Seventh Seal: A Reverse Harem Tale (Lovin' the Coven Book 7)
Page 18
I got him out of my mouth and had just managed to stammer, "Do what?"
I felt Dar swell inside me
"What the fuck?" I stretched around him as I fought to take his girth.
"You know he can shift. Bet you didn't know he could shift just parts of himself, did you?"
"James Duncan. If I have a hellhound cock inside me, not only will I kill you, I will make it painful. And slow." I looked up at him angrily.
"What? No! Ew. He can just make…parts…bigger. Longer. Et cetera."
"Oh, thank fuck. Carry on." I sighed and took his cock back into my mouth.
Dar was having difficulty fucking me through the laughter. "Shame on you, Master. For even thinking that."
"Well, you're uh… You're bigger than Chief right now."
"Do I get a prize?"
"You're partaking of it right now," Jimmy answered proudly.
"First place. Grand prize. I could not ask for more." He leaned over me and slid a hand beneath me, cupping one of my breasts as he swirled his hips behind me, churning my insides like butter. I grunted with each thrust, focusing on sucking the cock in my mouth. I pulled back and left just the tip of him in my mouth, swirling my tongue around and under the head.
"Oh. Don't do that. I'm going to–"
Jimmy exploded in my mouth. I nearly coughed at the force of it as he splashed against the back of my throat. Without thinking of the consequences, I pulled him from my mouth as the second wave painted my face.
"Holy fuck." Dar grunted and started pumping another load inside me.
Dar and I collapsed, practically crawling on the desk while Jimmy fell to his knees, hanging on to the edge like the final scene of Titanic.
"Just when I think I couldn't possibly be fucked any more than I already was…" I chuckled at my own joke.
Dar pulled himself from my abused insides and ran his fingers through the mess they had all made. "I would suggest not standing up." He laughed softly.
"I won't. I need a shower," I answered and let the shadows take me home.
Chapter 19
I walked out of my bedroom scrubbing my hair dry with a fluffy white towel. It had taken me nearly an hour under the hot spray of water before I felt clean again, but as soon as the grin split my face, I felt dirty again and frigging loved it. There were musicians, composers, and maestros. Jimmy was definitely a maestro and his favorite instrument was me. Sighing happily, I put a mug in the coffee maker and set it to brew.
By the time I was sitting on my couch in my robe and happily sipping on my cup of coffee, Yuki came out of her room and stretched gingerly.
"Don't tell me you're still hurting?" I set the mug down on the coffee table and motioned her over.
"That thing kicked my fucking ass."
"You hit that wall at about ninety." I turned her around in front of me and lifted her shirt up over her back. "No marks. I'll take that as a good sign."
"I think it shattered every bone in my back."
Unsure how well it would work, I pushed a bit of power into my hand and ran it over her skin. "Better?"
She did some over her head arm stretches and nodded. "Yes! Thank you, Master."
"Anytime."
She plopped down on the couch next to me and leaned against me. "So…"
Whatever she'd been about to say was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing with a woosh and giggles of laughter. I turned my head and smiled at Josie and Candace arm in arm as they walked around the kitchen into the living room. I cocked an eyebrow. "You're home early."
Candace beamed at me. "The vampires kicked us out."
"What?"
Josie smiled and waved a hand, sensing my unease at Candace's words. "Our night crew. They're finally ready to be left alone." She stopped and smiled at Yuki. "I can't thank you enough."
Yuki just smiled and nodded and turned back around.
They both fell into the love seat across from us. "Who's first?" She looked at Candace.
"I am, but you can go if you want."
"Go where?" I tilted my head, confused.
"Shower," Josie answered and pushed Candace toward the bathroom.
"You both reek of coffee. Go together," Yuki said and pinched her nose.
"Not only did you hook me up with the best employees on the planet, but you're a genius, too!" She winked and followed Candace toward the bathroom.
