Black Fire [Panther Key 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Scarlet Day

  He stood and looked down at her. “Perhaps if you had actually mated with both brothers, things would be different. But, alas, they obviously aren’t interested in a mate, or else they would have taken you together. As it is, you were just another in a long line of easy conquests.”

  He turned and strode from the cabana, stopping briefly to speak to scar-face before striding back across the lawn to the main house. Scar-face entered the room and unfastened the handcuffs from the headboard then pulled Abby out of the bed. She clutched the comforter to her body and was relieved that he didn’t rip it away from her. He prodded her in the back, urging her to walk faster back across the lawn toward the small concrete building. She walked back into what she now realized was the pool equipment building, dragging the comforter behind her. Once inside, she turned and stood proudly as the door was closed and locked. She walked to the far wall and sank to the ground, pulling the comforter around her.

  She didn’t believe a word of what Tiberius had said about Brad and Bryce. They weren’t like that. The night she had spent with Brad meant something, to both of them. She was sure of it. She recalled her captor’s words about being mated to both brothers. It confused her. How could she be mated to two men?

  The image of both Brad and Bryce, with her sandwiched between them, floated to the front of her consciousness again. Heat rose within her, and she shuddered with renewed desire. She didn’t understand it, but she did know they would find her. Something told her they were out there, looking for her, like they had in her dream. The cat in her head growled its agreement. Abby clutched the comforter closer to her and held on to that thought.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Brad crouched low on the branch of a large, old oak tree. It had taken hours to track Abby’s scent from the apartment. The vampires might have been stupid enough to take his mate, but they weren’t completely witless. The kidnappers had doubled back on their own path multiple times, leaving false scent trails. It had delayed the search, but nothing could stop Brad from hunting the bastards down.

  He had expected the trail to lead them to the outskirts of the city, somewhere secluded. It came as a surprise when they finally came to an upscale neighborhood near Biscayne Bay. Immense houses lined the streets, many partially hidden behind perimeter walls and ornate wrought iron gates. They had left Brad’s truck parked on another street to avoid the engine being heard. Unfortunately, being in the middle of a neighborhood meant that shifting into their panthers, their preferred form for combat, posed a greater risk of being seen.

  Thanks to the depressed real estate market in South Florida, several of the expensive homes were vacant. Brad was able to park in the driveway of one of those empty houses that offered a decent amount of privacy where they could shift. It was still a risk, but they weren’t about to go into this fight without using all of their abilities.

  They had spread out and surrounded the walled compound where Abby’s scent was strongest, slinking and stalking through the manicured landscaping with the stealth born to their kind. By climbing the trees standing around the walls, they had a full view of the immaculate space behind the house. The full moon cast hard shadows across the yard, but Brad had no trouble seeing into the dark recesses. His ears flicked in the direction of every sound, straining to pick up even the slightest noise.

  He could sense her. He could smell her, but it was more than that. He felt her. Their joining had opened up her mind to him, not fully, but enough for now. She was close. He let out a low growl.

  Bryce had climbed up into the tree next to him. “Steady, brother.”

  Brad growled again. Steady was not what he was in the mood for. He was in the mood to charge into the middle of the compound and slaughter every last one of the bastards that had taken Abby.

  “I know. But let’s find out where she is first.”

  Brad huffed. He hated it when his younger twin was right, even if Bryce was only younger by a couple of minutes. “Her scent leads off to the left.”

  Brad sniffed the air again and then glared in the direction his nose pointed him. He focused in on a small concrete block building set toward the back of the property, on the other side of a large swimming pool. As he stretched his senses out toward that small structure, relief shot though him. She’s alive!

  He concentrated on her presence, trying to gauge her condition, her mood. She wasn’t in pain. He sensed fear, but she seemed to have that emotion clamped down rather firmly. He detected a strong streak of defiance running through her mind. Pride surged within him at the boldness of her spirit. Brad could tell she was also confused about something, like she was concentrating on a puzzle she couldn’t quite work out. And he felt something unexpected…arousal?

