Dirty Deeds: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance (Bonds of Blood Book 3)

by Cate Corvin

  She looked up at me, her eyes hollow.

  “Tell me what bothers you, Victoria.” I scooped her up and brought her to the bed.

  “How did you know?” She curled against me, resting her head against my shoulder. “I’m trying so hard to keep it together, but… this is too much, Càel. I didn’t want to be a freaking queen. I don’t even know what I’m doing!”

  Something wet soaked into my shirt. She wiped away the next tear angrily. “Doesn’t anyone else see how ridiculous this is? I come from a trailer park, and Iskandar just stopped in his tracks for me. All because I was wearing fangs. And Thraustila destroyed an entire slayer institution. That’s the kind of guy we’re up against, and I don’t know if I can handle it.”

  “How is it ridiculous?” I asked, smoothing her hair. “You won it by right.”

  “Six months ago, I got the shit beaten out of me for being trailer trash in the wrong place. They were pissed I dared to go to school with them. And you come in and tell me I’m supposed to take over an entire vampire court. That’s head and shoulders above what I came here for, and nobody bats an eye about it.” She took a shuddering breath. “You and the Morrígna just take it at face value. I might’ve killed the last queen, but I’m not the right one for the job.”

  I laid back on the bed, bringing Victoria with me. She draped a leg over mine and splayed her hand over my chest.

  “We don’t care where you came from,” I told her. “We don’t care that you were a slayer when you did it. None of that matters once you’re Made. It’s only about who you are after that, and you showed the fortitude even before. I never told you how I was Made.”

  Her face tilted up. “How?”

  “I was the son of a farmer, on the outskirts of what is now Norway.” The memories were so distant, I had to pull them from the farthest reaches of my brain. “I didn’t follow in my father’s footsteps. All I wanted was to raid for my riches. I was in Ireland when Thraustila found me.”

  She was still and silent, her fingers brushing my chest in a rhythmic pattern as she listened. It’d been a long time since I’d thought of these memories, so they were faint. “I was filthy. Just a pig farmer’s son, plundering with the other warriors. He didn’t care. Out of all of them, he chose me to be Made. The rest, he killed.

  “And now here I am. From the dirt, murdering for money, to a name everyone knows. If they did know, it wouldn’t matter. I have no shame about what I am or was. Just as no one will look at you and say your station at birth matters.” I squeezed her a little tighter. “You were born a slayer, higher than I was when I was human, but it doesn’t matter. You proved your worth in your lifetime.”

  Victoria was silent for a long moment. “I still don’t know what I’m doing. How to behave, what to do. I don’t know the Law.”

  “That’s what we’re here for. Your sisters and I are your knights, and we’ll advise you on the Law. As for behavior… there are hundreds of queens and kings who behaved however they wanted. There’s no set rules for the kind of vampire that can take a throne, only that they keep it.”

  “So I spend the rest of my life in constant fear someone will kill me for it?” She let out a laugh, but it rang hollow. “I can’t help but feel it’s a raw deal.”

  “Well, there’s the problem with your logic, shíorghrá. They’d have to get through the Morrígna and me first.” I sighed, adjusting her so she was laying on top of me. “And that is something very, very few vampires can do.”

  “Thraustila can,” she whispered, propping her chin on her hand to look me in the eye.

  “We will make him suffer,” I promised. “Screaming, tormented suffering. Tell me, Victoria: do you regret murdering Eluned?”

  She thought, her head tilted sideways. “No. Even if I knew then what I know now, I couldn’t have left her there like that. It was the right thing to do.”

  “Then you’re the right one for the job. A court that delights in violence and eats itself alive doesn’t last long. I’ve seen it many times over the centuries. You will not be that person.”

  Victoria’s lips turned down in a frown, but she didn’t protest again. I couldn’t force her to sit on the Clouded Court’s throne, but no matter whether she sat there or not, she was still Crowned in Blood. It was a true binding, an ancient magic of the Law that permeated to her bones. She could deny being the queen until she was blue in the face, but that wouldn’t make it true.

