by Tricia Owens
Once at Vellum's crate, they set about making camp. They wouldn't have much longer to wait until sunset, so Mariel prepared a fire while Clay set off to hunt down food for him and her. It would be ideal if they were fed and rested by the time their vampire awoke and was ready for his meal.
A shudder rippled pleasantly through Clay's body as he rode. Never would he have imagined the day when he possessed not only a beautiful woman, but a male lover who wasn't quite a man.
"Strange world," Clay murmured, and then perked at the familiar, welcome sound of fleeing game.
~~~~~
At the first shift of the crate's lid, Mariel's heart began to pound so fiercely she was sure Vellum would be able to hear it. In fact, the lid, after that initial slide, ceased to move, as if the vampire had detected that he was no longer alone.
"Vellum," she called out so he wouldn't fear the worst, "it's me."
Seconds passed with no sign or sound of movement from within the crate.
Confused, she tried again. "Vellum—"
"I heard you."
A pale hand emerged from within the crate and shoved aside the lid with a violence that made her yelp and take a step backwards as the wood tumbled to the ground.
Vellum rose up like the shadow of a monster, looming over her with supernatural malice and blocking out the moon. Mariel's instincts told her to turn and run, to find Clay, but she forced herself to stand her ground. The old Mariel would have run. But she'd shed that woman long ago.
"It's me," she repeated, though she noted how her voice trembled. "It's Mariel. Clay came with me. We came back for you."
"Why."
It wasn't a question. It was a condemnation of her choice.
She swallowed, her mouth dry. "What do you mean why? Because we weren't happy without you. Because we want to help you. Because—"
"Because you wish to die?"
He stepped out of the crate fluidly, his duster swirling like black fog around his long legs. She didn't remember him being so tall. To look up at him she had to tilt her head back, baring her throat.
"We're not going to die," she told him, breathless with uncertainty and the fear she struggled not to feel. "We're going to help you get to Scar Tooth."
"Where you'll die," he growled softly.
She didn't know what he wanted from her. No, that wasn't true. He wanted her and Clay to turn around and leave him. But that just wasn't happening.
"Why are you afraid of us?" she demanded, going on the offensive even if it resulted in her throat being torn open. This vampire before her resembled little the Vellum with whom she and Clay had shared intimacies. This vampire was the alien creature she had found on the train. But she was convinced this was only one side of Vellum, that the Vellum she knew was in there and wanted to take control.
"The only one who should feel fear is you," he whispered.
His hand shot out before she could duck away, fisting in her hair at the back of her neck. She yelped as he cruelly yanked her head to the side, leaving her completely vulnerable to his attack.
"You came back for one thing," he said against the racing pulse in her neck. "You came back to die."
She shut her eyes. "We came back to love you, Vellum."
"Vampires know nothing of love."
She shuddered as the cold enamel covering his fangs pressed to her skin. Closing her eyes, she said, "You do, Vellum. You know love because you've felt it, too. You still do."
She gasped as twin points of fire pierced her skin.
"Looks like I was right about nightwalkers all along," she heard Clay drawl. "They're nothing but pasty-faced cowards."
Vellum froze against her, the tips of his fangs only barely embedded.
"Should have known as much, considering what you animals did to Janie."
Vellum snarled and thrust Mariel away so roughly that she stumbled. Fortunately, Clay was there to steady her. He held her tight to his side as he confronted the vampire.
"This mean you're admitting to being a monster?" he taunted.
Vellum's black eyes seemed soulless. "You'll die, Marshal, and I'll make certain that it's agony for you."
"Stop it!" Mariel shouted at him. "Just stop it! This isn't you. Why are you doing this?"
"Because he's scared witless," Clay said with a sneer. "He can't handle us, so he has to hide behind the mask of this thing." He guided Mariel behind him as he stepped toward Vellum. "I always knew I was the better man for her. Thank you for proving my point so clearly, nightwalker."
"I told you to call me a vampire," Vellum snarled.
