Ruin: A Reverse Harem Dark Fantasy Vampire Romance (Fire & Blood Book 1)

by Alexa B. James

  “You came?” Ruin smiled wide as he pillowed his head on his hands. His big blue eyes landed on mine, heating as a wicked smile spread over his lips. He sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees. “I thought that there was only the slightest chance in hell that you’d actually come here, Goddess.”

  “Goddess?” I asked with a laugh as I lowered my hood.

  He shrugged. “That’s what I call you in my head.”

  It was so sweet that I couldn’t help smiling, even if the situation was starting to feel a little awkward. “I think I misinterpreted the note,” I said, “And I’m sorry that I’ve put you all at risk. Do you want me to go?”

  “No, we don’t want you to go back out there.” If it was possible, Ash’s glower deepened. “Ruin risked your fucking life by giving you that note. Did he even tell you why he was inviting you here?” Even though there was a hint of contempt in Ash’s voice, an illicit thrill burst through me at his dirty word. Fuck. I never dared to say the word, but every time I heard it, I relished the naughtiness of it.

  I looked between the three vampires who all watched me expectantly. Death was silent as always, but he studied me with his characteristic single-minded intensity that made me feel like I was the only person in the room he saw.

  Breaking away from Death’s gaze, I looked back to Ash. “I thought I was here for a night of treasonous sex. Isn’t that right?” My hands went to the tie of my cloak, but I paused when all three of the vampire warriors’ mouths fell slightly ajar. “Clearly, I misread this situation. I’ll be going now.”

  “Koribella, wait.” Ruin ran a hand over his dark hair and winced. “No, I didn’t leave you my room number hoping you’d come to screw all of us. I wouldn’t ever presume to do something like that. But, for the record, I would risk committing treason for just one kiss.”

  His words soothed the hot feeling in my cheeks a little. “Really?” I asked. “You’d commit treason for just a kiss?”

  “Fuck yeah,” he breathed.

  I lifted my brows. “Where exactly on my body would you risk your life to kiss me, warrior?”

  His blue eyes heated with lust. “Oh, sweet, sexy goddess, that’s a question I can only answer by showing you.”

  A tingling warmth bubbled low in my center. I was with Ruin on this one. I’d rather die with a forbidden kiss on my lips than live a hundred years having never tasted one.

  Ash exhaled a heavy sigh. “You really fucked this one up, Ruin. Koribella, you know that we’re here as envoys for the Queen of Seattle, right?”

  I barely managed to not roll my eyes. “Contrary to popular belief, Ash, we courtesans are generally highly intelligent and observant. And, I’ve seen you come in and out of Portland Palace for five years. Some vampires call you the Queen’s Three. You’re the only three vampires that she created herself, and the only vampires she trusts. You stay in different dingy hotels every night because you don’t trust King Razor. He’s tried to kill you twice. You’ve been the queen’s only messengers since she took power.”

  “You know a lot about us, Koribella,” Ash said, lifting his brows.

  “It’s Kori.” I bit my lip. “I’m honestly embarrassed to admit this now, under the circumstances, but whenever people talk about you, I pay attention. I’ve been paying attention for years. I must have imagined that I caught you each watching me. I thought the attraction was…” I covered my flushed cheeks and laughed, “I thought it was mutual. That’s why I came here when I got the note. ”

  Ruin shook his head slowly. “You didn’t imagine shit, Goddess. We know all about you, too. We’ve noticed you for years. But, that’s not why I left you that note. We smuggle the human refugees of Portland to Seattle.”

  “What?” Now it was my turn to stare at the men with my mouth hanging open. It seemed impossible that vampires would risk their lives to save humans, and it was even more inconceivable that I could possibly not know something like this existed. Did the rest of the rebellion know about the Queen of Seattle and her three scions smuggling humans out and keep it from me?

  “Come with us to Seattle,” this suggestion came from Death, who watched me from the floor. In all his visits to the palace, I’d never seen or heard him say so much as a word. Usually, he just stood there and glowered, and everyone kept their distance. But silent as he always was, I could never overlook him. He just seemed so present and vigilant. “We could help you start a new life there.”

