As she released the cuffs from her wrists, she half-ran, half-walked toward her men. “Open the door,” she instructed the only other remaining survivor in the room.
The lock disengaged. Gabriel knocked the guard down and shifted out of his skin in a sparkling array of lights. In the next breath, he had her in a bear hug that choked her with tears at his obvious emotion.
“I’m okay,” she said as he placed kisses along her face and patted her down at the same time. She captured his hands and brought them to her mouth. She kissed his blood-caked knuckles. “Gabriel, I’m okay.”
He crushed her against him, claiming her mouth in a kiss that could’ve torched Texas with the heat coming off it. When the lip-lock ended, he whispered against her ear, “I want to mark you so bad, my tiger is almost feral with the need.”
“Gabriel, you’ve got to get it together. Maximus needs us.”
“I know.” He kissed her temple. “I know.”
And just that quickly, he snapped into command mode. Sameya cracked the wormwood manacles on Maximus’s wrist and neck. Working together, she and Gabriel untied their vampyr and looped his arms over their shoulders.
Kat entered the room with Mondo trailing her.
“Blessed Mother!” She rushed toward them. “He needs blood to heal properly.”
“I’ll sit over there”—Gabriel nodded at the chair near Gryphon, who watched everything with wide-eyed acceptance—“and you both help him straddle me so he can imbibe directly from my vein.”
“You’ve already lost a lot of blood, Gabriel. I can sense the tiredness of your tiger.”
Sameya didn’t comprehend the problem. “I can command someone to offer their vein.”
“He’s too far gone.” Kat stared her straight in the eyes. “The only thing that’ll bring Maximus back is the blood and connection of a mate.”
She peered at Gabriel over Maximus’s lolling head. “Will my blood work even though we’re not mated?”
“A mate is a mate, but you’ll have to open yourself to him and…imitate the mating.” She could tell by the challenge in Gabriel’s eyes he didn’t think she’d do it. And asking her to take this step was a huge sacrifice. It’d be the start of a real mating, a blending of their souls, just without the marking. What did a physical mark matter when her soul would be forever connected to him?
In the end, there was no choice. She couldn’t allow him to die. The idea of losing him terrified her, and she wouldn’t even contemplate the meaning of that at the moment. “I’ll do it. Sit him down in the chair. I’ll straddle him.”
“He might resist at first, Sameya.” Gabriel gently settled Maximus into the chair beside Gryphon. “He has his pride, and forcing you into a mating isn’t what either of us wants.”
“I’m rather persistent when I want to be.” She straddled the vampyr’s thighs and clasped his head between her hands, drawing his mouth to her throat.
“What about your serenade. How far does it reach?” Gabriel smoothed his fingers through her hair. She comprehended he needed to touch her, to soothe his tiger.
“Everyone in this home attached to Gryphon is under my command.”
“Will your control weaken if you do?”
How much blood did Maximus need? “No.”
“I’ll watch your back anyway.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you, Sameya.”
Startled, she blinked at him. She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. What’d she say to that? She knew nothing about the emotion. She’d loved no one in her life. She hadn’t even known her parents.
Instead of replying to Gabriel’s confession, she focused on helping Maximus.
“You’ll bite me, Maximus.” She bit his ear hard enough to garner his attention. “If you don’t bite me, I’ll leave you at the end of the month. I swear it on Empress E’Neskha.”
“Not…leave,” he muttered against her throat.
“Then take me, vampyr.”
The scrap of his fangs against her throat made her moan. Funny she was excited about this. His tongue swabbed her pulse and he groaned, his hands moving to her hips, his grip tighter than she anticipated.
“Damn you, bite me now.”
Cupping her ass, he lifted her slightly as he buried his fangs into her throat. Sameya gasped at the rush of sensation. The suckles against her throat were like sucks to her clit. Maximus pulled her hips down and thrust his upward, impaling her. Her hand tightened in his hair and he held her motionless as he ingested her blood.
