“Our feelings should not be used as tools to help a cause,” Thyos snapped. Aurelia ignored the glittery feeling in her stomach. He did not deny that he cared for her; he did not say it at all. “Our relationship, what we represent to you, should not be used as an end to a mean. You look at us like we are things to propel your cause further. The truth of the matter is that I care about Aurelia above no one, and I do not care how helpful our feelings are to you and to your group.”
“But you still agreed to meet up with them, did you not?” Ashana asked, shooting him a triumphant look.
“I told them I would take their ideas to let Aurelia know so she would decide for herself,” Thyos told her.
“You did not make the decision for her?” she asked, surprised.
Thyos could not help but scowl. “Why does everyone assume I would make the decision for her?” he asked. “Aurelia is an intelligent, capable adult. At times. I’m not going to tell her how to behave, and I’m not going to tell her what choice to make. She has the opportunity to do that on her own. I told them I would bring her the information. Whatever she chooses to do with it is up to her, but I will not be telling her what to do.” He narrowed his eyes. “Unlike some people.”
It was Ashana’s turn to scowl. “You’re terribly frustrating, vampire,” she told him, “but not as wicked as I pegged you to be. The fact that you care about my sister, that you took care of her when I could not…” She let her voice trail off. “That means a great deal.” Her eyes shifted over to Aurelia. “You’ve heard what I’ve said. You’ve heard Thyos. Now it is up to you to decide, sister.”
Aurelia sighed. She felt exhaustion take over her body. The long night of lovemaking and then trying to control her powers was finally taking its toll on her. “I think it’s been a long day,” she finally said. “Ashana, I have nothing to offer you except the couch. And then…” She let her voice trail off before sighing. “And then, we’ll meet with Carter and Olivia.”
Ashana squeaked in delight, a sound Aurelia never thought she would hear come out of her sister’s mouth.
“Are you sure?” Thyos asked in a quiet voice.
Aurelia smiled. “We should at least give them a chance to speak their truth,” she said.
Chapter 26
Thyos could not sleep. He did not like the idea of returning to the Citta di Paludi so soon after what had happened. Aurelia would certainly be killed for her crime. The humans seemed to think that if he walked back to the city, the vampires would follow him simply because they saw him as someone who had freed them from their hypothetical chains.
The humans seemed to think that partnering with the vampires would save them since the vampires were powerful and had no qualms about killing anyone they saw as responsible for their downfall, both humans and witches alike.
And since witches needed the humans, they would form an alliance that all three would work toward. Considering Thyos was in a relationship with a witch, it might inspire witches to join with the vampires, if the vampires refrained from feeding off humans—unless the act was consensual.
He had been part of the worst vampire clan known throughout the land, before the Rift and after. It was hard for him to believe in peace when he had known chaos his entire life. However, the thought wasn’t entirely awful. If he could live in a world where he and Aurelia could be out in the open without worrying over what someone would think about them. That might be nice. He would not have to worry so much about protecting her because there would be nothing to protect her from. Certainly, people would still have their biases, but Aurelia was strong, and they would be able to handle them.
Thyos turned his head to look at his partner, sleeping in the fetal position next to him. He had never slept with anyone before, did not trust anyone enough to allow such sleeping arrangements. But with her, it had come so naturally. His walls came tumbling down before he could stop them, before he’d realized what had happened. He was supposed to be a vicious monster and yet…
And yet, she had never treated him that way. She had ever looked at him that way. And that made all the difference.
Even during that battle where she had flinched at vampire’s blood, Aurelia had looked at him with awe and wonder. Not as something who needed to be feared.
“You are restless,” Aurelia murmured from beside him. He could make out the milky glow of her bare shoulder, the moon soaking her in its shine. She wore nothing except covers, covers he intended to remove as soon as he could. Now that she was awake.
“I need a distraction,” he said, wasting no time to pull her closer to him so he could kiss the column of her throat.
“Have you not left enough marks on my body?” she teased him with stars in her eyes.
“There’s always space for more,” he said with a grin.
He crawled on top of her and began kiss her ears, her neck, her collarbone. He had no idea why he was so obsessed with her. Even though he’d had her a handful of times before, he found he wanted to explore every inch of her body, wanted to do wicked things to her to make her beg for mercy and scream in his ear and scratch his back.
He was a fool. And he didn’t care.
“Do you trust me?” he murmured, his lips gently caressing her ear. He was already hard at even the thought of being inside of her, his cock pressing into her thigh. She did not balk at such an obvious show of desire for her. In fact, her left hand trailed down his chest and began teasing the tip of his cock, causing him to gasp.
The little minx learned quickly.
And he was yearning to teach her more tricks, more ways to please him.
“Always,” she murmured, looking up into his eyes. She was not timid the way she had been the first time. She looked at him like a woman looked at a man and knew exactly what she needed him to do for her.
Using his hands, he flipped her over so she was on her stomach. He could feel her tense underneath his touch, but she did not squirm and she did not question him. She let him do exactly what he wanted to do with her. The thought caused his cock to start stirring, to start getting hard. Just looking at her curves, the slope of her back that rose into her supple ass…
His eyes feasted on her, on the way her thighs were thick and strong, her calves toned all the way to her dainty ankles.
