Jolie moved closer to him. “I won’t sleep with Mathew. I can make that promise. You have to trust me, Jacques. I deserve that much, at least.”
While it was out of his and Flynn’s control, she couldn’t let this drive him mad, and she could see it would.
He let out a breath. “Thank you.”
Jolie pressed her body to his. “It’s my pleasure,” she purred.
“My love,” he whispered, watching her fingers trace patterns over the scars on his chest. They’d yet to heal because he hadn’t rested for the day.
Bringing her mouth to his skin, she licked away a few drops of water.
“I have very little control today, Jolie, so please don’t tease me. I’m close to losing it as it is.”
“Who’s teasing?” she replied, running her hand over his erection.
He took that as his sign. Moving fast, he had her in his arms and trapped between him and the tile.
His mouth sought hers, and their tongues did battle.
Jacques couldn’t breathe. His heart was pounding, his body was throbbing, and he wanted to dive into her like a starving man.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, trying to make him crazy. Instead, it worked against her. Jolie was now close to driving herself mad too.
He rubbed against Jolie, allowing his hard body to tease hers. When his fingers found her wet and ready, he didn't slide home. Jacques wanted to savor every second of this.
Breaking the kiss, he moved toward her pulse. Once over it, he ran the sharp points over her neck. “Beg me,” he whispered, as he used his fingers to drive her up to the crest of orgasm.
She whimpered, so very close to release.
“Please.”
“More, Jolie. I need to hear more.”
She gave him all she had. “I want you, Jacques. I can’t live without you.”
With that, he bit down into her throat. The blood flooded his mouth, driving his senses wild.
Here was his mate.
She was in his arms.
There would never be a more perfect female for him.
She shook as he pushed her over the edge with frenzied fingers. Even as she fell, he didn't stop.
“Oh God!” she shouted. “Please,” she begged.
As he sipped from her throat, his erection poised in position, ready to claim her too.
Jacques wouldn’t let her move until he was done. When he’d had enough blood, he pulled away to stare into her eyes. “Now,” he hissed, sliding into her body.
Jolie moaned at the invasion. He’d filled her and was now thrusting in abandon.
Her nails cut into his shoulders as she held on. It pulled a hiss from him as the tempo increased.
“I need more,” he admitted.
Jolie felt the world spinning out of control. Before she knew it, she found herself flat on her back on the tiled tub ledge. Jacques was above her, driving himself into her body.
“I love you,” he vowed.
She gave him the words back. Jolie knew her brave mate was always going to be hers. She could read the emotions in his eyes. While fate may not have chosen him to be hers, she did, and that’s all that mattered.
“Harder,” she pleaded, wanting to take that tumble with him again. When he was distracted, she pulled him down so they were skin to skin. All the while, his hips never stopped.
Jolie blew across the pulse below his ear.
He shuddered.
“Yes, drink from me,” he begged, trying not to lose control. Already, Jolie was tightening around him, and he was out of control.
She teased and tormented his earlobe until Jacques was whimpering in need.
Then, she gave him what he wanted.
Jolie bit him.
He shouted her name, pouring hotly into her body in a wave of mind blowing bliss. Jolie wasn’t far behind because he swore he heard her call for him too.
Together, they rode out the wave of heat.
Finally, they surfaced.
“Mmmmm….” he said, inhaling their mingled scents. This was the power of a mate, and he could never go back.
“That was some pretty fantastic wake up sex,” she teased.
“Don’t tell Flynn. He fancies himself the king of the shower.”
Jolie laughed. “I won’t say a word. My lips are…”
He cut her off with his mouth on hers. When he was finished plundering her mouth, he grinned. “Sealed.”
She shook her head. “The two of you are very bold.”
“I know. I think I like it.”
Jolie enjoyed the next couple minutes, but ultimately, she knew the truth. It was time to focus on the night and family.
“Is Margharite gone?”
“I handled her. She wasn’t happy to be dismissed, but I explained what had happened. I think she felt bad about it.”
“You think?”
“Well, it was hard to say. She was pretty busy calling you a hussy.”
She stared at him openmouthed. “What?”
“Let’s go get dressed. I have work to do this evening, and so do you.”
Once more, the world tipped around her as she found herself hanging over Jacques’s shoulder. While it was a great view, she didn't think he should be tossing her around like a sack of potatoes.
“Jacques!”
He dropped her next to Flynn, who was just beginning to stir. When she crashed against him, Jolie pulled her damp hair from her face.
“I’m going to go dress. She’s all yours,” he said, winking at his mate.
“Hello, handsome.”
“I see I missed playtime,” said Flynn, cuddling her cold, wet body against his warmer one.
It gave him the chills for more than one reason.
“You missed saving me from being manhandled by that brute,” she said.
“Oh well, if that’s the case, I’ll have to manhandle you later.” Flynn nearly laughed at the look she gave him. “Nice try, but I think the lady doth protest too much.”
She kissed him on the lips. “Maybe,” she replied, when she pulled away.