“I didn’t warn you of that on purpose.” Gabriel flicked his knuckles along her cheek. “Afraid you’d change your mind with the others present.”
She’d forgotten about everyone else. Damn these men had a way of making her forget her surroundings.
Then she felt it, the mental link with him, like a lock clicking into place. Maximus’s thoughts weren’t open to her, but his emotions were raw. Fear that she’d leave him. Joy at finding her. Satisfaction with the way she responded to them. Protective instincts. Devotion to her and Gabriel, he’d never stray. If he tried, she’d know.
His fangs left her throat and he embraced her, holding her motionless against him as he worked on regulating his breathing. After a long while, Maximus finally looked at her, his mouth parted and his fangs streaked with her blood. He licked her throat before lifting her off his cock and settling her on her feet.
Confused, she stared at him. Her throat tingled where he’d bitten her and she was a hair’s breadth away from coming.
“I won’t mate you like this.” Wincing, he retracted his fangs.
Why did she feel like he’d rejected her?
“It’s not personal, Sameya. You know I’d—”
“I know, Maximus.” Not hanging around to hear any more, she pointed at Gryphon. “Follow me.”
As Gryphon slowly rose from his seat, Gabriel offered his wrist to Maximus. “Take some from me, you stubborn-ass fool.”
“I’m good.”
“Take his blood, Maximus.” On the heels of rejecting her, his hardheadedness pissed her off. “Your magic is down. You need it.”
“I’m good.”
Sameya hooked her fingers beneath the collar Maximus put around her neck less than a day ago. A small twist and the choker burst into dust. Alarm widening his eyes, Gabriel stepped toward her. She held out her hand to halt his step. “I’m not walking away. At least not yet.”
“Sameya.” Panic flared on her vampyr’s sallow features. He attempted to rise, but his arms shook so badly his ass never left the seat.
“Your magic is down, Maximus. Take what Gabriel is offering or I walk.” Dismissing her men, she grabbed a fistful of Gryphon’s shirt and tugged him to the cage. “Inside you bastard.”
“It’s steel.” Gryphon trembled, horror glazing his eyes.
“Yes. And it’ll burn like hell, too, but it’s not half the horror you committed against Maximus or, I’m certain, you planned to do to me. So consider yourself lucky I’m not torturing you as retribution.” The griffin wanted her, so he’d brutalized her mates. For what reason? To make her suffer? That couldn’t be the reason, or not entirely because he’d nearly killed Maximus without her present to witness the atrocity.
Chapter Nineteen
Gabriel wanted out of this home, but Maximus needed to rejuvenate a little before they could depart. Sameya might be in control of the situation now, but he remained on alert.
“Is Maximus improving?” Sameya asked when he entered Gryphon’s kitchen. She was seated at the table with a map spread out before her, her long hair tangled across her back and the iron dress. The slinky dress was sexy on her, but the garment’s intentions were heinous.
“He’s resting, but much improved. Why haven’t you changed clothes?” With nothing better to do, he opened the refrigerator and studied the contents.
“Kat took a vehicle and went to get me something decent to wear.”
Decent was Sameya naked, legs spread and either his or Maximus’
s dick stuffed inside her. Shutting the refrigerator, he turned and leaned against it. “What are you doing?”
“I found this in Gryphon’s study. It’s a map of Atlantis, along with blueprints of the palace, with the weaknesses highlighted. I’m assuming they’re possible entry points for when the rebels plan to overthrow Empress E’Neskha.”
He joined her at the table and studied the map and schematics for a coup. “She sent you to earth for a purpose, didn’t she?”
Sameya nodded. “We know there is a rebellion brewing. There was Intel someone on the outside is working with Atlantians. I couldn’t figure out why, but now I think I get it. The Intel was to drive me out of Atlantis and further weaken Empress E’Neskha. If Gryphon managed to defeat me, that would be a major victory for the rebellion.”
