by Cate Corvin
I laved several long kisses over his throat, waiting until he was relaxed beneath me, and slid my fangs into place. Will arched his head back and ran his fingers down my naked back, waiting for me to pierce him.
I arched my hips, reaching down to angle him just right, and wriggled until his thick head pushed into me. My breath burst from my mouth when I slid down his cock inch by inch, making soft noises as Will’s body involuntarily curled in, driving himself further inside and giving me access to his throat.
I flexed my jaws and bit. A hot gush of juicy blood filled my mouth and my eyes rolled back in my head as I drew on him. Will was so fucking delicious, and this time, there was no Headmaster to walk in and ruin the ecstasy of drinking from him.
I heard his breath catch when I sucked too hard. I didn’t want to give him pain, only pleasure. I eased off, taking a sip here and there, driving my hips against him so hard the bed rocked.
Will only managed to remain pliant for a few minutes before I felt the world spin. He grabbed me and rolled over, his cock slamming home and pinning me to the bed. My body reacted automatically, legs hooking around his hips, one hand tangled in his hair and the other raking the broad muscles of his back.
Blood poured into my mouth, fueling every cell in my body. I felt like I was made of heat lightning, power sparking through my veins, my pussy clenched around him as he pounded into me.
He changed from the hard thrusts to a slower, rhythmic glide, his hard lower stomach grinding against my clit. I moaned through the blood, arching myself to meet him as I ran my tongue over the neat holes in his throat.
They sealed, and a rusty streak over his golden skin and silver scars was all that was left. I lapped it up and held his face, finally pulling him in for the kiss he wanted. We wanted.
Will braced himself over me, his tongue sliding between my lips. He didn’t seem to care that I’d just drunk from him, that my mouth must taste like copper to him, even though he tasted like heaven to me.
The tip of his tongue found one sharp fang and caressed it, then plunged deeper, along with his cock. I writhed, grinding against him as heat built low in my abdomen, suffusing my limbs. My heart thrummed with the vitality of Will’s blood.
I tried to flip him over and get back on top, but he grabbed my wrist and pinned it over my head. He made a noise of dissent that hummed against my lips, sliding his cock out bit by bit until I felt empty.
“Please, Will,” I whispered. He kissed me gently, bit my lower lip until the pain made me gasp, and sat up.
I obeyed his wordless instructions, rolling onto my stomach and settling my knees far apart. A wordless whine escaped me when I felt his cock push against my pussy and slide inside, stretching me out again.
Will draped himself over me, supporting his weight on one arm as the other crept under my body. His long fingers found my clit, rubbing slow circles as he drew out and thrust back in, teasing me with merciless strokes.
I felt like I was going to melt into a puddle, my pussy aching for release and clit throbbing under his touch. My hips pushed back against him, and the feeling of being under someone else’s control, my pleasure at their mercy, made it even better.
It wasn’t until he felt me tighten and quiver under him that he finally let me have what I wanted, driving home hard enough to shake me and kneading my clit with the pads of his fingers.
I clamped down tight around him, my cries muffled by the bedspread. Will’s fingers never stopped working, drawing out the hot climax deep in my core until I felt his cock harden. He sat up, gripped my hips, and pounded hard, riding me without a care for how brutal his thrusts were.
My new body was strong enough to take it. There was no pain, only a long, drawn-out bliss followed by the pure satisfaction of Will gasping as his cock spurted inside me.
When he finally collapsed over me on all fours, I grabbed his hands and pulled him over me like a blanket, my heart still pounding.
“Jesus Christ, Tori,” he gasped, nuzzling my shoulder. He bit me, teeth grazing my skin, and I shivered under him. What might it feel like if Will was a vampire, if I had him and Càel both lay their fangs in me at the same time?
That was a thought for another day. “Jesus was definitely not with us,” I said, wriggling my ass against him. He drew a hissing breath between his teeth.
Will slowly pulled himself out and settled next to me, wrapping me up against his chest. Even though I wasn’t remotely tired- I wasn’t sure vampires even really got tired, and I was practically vibrating from the fresh infusion of blood- I settled against him, feeling loose and languid, and threw a leg over his.
