by A. K. Koonce
The memorial . . .
My eyes flash open with the whooshing sound of my pulse filling my ears. Trembling breaths shake across my lips, and I just stare up at the shadows along the ceiling with the image of his face burned into my mind.
Warm fingers slide over my stomach, slow but soothing.
Ryke pulls me hard against his big chest, and the men around me in bed are fast asleep. I settle in against his warmth, but my eyes refuse to close. I can’t sleep. All I can think about is that fucked-up dream and the fucked-up things I’ll have to say tomorrow night at the memorial.
An hour slips by into the silence. My thoughts are no lighter, but my eyes feel heavier. They close slowly. Sleep touches around the edges of my mind. Peace settles into my chest.
I open my eyes once more.
Movement outside the glass balcony doors catches my attention. Translucent black hair flicks across her pale features, and the woman taps ever-so-lightly against the glass.
If my fucking siblings could let me rest for a single hour, I would be so appreciative.
Unfortunately, Corva continues to rap against the balcony door like a fly buzzing around my face, until I’m forced to throw my feet over the edge of the bed. The thin black nightgown flits around my thighs, and I’m already huffing out a breath of frustration before I even storm across the room and throw open the doors.
“What?” I hiss through my teeth. The cold wind catches at my hair and clothes, but the woman in front of me seems unaffected.
“How’s the angel?”
“Are you fucking kidding me? He’s fantastic. Good night, Corva.”
“Then pardon me.”
“Pardon you? Pardon me.” I throw the words back in her face, and it only makes her eyes blaze larger.
“I mean, pardon my banishment. Only a royal of the Kingdom of Roses can welcome me back. Welcome me back, Aries.” Inky hair flicks over her pale features.
My heart kicks up all over again with rapid apprehension.
“Not tonight.”
“Tonight!”
“No. It’s incredibly bad timing.” I try to plot my next moves. After the party, after I show the crowd my father’s inability to rule, after I’ve been crowned and the kingdom is safe, then it would be safe for Corva as well.
But not tonight.
“Aries. Fae do not give something for nothing,” Corva says in a cutting tone I’ve heard her use a time or two before.
It’s eerie and singed in the natural dark power that courses through her bones.
“And I keep my word. I’ll bring you back to court. I can’t pardon you tonight, though. There’s too much riding on tomorrow, Corva.” I tip my chin up slowly and hold the edgy gaze of my older sister.
A beat passes between our held stares.
“Tomorrow, then.” She, too, tips her head up with composure. “Tomorrow at midnight.”
I nod slowly.
“Say it, Aries.”
I swallow slowly, and it only makes my heart pound harder when I’ve been given a time limit. A deadline. A fucking execution date.
“Tomorrow. At midnight. I pardon the banishment of Corva of the Unknown at midnight of tomorrow eve,” I say with as much etiquette as I can muster.
A soft smile curls her lips.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
Her hand reaches out to clutch mine.
But a flash of light shields her touch. Her fingers dip ripples into the unseen barrier that separates her from me. It separates her from her home.
And I know what that feels like.
Her smiles wavers, but just as our mother taught us, she lifts her head high and pulls away from me. She nods as though she’s about to say her goodbye.
I don’t know why it hurts my heart to see someone go through what I’ve been through.
It didn’t used to.
I can’t explain it.
At the last second, just before her wafting black wings sweep her away, I step forward. I walk across whatever line that says she’s not welcome here, and I wrap my arms around my sister in a way that I haven’t done since I was a little girl.
Slender shoulders stiffen against my embrace. Her heartbeat pounds against mine for several seconds before her thin arms slowly slip around me. And then she hugs me so hard, it wells up emotion deep in my chest. Emotions I didn’t realize I held for her.
We’re sisters.
She isn’t kind, and she isn’t perfect. But neither am I. And neither of us want the future our family has tried to thrust us into.
“Whatever you’re worried about, you’ll do great, Aries.” Her tone is steady and sure.