What she said frightened him. It meant she was in even greater peril than Tyrone Gryphon had presented. Gabriel jerked her up upright. “Sameya, the danger you place yourself in terrifies me.”
“I’m old, Gabriel. Very old. I’m good at reaping, and protecting my Empress. You worry for no reason.”
“Gryphon endangered you!” When he realized his fingertips had turned white where he held her arms, he relaxed his grip.
“I was never in any real danger. Only you and Maximus were.”
“We must protect you, Sameya. It’s our job as your mates.”
She smiled; her eyes alight as she pulled him down to kiss him softly on the lips. “Gabriel, that’s a two-way job. As your mate, I must protect you and Maximus.” He growled at her. “Aren’t you cantankerous tonight.”
No doubt, he was short-tempered. He’d almost lost Maximus and Sameya had saved them all. For an alpha tiger that warred with his primal need to guard his mates. “Bend over the table.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Gabriel ran his thumb back and forth across her bottom lip. “I’ll remove the butt plug.”
“Oh.”
“Unless someone removed it already.” He’d kill the motherfucker who touched her so intimately.
“No.” Sameya licked her lips and ogled at his mouth. “It’s still…in place.”
“If you’re still horny from Maximus’s brief fucking, I can finish you.”
Her gaze slashed to his, and he almost laughed at her shock.
“Without Maximus?”
“I finished him off while I put him to bed.”
“Without me.” The corners of her eyes crinkled as she bit her lip. He didn’t think she realized how exposed her emotions were at the moment.
“Are you jealous?” Gabriel curled an arm around her waist and drew her closer. The way she felt against him was perfect. “You really have no need to feel insecure. He didn’t want to leave you earlier.”
She nuzzled her face against his chest. “Who fucked who?”
“I sucked him. He crashed asleep afterward.” Lips skimming across her temple, he ran a hand down her spine. “Release my slacks, and I’ll give you a quickie. We both need it, Sameya. It’ll calm us a little.” God knew his tiger was wild inside him and claiming her would go a long way in calming his beast, even if it was bad timing. They’d been taken because she couldn’t defend herself after climaxing.
“I hope no one walks in,” she said as she unfastened his pants.
Gabriel enjoyed being watched.
“Or danger approaches again like last time.” She closed her eyes and released a slow breath. “I coated the room in a serenade. That should protect us for a short time.”
“I’ll make it fast, but damn good.” Gripping her ass with both of his hands, he lifted her and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He lowered her down on his cock and had her anchored against the refrigerator before he was completely seated inside her.
“Fuck, Maximus is right. You’re ridiculously tight with the dildo in you.”
“Feels good.”
His dick jerked. “It’ll feel better when it’s both of us inside you.”
He reached around and clicked the button on the toy to the highest speed. She moaned, her cunt clenching around him, while the vibrations tickled the underside of his cock.
Taking a moment to enjoy being inside her wet sheath, he kissed her as the sex-toy whirred away inside her.
“I can taste Maximus on your lips,” she said against his mouth, her fingers on his jaw.
She tried to shift her hips against him, but the way he held her, she was incapable of movement. Just the way he wanted her.
“I’m not ready to move yet, Sameya. I won’t last long.”
She wound her fingers in his hair and jerked his head back to meet her gaze. “Gabriel, fuck me. Hard enough I’ll feel it later and have a reminder you and Maximus are alive.”
“Oh, baby.” He lifted a hand off her ass and palmed her cheek. “I’m sorry you were frightened and that we didn’t protect you as we should’ve.”
“Talk later. Fuck me now.”
He smiled, liking her in this mode. He placed his hand back on her butt and spread her cheeks. Flexing his hip, he pulled all the way out of her and slammed back inside to the hilt. He repeated the motions, fucking her hard, rocking the refrigerator with his drives. It was the first time he’d taken her face-to-face and there was a lot to be said for this position. He could see her face, watch her eyes dilate, and he’d get the satisfaction of watching her come while he was in her.