She was a goddess. There was no doubt about that.
Thyos allowed his hands to travel up and down her back, over her ass, up and down her legs. He wasn’t even doing anything terribly sexual to her, but she was starting to relax, and he could not help but lick his bottom lip, knowing what he wanted, knowing what he was going to do to her.
Gently, his hands cupped her hips and brought them back up before releasing the right side and pushing her upper back down so her ass was in the air and her back was arched. His cock throbbed against the back of her thigh, and he dripped against her skin, as though he was a hose with pressure built up, looking for release.
“Gods, you’re beautiful,” he muttered as his hands cupped her cheeks like they belonged to him.
And they did.
Without warning, he slowly pushed himself into her, stretching her around him like a second skin. He felt tingles all the way to his toes.
She let out a low groan, surprised at how deep he was. He wanted to ram into her, to fuck her so hard he couldn’t decipher if her screaming was from pain or pleasure, but for her first time this way, he thought it best to take it slow.
His grip on her tightened so he could control himself. It was hard to do so when her ass was rubbing against him and his cock was buried so deep inside her core, he could feel it.
She let out a pleasurable groan, and his own heartbeat—which was usually so slow and nearly non-existent—started to pound against his chest.
What the hell was she doing to him?
Thyos did not understand, and in that moment, he did not care to. He did not care that Aurelia’s sister was sleeping on the couch or that the humans would be meeting with them in the morning close to his cabin bu
t not close enough where they would know that this place existed. He wanted to make her scream out loud, scream his name so everyone within the city borders could hear it.
If her sister was smart, she’d placed a spell over this room so she wouldn’t be able to hear anything.
Thyos decided to slowly pick up the pace. Instead of moving in and out so he could feel every piece of his skin get coated in her warmth, he started to thrust. Not enough to hurt her or to change it up drastically, but just enough where she felt the difference.
When he felt himself begin to build up, he reached over her hip and began to dance his fingers over her clit. She gasped and groaned and pushed her back toward him, wanting more. And he was going to give it to her.
Faster and faster.
“You better release now, Aurelia,” he said, his voice raspy. She had the perfect name for sex. He loved saying it. He loved the way it felt in his mouth. “If not, I’m going to come inside of your tight, wet cunt, and I won’t be able to wait for you.”
It was his words that were her undoing, he knew. She shattered all around him, and he continued to thrust in and out of her, keeping pace with his fingers on her clit, and if wasn’t long before she coaxed him into his own release. His grip on her hip tightened, and he forced himself to keep up his motions, his dancing fingers, but it was so damn hard to do so when all he wanted to do was float away.
Thyos nearly collapsed on top of her, kissing her shoulders as her own weight gave out and she could no longer hold herself up anymore.
He did not know when it happened, but he fell asleep with his face pressed into her back and his arms wrapped around her waist.
--
They met with Carter and Olivia close to the entrance of East Babylon the next morning. Ashana knew how to teleport, and until Aurelia could learn the ability for herself, Thyos carried her as he leaped from place to place.
He did not like that they were meeting with Carter and Olivia. He wanted to be rid of them.
From that point on, they walked through the city. It did not surprise Thyos how shadowed with smoke the city was due to the numerous fires that had been set by the people. He had a feeling the vampires were behind the majority of them, but it wouldn’t surprise him if some of the humans took it upon themselves to fight back and raid the stores in their neighborhoods. He hadn’t been able to spot a witch in his time being back, which also didn’t surprise him. If Carter and Olivia were correct and they had fled, there might be no witches in the city, save for Ashana and Aurelia.
He wondered, for a moment, what had happened to her sisters. He didn’t know their names and didn’t care to learn them. The fact that they were gone was strange to him and he didn’t think that they were the type to flee. Especially not the savage one, the one who had been so cruel and condescending to Aurelia during their first encounter.
Aurelia walked with surprising confidence. After everything that had happened to her, he would have expected her to come a little bit closer to him, not quite trusting the people to not see her or her sister and try something. However, she walked with her head held high. It probably helped that Ashana had that protection spell over them. Though humans and vampires could not see it, witches recognized the spell. It would seem that Aurelia trusted her sister to keep her safe. Which was a good thing, he supposed.
At that moment, a handful of vampires spotted them and came over. At first, they did not seem to notice Thyos, standing tall behind the witches to guard their flank.
“Witches,” a vampire said, his nostrils twitching. “I can smell their power radiating off them.”
“I want a taste,” another one said.
“Try it,” Ashana snapped. “See what happens to you the minute you taste our blood.”
Thyos was aware that Aurelia knew he was fully capable of drinking from her without getting hurt. As such, he hoped that Ashana was bluffing on purpose in order to get a reaction out of the vampires rather than put her sister in any harm.
“Oh, that one’s feisty,” the first vampire said. “I should like to kill her first.”
Carter nudged Thyos. Thyos had not even realized Carter had come to stand beside him. “Instruct them to leave,” he whispered, so the vampires would not hear.
