Rose, Charlotte - Bayou Flood [The Shifters of Alligator Bend 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (5 page)

“You want a Jockamo?” he asked Virgil.

“You know it.”

“Cool, I’ll be right back.”

Sophie could feel the heat rise in her face as Virgil sat next to her and put his arm around her.

“You seem tense, baby. Everything okay?”

“Oh, you know. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a date of any kind. And I’ve never been on a date with two guys at once before. I can’t lie—I’m a little out of my element here.”

“But you do admit it’s a date.” Virgil flashed her a smile. “I’m glad to hear that. I was worried you wouldn’t be interested in that.”

“It’s not that I’m interested. It’s just that—you know…”

“Know what?” Gabriel asked, placing the beers on the table. He pulled a chair around and sat on Sophie’s other side.

“Sophie was just telling me that we’re on a date,” Virgil said. “But she’s hesitant about something.”

“What’s to be hesitant about, baby? Worried people are gonna stare at you if you’re at this bar with two men? Come on, now. This is New Orleans. This ain’t even close to the strangest thing people have seen today.”

“That’s not it,” Sophie said. “I mean, I’m out of my comfort zone and all, but that’s not really what I’m hesitant about.”

“Then what is it?” Virgil asked.

“Well, I mean, you have to admit, the shifter thing is kind of hard to work your mind around.”

“Not when you are one,” Gabriel said with a chuckle.

Sophie took a swig of her beer and hurried to collect her thoughts. Her pussy was still demanding release, which made it more difficult to think, but she pushed her body’s desires aside so that they could have a conversation. “I suppose that’s true. Still, I can’t be the only woman who has had difficulty figuring out the whole shifter thing.”

“What’s to figure out?” Gabriel asked. “Don’t you believe what you’ve witnessed with your own eyes?”

Virgil leaned in so close that she could feel his breath on her ear. “Don’t you believe what your body is feeling?”

“How do you know what my body is feeling?” she asked, hoping he couldn’t hear the way her voice wavered.

“If it’s anything close to what my body is feeling, I know it’s almost impossible to resist.” He dropped his eyes slightly, and Sophie followed his gaze. She saw his cock, completely hard and straining against the fabric of his jeans. She couldn’t help but reach out and brush her fingertips against it, briefly savoring the power it promised if set free.

Sophie let out a small moan. She closed her eyes to regain her composure and then turned to look at Gabriel. “And what are you feeling?”

Gabriel took her other hand and brought it to his own cock, which was just as hard as Virgil’s. Sophie couldn’t help but gasp as he began to rub her fingers up and down the denim-encased shaft.

“Feels good, don’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I know something else that would feel good,” Virgil said.

Without giving her time to respond, he pulled her face around and gave her a deep kiss, probing his tongue along her lips before delving deep into her mouth. Sophie’s cunt surged with even more desire than she ever would have thought possible. Her heart raced, and she refused to give up his lips, kissing him back deeper than he had, her mouth always reaching out for more. It was only when Gabriel reached around and put his hands on her breasts that she could bring herself to pull away from Virgil. But as she turned and accepted Gabriel’s kiss, she faced a most delicious reward. Her pussy pulsed even harder, and she realized that if she had to choose whose kiss she’d preferred, she’d never be able to give an answer. They were both perfect. Especially the way Gabriel pinched and pulled at her nipples through her thin tank top. As Gabriel devoured her lips, Virgil stroked her neck and tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling slightly, so she had to fight to cling to Gabriel’s mouth.

Finally, she needed to come up for air. She hated pulling away from Gabriel, though her body was thrilled to know that the second she turned her head, Virgil would be waiting for her. She’d never experienced such intense desire. Her emotions mixed with her body’s arousal, making every touch and caress they gave her feel ten times stronger.

Just as she was about to turn and kiss Virgil again, she saw Georgina walk into the bar. She startled and tried to pull away, but she didn’t move fast enough. Georgina turned and looked her straight in the eye, a look of anger quickly overtaking her face.

“Shit,” Sophie mumbled, struggling free from the arms around her.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Gabriel asked.

“I was supposed to meet my friend, and I blew her off to meet with you guys. She just walked into this bar, and it doesn’t look like she’s too happy with me.”

“What?” Virgil looked in the direction where Sophie’s gaze was trained. “Oh, shit.”

“What’s she doing here?” Gabriel asked.

“I don’t know,” Sophie whispered. Something in the tone of Gabriel’s voice seemed off to her, as though he knew her, but she pushed the thought from her mind and tried to think of a reasonable explanation for her friend.

Georgina hesitated for a moment, and Sophie briefly thought she was going to turn and run off. As much as she knew they needed to clear the air, Sophie thought it would be best to do that one-on-one, rather than in a crowded, noisy bar. But Sophie’s hope was short lived. She saw Georgina’s look grow more frustrated, and she began her approach again. By the time Georgina reached their table, there were tears streaming down her face.

“I–I can explain,” Sophie started to say, but Georgina held up a hand, cutting her off.

“Never mind. I don’t have anything to say to you right now. Any of you.” She turned and fled toward the door.

“Oh, no. Damn, I’ve really screwed up.” She stood up and turned to Gabriel and Virgil. “I’m really sorry. I was having a great time, and I’d like to see you both again. But I really need to go take care of this.”