He was fast, but Clay must have anticipated this, for although the vampire surged across the distance between them to grab the front of the Marshal's throat, Clay had his gun out and its barrel pressed to Vellum's temple at the same time.
"No!" Mariel cried out at the two males locked in stalemate. "Don't hurt each other. This isn't what any of us wants."
"Isn't it?" Clay gritted out. He coughed as Vellum tightened his fingers. Clay cocked his pistol. "Be a man, Vellum."
"I'm no man," the vampire purred, baring his fangs in a frightening parody of a smile.
"But you're ours," Mariel insisted. She couldn't stand this a moment longer. She dashed to the two males and wrapped her arms around Vellum from behind. With her arms locked tight around his chest and her cheek pressed to his shoulder, she murmured, "Please. Please come back to us. Remember what you had with us, what we made you feel. What we made you need."
"Mariel, get back, dammit!" Clay ordered.
"No," she said stubbornly. She rose up onto her toes and dared to press her lips to the back of Vellum's neck. "He doesn't want me to leave. Not truly." She pressed a kiss to his skin. "Isn't that right?"
From her position she couldn't see his face, nor Clay's, but she read the tension running through Vellum that kept every muscle in his body as rigid as stone.
"Mariel, I'm telling you to back off!" Clay tried again, genuine fear shading his voice.
Mariel hugged Vellum tighter. "Not until he's ours again."
"Jesus," Clay muttered. He cleared his throat and then, to Mariel's amazement, he eased back the cocking mechanism on his gun. "Listen, Vellum. I-I'm begging you, alright? She wants you. She's not happy without you. We—we both aren't. So put an end to this lunacy and act the way you did before. We gave up our life at Everton for this. For you, dammit."
Never had she imagined Clay begging Vellum to be their lover, but the plea had been made, and she felt its effects immediately in the body she continued to embrace.
"Yes," she urged as Vellum's muscles eased. "Please. We gave up everything for you. Because we want you."
"You're both fools," Vellum said softly.
Mariel began to smile hopefully when a hand seized her by the skirts and yanked her off Vellum's back to throw her in front of the vampire. She staggered against Clay's side. Vellum regarded them with his chilly obsidian gaze.
"Fools," he repeated.
He pulled them both against him.
Mariel gasped into his ungentle kiss, but she didn't resist it, especially with Clay's mouth crushed up against hers, too. Their ungainly three-way meeting of the lips wasn't sexy but it was passionate because of Vellum, who sucked at their mouths and scraped his teeth against their lips as though he needed to reacquire the taste of them.
"Damn vampire," Clay panted into the kiss. "So dramatic."
The other male growled, "Open your mouth wider and let me put it to good use."
Clay emitted a choked sound while Mariel moaned from the command. Vellum's hand swept up her back and tugged her tight against his body.
"You like that?" he breathed against her damp, bruised lips. She whimpered her assent. "Mariel, you shouldn't have come back. But I'm pleased that you're here with me."
"We couldn't go on without you, Vellum. We want to make this work."
"It can't work," he argued.
She clutched at his shoulder. "We'll make it work." She stroked
her fingers along the side of his neck. "Will you…will you feed from us?"
Clay shivered against her side. Vellum grew very, very still.
"Is that what you want?" he asked.
"Yes," she said at once.
"Yeah," Clay murmured. "Do it, vampire."
Vellum's sinful laughter tripped across Mariel's lips. "Is my bite required at this point?"
Warmth pooled between her legs. The ache was already there and growing more intense by the second. "Your bite isn't necessary," she breathed, "but we want to make you feel good and we want you to be strong."
"I don't need your blood to feel good." He cupped her right buttock. "But I'll gladly drink while I take my pleasure from your body. These trousers need to go, first."
Thank goodness for his strength, for she would have collapsed without it.
