On The Edge Read online

  In front of her, Brett let out a noise that might have been a grunt or a snort. Behind her, Leo reached over to trace a line down her spine that had goose bumps running over her skin.

  When they got to the landing, Brett held the door open for her and stared hard at Leo when he stopped on the threshold. She said his name with a touch of impatience, and he finally uttered the invitation that would give Leo access to the apartment.

  Rolling her eyes, Lisa led the way to the living room. They would need to stop playing these games—and fast.

  Especially, since she intended to have them both in her bed tonight.

  * * * *

  The apartment looked nice, though the furniture wasn't comfortable enough for Leo's taste. The sofa he was sitting on was a bit stiff and made it difficult to relax. Of course, the feeling might have come from the human sitting on an identical piece of furniture just across from him, his eyes glaring still as though demanding to know what Leo was doing there. Beth had abandoned them to get drinks in the kitchen, and Brett had not said a word since.

  “Have you known Beth for a long time?” he asked, trying for small talk. Finding Beth here had been a beautiful surprise, but Leo was somewhat puzzled that she was apparently living with a human.

  Brett looked at him in confusion. “Who is Beth?”

  “The vampire you live with?”

  A little amused, he watched for Brett's reaction carefully and found it interesting that the human tensed for a second at the word ‘vampire'. The shake of his head however was unexpected.

  “We have been together for eleven months. And her name is Lisa, not Beth.”

  The declaration had a final ring to it, as though by naming her, Brett could lay a claim on her. Clearly, he cared about her and she was more than a bed partner to him. But there was still no hint of what in the man could have captured Beth's attention enough that she would spend almost a year with him. He was good-looking, certainly, and Leo knew from personal experience that Beth liked the kind of muscled body Brett barely hid beneath a too tight shirt. But it couldn't be nearly enough to keep her in anyone's bed for very long.

  Beth finally returned with three glasses, one of them containing no more than two fingers of a pretty old whiskey if Leo was to judge by its scent and color, the other two taller glasses holding a mix of blood and alcohol.

  “What's your real name?” Brett asked her a little abruptly, as she was handing him his glass.

  She let out a quiet chuckle. “Elisabeth. I used to go by Beth, but I prefer Lisa now.”

  She said the last with a small smile toward Leo, who nodded as much in thanks for the drink she had offered him as for the explanation of the name change. He hadn't expected that. It seemed that she had changed more in the past fifteen years than she had the thirty before that. So far, Leo didn't mind the differences he was discovering.

  As he took a sip of his drink—vodka and human blood, both excellent quality—Leo noticed Brett's smug look, and the possessive hold of his hand on Beth's—no, Lisa's knee where she had sat next to him on the arm of the sofa. The man looked as though he had won a battle by having her confirm what name she used now. It was almost touching, and somewhat amusing.

  “Have you been in town long?” Lisa asked. Her free hand rested on Brett's shoulder, but her attention was fully on Leo.

  “I arrived today. I needed a change of scenery and coming back here seemed like a good idea. I'd never have thought you'd still be around, though.”

  He said the last part as a way to reassure Brett, letting him know he hadn't been looking for Lisa when coming to town. Brett, however, frowned and his gaze became suspicious. When he asked how long Leo intended to stay in town, his tone had an aggressive edge to it that made Lisa look at him reprovingly. If he couldn't play nicely, Leo saw no reason to do so himself.

  “I'm not sure,” he replied. “It'll depend on what reasons I may find to stay.”

  The leer he gave Lisa made her chuckle quietly. Brett reacted much more strongly, standing without warning and placing his empty glass down on the coffee table with a sonorous ring.

  “It's getting late,” he said coldly. “It was nice meeting you.”

  The lie was thick on his tongue, but Leo found it entertaining more than insulting. Brett was trying to defend what he considered his, and Leo couldn't fault him for it. It was a pity for him that the human didn't know Lisa any better, though.

  “I'll join you in a while,” she said when Brett turned a questioning gaze toward her. “Leo and I have a lot to catch up on.”

