by A. K. Koonce
“I didn’t know it would be like that. I—I didn’t know you could feel my pain.”
I know Styx can sense my heartbreak. Even if we don’t share the same physical pain, he can feel every beat of my soul. We’re connected, even if I don’t know how. He bends and presses a kiss to my forehead and that action alone is highly comforting.
“I didn’t know either.”
Sialen kneels in front of us. His scowl is prominent on his features. Fuck, he looks pissed. “Never fucking again.”
“Yeah, I heard you the first time, asshole.”
Did I say that out loud?
The narrowing of his eyes tells me that I did.
“That was a shittily-thought-out plan, and it put the both of you in fucking danger. You’re too fucking reckless. It’s a wonder you’ve lived this fucking long at all.”
Aaaand, the holy fuckhole of death is back.
“I’ve survived this long, dick, thanks to my magic and my Lady’s guidance. Both of which I don’t have here, fuck you very much.”
His eyes roll so hard, I’m sure he’s seizing. “Then you need a new plan.”
“The plan is to gather you three, find Kira, and get the fuck out of here.”
Sialen’s glare is like a death ray. “A better plan. Not a new one, a better one is what you need.”
Styx wraps his arms around my waist as if to shield me from Sia’s assholiness, pulling me against his chest in a strange show of dominance. I don’t know much about omegas, but from what I’ve witnessed so far from him, he wants and gives comfort. It’s an intricate part of himself. He cuddles, wrapping around me and enveloping me in his warmth. It’s like he’s trying to find comfort in me as much as he’s giving it.
It’s nice.
I’ve never felt something so nice, really.
“The collars are a mixture of magic and science,” Styx says, pressing his cheek against mine and nuzzling me. “They’re obviously spelled to recognize your personal DNA and sense your magic. Once they sense it, the needles attached to your skin inject the poison into your bodies. I don’t know much about magic, but as far as I’m concerned, it can either be overridden with a more powerful counterspell, or it dies with the caster.”
I can’t help but blink rapidly at his word vomit of total logic.
Sweet and smart.
Someone muzzle me before I sink my teeth into this man and never let him go.
“So, we have to kill the caster?” Sia says with a nod while I’m still drooling and trying to process the omega’s sexy intelligence.
Styx’s fingers slide down my bare back. “There could be another way . . .” He pauses to brush his enormous palms over my body with distracting tenderness. “If we could get blueprints of the make and design of the collar. Hmm . . .” He grazes his stubbled jaw across my neck. “I need to know exactly how the needles are positioned inside you and what nerves they’re connected to. I want to see if it’s possible to use science against the magic and somehow dismantle the thing manually instead of with magic. Magic is what triggers it, so magic is what we have to avoid.”
“We already tried to dismantle it, though,” Sialen argues, crossing his arms against his broad chest.
Styx makes a noise of annoyance against my skin. “With brute force? Really? That’s like taking apart a ship in a bottle and instead of taking time and patience to do it piece by piece, you smash it with a hammer.”
“Ship in a bottle,” Rue echoes with amusement, his sexy sly smile feeling a bit annoying in this moment.
“Then why the fuck didn’t you say anything before?” My defensiveness is on ready, but I can feel the gentleness of the man holding me.
Styx’s embrace tightens with warmth and comfort. “My alpha gave an order . . .”
I turn in his arms to meet his bright, adoring gaze. “You’re not my slave, Styx. You’re allowed to disagree and to voice your opinions.”
His fingers tighten against my hips. “It’s not in my nature to disagree with you.”
My heart melts.
Because I don’t want to argue, I let it go and face forward. “So, all we have to do is find blueprints to these things?”
“Try the lab.” Styx presses a kiss to my cheek. “Or the Headmistress’ office.”
Right.
Because the last time I was in her office, Headmistress Krist knocked Sialen and I out. The last time I’d been in the lab, I’d been tortured and experimented on.
I don’t want to fucking go back there.
As if sensing my unease, Rue grasps for my hand and smooths his fingers across it. “I’ll do it.” My gaze shoots to him, and he offers me a wry smile. “I’ll find what you need.”
