Free Villere House (Blood of My Blood) by CD Hussey, Leslie Fear

normal relationships—with friends or with men.
    The suite was quiet and empty, just as she had left it. Amanda headed straight for the back bedroom, flopping on the bed and tossing her purse on the nightstand. "Hey, you care if I crash in here with you."
    Actually, she preferred it. Sleeping alone was low on her list of desires.
    "Not at all."
    "Good. I get the feeling Julien and Sam are going to come back here and I'd rather not have to listen to them doing the nasty..."
    Lottie climbed onto the bed on the opposite side of Amanda, who was kicking off her shoes. "Two guys in one day. That can't be safe."
    Amanda shrugged. "Well, at least there was a few hours and a shower between them. 'Sides, she always uses protection."
    "Still…" Lottie mentally took back her passing desire to be able to hook up with men as easily as Sam.
    Amanda's phone buzzed. She fished it out of her purse, read something on the screen, chuckled, and then typed a quick reply before dropping the phone onto the nightstand.
    "What's so funny?"
    Without undressing or changing, Amanda slid under the covers. "Sam's actually concerned we got home safely. Weird. Well, g'night Lotts."
    "Goodnight."
    Like a switch had been flipped, within minutes Amanda was lightly snoring.
    The sound was soothing. After locking the bedroom door (last thing she wanted was for Sam and Julien to stumble into their bedroom) and changing back into her Pajamas, she took one final look around the empty room and then clicked off the lamp.
    Happy to have Amanda's warm body beside her, she quickly fell asleep.

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    S am's drunken slur grated heavily on Xavier's nerves, making him cringe with every high-pitched squeal. She was blathering on about something barely coherent, but the last thing he cared to do was pay attention long enough to figure out what she was saying. God help Julien if he decided to bring that plastic bimbo to their family home. At least the Guest House was vacant—in the middle of a renovation not scheduled to be completed until shortly before Jazz Fest.
    His gaze was fixated on the closed door to the women's restroom where Amanda had scurried off with Lottie. He didn't know what to think of the situation. Even for all her admissions of lunacy, he didn't peg her for a cutter, or an attention seeker. Whatever was going on with her, she seemed genuinely confused by it. And she definitely believed it.
    He hated dwelling on anything remotely paranormal. From Grandmere's potions and Voodoo rituals, to his mother's fortune telling and spirit channeling, to his family legacy, to the contents of his store, he was constantly around the idea of the supernatural. And he didn't believe any of it.
    But he too had dreams. Well, really just one. The same one. Over and over.
    The door to the women's restroom opened and Amanda, then Lottie, still looking shell-shocked, emerged. Her beautiful face was lined with worry, her blue eyes haunted. He wished he'd had more time with her before the hurricane that now surrounded him crashed through the door.
    As much as he hated the occult, he wanted to know what she'd seen, what she'd experienced, why her delicate brows pushed so fiercely together, why she chewed nervously on her bottom lip as the pair skirted the edge of the bar. It was pretty obvious they were trying to escape without being seen.
    The plastic-haired drunk hanging from his brother's arm was part of the problem, he knew that, but she was only a small part. Lottie's demons went much deeper.
    He rose, ready to meet them at the door. He might not know for sure how he felt about her claims or how to react to them, but he knew how he felt about her. Whether it was pure surface attraction or just fascination, she called to him and he needed to know more. Besides, he wasn't going to let two women traipse around the Quarter unaccompanied at this late hour. The vampires at Luxure might be mostly harmless, but they weren't completely harmless. And