DAMIEN
The fucking vampire charges straight at me, eyes fully red, and I suck in a sharp breath of surprise. He really did just lose his bloody monster on me!
Vance spins, wearing nothing but a sheet around his waist, and narrowly makes it in time to punch Arion to the ground, which fortunately comes before the psychotic vampire manages to take my head off.
“You fucking dumbass,” Emit mumbles, glancing at me like I’m the dumbass in question.
“He just unleashed his monster on me, and you’re calling me the dumbass. Vance, you better take him down. I’ve not fed enough for a fight with him,” I quickly tell the Van Helsing, who is still being a sheet warrior.
He tackles Arion to the ground, and they wrestle, as the vampire snaps and tries to claw at him.
“Fucking teenage boys,” I hear Violet muttering, as she shuffles from the bed.
The chains slam the ground around her, causing everyone else to look her way. Even Arion’s eyes immediately dim back to black. She quickly drags a blanket off the chair to cover herself, and glares at all of us.
“You know, on the outside, a sexy, naked vampire wrestling with a sexy Van Helsing who is only wearing a sheet, this would seem like a hot show to watch,” Violet states very tightly, giving us all an angry look I find very attractive.
Arion’s lips curve in a grin, but she pointedly ignores him.
She lifts her arm, and the chain clangs, as she gives us a reminder she’s still bound. Between the black chain and the red blanket she’s wearing, I’m a desperate man. And I’m the only one with power over her.
Surely no one can fault me for fighting dirty.
“Stop smiling,” Violet says, pointing a finger at me. “You’ve been toying with me all night like it’s your new mission to flex your muscle as often as possible. Do you really think my monster is going to claim you?”
My smile falls very quickly.
Am I actually in trouble?
She’s not just playing?
Vance pushes off from Arion, and the vampire blurs to his feet. He drops a pillow in his lap, as he takes a seat. Emit, of course, lets it all hang out.
I’m still in my trousers, since Violet’s not let me do much of anything.
“When a girl gets chained up in her room by her four really hot, mostly naked, dangerous, bad-boy boyfriends on her latest impromptu wedding day, and three of them are demanding to be claimed by her, she expects a lot really hot sex, some really endearing romantic memories, and maybe some candlelight.”
She tries to wrap the blanket around her better, securing it, as the chains rattle with her every movement.
Arion is grinning once more. I don’t think he realizes she’s actually pissed.
“This is supposed to be a celebration, and instead, it’s a competition to get claimed. Which, by the way, is apparently way more intimate to me than all of you,” she rants, getting very passionate now, as she narrows her eyes.
I do love this woman.
“Instead, a Morpheous is being a douche, a vampire is turning monster, a Van Helsing is having to play moderator, and a wolf is observing and patiently waiting on all of you to piss me off so he can catch me when I’m vulnerable,” she states very confidently. “How is this supposed to be sexy?”
I shoot a pointed look to Emit, who’s battling a grin. “She’s onto you now,” I tell him dryly.
She really does underestimate how fucking very not human we all are at this point in our long lives. It’s going to be a lot of fun showing her how very different we truly are.
Chapter 59
VIOLET
“My bride says she wants more romance,” Arion says, waggling his eyebrows, relaxing in the chair he’s in, while wearing nothing but a pillow over his lap.
“Got a live one! The vampire’s pillow is wiggling. I think he’s turned on, captain!” Anna says.
I’m not dealing with Anna right now, so I spin, grab the salt from the bowl on the table, and toss it at Anna. She vanishes instantly, and I look back over.
I admit I make a pointed effort to not look in the direction of the grinning vampire.
“The bride says she wants a lot of hot sex,” Emit adds, sounding almost excited by the prospect.
He moves so fast that I suck in a breath of surprise, because…usually he doesn’t do that to me.
He’s behind me very abruptly, and his nose is running along my throat. I’m not sure why I tremble or forget that I’m really angry.
They make me look wishy-washy because of how weak I am for all four of them on their own. Put them together, and I feel too lucky to stay angry for very long.