  Bryce purred, and Brad knew he was reading his thoughts. “I see four. Probably more inside the house and the cabana.”

  Brad saw the vampires Bryce referred to, skulking in the shadows around the house. Brad had no doubt that Bryce was correct about more being inside. They had seven panthers in total, since Cash and Chase had put their partying on hold long enough to join them. Brad had no doubt they would be outnumbered, but with the mood he was in, he felt like he could take on a dozen vampires all by himself.

  Bryce growled. “Right there with you, brother.”

  Brad scanned the perimeter of the compound and knew his kinsmen were in position, even though he couldn’t see them. With a burst of power, he leapt from the cover of the tree and over the wall, landing silently on the ground behind the cabana. Sprinting around the cabana, he made a straight line to the door separating him from Abby. Shouts of surprise and warning rang out through the night air. He sensed, rather than saw, Bryce and the rest of his kin charging into the fray. Brad kept running, his big claws tearing into the ground and ripping out great chunks of grass, propelling him forward toward his only goal.

  Halfway to the building, something big slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Rolling with the impact, he came up on his feet, ready to tear into his attacker. One vampire stood in front of him while another circled around behind him. Brad was barely aware of the screeches and growls tearing through the air as his clan mates engaged their enemies. His focus was on disposing of these two assholes and getting to that door.

  Moving in unison, one attacker lunged for his head while the other went for him from behind. Brad struck out and sank his claws into the neck of the one facing him, just as he felt something sharp tear at his right flank. Damn vampire teeth! He retracted his claws from the neck of the first vampire, taking a good chunk of the throat with them. Rounding on the second attacker, he leapt at him and planted his paws on the vampire’s chest. The power of his leap forced the vampire backward onto the ground, and Brad ripped at his throat with his teeth, tearing out most of it. The injury wouldn’t permanently stop the monster, but it would slow him down. He spit the flesh out of his mouth in disgust. Nothing tasted worse than vampire meat.

  He spun and spotted Bryce near the building where Abby was being held. His brother was making short work of another vampire, the monster’s head almost completely severed from his body. Contrary to myth, a stake to the heart would just piss them off. They had to be set on fire or lose their head, literally.

  The first vampire, having recovered enough from his injury, charged at Brad again. Brad started to lunge, but a golden blur crashed into the vampire and sent him sprawling onto the ground. Cash chortled at Brad before leaping onto the vampire and ripping into his throat. Leave it to his younger brothers to think vampire hunting was fun. Brad turned back to his injured opponent and finished the job, severing the vampire’s head from his neck with his sharp fangs.

  His need to get to Abby growing stronger with every passing second, Brad turned toward the small building. Before he could take a step, he looked up to his in time to see Bryce crash through the wooden door as though it were made of matchsticks. His heart practically froze in his chest at the sound of Abby’s bloodcurdling scream.

  Chapter Fifteen
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  The door to her small prison disintegrated. Abby screamed, pressing herself against the far wall and covering her head with her arms. She uncovered her face to see a huge panther standing in the doorway. Instinctively, she launched herself at it and then fell to her knees in front of it. She wrapped her arms around its thick neck, unconcerned about the fact that this creature could tear her to pieces within seconds, if it so desired. But she knew it wouldn’t. She trusted it completely.

  As she clutched it, the cat changed, just as it had in her dream. One minute she was kneeling on the hard ground with her face buried in fur. The next minute strong arms lifted her up and cradled her against a hard chest. She had never felt safer, more protected and cherished, than she did in that moment.

  Slowly looking up, her dream memory told her Brad would be staring down at her, but her heart and the cat pacing in her head disagreed. The face that met her eyes looked just like Brad’s, but Abby knew it wasn’t. This was Bryce, and he was looking down at her with such a burning passion she felt herself melt under it. Wrapping her arms tighter around him, she curled into his chest, not caring that she was naked or who else was around to see her.

  Fingers entwined in her hair, and another body pressed close to her. She looked up to see Brad standing in front of Bryce, looking intently down into her eyes.

