He tasted so good. How did he manage that?
Lance pushed the bedroom door open with his foot, after pulling his mouth from hers briefly. She couldn’t help the small sound of protest she made as he laid her down on the bed. He raised both arms up and wrenched the shirt from his body.
Gwen’s jaw dropped. He was magnificent. Hard muscles bunched and fell with the movement of his arms. He toed his boots off and his hands went to his waist.
No — she wanted to do it. Gwen scrambled up and met his hands. Her fingers replaced his, and with a harsh groan, he dropped his hands.
“Cariad.”
Gwen bit down to try and stop the eager cry as he found the spot on her neck just under her ear and he darted back to swallow the soft noise. His hands took over hers and he pushed his pants down. Gwen’s mouth was completely dry. She’d thought his chest was magnificent, but, she was speechless at how beautiful the rest of him was. He just stood there in a tiny pair of briefs that pulsed with the movement of what was held in behind them.
She was wearing too many clothes. Her fingers trembled to lift her top and the answering blaze of lust in those eyes made her fingers falter.
“Lance, Oh —”
Gwen’s words were cut off in another moan as patience lost, the offending fabric was ripped from her and his head dipped.
“Oh.” An incredible heat bathed her breast and bloomed in her abdomen. She arched into his taste and cried out when his fingers found her other nipple straining towards him. Her own hands became frantic. She had to feel him. Low guttural moans vibrated in his chest as her fingers found the silky fabric of his briefs and tugged them down. Her hand grazed his cock as it leapt out to meet her. Damn, so big, so hot. She heard a strangled noise as her fingers found the wet tip of pre-cum and slid her palm over it.
Suddenly, she was on her back and his lips fastened on her other breast. How had he moved so fast? Completely sinful fingers trailed fire down her abdomen and lit a fuse that snaked lower and ignited. Desperation bloomed on her skin as his lips moved lower. Need pooled between her legs. No one had ever…
“Lance.” The harsh cry was wrung from her as his lips touched her belly. She felt him hesitate at her cry. Her body arched to him as he lifted his head and in seconds she felt the smile on his lips. She was dissolving as hands roamed and teased, and warm lips kissed and nibbled. She clenched her toes as Lance mouthed the sensitive skin on her inner thigh. Every cell, every part of her body writhed as Lance played her like an instrument, his fingers picking out the notes that made her body sing.
“Beautiful. Cariad. Darling.” Each word accompanied by kisses as he made his way up her thighs. Her breath caught. How could she be so afraid and yet want something so desperately at the same time?
“Mmm…”
Every part of Gwen responded to his low murmur. She’d heard such satisfaction in that low sound, all her doubts trickled away. Lance moved higher. She knew what he was going to do and her gasp turned into a moan as his tongue snaked out and licked at her heat. Gwen would have lifted off the bed if firm hands weren’t clamping her hips.
“Oh. Lance.. Aghh.”
Gwen twisted her fingers in his hair and held on. She shuddered in delight as the edge of his teeth found her throbbing clit. Teasing pulls had her rushing towards something she didn’t want to end. Her body sung and danced as his mouth played her. Throbbing, urgent need, bloomed in her gut and spread out and her orgasm ripped through her so suddenly, she had no time for any thought. “Oh, Oh. God, oh…” Harsh pants surrounded the room. Until the pulsing in her center was finally kissed away, she had no idea she was the one making the noise.
Lance climbed sensuously up her body. Little touches and kisses sending aftershocks as he moved. He dragged the sheet with him, although there was so much heat being generated from them both, Gwen doubted she would ever need covering again.
She lay still as her heart tried valiantly for normal. Shyness creeping in. What did she say? “I—you.” He hadn’t.
“Go to sleep.” Gwen still heard the satisfaction in the sound of his voice, felt it in his arms as he wrapped her up, and breathed it in from the kiss that silenced any protests. She automatically closed her eyes at the feel of his lips and let him soothe her down to sleep.
****
Lance had been awake for a while before he felt her start to move. Knowing he had to take care of himself before she woke, he quietly eased out of bed and headed for the shower. He didn’t know how he’d stopped himself from burrowing deep inside her, but he wanted to go slow, and he could wait a little longer. He turned on the shower and waited for it to warm. He really needed to get something bigger. It wasn’t like they didn’t have enough money to refit a whole street of mansions, but having outsiders in the property were a problem. Kay was quite handy with repairs but it was ridiculous for him to fight the De-Valls and then come home and unblock a sink.