I should probably work on that.
“The bride says that claiming us should be more intimate,” Damien notes, also using the same taunting tone as the other two.
I start to gripe at them, when I hear a clicking sound that draws my attention to the corner of the room where Vance is lighting a candle.
With his back turned, he begins lighting another.
“Very well then,” Vance says, moving onto lighting another candle, though still not turning around. “Morpheous, want to start the real celebration now that you’ve had your fun?”
The daring grin on Damien’s lips is enough to make me squirm with some apprehension.
“Gladly,” Damien says in a smooth, confident, damn near hypnotic tone. “So long as I don’t get used to tear another hole in the wall.”
He disappears from sight, and I dart a suspicious look around.
Vance continues lighting all the candles that were already set up in my room. Arion lifts the discarded rose, giving me puppy-dog eyes as he holds the rose over his mouth to hide his nearly mocking grin.
“You’re all assholes for completely deflating my anger and suddenly being cute,” I decide to say.
I blame it on the fact they’re all showing off their near-flawless bodies that definitely make a less-perfect girl feel intimidated. I even adjust my blanket, feeling admittedly a little insecure.
Honestly, I struggle with just one, because I’ve never had an honest, real relationship, given all the monster stuff.
Now that their fighting and torture isn’t distracting me, it settles in how very daunting it is to have four of the top monsters all leisurely lounging in a state of undress.
I miss Anna.
Nope. No I don’t.
I can handle this all on my own, and there will be no claiming. Probably. Maybe.
A ghost of a kiss teases me, even though there’s no one standing in front of me. There’s a pulse of erotic energy that immediately begins budding in my core, eliciting immediate chills.
I feel hands sliding up my legs, as Emit drags the blanket higher, his heated touch soothing the chills Damien’s created.
Arion flips the music back on, finding a song that would have Anna dancing on a pole.
Vance finishes lighting the last candle, and he blows out his final match. As his eyes move to find mine, he lowers the match, and a very un-Vancelike, mischievous grin climbs across his face.
It’s scary seeing that look on him, because it’s the first time it’s ever happened.
“You really are a sweet one, aren’t you, January Violet Carmine?” Vance muses, which honestly makes me want to strangle him.
I feel Emit’s grin on my neck, as I try to process what’s so damn amusing.
“We already knew that,” Damien murmurs, while also eliciting a hissed breath from my tight lips, when his hands start peeling the blanket open.
Between him and Emit, the blanket is tugged away, leaving me very exposed. It’s hard to stand confident and naked in a room with four really unnaturally gorgeous men, who are all sharing a secretive smile and succeeding in making me feel slightly inexperienced.
I’ve had a lot of sex.
I haven’t had a lot partners.
However, that’s only because I’m weird, and most of the guys I liked didn’t actually dig weird chicks. I catch too many feelings when I have sex.
It’s a bad habit.
Example A: I’m now in a relationship with four very powerful alphas who practically rule the monster world, and have been alive for longer than I can even understand.
Yet I still keep trying to have a normalish relationship.
“I baked a head in an oven tonight and I think I picked my teeth clean with one of Idun’s splintered bones, after finishing off a steak at a restaurant. A restaurant where I carried her head in, sat it on a counter, and made her eat this really nasty anchovy and kidney—”
A hand clamps over my mouth, and Emit sighs out a breath, as Damien appears before me, giving me an eyebrow arch.
“We’re trying to be sexy, per your bloody request. Shut the fuck up and enjoy,” Damien tells me, his lips twitching, seconds before he disappears again.
My eyes flutter shut when Emit starts kissing down my neck, and I stop thinking.
I stop worrying.
I stop…breathing…when a mouth is suddenly between my legs and someone is pulling my leg over a shoulder. To keep from getting intimidated and rambling all over again, I twist my head, knowing Emit’s going to kiss me.
He doesn’t disappoint, and he kisses me to distraction, as the person in front of me does some really amazing, familiar work.
Definitely Damien.
