Hurt (Alexa O'Brien Huntress)

by Trina M. Lee

  What the hell exactly was I?

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Fueled by the rush of violence, an aggressive need for release plagued me as I drove. My knuckles throbbed along with my nose. A glance in the rearview mirror revealed a bruise over the bridge of my nose that spread out beneath one eye. I tasted blood from a cut on the inside of my lip.

  As much as I preferred to keep the peace, I loved a good fight. Perhaps a little too much. It had a way of bringing out the beast like nothing else could. Especially when Arys was on the receiving end. Although I could work with any deserving asshole. It wasn’t like there was a shortage.

  Now that the fight was over, my wolf’s aggression sought another way out. A much more carnal way. I headed for Alexa’s house, hoping she was already there. The need to touch her, to taste her skin and feel her stolen heat, it racked me. I needed to feel her legs wrapped around me while she moaned and growled in my ear. Anticipation had me squirming uncomfortably as my jeans tightened around my hard on.

  Turning into her driveway gave me a moment of uncertainty as I made my way down the tree-lined path. When the trees gave way to the clearing where the house sat, I was psyched to find her car there. I vacated my car and sprinted up the front step in record time.

  She looked up as I entered. Standing in the kitchen with a dirty dish in hand, Lex’s eyes lit up at my arrival. “Hey, babe,” she greeted me with a smile that faltered as she took in the sight of me. Her tone held suspicion. “What happened?”

  “Why do you ask like that?” I kicked my shoes off and headed straight for her. “A good time was had by all. Nothing else to tell.”

  Plucking the dish out of her hand, I set it on the counter and reached for her. With hands on her hips, I pulled her in for a scorching hot kiss. Encouraged when she slipped her arms around my neck, I backed her up against the closest wall with a little more force than intended.

  A small squeak escaped her. “Oh my. Only one thing better than fighting, huh?”

  “You know it. Jez isn’t here, is she?” Her Jeep hadn’t been outside, but I figured I should ask and spare us all some embarrassment, just in case.

  “No, she’s with Wendi. If she were here I wouldn’t be doing her dirty dishes.”

  That was all I had to hear. I hooked fingers in the waistband of her leggings and jerked them down. The flimsy red fabric that posed as her underwear was like a beacon, drawing me. I dropped to my knees before her and pressed my face to that inviting spot between her legs.

  She sucked in a sharp breath when I nuzzled the soft material. There was a sexy rasp in her voice when she said, “Right down to business then.”

  “Is that a problem?” Just the scent of her got my wolf pacing inside me. Lex still smelled like wolf, with an underlying hint of vanilla and female musk. She was unlike other vampires that way, most of which only smelled like whatever perfumed products they used. And blood. They all smelled like blood.

  “No,” she sighed. “Not at all.”

  Slow and sensual was always nice, in the right time and place. This was not one of those times or places. Up against the kitchen wall had to be fast and furious.

  I jerked her skimpy undies aside and flicked my tongue lightly over the soft pink flesh beneath. The resulting shudder I elicited fed my ego. All I wanted was to please her. Encouraged, I delved deeper.

  The sweet taste of Alexa rocked my world. I felt it inside me, in the pit of my stomach. Desire was a complex thing. It seemed simple on the surface, but it was so much more than wanting someone. It was connecting with them. Needing to touch, please, and bond.

  There was power in her touch when she grasped a handful of my hair. Such strength in her body, but under my loving attention she allowed herself to be vulnerable. Considering how much she’d been enjoying the role of aggressor and dominant in the sack these days, I loved that she was able to lean back and take what I wanted to give her.

  I licked her until she was a shaking, moaning mess. Only when she hovered on the brink did I stop. Sure it might have been a form of torture, but if anyone deserved a little sexual torment it was Alexa.

  “Don’t leave me hanging here, Shaz.” She shoved the hair out of her face and shot me a warning look.

  Unable to resist, I flashed her a devious grin as I stood up. Tugging her underwear down, I waited for her to step out of it before my hands went to my jeans.

  “I want to be inside you when you come,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief when my dick sprang free. “I need it.”