I imagine my fingers sliding down his back, through the threads that connect bits of our souls together. Thank you, I tell him, soul-to-soul.
He doesn’t know how much this means to me, or maybe he does. He can feel my emotions, after all.
My thoughts flow from my mind as I feel Styx’s fingers dig tightly into my waist. Then his tongue caresses across my neck, and I groan, my limbs going slack in his hold.
“We need to come up with a plan. And we need to find Kira. She’s been gone too long,” I breathe.
“Mmm . . .” Styx’s fingers slip across my flesh. “So, plan.” His fingers skim across my nipple, desire spreading across my body with the singular motion.
“Well, we need to decide who’s going to be the lookout . . .” The pinch against my nipple has me gasping as small bursts of distracting pleasure spread across my body.
“I’ll do it,” says Styx. My hair is pushed aside just before kisses are pressed to the back of my neck. “In wolf form, I can catch the scents before you’ll even see them coming.” Each word is punctuated by nips and the slide of his tongue against my flesh.
I melt into his touch. “Ahh . . . I need my sword . . .”
“I know where she keeps it. You should let everything calm down, though. Let them forget about you before you make your move. Strike when they aren’t expecting it.” This comes from Sialen. I blink my eyes open to study him, to discover the why of the rasp of his voice. His lids are hooded as he takes in the sight of me in Styx’s arms. It’s only then I realize how displayed I am, shirtless and my legs wide open for his hungry gaze.
He stares at me like a predator might, and it doesn’t frighten me. I want that gaze on me.
Slowly, he takes his bottom lip between his teeth and makes a low noise in his throat.
Oh, fuck, make that noise again.
Styx’s fingers dance across my abdomen, and I suck in a sharp breath at the sensations he leaves behind. All the while, I can’t take my gaze away from Sialen, and he can’t look away from me, either. He’s kneeling on the side of the bed, and my legs dangle off the side. I can feel his heat, every hot, dark inch of him radiating energy onto me. It feels like magic. And when his hands grasp for my calves, that feels like magic, too.
“What would you do if you had your sword, alpha?” Styx asks. The button at the top of my leather pants loosens, and the zipper slides down.
“Those are cute.” Sia nods with a small smirk as he studies the teasing hint of my panties through the leather.
My eyes roll to the back of my head as Styx pushes the bright pink material aside and dips his fingers between my folds. I grab at his knees to steady the reeling pleasure that sparks across my soul at the contact.
Beside me, Rue groans as if he can feel that, too.
“Fuck you,” I sigh, pressing my hips against Styx’s touch. “Fruits Basket is fan-fucking-tastic, and these were custom made.”
Fingers curl inside me, and I feel his thumb thrum a beat against my clit that has my chest heaving and little gasps bursting from my lips.
“Alpha.” Those fingers delve deeper inside me, stroking my walls in that blissful way that makes me forget my own name. “Your sword?”
Oh, right, the question.
“Uh . . .” I stutter slightly. He pauses hi
s ministrations, and a low growl emits from my throat. Why does he think stopping is a good idea? It’s not. I want to be touched. I want to forget what I went through. I want to forget pain and replace it with never-ending pleasure. My hand covers his, urging him to go on, to move inside me, faster and faster, until my whole body is pulled tight with the desperate sensation of wanting release. “Styx,” I growl angrily. “Touch me.”
Hands rub up and down my calves, and my eyes blink open, relishing in the new sensation added. Sialen watches us with a predatory grin. His hands are smooth and gentle as they trail up the length of my legs. They trail higher until he reaches the waistband of my pants and begins to tug them off with slow, methodical movements.
Once he’s divested me of my garments and shoes and I’m bare before him, I feel the heat slip from my pussy to coat down Styx’s fingers entirely.
Rue inhales, and his hand comes to my knee, widening it even as Sialen leans forward on his knees.
“What would you do with your sword, chère?” Rue’s hands press to the underside of my knee, and I feel that single touch in my spine, down my whole body. Styx pulls his fingers from me, and I feel the embarrassing slide of liquid desire rush from my pussy.