I wish I fucking was.
“Thanks,” I whisper, before untangling myself from her slender frame.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she says with a nod.
“Yeah. See you tomorrow,” I repeat, just as a puff of black smoke erupts.
Then she’s gone.
She’s so set on tomorrow. And I’ll keep my word.
Unless my plan is shit. And father banishes my ass to the Torch this time, instead of the Bin.
At least I’d be with my mates, though.
A strange calm descends through me at that thought. I’ll have them. I won’t be alone. Maybe everything will go perfectly tomorrow, but even if it doesn’t, we’ll always be together.
I turn and close the door quietly behind me, but I stand there in the darkness. A tangle of strong arms and muscled thighs are all I see on the large bed, and my heart warms as I study them.
“I’m told it’s weird to watch someone sleep, love,” Krave says from the far side of the large king-size mattress.
“I’m pretty sure I told you that.” I fold my arms, and it’s then that all four of them shift beneath the white sheets.
I woke them up. And no one’s complaining about it . . .
My bare feet are quiet as I pad back over to the bed that has far too many men in it. Or maybe just enough.
My palms sink into the soft mattress, and my knees follow, as I climb up the center of where they sleep. Feet and legs slide out of my way. One leg, however, slips over to get in my way. Or to lead me up a hard, beautiful body.
My hands settle on either side of lean, narrow hips before trailing up the rest of the way.
I shouldn’t be surprised to be looking down on the most beautiful warm brown eyes.
His big hands skim up my thighs, fingers teasing along the hem of the nightgown as I straddle my thighs over his stomach. A sexy smile pulls at his lips as I lower fully against him. He pushes my thighs until I shift lower. Our hips line up just where he wants me. He likes me like this. He likes holding me and guiding me as I fuck him.
It’s . . . empowering in a way.
So empowering that I lean over him and slide my fingers down the lines of Zaviar’s chest as I grind ever so lightly against Damien.
Deep intense eyes study me as he sits up in bed. Zaviar’s dark lashes lower, and I feel his apprehension as he looks from one person to the next. His head dips, and I lean into his intoxicating mouth.
But he angles his head, and presses a kiss to the corner of my parted lips. “Goodnight, Pretty Crow,” he whispers against my cheek.
Then he shoves off the mattress, climbs over Ryke, and gets out of bed. My mouth’s still open as I watch him grab his jeans from the floor.
No one says a word as the pounding of my heart becomes painful. It hurts even more as he opens the door.
And walks out.
Damien sits up with hesitation strung through his taut shoulders. His chest skims mine just as big hands clasp my jawline, and he forces me to look at him.
“He doesn’t want to hurt you,” he whispers on a quiet tone and a soft kiss to my lips. He presses another chaste kiss there again and again. “He’s an asshole, but he cares about you. And he doesn’t want it to hurt any more than it already does when he has to leave.”
Those soft-spoken words only slice open my heart even more.
/> When he has to leave.
I’m not an idiot. I know he’ll leave. I know he can’t stay. I’ve told myself the same thing a thousand times. But . . . it’s harder to hear the words spoken out loud.
My hands fall between us, and Damien stops the slow press of his lips against mine.
Someone else isn’t as easily convinced of my determination to wallow in my self-pity, though.
Strong arms with etching veins and deeper etching scars wrap around my stomach with a soft sting of iron washing over my flesh. He’s careful with the slicing weapons cutting through his forearms, but it doesn’t stop him from holding me from behind.
“You should relax for a while,” Ryke whispers along my ear, a breath of rasping words that shiver all through me.
His hand slides lower down my abdomen.
“Do you want to lie down, or do you want us to take care of you, or both?” Ryke asks attentively, and it knocks the air right from my lungs with the idea of what he’s suggesting.
“Both is nice,” a voice at my side purrs.
