by Heather Long
Fine.
Fin would lure her away the next day.
“Don’t fight,” Rogue ordered, and Fin wasn’t the only one who jerked a look to the silent sentinel. The fact that he’d spoken at all when he took Fiona from the prison had been a collection of more words than they’d heard from him in a long time. At his quizzical look, Rogue shrugged. “If you fight over her, I’ll end her.”
Fin blinked and Maddox scowled, his arms closing around her, and between one blink and the next, it was the dragon staring at Rogue. If he worried about the dragon’s rage, the other didn’t show it.
“We didn’t wait all these years for her for you to just throw that out there,” Fin argued, choosing his words carefully. “We’re not fighting.”
“You’re jealous, and he’s possessive.” Rogue didn’t sound like he cared, but it would be a mistake to believe he was cavalier. If he truly didn’t give a damn, he wouldn’t even be broaching the topic. To Maddox, Rogue said, “You hate that she fed from me and that she is replete because I made sure to give her enough.”
The dragon still scowled, but the recrimination seemed to turn inward.
Not to leave him out, Rogue switched his attention to Fin. “You resent she already has comfort with him. You want to claim what he’s already found.”
“You’re not wrong,” Fin agreed. “But I can be jealous because I want to know her, too. I’ve dreamt about her for centuries. Unlike the rest of you, I knew she was coming. I never broke faith.”
“Lust-filled dreams about her breasts are not what I would call prophetic,” Maddox stated drily, and Rogue gave a half-laugh.
“Oh, if I’d dreamed about those tits, trust me, I’d have found her a whole lot sooner.” As it was, the little succubus hadn’t even been on his radar until the day she awoke changed. Then the whole world had seemed to ring with her presence. He couldn’t not leave immediately on a quest to find her.
The mental anguish alone would have drawn him like a beacon, but it was the raw and primal fury that kept him on target. He’d arrived a day after the sense of her all but muted. It had only taken him interrogating a half-dozen vampires in Dallas to find out where she’d gone.
He knew the name of her maker. The vampire was in hiding at the moment. When he brought his head above ground, Fin would deliver it to her on a platter. Though in truth, they owed him—it was a bumbling and idiotic attempt on the vampire’s part to try and turn her in the first place.
By all rights, it should have killed her.
Fiona let out a little sigh. “You know, if you want to talk and keep me awake, you could discuss something more interesting than my breasts. Like, why I’m here and what this great plan was that I had to listen to before I could take off?”
With a slow shake of his head, Rogue slid down into the water. “You need more rest.”
The fact that he addressed her directly sent Maddox’s eyebrows skyward, even as Fin raised his own.
“Uh huh,” Fiona elongated the two syllables even as she stretched. The action shifted her away from Maddox and brought her glorious breasts above the water. They really were quite spectacular. While slighter than he generally preferred in his women, Fiona’s curves might also be lacking because of her half-starved state. The denial of her nature and her reliance on a shadow demon meant she might be alive, but she wasn’t as healthy as she could be.
Rogue’s blood had made a great deal of difference.
“Look,” she continued, glancing from Rogue to Fin and finally to Maddox. Fin was almost disappointed he hadn’t rated a longer look. Almost. Though the narrowing of her sleepy eyes gave her a harsher appearance. “We had a deal, right, Mad-Dragon?”
“We did,” Maddox confirmed, not even batting an eyelash at what she called him. “I have not forgotten, Kitten.”
“Good. I’d hate to think of you as an oath breaker. But we’re going to put a little clock on this. I’ve been stuck in a cell for weeks, and this girl has places to go and people to kill. So let’s cut to the chase. Why did you bust me out of that place, and what is it you’re expecting in payment?”
“No payment would ever be asked,” Fin told her smoothly. It had been their privilege to retrieve her, and pleasure. Or at least, it would be to all their pleasure.
“Wasn’t asking you, Astral-Boy,” she retorted, though the flash of her glance in his direction had him sitting up. “Though you are pretty, I will give you that.”
He grinned.
“But I was talking to tall, dark, and ruthless over here.” She jerked her thumb at Maddox.
