The sharp scent of copper hits me before I’ve even breached the door of the building. Dread grips me, sending waves of nausea through me.
“Thomas!” I call, hoping he’ll somehow still be there, but I know the truth, and when I reach the first stair and see the path of blood leading up to the single cell, I can’t deny it any longer.
Three women lie on the stone floor, just like in my vision. They’re drained. Savaged. Ruined. I fall to my knees, taking the silver shackles in my bare hands and sob. The burn of the silver on my flesh is the only thing keeping me grounded.
I did this. I caused the deaths of these women. I destroyed Thomas.
Chapter 4
Garrett
It’s been days, well—nights. We haven’t seen our princess since she left us. I know she has to feed and it’s all I can do to hope she’ll come through our door and call upon one of us.
“She’s doing this on purpose,” I say, dragging a hand through my hair. “Why does she want to push us away?”
“Guilt.” Miller holds his head in his hands, staring down at the rug as he speaks. “She blames herself for what happened to Thomas.”
I don't know how to fix this. All I want is to make her feel better, to see her smile and find the woman I fell in love with again. According to Miller, Thomas is gone. He’s a feral vampire, ruthless and dangerous. We can’t let her go to him. He’ll tear her to pieces. But I’ve spent as much time as was safe waiting outside her door, and she won’t see me. If it weren’t for the queen ushering me back to the consort’s wing, I’d still be there.
“We need to do something to help her move on. He’s gone, but she still has the three of us.”
Sebastian heaves a sigh and tosses back a glass of scotch. He lets out a grunt and shakes his head before standing. “You think she’s going to move on? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard you say. She loves him as much as she loves any of us. If he’s really gone, she’ll be grieving him for years.” His eyes hold pain as he continues. “I know if I lost her, that’s what I’d do. And if I thought it was because of something I’d done…I’d never be the same.”
“Then how are we supposed to get her back?” I ask.
“We don’t.”
That’s not acceptable. No way. I need her as much as I need my next breath. “You can’t be serious. We aren’t going to just give up on her.”
He lets out a bitter laugh. “Who said we’re giving up? I’m here, aren’t I? I’ll be here every night until she realizes she misses us. Because she will. But when she returns we have to let her go through her grief without telling her how to feel. When you lose someone you love, the worst part is how other people make you feel.”
I’m speechless. He’s been cocky arrogance since this started, but he speaks as though he has suffered true loss. Instead of responding, I just nod.
At the sound of the locks turning we all train our gazes on the door. “Speak of the devil,” Sebastian mutters.
Felicity walks through our doorway, her hair hanging over one shoulder in a long braid. She’s draped in deep blue silk, just as she was when I first saw her, and she’s breathtaking. Pain lances my chest at the sadness radiating from her.
When her eyes meet mine a flash of longing hits me. “Felicity,” I say, rising and moving toward her.
She holds up a hand and I stop in my tracks. “I’m sorry. I’m only here to feed.”
“Of course.” I try to keep the disappointment from my tone, but I know I’ve failed when a tortured expression crosses her features.
She bypasses me, not even offering a gentle caress, and goes to Sebastian. “I need you.”
He nods and takes her hand. “Anything for you.”
“I only need one thing,” she says, pulling her fingers free of Sebastian’s.
The finality in her words cuts like a knife. And I fear she’s done with us as anything other than her blood donors.
But I’m not done with her.
I never will be.
Chapter 5
The draw of their bodies and their hearts, is so strong I have to clench my hands into fists to avoid touching them. It’s too hard. I can’t let myself love them. What if something happens and I condemn another one of them to the same fate as Thomas? I know which is worse. Death is an end, but being turned is a sentence of eternal torture.
“I know you’re in pain, princess.” Sebastian’s voice is low and smooth, making my nipples harden and my body heat. “Let me offer some comfort.”
I shake my head. “No. I’m only here to feed. Then I’ll leave you. That’s all this is.”
He cups my jaw and I don’t resist the pull of his touch. I miss him. “I’ll give you what you desire. My body and my blood. You already own my heart. But please consider, every hour we spend wondering if you’ll return is torture. We are here for you—because of you. You don’t have to have us in your bed. All you have to do is stay.”
An ache runs through me as I glance around the room at Miller and Garrett. I’m hurting them even more than I’d thought. But Sebastian’s words stick with me. We are here because of you. They are at risk and I am still hurting. I’m not ready for more with them when Thomas is so fresh in my heart. “I can’t—“
He kisses me, hard and deep. It’s all passion and love and lust. With his lips on mine, his hands in my hair, and the fierce need behind his kiss, I’m lost. I give in and he takes my walls down with one well-placed hit. My body burns with arousal at his touch and I melt into him. His hips press against me, pushing me backward until I hit the table. He never removes his lips from mine, but his hands travel down my body until he grips my ass and lifts. Seating me on the tabletop, he spreads my legs and fits his hips between them.
“Take from me, my love.” His whispered words brush my lips but touch something deep in my soul.