  Clearly, Brett had not expected her to stay behind with Leo, and he hid his surprise badly. Stepping close to her, he kissed Lisa hard before walking away, his back stiff and fists clenched tight. Lisa watched him go with a shake of her head, and sighed when he slammed the bedroom door shut behind him.

  “You care a lot about him,” Leo said, knowing he didn't need to make it a question.

  Lisa took a sip of her drink before nodding. “He's a wonderful man. I'm sure you'll like him, once he gets past these jealous antics.”

  The determined glint in her eyes made it plain that she would see to it that Brett's jealousy subsided, and for a second Leo wondered what she had in mind exactly. But then, she came to curl next to him on the sofa and he didn't care so much about Brett anymore.

  “Tell me what has been going on in your life,” she asked, laying a light hand on his leg. “I've missed you. I'm glad you're back.”

  Leo was surprised to realize how relieved he was to hear those few simple words. He had been thinking about her a lot, these past few years, but he had never dreamt that she would welcome him back so easily into her life. After the way they had parted, he wouldn't have dared wish for his mouth on hers, either, or her hands on him. To be proven wrong wasn't a disappointment.

  Far from it.

  * * * *

  When he entered his bedroom, Brett had been sure that Lisa would soon follow him. She had to understand what him slamming the door shut meant. But by the time he had changed out of his clothes and into light sleeping pants, Lisa still hadn't showed up. Instead, he could hear her talk and laugh in the other room—could hear her and Leo laughing together.

  As he paced back and forth at the foot of the bed, he scowled and glared at the door, trying to eavesdrop on what they were laughing about, while at the same time furiously assuring himself that he didn't care. He regretted not having asked Lisa to join him. He had been sure he didn't need to. In the eleven months he had known her, she had never failed to slip into his bed before morning had come.

  He wasn't stupid. He knew that sometimes she took more than blood from her prey, and he had watched her dance with other men, even kiss or touch other men with no jealousy, but rather an intense thrill. He had even wished he could have seen her with them, when she took them to those private alcoves on the ground floor. It had never mattered so far because he had always known it was no more than a game for her. She took sex from a few of those handsome men for the same reason she took their blood. Because she wanted it. Because what she was demanded it. Brett had first taken her to his bed not only because she was beautiful and sexy as hell, but also—mainly, maybe—because she was a vampire. It would have been hypocritical from him to reproach her instincts to her now.

  But this felt…different. It wasn't just how good-looking Leo was—sexy, even, with that predator-like grace that vampires often displayed—it was how Lisa was reacting to him. The way she'd forgotten her prey on the dance floor to throw herself at Leo. The little spark in her eyes when she looked at him, that spark that Brett had thought was reserved for him. And the fact that she was with Leo, now, in the place she shared with Brett, laughing with him while Brett was left to worry about whether he was going to lose her to her past.

  His train of thoughts stopped instantly when he realized that he couldn't hear them anymore. Pausing by the door, he stared at it intently, listening as closely as he could but failing to catch even a whisper.
r />   Had they left? Had he missed the characteristic sound of the door's lock?

  And if they were still there, why had they stopped talking? What were they doing?

  Brett wasn't sure what was worse—imagining what they might be doing or thinking that Lisa had left.

  His hand was shaking when he opened the door as noiselessly as he could. Holding his breath, he tiptoed out, and stopped right away. Maybe it would have been better if they had left. Better than to find Lisa sitting astride Leo's lap on the sofa, her dress bunched up at her waist, her hands roaming over his bare chest while his own caressed her back and ass as they kissed. From where he stood, Brett couldn't tell if they were fucking yet or not. Their movements certainly suggested they were.

  Yet even through the pain of the discovery, his body reacted to what he was seeing and his cock began to harden. It hurt to see Lisa in another man's arms, more than he had ever thought it would. But at the same time, part of him was only conscious of how beautiful they were like this, oblivious to the world and focused only on each other—on each other's pleasure.