Lance stepped in the shower. His cock was hard and aching as he moved. He generously soaped his hands and smoothed them over his chest. He leant his head back against the tile and let his hands drift lower.
Gwen. He desperately wanted her to be doing this. His fingers running through those sinfully black curls as her head bobbed up and down. She’d have a hand to his base to stop him from going too deep down into that slim throat. Fingers would tighten as she moved. Nails scraping. Her tongue — damn, her tongue would find his slit.
Lance bit down on his cry so hard he tasted blood. He erupted cum on the tiles and didn’t know how his shaky legs were still keeping him standing. It had been several years since he had come so hard and so fast. Sex had been just a quick relief for so long. He planted his feet more firmly and finished washing himself.
After toweling himself dry, he headed for the sinks to shave and brush his teeth. He only bothered shaving once every two or three days, uncaring of the fuzz until it annoyed him. But Gwen’s skin was soft and there was no way any part of him would cause his lady any discomfort.
He deliberately ditched the towel and walked back into the room. Gwen was just blinking awake as he grabbed some clean pants. He didn’t bother with anything else. To be honest, unless Mel had collected their laundry he wasn’t totally sure he had any other clothes.
Gwen sat up, a shy smile curving her lips. He bent down, unable to resist.
“Would you like something to drink?” He had to release her lips so that she could answer.
She shook her head and frowned. “I’d like a shower.” Her teeth worried her lip. “What am I going to do about clothes?”
Lance dropped another kiss on her lips. He couldn’t help it.
“I’ll go get you something basic for now. Then we’ll arrange to get you set up.”
“Okay,” Gwen said and Lance reluctantly left the room.
He went quickly through the quiet house and silently let himself out the back to where their cars were in the garage. The Lexus stood next to Kay’s Expedition. Lucan’s Harley was out of sight.
He heard a noise, then looked up startled as the garage door swung open and Mel stepped out. What the hell? He was supposed to be at school, and where the hell was his car?
Mel came to an abrupt stop when he saw Lance, the horror at being caught evident on his face.
Lance sighed. Mel had never given them one second of worry since they brought him home. They hadn’t known what else to do when it had become obvious he could see the De-Valls; they just knew he was safer with them. Maybe they weren’t enough for him? Maybe this crazy life was the worst thing they could have brought a teenager into?
“Where’s the car?” Lance asked, frowning. “Were you in a crash? Are you hurt?” Christ, maybe he was too scared to tell them he’d dented the car. It didn’t matter, it was metal. Mel was what was important.
Mel swallowed. His shoulders heaved as he took a breath. Lance took a step forward. And heard a noise from the garage. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a dark haired teenager came and stood next to Mel. “It’s not his fault, it’s mine,” the boy said.
Lance stared in astonishment. He would have guessed the boy was roughly the same age as Mel. Lance took in the dark shadows under his eyes and the way he hunched in the jacket that was too thin to offer any warmth.
Mel rounded on the other boy. “I told you to stay inside.”
“Mel,” Lance growled.
“He hasn’t been inside the house,” Mel put in hurriedly.
Lance stepped past them both and pushed open the smaller door to the storage area inside the garage. It wasn’t even full height, more like a cupboard. He silently took in the sleeping bag and Mel’s winter coat. The two bottles of water. The lad had clearly been sleeping here, and they had pushed the evidence out of the way so Lucan wouldn’t have seen it when he came for his bike.
Secrecy was absolute. He knew what Mel had been saying when he’d insisted the boy hadn’t been in the house, but this couldn’t continue. “Where’s the car?” Lance asked.
Mel looked nervously to the other boy.
“It’s Tom, sir.” The lad put his hand out, and much to his shock, Lance grasped it firmly. “And the car being missing is my fault.”
Lance scrubbed a hand over his face. “Look, I have to go get some things for Gwen.” He fixed a firm stare on Mel. “When I get back, I want a full explanation.”
Mel nodded fervently. Tom just looked sick.