“Will.” I touched his lip. His mouth was swollen from kissing me. “I think… I think we just had real fun.”
“Wow,” he whispered, touching me back. We touched each other’s faces, and I was vaguely aware we’d never really done that before. All that time spent looking and admiring, but I’d never really touched him. “Maybe we should do it again sometime.”
My fingers made their way to my mark in his throat. “Many times,” I agreed. “You remember the time all three of us had fun?”
A smirk touched his lips. The stress lines between his brows had finally smoothed out. “I don’t think anyone would turn you down if you propositioned a four-way.”
I pumped my fist. “Yesss.” I mean, if I was going to be a stamina-laden vampire, I might as well experience it to the best of my abilities.
“Tori…” Will stroked my cheek down to the point of my chin. My heart had settled, but the look in his eyes had it doing the tango in my chest all over again. “After what happened tonight, I don’t know if this is the time, but I don’t know if I’ll get another time to tell you. Any one of us could’ve died tonight, and when we go against Thraustila, there’s no guarantee we’ll make it out. So I want to tell you now.”
“Tell me what, Will?” I wasn’t going to ruin this with jokes. My serious ex-stepbrother, the one who’d been so full of misguided rage, very rarely let people in. I found that I didn’t want to lose the foothold I had inside him.
“That I love you.” His voice dropped to a near-whisper. “I was jealous of everything you were, but instead of appreciating it, I tried to ruin it. I should’ve protected you from Percival from the beginning, but I threw you to the wolves. I don’t deserve you in the slightest, but I want to be wherever you are. I’m glad you’re a vampire, because now the earth will never be without you.”
I stared into his eyes, falling into those crystalline depths. I could’ve chosen months ago to have my revenge on Will and walk away, never to see him again.
But I hadn’t. I’d stuck around, given him like for like, given him little pieces of me while he gave me pieces of him. There’d been another person buried under there, fighting to break loose.
Maybe that was why I couldn’t just turn my back and pretend that Will Godalming didn’t exist, and why Lilith had given us a bloodsong. Our path, like mine and Suraziel’s, was never meant to be an easy one. It was meant to cause pain, and that pain had made us grow.
“You couldn’t have done anything about Percival, Will. Not without killing us both. But you did what I asked and became a better slayer. You were kind to my mom when she had no one else. You risked your life for her… and for a demon. A demon you would’ve killed if you’d known what he was before. Instead, you stuck by him. You’ve come a long way.”
I touched his lips and he kissed my fingertips. I felt almost sick with what I was about to say, even though everything in me told me it was right despite the twisted path we’d taken to get here. “What I’m trying to say, Will, is that I love you, too, and I will not allow Thraustila to fuck with a single one of you. You, and Càel, and Suraziel are mine. So don’t go thinking you need to give me your last goodbyes, because I intend for you to be around for a very, very long time.”
I’d never felt such a possessive feeling twining through me before as I spoke. They belonged to me, as sure as the bloodsong in my head. If
anyone laid a hand on them, that person’s ass was mine.
Will let out a shaky breath. “I didn’t think you’d ever feel anything but hate for me, and I would’ve deserved it.”
I kissed him, cutting off his self-doubt. “And I could’ve been better to you in the beginning when you needed someone. We all fucked up somewhere, but now we’re here.”
He fell silent, just touching my face and shoulder and looking at me like he’d never really seen me before. I probably looked the same way, drinking in every little bit of the vulnerability Will gave to me.
I stayed there in his arms, stroking his hair until he fell asleep, and then I carefully extricated myself and pulled the blanket over him before kissing his forehead and slipping out.
Heartfall was a confusing place, but I followed the faint taste of tracks and found my way back to the kitchen. Christian had cleaned up the mess, and Mom was sleeping in a chamber not far from mine. I was all alone when I found the broad French doors leading outside.
The courtyard in the rear of the castle was much more intimate than the sprawling front, surrounded by a dense garden before giving way to a lawn and distant forest. Càel was alone on the flagstones, looking up at the moon.