  “Now, are you going to strip naked for me, or do I have to beg?”

  That got a real smile out of her. Some of the shadows left her face. “Hmm. I don’t know. I might need a little more convincing.”

  I shifted under her, yanking my shirt over my head and tossing it aside. “Now I’m halfway there. It’s only right that we both be shirtless.”

  She sat up, balancing her weight across my pelvis, and peeled off the silk shirt she wore.

  “The tit-wrangler needs to go, too.”

  Victoria gave me an incredulous look. “Tit-wrangler?”

  “Suraziel gave me a crash course on women’s clothes while you were busy,” I said, trying not to sound smug. He’d told me ‘bra’ was yesterday’s terminology.

  “No. Don’t ever listen to him for advice on clothes. If he had his way, we’d all be naked.” But she unhooked the clasp of that last layer and slid it over her arms. Clearly the incubus had misled me.

  “Maybe that makes him a smarter demon than the rest of us.” I unbuttoned my jeans and kicked them off. “Pants.”

  I waited until she was distracted with her own buttons before I started touching in earnest, running my hands up her arms and down her chest. Her nipples stiffened under my touch, and she let out a soft moan when I sat up to catch one in my mouth, swirling my tongue over the hardening flesh.

  I didn’t release her while she struggled out of her jeans, enjoying the way she squirmed against me.

  Finally, there was only one thin layer left between us. “You don’t have any underwear to take off, so I guess that means mine get to stay on.”

  I tugged them and they tore easily. “No, it means I’ll find a different way to get what I want.”

  “You always do.” She straddled me again, her wetness rubbing against my cock. I slid my hands under her ass, lifted her up, and sank her back down when my head slid over her entrance.

  She stiffened all over, back arching as she took me in. A sharp intake of breath hissed between her teeth.

  When she started moving against me, I stopped her, holding her by the hips. “Before you get anything else, you need to feed.”

  Victoria glared at me. “How am I supposed to concentrate on feeding like this?”

  “You’re hungry. You can’t forget how young you are and go without feeding for long.” I kissed her neck, appreciating the way her head tipped back for me. “I can survive on a sip for weeks. You’re not quite there yet.”

  I thrust into her, pushing her hips down. She gasped again, wriggling her hips, and I released my hold, stopping her from going any further. “You want more, you feed first.”

  “This is sexual blackmail,” she informed me, but her wide pupils and the way she licked her lips made it clear she didn’t mind.

  “Have I ever had a problem with blackmailing you, shíorghrá? No. If it puts your stubborn ass in line, it’s perfectly excusable.” I slid my hand into her hair and gripped a handful, gently directing her mouth to my throat.

  She bit down with perfect acquiescence. My cock grew even harder, if that was possible, as she sucked and licked the sensitive spot.

  I leaned back, bracing myself, and moved her hips, letting her rock on me. She ground down, making tiny noises against my neck and speeding her movements. When she sealed the feeding wound and blindly found my lips, blood still coating hers, the tension had left her shoulders and back.

  She fucked like she’d forgotten anything else existed outside this room. I could give her that bubble of peace for a time.

  Her pussy tightened and
clamped down as her smooth thrusts turned into rapid bucking. I circled her wet clit with my fingers to draw it out, loving the sounds she made in my ear.

  For myself, I wanted her under me. She might be the queen, but she still belonged to me, my woman, and I would make that clear for as long as she lived.

  When she stopped shuddering, I lifted her off me and she climbed onto the bed, getting onto all fours like she’d instinctively known what I wanted.

  I knelt behind her and thrust in, groaning from the feeling of her tightness and the swell of her ass against my lower stomach. It jiggled in interesting ways when I slammed into her over and over again, the muscles somehow firm and soft under my hands at the same time.

  If she’d told me we could elope to a secluded cave and never be bothered to do anything but this again, I’d be fine with that.

  My balls tightened when I hit that edge, hammering into her so hard she’d gripped the bedsheets with white knuckles. It was impossible to hold back a growl of satisfaction when I exploded, burying myself to the hilt inside her.