Lance frowned as he got in the truck. More problems, when he already had enough to worry about with Gwen. What was he going to do? There was no way he could let Gwen go wondering around on her own, even during the day. Despite there never being any daylight attacks, Gawain always felt they left their signature; the De-Valls often appeared first wherever they had been during the day. It had driven them all mad with guilt over the years, how their presence had saved many lives but also caused them to be lost. The De-Valls always found them no matter where they lived. They had tried over the years moving from country to country and it never made any difference to the death rate, and they were all very careful to avoid highly populated areas during the day. They would take turns supporting Mel so as not to tempt the De-Valls with a strong signature to threaten the campus, never daring to appear in any more than two’s. They had bought Mel a car as soon as it was apparent he could see the De-Valls and that he would be safer living with the knights. He had thankfully not been a target for them. Lance huffed. The stupid kid had nearly totaled the new Lexus they had originally got him. They were so used to having money it didn’t mean anything to them anymore, but they had forgotten the affect it would have on a teenager who wasn’t used to having any. If Mel had been killed that day showing off to his new classmates, it would have been their fault. Now he was driving around in the old Taurus that he could just afford with the money he got working at Lou’s. That was assuming he still had the Taurus.
They had, however, made sure that the inner workings of the Taurus ran like a Rolls Royce complete with the tracking chip that Mel didn’t need to know about. Tracking chip? Lance smiled. They’d know where the car was, even if Mel didn’t.
Lance pulled into a general store. It was ridiculous, he wanted to dress Gwen up in silks and here he was grabbing bargain shorts and tops. They all looked like they would fit, and they would have to do. Maybe he could persuade her to look online? That’s what they all did.
He paid quickly — ignoring the blatant appraising look from the sales clerk as she rang out the panties he had collected — and jogged back to the truck. He suddenly felt the urge to get home. Though he had all that with Mel to sort out, he tried not to admit to himself the real reason he was in such a rush to get back to the house.
The delicious smell of cooking beef met him when he opened the kitchen door. He dropped two bags down and went to wrap his arms around the enticing figure that seemed to be wearing one of his t-shirts that draped to her knees.
Gwen giggled and offered her lips for a kiss. “You’ve brought me clothes?”
Lance gestured to the bags. “I’ll send Kay out later to see what he can salvage from your apartment.” He picked up the bags. “Just to put on while we get everything sorted out.” Gwen took the bags from him as she headed out of the kitchen. Lance heaved a sigh, thanking any deity caring to listen that she was so easygoing — remarkably so he thought with pride.
Gwen came back downstairs after a few minutes, tugging the new t-shirt down. That pale pink flush was across her cheeks again.
“I think you were a bit optimistic with these sizes.” She huffed in annoyance, tugging the snug top lower and trying to cover her midriff.
Lance thought she was beautiful.
Mel came in with Kay. Kay waved a piece of paper at Lance. “You should see these grades. Our genius has done it again.” Mel shot a nervous look at Lance as soon as he came into the kitchen.
Gawain had come in and they all seemed reasonably happy. Everyone was surprised when Lucan even made an appearance. He didn’t say much, just a quiet thank you to Gwen when she served him some lasagna. Lance leaned idly on the side of the counter and watched his little family quietly.
When everyone except Mel — who was firmly pushing his food around his plate — had nearly finished, Lance cleared his throat and everyone looked expectantly at him. They’d agreed long ago that anything that impacted on their safety would be discussed together, even though it was ultimately Lance’s responsibility.
“Mel has something to tell us all,” Lance said. “When I left for the store, I caught him sneaking out of the garage. One of his friends has been sleeping in there and the Taurus seems to be missing.” Lance put his fork down and leaned back.
Lucan quietly stood and rinsed his plate. “I’m good with whatever you guys decide,” he said before leaving the room.
Lance nodded. He’d expected that. Anytime anything remotely termed “family” came up, Lucan headed out.
Kay stared at Mel. “Mel?” he said questioningly.
Gwen stood up and got the coffee pot. Lance noticed the tiny squeeze she gave Mel’s shoulder as she passed.
“He’s called Tom,” Mel said. “He works at Lou’s with me, and he just got kicked out of his home.”
Kay and Gawain started to speak but Lance held his hand up. “Let him finish.”
