Shades of Pink

by 33 authors

  Blake snorted. Kate agreed with his unvoiced sentiment. Marc was just as likely to fight alongside demons as he was to leave Daniel behind for good. He'd been forced to leave his Childe before, and things hadn't turned out so well. He wouldn’t do it again; wouldn’t leave Daniel, Blake, or her.

  “We’d better go,” she said, holding her hand out to Marc. “We’ve got a long road ahead of us.”

  Marc helped her up, and she, in turn, took Blake’s hand and helped him to his feet. The three of them were still holding hands when they left the roof and made their way to ground level.

  The Jeep Daniel had had prepared for them used one of those modified engines taking all the room in the back, which meant the three of them had to squeeze in the front. It wasn’t all that comfortable for the long ride ahead of them, but Kate didn’t mind very much, not as long as she got to be close to both of them. She ended up falling asleep, curled up in Marc’s lap, and only woke up again when the car stopped. Morning was so close that the sky was already lightening on the east. The three of them hurried inside.

  The barracks had been abandoned since the squad had closed the breach near Claremont. Five years had passed already since that first victory. Five years since Kate had first met Blake and Marc in the mist-cloaked ruins of the city. At times, it felt like only yesterday. And at other times, she could have sworn she had known them her entire life.

  It was no accident that they had chosen to come back to this place. They could have gone to Marc’s home in Riverton; the three of them had lived there for a while, after all. But that house had seen its share of pain. This place, these barracks, was where it had all begun, where the three of them had first started to fall in love. It also didn’t hurt that the woods around the barracks had always been teeming with animals, including a lot of deer, and Marc had already promised to teach Kate how to hunt.

  Blake, on the other hand, had offered to teach her to feed from a human without hurting them. She’d noticed he’d said it when Marc wasn’t around, and she still wasn’t sure she’d take him up on it. Fortunately, she’d have time to think about it.

  Years after the squad had moved out, the main building had a distinct air of neglect, but the solar-powered lights came up when the three of them stepped inside, and it soon became apparent that the structure was sound. They even had hot water, which came in handy in cleaning up first what would be their bedroom, then each other—although that shared shower turned short when the water started to run cold.

  Wrapped in towels and leaving a trail of water droplets behind them, they made their way to the room they had prepared. The two mattresses on the floor, covered in a pile of blankets, didn’t look like much, but as Kate tightened her hands on Blake’s and Marc’s on either side of her, it looked like the coziest room in the world.

  And then, it became the most magical one: with a grin, Blake murmured an excited, “Just wait.” Letting go of her hand, he turned off the lights and she could just guess his form as he crouched next to something on the floor—Simon’s clay jar. He removed the stopper, and at once a hundred, maybe a thousand, tiny dots of light burst from the jar, zooming through the room and leaving multicolored trails in their wake. Kate gasped in both surprise and delight. After their initial burst of speed, the dots slowed down, but they continued to drift through the room, sparkling a little brighter whenever they crossed paths with one another.

  “Like it?” Blake asked, and by the glow of the lights and trails, his smile was all too obvious.

  She didn’t say it reminded her of the fairy lights in her bedroom, the first time she’d shared a bed with Marc. Blake had set those up, too, with Simon’s help.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said instead, reaching out to him with her free hand. Her fingers slid to the back of his neck and she pulled him forward for a gentle kiss.

  “Marc’s idea,” he whispered when their mouths broke apart.

  His head tilted toward Marc, but she hardly needed the hint. Tugging on Marc’s hand, she drew him closer—close enough to kiss him, close enough that after a second, Blake joined in as well, and the three of them shared one of those sloppy, sweet and sexy three-way kisses that always caused Kate’s stomach to flutter in anticipation of more.

  Her towel was the first to fall to the floor. Blake’s and Marc’s followed quickly enough.

  They knelt on their makeshift bed, forming a rough circle, and while Kate tried to offer kisses and caresses to both of them equally, it didn’t take long for her to realize they were focusing on her rather than each other. She thought of giving a token protest, but it was hard to object when they were laying her down, Blake already sliding lower on the mattress until his head was between her thighs while Marc, lying on his side next to her, kissed her deeply once more.

  As so often happened, she lost track of whose hand was on her thigh or her breast, whose tongue was licking her lips, teasing her nipples, or sliding inside her. She knew, of course; she couldn’t not know. But in this moment, it didn’t matter anymore, not when they both worked together to nudge her, inch by inch and second by second, toward the bright, burning light of pleasure.

  When she touched it, it consumed her, seared everything, and the world turned incandescent white even behind her closed eyelids.

  She was still shaking, her heart still hammering beneath Marc’s spread fingers when she felt Blake’s cock brush against her slippery folds. She only had time to wrap her mind around the thought that he was coating himself in her wetness and already he was pressing in, slowly but inexorably stretching her and filling her. She sighed when he stilled, his entire length now inside her.

  She would have encouraged him to move, or wrapped her arms around him to draw him closer, but both speaking and moving were beyond her at the moment. Besides, he knew what she wanted, and his slight smile as he started to rock inside her said as much.