I catch the devilish eyes of the sexy incubus who’s now completely naked, and I’m not sure when he took off his jeans, but they’re off and he’s . . . incredibly ready. My fingers lift casually, and I skim along the hard length of Krave’s cock as I hold his gaze.
His lashes flutter with lust in his gaze, and before I even reply, he tangles his hand through my hair and pulls me hard against his lips. His tongue slides over mine before our lips fully meet, and a low groan hums through the room from the two men surrounding us. I dive into the feel of his hands tingling across my skin, and the desire he spreads through me.
I get lost in him entirely.
Until the sound of metal skittering over metal draws my attention. I pull back just in time to see Ryke pulling the curtains closed over the balcony doors. I watch him with heavy breaths leaving my lungs as he does the same thing at one window. Then the next.
Until complete darkness caresses me.
“Lie back,” Krave says on a low, sex-filled voice.
Damien’s palms brush up and down my thighs once more, then his warm touch slips away. No one touches me, so I do as I’m told and slide over Damien’s hips and shift against the soft blankets until my head meets the fluffy pillow. In the darkness, I lie perfectly still at the edge of the bed. I feel every breath of air hit my lungs, and I’m all too aware of the anticipating way my hearts pounding into my chest.
Gentle hands slide over my silk night gown. Up, up, up they trail. A big hand cups my breast, and my breath catches as warmth sears over the material. It’s a faint touch first. But then his mouth takes as much of me as he can, kissing and sucking and making my legs shake around total nothingness.
On my other side, a singeing palm is feather-light as it skims up my inner thigh. Another hand takes the same path up the sensitive flesh with sparking sensations kissing my skin as both of them glide toward the same spot at the center of my body. They meet, their fingers sliding together at the same time beneath my panties, and I can’t stop my spine from arching up off the bed as their addictive touch slams waves of pulsing energy through my clit. They do it over and over and over again, until I’m crying out just from the light teasing of their hands and mouths alone.
At some point, as the room is shaking around me, and my head’s thrust back into the pillow, someone parts my legs farther. He spreads me wide and demandingly, in a way that I’m not sure at all who it is.
Even as the smooth head of his dick skims along the fingers working my clit and glides over my entrance. Powerful hands shove my gown up around my stomach, and his palms grip me tightly as he slides in ever-so-slowly with a growling groan shaking from his chest.
Ryke?
He takes his time pumping into me, sliding along my sex just right, until it makes me crazy with how hard he’s thrusting and how slow he’s fucking. There’s a current of fingers and tingling energy swirling through me from so many people caressing me at once. I can’t distinguish one touch from another. I grip his wrists, sliding my fingers along the smooth skin of his forearms, his biceps, his shoulders, his strong, perfect jawline. And then I bring him down against me.
Soft lips press to mine. He tastes me with affection and leisurely flicks of his tongue. When we kiss, when light shines through me from his gentle affection alone, I know who it is.
“Damien,” I whisper against his tongue, and he hums a delicious sound of approval as he kisses me deeper, fucks me deeper, takes me deeper on so many levels.
My leg slides higher against his, and we’re a tangle of desire that just slams into me on vibrating waves right through my core until it busts. The air catches in my lungs as I throw my head back, and everything in me comes to life just for him with a shattering release that takes my breath away.
He kisses the exposed column of my neck as he fucks me harder, taking from me what he just gave, until everything in him matches everything in me. The muscles of his arms are taut around me as he groans a gravelly sound along my throat, making me feel his release in the simple sound of his pleasure.
I press my lips to his, kissing him and breathing him in, just before his fingers dig into the curve of my ass, and he rolls us, bringing me down on top of him as he rocks his hips against mine. He starts all over again, just like that.
Just. Like. That.
“Don’t be a greedy fuck,” Ryke says, his low tone whispering around the room from somewhere nearby.
Steady palms brush over my hips with a faint caress of hands that shivers through me. He holds me sweetly from behind while Damien fucks me from below. The man behind me doesn’t wait, though.
He grips my hips firmly, and slides Damien from me with one hard jerk.