I knew he heard me before he saw me, the slightest shift in his stance giving him away. He gripped my shoulders when I stopped at his side, blue eyes bright even under the sliver of moon.
“Don’t ever do something like that again, mo shíorghrá,” he said quietly, but his kiss took away the heat of his words.
I slid my tongue between his lips and pressed myself against him, curling my hands behind his neck. “It’s just not an exciting week unless I’ve offered myself up as a demonic snack,” I said, breathless when his lips left mine.
“We are the only ones who will be snacking on you, Victoria.” He punctuated this by nuzzling into my neck and grazing his teeth over my throat possessively. “In fact, I taste that you’ve had your own snack already.”
“Càel, remember that little hypothetical situation I posed to you?” Even a serious conversation couldn’t take away my desire for him. “About bloodsingers?”
“They are yours, too.” Càel’s hands buried themselves in my hair. “I feel their bloodsong as well. They’re fainter than yours, but it’s like a bond tied to me through you. I knew it as soon as you were Made.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” If we didn’t make it back to a bedroom soon, we’d be shedding clothes right here in the courtyard, and that was no way to be a good houseguest. Castle-guest?
“You needed to come to terms with it on your own first.” He ran his tongue over my mouth, and my body ached for more. “I’ve lived long enough to see many strange things. Three bloodsingers isn’t out of the realm of possibility.”
A warm glow kindled in my chest, one that had nothing to do with Càel’s body under my hands and how much I wanted to rip these clothes off him. I’d felt that glow before, in New York. Rhianwen, my Maker, was on her way.
My god, it was going to be awkward having both of my mothers, both biological and vampiric, in the same place. Mom was going to need a lot of reassurance once she knew who and what Rhianwen was to me.
“The Morrígna are coming,” I said, tugging the hem of his shirt down and kissing the flat planes of his chest. “What do you say we take this inside before-”
“I haven’t been entirely honest with you, Victoria.”
My heart froze over for a bare second. Càel would never betray me. Right? “What haven’t you been honest about?”
He stroked his thumbs over my cheekbones. “I want you to be prepared when your Maker arrives, or I wouldn’t tell you at all. It’s safer for you now if you don’t know. This knowledge can’t go anywhere, Victoria. It’s as dangerous as Thraustila knowing you’re my singer.”
“What knowledge, Càel?” If he didn’t spill it in the next heartbeat, I was going to tie him to that conveniently-located lawn chair and-
“You are the queen of the Clouded Court. The one crowned in blood.”
My hands stopped on his chest, nails digging into his skin. “Excuse me, but… what?”
“The night you killed Eluned Ravensbane, you took our throne.” Càel didn’t blink, his gaze boring into mine. He was deadly serious. “She killed Jean Guilloux. When you put a dagger through the heart of the rightful queen, you took her place, as well as her life.”
My brain felt like a couple of gears that had ground to a halt. “That’s… ludicrous,” I whispered.
“No, it’s our Law. The crown is passed by blood. Thraustila has been living a lie, sitting on a throne that doesn’t belong to him. He knows Eluned was murdered, but not by whom. I destroyed any traces of your scent around her body. My Maker would take pleasure in destroying you for being my bloodsinger, a gift he’s craved for centuries… but he would stop at nothing to destroy the true monarch and cement his place in our Court. By keeping this secret, the Morrígna and I ensured your survival.”
I felt almost dizzy with the revelation. “But the kelpies know, and the Paladin.” Christ, that’s why Arko had called me ‘Majesty’. They already knew.
“None of them will speak.” He kissed my forehead with a touch more reverence than I felt I deserved. “As the Paladin, Christian Westenra is bound by different rules and keeps to his own affairs. The kelpies have declared fealty to you by acknowledging your rightful place, but this secret must not leave Heartfall, shíorghrá. Not until the impostor king is dead.”
Eleven
Tori
My knees gave out. Càel scooped me up in his arms and stepped inside, carrying me all the way to the bedroom he’d been given. I clutched him to me as he settled himself beside me.