Thyos opened his mouth to argue but stopped himself. He huffed a breath and turned to the vampires. “Hey,” he said. “Do you know who I am?”
The vampires stopped and turned, ready to offer a smart remark when they took in Thyos and realized just who he was. They stopped, deciding not to talk.
“Go,” he commanded. “Leave the witches to themselves. You have better things to do, I’m sure.”
Thyos could not believe when the vampires nodded their assent and dispersed without one more look at the witches. He could feel more than see Carter’s smirk beside him.
Chapter 27
Aurelia could not believe her eyes. The vampires stopped their pillaging the moment Thyos walked by and ordered them to do so. She could tell he did not feel entirely comfortable with giving orders when he had taken them his entire existence, but she was happy that he’d tried. She did not think he would be onboard with ruling this division as a threesome, let alone by himself. She knew Thyos did not care about anything. There were times when he did not seem to care even about himself.
But he was trying. And that meant more to her than she could put into words.
Instead, Aurelia slid her hand into his as they walked side by side through the city. At first, Thyos did not know exactly what to do with her hand. He felt uncomfortable, showing such an open display of affection this publicly. But as they continued forward, Aurelia felt him slowly begin to relax.
“Do you really think we can do this?” Aurelia whispered.
“I am not so sure we have a choice,” Thyos replied.
“You don’t,” Ashana said from beside Aurelia. “This empire hung together thanks to a single, corrupted man whose only real job was punishing and enslaving vampires and making entertainment out of their torment, controlling the witches and forcing them to use their abilities only to serve the humans, and humans who reigned over everyone.” She glanced at Thyos before returning her attention to Aurelia. “Instead of punishing the humans for their reckless behavior, we must remember that they were following the law. Witches are products, vampires are shit, humans rule everything. We need to introduce a new concept.”
“And you think everyone will automatically agree with it?” Thyos asked.
“If they want to live in a division where equality is a right, they will have to agree,” Ashana said. “The emperor is dead. His wife fled the city during the chaos at the Colosseum. You, Aurelia, are the rightful heir to that throne. And we can prove that through DNA testing.” Her eyes were fire, burning bright. “At the very least, they will have to respect you as his heir. But instead of being sole ruler, you share that power with Thyos and Carter. A trinity, a united front. I’m certain everyone will fall in line because no faction has more power than the other. A government filled with checks and balances.”
“And what makes you think Aurelia will want to lead?” Thyos all but demanded. Aurelia could detect a flair of overprotectiveness in his tone. She smiled inside at the thought.
Ashana found her sister’s eyes. “Because she was born to,” she stated simply.
“I was born to be,” Aurelia said gently. “I was not born to lead. My destiny is my choice. While I appreciate your faith in me, Ashana, you are a much better candidate than I could hope to be. You are powerful and controlled, I am still young, and my passions are fleeting. I would very much rather travel and see the Division. If my encounter with Thyos has taught me anything, it’s that I’m completely sheltered from what this city has to offer. And being cooped in a palace was never something I found I wanted.”
Ashana took a step forward, surprise evident on her face. “But you have to lead, Aurelia,” she insisted. Their party stopped in the middle of the road because Ashana refused to budge. “It has
to be you.”
“It does not have to be me,” Aurelia said with a small, placating smile.
“You are the one with the relationship with a vampire,” Ashana pointed out. “The witches we have left will look to you for guidance. For protection. If they know you and Thyos have an intimate connection, they will trust your bond will prevent them from being attacked by vampires. They will stay.” She furrowed her brow. “Over half of our population has fled. We are sorely outnumbered. The only way we had any power was when we aligned with the humans. Was it the right decision? No. Did we make mistakes? Absolutely. But we must learn from them. We need someone to give us hope. And that someone is you.”
“You make a lot of assumptions, Ashana,” Aurelia said. “You assume that Thyos and I want to rule. I don’t. Thyos may or may not. That decision is up to him.”
The streets were still filled with uncontrollable anger, anger for fifty years of imprisonment from the vampires, fifty years of arrogance from the humans, fifty years of being tools for the witches. No one had ever truly been free. Even the humans had to abide by the morals that plagued this city, though there were hardly any. It was hard to raise an innocent child, even in West Babylon, with the glorified violence, the warriors who were worshipped as gods. Blatant sexualization of young girls was rampant, especially with young vampires. But they were objects in Citta di Paludi. Nothing more than things to be enjoyed and then tossed to the next bidder.
Screaming could be heard over the next street. The scent of ash tickled Aurelia’s nose, masking the strong scent of the swamps. If Thyos had not been with them, she was certain a lingering group of vampires would have attacked them and ravaged their bodies as best as they could. Olivia and Carter would be slaughtered and fed on.
“I do not have to do anything,” Aurelia calmly pointed out. “I am here to support you and to support this cause because I think it is important. And I agree with it. I think it would be wonderful to see all factions come together in unity. But I do not think I am fit to represent the witches. And you cannot persuade me otherwise.”
Poisonous Temptation: Division 2 (The Berkano Vampire Collection) Page 16