“Get your hands off of me,” Jacques growled.
Flynn didn't move.
Jacques shoved him so hard, Flynn slammed into the tree. His teeth actually rattled. As Jacques went to move away, Flynn had no choice.
This was what he expected.
He took Jacques down.
The man obviously didn't expect it, and they both went to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
It began the battle.
Both mates were up and circling each other.
“My fight is not with you,” he hissed.
Flynn didn't care. “It is with me. You’re not going in there angry.”
Jacques lunged, his claws digging into Flynn’s flesh. The pain was nothing compared to the need to keep Jacques from losing it. Out here, they could battle.
In there, they had to be a unified front.
“I’m going to kill someone.”
Flynn only hoped it wasn’t him. He knew why Jacques was afraid. They didn't want to lose Jolie. She was all. She was their mate, and the babies were their future.
“Jacques,” he warned.
The man began battling his mate. Flynn dodged everything he threw at him. His mate was over the edge. Flynn recalled once when he’d been lost in the pain.
He’d needed his mate to help him navigate it, and he was going to do the same.
When Jacques tried to take him down, Flynn moved out of his way. He was more and more like Jacques every day. He was fighting just as well.
But now he had to play dirty.
When his mate moved closer, Flynn took a felled tree branch and hit his mate hard enough to take him to the ground. In that instant, he knew what Jacques needed.
Flynn pounced.
His fangs found his mate’s throat and sank in. Slowly, as Jacques fought, Flynn sipped. They were pressed to the ground, Flynn’s bigger arms holding him still.
Then it happened.
Jacques relaxed.
The scent of his mate.
The feel of Flynn’s mouth moving over his pulse.
It offered him calm.
His hands stopped fighting. Instead, they held on as Flynn fed from him.
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered into Flynn’s head. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’
Flynn continued feeding.
‘It’s okay. We’re okay. Just breathe and relax. We’ll get through this.’
He did what his mate said. Jacques allowed his mind and body to drift in the bliss. As Flynn pressed him to the ground, he stopped being angry. His hands went to his mate’s back, and he rubbed them back and forth.
There was now a mix of Jolie and himself on Flynn’s body. It was cathartic.
It was their nature.
Flynn slowly pulled his fangs from his mate’s throat. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “I’m hurt that she didn’t tell us.”
“I know, Jacques, as was I, but she’s afraid, and she’s the target. Imagine how terrified Jolie has to be?”
He thought about it as he was pressed to the ground beneath his mate. Slowly, his eyes bled back to green, and his fangs slipped back into his mouth.
“She has to be so worried.”
“She is. She cried during sex.”
Flynn shared his memories with him. He knew that the truth would set him free. If Jacques saw how scared she was, he’d stop thinking about him and focus on her.
“Oh, mon amour,” he whispered, watching the memories play out like a movie. “She’s hurting.”
Flynn stared down at him. “We need to protect her, and having Jolie scared about us—that’s going to make it worse. We need to be her rock, not a volcano.”
He got it.
Flynn was right.
“Thank you. I needed this intervention.”
He didn’t mind. The scent of mate was helping him cope too. In fact, he wasn’t even freaked out that they were still pressed together on the ground.
It was official.
Flynn had become a pack animal. He was thinking like them, and that pleased him.
His claws detracted, freeing Jacques body from beneath him. Then he pushed off his body. “We have to be a unified front. We have to take care of this as one.”
“I agree.”
He offered Jacques his hand. When he pulled him up, Flynn tucked him under his shoulder. “We have this.”
“You’re right, we do.”
“Why don’t we go check on our mate?”
It was a damn good idea. “Yes, let’s.”
Together, they headed in.
They’d survived this one.
Luckily.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
He watched them fight.
Mathew wondered if he should get involved. The last time he did, he’d been punished.
He didn't like how Jolie’s mates were over the edge.
Then, when he heard Jacques tell Flynn he needed to kill someone, his heart began pounding.
There was no doubt he’d do it.
There was no way he’d break that promise. Both men were dangerous, and now that he wasn’t part of the circle, he was at risk.
Mathew wanted to panic.
Instead, he opted to lay low.
It was better that way. It may be Christmas Eve, but he needed to get out of the house. Hopefully, Clariel would cover for him.
Mathew had something to do.
He’d already lost everything.
Now, he was going to risk it all. If the mates were gone, Jolie would love him again.
She’d need someone to care for her.
It could be him.
He knew it would work out.
But first…
He needed to take a trip.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
As she sat in the tub, her heart was pounding. She couldn’t reach either of her mates, and that worried her. While Jolie knew Flynn was in control, she knew Jacques wasn’t.
She heard the howl in the dark night.
It was like a wounded animal.
He was hurting, and she couldn’t blame him. When this was all over, she owed the men in her life everything. This pregnancy had torn their family apart.
