Defuse (Infernal Council Book 2)

by Maya Nicole

  In an awkward shuffle of bodies, we moved to the edge of the bed and I moved up to straddle Nico. Raphael moved behind me, and in one fluid movement, pushed into my pussy, thrusting several times before pulling out.

  "Sweet mother of hell serpents." I dug my nails into Nico's chest and then lowered myself onto him.

  Raphael grabbed a handful of hair and pulled my head back and toward him. "Where do you want me?"

  I rocked on Nico and panted as Raphael ran his tongue across my neck and to my ear. Amari leaned down and took a nipple in his mouth, purring.

  "In me." Raphael's lips met mine, before Amari moved from my nipple to my mouth. Nico thrust from under me, burying himself deeper and hitting me in the right spot with his piercing.

  They took turns kissing me, their lips practically touching, and I was so turned on I reached down and rubbed my clit, needing release. Nico grabbed my nipples with his fingers and rolled the hard points between his fingers. My orgasm hit me in the gut and Amari caught my cry with his lips as Raphael moved behind me to slowly push into me.

  I had wanted this distraction and it wasn't disappointing.

  "Lean forward on Nico." Amari gathered my hair and put it over my shoulder out of the way as I leaned forward.

  Raphael stilled behind me before slowly pulling back out. I hadn't felt any discomfort as he'd entered me, only fullness.

  I began rocking on Nico, meeting his thrusts, and Raphael matched our pace. I turned my head and Amari gripped his cock, guiding it to my mouth. He was the perfect height to suck his dick from my position on Nico.

  My body thrummed with energy and I felt so full. I tightened my hold on Nico's shoulders and got lost in the sensations of the three men surrounding me.

  I moaned as Amari thrust in and out of my mouth. His fingers were buried in my hair, guiding my mouth how he liked.

  Nico sat up on his forearms as he punched his hips up underneath me and swirled his tongue around my right nipple and then my left. My eyes watered as pleasure rolled through me in waves.

  "Fuck. I'm going to come." Raphael ran his hand down my spine and then reached for my clit. "Come for us, baby."

  Amari grunted and warms jets of his cum spilled into my mouth. I choked on a cry as I swallowed. My entire body clenched and shivered as my orgasm hit me.

  Shouts and curses filled the room as the pleasure spread to Nico and Raphael. I collapsed onto Nico as Raphael thrust one final time.

  Amari wiped my mouth with a discarded towel and moved to the other side of the bed to lie down. He stared at the ceiling as I watched his chest move up and down. Finally, he turned his head toward me, pain written in his eyes.

  It was an instant reminder that our pleasure and happiness was fleeting. We could have stayed wrapped up in each other for hours and days, reliving the pleasure over and over, but that wasn't our lives at the moment. I reached out and took his hand.

  Raphael flopped back against the pillows with a satisfied sigh. "I've actually never taken part in a foursome before."

  Amari's face went from distraught to curious. He propped himself up on his elbow. "How long have you lived? I thought you had been in a bathhouse orgy."

  "Millenia? I stopped keeping track. I've been around since before time was measured." He chuckled. "I have been in a room where there were a lot of couples and threesomes going at it. Nothing like this though."

  "I don't think any of us have ever experienced something like this before," Nico muttered.

  We lay there in silence until we drifted off to sleep.

  I woke sometime in the middle of the night to a soft thudding sound. I sat up, trying not to wake the others, and looked around the room.

  Kage.

  I scooted out from between Nico and Amari. I turned and looked at Amari, who was sleeping so peacefully that I hoped me moving didn't wake him. I was careful not to bump into Raphael, who was lying across the foot of the bed. I moved in the direction of the thudding and my feet ran into him.

  The thudding stopped for a brief moment before starting again. I bent down and determined I was touching his leg. I sat down against the wall and then scooted until I was against him.

  "Kage?" I whispered, putting my hand on him. He was trembling, and the thudding increased. I slid my hand up until I got to his head and put my hand behind it. "Hey, it's going to be okay."

  "N-n-no." His teeth were chattering, and I pulled him toward me. He was soaked through with what I hoped was sweat.

  "We're all safe." He relaxed a little against me and I smoothed his hair.

  "His b-b-blood was everywhere." He relaxed more as I massaged his scalp. "The sound."

  "I know." I felt guilty that we had been fucking away afterwards while he was somewhere hurting. "We didn't know where you were."

  "Cleaning." He appeared and I frowned at the sight of him. He had splatters of blood on his clothes which were soaked through with sweat. "I'm w-weak."

  "No you're not. I don't know what's happened in your life, but never feel that you're weak." I met his eyes. "Weak is sending one of my friends as a vacant to deliver a message. Weak is going after a woman because you feel threatened by her ideas. Weak is-" He put his finger to my lips and shook his head before looking over at the bed.

  "Don't w-wake them." He moved his finger but put his hand on my cheek. "I left you."

  "You did what you needed to do." I frowned. He was freaking the fuck out and he was worried that he had left me when I had the other three? My hearted stuttered in my chest. "Tell me why."