  She squeezed me, clenching her muscles and drawing out the pleasure until I pushed her flat on the bed and covered her with my body.

  Victoria’s dark hair had spilled forward, covering her face. I buried my face in it, breathing the sweet smell in, arching my hips into her.

  So I was marking my territory. Every vampire had the right.

  “You have nothing to fear,” I whispered. “You will always have me.”

  She exhaled, releasing the sheets to find my hands and cover them. “I trust you.”

  I kissed her bare shoulder, leaving a trail from the nape of her neck to her arm. I wanted to bite her, but she needed the blood badly. “What does your name mean?” I posed the question, and rested my lips on her skin.

  She shifted under me. She’d better be careful with that, or she’d never leave this room. “It means… victory.”

  “Hmm. So maybe the Fates knew something the day you were born.”

  Victoria rolled over. Her strength was restored enough that she could move me if she tried hard enough. She caught me with arms and legs, wrapping around me. “You can’t claim the Fates knew a damn thing. It’s all chance.”

  “Maybe, but I like to take it as a good omen.” I kissed the tip of her nose, making her wrinkle it. “Besides, it made you feel better for a minute, didn’t it?”

  “A little.” I raised an eyebrow and she sighed. “Okay, a lot.”

  I cradled her for as long as possible, brushing my fingers through her hair and rubbing every inch of her I could get my hands on. Not because I wanted to fuck her again, although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to, but because this feeling was not one I’d ever imagined having.

  The peaceful bubble was popped when raised voices came down the corridor. Victoria heard them too, growing tense again as she listened. “Let’s get dressed,” she said, rolling off the bed. “This doesn’t sound good.”

  I held back a snarl as I pulled on my jeans. Fuck the shirt. Maybe the incubus had some things right.

  I wrenched the door out of the frame again and we emerged to a very unwelcome group of slayers. Will and Suraziel stood in front of the door to the room housing my sisters, both looking eerily alike with their arms crossed over their chests and scowls on their faces.

  Victoria was the first to reach them, alarm written in every line of her body. “What’s going on here?”

  Headmaster Burns was backed by the little one, Ermengol, and an older student. “Miss Holmwood-”

  “They’re kicking us out,” Will interrupted. “You’d think fighting on your behalf would warrant shelter.”

  The Headmaster, a reedy man, pursed his lips. “We’ve notified the families of every student involved in this tragedy, and many of them are protesting the presence of vampires among their children.”

  “We helped their children!” Suraziel roared, and the glamour ripped away in his fury. “We fought for you!”

  The student almost jumped into the opposite wall and the Headmaster took a step back. Only Ermengol remained firmly in place, peering up at him with squinted eyes. “Well, now,” she said grimly. “That explains quite a bit.”

  “He’s with us,” Victoria snapped. “I trust him with my life. This is the only place in New York that’s safe for the Morrígna right now. At least give them sanctuary. They tried to keep him from taking Apolline.”

  “This is out of my hands, Holmwood.” The Headmaster had recovered from his shock quickly. “I’d allow you to stay as long as necessary, but soon you’ll have every family converging on this place. As for you, Godalming… your father hasn’t responded to my summons.”

  Will stared at him coldly. “My father is dead.”

  A tense silence fell between them. The Headmaster stared back at Will, his unspoken questions written all over his face, but he was smart enough to hold back. “The Morrígna will be torn apart if you keep them here.” He spoke tersely. “I can’t hold off an army of slayers bent on killing them, and neither can you. I’m giving you this warning as a chance to save your own lives.”

  Victoria squared her shoulders, but what he’d said was true. I calculated the amount of bloodshed it would take to keep them all safe.

  It’d be enough to ensure that no good relations would ever exist between the Clouded Court and Victoria’s former kind again.

  “We’ll leave,” I said. Victoria looked up at me, her jaw set, but I felt her acceptance. It was the only way to ensure she wouldn’t be hunted by slayers for the rest of her life. “You will make it clear to these families that there is only one vampire responsible for this: Thraustila. We gave our blood to defend your own.”