Rogue chuckled.
“What are you laughing at?” Fin demanded, but the blond lifted his hands, palms out, as if saying not his problem.
With a sigh, Fin focused on Fiona, but she stared at Maddox and his dragon stared back at her.
“You’re a hybrid,” Maddox said finally, almost reluctantly. “You were right when you said vampires cannot turn other supernaturals, right in as much as that’s all current thought holds to it. However, what they know and what is fact are two vastly different things.”
Fiona stared at him for a bit, her lips pursed. Keen intelligence flickered in her eyes as she studied him. “So I’m a vampire-succubus.”
“Yes.”
“I need to feed on lust and blood.”
“Also yes.”
“Well. Aren’t I special?”
“Very,” Fin exhaled. “More special than you realize.”
“Oh? And how is that?”
Ignoring Maddox’s warning look, Fin told her the truth. “You’re the only female hybrid to ever transition. You’re also ours. Our mate. Perfect for us in every way.” And she was.
Maddox sighed, even as Rogue just shook his head, but Fiona’s response puzzled him the most.
She burst out laughing.
“Oh, honey, I’m a succubus,” she said in between gasps. “I’m pretty much perfect for everyone.”
Oh.
Fin hadn’t really thought of it that way, and the dark look on Maddox’s face promised he had, but it was the speculation filling Rogue’s expression that worried him all of a sudden.
Wiping at her eyes, Fiona shook her head. “Sorry, I just needed that laugh. Like I said, Astral-Boy, you really are pretty. But you shouldn’t bet on me. As soon as this little confab is over, I’m out of here. Like I said, places to go and people to kill.” The she muttered something about how destiny could bite her.
“We’ll see,” he murmured, even as Maddox let out an aggrieved sigh.
“You will need to stay with us long enough to master your bloodlust,” Maddox informed her. “And until we can deal with your sire. You do not want him to try and control you.”
From the look on her face, Fiona had no intentions of letting anyone control her.
But she might have missed the point. Destiny had already bitten all of them. But as long as they were naked, he didn’t mind the argument at all.
It would help when they got to the makeup part.
Which they would need in three…
Two…
“I don’t care what Maddox promised you,” Rogue stated. “You’re not leaving, little sváss.”
Now.
Her eyes flashed, and Maddox growled.
Fin settled back against the ledge to soak and let Maddox and Rogue debate this one.
Then Fin could swoop in with the reasonable compromise and settle it all.
When she stood up abruptly, hands on her hips, he damn near swallowed his tongue.
She really was quite perfect.
And it didn’t matter if everyone else wanted her.
They didn’t get to have her.
Fiona was theirs.
Chapter 8
“I don’t believe in love at first sight. You fall in lust with what your eyes see, and in love with what your heart sees.” - Unknown
Maybe it was the amount of blood I’d consumed or the age of it, but focusing had become a real bitch. What had been pro
mised as a conversation and explanation had turned into a dictation and argument.
Specifically, Maddox argued, Rogue dictated, and Fin leaned back, arms stretched out, looking enormously satisfied. A certain amount of smugness rolled off Astral-Boy, and fuck, he was so pretty. I’d be jealous, but I wasn’t that shallow.
I also really didn’t give a damn about beauty except to admire it. Maddox was ripped, powerful, and yes, the fact that he could turn into a dragon was really impressive. But he wasn’t pretty. Strong. Fierce. Proud. These all applied. Handsome, in his own way, but no, Fin had pretty all tied up.
“You can’t just give her that order,” Maddox snarled. It was really sweet, and I should probably calm him down, but to be honest, I didn’t really care what Rogue had decided. The fact that he’d tasted divine and fed me both his blood and his lust had left me floating. He hadn’t turned it into sex, not that I’d been remotely opposed, despite the varying levels of grossness decorating both of us. And by that, I meant him, not me. I did not look or smell anywhere near that bad.