  “How would it be any different?” I asked, genuinely curious. “I’d just be a vampire courtesan there as well, wouldn’t I?”

  “You wouldn’t have to be.” Ash tilted his head, and his dark blond hair brushed his bare shoulder. “Humans can quit their jobs in Seattle and find a new one if they’re mistreated because they don’t have some astronomical debt they have to pay off to their employers or the king. Your life expectancy would be a hell of a lot higher there, too. Vampires face actual consequences when they kill humans in Seattle.”

  A longing to flee flared in my heart, but a wash of guilt quickly extinguished it. I couldn’t leave. The rebellion was coming, and the rebels depended on me.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, “But, my whole family is here. All of my friends are here, along with everyone and everything I’ve ever known. I can’t leave Portland yet.”

  Ash leaned against the wall. “You won’t have any of that if King Razor kills you, like he did his former consort.”

  “I know, and I wish I could accept your offer, but I can’t. Can I tell you what I came here to offer you…?” I paused as nervousness thrummed through me. “I’ve been a courtesan since my eighteenth birthday, and an apprentice since I was sixteen, and training before that, and I’ve never even kissed someone that I truly desired. I want a night with you three without biting.” I opened my hand, showing three large gemstones. The largest was a purple ovular musgravite. The second was a circular red beryl. The last was the smallest and most precious, a tear-shaped alexandrite. “They’re mine. They’re patron gifts. I didn’t steal them. You could buy a house with just one of them and live off the other two for a year or more.”

  All three of their eyes widened in apparent shock. After a second, both Ruin and Death stood and closed the distance

  Death’s dark gaze studied my face. “Are you saying you want us to be your courtesans?”

  I winced. “Is that insulting?”

  “No,” he said with absolute certainty.

  “Then, yes.”

  My breath hitched as the men converged around me.

  CHAPTER SIX

  KORI

  In my five years of being a courtesan, I have had many partners, men and women. Often, I’d participated with groups of partners when it was requested. I’d never felt nervous or excited. Aroused and passionate? Yes. That was part of my work, but right here, standing between these three beautiful warriors, my breath hitched and insides squirmed. A tingling awareness pulsed on my clit, and wetness slickened my folds.

  “Are you turning me down?” I asked, as my breaths came faster.

  Ruin chuckled low, and his fingers went to the strings on my cloak. “Kori, you don’t need to give us jewels to have a night with us.” Lifting his hand, he tugged the cord open, and my cloak slipped down over my arms. “We’d happily give you as many nights as you’d take us, at only the price of our company.”

  “You know that we’re all risking death if we’re caught, right? You’re risking more than I am,” I whispered, needing to make sure that these men understood the danger I was putting them in.

  Death leaned in as he brushed my hair to the side. “I’m death,” he whispered. His fingers tugged the knot that held up my dress, and it slipped down my body, leaving me bare before the three vampire warriors. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

  Ash grabbed my waist and maneuvered me, slipping between the door and me. Warmth pressed up against my back. Ash’s hands squeezed my hips, and my thighs grew slick. Even though Ash had been so rejecting when I first arrive
d, I wanted him to be the first one to enter me. Every inch of my body felt alert and aware as the three vampire warriors closed in.

  I lifted my hand with the gems and managed to breathe, “Take them. I want to know what it feels like to be selfish for one night. I want to be the patron. This has been my fantasy ever since I first saw you three, and I want to savor every moment of it.”

  Ruin grabbed the priceless stones from my hand and tossed them onto his bedroll as if they were worth nothing. He then turned back to me. His hands cupped my breasts, and his rough thumbs gently rolled my nipples. I gasped as my core pulsed and nipples peaked in want.

  He gave me a wicked smile. “To show you the answer to your earlier question, Kori, I’d risk dying to kiss you here.” Ruin leaned down and pecked me on my shoulder. “And here.” His kisses trailed down my chest. “And definitely here.” His mouth closed over my nipple, and his tongue circled the bud. He fell to his knees, gripped my hips, and his lips traveled down my belly. Ruin paused and pulled his head away. His gaze slid over my hipbone and down my mark. “Sexy fucking fire tattoo.”

