[Kassandra Lyall Preternatural Investigator 03] - Bloody Claws

by Winter Pennington

  She kissed me, hard and unexpected, molding her lips to mine as if my mouth were a chalice she would lick clean. I pressed into the kiss, and when her tongue spilled into me, I returned it fervently, every stroke etched with need, with little artistry, and the primal hunger that was threatening to sear me alive.

  Her mouth fed at mine and I was vaguely aware of the sound of the wood still protesting under her harsh grip. Her thigh moved away from me and I nearly broke the kiss in a frantic effort to reconnect with it. But I didn't have to. Eris's thigh slapped down into me hard enough that my head fell back into the couch's arm. I cried out against her mouth, not in pain, but with a preternatural need.

  She ate my cry, swallowing it with a moan that made my body buck up against hers. Her fangs dragged across my tongue and the coppery taste of blood welled between our locked lips. The blood seemed to encourage her as she kissed me harder, trying to obtain that sweet crimson flow.

  A rush of adrenaline sang from the core of my being when she raised my wrists and pinned them to the couch above me. Some great chord felt like it had been hit, echoing a sound of desire that gripped me so completely I forgot everything but her and the fire she cast me in. I yanked my hands free and reached for her, craving her touch like a love-starved junkie, feeling the slick slide of the PVC against my palms. I swept my hands lower, discovering the hard, cold edge of a zipper and jerking it down. Her breasts spilled free of the tight material and I sank my hands greedily into the opening.

  Her nipples stiffened against my skin as I cupped her breasts. Eris tore her mouth from mine, crying out, making my body jerk again. Her bottom lip was stained with my blood.

  It took a moment for my mind to register that Eris hadn't torn her mouth from mine willingly. Someone had buried a hand in her hair and yanked her head back, forcing her spine to bow with the strength of their hold. Eris's pale breasts were exposed through the opened vee of her outfit, full and beautiful, with dainty nipples made for licking and sucking.

  I felt a colder energy and a prickle of fear set in my throat like a thorn.

  Lenorre stood beside the couch with a handful of Eris's hair in her grip and before I could stammer anything, an excuse, an apology, Lenorre brought her mouth down hard on Eris's, kissing her deeply and passionately.

  Lenorre broke the kiss, a tremble of blood quivering on her bottom lip. I knew it was Eris's blood and not mine, knew Lenorre had set her fangs into her somewhere during their kiss. Her gaze was misty and crawling with power, the energy leaking from her was like moist stone, damp and cool.

  A shudder went through me, anticipation, fear, or shame. I didn't know what. I didn't care.

  Lenorre bent low and whispered in Eris's ear. "Do you want this?"

  Eris's reply was breathy. "Yes."

  "You want us both?"

  Eris's eyes were filled with power too, like windblown waters, rippling. There was no mocking in her tone when she said, "Yes." There was only an unwavering certainty.

  Lenorre straddled my legs, setting herself behind Eris. She snaked an arm around Eris's waist, her long fingers like moonlight against Eris's dark attire, her crimson painted nails vivid like a slash of blood.

  She found the zipper and showed me that it unzipped a great deal more than I'd known, dragging it down between Eris's parted thighs.

  "And you, Kassandra?" she asked, her voice sending an army of chills up my spine as she gazed at me over Eris's shoulder. She exposed Eris's shaven mound, playing the tip of her finger over the shadowed slit. "Do you want this?"

  When I didn't answer, Lenorre parted her and slipped a finger down into her folds. The sight made me make a sound low in my throat. I could smell Eris's arousal; smell them both like immaculate snow and some crisp white wine. The wolf paced within me, curious and eager, but still not testing the bars of flesh. I knew Lenorre could use her energy to keep the wolf at bay, but if Eris or Lenorre were doing something in that regard, I couldn't tell. The wolf seemed content where she was, nestled in the back of my mind.