I grip his thin cotton shirt and tear the fabric easily, baring his beautifully muscled chest. Running my fingers over the ridges of his abdomen, I fight a shiver of longing to trail my tongue across his skin and taste him. His cock is a length of steel under his jeans but I feel it pressed against my core. I ache to have him inside me, to have Garrett in my mouth and Miller in my ass. I want them all, right here, right now.
But when I close my eyes, Thomas’ face is in my mind, there to torment me. His beautiful green eyes are open and empty, seeing nothing, feeling nothing.
I pierce Sebastian’s vein and drink deep. I take without allowing myself the pleasure I know feeding can bring me. Sebastian groans and his hips roll as he searches desperately for friction against his erection. When I’ve had my fill, I release him and heal his wound.
Pushing him back, I move until I’m able to get off the table without touching him. If I touch him, I’ll give in and let them all have my body. “Thank you, prince.”
I walk with a false determination in my posture, hoping to get to the door without Garrett or Miller attempting to stop me. But my body betrays me and I turn to look at them with my hand on the door. They face me but aren’t looking at me. Their gazes are trained on each other, accusation and anger between them all.
Without a word, I turn and head down the hall toward the room in these quarters I’d claimed when we had all arrived. I will stay with them. But I won’t let myself have the intimacy our love requires. Not until we’ve been safely mated and I need to provide an heir.
Chapter 6
Three nights later I still dream of Thomas every night. His hands and lips roam my body while he fucks me and claims me as his. Why is my subconscious doing this to me? I know it isn’t real, and the cold ache in my chest only grows with every moan and whispered, “I love you,” from his mouth. Tonight we’re on a bed of soft grass, in the sunlight where his hair glints like spun gold. He’s whole and healthy.
I wake with my breaths coming in sharp gasps. My pussy throbs with arousal and my breasts are full and aching. I need a release.
Running my hand down my belly, I slide my fingers over my bare sli
t. My back arches as I reach my opening and move back over my clit. It’s not enough. But even in my overly aroused and half-awake state, I remember where I am.
Sitting up, I let the sheet pool around my waist and am about to get out of bed in search of one of my lovers. But I catch sight of the man sitting in the corner of my large room. Garrett’s head lolls as he sleeps in the chair by the window. When did he come in here?
“Garrett,” I call, waking him almost instantly.
His eyes are wide with alarm. “Felicity? Is everything all right?”
“What are you doing in here?”
“You were crying out in your sleep. Tossing and turning. I didn’t want you to be alone.”
“I…” A deep ache takes hold in my chest at the realization of his devotion. I need him. I need to make him feel the love I have for him. I need him so badly my body is on fire. “You don’t have to sleep in that chair.“
He stands and walks toward me, but stops, a confused frown on his face. “But I thought you didn’t—“
“I miss you. It’s too hard to stay away. I thought I’d feel better, that I would be able to atone for what happened to Thomas. But it hurts. The emptiness. Please make it go away.”
“I never want you to be hurting.” He slips out of his clothes and settles onto the bed. “Anything you want from me, I’ll give. You only have to ask.”
“Consider this me asking.”
He tugs me close, his warm scent making me sigh. These last few nights without him—without them—were impossible to bear. Garrett runs his hands over my back, fingers trailing the line of my spine. I can’t stand not having his lips on me. Leaning forward, I attempt to brush his mouth with my own, but he pulls back, teasing me.
“I love you,” he says. “Don’t leave me again.”
Nodding, I fight the wave of emotion threatening to send tears streaming down my cheeks. “I promise.”
He kisses me then, a tender gesture that has everything to do with the love between us. Wrapping his arms around me, he pulls me onto his lap and holds me tightly. My tight, aching nipples brush his chest, the sensation reawakening the desire I’d felt after my dream.
His heavy length presses against my wet and ready pussy. All I have to do is shift my hips and he’ll be inside me. Lifting my body, I reach down and grasp him, giving him one long, slow stroke. He hisses and sighs, eyes rolling back in his head. Then I sink down onto him. A moan escapes me at the intense fullness. “Oh God, Garrett.”
“Ride me, princess. Take your pleasure.”
He grips my hips and lies back on the mattress while I move over him. It feels like coming home when we’re joined. I don’t know if he realizes that. Linking our hands, I begin moving harder and faster, chasing an orgasm already.
“I’m close,” he says. “Slowly. I don’t want this to be over already.”
I roll my hips and shudder when he hits the spot I crave the most. Over and over his crown drags across that spot, building my pleasure to a nearly uncontainable level. And then he pulls his hands free of mine and wraps me in his arms, rolling us over until I’m on my back. He thrusts deep, making me cry out. “Faster,” I beg. “Oh, please. Take me harder.”
He does. Sharp and hard, he fucks me until I’m seeing stars. My orgasm bursts through my body, my slick sex clenching around him and spurring on his own release. He cries my name and fills me with his essence while I’m still coming down from my own high.
How could I have ever thought staying away was the right thing? “I’m sorry I pushed you all away.”
He shakes his head rolling off of me before kissing my shoulder. “Don’t. You’ve been grieving. We all have, but your loss is much greater.”
“But I forced myself to lose you as well. That was stupid.”
“We’re together now.”
I smile. We are.