  For a little while, Marc reclined next to them, one hand stroking his cock lazily while the other caressed them both in turn; his eyes burned as brightly as Blake’s, the same need—the same love—radiating from both men.

  With each slow thrust from Blake’s hips, pleasure reignited inside Kate, but something was off. Something was missing.

  Someone.

  At the moment she started to reach out to Marc, Blake did the same. They grinned at each other, then at Marc.

  “Join us,” Kate said, and Blake echoed the words.

  At Marc’s small nod, Blake gripped Kate’s waist with both hands. With a snap of his hips and a roll of his body, he reversed their positions so that he was now lying on his back while Kate rose to her knees astride him. She rode him for a few seconds as Marc shifted behind her. Blake then wrapped his arms around her, drawing her down to him, their chests pressed together, their mouths finding each other again.

  At the first brush of a wet finger against her puckered ring, she moaned into Blake’s mouth, electricity shooting through her and causing her to buck against that soft touch. Marc’s other hand settled on her back, holding gently as he pressed in.

  A second finger felt tight, and a third even too tight, but the pressure was welcome, as were Blake’s tiny thrusts upward, each of them nudging her clit.

  Breathless, she tore her mouth from Blake’s and pressed her temple to his shoulder.

  “Come on,” she whined. “Marc, please…”

  “Come on is exactly right,” he said in a sultry voice. “You’re close, aren’t you? How close?”

  Blake picked up in his dirtiest tone. “Very very close, huh? I can already feel you, tightening around me, fluttering around my dick. Can you feel her, Marc? Can you feel how much she wants it?”

  Kate couldn’t manage another word. They were only too right. Her first orgasm had never completely subsided, and it wouldn’t take much more for her to find that light again, she only needed—

  Marc’s fingers twisted inside her, stroking along Blake’s cock, and she cried out.

  —that.

  If the first t
ime had been all light, this time she felt like a warm, comfortable darkness closed over her, holding her as close as her lovers did.

  With her mind still hazy from pleasure and her body shaking from the aftershocks, she was only half aware that Marc’s cock was, oh so gently, pushing inside her. A sigh escaped her lips, pure contentment spilling like a caress against Blake’s collarbone. In just moments, Marc was in her all the way in, his cock deep within her alongside Blake’s, with nothing but a thin membrane between them. Kate felt full, complete, like she always did when they were both inside her body, and it didn’t matter if their cocks filled her pussy, her ass or her mouth just as long as she had both of them to herself. If it made her greedy, she could live with that.

  They let her calm down, remaining still within her as her heart gradually slowed down again. She couldn’t even imagine how difficult it had to be for them to wait for her to be ready. When they started moving again, it was with motions so minute that she could hardly tell they were moving at all. But soon enough, those tiny slips and slides intensified. Marc and Blake found their rhythm, that same rhythm that had become so familiar to the three of them over the past few years, and nothing else existed for Kate. Nothing but the friction of their bodies, and the fingers on her breasts and clit, the mouths on hers, on her neck, her shoulder. Nothing but the three of them.

  When she came next, she took both Blake and Marc with her, clinging to them with her hands and body, keeping them close even after the three of them lay on the bed and fell apart. They arranged her between them, and she would have been hard pressed to tell where her own body ended and where theirs started. With the twinkle of magic lights above them, she felt like they were flying through the stars together.

  Even as her body demanded rest in the safety of her lovers’ arms, her mind knew something had to come before that. They were only waiting for her to say the word. Giving her one last chance to change her mind.

  “I’m ready,” she said, and there was no hint in her words of any hesitation. She wanted this. She wanted to share it with them. And she knew they wanted to share it with her, too. Neither asked if she was sure, and she was grateful for it.

  They laid her flat on her back between them, and each took turns to press a chaste kiss to her lips. Then their mouths were on her throat, one on each side, caressing but not biting yet. She rested a hand at the back of each of their heads, and said it again.

  “I’m ready.”

  At the same instant, their fangs sank into her skin. She let out a quiet, surprised sound; she’d known it would hurt a little, but she couldn’t hold it back. And soon, she couldn’t hold back a moan when, still together, they started to pull on her blood. The feel of their mouths and tongue drinking from her, drawing her life, all she was out of her was the most erotic feeling she’d ever experienced—more erotic even than having both of them inside her.

  Her body arched against them, seeking friction, contact—seeking to be filled even as they emptied her. Fingers pressed against her pussy then pressed in—whose fingers, she couldn’t have said—and at that gentle pressure a deep shudder shook her body, her pleasure reignited yet again. She would have said their names, said how much she loved them if she had not felt so lightheaded suddenly, and so very, very tired. Her eyes closed. Her ears were buzzing, although she thought she heard one of them—both of them, maybe?—whisper words of love right into the shell of her ear.