“I’d use it to kill my enemies,” I say vehemently.
Sialen smiles up at me. “Good girl.”
Then his tongue slides between my folds, lapping up my own desire. My thighs clamp around his head, but Styx and Rue each grab a knee, forcing my legs to open for Sialen. It’s an overwhelming onslaught of desire he dominates me with. I arch against the demanding force of his tongue, looking for the perfect friction to ease against my clit.
“That’s it, chère.” Rue’s voice is low and seductive. It’s touched with a hint of glamor and promise. “Let him taste every bit of you.” His lips press to my neck, and somehow, magic erupts around us in soft, bursting glows like stars streaking across a night sky. I feel it in every inch of my bones, spreading like shadows across walls.
My pleasure becomes an amplified thing as Rue grabs my wrist and brings it down against the erection bulging in his pants. A zinging sensation shoots through my core as I rub against him. Is this what he feels? Instinctively, I know it is.
“Do you feel that, chère?” His fangs graze across my neck and I drop my head against Styx, giving Rue easier access.
I’m reduced to nothing more than weak limbs as these three men have their way with me. As Sialen renews his force, he digs his nails into my thighs. It’s like he’s punishing me between my thighs, and all I can do is accept every single bit of it like a masochist. Rue’s teeth against my neck, his bulge in my hand. I slide my palm against him, pressing down hard so I, too, can feel the things he feels.
Styx’s fingers roam across my bare skin. He seems content enough to watch, to grind his erection against my ass. I feel him, too. Thick and warm and dripping, settled firmly beneath me. I want to be taken. I want to fall over the edge of bliss.
As if hearing my silent plea, Sialen takes my clit between his teeth and scrapes just hard enough to hurt. That’s all it takes for me to spiral out of control. I writhe against his mouth, bucking my hips faster and faster to prolong the sensation as much as I can. And Sialen is relentless. He tongues me faster, until he’s wrought every single emotion out of me, until I’m squeezing Rue’s dick so hard, I feel pleasure and pain down our bond. He takes everything from me. Everything. Rue’s groan of release is a tortured sound of delicious ecstasy. And when I feel like I can’t take anymore, Sialen pulls away and grips my hips. I can’t move, and I don’t protest as he lifts me up and impales my slick sex down on Styx’s cock.
A scream tears from my throat as every big delicious inch of him fills me to my core. Until he’s pressed so tightly and so far inside me, he touches that spot that makes me see stars. From this angle, I can feel every sharp inhale of his breath rasping against my back. I can feel the heat of his mouth against the back of my neck, and I can feel his hips lift to press deeper into me.
“Ride me, Alpha.” His voice is a plea, not a demand. He’s begging me to use him, to take my own pleasure against him. I lean forward, bracing my palms against Sialen’s shoulders for balance. He smiles and presses the softest of kisses to my lips while I lift my hips, pulling myself from Styx’s body until nothing but his tip is inside me. then I slam back down. I repeat this motion. My breasts bounce the faster I move, angling my body and rolling my hips to take my own pleasure, letting it shoot sparks through my nervous system.
Styx grips my hips from behind, but doesn’t do anything to control the movements. He lets me have my way. No matter how fast or slow I move, his groans vibrate against my back in the most delicious sensations.
My ass comes down against his thighs with stinging slaps that mingle in with the harsh sounds of our breathing. Sialen caresses my nipples, twisting and pulling until my whole mind is nothing more than a frenzy of scattered thoughts and desperation.
“She’s coming,” Rue groans, sliding his hand over my neck. I know he can feel my pulse banging against his palm. I feel his own response inside me, I feel his desire like it’s my own, and it just heightens everything inside me to painful proportions. “Fuck your omega harder, pretty Sekar. Use him how you need.”
His words push my body into action. Cries come out of me as I move, harder and harder, slamming and rolling until I feel myself riding the crest of that peak. Fingers strum my clit, sharp nails grazing it. I know it’s Rue’s without looking, and it’s what spirals me over the edge. I clamp down on Styx’s cock tightly, keeping us tethered together as he surges inside me, growling his orgasm out like a wild beast.
