by T. S. Ryder
Audrey slung the laptop bag over her shoulder. She'd leave the rest of this stuff. She didn't need it. Her head was spinning like it did when she stayed awake for forty-eight hours on a dare in university. Only sleeping wouldn't resolve this.
I just need space. This isn't like all the other times I've run away from boyfriends. I just need to figure out what's in my own mind.
A couple of women were talking outside her door. Audrey paused just inside her door. She recognized one of their voices and didn't want to have to answer any awkward questions. Even though her eyes were dry, her distress would be plain to see for everybody.
"I heard that another woman who was part of the selections last year has gone missing. How long is it going to be before it's one of us?"
"My cousin sent me an article that said the woman that was killed wanted to break off with the vampire she was seeing. Do you think they'll kill us if we don't find mates?"
The first woman scoffed. "I doubt it."
"But what if it's true?"
The voices faded, and Audrey took the opportunity to slip out of the room. She practically ran to the lot where all the vehicles were being stored. Dimitri and Sanjay hadn't told her anything about more women going missing. And this nonsense that it was the vampires was laughable.
Her hands trembled as she slid into her car. But she had made her choice. She wasn't going to change her mind. Emotions couldn't be trusted, and right now she was far too emotional to think clearly. Once she was a day or two away from the palace, she would know what to do.
Hopefully.
***
She had only been home half an hour before Tiana phoned her, asking about the last interview she sent in. Or more specifically, why there was nothing about the murder in it. It took Audrey hours to convince her the interview was from before the murder, and that she didn't have any insider information about the investigation.
A stress headache was pounding through her head, so Audrey ran up a bath and sprinkled in some peppermint oil. She was just about to undress when her door opened. Audrey screamed, grabbing the nearest item–a hairbrush–and chucking it at the intruders. Dimitri caught it with a startled expression.
Audrey pressed her hands to her face as Sanjay peered over the king's shoulder. "What are you two doing here?"
"You left without saying anything," Dimitri said. "We thought something was wrong."
"And so you break into my apartment?"
Sanjay answered. "The door was unlocked."
Audrey cringed. She was always forgetting to lock her door. "I didn't think you'd follow me. I thought it was for the best."
"Why?" Dimitri narrowed his eyes. "We told you that we wouldn't fight each other. We said that we'd make it work for the three of us. I'm willing to put in that work, I'm willing to do whatever I need to in order to make sure that it works between us. And it's not just political. I've never been drawn to a woman like this before. And as far as the shifter goes…"
He and Sanjay eyed one another.
"I like him more than I thought I would," the Liger offered. "I don't think it would be a hardship for me to share you with him."
"I left because of this." She gestured wildly between the two of them. "Because you say you'll share me, but why would you do that for me? The only thing I'm remotely good at is my job. Maybe I could be happy with the both of you. But I don't want hurt you. And I don't want you to hurt me."
"We would never hurt you."
"But I still might hurt you."
"You did hurt us. You just left." Sanjay's shoulders slumped. "If you need space, we can give it to you."
Audrey wasn't sure what she wanted to hear. If they were angry, it would give her a reason to just kick them out and not have to worry about her conflicted feelings anymore. But they weren't angry. Dimitri was nodding in agreement, and they both looked so concerned for her that all the reasons why she fled disappeared. She just wanted to be close to them, wanted them to hold her in their arms.
"I'm sorry. This is who I am."
"No. This is who you think you are. You're so much more than the person you see yourself as."
Audrey's lip wobbled. She threw her arms around Sanjay's neck, lifting herself up his body to kiss him. His hands cupped her thighs, holding her in place as he kissed her back. The feel of their bodies together had her gasping for breath, and the feeling only increased when Dimitri pressed himself behind her and kissed her neck.
"Wait," the vampire king murmured. He pressed a hand to Sanjay's chest, pushing him away from Audrey's willing mouth. "If you're already overwhelmed, are you certain you want to do this?"
As if Sanjay's concern wasn't enough. Audrey actually laughed her heart became so light. They wanted her. And more than that, they wanted her to be happy.
"Yes," she whispered. "I want you. I want both of you. No more running. No more drowning myself in work. Just living my life."
Sanjay kissed her neck. "Where's your bedroom?"
Audrey pointed, and the shifter carried her down the hall. Dimitri skirted past them and opened the door for them. Sanjay put her on the bed and grinned.
"Have you ever done this before?" Audrey asked breathlessly. She looked at the two men with wide eyes.
Neither answered, just smirked. Dimitri pulled her shirt up over her head as Sanjay removed her pants. For an instant, she was caught by the desire to curl into a ball and hide from them, but then their hands began costing over her body. She was soon lost in the sensations that they evoked in her. Her eyes slid shut, a simmering fire glowing where skin touched skin.
"Hold her," Dimitri ordered.
"How many times—"
"Please."
Audrey giggled into her arm as Sanjay shrugged and slid behind her. His arms circled her waist, pinning her elbows to her sides. He nuzzled into her neck as Dimitri kissed down her belly. He pushed apart her thighs, and Sanjay trapped them under his own. Audrey knew why as soon as Dimitri moved lower. A feeling like a coiled snake built in her belly and she thrashed from side to side, crying out. Heat rose in her chest and neck.