  The Headmaster nodded sharply. “I honor those terms. Be gone soon, or what happens after is on your head.” He glanced from face to face, lingering on Suraziel’s blue-tinged form with disgust, and turned away. The older student scrambled to catch up to him.

  Ermengol remained behind. “Knightley said farewell.” She addressed Victoria, her eyes sharper than I liked.

  Victoria nodded. “He’s going after Aislin Liddell.”

  Ermengol chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment, examining my singer. “We’ll likely not meet again. It was a pleasure having you as my students. Even you, incubus, although your stance with a sword is terrible. Work on that.”

  She followed in the Headmaster’s footsteps.

  “That was the nicest thing she’s ever said.” Victoria unfolded her arms. “But we’re fucked. Where else can we bring them?”

  “Home.” Morgrainne’s rasp filled the air. She leaned on the door frame, still paler than usual, but standing up straight. “How about we ditch this shithole and go home?”

  Rhianwen joined her, still moving stiffly. “I agree. This is no place for us.”

  “He tore you apart,” Victoria said. “What if he does it again?”

  Morgrainne’s smile was more of a feral grimace. “Wouldn’t be the first time he’s done that.”

  “Grovel,” I said. “Make him believe you. We need you on the inside.”

  Victoria looked at me with wounded eyes. “Càel, he’ll murder them. They tried to keep him from Apolline.”

  “Oh, he won’t kill us.” Morgrainne rubbed a smudge of blood from her chin. “He’ll rub it in our faces, but he’s made his point for the thousandth time.”

  Rhianwen straightened up. “You need us there. Let us feed and strengthen. I need to see Iskandar again.”

  I saw understanding cross Victoria’s face like a lightning bolt: they were waiting for her to approve their appeal. They wouldn’t leave on their own.

  The decision weighed entirely on her, and she believed she was sending them to their deaths. “Is… is Iskandar your singer?”

  Rhianwen shook her head. “No, but I love him all the same.”

  I knew Victoria wavered, but she finally made her choice. “Go, then. You’ll know when we’re there.”

  “Will we?” Mo
rgrainne purred. “Will there be… explosions?”

  “Oh yeah, there’ll be explosions.” Suraziel laughed despite Victoria’s puzzled look. “Big, bad, hellfire explosions.”

  Eighteen

  Tori

  “Where the hell are we going to get hellfire explosions, Sura?”

  We’d evacuated Libra as soon as we’d solidified our plans. The Morrígna had taken an underground route back to Club Bathory, following the deserted subway tunnels beneath the city.

  Càel had led us another direction, through dank, dripping tunnels in a sinuous path that would’ve had my human head spinning, but with my new senses, I knew every direction we turned and could’ve found my way back in the dark.

  We’d waited until dusk to climb up through the sewer grate. Thornton’s Apothecary glowed welcomingly in front of us, even though there was nothing welcoming about the owner.

  He glared at us when we walked in, but I held up the baggie of glittering, tainted pixie dust, and Thornton’s gray eyes lit up with greed. “The whole bag,” he said, a question in his voice, and I raised an eyebrow.

  “The whole bag if we get to use your shower and camp out in your house until further notice.”

  I hadn’t even finished speaking before he plucked the bag from my hands and shooed us to the back. “Flat’s upstairs,” he said, but it was clear Thornton’s attention was entirely on the dust.

  The apartment over the apothecary was like a stage home: everything matched too perfectly, the decorations impersonal. I had a feeling Thornton only agreed because he didn’t actually live here at all.

  When we no longer reeked of the tunnels, we camped out in the sitting room. I paced back and forth, my shoulders tense as iron, until Suraziel pulled me into his lap and forced me to sit still. His fingers rubbed some of the tension away, working over my neck and back.

  That was when it had clicked with me what he’d promised Morgrainne. Explosions? He had hellfire, but enough to wage war on those of the Clouded Court loyal to Thraustila?