His preternatural speed worked in their favor, for he'd soon bullied Clay into lying on his back on the ground, as naked as the day he was born, while Mariel slowly impaled herself upon his rigid cock. She tossed her head back in abandon when she felt Vellum kneel behind her, straddling Clay's thighs.
"I’m going to take you like this," the vampire warned as he nipped at her earlobe. "Both of us will be inside you at once. Would you like that, Mariel? Can you take us both?"
He cupped her bared breasts and played with her nipples. Beneath them, Clay groaned his appreciation of the sight and reached between her legs to finger her spread lips. Mariel clutched a wrist of each male as she writhed between them.
"Do it," she pleaded. "I want you both together inside me. Want you to fill me so full…"
Vellum groaned softly against her ear. "You'll have us, beautiful Mariel. Everything you desire."
His spit slick fingers delved between her buttocks and found her opening. He was careful with her and it made her sigh to think that such a "monster" could be so gentle and patient with her. He took his time, all the while kissing the side of her throat and along her shoulders. He teased her nipples as he eased the first finger inside her. Below, Clay held still, practically vibrating inside her, as Vellum carefully worked her open.
"Don't hurt her," he warned the vampire.
Vellum kissed the top of Mariel's spine, practically melting her. "I would sooner tear out my own throat, Clay. I'd advise you to concentrate on your own efforts to please Mariel 'lest you come up short."
"I'm not coming up short," Clay growled back.
Mariel had to smile at the irritation in his voice but then she could only gasp and clench around him as he swiveled his hips and rolled himself deeper inside her.
"Oh, Clay," she moaned.
"I hear you, beautiful. Doing everything I can to make you feel good. We both are."
"I need you," she panted. She reached back and dragged her nails across Vellum's muscular buttock. "I need you now."
"Patience," the vampire murmured, but she felt him move into place. "Relax for us. Breathe."
She concentrated, but the initial invasion still stole her breathe. Clay stroked and caressed her and Vellum moved with excruciating slowness but it was still a shock. When a pair of fangs sank into her, she groaned with relief as the familiar thrill of lust rushed through her. As her body sang with ecstasy, the vampire pushed all the way into her. Mariel cried out, overwhelmed. Overjoyed.
The feeling of fullness was like nothing she'd ever experienced before, but it was more than the physical sensation that plugged her head with stars. It was the knowledge that she had these two powerful men inside her at once, that she had connected them with her body. It brought tears to her eyes and she was unashamed as they spilled down her cheeks.
"Mariel—are you hurting?" Clay asked, eyes wide.
"No," she whispered. "I love this. I love you. Both of you."
Vellum muttered something against her neck as he continued to feed from her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her tight as he began to thrust into her. When he finally pulled his fangs free, he panted, "Be careful what you say."
"It's the truth," she swore, "and you feel it, too."
Vellum didn't reply, but his thrusts grew deeper, more demanding, and Clay responded to the challenge of pleasing her, bucking up beneath her to drive home the point that they both wanted her as desperately as she wanted them. It was a perfect union and Mariel reached her peak far sooner than she expected to, her muscles clenching and unclenching around both of the cocks that pierced her.
"God!" she cried out.
"Mariel," Clay groaned. He thrust twice more and then frantically reached down to pull himself out of her. His essence spurted across his chest and belly mere seconds later.
Behind her, Vellum didn't stop. He began to growl, and the sound made Mariel swoon with desire. When he finally froze and bent his head over her shoulder, she imagined she could feel him filling her with his release.
"I hope you get the message that we're meant to be here," Clay said, sounding winded. He flung an arm across his eyes. "You're stuck with us, vampire."
"So I'm beginning to realize." Vellum lifted his head, but only far enough to rest his chin on Mariel's shoulder. It was such an easy, familiar action that Mariel knew she would always remember it. "I maintain my original declaration that you're both fools. My focus is on my destiny."
"Who's to say we're not part of that?" she challenged.
His chuckled warmed her skin. "Clearly not I."