“I didn’t ask for that, Càel. I’m slayer trash, I have no business becoming the queen of anything!”
“It’s not about asking. You took it regardless. The moment Eluned’s heart stopped beating, you became our blood-crowned queen.”
I wanted to laugh, but if I started, I wouldn’t stop. Every time I’d walked into the Clouded Court, I’d been going home. When I’d broken in, I’d been breaking into my own kingdom.
How utterly fucking ridiculous. I was Thraustila’s greatest enemy, sneaking right under his nose.
“We have to tell Will and Suraziel.”
“The incubus already knows,” Càel said, kissing my throat again. I felt his cock hardening between us, grinding against lower belly. I readjusted myself so he slid against my clit when he moved his hips and let out a low sigh. “He’s lived long enough to understand our customs, and he loves you. The secret is safe with him.”
“Then Will,” I gasped. Càel had pulled my leg over his hip, and rubbed against me, stroking my clit with the length of his cock as the heat built in me.
“We will tell Will when he awakens,” Càel purred in my ear. “Why don’t you welcome your new subjects with open arms for now?”
Subjects? The door opened and closed, but Càel didn’t let me up. I was a writhing tangle of lust, which heightened when Suraziel took me in, eyes smoldering with bright hellfire.
He was much brighter, juiced up from the emotions Will and I had given off, and the blue shimmer of his brown skin seemed to sparkle under the low light.
“Victoria,” he said, the low pitch of his voice shivering through me. Càel bent his head, catching one of my hard, sensitive nipples with his tongue, and it took a lot of brainpower I suddenly didn’t have to crook a finger and beckon Suraziel over.
The incubus joined us. I don’t think he could’ve resisted the feast we offered if he tried.
Càel pushed me back so I was lying flat on the bed, and Suraziel’s lips found my cheekbone, moving over my jaw and mouth as Càel’s tongue moved lower.
When he ran his tongue over my clit, Suraziel paused with his mouth against mine. “Are you sure?” he whispered.
I nodded, gasping and arching towards Càel’s mouth. That man did unreal things with his tongue.
Suraziel gripped my jaw and I opened my mouth. At first I tasted mint on his smooth tongue, then the burnt-caramel taste filled me and I swallowed.
The fire of unadulterated lust burst through me and I came instantly, gripping Càel’s hair as I rode his mouth. Suraziel swallowed my cries, almost glowing with energy. He broke the kiss, not giving more than I could take, and my gaze landed on his thick cock.
“Come here, let me have you.” I licked my lips and he groaned, kneeling by my head. “And you, Càel.”
I was in fucking heaven. Actually, wait, no. Heaven literally couldn’t be better than this. It wasn’t possible.
I stroked them both, still writhing from the aftershocks of a second orgasm as I sucked them. I swirled my tongue over Suraziel’s head, lapped the underside of Càel’s, turning my head from side to side to devour each of them.
It was almost painful, I wanted both of them so much, the incubus-given lust pounding in my veins. Far from the loss of control of last time, I had everything I wanted right here, and I wanted it all.
Suraziel and Càel took turns like they’d practiced this, easing their cocks down my throat with deep groans and thrusting into me. When one was in my mouth, the other licked my pussy, teasing me to the edge of orgasm and drawing back.
I was going to die if I didn’t have them in me. I sucked Suraziel hard, released him, and pointed to the bed. “Down. Now.”
He obediently laid back, propped on his elbows. “Hungry, Tori?” Suraziel was back in full-force, completely healed from the blessed iron burning away at his insides. I’d given him enough demonic zest to last him a year, but I wasn’t done yet.
“Ravenous,” I whispered honestly.
Càel plunged his tongue into me, then withdrew to pick me up and plant me firmly over Suraziel’s hips. I sank onto him with a moan, my body shuddering uncontrollably.
The incubus saliva drove me to fuck him hard, no slow, measured thrusts. When I chose to be under the influence, it was one of the most amazing feelings in the world, like a never-ending blur of primal need.