Benjamin followed. As they climbed the old staircase, constructed at least two hundred years ago, he studied the women, so dissimilar in their matching outfits. Where Abby was round and soft with curves he knew well, this new woman, Tess, was angular and tight—not unattractive, but very different. She was quite a bit shorter than Abby, who was fairly tall for a woman.
Both had strong, steady heartbeats.
At the top of the stairs they turned to the right and continued to the last room, which Abby unlocked with a key hidden on top of the doorframe. She called this her resting room, although as far as he could see she rarely rested here. The Tangled Net had once been an active brothel. Now it was a nice, generally quiet place to drink a beer or two, and Abby, as part owner, did as she wished. She was, however, no whore, simply an enthusiastic partner for one or two men. And Benjamin.
“I’m really sorry,” Tess said, wiping fresh tears with the back of her hand.
“For what?” Abby sat on the edge of a quilt-covered bed and drew the smaller woman down beside her.
Benjamin unbuttoned his cloak, hung it on a hook by the door, and settled into one of the upholstered chairs facing the bed where he could continue to study the two women. Wind rattled upstairs windows and drove occasional drops of rain against the ancient glass where they pinged like pebbles.
“They were fighting because of me,” Tess sniffed. “And I dropped a bottle.”
Abby patted her hand in motherly fashion. “They were fighting over you. A different matter altogether. And we all drop drinks now and then. No big deal, as long as you don’t make a habit of it.”
She nodded, but didn’t look convinced.
Abby glanced at Benjamin.
“Tess, is it?” Benjamin rose and extended one hand, palm up.
The woman nodded again. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed her hand in his. He drew her to her feet and gazed down into her hazel eyes. She couldn’t be much more than five foot two, so barely reached his chest.
“My name is Benjamin,” he said, softening his voice. “Are you from Black Cove?”
Her hand trembled in his, and she shook her head. “Gloucester.”
He smiled. “Daughter of the sea, then.”
She nodded.
He pictured heavy rock buildings and grey boulders rising from green hills leading down to the water’s edge. He smelled salt and rotting fish warming in the sun, and heard water slapping against wooden hulls. He felt the steady rise and fall of the tides like the breath of the Earth itself. And he listened to her heartbeat.
Tess’s hand stilled.
He rolled the sensations together into a bundle and let them radiate from his fingers as he reached up and stroked her cheek. “You are part of all this,” he whispered, “reaching back through time. Take it into your heart.” He cupped her jaw. “Draw strength from it.”
He felt the line connect at that point, and Tess’s eyes widened. She saw the glory of the past and the strength of the sea. He had a clear path into her thoughts. “What passes here tonight you won’t remember as anything unusual,” he said.
Her eyelids fluttered and he caught her as she collapsed. Gently, he returned her to her seat on the bed and plopped back into his chair.
Abby held the younger woman’s hand. “Is she okay?”
Benjamin nodded. “Easier to influence than some.”
“Like me, you mean?”
He raised his foot. “Perhaps.”
Abby tugged off one boot and then the other, dropping them to the floor. “Come on, tell me. Did you do this voodoo stuff on me when we first met?”
He grinned, his mouth firmly shut.
In fact, he’d spent a full year visiting Abby every few months before she realized what was going on. But she was stronger-willed than most mortals he’d known, and he’d finally been unable to remove the memory. Fortunately, she’d remembered with acceptance.
Taking his hand, she drew him to his feet and toward the bed. “You don’t plan to make me wait all night, do you? I have customers downstairs.”
He had absolutely no desire to make her wait. In fact, he was doing his best not to think about the upcoming activities to maintain his appearance. But the sound of her heartbeat continued to strengthen in his head, reminding him of the beauty of her face in the throes of passion. His mouth ached and his vision began to take on a tinge of red.
Judging by her smile, his appearance had already changed. He ran his tongue across one enlarging fang.
Abby drew her blouse off over her head and then wriggled out of her skirt and underclothes and kicked off her shoes. In spite of the ten years she’d aged since he’d started visiting her, she was still an attractive woman. She had full breasts he loved to caress, and his palms felt empty as he admired them. Her red hair framed her face with a glow reminiscent of sunrise.
He unbuttoned his shirt, shrugged it off, and shed his stockings. Although his pants felt tight, he kept them on for the moment.
Abby laughed and dropped back on the bed with a bounce, raising one knee suggestively.
“What about Tess?” she asked.
Benjamin ran his hand down the side of the younger woman’s face. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
Her eyes widened as she found Abby lying naked beside her, and her gaze jumped back up to Benjamin. He watched as she took in his partial nudity, and her admiration flamed his already rising hunger. “Please, my dear, join us,” he said.
She nodded slowly, suggesting his invasion of her thoughts hadn’t yet worn off. No matter. She wouldn’t do anything she didn’t want to do. He hadn’t planted those kinds of thoughts in her head.
Tess rose and took off her clothes as she held his gaze.
She was more attractive than he would have guessed. Her brown shoulder-length hair had little body, but was smooth. And the angles of her hips and limbs were softened just enough to keep her from being too thin, although she certainly looked more fragile than Abby. Her breasts were small, but not undeveloped, and her eyes flashed emotions he couldn’t begin to keep track of.
He leaned down and kissed her lips, experimenting with the feel of them under his. They were tight and thin at first, but as she relaxed her lips parted. Benjamin slid his hand behind her neck and drew her up for more. He tasted no hint of alcohol or tobacco, only simple feminine sweetness. Her tongue met his tentatively, and her small hands warmed his chest. Intrigued, he searched farther, circling her mouth, enjoying the way she responded by drawing him in deeper. She gripped his shoulders.
He jerked at the sudden appearance of a hand at the front of his pants, sliding down the length of his concealed shaft, but realized at once it was Abby. She had a habit of getting straight to the heart of the matter.
Abby unbuttoned his pants, relieving the pressure on his swollen cock and he sighed into Tess’s mouth. Then Abby began to stroke him, using both hands.
He tore his mouth from Tess’s and watched as Abby licked the length of his cock, coating it with wet warmth, drawing it to its full size. She closed her lips around the head, and his fangs descended in a rush.
“Wait,” he breathed. Things were moving too fast. He hadn’t had two women at once in many years. Perhaps decades. The hunger would take over if he wasn’t careful.
Abby sat up, pouting, her hands still sliding up and down his length. He backed out of her grip.
“Hey, what—?”
Benjamin