  The last thing she felt was liquid on her tongue, cool and coppery. Blood from both of them, she knew, and her last thought before she drifted into a dreamless sleep was that when she’d wake again, she’d be theirs forever. Just as much as they were hers.

  ~~~

  Kallysten’s most exciting accomplishment to date was to cross a few thousand miles and an ocean to pursue (and catch!) the love of her life. She has been writing for over fifteen years, and always enjoyed sharing her stories and listening to the readers’ reactions. After playing with science fiction, short stories and poetry, she is now trying her hand, heart and words at paranormal romance novels. To see her other stories, including free short stories and sample chapters, visit http://kallysten.net.

  ONE MORE BLOOM

  Vivien Dean

  Lovers Adam and Rachel have been cursed for over a century, doomed because the world wasn’t ready to see past the colors of their skin. But now, under the canopy of Washington DC’s cherry blossoms, Adam finally has the means to put an end to it, once and for all.

  ~~~

  It was a good day to die.

  Springtime had come early to Washington, DC, blooming in the colors that always made it Adam Marchand’s favorite season. That bright green only found in newfound blades of grass. Whites and pinks and yellows peppering the flowerbeds like a Seurat masterpiece to create a beauty greater than its blossoms. Blue so clear and deep, he could stare up into it and get lost for the eternity he was condemned.

  He wouldn’t change his mind about what was to come, but he did regret he wouldn’t have the opportunity to savor this day the way it was meant to be.

  He dressed casually, faded jeans, a plain dark T-shirt, nothing that would catch undue notice. People wouldn’t even look twice at him for the color of his skin, a gift he would never take for granted no matter how many years passed. If he got attention, it came from interested women and the occasional man. The blond valet, for instance, had flirted with him outrageously while they rode up the elevator to his room the night before. He didn’t see Adam’s Creole heritage, just someone he found attractive. Both of them would’ve been hung in Adam’s youth, but now, nobody cared.

  If he had only been born in this era...how different his life would’ve been. He could’ve courted Rachel without fear, announced his devotion to her in public, even married her without stripping her away from her family. They could’ve had children by now, beautiful babies with her eyes and his smile, and he could’ve gone to bed with her nestled against him, knowing they would face the morning together.

  Instead, Adam got the so-called privilege of losing her over and over again, denying her the life she should have, condemning her with ignorance even in those final moments.

  No more.

  The ring rested secure atop the dresser in the silk bag he’d stored it in since getting it. Though Berenice had said he could wear it, he’d only put it on once, to make sure it fit before she did her mojo. What if he lost it? Or what if the magic leeched away, rendering it useless when he needed it most? He’d searched for a way to break the curse for too long to risk sabotaging it, either via ignorance or negligence. So the ring remained locked in a strongbox he carried back from Martinique

  Until now. The time had come to forget about his anxieties.

  As he dumped the bag’s contents onto his palm, the russet silk glided across his skin, tickling with its teasing caress. The band itself was innocuous, thick silver etched with symbols he didn’t recognize, but he trembled as he slid it onto the ring finger of his left hand. Nobody would notice it. It looked like a wedding band. But wearing it like one felt like sacrilege, no matter what Berenice claimed about pathways, and his stomach churned at the prospect of Rachel spying it before he had the chance to touch her.

  He squeezed his eyes shut. Forgive me.

  Nothing to be done about it now. Scooping up his wallet and jacket, he headed out, ready to take the next step.

  Though he’d chosen the Mandarin Oriental for its proximity to the Tidal Basin, he hadn’t realized when he’d arrived late last night how redolent the air would be with the scent of cherry blossoms. It saturated every breath, reminding everyone who strolled along the walks of the delicate pink flowers they came to celebrate. Rachel had been coming to the National Cherry Blossom Festival since she was a child, but this was the first time Adam had dared to venture into the city at the same time. When she’d been young, he’d watched her home in Baltimore. After she moved to DC for college, he’d resumed his search for a way to break the curse.

  At that point, he
only had seven years before the magic would drive them together again. Even if he hadn’t discovered Berenice, he would’ve been forced to return to Washington this summer anyway.

  Others were already out, enjoying the fresh spring air. Families strolled along the basin, parents pointing out the more vibrant trees to the children who held their hands. In spite of his anxiousness to find Rachel, Adam fell into step behind one of them, an older couple with a single little girl swinging between them.

  The mother was taller than her husband, a statuesque Amazon compared to his diminutive frame. She was the one who seemed to lead the trio in their exploration, pulling laughter and smiles from both her companions, loud enough for more than a few people to glance in their direction. The image they presented was one of carefree joy, the looks they received mostly jealous admiration.

  Adam broke off from the path and settled in the first patch of grass he could claim. His heart ached for the unfettered happiness they possessed. Most of the time, he went through the motions of his damned immortality without dwelling too much on the what-could-have-been. It was hard work staying unnoticed while still managing to survive in this world. But keeping such a tight rein on his emotions was exhausting, and he could only thank God the end careened closer.

  No more torture about where they could’ve gone.

  No more dwelling on where it had all begun.

  New Orleans. 1898.

  * * *

  The city of his childhood had been warmer than DC, and the smells lacked the spice and smoke, but he’d spent ages on the riverfront, yearning for the day when he could hop on a steamboat and be with the woman he loved without fear. Up north or out west, they would be treated differently. The color of his skin wouldn’t doom their relationship, and he could walk proudly down the street with her on his arm instead of skulking around in the dead of night just to see her.