much as I can get,” he said suddenly, relaxing his body. “But if you want to control who she sees, you'd better get your sorry ass back in her life ASAP.” Serge gave him a light shove. “Now get out of my face before I kick your ass. I'll give you a few weeks to get your act together, for friendship's sake. After that, all bets are off.” He glanced at his watch. “I'm going back to Boston. I'll give you five or six weeks, Chan. Get your ass in gear before then.”

  Long after Serge had gone, Chandler sat in his home office, fighting against his growing rage. One of these days, he really was gong to kick Serge's ass. He approached him as a friend, telling him of his breakup with Cassy, and right away he wanted to move in and fuck her.

  Damn him. But for all his faults, he knew Serge wouldn't attempt to seduce Cassy before the time he'd specified. That was little consolation since he'd never seen Serge fail to score with any woman he set his sights on.

  * * * * *

  “Forget the creep and move on.”

  Cassy put her glass of wine down untouched. Derri sat across from her in the booth of the restaurant where they'd met for dinner. Forgetting Chandler was easier said than done. She felt as if she'd been branded by the taste of his lips, the feel of his cock buried deep inside her. She missed the sound of his voice, whispering to her in French, Je t’aime...I love you. But of course he didn't love her. That was the problem. She was in love alone. Worse, she was afraid, that like her poor great grandmother, she was in love for life alone.

  “Cassy, you didn't forget the game plan, did you? I mean you haven't fallen for the creep, have you?”

  She shrugged. “Derri, he's not a creep. It's not as if he mislead me. He didn't even seduce me. I came onto him and he finally responded. Now he's had enough. How can I blame him?”

  “I can blame him! He made sure he was saturated before he decided he'd had enough, didn't he? The jerk. And what do you mean by falling for him anyway? Frank wouldn't have treated you so shabbily.”

  She sighed. “And I guess the implication being Chandler treated me badly because I'm black?” But remembering his tenderness, she couldn't believe that. He just wasn't in love with her.

  Derri eyes widened and she shook her head. “That's not exactly what I meant.”

  “Then what did you mean?”

  She shook her head. “Cass, I honestly don't know. This is really got a good time for me.”

  “Why won't you talk to me about your...issues?”

  “I will...as soon as I can get some kind of handle on them. In the meantime, I'm more worried about you and this jerk you've fallen for.”

  “Derri, he's not a bad guy. I went into this with my eyes open. I can't blame him just because I feel more than he does.”

  “Well, what are you going to do?”

  She sighed. “What can I do?”

  “You can show the creep that he's not the only fish in the sea.”

  “You mean make him jealous?”

  “No! Later for him. Cass, you have got to get him out of your system. Get yourself another man and another job.”

  “I'll get another man, but not another job. I like the one I have,” she said stubbornly. “You can't stay there, Cass. He can makes things very difficult for you there.”

  She shook her head. “He won't.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I don't know how I know. I just do.” She couldn't very well explain that when they made love and she shared memories with the other couple, she knew things not only about Philippe, but things about Chandler too. Unless she told her everything.

  “Derri, there's something I need to tell you. Something I've never told anyone else.”

  Derri titled her head to one side. “What is it? What's wrong, Cass?”

  She couldn't very well expect Derri to confide in her, if she held back secrets of her own. “I'm not sure. This is going to sound a little crazy, so hear me out before you ask questions or threaten to call the men with the white jacket.”

  “I'm listening.”

  She sighed and told Derri everything. “So you see why everything is such a mess? When I thought Chandler was falling in love with me, it was really Philippe in love with his Marie.”

  Derri shook her head, looking dazed. “Cass, I'm not sure I can buy into this talisman...nonsense.”

  “It's not nonsense, Dare.”

  “You really think that when you and your knucklehead boss were in the sack, two long dead lovers were there with you?”

  “I know they were, Derri. Neither Chandler nor I speak or understand French. But when we make love, we both speak and understand it.”

  “Why haven't you ever told me about the...this talisman?”

  “Because it's embarrassing. And would you have believed me?”

  “No. I'm still not sure I believe you. This sound like something out
of a voodoo movie.”

  “It's real, Derri. I wished I'd never taken it.”

  “Would that have been better than never having met him?”

  “No,” she admitted. Her heart ached and she was miserable, but somehow she couldn't regret having met and fallen in love with Chandler.