  They weren't completely oblivious, he soon realized. He had not completely lost Lisa yet. She turned toward him, smiled at him. Her hand reached out, inviting him to…

  Join in? Join them? They didn't need him. That much was clear to Brett. And even if that treacherous part of him was urging him on, urging him to take a chance and touch not just her but these two beautiful creatures, he refused to listen. He wouldn't do it. He couldn't do it.

  Could he?

  * * * *

  That prickling at the base of her skull that always warned her when she was being watched was back, but even without it Lisa would have known. She could discern Brett's arousal in the air, thick and musky, and combined with Leo's, it was making her lightheaded. The bitter hint of jealousy, however, wasn't one she was used to discerning on him, and she knew exactly how to take care of that.

  She tore her mouth away from Leo's with some difficulty. Immediately, his lips latched onto her neck and he started sucking hard, reopening the punctures he had created earlier. She shivered at the sensation and turned toward Brett where he stood by the wall. His eyes were wide, his breathing faster than normal, and the tenting of his sleeping pants practically obscene.

  With a smile, Lisa raised a hand toward him, willing him to join her and Leo, who was now alternating light kisses and harmless bites along her shoulder. Brett blinked at her gesture and she could see him tense. He didn't move, instead remained where he was. She had decided she would have both of them, and wouldn't let Brett's hesitation or remnants of misplaced jealousy get in the way.

  She gave Leo a look—half question, half suggestion—and he answered it with a grin before grabbing her by the waist to lift her off his lap and onto her feet. He smoothed her dress down her hips, tugging lightly until she was presentable again, then gave her a gentle push in Brett's direction.

  Her hips might have swayed a tad more than they usually did as she took slow steps toward Brett, her head down but looking up at him through her eyelashes. In the perfect silence of the room, she could hear his breathing accelerate just a little more.

  He said her name, just as she was reaching him, his voice low and broken. Maybe she had played things too abruptly, she conceded. In her certitude that she knew them both well enough to predict they would enjoy what she had in mind, she had forgotten that while Leo and she had a history of sharing lovers, Brett was new to this kind of thing. He had watched her seduce her prey more than once, and she knew it aroused him to see her flirt with other men, but this went beyond flirting with warm bodies that didn't have names. She had made it obvious how much Leo meant to her. Perhaps she'd been too heavy-handed. It was time to reassure Brett.

  “Shhh…” she whispered, laying her hand gently across his cheek. “I'm not going anywhere. You know that, don't you?”

  A flicker of his eyes behind her, to where she knew Leo had stood from the sofa, was answer enough. She ran her thumb over Brett's lips, bringing his attention back to her.

  “I've known Leo all my life,” she continued just as quietly, “but that doesn't mean I'm going to forget what you and I have to run off with him.”

  Her words were meant both for Brett and Leo now, and while she was glad of the hint of relief she could read on Brett's features, she wished she could have known how Leo was reacting. She couldn't look back now, though, not when Brett was responding to her.

  “I don't want to lose you,” he murmured, his hand coming up to caress her shoulder.

  There had been no promise of forever between them, nor a need for one, but Lisa cared about him enough that she wanted to enjoy his company for longer than her flings usually lasted. Maybe it was time to tell him as much.

  “And you won't lose me,” she assured him. “Not anytime soon. And not because of Leo.”

  Lisa stepped just a little closer to him, close enough that his straining cock touched her abdomen. She cupped it with her free hand and kissed Brett lightly, those gentle touches giving the same comfort she had offered in words. Brett's eyes closed and he relaxed ever so slightly at the same time as he arched into her hand.

  Her tongue slid over his lips before slipping inside his mouth to stroke his own in the same languid rhythm as her hand on his cock. He moaned quietly into her mouth, the sound revealing his need as clearly as the throbbing of his erection.

  As they continued to kiss, Leo walked up behind Lisa and pressed his body against her back. The feel of his cock was as demanding against her ass as Brett's in her hand, despite the layers of clothing between them. He caressed her sides slowly, his fingers gliding over the satin of her dress, before sliding over her shoulders.