  His hand dropped, and before he could retreat into his shell, I grabbed his hand. He put his head back against the wall.

  "Sometimes a b-brownie makes a b-bad choice of who to t-tie themselves to." I squeezed his hand, urging him to continue. "When we bind ourselves to someone, they have a certain level of control over us. Like how Nico can call me and I come. I can fight it in dire situations, like today, but not always."

  I ran through all the different scenarios in my head. A lot of demons were ruthless if they needed to be. Was that why he had had all the scars marring his back?

  "It was fine at first but then something happened to make him snap. He beat me. Often."

  "Kage..."

  "It was for no reason at all, other than he could and I wouldn't run. He threatened to release me, which would have killed me. I did think about running though. At one point, even death seemed better." He was staring off across the room, as if the memories were playing on the wall.

  "How did you get free?"

  He sucked in a breath of air. "You'll think differently of me."

  "I won't." There were very few things that would shock me with as much as I'd seen in my life.

  "I poisoned him," he whispered. "And I stood there and watched until he... until he exploded."

  We sat quietly as Kage's breaths came in short pants. I thought carefully about what I should say. It was a violent way to kill someone, more than stabbing them or strangling them.

  "You did what you had to do. He was abusing you." I turned toward him and took his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. "And now you are with people who deserve you and who care about you."

  Tears welled in his eyes and I couldn't stop my own from spilling down my cheeks. We stared at each other for a few long moments before Amari slid out of bed. He rubbed his face and then looked down with pinched brows.

  "You two should be sleeping." He reached out his hands to us and we both took them and stood. "I should have been standing watch."

  I put my hand on his chest and he leaned his head down to kiss me as Kage disappeared into the bathroom. "Thank you."

  He gave me a tight smile before pulling on clothes and stepping into the hall. I climbed back in bed and watched the bathroom door as the water turned on. If only we could wash away all our problems as easily as water washed away blood and sweat.

  Chapter 16

  Samara

  We gathered in the village square with the guards and soldier
s we had, plus about two dozen shifters from the village. While Nico, Kage, and I had danced at the bar the night before, Amari had worked his magic around the room. He was charismatic when he wanted to be.

  "The council is supposed to meet midday in the council room to discuss your return and the exploding vacant last night," the shifter's unofficial leader shared as we gathered together in preparation.

  "Word travels fast, doesn't it," I muttered. I didn't even bother hiding my hair now. Everyone knew who I was and that my hair was now purple.

  Purple hair, which should have been the most amazing thing, but wasn't because it was a constant reminder now that I was a love child between a deity and an unfaithful woman.

  I must have been staring off into space because Nico bumped my shoulder. "Stop."

  Rolling my eyes at him, I turned to face the small army of men and women. My army. "Thank you all for supporting me in this. I'm not sure what we’re up against in terms of the council, but with all of our combined strengths, we should be able to bring them to their knees."

  A few of the dream demons joined me at the front of our group and we set off for the castle. They were going to know we were coming, but there were a few dozen other shifters who were sent ahead to take care of any council guards.

  Kage had been invisible and silent since we joined the large group, and as we walked, he took my hand. He had come to bed earlier in the morning, freshly showered, and passed out until we woke him.

  "You could have stayed behind." A few of the guards near us looked at me oddly as I talked to the open air next to me.

  "I wanted to come." He squeezed my hand and then fell silent again.

  Raphael fell into step with us and took my other hand. "If shit goes south, you can't get pissed at me for grabbing you and hopping back to Earth."

  We had argued for fifteen minutes earlier in the morning about contingency plans. All of which included Raphael taking off with me if needed. I didn't want it to get to that point, but the council wasn't above locking me in the dungeons, so they wouldn't be above killing me on sight.

  I hoped a few were still on my side. Not everyone had voted against me.

  We made it through the Royal Village and to the castle gates without any issues. That should have been my first clue that something was wrong. There weren't even guards standing watch outside.

  "This is too easy." I turned and looked to Nico and Amari, who were frowning deeply.

  "I c-c-can go see." Kage tried to pull his hand away but I held onto it tight. I didn't want him to go in there alone if something was wrong.

  "No. We go in together." I unsheathed my sword and the rest followed.

  I yanked open the heavy metal doors and was greeted with silence. There wasn't a single sound to be heard. I gave a tentative glance over my shoulder and then stepped inside.

  The fine hairs on my arms stood on end as I walked through the foyer and down the large hallway to the ballroom. It was like everyone had vanished and hidden.

  We got to the doors of the ballroom and stopped. I listened carefully but couldn't hear a sound.

  "Sammy, I think you should let us go in there first," Amari tried to push past me and I stopped him. He sniffed the air. "It smells wrong. It smells like-"

  I pushed open the door and my stomach dropped. Amari grabbed onto my arm and tried to stop me, but I walked forward into the blood splattered room that had bodies scattered across it.

  Guards. Council members. A few servants.

  I looked up to the dais where the two thrones sat. One had my mother's crown sitting on a velvet cushion. The other had a man I never had expected to see sitting there when I opened the door.

