by KT Strange
“Zero to a hundred in five minutes,” he promised as he kissed the curve of my belly where the elastic of my underwear cut in. Finn snorted, his hand splaying on my stomach, stroking loose circles there with his fingers.
“Slow and steady wins the race, you should know that by now,” Finn shot back, his hand cupping my breast and pinching my nipple until it hardened under his fingers.
“I’m going to kill you both so dead. This is not a damn contest,” I whispered, prompting Cash to yank aside my underwear, his tongue melting over the skin of my pussy. I let my head fall back against Finn’s shoulder. He kissed my temple, nuzzling there as Cash took me apart, his tongue seeking and finding the rise of my clit. A breathy moan escaped my lips and I lifted my hips to meet his mouth, the drive to have more taking over.
Finn’s fingers stroked along my breast, teasing me and half-distracting me from what Cash was doing, right up until I felt the dull pressure of one of Cash’s fingers circling my entrance.
“So ready for this, sweetheart,” Cash’s words were almost reverent, and not a question. I made an answering noise that was a wordless plea because I needed, so badly. His finger slid inside me and I sighed in relief. It was so good. I arched up, reaching to kiss Finn. He didn’t make me wait, his mouth closing on mine while Cash slowly finger-fucked me, testing how much I could take. A second finger threatened to take me apart and I whined into Finn’s mouth. His tongue found mine, his hand wrapping around my neck, stroking over the spot he’d bit me.
The touch right where we’d bonded had me gasping and clenching down on Cash’s fingers until he pulled away with a sigh and a final lick along the soft skin of my pussy.
“I can’t wait anymore,” he said, shoving his jeans down. Finn chuckled, lifting his mouth from mine.
“Guess you were right about zero to—”
“Ohmygod, shut up,” I hissed, kissing Finn before the two of them started comparing notes or something ridiculous like that. Cash snickered, and I felt his lips on my ear. He kissed me there, and slid between my thighs, pulling me away from his pack-mate. Finn growled in response, following me across the couch as Cash laid me down. My thighs wrapped around his hips, urging him inside me. The need to have him was too much, and when he hesitated, I felt the flare of electricity inside me, spiraling out of control
“Ah, shit,” Cash yelped, my fingers sparking up on his skin. Finn laughed.
“Oh she got you there,” Finn teased, sitting back. “She’s all yours until that, whatever that is, stops.” Cash’s eyes narrowed.
“Oh I see how it is,” he muttered, pinning me down, my wrists on the cushions as his fingers caged around them. A whine escaped my mouth.
“Sorry,” I whispered, then moaned when his cock slipped between my folds, before catching on my entrance.
“Don’t be.” He thrust into me, the feeling of fullness spreading me open. It was a critical relief and I fought the grip on my wrists, wanting to be able to touch him. “Gonna get you back something fierce,” Cash promised, his eyes were half-closed and he groaned.
Finn had lied about giving me up to Cash completely. He moved beside me, knees on the floor as his arm slung across Cash’s back. My eyes traveled down his body, down the line of his arm. His hand was in his jeans, and he let out a sigh. I reached for him, his free fingers twining with mine. I needed to be connected to them both at the same time. Cash’s hips pumped.
“Eyes up,” he said, and my gaze snapped to his face. He grinned, wild and hungry, before he bent down to kiss me hard. It was a good thing too, because I cried out as he pulled out and thrust back in one breath. Finn gripped my hand hard, his other hand in his jeans, his hips rocking. The sight of it kept dragging me away from Cash, and it was so hot to see the raw need sprawled across Finn’s face. The thought that he was touching himself and touching me, everything all at once, overwhelmed me and pushed my pleasure higher.
I gave up trying to hang on and just let Cash fuck me, the drag of his cock in and out shaking me down and bringing me higher with each long, fast hitch of his hips. Finn let go of my hand and worked his fingers down between where Cash was fucking me hard, and I shook my head.