It was better than anything she had experienced with her boyfriends before. Everything blacked out around her and she was lost in the pleasure, only aware of snatches around her. Sanjay's breath on her neck. Dimitri whispering that she tasted as good as she smelled. Sounds of zippers coming undone, Sanjay shifting her from side to side as he removed his clothing.
Dimitri stopped just short of her climax. Audrey lay still, gasping for breath, clinging to Sanjay's arms around her.
"I get her first," Sanjay said. "Since you got her to this point it's only fair."
"I don't know. She's still a little tight and let's face it. You're bigger than me." Dimitri winked at Audrey. "It might be more comfortable for her if you were second."
"Or we could have her at once."
Audrey's heart spiked. As amazing as this experience already was, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to take that. Not yet, at least. She shook her head. "I can't. It's been years since I last had sex, and I've never had anal sex. Maybe in the future we can try that, but not today. Did you bring condoms?"
"I brought one," Dimitri said.
"I didn't." Sanjay brushed her hair from her face. "But shifters aren't carriers for STDs. Neither are vampires."
Audrey shook her head. "Like I said, I haven't had sex in years. I'm not on birth control. I don't want to get pregnant like this. Children are special and precious. I don't want mine to ever think that they were an accident."
Sanjay sighed in disappointment. "I understand. Can I at least use your mouth?"
Her eyes closed. She imagined the two moving in perfect rhythm while she took them in at either end and couldn’t suppress a moan. Her men took that as all the consent they needed and quickly moved her onto her hands and knees. Sanjay brushed her hair out of her eyes and smiled at her while Dimitri entered, causing her to moan in delight. He started a brisk pace, holding her in place with his hands firmly on her
hips. Sanjay waited a moment before encouraging her to open her mouth.
She loved the sensation of having both men inside her, moving in unison on opposite ends. The pleasure was already blinding her, and she was glad to have their voices in her ears, telling her exactly what to do. Soon all three were grunting and moaning with pleasure. Audrey braced herself as her whole body began trembling. Any moment now…
Something snapped deep inside her and her body turned to jelly. She collapsed onto the bed, unable to hold herself up any longer. She was hardly aware of the twin groans somewhere above her as her two men also found their completion. Her eyes slid shut.
I could have this for the rest of my life.
She grinned.
I am going to have this for the rest of my life.
***
The shower was hardly big enough for the three of them, but Audrey didn't care. She felt calmer than she had in what seemed like her whole lifetime. Who knew she just needed a couple of non-humans to claim her as their mate to make her feel worthy of love?
"Will you come back to the palace with us?" Dimitri asked.
"Not tonight. I have to go to work in the morning and deal with some stuff. But I'll be back tomorrow."
Sanjay kissed the top of her head. "I don't suppose we can stay the night."
Audrey's body began to sizzle again. "I need to sleep. With you two here, I won't be able to."
"We can go to the drugstore," Dimitri said, sliding his hands over her hips.
"That's not the point…" Her hands slipped over her stomach and she grinned to imagine it round with the children of her shifter or vampire. Her smile faded quickly. "I always knew that I was an accidental baby. My parents didn't want me. I always vowed that I would never put my own children through that."
"You won't," Sanjay said. "I would welcome any child you bore with gladness and love."
"Agreed," Dimitri said. "Regardless if I fathered the children, I would love them."
Sanjay nodded, and Audrey felt the last of her hesitations melt away. This was more than anything she had ever thought she would find. They were hers. Well and truly hers. And she was theirs.
Who needed work when she had this?
"Forget the drugstore," she said, wrapping an arm around each of them. "I want you to stay the night."
Chapter Eight
Tiana's office was littered with framed articles. Every time Audrey talked with her boss, she envied the litany of reporters that had proven themselves worthy to be hung on the walls. Even if Tiana wanted plenty of the gossipy stuff, she also had produced a lot of good reporters and rewarded them for their efforts.
But somehow that didn't seem so important anymore.
The previous night with Dimitri and Sanjay had been the best she ever had. She still felt a little tender this morning, although she wouldn't trade it for the world. She had a future with them, one where she wasn't alone with just her work to give her purpose. It was worth far more than any framed article hung on the wall.
"Your articles have gotten very popular," Tiana said. "We have people writing in, praising us for providing such a balanced view on the non-humans. A lot of them have questions, too."
"I can incorporate their questions into my further interviews," Audrey said. "And I know you want more information about the woman that was found murdered, but the last article I sent in yesterday has everything I know about it."
"It's not much. Especially considering that you're banging the vampire king."
"Excuse me?"
"You told me that he chose you as his mate. Everybody knows he spent the night with you, Audrey. It's in all the gossip magazines." Tiana leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. "Why haven't you used this to your advantage yet?"
"I don't know what you mean," she said coldly
"You have to interview him. You could go even further. A blog about what dating him is like. We would draw in thousands more readers."