Yuki and Josie got along like nitro and glycerin. For her to suggest Josie and Candace take a shower together when she would be able to hear every giggle and squeal through the thin wooden door meant she wasn't done with our conversation. As soon as they were behind the closed bathroom door and the sound of running water caressed our ears, she turned to me, her knees pressing firmly against my thigh.
"You need to deal with my uncle."
"I will."
"No, Master. You need to deal with him now. He has broken trust and the incident from last night it just the start. Even my mother could be involved." She frowned even more at the mention of her mother.
Reaching out, I put my hand on her shoulder. "We will, but honestly I don't see how much more damage they can do. All of the vampires who were loyal to him are dead. For him to cause any more harm, he'd have to come here himself."
"That's what scares me."
"What if we split the clan?"
"What?" Her voice cracked in astonishment.
"Split the clan? He takes Ashville, and I keep everyone and everything in Cedar Falls?"
"You don't understand how vampires work…"
"Pretty sure I do." I smiled and ruffled her purple tinged hair.
"No. You don't. They're…territorial?"
"Yes? He'll have his territory, and I'll have mine."
"No. You don't understand. Not territorial, it's more of a pack mentality? Kind of like werewolves. He wants to be the head of the pack."
"Yes. He can be. Of his pack. I'll be alpha bitch here."
"That's just it. It's all one big fucking pack to him. The vampires here, the blood bank. His son. He thinks it all should be his and he will not rest until it is. It's kind of like an obsession. To relinquish a part of it to you… It would be like him admitting a weakness. That you're stronger than he is. That you deserve all of it. He won't rest until either you, or he, is dead. The strongest rules and that is that. It's why he never challenged my father."
"But I beat your father." I didn't feel guilty about doing it, but I felt guilty about saying it to his daughter. Even if he was an asshole.
"Which he probably sees as some sort of fluke. Like you cheated. You're not a vampire. He'll never see you as his equal."
"Are you telling me I have to kill him to end this?"
She nodded without an ounce of hesitation.
"And what will that prove?"
"That you are, in fact, our lord."
"Lady."
Yuki chuckled. "I think that's the first time you've ever wanted to be called Lady."
"Well, it's better than Lord. Jeezus, Lady is pompous enough."
Her smile faded. "Either or, it's what needs to be done."
"So, what? Do I challenge him to a duel or something? You think he'd come if I called?"
"He would. But it would be better for you to go to him and squash the…rebellion, for lack of a better word. Show them that you won't tolerate it."
"That's just it. I will. I don't want to kill your uncle. Not if I can help it. You're telling me there's no possible way that he won't back down?"
"He won't."
"But I'm not a vampire."
"Even if that were true, he still sees you as similar. We all do."
"I'll think about it. That's all I can promise you." I lowered my face and moved it closer to hers, staring at her eyes for emphasis.
She graced me with another small smile. "I should be happy."
"But you're not?"
"I'm happy that you're a kind Master that we can all love and adore. I'm sad that you won't listen to reason."
She nodded in understanding. "Sounds like your mother's doing a bang-up job. Maybe you should take over that coven, too." She rolled her eyes.
"Her role is to guide, not to govern," Candace said somberly in an otherworldly voice from the hallway outside the bathroom before shaking her head, blinking, and scrambling her towel covered nakedness into her bedroom. Josie shot us a questioning look as she followed her.
Yuki sighed and shrugged, letting it go.
"Methinks the Lady doth put a little too much faith in her red-headed minion."
"Minion?" Yuki scoffed and took a sip of my coffee.
"Hey! Get your own." I took my cup and winced. Our conversation had lasted long enough for it to cool off and hit that tepid bitter stage. I grimaced and gulped down the rest. "Make me one, too?" I grinned.
"Yes, Master." She took my mug and headed to the kitchen.
A minute later, Josie and Candace slipped out of the room and settled back down on the loveseat wearing matching pink T-shirts and little, if nothing, else. I couldn't help but smile at their adorableness. "How are you not cold?"