“You look a little pale still. How about some blood?” she offered.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to drain you too much.”
“I’ll feed later. I want to make sure you’re better. We have to pack and get out of Paris.”
Gently, he rolled, placing Jolie beneath him. For a long time, he wouldn’t feed like this because he feared losing control and taking too much.
Now, he loved it.
Gently, he lapped at her throat. “You smell really tasty,” he admitted.
In fact, she smelled like a mix of all three of them, and it called to Flynn on some primal level.
His body woke up.
Jolie noticed that her detective was feeling much better. Instead of just feeding him, she slipped into his mind.
‘How about a quickie?’ she offered.
He didn't reply. Instead, he licked her throat.
“Flynn?”
That’s when he struck.
Jolie gasped when his fangs were buried in her body. At the same time, he sunk his erection into her too.
“Oh Flynn!” she moaned, loving the invasion. Arian had been right about one thing--human and vampyre were vastly different, and she was the winner here.
He kept sipping and thrusting. They were timed perfectly, and tearing his controls to threads. Granted, Jolie said quickie, but he wanted her to fall.
When she shook around him, he wanted more.
There would never be enough of her.
So, he rolled and set her neck free.
She blinked at him, unsure what had happened.
“I want you to ride me.”
With that, his hands found her hips, and he pulled her down harder and harder until it stole both their breaths.
When Jolie vibrated around his erection, he couldn’t wait. “Fall for me,” he whispered, using his one thumb to rub the most sensitive part of her body.
Jol
ie shook.
“Flynn!”
Her orgasm pulled him off the edge, and they fell together. Jolie collapsed on him, and Flynn held her to his body.
They cuddled until the afterglow passed.
“Was that quick enough?” he asked.
Jolie muttered something into his throat.
“What?”
Jacques returned from the closet, holding his mates’ things. “She said, if that was a boring old quickie, sign her up for more.”
She gave him a thumbs up.
Flynn snickered, and then slapped her on the ass.
“I apparently have to get dressed,” he said, checking out the clothes Jacques had picked out for him.
“Yes, you do.”
“Where are we going?”
“Well, I’m going to hide the body, but before that, we’re going to go talk to Mathew.”
“About?” he asked, hoping they had both forgot the conversation they had hours ago.
“I think we should see if he even wants to be Jolie’s guardian.”
“True, he might say no,” offered Jolie, sliding off her mate’s body. It was hard not to leer at him. She’d had two rounds of really great sex, and it was stimulating.
He lifted a brow when she licked her lips. “Down, girl. I’m wounded. Give me an hour.”
“Now who’s protesting too much?” she teased, as she got dressed.
“Back to the Mathew part,” Flynn began. “He’s not going to say no.”
“How do you know?” Jolie asked.
“There’s not a man, vampyre, demon, or farm animal that would turn down sex with you.”
“Farm animal?” She wasn’t sure what to do with that.
Flynn began laughing. “I was creeped out more by the demon part. Go figure,” he teased.
Even Jacques laughed.
“Flynn, I have a plan for talking to Mathew, but I want to run it by you first.”
“Tell me,” she said, pulling on leather pants.
“No. You get the hardest part of all this.”
Flynn doubted that. He hated even asking the man. If he thought he could pull it off, he’d try talking them both out of it. Only, he didn't think he could do it.
“What’s that?” she asked, as she finished dressing.
“You need to wake Mathew when we’re gone and convince him to meet us alone in the kitchen.”
She stared at him.
“You realize that’s going to be a feat in itself, right?”
He shrugged, pulling on his black silk shirt. “Probably, but if anyone could do it, you can. He’d follow you off a cliff.”
“Yeah, only because he’d be checking out her ass.”
Jolie opened her mouth.
Then she closed it.
“You two better go.”
Flynn grinned as he walked past her. She couldn’t help but peek.
“I saw that,” he said.
Damn him!
Once they were gone, she tried to get into Jacques’s mind. It was closed off. Something was going on, and it was making her curious as hell.
But first, she needed to wake the younger vampyre.
Crossing to the mattress, she pushed energy into his body. Slowly, he surfaced.
“Mistress,” he said, feeling his cheeks go red. “I...uh...” He didn't know what to say to her.
Gently, she lowered herself to drop a kiss to his forehead.
He blushed more.
Jolie found it sweet. “I need you to get up for me, Mathew. I have something I need you to do.”
He did what she asked, pulling the sheet around his lower body. Nudity didn't bother him, but her kiss caused a reaction that he didn't want to explain.
Not to her.
Not to her mates.
It would get him killed.
“What can I do for you?”
“Go get dressed and meet my mates in the kitchen. They want to talk to you.”
Well, that deflated his issue, and fast.
“What?”
He looked panicked.
“Flynn and Jacques need to see you, so hurry down if you don’t mind.”
He swallowed, trying not to look terrified.
“You’ll be okay,” she promised, holding out her hand to help him up.
He didn't take it.