We lie together in my large bed, limbs intertwined and hearts beating as one. Garrett’s fingers run over my arm and I can feel the love radiating from him.
He sighs and presses a soft kiss to my temple. “When we’re mated, after the curse is broken, I want to see your beauty in the light of a bright afternoon as I take you on a bed of grass.”
His words make me think of Thomas. Of my dream. My stomach twists and everything fades around the edges. A feeling of unsettling weightlessness takes hold, just like when I’d shared a vision with Miller. But I’m not with Miller now. This shouldn’t be happening.
“Garrett?” I groan as the world around me melts away and all I see is Thomas.
He’s in chains again, his skin burning from the silver around his wrists and ankles. Growls of rage fill the room and he thrashes on the bed that serves as his prison. I gasp and as if he knows I’m there, he locks gazes with me and all the anger vanishes as hope fills his eyes.
“Felicity,” he says, my name a soft prayer on his lips. “Save me.”
I blink and am back in my room, Garrett’s arms around me.
“What the hell was that? Are you all right?”
“I…I think it was a vision.”
Brow furrowing, he shakes his head. “You don’t have visions.”
“It looks like I do now. Something happened when Miller and I shared that vision of Thomas. Either way, I know what I saw. We have to save Thomas.”
Chapter 7
I’m shaky from the remnants of the vision. I could feel the desperate need, the hunger, the beast inside Thomas. But I saw him, the real Thomas was in there too. When he said my name, asked me to save him, I knew he was still within my reach.
“We need to talk about this with Sebastian and Miller.” Garrett gets out of bed and pulls on his clothes. “Get dressed. I’ll get the guys.”
I should balk at him telling me what to do, but he’s right. I have to tell them what I saw and we have to go find Thomas. I wrap myself in a soft robe, not wanting to waste any time picking a frivolous gown for such an urgent conversation.
I hear them, murmured words and questions, all holding a note of concern, on my way down the hall. They don’t think this is a good idea. And I understand that. But it’s not going to stop me.
They’re sitting on the couch, each one wearing wary expressions. Each man begins to rise when they catch sight of me, but I hold up my hands. “No. Stop that. We need to talk about what just happened. I’m sure Garrett has filled you in.”
Miller and Sebastian both nod, and Miller locks eyes with me. “I don’t understand how you are able to have visions. You weren’t when we shared blood the first time.”
“And you haven’t taken on Garrett’s ability to taste truth or lies,” Sebastian offers.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. All I know is that I saw Thomas. It was real.”
“Where is he?” Garrett asks.
“I think he’s at Diana’s lake manor. Her family rarely uses the house, but I recognized the bedroom. She’s got him chained to her bed. In silver. He’s burning. When he saw me, he knew I was there, he asked me to save him.” An ache takes hold in my heart for the pain he must be in.
“How do we know it’s not a trap?” Sebastian asks. “From everything we know he went with her willingly. Unless that vision was false?”
Miller shakes his head. “No. They’re not false.”
“So he has to be there by force. He is a prisoner, he’s suffering. We need to go get him,” I argue.
Sebastian’s expression turns somber. “Felicity, have you considered the possibility that when he realized you were there…seeing inside his world, he took the opportunity to set you up?”
Does no one have faith? Thomas is part of us. He is in trouble and he needs us to save him. “Fine. Stay here. I am leaving. I have to try.” I head for my room, needing a change of clothes, to find weapons, anything that can take Diana down.
“What if you’re pregnant?” Garrett’s voice stops me in my tracks.
“What?” Astonishment colors my tone. I’m not pregnant. He knows that.
“I sensed
the lie on your tongue when your mother told you it was possible.”
A wave of apprehension hits me. I hadn’t lied. I’d said I wasn’t pregnant because I’m not. “I’m not.”
Heartbreak flashes across his face. “I can tell you are lying.”
“I am not lying to you but I suppose I’m not one hundred percent sure. There’s no way to know yet. You have to know I’d never hide something like that from you.”
“So you might be carrying one of our children, and you still want to risk yourself?”
Sighing, I roll my eyes up to the ceiling. “Garrett, I can’t abandon Thomas on a possibility. I might be pregnant. That doesn’t mean I stop loving him and being loyal.”
Miller stands and comes to my side. “If you are pregnant, you’ll need your princes by your side.”
“I need you no matter what.”
Sebastian joins us and takes my hand. “You’ll have us.”
With a sigh, Garrett stands as well. “All of us. Let’s go get Thomas.”
Chapter 8
Dressed in a rarely worn pair of jeans and a plain white T-shirt, I look like a normal human woman. Not a princess. Not a vampire. I pull my long hair up into a messy knot at the top of my head and stare at my reflection. Non-threatening, unassuming. I could be a sorority girl. Except I’m deadly and on the hunt for the bitch who stole my lover.
A soft rap of knuckles against my door has me turning toward the sound. Miller stands in my doorway, his hands shoved in his pockets.
“What is it?” I snap, not wanting to hear whatever he has to say. He’s surely going to try and convince me to wait, or let them go instead of myself.
Turned: Their Vampire Princess (A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance): Book 3 Page 2