  I had expected an empty room and two empty seats.

  His head was in his hands, the king's crown almost falling off. His hands dropped to the arms of the throne, covered in blood. Then, he raised his head, his blue eyes meeting mine.

  A grin spread across his blood-stained lips and face, his fangs protruding and prominent.

  "My queen. Welcome home."

  Val.

  Fuck.

  The only sound in the room was the faint dripping of blood. I didn't look to see where it was coming from, not yet. I kept my eyes locked on Val's, not understanding or trusting what he would do if I took my eyes off him.

  He had killed dozens. My mind didn't want to wrap around that fact or that we might all be next.

  Had that been his plan all along? To murder the entire council and take the throne?

  "You son of a bitch!" Amari growled, stepping forward with clenched fists and a locked jaw.

  I put my arm out and stopped him. A low growl was coming from him and he had partially shifted so his claws were out.

  Val's head moved ever so slightly until his eyes were on Amari, who was now practically vibrating as he held himself back from lunging forward. "Amari, my love, please don't be angry. There have never been two kings."

  I was fairly certain that was not the reason why Amari was furious. I cleared my throat in an attempt to keep my voice as steady as possible. "That's not why he's angry. What have you done?"

  His eyes moved back to mine and he cocked his head. His smile fell and he stood from my father's throne. The throne that should have been Reve's. "Isn't it obvious?"

  He walked forward, the echoing of his footsteps filling the hall, and stopped at the top of the steps. He put an arm out and gestured around the room.

  "It's obvious you're a fucking murderer," Raphael mumbled from behind me.

  Val's eyes narrowed and he stepped down one of the wide stairs. "What was that, angel?"

  "Val. I asked you a question." I wanted his attention on me, not the others. I was fifty percent sure he wouldn't hurt me, but one hundred percent sure he wouldn't hesitate to hurt or kill the others, especially now that he was in some kind of deranged bloodlust.

  "I did it for you, my queen. The crown was yours and they weren't going to let you have it." He sounded childish, which was unlike him. He jogged back to the thrones and grabbed my mother's crown.

  My heart stopped as I looked at the gold and red-jeweled crown in his hands. I had once wanted to be queen. Now, with so much blood and deceit tainting the object in his hands, I wasn't sure it was worth the cost.

  At my hesitation his eyebrows drew together in confusion. "You don't want it?"

  A pit formed in my stomach the longer we stood there interacting with him. Val was not acting like himself. It was like he was a different person than the one I had fallen in love with and the one that had been by my side just days ago. He was detached from the realities of what he had just done.

  He looked at the crown in his hands and then at me. I blinked several times to get rid of the tears that had formed and threatened to fall.

  "I..." The words lodged in my throat as he took the three large steps down from the dais and stopped, waiting. "You're sick, Val."

  He threw his head back and laughed. "I'm not sick, bruja. I'm a vampire. This is what we do! We drink blood! It was highly convenient that they were planning on killing you. It gave me a good reason to take care of them so you wouldn't have to."

  "This isn't taking care of them, Val. This is a massacre." As much as I hated the council, they didn't deserve to have their necks ripped open and to die so violently. Well maybe just Damon, the vampire asshole who was the ring leader.

  Amari started growling again and Nico stepped up next to him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "And what are you planning on doing to her?"

  Val's eyes snapped to where Nico's hand lay on Amari's shoulder. My eyes widened as several things happened all at once. Val lunged forward at the same time as Amari, while I was grabbed and dragged back to the entrance of the room.

  I fought against Kage's hold as Amari and Val met in a clash of claws and teeth. Amari shifted to his panther and grabbed Val by the shoulder, yanking him down to the floor. Raphael and Nico held Val down as guards rushed in.

  "You're dead! All of you are dea
d!" Val yelled as they wrapped his arms and legs with chains and then picked him up like they were ready to roast him over a fire for dinner. "It might not be today or tomorrow, but I will come for you! I will come for all of you!"

  I buried my face in Kage's shirt and he wrapped his arms around me. He didn't say anything, and he didn't have to. He pulled me out of the way as they carried Val toward the doors.

  "Sammy! Samara! Stop them! This is treason! Treason! I am the king!" He was still going on and on as they carried him down the long hallway and to the back of the castle where the entrance to the dungeon was.

  "Peanut, we'll get through this." Nico's hand ran over the back of my hair and I pulled away from Kage.

  I looked around the ballroom where I had once met Val for the first time. Now, all that lay behind was the queen's crown, lying in the center of a pool of blood.

  To be continued...

  Preorder Transfuse

  Follow me on Facebook

  Social Media

  Make sure to join my Facebook group, other social media, newsletter, or Amazon author's page to find out about new releases!

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/mayanicoleauthor/

  Newsletter

  https://mailchi.mp/2441120a2b47/mayanicole

  Instagram @mayanicoleauthor

  Twitter @MayaAuthor

  Also by Maya Nicole

  Celestial Academy

  Ascend

  Descend

  Transcend

  Standalones

  Widow

  Infernal Council

  Infuse

  Defuse

  Transfuse