“N-no,” I said, already on the edge, so close. I wanted it to last. Finn slapped a hand on Cash’s ass, causing his pack-mate to growl and double down his efforts. It was too much, and when Finn brushed a thumb over my bare clit, I tipped over the edge. My muscles locked up, and I barely registered Cash’s hand hooking under my thigh to lift my knee over his shoulder until it was too late. The new angle had him deeper in me, making every thrust somehow more in a way I couldn’t understand. I shuddered hard through one orgasm, Finn’s breathing hot on my ear as he groaned. Cash’s eyes were shut tight, his lips parted as he breathed out heavy and fast.
“Shit, shit,” Finn growled and sat back, his shoulders slumping, his eyes glassy. A smile picked up at the corner of Cash’s mouth, and he shot one superior, competitive look at Finn before grinning down at me.
“Lost it like he’s in his first rut,” Cash said, before kissing me hard. “You good sweetheart? Can I?” He’d slowed down his thrusts, my leg still thrown over his shoulder, my thigh pressed to my stomach and chest. I shivered, feeling over sensitive and full of him, but it was so good. I nodded briefly. I wanted him to come in me, to feel him fall apart over me. He flicked out his tongue, across the damp skin of my neck and I shivered. “I love you,” his breath rushed over my skin. My hand wrapped around the back of his neck, cradling him against me as he picked up his thrusts again, just a few more seconds, before he was shaking and muttering a low curse into my neck. I felt his teeth graze over my neck, and the low pulse of him coming inside of me.
Complete.
That was one word for what I was feeling. I let my head drop fully on the couch and sighed. The music still pulsed through the jam space, and my skin was cool in the air. Cash was breathing hard against my chest, before he pulled out of me with a groan. I squirmed, and Finn moved forward on his knees, helping me rearrange my limbs, straightening my underwear I still wore. I made a face.
“I’m going to need to change,” I said. Cash sighed and pulled me in for a kiss, his mouth sweet on mine.
“Thank you, sweetheart, for giving me that.” He shot Finn a look and smirked. “You alright there, son? Feeling left out?”
“Fuck off,” Finn said affectionately, before helping me to my feet. My legs felt shaky, my muscles sore. I glanced up at him, worried that he might actually feel left out. He rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry for a second.” He kissed my nose. “Watching you was worth it.”
“Later,” I promised, “tonight.”
His eyes flashed and he bit his lip deliberately.
“I won’t hold you to it,” he said with a reluctant sigh. “Let me go get you some new clothes.”
“Wet wipes too, or something,” I called softly after him when he walked away, toward the sleeping area. Two arms came around me from behind me as Cash pulled me in for a hug. His heat was perfect, and what I needed.
“Not too rough?” he asked. I shook my head, letting my eyes slide shut. “Enough of a distraction?”
“Yeah but you can’t like, fuck the pain away, all the time.”
“Watch me,” Cash half-threatened, half-teased. I groaned and smushed a hand in his face, pushing away from him.
A few minutes later, cleaned, dressed, and curled up on the couch that would be forever christened in my mind from Cash fucking me on it, the guys had gone out to find how things were going with Eli. My pulse was back to normal. I was going to have to talk to the guys if they kept thinking that sex was some sort of cure-all for shitty situations because it wasn’t. We’d have to be like any other… polyamorous wolf-pack and witch, talking things out and coming up with solutions that didn’t always involve me getting plowed until the stress ran out of my body.
The door kicked open and Charlie stepped inside, alone. I let my hand, holding my phone, fall into my lap as his eyes found
mine.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” he replied.
“Sooo…” I got to my feet. “The guys?”
“Outside. We didn’t go far. Max still asleep?”
“Out like a light. If this happens again, I’m seriously going to call it her flame-over because, well, because I can,” I said, trying to get a read on why Charlie was shifting his weight from foot to foot. “You sure everything’s good?”
“I didn’t say everything was good, just that the guys are outside.” His eyes shut for a moment. “You talk a lot during sex,” Charlie said, his eyes glittering as he watched me. My fingers clenched around my phone. Shit. But there’d been music playing… had they heard? Outside? He read my mind, or my face, because he nodded his head to one of the high windows. They were open, enough for sound to carry, the music at least. And for a werewolf? Also the sounds of me having crazy hot sex with two of his pack-mates.
“Yeah? You got something to say about it? Like, feedback on my performance or something?” My cheeks were hot, the aftershocks of being with both Finn and Cash still shivered through my body. Charlie tilted his head to one side and shook his head.