Mel shuffled in his seat, a defiant look crossing his face. “His dad’s a pastor at Everlasting Truth down on Melbourne Avenue. Tom’s gay, and his parents found out. He didn’t know they had a spy program in his computer, but they checked all his emails and saw that he’s been enquiring about gay youth centers. His parents went ballistic. His dad whipped him with a belt and then locked him in his room. They were going to cart him off to camp.” Mel’s lips twisted. “To be healed.”
Mel took a breath and looked up. “He had a burner phone hidden, so he called me. I skipped class today because he was coughing all yesterday and I was frightened he was getting sick. I knew I would have to take the car somewhere because you’d know I wasn’t at school.”
Gwen made a tiny distressed noise in the back of her throat. “Where is he now?”
Mel looked up. “He’s in the garage.”
Gwen stared at Lance. “Either that boy comes in right now, or I take him back to my old apartment…with me.”
Lance threw his hands in the air. “I never said we weren’t going to help, but you must realize how vital secrecy is. That’s why no one has ever been here.”
Lance took a steadying breath. “Mel, go get him, but he doesn’t go anywhere near the office.” Lance looked at all the faces turned to him. “While we sort this out, everyone has to be careful what they say.”
Gwen nudged Mel. “Go get him.” She stood up and walked to the stove. “Good thing I made extra.”
Lance smiled at her mutterings, and stared around the kitchen as the others finished eating.
He worried about his knights. Kay — the only one of their current four that had been a nobleman. The others had teased him for his proper way of parrying the sword. It had taken only one battle and Kay’s grim determination to stay alive for him to drop the sword fighting rule book. And Lucan — it hadn’t surprised Lance that Lucan hadn’t stayed around. He didn’t like any conversation that could be remotely termed “family” and he was the least-known among them. He had been new at Camelot just before the final battle. They had come across him a century ago when his brother, their tenth knight died in Mexico City. The man never said much; the only personal information they knew after all this time was that he had once had a brother. If they hadn’t seen the aftermath of his killing, Lance doubted they would even know that.
“Who’s going out tonight?” Kay glanced at the closed kitchen door that Mel had just banged behind him.
Lance leant back and rubbed his eyes.
“You all can if you like,” Gwen said, turning from where she was loading a plate. “Gawain’s shown me the board. Then you can start having some days off around here.”
Nobody replied, but Lance felt at least three sets of eyes on him.
“I don’t want you here alone.” Lance tried to qualify his statement when he saw Gwen’s eyes narrow. “At least, not until I’m sure you have the program all down.”
“I’m sure Mel will help.” Gwen said.
The kitchen door opened and Mel came in, followed by Tom.
Lance looked at the lad, as Gwen quietly fussed around getting him something to eat and sat him down. His light brown hair flopped listlessly over his pale face. They were right about one thing though, it was too cold in the garage. For the first time since it happened, Lance was glad he’d caught Mel trying to hide his secret.
Lance waved to the food. “Get something to eat, and then Mel will show you to his room so you can grab a shower and get some sleep. Everything else we’ll sort out tomorrow.”
Mel smiled, and straightened his shoulders. The relief in him was obvious. Lance relaxed now that he knew what had been bothering Mel for the last few days. Meanwhile, Tom was too busy inhaling the food in front of him to pay attention to anyone else.
Lance put his arms around Gwen and looked Mel in the eye. He passed her a credit card, but directed the comments to Mel. “Maybe when you’ve got Tom settled, you can help Gwen?” Mel’s face lit up and Lance sighed. “Yes, you can look as well.” Lance grinned to himself. Mel was a good kid. Apart from the incident with crashing the Lexus, there had never been any other problems. He wasn’t totally sure Mel wasn’t heading for some medical field. It would be downright convenient to have access to medical training around here. They were all pretty competent in first aid. They’d had to be. It wasn’t really a good idea for the same people to keep turning up to the emergency room with fight injuries night after night. Not that the injuries would ever kill them, but sometimes they could take hours to heal, and there were the innocents sometimes caught up in the fallout. Lance bit off a frustrated sigh. Merlin had told them the words to make their Tresors immortal and that they would be able to heal them instantly — but it could take hours, sometimes days for their own injuries to mend. There was no way he would wish it the other way around. He would keep Gwen safe.