Gripping his shoulders tight, Sameya whimpered and moaned for him, her pussy squeezing him until he feared he’d blow before she came. Another hard thrust, bottoming out inside her, and she climaxed with a cry, throwing her head back against the appliance. Her entire body vibrated with the release, and he groaned at the way her cunt squeezed his cock through her orgasm.
Her eyes were closed when he rammed home and joined her, releasing deep into her womb. He nuzzled her neck. The mini twitches plaguing her body testifying to the enormity of her pleasure.
He kissed her cheeks and nose. As he carried her to the table, he dragged his chin along her jaw. He settled her on her feet, turned her to face the map spread on the table, and then pushed her over onto it. He kissed one butt-cheek and bit the other.
Gaze honed on her ass, he spread her cheeks and watched as he slowly removed the sex-toy from her bottom. She whimpered as the widest part exited her tight forbidden territory.
He pushed the dildo back inside her and it penetrated her with ease. She moaned, her fingers balling the map into her fists. He fucked her a few more times with the toy. “Your body has adjusted easily to the dildo. You’ll enjoy the fullness even better when it’s us inside you.”
Gabriel went to his knees and licked her folds as he pumped the toy into her. She quivered, the sounds of her enjoyment exquisite.
“Do you like the way the toy feels as I fuck you with it, Sameya?”
“Yes.” Her voice was husky and he wanted to bury his tongue inside her pussy and fuck her with the vibrator until she came again. “I….” She panted, her hips flexing in tiny little jerks.
“Go on.” He flicked the tip of his tongue across her clit.
“I enjoy everything you and Maximus do to me,” she said in a rush.
Why’d she hesitate to confess that? Because she didn’t want to admit how they made her feel? Her reservations remained too elevated for his peace of mind.
He removed the toy, and she whimpered when it left her body for good.
Unable to resist the inclination, he licked her anus and she cried out as he continued to rim her with his tongue. She was so sensitive. Everywhere they touched excited her. She excited him.
She was aroused again, and he knew he could take her once more. Instead, he slithered his tongue from her rosebud, through her folds, tasting his semen on her. He licked and rotated around her clitoris, and Sameya groaned when he suckled on her sweet nub.
Abruptly he left her, rose to his feet, and stepped away from her as he pocketed the toy. He ran his palm over his mouth. “I’m going to check on Maximus.”
> Her rapid breathing halted as she realized he was leaving her. Smiling, he walked out of the kitchen. A sexually frustrated mate was not a bad thing. He’d witnessed her expression when Maximus wouldn’t complete the mating. He suspected she felt rejected, but that wasn’t what had gone on. Maximus wanted her to crave them and their pairing. A forced mating could result in regret and resentment. A nightmare ending. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened.
She fancied them, while struggling to maintain control of her future. Nothing would be gained by her reserved disposition. She couldn’t have them without committing to the relationship. One way or another, a decision must be made. He and Maximus wouldn’t settle for a half-assed mating with her. It was an all or nothing situation.
***
Sameya peeled herself off the table in slow increments. The sweet friction of movement tantalized, but not enough to get her off. A frustrated groan exited her throat.
Why’d Gabriel leave her clinging to the edge of a climax? Better yet, why had she allowed him to fuck her and weaken her with an orgasm? They were in their enemy’s house for goodness sake because of that siren flaw!
Her reaction to them was insane. If she could have them filling her and pounding into her twenty-four-seven, she’d jump at the chance. Sex with them was that damn good.
Wetness hit her thighs. Gabriel’s semen. She sighed. She had to leave them. No other option presented itself. Those fantastic climaxes rendered her vulnerable, which meant she couldn’t protect them either. That fact was made all the more evident by Gryphon’s abduction of them. He’d almost killed Maximus. That terrified her more than anything else. She hadn’t worried so much about herself because by the time she came-to, she was healed and ready to kick ass in reaper style. But Gryphon—the bastard—would’ve succeeded in murdering Maximus if not for the return of her siren abilities.
Taboo Kisses Page 14