But the stoic male sitting across the hot bath—really, these weren’t baths so much as actual pools, and they were more like hot rock tubs. While they were carved out of actual stone, they were smooth and comfortable. Maddox kept trying to settle me back into leaning against him even if I didn’t want to sit yet. Finally, I sat because it was warmer in the water. When he tugged me against him again I elbowed him.
Hated to let him know he wasn’t any softer than the rocks we sat against. Not that I examined why I was loath to let him know. Anyway, back to the stoic over there.
Him, I couldn’t pin down. Fierce? Yes. Beautiful? In a cold and kind of deadly way. There was an ancient power lurking there, something that might possibly be more dangerous than the dragon at my side.
Maybe.
That?
That was sexy as fuck.
“I think I just did,” Rogue replied, his tone serene. He just did what? Oh, right. Gave me an order. “If you didn’t want her, you wouldn’t have gone into the prison in the first place. You wouldn’t have given them the chance to shackle you.”
“They can’t hold me.” Maddox glanced at me. “They wouldn’t be able to hold me, and I wouldn’t let them keep you. This is not something you need to concern yourself about.”
“Are you talking to me or to tall, blond, and tasty over there?”
Maddox opened his mouth to respond, then paused, a puzzled look sliding through his expression before he finally said, “His name is Rogue.”
“Yeah, I’m all caught up on that part, not that I care.” I slanted a look toward the god lounging in the water. “Not that I don’t appreciate the fact you got me off and fed me. Seriously enjoyed that. No lie.”
“You’re welcome. I take guesting seriously. You will not go hungry while you are here.” Well, that was almost sweet. “You will be here for a while.” That was not.
Eyes narrowed, I studied him. “Maddox and I had a deal.”
“Exactly,” Maddox stated, slinging an arm around me. Now, while I wasn’t opposed to the skin on skin contact, I also wasn’t interested in the distraction right now. “I gave her my word.”
“I didn’t,” Rogue stated, as though that ended the discussion.
“Fin,” Maddox snarled.
“Sorry, big guy,” Fin said without opening his eyes, and a smile curved his lips. “I’m on Rogue’s side in this. I didn’t give her my word either. I said we’d get her out. Which we did. I said we’d feed her, which Rogue has handled this evening.” Those beautiful brown eyes opened, and he latched his heated gaze onto me. “FYI, I’ll be helping out with the feeding, too. It will be easier on you if you just feed from all of us.”
Easier on me. Well that was mighty damn autocratic of him and probably had nothing to do with the want in his eyes.
“You know,” I drawled sliding away from the dragon. Dragon.
Fuck me.
Yeah, focus.
Rising from the steaming water, I moved toward the side.
“You should soak for a little while longer,” Fin suggested. “You’re still buzzing from feeding.”
And you’re fighting the bliss.
The fact that his words flashed against the inside of my mind had me turning. Searching for his access point, I focused on pushing him back out. He studied me with the most patient of puzzled frowns.
Harmonics I’d learned young danced through my mind. One perk of being well-fed, I was also well-armed.
A vampiric succubus. It was an oxymoron.
Elias was going to kill me.
“Who would Elias be?” Fin asked. The sudden resonance of three gazes slamming into me had me rolling my eyes. “Because you can forget him along with Dorran.”
Unimpressed, I chuckled. “Elias falls into the category of ‘none of your fucking business,’” I informed him. “And Dorran kept me alive.”
“Dorran is a the name the shadow demon gave you?” Unlike Fin’s playful tone or Maddox’s near constant growl, Rogue’s voice was more indolent, but power crackled in every syllable. This was not a being who tolerated being ignored.
What he was precisely, I hadn’t figured out yet.
Vampires.
Hybrids.
Oh, and how had Fin put it? My mates.
I snorted. Folding my arms, I leaned against the side. The air above the water was much cooler, and goosebumps rippled over my skin and turned my nipples taut. It was a good reminder that I wasn’t here for sex and games.
You could be… Fin’s teasing remark stroked across my mind like a caress. Bad vampire. I slapped his mental fingers with a slam of shutting off his access. The harmonics kept witches out of my head. One perk to having known a witch singer, those same harmonics kept other magic users out, too.