My sex tightens around Styx so hard, I feel and hear his pleasure as my body does something it’s never done in my entire life, giving me the most intense climax that carries out on wrathful waves.
The demanding energy consumes me like that for what feels like hours. When it doesn’t calm, I can hear the slamming of my heart. Of Rue’s heart.
And of Styx’s.
His slick release coats my sex as much as my own.
It’s what makes me glad I spelled myself years ago with a contraceptive. With all this sex I’m having, my ovaries would be in real fucking danger otherwise.
Always be thankful for the little things in life.
It takes a few minutes before my body relaxes and releases the hold my sex seems to have with his thick shaft.
Is that . . . some sort of female knotting? If it is . . . when can we do it again?
Now?
Before I can plan out my next mind-breaking orgasm, Styx pulls out of me and passes me onto Rue’s lap. His cock strains against the material of his pants, and I almost protest. I like sex as much as the next greedy witch, but they’re trying to ruin me.
Bless my Ouran High School Host Club heart.
“I need a break in between fuck sessions,” I tell him quietly. “With snacks. And wine.”
Rue chuckles against my skin but merely pulls me to his body, tucking me beneath his arm and holding me close. The gesture is comforting and peaceful. His hands press sensual caresses down my body that don’t speak of seduction but something else.
He presses a kiss against my temple and flicks my hair away from my shoulders. “Don’t worry, chère.” Imaginary hands slide over my body down our bond, purring with the delicious promise of more to come. Then his voice echoes in my head, When I take you to my bed, we will be alone, and I will devour every inch of your sweet pussy until tears sting your eyes. Only then will I fill you with my cock and make love to you and then fuck you. His fingers graze across my neck. And when your climax comes, I will sink my teeth into your neck until our souls rise together in crescendos of sensations and unite as one. The way we were always meant to be. He presses another kiss to my temple and whispers aloud against my skin, “Sleep, chère.”
And it’s to those erotic, romantic words that I fall to sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
“So, what are we?” I
can’t help the question, but I need it more than just for petty insecurities. I need mundane talk to take my mind off of the danger I’m about to throw us all into in the upcoming hours.
Rue’s fingers are clasped tightly in between my own as we wander down the halls together, just as we have for the past two nights.
Two nights. That's as long as I’m willing to wait.
Lady of Death only knows what they’ve done to Kira while we buy our time looking like obedient little students and secretly plotting.
Each hour that passes, I force myself not to think about the pain my roommate must be experiencing. I force myself to find distractions.
Distractions are nice, but they only last so long. And then the things we have to do and the people I want to protect start to weigh on my mind once more.
It feels nice, to feel a bit of normalcy in this gesture, even if it is a ruse for the few students passing us in the halls tonight. It feels almost natural now to be this close to Rueren. Maybe it’s because a bit of his soul lives in me. It made me afraid before. Afraid to open up and let him in, for him to feel my fear or look at me and know.
I don’t know at what point it all changed. If he was using his own glamor inside me to bring my defenses down while his ancient powers held strong, but it didn’t matter because I feel a connection. Sure, probably just two interwoven souls accidentally meshed together, but what the fuck ever.
Rue is . . . he’s nice. Deadly, an Ancient One, but nice just the same.
Which is strange for a vampire. At least that niceness is reserved for me only.
“Not that I want to slap a label on things. We aren’t children or anything, but . . .” I’m rambling, and I fucking hate it, but I have to know if I’m nothing more than his ticket out of here. I guess I wouldn’t mind so much, but we’re fucking. Or . . . kind of fucking. Not fucking, but planning on fucking in the future, if his whispered promises of erotica are any indication of how much dick I’ll be receiving in the future. “I’m not some frivolous girl looking for validation.” Am I?
I’ve had boyfriends before, but being a Sekar in a world that wants you dead is a hard life. I can’t afford to open up to many people, least of all to someone I can come to love.