  When he ran a tentative hand over Brett's fingers where they held on to Lisa's shoulder and up his arm, it all came down to a grinding halt. Brett jerked back, clearly startled, and his eyes filled with nervousness. The need and want were still there, though, and Lisa wasn't going to give up now.

  “I know you,” she breathed, leaning in closer to him until an inch only separated their lips. “You can't fool me. I know you like men as well as women. And I know you find Leo attractive. As well you should.”

  He shook his head minutely, blinking fast twice.

  “Lisa, I…”

  She stopped him by pressing two fingers to his lips. “Look at him,” she requested, and watched his eyes focus on Leo behind her. “Now tell me that part of you isn't wondering what it would be like to be in the same bed as Leo.”

  She dropped her hand, and Brett's mouth opened immediately. It closed again after an instant without having uttered a sound.

  “Trust me,” she whispered before pressing a kiss to his lips. Taking hold of his hand, then reaching out for Leo's behind her, she led them both to the bedroom.

  * * * *

  The assertiveness Lisa displayed was only one more way in which she had changed, but it might have been one of the most surprising for Leo. Decades earlier, she had enjoyed sharing lovers as much as he had, but it had always been he who would find them, and she would take a passive stance toward them. To see her slowly convince Brett, push back his nervousness to encourage the lust hiding beneath it, felt a little strange—but definitely arousing.

  She let go of his hand once they had stepped into the bedroom, and Leo watched her and Brett divest one another of the little bit of clothing that covered them before they knelt on the bed, facing each other. Lisa was as beautiful as ever, full curves, delicate skin and a lovely face. But to see her like this—her breasts become perfection, cradled in Brett's hands, her lips appear fuller as she pressed them to her lover's, her thin, long fingers close around Brett's erection—all of it made her even more gorgeous. And it didn't hurt that Brett was a fine-looking man himself.

  His eyes never leaving them as they continued to kiss and caress, Leo got rid of his clothes. His hands trembled a little, and he popped a button of his shirt when it wouldn't come undone. He certainly hadn't been cel
ibate ever since parting ways with Lisa, but she had been his first lover after he had become a vampire, his confidante as they both learned to use their fangs and sex-appeal on humans, his friend and maybe more, even if those words were rarely heard amongst their kind. The prospect of joining her—and Brett—was wrecking havoc on Leo's self-control.

  Climbing onto the bed next to them, he reached out for Lisa first, laying a hand on her thigh, high enough that his fingers brushed against the trimmed curls that hid her sex. She broke her kiss with Brett and turned her face toward Leo. After only a second, Brett did the same.

  The nervousness was still clear in his eyes, and a hint of possessive jealousy continued to cling to him, but beyond that Leo could see his desire. Just as Leo was wondering whether to touch him first or wait, seeing how his innocent touch had startled the man earlier, Brett's gaze dropped down to where Leo's cock was straining up. The tip of Brett's tongue coming out to moisten the human's lips had to be unconscious, but it pulled a low growl from Leo's throat.

  Lisa was the one to break the tension and make the next move. Her left hand still stroking Brett's cock, she used her right to pull his own away from her breast and toward Leo's dick instead. Brett followed her movement without protest or hesitation, and when his hand closed over the base of Leo's cock, he touched his tongue to his lips once more in an oh-so-sexy gesture.

  Slowly enough that he wouldn't startle the human, Leo leaned forward toward his lovely mouth and pressed his own hard against it. Brett gasped and Leo took the opportunity to quickly slip his tongue inside and out again. Brett's tongue followed him back into his mouth, tentatively at first, then with more determination as he insistently stroked where Leo's fangs hid. Giving him what he appeared to want, Leo allowed his fangs to extend. Immediately, a drop of blood heavily flavored with lust hit his tongue. Leo forgot slow and easy, forgot Brett's earlier reticence, even forgot, although briefly, that Lisa was next to them. His mouth still on Brett's, he kept pressing forward until Brett had no choice but to recline backwards and lie onto the bed, Leo resting his weight on his forearm as he stretched over him.