He gave a little jerk of surprise, his lazy air dissipating as he stared at me with blown pupils. “That… How did you do that?”
“Ask me no questions, and I’ll tell you no lies,” I chastised him.
Maddox snarled, “Stop poking in her head. We’re supposed to be convincing her, not chasing her away.”
Well, that was useful knowledge.
“I was playing,” Fin argued. “Besides, she thinks I’m pretty. So suck it.”
The corner of my mouth kicked up as Maddox surged to his feet, his glare fixed on Fin. There was something really—the thought didn’t finish because the icy air around me sucked all the breath out of me. The bathing room was gone as were the sexy brutes about to argue over me.
I barely had time to process Rogue’s hands on me before he dropped me in the middle of a bed in a dark, really fucking cold room. My teeth chattered before I could stop them.
“Stay,” he ordered with a single gesture in my direction. Like me, he was still naked but the cold—fuck, were we in Siberia?—didn’t seem to affect him. Or maybe he was just a better actor. Crossing the room, he moved a flap then struck a match. The smell of sulphur tinged the air, and a minute later, a fire bloomed in the hearth. It wasn’t quite as large as the huge furnaces he called fireplaces in the bathing room, but the heat licked at the icy air around us.
“Do I look like a dog?” At least a plume of dust hadn’t floated up into the air when I hit the comforter. Speaking of which, the fabric was softer than any I’d felt in days.
“You look like exactly what you are,” Rogue informed me as he lifted a heavy blanket from a chest and carried it over toward me. It wasn’t just a blanket…it was a fur.
He snapped it out, and the wash of icy air sent a shudder down my spine. The fur settled over me like a heavy cloud. A heavy warm cloud. My still damp hair didn’t offer much warmth, but tracing the way the water droplets slid down his skin seemed to be plenty of distraction. When we’d been in the bath, I hadn’t really paid attention to the black ink scrawled over his skin or the patterns it made.
“I’m sure there’s an insult in there somewhere,” I murmured, skimming my gaze down to the half-hard cock stirr
ing despite the brittle cold. Even though I expected it, when he slid beneath the fur with me, surprise still skated along my flesh. “What I’m uncertain about is whether you’re trying to offend me or…”
Undeterred by my comments, he levered across the bed, shifting the fur to drape both of us, and then he dragged my legs apart.
Really, like just gripped and spread. With one tug, he had me on my back and his shoulders wedged between my thighs. “Fiona,” he said, staring up at me with eyes gone shimmering blue. “Shut up.”
“Excuse you?”
My next thought completely stuttered however as his hot breath passed right over my pussy to the inside of my thigh and then his teeth sank in. Rage kindled in my blood, but desire stomped right over it as his lust boiled over again. Lust to taste me, to feed himself, and to fuck me.
As full as I already was, his wild need shouldn’t be pounding into my veins and taking over my pulse. Not that I was even remotely struggling against his hold.
What? I liked dominant men. Especially those who just went for what they wanted. It beat the hell out of the guys who tried to lure me in with pretty promises.
The hot pull of his mouth seemed to absorb all my focus, and with every tug, there was an answering pulse in my pussy. Fuck. I was going to be soaked in no time. I clenched at the blanket or the sheets. Anything to hang on because the orgasm he sent crashing through me shattered any arguments.
Two fingers—stiff like marble but hot like lava—speared into me, and I wanted to roll my hips and ride, but his fierce grip kept my lower body still, impaled and pinned beneath fingers and fangs. Toes curling, I dug them against his back as he sucked down more, and the vibrant buzz along my flesh doubled, then redoubled until he crooked his fingers and I came again.
The wrench of reality faded as I floated on a sea of sensation with his hot need sizzling into my soul. I was almost too full, I couldn’t consume more, and yet, more was what I got. Still, he continued to suck, pulling and draining me. Feeding one beast, he starved the other.
The lazy seal of his tongue stroking the bite mark sent little eddies of fresh pleasure through me. His fingers were still sheathed in my pussy, even as my inner walls fluttered and clenched against them.