  She clung eagerly to me when I lifted her in my arms. Lex might have been a badass with superhuman strength, but I held her easily. For just a second I hesitated with the head of my swollen cock at her entrance. I wanted to savor that first slide inside.

  With her back against the wall, our eyes met as I entered her. Her body opened up for me, tight inner muscles holding me deep within her warmth. There was nowhere else I’d rather be.

  The static-like sensation of her power grew stronger with every thrust. At one time I hadn’t fully grasped how being a succubus worked for Lex. I got it now, and it didn’t bother me that she fed on our sexual encounters. If anything, I enjoyed it even more because of that. She took something from me that went deeper than sex alone. It was a vital part of me, my life force, and I kind of got off on being able to meet all of her needs.

  As I thrust into her, Lex started making this sexy little moan that was almost a growl. It was one of my most favorite sounds in the whole damn world. When her brown eyes flashed blue and she glanced toward the door, I knew what it meant. Arys was here.

  “I don’t care,” I whispered, burying my face in her neck. And I didn’t. In fact, I looked forward to the moment when he opened the door to find me banging Lex up against the kitchen wall.

  The door opened and I smiled into the curve of her neck. I felt his gaze land on us. The weight of it bore down on me. A moment later the door closed.

  I dared a glance at Arys to find him lurking in the dark entryway. Slowly, he prowled toward us like he’d finally found what he’d been hungering for all night, since he’d whined about the food selection at The Wicked Kiss. It had been us all along.

  While painfully aware of his hungry, intrigued stare, I focused on Lex. Holding her tight, I increased my pace, just enough to jerk little gasps from her. Lex stared over my shoulder, and I knew Arys was soundlessly gliding up behind me.

  He was going to touch me. Knowing it made my skin prickle with anticipation. I supposed I’d asked for it with that jab back in the Doghead parking lot. Now that she was present with us, Arys would take my rule and run with it.

  Whatever Lex saw in his eyes, it made her clutch my arms with clawed fingertips. The sting of her nails made me suck in a breath. A nervous chill trickled down my spine. Every second that he didn’t touch me drove me crazy wondering when it would happen. He knew well how to play the game.

  I thought I’d be ready for it when Arys’s hand slipped into my hair. My shaky sigh said otherwise. It was just his hand in my damn hair, yet it sent shockwaves of static heat to the tips of my toes.

  Arys stood close enough to be in my personal space without touching me any further. A knot formed in my stomach as he drew on my sex-drenched energy. I couldn’t have denied the resulting sudden swell of desire if I wanted to. I didn’t try.

  My awareness of every sensation heightened. The way I fit so perfectly into Alexa’s body, the pleasure of each stroke, the way my skin prickled in response to being between these two powerful vampires.

  I was especially aware of the vampire behind me. His fingers tightened in my hair, and he jerked my head to the side, baring my neck. I kept my eyes locked on Lex. The two tiny points of her fangs pressed into her bottom lip. She clung to me, but it was Arys she watched. We all knew what was coming, and she wanted to see it happen.

  Because Arys was all about driving the energy as high as possible, he didn’t rush the fangs. No, what followed was the only slightly unexpected touch of his
tongue. Every muscle in my body tensed. My rhythm stumbled, but Lex didn’t seem to care. She writhed on my cock like she couldn’t get enough.

  Arys licked an agonizingly slow path along my jugular. My heart pounded in my ears, and my balls drew up tight against my body as orgasm approached. Son of a bitch. I really fucking hated that vampire sometimes. And myself as well. We both knew without that incubus influence I’d have never allowed this, and we both enjoyed it anyway.

  Despite my resistance a ragged groan escaped me. I moved faster, seeking to drive Alexa to the brink. That was when Arys would spill my blood. He was waiting for us to reach that peak. That was when our arousal would be at its highest. We were a feast, and Arys planned to devour us.

  Holding tight to Alexa’s hips, I hit the depth I knew she loved. Her legs were wrapped around my waist. Head thrown back against the wall, she watched both Arys and me with a wicked hunger burning in the abyss of her midnight blues.