~~~~~
They didn't linger much longer at camp. Clay could tell the mountain pulled at Vellum with the same elemental tug that the moon held over the tides. All too soon they were on the move, heading toward Vellum's destiny.
During a break for Mariel to relieve herself, Vellum brought his horse alongside Clay's. Both males looked out at the mountain as the vampire quietly spoke.
"I expected you to keep her happy and satisfied in Everton Fort, Clay."
"Mariel's headstrong. You should know that by now."
From the corner of his eye, Clay saw Vellum glance at him. "She doesn't belong out here."
"She belongs wherever she wants to belong. I'm not her master."
"No, you're not. And that may prove to be unfortunate for all of us."
Clay had heard enough. "Mariel's allowed to feel and do what she likes. I'll never attempt to change that and you're a bastard if you think I'm wrong. That's what we love about her. It's your fault if you can't see that or admit it."
Black eyes met his, narrowed. "And it'll be your fault if she ends up dying out here because you weren't enough for her."
"You son of a —"
"I'll be that and more if it'll keep her alive," Vellum said mildly, cutting him off.
Clay was annoyed, but he couldn't exactly be angry with Vellum for wanting to keep Mariel safe. On that, they were in absolute agreement.
"There's no stopping her," he muttered. "I advise you to just go along with her."
Vellum frowned and resumed looking at the jagged mountain. "I'll expect you to keep her from following me when the time comes. Surely you're intelligent enough to understand why."
"She doesn't need to see bloodshed," Clay agreed, although he wasn't too fond of the idea of being her keeper. "But on that note, I could help you, Vellum. No one said the odds had to be fair when you face off against this vampire."
"This isn't your fight."
"The vampire who turned you is a ruthless killer. I may have surrendered my Marshal's badge but I haven't stopped being a man who stands for justice."
"This is vampire justice. It has nothing to do with you."
"You so sure about that?"
Heat crept into Clay's cheeks when he felt Vellum studying him intently.
"So you're infected by her madness, too," the vampire said quietly. "I thought you were smarter than that."
"It has nothing to do with being smart or not." Clay was proud of himself for not sounding defensive. He certainly felt it. This was shaky ground for him. He wasn't quite sure how to act. "It is what it is."
> "Sexual desire for another male?" Vellum taunted. "Is that truly in your nature? Or are you being swept along in doing what pleases Mariel?"
Clay took a deep breath and then turned in his saddle to face the other male. "You pushed me to my limits and then over them because you saw something in me. Don't try to convince me that it was all because of Mariel. You wanted it from me as much as I needed to give it to you."
A cocky smile tilted Vellum's mouth. "So I did. I can't say I regret dominating you. Sliding my cock up a Marshal's ass is a memory I'll cherish for a very long time. I'm looking forward to the other ways I'll make you submit to me."
"Nice try," Clay said with a sharp smile. "But you're not pushing me away. I reckon you're stuck with both of us. It's about time that you were the smart one and stopped resisting it."
"She should be yours alone," Vellum told him, his expression hard.
Clay squeezed the reins. "It's not up to me. She's made her choice."
"I could drive her back into your arms. You'd have what you wanted, and so would I: Mariel safe."
"Didn't know vampires were so self-sacrificing," Clay said sarcastically. Vellum's offer tempted, but only for a moment. "You can't change the way we feel. Or the way you feel, for that matter. So just accept that you're saddled with us."
He listened to Vellum mutter an expletive.
"I meant what I said," Clay went on as he checked to see that Mariel was on her way back to them through the scrub and trees. "I could be your backup in this. Mariel will kill me if something happens to you."
"So you're only looking out for yourself?" Vellum asked with a hint of wryness.
"Damn straight, I am." Clay faced him again. "I'll go with you. We'll settle this quickly and get on with our lives."
Vellum smiled, and Clay was sure what his answer would be. Right up until he said, "No."
11
"Tell me what your life was like in Everton Fort," Vellum asked one night, less than a week later.
Mariel exchanged a quick, fond smile with Clay. "It was wonderful."