“Okay,” Gabriel said slowly. “Yeah, um, I get it.”

“Can you come down to the bayou tomorrow?” Virgil asked. “Do you know how to pilot a boat?”

“I’ve been doing it since I was sixteen.”

Virgil pulled out a scrap of paper and wrote down some coordinates. “Your phone has GPS, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Head out toward Alligator Bend and plug these coordinates into your system. You’ll find us in about an hour.”

“Okay.”

“See you tomorrow,” Gabriel said, standing and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“Be safe,” Virgil said, kissing her as well.

“Thanks. I’m sorry this night got interrupted.”

Without giving them a chance to speak, she turned and hurried out of the bar after Georgina.

* * * *

“Shit,” Gabriel said before downing half of his beer in one gulp.

“You got that right. What the hell is Georgina doing here?”

“Where did you expect her to be?”

Virgil shrugged. “I kinda just figured she’d disappear or something.”

“That ain’t how the banishment ritual works, though. It just makes it so she can leave without anybody dying.”

“I know, I know,” Virgil said. “I just sorta assumed that once she was banished, we’d never see her again.”

“Same here. And yet she’s runnin’ around New Orleans.”

“What worries me more is that she and Sophie clearly know each other.”

“They don’t just know each other. They’re friends.”

“I don’t suppose she’s told Sophie any of the truth about her past. I mean, she was pretty confused when we told her about the whole shifter thing. So it doesn’t seem like Georgina clued her in ahead of time.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Would you?”

“Nope.”

“My worry is that now that she’s seen us, she’s gonna fill Sophie’s head with lies.”

Virgil sighed. “Well, we’ll just have to deal with that if it happens.”

“Think we should tell the rest of the congregation?”

“Probably, yeah. Especially since we have to tell Sophie everything when she visits tomorrow. Everyone else will want to know what’s goin’ on.”

“Shit. That’s not gonna have to be a fun conversation to have.”

“Well, we should probably get back. Gonna be a hell of a long day tomorrow.” Virgil stood up and cleared away the empty bottles. “I want us to get all of our maintenance work finished before Sophie arrives tomorrow.”

Gabriel groaned. “That’s gonna mean wakin’ up much earlier than I’d like.”

Virgil grinned. “It also means that when Sophie arrives, we won’t have anything we need to do but entertain her.”

“You have a point. Okay, let’s get out of here.”

As they walked through the quarter and arrived at the docks, Gabriel was shocked to see how far up the land the waterline had encroached over the past few weeks.

“The problem is gettin’ worse, man,” Gabriel said. “This ain’t some natural erosion. This is something manmade, and it’s really bad.”

“I know.” Virgil shook his head. “Seems to be one thing after another lately. The fish problem would have been more than enough for one year. And now the coastline is suddenly shrinking so fast we can see it happening.”

“I don’t get it, man. It’s like the river is trying to punish us.”

“It ain’t the river’s fault. Hell, Villemont was responsible for the fish disappearin’. I’m pretty sure this is manmade, too.”

“Think Villemont is behind it?”

“He ain’t the only businessman in this city who don’t have no regard for the sanctity of the bayou. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he was involved.”

“Not like we have any proof, though.”

“Well, we’d better figure it out soon. Shit, it’s gotten so bad I don’t want to imagine the floodin’ when hurricane season starts.”

Gabriel snorted. “Hurricane season? It’s so bad I think a regular old thunderstorm would be a catastrophe.”

Virgil shuddered. “Damn. You’re probably right.”

“We’ll talk to Adele and Narcisse about it tomorrow. Maybe they have some ideas.”

“We can only hope, man. We can only hope.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. I ain’t lettin’ this city get destroyed again.”

“And how do you suppose we go about stoppin’ the problem?” Virgil asked.

“We always have voodoo.”

“You know how weak Serafine’s powers are gettin’. Hell, man, fixin’ the entire bayou could kill her.”

“You can’t do nothin’?”

“You know I don’t have her power. Only one who’ll be that strong is the new queen, and I don’t know when she’s gonna show up.”

Gabriel shook his head. “Then I don’t know what to do. But I’m gonna figure it out, because this city ain’t gonna get destroyed again.”

Chapter Four

“Georgina, wait, please! Just let me apologize!”

“I need to be alone right now,” Georgina said. Sophie could hear the tears in her voice and felt even guiltier. She didn’t give up, though. She continued to chase her friend, pushing through the crowds that swamped the French Quarter streets.

“I’m sorry I blew you off. I had no right to do that. I was just—I’m so into these guys, and I can’t figure out why. It was like my heart wouldn’t let me turn them down when they asked me for a drink after the show. It felt like I had no ability to tell them no.”

Georgina suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. “You mean they forced you?”

“No,” Sophie said, almost laughing. “Nothing like that at all. More like—more like I was possessed by some strange spirit, some supernatural force that invaded my brain and body and compelled me to say yes to their invitation. I’m sorry, hon. That strange feeling is still no excuse for ditching out on our plans. I’ll make it up to you. Just tell me how.”

Georgina sighed and pointed to a quiet bar down the street. “Let’s go sit down. We need to talk.”

Sophie’s stomach clenched as she followed Georgina into the dive bar. Based on the gravity in Georgina’s voice, she was certain she had offended her friend more than she could have imagined. They each ordered beers and then sat down at a booth back in a far corner.