  I sat up and pulled my legs out from under the vampires on top of me. I brought the line of my body closer to Eris and bowed my head, licking the top of her breast. Eris swayed back against Lenorre, releasing a sigh of pleasure that made my skin prickle. I kissed lower, flicking the tip of my tongue against her nipple and feeling it stiffen against my lips. I sank my mouth down on her, sucking gently, listening to the achingly slow rhythm Lenorre had set with her finger on Eris's clit. I knew from experience how expert that hand was, how much Lenorre could make of her touch a tantalizing tease that pushed one's body so close to the edge that a woman was left breathless and begging to be thrust the rest of the way into the oblivion of carnal pleasure.

  Hands pulled at my sweater and I ducked my head as someone tugged it off, too filled with yearning to protest at the loss. Fingers slid between my breasts, grabbing hold of the bra I wore and yanking it off me. Eris's hands worked at my jeans and when her fingers fumbled with the button, she lost her patience and broke the button, as if she'd tear the jeans off me strip by strip.

  Lenorre kissed her neck, watching me while she did it.

  My pulse sped and Eris's hands swept upward. Her fingers played at my breasts, tugging and twisting lightly, making things low in my body writhe.

  I pressed myself against her, against the back of Lenorre's hand. Eris shoved the torn jeans and undergarments I wore down my thighs. Her fingers sank into my yielding flesh. I cried out as she pushed them inside me. My body cinched around her, tightening in eternal hunger. Someone grabbed my hair, used it to pull me closer to Eris. I rose up on my knees, following the hand that led me.

  Lenorre kissed me, trapping Eris between us tightly, leaving her so little room that Eris had to work her fingers out of me. I gasped against Lenorre's mouth at their withdrawal, but felt them again, teasing along the line of my buttocks.

  Eris pulled me up into her lap with her hands under my ass, bringing my body more comfortably against her and Lenorre. Lenorre flicked her wrist, sending her knuckle and the back of her hand dancing against me while she stroked Eris. The feel of Eris's breasts against my bare skin made me claw at her shoulders. I thought I understood what it was to drown in pleasure, but I'd never felt anything like this.

  Eris splayed her fingers over my ass, driving her nails into my skin. I cried out, moaning, pressing against Lenorre's mouth as if I'd crawl inside her. Eris's hands sank even lower, playing along the tuck of skin between my ass and thigh. Normally, I would've stopped to file a verbal complaint, as I don't like a woman playing too close to that intimate area, but this wasn't normally and I was too taken with power and senses to care.

  Eris snaked her hand between my legs and I could feel her tracing me from an awkward angle. She found my entrance and pushed inside me again, easing in and out, making my body tighten as I rode the waves of sex and power. The back of Lenorre's hand flicked against my clit, making my hips twitch with pleasure. The orgasm built and I wasn't sure if it was because of Eris, Lenorre, or of the power enveloping us. The frantic inhale and exhale of Eris's breath fell into synch with mine.

  Lenorre broke our kiss, opening her mouth wide and driving her fangs into the porcelain bend of Eris's neck.

  Eris cried out, her fingers slamming into me and sending me spilling over the edge, bringing me with her as she came, piercing me with fingers as Lenorre pierced her with fang. My hands clawed her back, catching on Lenorre's clothes and tearing at them as if I'd climb through Eris to get to her. Eris's body bucked against mine, the energy hitting me hard and forcing me to cry out. Lenorre jerked her head back, grabbed me by the hair, and kissed me, pushing that sweet metallic taste into my mouth as another wave hit, drowning out the wolf, and sending me shuddering and moaning against her bloody lips.

  When the orgasm passed, Eris and I collapsed on top of Lenorre. Eris started moving almost immediately. Before I could get my bearings to ask what she was doing, she slid down low on the couch. Even for a large couch, Eris a
nd Lenorre were far too tall. Eris draped her legs over the couch's arm and used her hands to spread my thighs as she positioned her face between them. Lenorre stretched out under me, one leg completely flung off the couch while she took off her sweater. I grabbed hold of her pants, snapped off the button, and tugged them down to free her long legs.

  Eris chose that moment to bury her face in my mound. Her lips sealed over my clit, sucking. I dug my nails into Lenorre's stomach as Eris seized my swollen flesh between her teeth. My ass arched, the sensation of her teeth stretching me made me cry out and bite Lenorre.