My fingers twist in soft, short hair that I’d know anywhere, even if I hadn’t already figured it out just by the undeniable skill.
Emit swallows my sound, as another mouth finds my nipple.
It’s quickly too much, as those feelings bud up inside me all over again. The mouth tears away seconds before I fall over that edge, and I cry out in what can only be described as an almost rage-fit.
But as my eyes open, I feel myself spinning, and Arion is the one who lifts me. Emit lets him steal me away, and Arion shoves me against a wall. He wastes no time pushing inside me, and the anger flees.
My arms go around his neck, and his fangs go to my neck, as the vampire works me back toward that edge that hasn’t fully ebbed.
There’s something slick that immediately starts pressing in from behind, and my eyes dart to the mirror beside us, seeing nothing but the wall at my back.
I feel the smile against my neck from a face I can’t see, as Damien pushes in, bringing so much immediate pleasure that my head fogs.
“You want romantic monsters, then that’s what we’ll be,” Damien says, his tone both teasing and taunting.
“We’re your monsters, love,” Arion says against my neck, even as he drives in and out of me with the same rhythm as Damien, both of them shoving me over that edge in unison.
Even as my body goes limp and shudders with one of the intense shocks of Damien’s orchestrated masterpieces, they continue moving. They hold my body between them, and I surrender, letting them control it all, while I simply enjoy every single sensation they wring out.
Then…my vision dims.
On the next blink, I wake up with Arion under me, Damien behind me, and the chains binding us all together.
The vampire smirks at me with black eyes, and I feel Damien’s grin spreading at my shoulder.
So much for holding back, having control over my monster, and not rushing in to claim them.
I didn’t even make it a full twenty-four hours before Anna managed to break all my rules.
“You’re all really impatient,” I decide to point out. “Now you’ve gone and done it.”
The vampire only grins broader, as Vance and Emit begin making their way toward us.
“Ready for your new life, Ms. Carmine?” Vance asks me, as he pulls my hand to his lips, kissing the ring.
“Ready or not, here we come,” my monster says, using three distinct voices.
Ignoring it, I simply lean toward the Van Helsing, and he immediately begins kissing me. I know he feels it when Damien uses his pheromones, and the fog presses in my head, making it easier to enjoy instead of overthinking.
My world is never going to slow down.
But now I think I’m at least getting the hang of steering the wheel.
EPILOGUE (Part 1)
VIOLET
3 weeks later…
“I told you it would be a small ceremony, and you were limited to one paragraph apiece. I didn’t want this to turn into a competition of one-upsmanship. I have to actually take measures to prevent stupid fights from breaking out between the four of you when you’re all together,” I tell Damien very seriously.
Three weeks later, he’s still looking for any excuse he can find to punish me, and he’s getting desperate to find at least one thing I’ve done wrong.
“But you cut me short before I finished my paragraph,” he argues, narrowing his eyes like he finally has me right where he wants me.
Blue runs by, chasing after a cat, but I somehow manage to stand firm and not shriek, run, or even flinch. I’m awesome.
Okay, so it’s a fluke. I couldn’t do it again if I tried.
I lift the stack of papers. “You wrote five pages of vows. Back and front. Just because you didn’t start a new paragraph, that doesn’t mean you don’t have more than one freaking paragraph here,” I hiss, as Arion toys with the straps of my black wedding dress.
Vance hands me a glass of something. I’m not sure what it is, but it burns when I quickly drink it.
Lots of monsters here.
Lots of Van Helsing alphas, who are darting lots of suspicious looks at me and all my ghosts.
Lots of wolf alphas giving me the same amount of attention.
It’s the first time I’ve had to face anyone but the Simpletons and my people. Somehow, we’ve kept a lid on my secret, and the information is isolated to alphas and Talbot.
“Nadine is handling the shifter crisis at the edge of town, so there’s no need for me to leave after all,” Vance says as he drops a kiss to my head.
I smile up at him, feeling some of my nervousness leave. There’s a lot of people who turned up for our ceremony, which was supposed to be very private and small.