They had originally just wanted the blood replacement for themselves when they went to the ER, but the explanations got impossible.
Lance leant back and finished his coffee. After a few minutes, Mel led Tom out, Tom’s shy thanks still ringing in Lance’s ears. Lance and the knights would let him stay for a few days to make sure he had no ill-effects from sleeping in the cold, then they’d sort something out for him on a permanent basis.
Lance followed Kay and Gwen into the office, and Kay went to the metal cupboard to unlock their armor. Gwen listened while they discussed patrolling areas for a few minutes.
“Seriously, how do you walk around with all that stuff?” Gwen asked. “It must be like carrying an armory.”
Mel let himself into the room. “They all work out, like insanely,” he said with a shudder, and Gwen laughed.
Kay stood over Mel and ruffled his hair. “So do you.”
The boy brushed it off. “Well, maybe twice a week.” He looked at Lance. “Tom’s asleep. He was sitting on the bed while I was talking about college, and I turned around and he was snoring.” Mel grinned. “He hasn’t had a lot of sleep in the last few days.
“This door remains locked while he is in the house.” It was an order.
Mel raised his eyes at Lance, and swallowed. “Thank you.”
Lance picked his sword up and came across to where Gwen was stood and cupped her face in his hand. He opened his mouth, but she got there faster.
“I know — be careful. Stay here. Play nice.”
Lance’s mouth twitched. He didn’t answer, but settled for a kiss instead. He forcibly had to drag his lips from her willing ones. It was only Mel’s “Eww-teenager here,” that had them laughing and Lance pulling his lips away.
“Set the alarm.” Lance glanced to Mel. “Show Gwen.”
“What alarm?” Gwen asked.
Gawain had entered with Lucan and was just lifting his sword. “It’s not really an alarm. It’s quite clever really.”
Kay snorted at Gawain’s apparent lack of humility.
Gawain turned from the chest and locked it after passing Lucan his sword. “You remember we told you that the De-Valls appear sometimes in a response to us or as a direct result of — well, you, now.” Gawain seemed embarrassed about pointing out Gwen maybe causing them extra problems. “We had to come up with a way of blocking the house. Merlin used a shimmering spell quite often, similar to the one the De-Valls use themselves when they appear. It’s like the house is completely hidden from view, magically.”
“Yeah, dude, like that one in Harry Potter,” Mel chimed in, sitting at the computers.
Lance shook his head. There was no way he would ever admit to anyone that he once thought Mel had discovered a magician at school until Kay took him on one side and explained to him that Harry Potter was a fictional character. Thank God, he’d never mentioned his confusion to Gawain or Mel. His reputation would have been in shreds.
Gwen frowned. “You mean Sirius Black’s house that was invisible from the muggles?”
Mel immediately high-fived Gwen. Lance cleared his throat to encourage the conversation to move along a little. He very firmly refused to look at Kay.
“Unfortunately, it has its limitations,” Gawain continued. “It only works for one place at a time and we’ve never been able to duplicate it. We tried to make a portable device but it wouldn’t work.”
“But it keeps us safe.” Even Lance was impressed when Lucan decided to speak.
Kay continued. “The spell recognizes the scent signature of everyone that lives here. Unless you’d already been in the house once you wouldn’t be able to get back in.”
“Spell?” Gwen murmured, looking at Kay, who shrugged. “I saw Merlin do something similar once.”
“Kay gave me the idea,” acknowledged Gawain.
Mel scooted his wheeled chair from where he was bringing up clothes shopping websites to the three main computer screens that dominated the room. The board that indicated all their positions was on the opposite wall. “This is it, Gwen.”
He looked at Kay, who carefully took out another metal box. Lance knew that the amulets laid snug on the velvet liner were priceless. The knights each put one on. The screen on one of the computers immediately lit up. Four colored dots.
Kay named the colored dots. “Lance is gold.”
“Well, of course he is,” Gwen said immediately.
Lance shuffled in embarrassment and then drew himself up tall. All the knights took the hint and trooped out. Lance looked at Gwen and took her hand. “I am grateful, cariad”
Gwen frowned. “What does that mean?”
Lance turned to the door. “It means darling.”