  “Are you hurt, Abby?” His voice was gruff with emotion, and it pulled at her heart.

  Reaching out to him, she rested her hand on his cheek. “No. I’m fine.” Her voice was just as rough as his.

  Brad leaned down and claimed her lips, his tongue pressing into her mouth and taking her breath away. She kissed him back with equal enthusiasm, even as Bryce held her closer to his body.

  Breaking the kiss, Brad stared down into Abby’s eyes for a long moment before looking up and nodding at Bryce. “Let’s get her home.”

  Abby chanced a glance around her and saw a man lying motionless on the ground with his head resting a few inches from his body. Gasping at the horrific scene, she buried her face into Bryce’s chest, not wanting to see any more of the carnage.

  They walked away from her small concrete prison toward a metal gate that had been broken open in the back wall of the compound. Bryce cradled her tightly, and Brad’s hand firmly rested on her knee as they left the property. Apparently, neither brother was willing to let go of her. She knew she should be completely freaked out by everything she had just seen, but the simultaneous touch of these two men was having a strange effect on her.

  She slowly brought her hand up and rested it against Bryce’s bare chest. She could feel his heart beating and the heat of his body under her palm. She shivered, not because she was cold, but because she was suddenly very aware that she was completely naked and pressed against Bryce’s bare skin. Her nipples brushed against his chest. An electrical sensation raced through her body, and heat blazed through her. She felt as though her whole body was on fire.

  She whimpered, the heat becoming worse by the second. It was accompanied by an overwhelming sexual need that made her clit throb and her pussy clench. It was almost painful, and she squirmed under the onslaught of sensations.

  “She’s not going to make it to the island.” Bryce’s voice rumbled in his chest, sending new vibrations through her.

  “No. The fever is hitting her too fast.” A hand, Brad’s hand, moved up and down her leg in a soothing motion, but all it did was increase the heat level burning through her. “We’ll have to get her to her apartment.”

  She didn’t know what they were talking about. She didn’t care. She just wanted the burning to stop.

  They finally stopped walking, and Abby looked up to see Brad’s truck. Five large panthers gathered around the bed of the truck and looked up toward her, Brad, and Bryce. A small part of Abby’s brain told her she should be screaming and running away, but the larger part, the part where a big black panther was still stalking, told her she had nothing to fear.

  “These are our brothers and cousins.” She looked from the cats up into Bryce’s eyes, which were glowing slightly in the darkness. “We’ll make the introductions later, if that’s okay.” He grinned down at her, and she nodded.

  “They’re, um…really furry.”

  Bryce and Brad both snorted and broke into laughter. Abby could almost swear a couple of the cats laughed, too, if that were possible.

  “Yeah, they are.” Bryce smiled down at her, and she almost got lost in his glowing eyes. “They’re also about to get really naked, so unless you want to see that…”

  Abby turned her face into Bryce’s chest. It defied all logic that she was accepting the strangeness going on around her. But this cat in her head was the one who had told her to run to Bryce, even before she had known the cat crashing through the door was Bryce. She had felt him change as she hugged him. She couldn’t deny it, as much as the logical part of her brain demanded a rational explanation. These men were not exactly…human. There was nothing rational about any of it, but her cat was telling her it was, well…not normal by human standards, but normal by whatever world she had found herself in.

  Brad opened the passenger door, and Bryce climbed in, still cradling her to his chest. Brad reached behind the seat and pulled out a blanket, then threw it over her and Bryce, wrapping them in a cocoon of privacy. It hadn’t even occurred to her until that very moment that she had been naked in front of everyone. She felt too protected in Bryce’s arms to care.

  The truck bounced as the rest of the men jumped into the back. Brad walked around to the driver’s side and pulled jeans and a shirt out from behind the seat, quickly pulling them on before climbing in behind the steering wheel. He started the truck and backed down the long driveway and onto the street, away from the nightmare Abby had been subjected to.