"Who could be cold next to this little ball of sunshine?" Josie scrunched Candace a little closer.
"Speaking of little balls of sunshine, what the hell was that this afternoon?" I narrowed my eyes at Candace until she squirmed uncomfortably in Josie's arms.
"What was what?' Josie's curiosity was piqued.
I pointed at her fiancé. "While we were getting our asses kicked, she yells at an angel and it flies off with its tail feathers tucked between its legs."
Josie looked down at Candace for confirmation and Candace stared at the floor. "Did you?"
"Yes."
"That was very brave of you…"
"And stupid. Now they know where I am. I was foolish."
"Uh…what's going on?" I was so far out of the loop that I couldn't even see the loop.
Josie looked up at me and gave me an imperceptible shake of her head. For the first time in my life, Josie was privy to information that I wasn't. It was kind of refreshing.
"You're fey blooded, but your father wasn't elven," Yuki answered for her.
Judging from how Josie's eyes widened to the size of saucers, she had hit the mark on the head. "What?" I looked at Yuki.
"Today was the closest I'd ever gotten to one of the angels. Want to know what they smell like?"
"What?"
"Sunshine. Just like Candace."
I looked over and Candace had her face in her hands, shaking visibly. Josie practically snarled at Yuki and tried to comfort Candace by rubbing gentle circles on her back.
And it all clicked in my head. All the subtle clues, everything that she'd been hiding, her troubled past. "Candy?"
She pulled her hands from her face and looked at me forlornly with red rimmed eyes.
"Is it true?"
She nodded, ever so gently. I held out my arms toward her and she didn't waste a moment before she crossed the distance and jumped into my lap. "Do you hate me?"
"Hate you? What the hell for? Look at my mother. We're like sisters. You're the child of angels, and I'm the child of demons."
She pulled back and raised an ironic eyebrow. "Yes. Just like sisters." She pursed her lips, but I could see them trembling with laughter.
"Okay. Maybe cousins." I winked conspiratorially. "Why are you ashamed of being sired by an angel?"
"You've seen them. They are not nice." She frowned. "They're corrupt."
"Yep. They're a big bag of dicks. Doesn't change who you are, though." I ran my fingers through her hair, pulling some of the stray strands out of her eyes. "But why are they afraid of you?"
She shrugged. "I've met only one. It was nearly four hundred years ago in a church in Sweden. My master had left me with the priest when she was called off to battle."
My heart sank. No story of being left with a priest ended well.
"Father Mikel." She laughed at the memory. "Was a gentle soul who taught me much of what I know about healing. Then one day the angel appeared, and I wasn't surprised. The priest was as close to the angels as a human could attain. Then it started tearing apart the church and Father Mikel tried to stop it… He was cleaved in half by its sword." She gulped and started crying. I felt like an asshole for assuming the worst about the priest. "Something inside me broke, and I ran out from where I'd been hiding. I shoved it back from where it stood over his body and it watched silently as I tried to heal him."
I stared incredulously. "Did you?"
"No. You can't heal the dead, but I tried."
I rubbed her shoulder. "The angel left you alone?"
She shook her head. "It called for others, singing that it had found me. It was in a language I'd never heard before but understood completely. Fear filled me and I knew they were coming for me. The angel sneered but wouldn't come near me. It dodged when I tried to attack it with my dagger. Then I felt them. A choir of them were coming for me. So, I ran and barely managed to escape. It took me two years to find my master. When I told her what had happened, she didn't seem surprised. My mother told me my father was an angel, but I never believed her until that moment. I was an abomination in their eyes. Something to be destroyed, nothing more."
"You are so much more." I hugged her and looked at Josie over her shoulder. "You knew?" I mouthed my question and she nodded. I smiled in response, proud that she had kept her secret.
Candace went rigid in my arms. "What if they come back for me?"