I had to compromise on that.
“Nadine as Head Alpha. I thought pigs would fly first,” Emit snorts, as he glances over at Idun TV.
It’s been running on every TV, phone, or any other device with internet. No one goes out without checking it. No one goes long without checking it, honestly.
Aside from me.
I have ghosts I have to trust, because I’m not wasting more time on her than I have to. I’ll start feeling bad and grow compassion for her. I know I will.
She doesn’t deserve that. Not yet.
She doesn’t care about anyone or anything, aside from power and personal conquest.
“You really do look beautiful. A man can write five pages about his beloved’s beauty, and she should feel special. Not upset,” Damien tells me in a very serious, solemn tone.
I glare at him, as Arion rolls his eyes.
“I’m not an idiot. Stop treating me like one. You couldn’t beat Arion’s vows in a single paragraph, so you cheated,” I argue.
“It doesn’t matter now. It’s over,” Vance cuts in, eyeing my dress.
“I’m ready for another round of wedding day celebrations,” Emit says, as he gives me a look that promises me I’m getting thrown over a shoulder tonight.
I grin. I can’t help it.
He’s wearing something that resembles a loin cloth, but it comes all the way down to his knees. Bare chest on display, he’s been incredibly distracting throughout the very short ceremony.
“Can we get back on topic?” Damien asks.
I glance over, finding him in the silk shirt that’s mostly unbuttoned, coupled with the very same slacks I saw him in that first day. His suspenders are hanging loose at his sides, which is oddly hot.
I almost forget I’m mad at him because he’s being ridiculously obvious in wanting a reason to punish me.
It’s been this way for three weeks. Vance assures me Damien’s head won’t stay swelled for all eternity, but for now…I just hav
e to deal with it.
Fortunately, Shera struts toward us in her black-leather mini dress that has me fighting a smile. She’s so proudly cliché.
“Okay, so my last act as your beta is fulfilled. If you manage to tear down all the new reinforcement, that Ighan and Bobo engineered specifically for their alpha strength, then you’ll need to hand off your next bedroom assignment to Avery or Talbot. Good luck with that,” she says very primly, avoiding looking at Arion.
Arion moves to my side, and I dart a look at him. He looks like a really hot emo guy who found a gothic suit. It really does suit him really well.
The double-breasted tailcoat is a very dark shade of red that’s trimmed with some black touches here and there. The black ruffled shirt has a V-slit down his chest, showing off the necklace that has what is apparently my monster’s mark on it.
All of their protective eyes are hidden from sight, but for whatever reason, they always want to see them when we’re alone. I’m getting good at summoning the marks without Anna’s help.
Down to his skull-handled cane and ribbon trimmed top-hat, Arion looks every bit a vampire today.
“So that’s it? You’re off to Emily’s?” Arion asks her, as he drapes his arm around my shoulders.
I lean against him, wrapping my arms around his waist, since he’s losing his beta completely today.
I may have had her in Sanctuary, but she’s still been running his House. Just as Avery has started running Emit’s, while living in Sanctuary. Talbot lives with Damien because I don’t trust him, but he has started dipping his toe in the water with Sanctuary duties.
“Can you make the combat trials go away?” Shera asks very tightly, clearly refraining from killing someone over that.
Arion gives her a flat look. “I’d love to, but I’m outvoted,” Arion tells her.
“To be fair, it’s brought about a lot of excitement,” Emit cuts in.
Vance, dressed in his exceptionally well-fitted suit that is actually trimmed in the same material as my dress, also interjects.
“Shera, I realize you’re the best vampire beta Arion could have. However, large numbers of betas out there have been stewing in resentment and other bitter emotions for centuries. They want a fight. They want a fight that has purpose and showcases their power. We’re monsters. We get that. If it’ll aide in finally laying to rest some of these tensions, then it may be the one good thing Idun did while she was out of the ground.”
Gypsy Truths (All The Pretty Monsters Book 6) Page 54