Since when was drawing in readers more important than her relationships? Audrey frowned. "I'm not going to use him to advance my career. He loves me."
Tiana snorted. "You've only been there for what? A week? Any man who says that he loved you after that much time is just trying to get into your pants. Which apparently he has."
"Vampires don't work the same way humans do." Audrey glared at her boss. "And neither do shifters. It's less complicated for them. They can smell the person they'll be happy to spend the rest of their life with. You can't think of them in human terms. At least not with everything. Dimitri… both of them. Sanjay, too. They love me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. They're already compromising on things and giving me what I want over what they want." She hesitated, but Tiana was the closest thing she had to a friend. Who else could she share her good news with? "This doesn't leave this room, but they want a polyandrous relationship with me."
"Hmmm." Tiana peered at her. "Look, Audrey, you are in an amazing position right now. How many reporters out there would kill to be close to the vampire king? You have the ability to—"
Audrey shook her head. "Stop."
Her boss fell silent. If only for a moment. "Wait… you're falling in love, too, aren't you?"
"Not falling. Fell. Hard." Audrey took a deep breath. "I was terrified at first, but that was because I never thought that they would actually want me, and my feelings were getting too strong to deny. I love them, and I want to be their mate."
Tiana's face creased. "What about your career?"
"There are more important things than a career. For the first time in forever, I feel like a real person. There are people who love me for me, not because I wrote a fantastic article."
"You're in deep."
"Yes. And loving every second of it."
***
By the time her meeting with Tiana was done, Audrey was exhausted. She drove back to her apartment with heavy eyes. It probably wasn't the best idea to drive all the way back to the palace in this state of mind. As much as she wanted to go home to her vampire and shifter, safety came first. She was too tired to drive any distance. A quick nap would take care of that.
Once in her apartment, she checked her phone. A frown crossed her brow. There were a half-dozen missed calls from Dimitri. She quickly phoned him back as she kicked off her shoes. It only rang once before he answered.
"Audrey, are you okay?"
"Yes."
"You weren't answering your phone."
"I was in a meeting with my boss. Why? What's wrong?"
There was a brief pause, and then the phone call took on a slightly echoing quality that indicated that Dimitri had put it onto the speaker. Sanjay's voice came over the line.
"Have you seen anything suspicious?"
Audrey's heart began to beat faster. "No. Why?"
"Another woman was murdered this morning," Dimitri said. "She was seeing a shifter. They were both killed and dumped at the palace gates."
A cold ball of dread hit Audrey hard. She clutched her phone tighter, trying to calm her racing heart. "I'm coming back right away."
"No," Dimitri said. "We'll come get you. Our relationship is all over the tabloids, I wouldn't be surprised if you were being watched. It would be too easy to run you off the road on your way here and take you. Lock your doors and sit tight. We're already on our way. We'll only be fifteen more minutes."
"Okay." Audrey pinched the phone between her ear and shoulder as she rushed around her apartment, stuffing everything she needed into her laptop bag. It was a good thing she had left most of what she needed at the palace when she left yesterday.
"You have to tell her," Sanjay said over the phone, his voice lowered like she wasn’t supposed to hear.
Audrey stopped her frantic packing. "Tell me what?"
Silence.
"Tell me what?"
"Dimitri has received a lot of threats of late."
"There are always a certain amount of threatening letters written around the time of the Harvest Moon Festi
val," Dimitri interrupted. "There have been more than usual this year. The most recent ones we've received have stated that there will be more murders unless all the women who participated in the festival are ejected from the vampire palace, and all vampires with human mates are handed over to human authorities on charges of rape."
Could the Fist of Humanity people really be so deluded as to think that Dimitri would bow to such demands? Let alone the humans who had vampire mates. They would never accept it.
"They aren't concerned about the women," Audrey realized. "Otherwise they wouldn't be murdering them."
"Exactly." Dimitri's voice was grim. "We're almost there, hang tight."
Audrey opened her mouth to confirm she was ready as soon as they got there, but never got the chance.
There was a loud crashing behind her. The door flew off its hinges, splinters of wood shooting every which way. Half a dozen men wearing ski masks and carrying semi-automatic weapons surged into the room. Audrey screamed. One of the men yanked her phone from her hand while two other grabbed her arms and began pulling her out.
"King Dimitri, I presume," the man who had taken her phone said. He chuckled and dropped the phone, crushing it beneath his foot.
"Let me go!" Audrey screamed. They didn't so much as slow down as they dragged her towards the stairs.
Chapter Nine
When the men took off their masks, Audrey knew they meant to kill her.
She stayed hunkered in the back of a nondescript van with tinted windows, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible. The only chance she had at escape was if their concentration lapsed long enough for her to bolt. But where could she go in a moving vehicle?
The city skyline soon disappeared, replaced by trees. They were taking her out into the bush to kill her. There was no doubt in her mind that these men were the Fist of Humanity. Would they torture her like they did the first woman they killed?
"Do you think your precious king will listen to us if our message is written in your blood?" one of the men asked, a crooked grin on his face. "Rumor has it that he's chosen you as his mate. Is it true?"