Mathew was hiding.
Jacques was angry.
Flynn was struggling to hold their unit together.
Jolie only hoped that he was strong enough. She needed him to be the backbone while they were barely surviving.
As they approached, she went very still in the water.
When the door opened, she gasped at what she saw. Both men looked like they’d done battle. Flynn was a bloody mess. His shirt was torn, and his hair had debris in it.
Jacques looked just as bad. His body was showing through his silk shirt, and he had blood drying to his skin. It looked like it came from his neck.
“Hey, baby. Is there room in that tub for two more?” Flynn asked.
She simply nodded.
“Great. We got a little messy.”
Yeah, she noticed.
The men stripped. As they stepped into the water, she didn't know what to say. “Are you both all right?” she finally asked.
Flynn grinned. “We just took in the night air.”
Jacques laughed. “Flynn kicked my ass.”
Jolie stared at them. There was no doubt in her mind why it happened. She reached for her mate.
‘Flynn, are you okay?’
‘Yes, but he needs you. Show him some love. It’ll make him feel better. Jacques is scared.’
She moved toward her other mate. “I’m sorry I didn't tell you. I needed to be focused tonight. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
He opened his arms.
Jolie moved into his body and began washing the dried blood from his flesh.
“Please forgive me.”
He already did.
“Flynn and I worked it out. I have to be honest, Jolie. I’m not happy you kept a secret, but Flynn helped me see why you did it. Maybe going forward, we ca
n try to keep that from happening again.”
She kissed him.
The feel of his mouth against hers was cathartic. She loved when they were all together. It helped soothe her nerves.
“I’m scared,” she said, knowing that the Tueur was coming for her. She was pretty sure that they wouldn’t hesitate. Once Christmas was over, the trouble would be arriving on their doorstep.
“We have you,” Jacques offered. “From here on out, you go now where without myself or Flynn. You need to be safe, and we’re going to keep you protected.”
“Mathew…”
“No,” they said together.
She wasn’t going to even challenge them. “Okay.”
Flynn sunk beneath the water. Once there, he let the debris wash from his hair. When he surfaced, Jolie was waiting to wash his hair.
“I love this part,” he muttered, as she worked her fingers through the silky strands.
“Pervert,” she teased, seeing what he was picturing in his mind.
“I am who I am.”
When she finished with Flynn, she moved toward Jacques. “Who won the fight?” she asked.
Jacques laughed. “Him. Our Flynn is getting stronger and stronger. He leveled me and then had a snack.”
Her eyebrows went up. “A snack? I wish I was there to see that.”
Flynn mumbled from his position across the tub. “Your punishment is you can’t hear the details.”
Jacques laughed when Jolie looked surprised. “Oh, our future is going to be interesting. I can’t wait to see how this one plays out. Who would have known that Jolie and I weren’t going to be the bossy ones?”
Flynn grinned, his fangs showing. “I knew it.”
Jolie splashed him with water.
He growled and pulled her under the scented bubbles and toward him. When she came up sputtering, he kissed her. His mouth took, plundered, and stole.
Jolie went still.
Jacques laughed even more. “Flynn has tamed the savage beast.”
Jolie pointed at him, but then closed her mouth.
Jacques was right.
Flynn had some magic power over her temper. When he was bossy, she was calm.
Well, it worked for them.
“Maybe we can hit the bed?” Flynn offered. “Tomorrow is the holiday, and I’d like to get some sleep. Tomorrow, I have presents to open and a girl to wow.”
Jacques stood to get them towels. “That works for me.”
They all dried off, and then the men chased Jolie to bed. As the cornered her, she laughed. “I thought you said sleep?”
He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at his other mate. “Are you tired, Jacques?”
“I could use a nightcap.”
Jolie gasped when they both pounced.
But then she didn't fight.
How could she?
It was love.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
Across Town
It wasn’t easy to find them, but the underground societies pointed him in the right direction. Mathew was taking a huge chance going there, but he didn't have a choice. Jolie’s mates were dangerous.
He had to protect her.
She’d promised him that she’d never push him away, so the men had to be responsible for what had happened. Yes, he made a mistake, but he didn't think he deserved to be ostracized.
She was all he had.
She was like his mother.
Mathew wanted her back, and this was the only way.
As he headed into the tunnel, at the edge of New Orleans, he found someone to help him.
“You wanted information about Jolie Harcourte?” he asked. Mathew knew he was betraying her but it was for her own good. He had to save her.
“Yes.”
“Will you promise that she doesn’t get hurt?”
He grinned wickedly. “Sure. We just need to get her.”
Mathew relaxed.
“I can get you into the house tomorrow.”
The man rubbed his hands together. “What will it cost us?” he asked.
“I want her free of her mates.”