  “Do it,” she whispered, locking eyes with Arys. “Do it now.”

  Still he hesitated. Probably to drive us both a little crazy. The touch of his tongue had pushed me into that euphoric headspace of eager readiness, where nothing else mattered but the rush coursing through every fiber of my being.

  Fangs broke skin and all three of us reacted. I groaned, Arys sighed, and Lex murmured a, “Fuck yeah.” Arys, in his own way, was inside me as I was inside Alexa. The circuit was complete. It was more pleasure than pain. And more intimate than just about anything.

  Being the literal link between the two of them right then took me back to the anchor. The cosmic keystone. Connected to them both as I was, I felt it, the way I brought them together. Like a bridge, I joined their two opposing sides, somehow strengthening their bond despite the forces that fought to destroy it. How could it be that I’d never seen it so clearly before? I had to tell them.

  Alexa’s body gripped me tightly as she came. I held back until I felt the spasms within her recede. Then I just couldn’t take it anymore. With Arys’s mouth on my neck and Lex wrapped around me, I hit what had to be the greatest high I’d known.

  Lungs heaving and heart pounding, I gently lowered Lex to the floor when she was ready to try standing on her own again. The tremble of her legs stroked my already happy ego.

  Arys seemed reluctant to release his hold on me. Sucking one last time at the wound in my neck, he stepped back, licking the blood from his lips. His pupils were huge, creating the illusion that his eyes were black.

  I would wait until we all came down from this high. Then I would tell them what I’d learned tonight.

  * * * *

  Lex ran a hand through her tousled hair. As she looked at each of us in turn, a frown creased her brow. “Did you guys do that to each other?”

  Arys and I exchanged a glance. His face already showed considerable improvement.

  “Only some of it,” he said with a shrug, flippant about the whole thing.

  We’d moved to the bedroom where we now sprawled on the bed with Lex in the middle. I tried to psych myself up to tell them what I’d learned. However, the more I thought about it, the more nutso it sounded.

  Lex snuggled in against me, her head on my chest. I held her close, enjoying the sensation of her naked body pressed to mine. Arys sat up, leaning against the headboard, absently channel surfing even though there was nothing but reruns and infomercials on in the wee hours of the morning.

  “You guys make me crazy, you know that?” With a gentle hand she caressed the bruise on the bridge of my nose.

  “Ditto,” I said, while inwardly I shouted at myself to stop being such a pussy and talk to them. Taking a deep breath, I forced the words out. “Can I ask you guys something?”

  That got Arys’s attention. The TV forgotten, he eyed me expectantly. “Spit it out, pup.”

  That stupid, juvenile nickname used to piss me off. I’d grown so accustomed to it that I didn’t always notice it now. It wouldn’t surprise me if he still called me that when I was old and grey.

  Lex tilted her head so she could peer up at me from beneath long, wispy lashes. Last chance to choose to say nothing and just forget the whole thing.

  “How were things between the two of you when I was out of town?” There. Simple enough. Small start.

  “What do you mean exactly?” Alexa asked.

  Arys cocked his head in thought. “Shitty. If I recall correctly, she told me she couldn’t handle this anymore. That she needed me to leave her alone. I doubt I need to say it, but that didn’t go over well.”

  “Hey,” Alexa protested. “That was a hard time for me.” To me, she added, “You left, and I was so lost without you. The constant conflict with Arys on top of that combined with all the shit Lilah pulled… It was enough to make anyone lose it.”

  Arys nudged her and laughed. “When are you not losing it?”

  “Screw you.” She laughed too, despite the aggression in her tone.

  “Oh, is it my turn?” His jibe had her swinging a fist. It planted firmly in the pillow he used as a shield.

  “Don’t be a pig.”

  Trying to keep them on track, I propped myself up on an elbow so I could better face them both. “So things were bad?”

  “Yeah.” Lex frowned in remembrance. “It got pretty bad. Why do you ask?”

  I pushed myself up to a sitting position as if that would help me think more clearly. “When I was away, I had a lot of time to think, and I came to the realization that I have a role to play here, with you both. It wasn’t until recently that I became more sure of what that might be. But it just sounds so crazy.”