That’s the last thing he needed to do. If he put his scent on her, that would give the alphas more reason to kill him.
Crap!
Crap!
Crap!
Mathew feared that the jig was up. Somehow, the masters got into his mind and knew what he was thinking about Jolie.
“Are you going to be okay?” she asked.
He nodded before pulling himself up.
“Sure,” he offered.
Jolie didn't believe him. “Mathew, they just want to talk to you. I promise.”
He headed back to his room to get some clothes. He hoped she was telling the truth.
Mathew had a rough day already. The last thing he needed was to survive a serial maniac only to end up a pile of dust.
Great.
Would his luck ever change?
He laughed.
Who was he kidding?
He already knew the answer to that.
CHAPTER Thirty-one
Monday Late Afternoon
He sat at the table drinking his tea as he planned his words carefully. Both he and Flynn were already on edge, and Jacques didn't want to stress him out more too. Although in their defense, when it came to Mathew and his emotional state, it wasn’t that difficult a thing to do.
“It’s way too late,” Flynn stated.
“In my head, huh?” Jacques replied.
“Are you really okay with this vampyre trying to get in Jolie’s pants?”
“No, but we don’t know that he’s going to even try.”
Flynn stared at him like he was crazy.
“Okay, we know he’s thinking it, but some people can control themselves.”
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s what’s going to happen. Could you control yourself?”
“I did for six hundred years until we mated.”
He shook his head. “No, you had sex with her, that’s how you got through it. Mathew isn’t touching her, or I’ll kill him. I can’t pretend I won’t lose it.”
Jacques changed the subject. “Why don’t you eat something?”
Flynn shook his head. “I’ll puke, and since the last thing I consumed was blood, I don’t want to make this kitchen look like a horror movie.”
“Good point. Are you ready for the plan?”
“Yes, and I think I hear him.”
They waited. Sure enough, Mathew came sulking in. His body was tense, his long brown hair was covering his face, and his eyes were directed toward the floor.
Yeah, this was going to go over like a lead balloon.
Mathew looked like he was being marched to the gallows. The body language said it all.
‘We need to get him to relax and trust us.’
‘Yes, he’s way too nervous.’
‘And we want this vampyre man-child to guard, Jolie?’
‘Trust me, I know.’
Mathew stood in front of Jacques because he was the alpha in the room. Flynn was scary in his own right, but Jacques was the killer.
Oh, and the calmer one. His motto wasn’t kill a vamp first and question it later.
“Mathew?”
“You wished to talk to me, Masters?”
“Yes, we did.” With that, a silent signal was passed to his mate.
Flynn leapt off the counter, surprising the young vampyre. With the speed of one of their kind, he threw a sharp kitchen knife right at Jacques.
Mathew hissed. With one hand he snagged it from the air, and with the momentum, he attacked Flynn.
Together, they tumbled to the floor, Mathew riding his body to the tile.
As he prepared to sink his fangs into the detective’s throat, tearing it apart, Jacques yanked him
free of his mate. “Hold it Mathew! We needed to see how you’d react.”
Mathew looked confused.
“I don’t understand.”
His fangs were still out, but now his aqua eyes were back.
“Flynn, are you okay?” asked Jacques, releasing Mathew when he believed it was safe.
“Yeah, the claws did a number on this shirt, but at least you stopped him before he tore me apart.”
It was official.
Mathew thought they’d lost it.
Jacques gestured to the bench. “Please sit, Mathew.”
He obeyed, all the while watching Flynn warily as if he would attack again at any moment.
Both mates sat side by side, and shoulder to shoulder, in a sign of unity. They were sure it was intimidating, but it needed to be done. What they were going to offer the vampyre was a serious privilege--one neither took lightly.
Jacques began, “I need to ask you some serious questions, and I need your total honesty,” said Jacques with no emotion. “Do you feel drawn to Jolie?”
Mathew swallowed.
Well, here it was.
This was the day he died.
Yep, his luck totally sucked.
“Truth,” stated Flynn. “Don’t bullshit us.”
He had no choice now.
“Yes, I am. It started the minute I saw her,” he answered truthfully, staring down at the pattern on the table cloth.
“Why?” asked Flynn, pushing for him to elaborate.
Mathew looked confused but answered anyway. “She’s my primus, and I swore allegiance to her.”
“Not good enough, Mathew. You need to spill it all, so we can work through this.”
He blinked rapidly, tears filling his eyes.
“Master, I can’t give you more, I don’t know why. I’m telling you how I feel. I’m drawn to her and have this compulsion to protect her. It’s like she calls to something in me. From the minute I saw her at Delina’s, and she touched my face to find my age, I’ve known I needed to care for her.”
He started to flush.
Jacques understood. He’d once felt the same thing. So far, he was telling them everything they already suspected.
Their Mathew was indeed empathic.
“Do you feel her pain?”
“Yes, I can. It’s weighing her down to the point she feels like she’s drowning in it.”
Dangerous Misery (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 3) Page 48