“Oh no, Darcy. There’s not a single thing wrong with you,” his voice dropped as he stepped up to me, his fingers lifting to stroke along my arm. A fresh shudder made my shoulders shake at the touch. He smiled down at me, his head so close to mine. His eyes were like melted chocolate, I realized, swirled with honey. “Just when I take you, make you mine? You’re not going to have the breath to say a single word other than my name, or I haven’t done right by you.”
Well, shit.
I couldn’t breathe.
And he’d only touched my arm.
A smile cracked his lips and he leaned in closer. My eyelashes fluttered. I wanted him to kiss me right then. I tilted my head up to meet him.
Buzzzzzzzzzt.
My phone went off in my pocket and I jerked back, grabbing it. Willa’s name popped up on the screen. Charlie made a soft sound, almost one of disappointment, and he stepped away.
“H-hello?” I answered, clearing my throat.
“Hey Darcy. I know you just got back off of tour, and I’m sure you’re totally wiped, but I need you to come down to the office ASAP,” Willa rattled off the words, apology in her tone. “I’m so sorry.” Nerves blossomed in my gut and I looked at Charlie. An echo of concern floated across his face.
“Yeah… really? Now? I…”
Charlie nodded as I spoke, encouraging me to say yes.
“Sure thing,” I breathed.
“Thank god. I hate to do this, but because the PC guys are off tour for now and aren’t going to be doing many shows for the next month or two, I need to pull you and put you on another project.”
“What?” I asked, feeling like the breath had been punched out of my lungs. Charlie’s face was unreadable, and I tried to focus on what Willa was saying.
“It’s just temporary until Phoenixcry gets their shit together, because Troy is super pissed about them and Glory Rev not being professional enough to deal with whatever was going on between them on tour… don’t worry, that’s not on you. Sometimes artists clash, okay? So don’t stress about that. Just get down to the office and I’ll introduce you to your new project. You won’t be managing, just assisting, okay? Okay? Good. Gotta go. See you in an hour, please, no longer than that.” Willa rushed off the phone before I could say anything.
I swallowed and looked up at Charlie. I knew he’d heard every word. He sighed and ran a hand up the back of his neck.
“Well, shit,” he said, echoing my earlier thoughts.
Five
Darcy
“You sure you want to come in with me?” I asked.
Charlie sat next to me in the small sedan that the guys used for getting around town. We were waiting around the corner from the record label. As soon as I’d gotten off the phone with Willa, I’d checked on Max (who was still passed out) and Charlie had offered to drive me in to XOhX. The rest of the guys had returned to the jam space and we’d explained everything before taking off. I felt okay leaving Max with them, because they’d protect her, and heck, they knew more about phoenixes than I did, being that she was a shifter like my wolves. Charlie cleared his throat and dragged me back to the present.
“I’m a signed artist, I’m a wolf. I’ve faced down worse than a pissy label exec. I’m not afraid to walk in there,” he said with a sigh, though I could tell he was apprehensive. The news that Troy was pissed at the band was new information, and not welcome info at that. Artists didn’t have long, storied careers when they pissed off their label heads.
“Alright, I guess.” I grabbed my purse out of the backseat and got out of the car. When Charlie joined me on the sidewalk, he lifted his hand to brush it across the small of my back, an unreadable expression on his face. “What?”
He gazed at me solidly for a long moment then shook his head.
“You look beautiful, that’s all,” he said. My cheeks flushed. I knew he was partially lying, but I let it go. He deserved to have his secrets. I squeezed his hand in mine before we turned the corner and buzzed at the door to the label.
Charlie followed me up the stairs to the main production floor, the buzz of the work day reaching us before we even got to the top.
That buzz stopped as soon as we set foot in the foyer of the open-plan office, and I felt the heat of a few dozen eyes on us, conversation petering out across the office.
Tiny scraps of whispers floated to me, that I could barely hear. Beside me, Charlie’s shoulders stiffened.
“… with… whole band…”
I frowned and glanced at Charlie out of the corner of my eye. The small muscle on the side of his jaw, just under his ear was ticking and pulsing.