  Lenorre moaned at the bite, closing her thighs slightly to indicate that she wanted me to move my face to her sex. I tried to lick her at first, to trace the folds of her, to flick my tongue lightly against the source of her pleasure, but Eris was like some kind of animal, licking, biting, sucking, and fucking me savagely with her mouth, killing my concentration.

  I dug my nails in Lenorre's thighs, wanting to tell her that what she wanted wouldn't work with Eris doing what she was doing to me. With Eris holding my ass in her hands, feeding at my sex in a frenzy, I was afraid I'd hurt Lenorre, afraid there'd be no skill whatsoever left to me, only this senseless writhing thing driven feral at the command of another's mouth.

  Lenorre didn't give me a chance to speak. She buried her hand in my hair and literally pushed me down into her. I opened my mouth, taking her between my lips, moaning and making small sounds against her while Eris's pace never faltered. When I was close to the edge, Lenorre pinned my face to her with her hands to ensure I didn't stop, her body tightening. The muscles in her legs went rigid over my shoulders as she cried out and spent herself against me.

  Eris gave one last tug and suck, her fangs sheathing inside me, making me strongly aware of my body, of every pulse point. Eris tore the orgasm from my body, sending me screaming over the edge.

  My hand rested on Lenorre's hip, my face cradled in the crook of her thigh. Eris gripped me by the hips and guided me to collapse beside her head. I could feel her face pressed against the skin just below my navel.

  I was lying there, panting softly, groin still throbbing faintly while I tried to regain control over my breathing. A sharp stinging sensation and loud smack emitted from Eris's direction. I jumped, accidentally jabbing an elbow into Lenorre's thigh and making her hiss. Warmth spread out across my lower body.

  Eris's laughter slowly trickled throughout the room. Her hand stroked my ass over the area she'd smacked. "I've been waiting to do that."

  The shock and horror of what had just transpired hit me in the face and flooded my veins like ice.

  I made to stand, to scramble off the couch, when Lenorre put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me back.

  "What's done is done, Kassandra."

  I covered my face and said, "Oh Gods, what have we done?"

  "A ménage à trois," Eris said. "One that went exceptionally well, considering."

  "Considering?" I asked. "Considering what?"

  Was she teasing? How on earth could she be teasing me after what had just happened?

  "Considering it was unexpected," she said, curling lazily against me.

  "Most unexpected," Lenorre added, sounding calm and thoughtful and not at all like we'd just fucked.

  "You," I said. "What the hell did you do?"

  "I intervened," she said.

  "Why?" I asked.

  "Because," she said, still calm, "Eris was close to losing control. If you were going to be taken by her power, I couldn't sit back and watch idly."

  Her words crushed my anger. How could I blame her when in truth, I was guilty. I felt guilty, guilty for wanting Eris as much as I had, for knowing that Eris could've taken me right there in front of Lenorre and I wouldn't have fought her.

  Then again, I looked down at Eris. "You said just a kiss."

  "I did," she said in a voice that made my stomach tighten. "But can you honestly say you regret it was so much more?"

  "Was it an intentional loss of control on your part?"

  Eris licked her lips, slowly, distractingly. "Yes and no."

  "What does that mean?"

  "It means she was as swept up in the tide of your desire as you were in hers," Lenorre said.

  Eris made a sound that was relatively close to a snort. Her fingers kept sweeping across my ass, tracing distractive and fluent circles over the sensitive skin there. "You can blame us all you want, Kassandra, but you had just as much of a hand in this as we did."

  I let out a deep sigh. "You're right," I said. "It takes two to tango."

  "In this case, three," Eris said, continuing to stroke and pet me. I wanted to be angry with her. I wanted to protest. I wanted to want to tell her to take her hands off me, but I didn't. For some odd reason, I didn't mind that she was touching me. Was it because we'd just had sex?

  "Why don't I want you to stop touching me?" I asked. "Better yet, why don't I feel guilty for admitting that out loud?"

  Lenorre gave me a surprised look. "Why would you feel guilty?"

  I blinked at her and leaned back, giving her a full view of Eris. "You did happen to see the dominatrix between my legs, right?"

  "If you're going to look at it from that perspective, we're all guilty, Kassandra. Very, very guilty." Eris laughed again.