  If these vampires were Portland Royals, they would immediately know that the flame on my hipbone wasn’t just a tattoo, it was the official royal mark that indicated that I was a blood mage and what type of magical ability ran through my blood. I didn’t actually have any magical ability. I was born latent. The mark had been given to me on the day it was confirmed that even though I couldn’t spout plumes of fire from my hands, I still had Ignis mage blood in my veins. That mark told any vampire royal that if they consumed my blood, they would be able to use fire magic until my blood wore off.

  The fact that these three vampires didn’t even know what mage marks were, was so erotic, and when Ruin’s tongue traced over the lines of my brand, I imagined that he was licking it away from my skin.

  Death cupped my cheeks before slanting his mouth over my lips. His skillful mouth sucked and licked mine. His tongue plunged between my lips just as a banging came at the door. Death broke away, and all four of us stilled.

  My heart froze. Had someone followed me here?

  The banging came again, louder. Cold dread gripped me in its clutches. My selfish desires just killed all of us.

  Ruin pulled away, only to give me a mischievous grin. He waggled his dark brows. “They can just go ahead and break down the door because I don’t want to stop.”

  “We’ll fight our way out after you ride my cock,” Ash whispered into my ear as his hard length pressed into my ass crack.

  “The lady should get her money’s worth,” Death whispered into my other ear.

  The knock came again — three quick blows and then four more spaced out. I slumped back against Ash. “It’s not warriors. It’s my little brother. That’s his knock.”

  “You told him you were coming here?” Ash asked. At first, I thought he was mad, but he whispered, “Good. We could have been fucking killers for all you knew.”

  I hadn’t told my little brother Timothy, and I doubted Genevieve would have involved him in this selfish act of treason. Along with having prophecies of the future, my younger brother Timothy tended to know things he shouldn’t. But my younger brother’s gifts were a secret I’d take to the grave.

  “He wouldn’t have come unless it was necessary for me to run. Thank you for this little taste of treason. It was worth the price of any jewels.” Reaching up, I caressed Death’s cheek before leaning in and giving him one more kiss. Ruin lifted his head and gave me a kiss as well.

  Ruin pulled my dress back up my body and Death helped by tying my cloak. I slipped it over my head, just as the knocking came again. Turning, I found Ash in my path.

  He lifted his brows. “Do I get a kiss?”

  That same delicious nervousness woke in me, and I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his soft mouth. I felt his kiss down to my toes, and too soon, he broke away and stepped out of my path.

  I opened the door only an inch and looked through to find my brother hyperventilating just outside. His eyes were watching the street as he raised his hand for another knock.

  “Timmy.”

  My brother spun, his face filling the crack. At nineteen years of age, Timothy had the unfinished look of a teenager who'd been stretched to full height but hadn’t quite grown into his features. He had the same black hair as all of us siblings, but unlike the rest of us, his dark hair was paired with disconcertingly yellow cat eyes. His slit pupils were always a little off-putting, but right now they brimmed with panic. “The rebellion. The rebels are killing all of the royals and any vampires they can catch,” he whispered. “It’s a bloodbath in the palace and throughout the city.”

  “They’re killing them?” I whispered as my breaths came in short gasps. “What about imprisoning the royals to use in negotiations? It’s the only way we’ll win.”

  “The consort has had everything ready for a while, but she’s been lying to you. She changed your plan, Kori, but she was waiting until you left the palace so you wouldn’t get in the way. Brend, Vivie, and Griff are helping her. They’re part of this.”

  Lord Strike’s timid smile passed through my mind, followed by flashes of the other vampire royals. I insisted that the coup would be bloodless. The consort tricked me, and my siblings and Griff helped.

  “Did this happen?” I asked, meaning, did this happen in the past? With Timothy, sometimes past, present, and future blended together or were deemed unnecessary.