The man grinned. “Absolutely.” What this young vampyre didn't know was that Jolie Harcourte was sentenced to die. They couldn’t allow her children to be born.
She was carrying an abomination.
It was prophesized.
Those children must die, and in order for that to happen, so must she, but he didn't tell this fool vampyre.
“End her pregnancy, but don’t kill her,” he said. “I’ll get her out of here after it’s done.”
The vamp held out his hand.
“Okay.”
When Mathew shook it, the hair on the back of his neck crawled. He’d just betrayed his family. He’d broken his promise of fealty. If this failed, he’d lose her.
He knew it.
“Be outside her home tomorrow. I’ll get you in.”
The man headed back into the shadows. “Keep your promise, and she’s yours.”
Yeah, as she decayed.
Mathew headed home.
It was done.
From here on out, he was going to make sure Jolie came first, she was safe, and the mates who were controlling her were put down.
He didn't trust them.
Jacques was a killer, and Flynn was a human. From the start, Mathew knew they couldn’t survive under the same roof.
Now he had to hope Jolie never found out the truth.
If she did, he’d lose her too.
For now, he kept his fingers crossed.
∞ Chapter Seventeen ∞
When Jolie pulled from the darkness, she could hear Christmas music playing in the room. As she woke up, Jolie took a moment to enjoy the joyous song being sung.
It gave her some peace.
One day of perfect happiness was all she wanted if it was to be her last. When she opened her eyes she was cocooned between the two men she loved.
Flynn and Jacques were watching her with grins on their faces. Before they went to death, they had each received an early Christmas gift.
Her.
“My loves, you two are already awake.”
Flynn grinned. “I love watching you wake up. I know Jacques feels the same, so I woke him too.”
The vampyre smiled. “We do love watching you.”
Jolie stretched, as both men lecherously stared at her naked body.
It made her laugh.
“There’s not even mistletoe.”
“Is that what it takes?” Flynn asked, running his large hand down her torso.
She was heating up.
Apparently, it didn’t take much.
“How about you feed your little ones, and then we take today to share in the holiday? I have a special outfit for you both.”
They both grinned.
When Jolie did a special outfit, it generally meant leather, lace, and debauchery.
“I’ll go first,” Jacques offered, rolling to his back.
Jolie didn’t hesitate. She instead straddled his hips and stared down into his calm green eyes.
Apparently, she was forgiven for the secret she kept from him.
“You are,” he answered, reading her thoughts.
“Merry Christmas, my love,” she said, lowering her mouth to his throat. When he turned his head, to make room for her, she struck.
Jacques moaned at the feeling of her fangs piercing his flesh. There was the scent of blood as she ravenously drank from him.
It was already a perfect holiday.
When she was finished, she slowly lapped at the drop that escaped. He moaned beneath her.
“Presents, and then you can take turns unwrapping me.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
“I love you, Jacques.”
He loved her too. This was something like their six hundredth Christmas together, and he cherished every single one.
Flynn waited patiently, his back braced against their wood headboard. As he watched his mate fee
d, he couldn’t help but be excited at what was coming.
He was next.
Flynn wanted to do cartwheels around the room.
Then when she glanced over, he wanted to do so much more. He needed her.
“Come here,” he said, holding out his hand.
Jolie didn’t hesitate. When she settled in his lap, he tenderly brushed the wayward hairs from her cheek.
Her heart fluttered in her chest.
“I love you, Jolie.”
As he stared into her eyes, she swore she was falling into the blue. It took her a second to realize he was practicing some of his skills on her.
“Flynn!”
“What?” he asked, grinning at her. “I was going to use a little compulsion to get you to stay naked through present opening.”
Jacques began laughing.
He loved his mates.
Jolie punched him.
Flynn couldn’t help but love them. In the half a year, they’d become his foundation and peace.
“I’m going to ignore that and instead feed your hungry little gift.”
He glanced down at her stomach and smiled. There were days he still couldn’t believe it.
“Feed away.”
Jolie straddled his hips, his body immediately reacting to her touch. The sheet across his hips tented.
“Hello delicious,” she said.
“Are you talking about me or my blood?”
She grinned, and then struck.
Flynn moaned. There was nothing like Jolie feeding from him. That was his favorite thing in the world—okay, it was his second favorite thing is the world.
As she rubbed against him, he could barely think.
“You’re being bad, Jolie.”
When his hand crashed against her ass, Jacques jumped.
Jolie moaned.
Flynn held on.
As she pulled away, she was licking her lips and grinning wickedly.
“You could warn a vampyre before you do that,” Jacques teased.
Jolie nuzzled Flynn. “I love when he surprises me, and he knows it.”
Jacques thought about it.
He still didn’t think he could do it. There was this little part of him that wanted to share in that moment with them, but he simply couldn’t bring himself to strike her.
Dangerous Influence (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 5) Page 21