  Relief washed over Abby, and she settled into Bryce’s lap. A very large bulge pressed against her as Bryce’s aroused cock made contact with her pussy. She obviously wasn’t the only one fighting physical needs. Heat once again raced through her veins, and she shuddered at the onslaught of arousal consuming her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she looked up into Bryce’s eyes, his own need evident in his intense stare.

  Her mind reeled. How could her body react to Bryce like this when Brad was sitting right next to her? What the hell was wrong with her? She’d never been physically attracted to anyone until a couple of days ago, and now she was acting like some type of sex addict! Bryce shifted under her, and his cock slid against her slick folds. Another strong shudder coursed through her body, and the heat in her veins became almost unbearable.

  “What’s happening to me?” Her throat felt dry, and her voice was raspy.

  A hand stroked the back of her head. “It’s normal, Abby.”

  Being highly suspicious that nothing happening at the moment was normal, she turned her head around as far as she could. She shot Brad a skeptical look from the corner of her eye.

  Brad chuckled. “Okay, maybe not normal for normal people. But whether you’ve figured it out or not, we’re not exactly normal.” Abby huffed in agreement but didn’t say anything. Brad looked over at her and ran his finger down her cheek. “And neither are you, love.”

  She sighed and rested her head against Bryce’s chest again, trying to think of anything except the uncontrollable heat raging through her body. The cat in her head growled impatiently. No, she certainly didn’t feel normal. Not anymore, at least. Last week she had been just a normal twentysomething virgin starting her first post-college job. Now she was some kind of freaky panther-whisperer who had a serious urge to jump two brothers and have her way with them.

  It was more than that though. The black cat in her mind was evidence of something bigger going on. It would be easy to write it off as a delusion from her subconscious, an image conjured up due to stress. But the cat wasn’t just some stress-induced hallucination. Somehow, she knew it was part of her. And it was telling her it wanted these men. Both of them.

  The drive seemed to take forev
er. Abby’s body shivered and trembled the entire way back to the apartment as she struggled against the blazing heat. She didn’t understand why she hadn’t burst into flames yet. The cat became more and more impatient, flicking its tail in agitation and growling at her every few minutes.

  Bryce’s aroused state didn’t help matters, and she squirmed against him. His breath caught, and she stopped herself mid-squirm. His breathing sped up, and his heart beat faster under her cheek. She felt her juices making her wet, and Bryce looked down at her, inhaling deeply.

  “Drive faster.” His voice was low and rough, and she shivered in response to it.

  “On it, brother.” The truck sped up.

  Chapter Sixteen

  By the time they pulled into the parking lot of Abby’s apartment building, the sun was just starting to make an appearance. Abby was so worked up she was almost ready to let Bryce take her right there in the cab of the truck.

  Bryce opened the passenger door and slid out of the truck, still holding her tightly against him and keeping the blanket secured around both of them. She glanced back at the bed of the truck and was relieved to see that the men piling out of it were fully dressed again. The men spread out around the parking lot, some of them disappearing around the front and back of the building.

  “Where are they going?”

  Bryce nuzzled Abby’s hair. “They’re standing guard to make sure we don’t have more unwelcome visitors.” The thought of more of those things showing up sent a spike of fear through her.

  Brad led the way upstairs, ushering Bryce inside and locking the door behind them. Bryce carried her across the room and set her gently down on the bed before settling himself next to her.

  Abby’s gaze roamed hungrily over Bryce’s muscular body. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and letting her hand travel across his broad chest and then down to his rippled abdomen. He trembled under her touch, and her gaze was drawn to his erect cock as it stood just inches from her hand. She couldn’t resist the temptation, and she slid her hand the last few inches. She hesitantly brushed her fingers along the length of Bryce’s cock. She had expected it to feel hard, and it did, but the skin covering the rigid shaft was velvety soft. Bryce groaned as she wrapped her hand around it and stroked down the length of it. Bryce covered her hand with his hand and guided her movements. He helped her understand what he needed and which movements would draw the most reaction from him. Once she gained more confidence and started guiding the movements, he released her hand.