“… off… kicked… Glory Rev hates…”
“Interns… trusting them… sleeping with…”
My face went hot with realization of how we were both somehow the topic of conversation in different ways. I was now the band groupie slut. Charlie and the rest of Phoenixcry were the disgraced rockers that’d been kicked off a tour. Suddenly their sacrifice so I could learn to control my magic didn’t seem all that worth it. A sour taste rose in the back of my mouth.
“Darcy!” Willa exclaimed as she came through a set of doors at the far end of the room, her face lighting up at the sight of me. She glanced at Charlie, her smile wobbling for a second, before she shot hard looks around the room. Instantly the soft chatter cut out, the normal work-day conversations starting in a stilted manner. “Charlie,” she said as she walked up to us both, wrapping her arms around me tight. I leaned into the hug and sighed, hugging her back. “You both look great, not even tired.”
“Well, we slept hard last night,” Charlie said as Willa hugged him too.
“Mmm. I wasn’t expecting you—”
“I just came to drive Darcy,” Charlie glanced around the room as he spoke. “Is Rory here? I wanted to talk to him about producing a new single. We’ve been writing on the road.” Willa’s smile wavered again.
“Why don’t you go wait downstairs or in the lounge? He’s not in this week, but I can try to get him on the phone, see if he’ll come in to discuss it with you. I’m not sure he’s free though…”
She didn’t congratulate him on writing while on tour. I noticed that immediately. Touring was hell on musicians and most couldn’t do that and write at the same time. It was too rough and tiring. She should have been overjoyed, especially considering what the pop in charts and the indie scene Phoenixcry was having. The label should have been drooling to have another single to promote as soon as the key tracks from the first album had outlived their usefulness. I didn’t want to look at Charlie. I knew he’d be thinking the same thing. Something was seriously wrong, and I had a terrible feeling that leaving the tour had just cost Phoenixcry a whole lot more than we’d bargained.
Charlie shrugged.
“Kay, sounds good. You guys gonna be long
?”
“No, just maybe forty-five tops. I mean you don’t have to wait around…” Willa cast me a tight smile. I turned to Charlie.
“I’ll call when I need a ride,” I said. Charlie’s eyes searched my face. I’ll figure out what’s going on, I tried to tell him with just a look.
“Alright. I’ll go get coffee or something,” he said, swinging around to look across the room. People studiously avoided his gaze.
From golden boys to personas non grata. It was crazy how fast they’d fallen from esteem from their own damn label. The thought infuriated me, and I tried not to show it.
Y’know, in case my powers decided to go haywire and I really put on a show. Charlie squeezed my shoulder and thudded down the stairs behind us to the building entrance. Willa’s relief was plain on her face.
“I’m so glad you came in. Thanks for doing this, c’mon,” she said, beckoning for me to follow her. It wasn’t the place to demand answers for her weird behavior, with furtive glances still burning on the back of my neck. I promised myself that I would talk to her as soon as we had a private moment though.
“So,” I said.
“So, the new act, we signed her from a tiny label in London named SoDamaged Records that we work with sometimes. She’s moving to the U.S., well, she’s here right now, but she’ll be hopping back and forth until we get her O1 visa sorted out.” Willa pushed open the doors to the meeting room where I’d first met the guys in Phoenixcry. A flood of memories rushed through me. I really hoped that this girl wasn’t a werewolf too. That would be kinda hilarious though. I was an altogether different person now, and I knew that any werewolf I met was more likely to be a better person than the witches I’d grown up with.
Also, lightning never struck twice, right?
“Milen,” Willa said, to the young woman seated on one low, leather couch. Immediately she stood, pushing back a curtain of straight, sleek, brown hair that made me instantly envious and a little self-conscious of my wild curls. I stopped in my tracks when the girl looked at me though. She had violet eyes. They had to be contacts. Her face was all peaches-n-cream, with a heartbreakingly beautiful smile that made me even more self-conscious. She was on the curvier side, but it suited her heart-shaped face. Max would have called her a hipster-goth, what with the girl’s long black scrappy dress, and multitude of silver rings across her fingers. “Milen, this is going to be your assistant manager here at XOhX, Darcy Llewellyn.”