  I turned to Lenorre. "What the hell is wrong with her?"

  Lenorre's mouth twitched. "I think she's a bit knackered."

  "Knackered," Eris repeated Lenorre's words, her laughter bubbling up unrestrained. Somehow, Lenorre and I got dragged into it, laughing as well.

  When the laughter subsided, Lenorre toyed with my hair and asked, "How do you feel?"

  "Better," I said. The tremors and nausea had passed and I felt less lethargic than I should have after what we'd done. "A lot better, actually."

  Eris stood and zipped herself back up. "As much as I hate to leave," she said, "I need to go freshen up."

  She paused in front of Lenorre and me and stooped to kiss me. "Kassandra," she said, stroking my cheek after pressing her lips chastely against mine, "it's been a pleasure."

  The smile she offered was rather salacious. Her dark brow arched in Lenorre's direction. Lenorre softly shook her head.

  Eris bowed hers and said, "Countess."

  Lenorre mirrored the gesture respectfully. When Eris left, closing the door behind her, I asked, "What was that all about?"

  "She was trying to be fair by offering to kiss me as she had you."

  "It's probably a good thing you didn't take her up on that. I'm still processing. I'm not sure yet if I should be pissed off or not."

  Lenorre laughed. "I think we've had our fair share of ravishing each other."

  "Speaking of which," I said. "Where are your boots? I don't remember taking those off."

  "I removed them before intervening," she said.

  "Lenorre?"

  "Yes, Kassandra?" As much as it made something in the pit of my stomach tense uncomfortably to even consider it, we needed to talk. I felt it was better we acknowledged the big pink elephant in the room rather than ignore it.

  "How do you feel?" I asked.

  "What do you mean?"

  "About what just happened?"

  Lenorre pulled me into the circle of her arms and still, she remained calm, as if untouched by the night's events. The whole thing didn't seem to unsettle her. It did me, whether I wanted it to or not, whether what was done was done or not. There was a flicker of fear inside me. How had taking Eris to our bed, seduced by power, changed us? I rested my head on Lenorre's shoulder, thinking.

  "Kassandra," she said at some length, "it was not my first ménage à trois."

  At that, I raised my brows. "Do I want to know?"

  "More than likely not."

  "But it was your first time with Eris?"

  "Yes," she said, and I didn't understand why she sounded amused.

  "Eris implied you'd been in bed together before…"

  "I've watched her feed," Lenorre said. "I'v
e known Eris for many years, and when she wanted to work at the club, I was not going to hire her without learning of her control. And no, before you ask, there was no physical sex involved. I've seen her dominate. I needed to be sure she could do it without crossing any boundaries."

  "Like she crossed mine?" I asked a bit snidely.

  "An exception," Lenorre said. "And fortunately not one that happened at the club." Her expression was drawn into seriousness. "Eris does not lose control. Never once have I known her to lose it, but she did tonight, for you."

  "Because she wanted to," I said.

  "More than likely," she said, "It is hard to remain in control when the very thing you want is within arm's reach."

  "How does what happened with Eris change things between us? How does what happened change us?" I asked.

  "It doesn't," Lenorre said. "Why should it? The only thing I ask of you, is that, if something happens again with Eris, do not do it behind my back."

  "I don't want anyone but you, Lenorre."

  "I know you do not want to want anyone but me, but that could very well be beyond your control, Kassandra."

  "What do you mean?" I asked.

  "Eris is an Eros and a Prime," she said, "and you have tasted both her flesh and her power. I think you may find she may be a difficult thing to refuse."

  I sat up. "What are you saying, Lenorre?"

  "The touch of an erotic vampire can be an addictive thing, Kassandra."

  "You slept with her too."

  "Yes," she said, that one word empty of any feeling.

  "Does that mean we might both become addicted to her touch?"

  "I can refuse her," Lenorre said. "Her power was not directed at me and I am her Countess. I fear you may find it a more difficult challenge to refuse her, not because you are weak, but because her body called to yours even before this night. I tried to shield you from it by drawing your attention to me, but I do not know how well that worked."

  "Then don't leave me in a room alone with her."

  She laughed lightly. "I assure you, I'll apply my best efforts to be present."