  He shook his head and then nodded before shrugging, which I took to mean that he didn’t know yet.

  I gripped the door frame. “Maybe we still have time to stop this.”

  He shook his head. “No. But we might just have enough time to get those three vampire warriors out of Portland. The ones in this hotel room. It’s important that they survive. I don’t know why, but it’s crucial. And if they stay, they’ll die.” He looked away, his eyes going distant. “Tell them that the king discovered that you were missing and is sending warriors. If they find them here, you’ll all be killed.” He nodded. “That will work and tell them to hurry. I know the best route.”

  When I told the warriors, they didn’t grumble. They didn’t say a word of protest. All three of them dressed in their travelworn clothing. They rolled up their bedrolls and packed their bags. They had very few possessions between them, and within minutes, we were all following Timothy out the door and down the hall. The crowded streets of Portland Dome seemed the same as they always did.

  No one noticed us as we rushed between alleys, through an industrial building’s basement, and down into a tunnel system, but my heart was racing so hard, I swore I could hear it.

  We crossed through a large metal containment door and into a tunnel. When Ash grabbed a flashlight from his bag and pointed the light that way, we found the tunnel empty save for thin streams of ash sprinkling down from above.

  Timothy waved down the dark and dry passage. “You go straight that way. It will take you to the main tunnel.” The air was so bitterly cold down here that thick clouds of condensation puffed from Timothy’s mouth with every word. He turned to me and whispered, “I’ll be far enough in to give you some privacy.” The moment my brother slipped back through the containment door, Ruin stepped up.

  “Come with us. We can provide for you until you find a job that you want to do.”

  Ruin’s sweet offer warmed my heart. All courtesans knew that a poor lord was usually more generous than a king. I suppose a penniless warrior far surpassed even that. I cupped the warrior’s scarred cheeks, wishing I could have spent more than a few stolen hours with the wicked flirt. “In a different world, I would run away with you three in a heartbeat. Please use the gems to buy yourselves houses, fall in love, and have happy lives. That’s what I want for each of you.”

  Ruin worked his jaw back and forth. “Is there anything we can say to convince you to come with us?”

  “What about this?” Death stepped in again, leaned down, and pressed his lips to mine. The k
iss sent a shock of lust straight through me, and I kissed him back, hungrily. My mouth moved over his, devouring his kiss. If he took me right here in the tunnel, I wouldn’t object.

  I broke away, breathing hard. “You’re very good at convincing, but I still have to stay.”

  His fingers brushed back my dark hair from my cheek. “We don’t want you to be in danger.”

  “It’s fucking ridiculous that you’re staying,” Ash said from behind me. “You’re already out. You just need to walk away. This is bullshit.”

  “Don’t worry about me.” I nodded. “I’m going to be fine. The humans are taking back Portland tonight. King Razor is dead, and from this moment on, I’m your enemy.”

  Spinning on my heel, I rushed out of the tunnels and slammed shut the containment door. Reaching up, I pulled on the wheel lock until it wouldn’t turn anymore. The jarring notes of Portland’s siren rung through the air before my brother and I emerged from the tunnels. All through the streets, people ran, and screams ripped through the night.

  Timothy reached out, offering me his hand.

  “What will happen?” I asked as my fingers wrapped around his.

  “Death, destruction, evil on both sides, and it won’t stop for a very long time.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  KORI

  One Year Later.

  I crawled out of bed and looked back at the man sprawling across the red silk confronter. Luca watched me, his azure eyes drilling holes in my naked body. His muscles glistened with sweat and his spent cock shone with my wetness. Golden curls ringed his square face with a chiseled jawline and nose. Luca was so beautiful that it was almost painful to look at him, and yet, all I wanted was to leave this place and forget that I ever entered his bedroom.

  “So, volunteering to die doesn’t even get me two rounds with the great Koribella?” The words were so spiteful, and I knew that I was supposed to feel anger. I didn’t. All I wanted was to leave so I could return to my actual work. A twisting unease was filling my gut, and it had nothing to do with sleeping with the courtesan before me.