A frustrated growl comes from my sweet mate as I land in front of him on all fours on the tangle of soft blankets. I can’t tell if the hands holding my hips are singing with a light burn or singing with a static feel of incubus lust . . . both seem the same when there’s an ache pulsing between my thighs.
Ryke . . . or Krave . . .
Long fingers follow the curve of my body from behind before dipping down at my center and gliding over my sex so slowly.
“He took care of you. Fucked you good, didn’t he, love?” a rasping voice asks, drunken with need.
Krave.
His fingers slip into me, curving just right as he massages me slowly. My lashes flutter, and I don’t know how, but he knows my body better than I do. I rock against his hand while his other palm trails down my spine. Sparking sensations follow his touch, and I gasp so loudly, I can practically hear him smirk.
Without a word, he pulls his hand back, leaving me with a cutting breath of disappointment falling from my lips. But he’s right back against me in seconds. The smooth head of his cock teases my clit as he thrusts back and forth but never enters me.
He does it over and over again as I gasp each time he hits the right spot. It’s heart-pounding perfection. But it’s fleeting.
It’s fucking torture.
“Krave,” I whisper on a cry as he glides against me once more.
“Mmm, I love when you say my name like that.” And then he slams into me so hard I lurch forward against Damien.
His nails bite into my skin while his hips drive in harder and harder. The feel of his magic collides within me from his touch alone, and the combination of that and how fast he’s thrusting into my wetness crashes all the emotions inside me together.
I cum in seconds.
I’m a trembling, moaning mess in his hands, and his satisfaction is apparent when he hums a salacious rasp of a groan.
But he never slows.
My sex clenches around him again and again with an uncontrollable release washing through me for so long, it’s like a high of dangerous desire.
He never cums. He slows. He takes his time drawing lines over my skin with his long fingers, until he finally pulls out. His incredible hardness skims along my thighs as I lie on my stomach in a heap o
f shuddering breaths and weak limbs.
“Go take a break, love,” he says sweetly. “Then come back.”
Come back . . . and sleep?
Doubtful.
Big hands scoop me up and wrap my legs around him, my head settling against the strong shoulder of whoever is carrying me. Exhaustion pulls at my shoulders, and I just want to stay in his arms forever.
“You tired, baby?” Ryke asks on a soft tone.
I nod, and he stands there in the dark, holding me in his arms, and I realize he doesn’t want to put me down. His hands are high on my thighs, so, so close to my sex.
He’s so big. Unbreakable. His body and his will.
“You’re so sexy, Ryke,” I whisper as I study the shadows of his face.
I can’t see a single thing about him.
But fuck, he’s so perfect. Gentle. Sweet. Powerful and deadly. Perfect.
A quiet laugh slips from his lips.
“What?” I ask, my fingers trailing along his coarse beard.
His head shakes back and forth beneath my touch. “You don’t have to say that, Crow.”
My head tilts ever so slightly. “What do you mean?”
He holds me closer in his arms, and I’m suddenly no longer tired. Nothing could wake me up more than the hanging silence Ryke is clinging to right now.
“I mean . . . I’m not attractive. I wasn’t attractive as a Valkyrie, and I’m definitely not any better as one of your sister’s fucked-up monsters.”
My brows pull together hard as my heart dips in my chest.
“Your smile is pretty,” I say like a blushing school girl, and his lips twitch up against my fingertips. “You’re holding me here like I weigh nothing. That’s sexy. Your resilient power, that’s sexy. Your determination. Sexy. These,” I run my fingers down the scarred lines of his rock-hard abdomen, “Maybe no one’s told you, but these are sexy, Ryke.” My hand slips between us, and my fingers curl around his member that’s so thick, I can’t wrap my hand fully around him. “This—this is so fucking sexy, Ryke,” I say with a smile as I kiss him so slowly, his dick pulses in my palm.
“Yeah?” he asks with a smile that I kiss over and over again.