"Then every witch, vampire, shadow, and dark elf in this city will stand between you and them."
"What if they come during the day?"
"Then we'll just have to hide until it gets dark." I winked at her reassuringly, not really feeling the bravado I was trying to project. Just one of the damn things had mopped the floors and walls with us under the midday sun. I wasn't kidding when I'd said we'd hide, but one thing was for certain. It would be over my dead body before they took Candace away from us. "Besides, I think they want my ass a little more than yours. Even though yours is cuter."
She shook her head, taking me seriously. "You have a glorious ass, Lady."
Josie was dying on the loveseat, using every ounce of power she had not to bust out laughing.
"It's nice that you think Josie is glorious." I ruffled her hair again. All of us couldn't help but grin when Candace unleashed her musical giggles.
You have the key, find your map… The words whispered in my ears as warmth flared inside me that had nothing to do with the ball of sunshine in my lap. When the goddess spoke through Candace, it was creepy. When her voice echoed in my head it was worse.
Chapter 20
It was kind of comical. The moment my hand touched the brass handle of First Moon Books, my stomach growled and twisted into a knot before it began chewing on my backbone. While I wanted to check on things at the store, the smell wafting from the diner was too irresistible. Jason had been successful on his own thus far, he could live without me for another hour while I fueled up. Plus, if I drank another coffee at the bookstore, Marge might put me up for adoption.
Sighing, I looked both ways before crossing the street and headed to get some breakfast.
The door chimed and Marge smiled at me from the table closest to the door. She set down the older couple's plates of eggs, toast, and bacon. "Coffee?" She asked me, not them.
"You bet."
"Decaf," the elderly gentleman answered, too.
I chuckled and sat in my spot, glancing at my watch and trying to decide if I was closer to lunch or a late breakfast. With as much as my stomach was twisting in hunger, I probably would have to settle with both. A hamburger and an omelet did sound quite delicious�
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"Hey, Darlin'. Know what you want?" She set a cup of steaming brew in front of me and put her hand on her hip.
"Hamburger, rare."
"Rare?" She cocked an eyebrow, not that I could blame her. I usually liked my steak rare and my burgers burnt.
"And an omelet. With ham."
Her other eye widened in response. "Somebody joining you?"
"Nope. Just me."
"You're eating a burger and an omelet?"
"You think Herb could make it a steak and omelet instead of plain eggs?"
"I'm sure he could. So, you want a steak and eggs, but omelet instead of eggs and skip the burger?"
"The burger, too."
"Oh, honey!" She grinned, set the pot of coffee on the table, squealed, practically knelt on the floor beside me, and grabbed my hands, shaking them excitedly. "Congratulations!"
"Huh?"
She leaned in closer. "Which one?"
"Which one what?"
"Is the father?"
An icy shard of fear slithered down my veins. "I'm not pregnant!"
"What?"
"What do you mean what? I'm not pregnant?"
"You're not?" She got up off the floor.
"No?"
"You sure?"
Since witches couldn't get pregnant unless they wanted to, I was pretty fucking sure. "Hell no."
"Oh. You're hungry?"
"Very?"
"Steak, omelet, and hamburger hungry?"
"Yes?"
"And you're sure you're not pregnant?"
"Positive!" I held out my hands in exasperation.
"Positive?"
"Yes!"
She eyed me dubiously one more time. "Kay. I'll have your order out shortly."
"Hey, Marge?"
"Yeah?"
"Extra rare on the steak, please. Sear it."
"You sure you're sure?"
I just sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers, praying to the goddess the headache that had come out of nowhere would leave just as quickly. Tomorrow I was getting a fluffy coffee and a Danish.
"Herb! Steak sushi and an eggroll and a burger still mooin'"
"Roger."
I sought solace in my mug of coffee, ignoring everyone and everything around me. It was probably the reason I missed the chime of the door and the warm hand on my shoulder. His aftershave broke me out of my reverie. "Mornin', Chiefy."