  Lex gave my leg an encouraging pat beneath the blanket. “Story of our lives.”

  “Go on.” Arys gestured for me to elaborate. He was intrigued now.

  “You know how you always call me your anchor?” I waited for Lex’s nod before continuing. “There may be some truth to that. I went to see Brogan, hoping she would know something. She didn’t, but we did some digging and uncovered some interesting information.”

  I told them everything, right down to the message Brogan left on my phone. Then I waited while they absorbed it all.

  “Holy shit,” Alexa breathed the expletive. She struggled to a sitting position and clutched the blanket to her chest. “I knew it. I fucking knew it.”

  Arys was much calmer. Pensive. “So who do we think orchestrated this cosmic keystone? Obviously it’s someone who knows how much you mean to Alexa. They purposefully chose you, Shaz, to be the one that would keep us from self destructing.”

  “It sounds really fucked up when you say it like that. I keep asking myself if maybe this is all a mistake and I’m just reading too much into what I’ve been sensing.” I ran a hand through my hair a few times. When Arys’s gaze followed the motion, I stopped.

  “No, it’s real,” Lex said. “I’ve felt it all along. I always thought maybe it’s a wolf thing that kept me anchored to you, but this makes sense.” She slumped back against the headboard, shaking her head. Her eyes were haunted. “I think Willow did it.”

  “Well, that would fit, if we’re assuming this was done with the intent to help. Although it’s unfortunate that all it does is grant us a postponement of what’s to come. Unless…” Arys slid a sly smile my way.

  Tension gripped me. I sat rigid, my pulse racing at his unspoken suggestion. No way. No how. There was no part of me that wanted to join them in vampirism. I couldn’t see my mind changing on that one. “Not interested.” I tried to play it cool, but he’d have sensed the jump in my heart rate.

  “Don’t go there, Arys. We already knew we’d end up like the others. Let’s just be glad it won’t get that bad for a while.” The glare Lex shot him was sharp and deadly.

  The others. Two other sets of twin flames that we knew of. Their stories had taken a dark turn.

  Arys laughed her off. “Bringing Shaz into our bloodline would be doing him a favor. But hey, no pressure.”

  “Again,” I said, flinging my own glare
his way. “No thanks. Not interested.”

  A wistful expression crossed Alexa’s face. “Never. Shaz is too good to be what we are.”

  The vampire’s tune changed when he saw the sadness in her eyes. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  “So what do we do now?” she asked, but I didn’t get the feeling she was asking either of us but herself.

  Arys answered anyway. “We focus on the here and now. And this time, we put you in the middle.” He marched his fingers up her arm to tickle the inside of her elbow.

  From where I sat I felt the pulse of energy that accompanied the action. Alexa leaned into his touch, but she reached for me.

  Though I would never say it aloud, Arys was right. This time. There was nothing we could do. I found some peace in just knowing, and I hoped that Lex would too.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Doghead seemed almost lively for a change. The subdued vibe of the last several nights had been replaced with anxious excitement. Werewolves filled the place. Hanna had called everyone together ahead of her meeting with Alexa, which was about to happen in the next hour or so.

  Most of these wolves only stepped foot into the bar on pack meeting nights or full moons. Otherwise, they were off living their day-to-day normal lives. Or whatever passed as normal for that type of werewolf.

  I’d come by early to speak to the sober version of Hanna before she went to meet Lex. It only seemed right that I be there. I was loyal to both women and hoped to mediate any issues that might arise. Hopefully, Hanna would agree. If the vampires and werewolves couldn’t sort their shit out, I’d be forced to take a side. And though my pledge to my new pack meant a lot to me, it didn’t mean as much as Alexa did.

  “Nice to see the place full again. I wish it was like this every night. I really miss it since Dayne and the guys were taken in.” Izzy surveyed the bar with a quizzical brow lift. “I barely know half these people though.”

  “We’ll get Dayne back,” I said, confident though I wasn’t sure how that would happen. “Hanna and Lex will come up with something.”