Flynn was at his breaking point. He scrubbed his rough hands over his face in anger. He didn't want to discuss this, and he certainly didn't want Jolie to know what lived in him.
He was ashamed, but she wouldn’t let it go.
“I need to know why you’re pulling away from me! Tell me the truth!” There was compulsion in her voice, but it didn't work on him. Instead, he rushed from the room.
Jacques touched her arm. “Cut him a break.”
She couldn’t do that.
Following him outside, she found her mate retching in the grass. She wanted to soothe him, but her anger was there, simmering under the surface.
When Flynn had finished, he stood. “Are you happy, Jolie?” he asked.
“This is my point. You hate what I am!”
He wanted to shake her. Instead, the rage exploded from him, leaving a sicker taste in him mouth, and that was saying a lot. “It bothers me because I’ve been there! I know what it freaking feels like to have your intestines slither out of your body. I nearly died like that, and when I see it, it takes me back to that moment. Okay?”
She didn't know what to say. This wasn’t what she was expecting.
“There you have it. I’m weak. That,” he said, pointing toward the house, “scares me. I can feel the blade in my gut. I can pick up the scent of bowel. I know what it feels like to hold my organs in my bare hands.”
Jolie’s heart broke.
She’d misjudged him.
Flynn couldn’t hold back the anger. Instead, he spun, punching the side of the house with all he had. His hand went through the, wood, splintering it with ease.
Jolie jumped.
When he pulled his hand free, he stared down at it. The broken bones popped back together again, and the flesh healed. It was a reminder of what he was.
Flynn wasn’t done. He moved toward her. “I really wish that every time I’m quiet, or upset, you didn’t always make it a fight about you. I’m entitled to feel, Jolie, and what I saw reminds me of something I lived through. It’s simply that. Stop making it more than it is. Stop using it as a way to damage us.”
Jolie just stared. She’d forgotten that he’d been eviscerated while they were trying to find the hunters in France. “Flynn, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it still bothered you. I didn't think...”
What more could she say?
She’d screwed up. He was right. She’d made it all about her instead of asking what was hurting him.
“Well, it does,” he snapped. It was time for the anger to take over. “I’m not like both of you. I’m still a little bit human, and a lot of cop. My whole life, I wanted justice, and fate threw me this little twist.”
She moved toward him.
“There are nights I still wake up sweating and screaming. I know what the inside of my body smells like, and I can’t handle it all the time. You would think, that after all we’ve been through, you’d let me feel what lives in me without repercussions.”
He was right.
Jolie crossed to him even though he was angry. She knew it was just the emotional storm, and that underneath the man hurting was still her mate--her handsome, loving Flynn.
“Please don’t,” he said, stepping away from her. “I don’t want your pity. It’s my fault. I’m still holding on to being fucking human.”
“Oh, Flynn. This isn’t pity. This is love.”
She wrapped her arms around him, refusing to let go. Jacques approached, and despite what they saw, Flynn let them comfort him.
Their scents mingled.
Flynn closed his eyes as he took it in.
“I owe you an apology,” she began. “You were right about what you said. I immediately made it about me. This is about us, not me, but our family.”
He offered her some truth, “I could never be disgusted by you, Jolie. You’re my love. I don’t look at you and Jacques and see killers. I see the people I cherish.”
She was grateful for that.
They lingered a few more minutes before Flynn was strong enough to continue. “We should get moving. Ariel isn’t here. That means that Zola probably has her.” The cop was back in place, and he was ready to get justice for Mariana and even Demetre.
“She’ll use her to lure me into a trap. While Zola insists that she wants to hurt me by taking out my family, let’s be honest. I’m her ultimate goal. She wants me.”
“What do we do now?”
“We head back to the house. It’s past dusk, and we don’t know who else she has helping her. We’ll have to go after her at dawn, when she’s weak.”
They both agreed.
“We’ll leave Demetre. Some cop will find him in this abandoned building. Let him deal with the mess.”
“Hey!” Flynn objected. “If I go back to work on Monday and I pull this case, I’m going to be pissed,” he stated.
Jolie laughed knowing with their luck, he’d get it.
They didn't get to even approach the bikes when she felt it. There was a disturbance in the air, and then energy flooded the area around them.
Jolie had no time to warn her mates as silver daggers headed their way. She took Flynn to the ground, knowing Jacques would have sensed the attack.
Flynn was caught off guard, but managed to cushion their fall with his body.
The second they hit the ground, Jolie and Jacques were up, ready to fight.
“What the…?” was all Flynn could get out, as strangers came rushing out of the trees around them.
Jolie ordered them to stop, but it didn't work.
“Voodoo spell!” Jacques yelled, pulling his own dagger from his boot. It looked like they had a fight on their hands.
“They’re vampyres,” Flynn said, when he shot one in the shoulder, and it kept coming.
Jolie came face to face with one, and Flynn had been right. His fangs were out, and his eyes were black.
“Jolie Harcourte, you are sentenced to die.”
With that, he charged her.
She managed to evade his first swing, dodging to the right. Unfortunately, he fought much like Jacques did. He was trained to kill. This vamp was ancient, like them.
Jacques took down his attacker, nearly having his heart taken out of his chest. He hadn’t been expecting that kind of fighting skill.
When the vampyre hit the ground, he was nearly dust.
“Flynn,” he shouted, watching his mate duck beneath his attacker’s swing. When he did, the muzzle of his gun was shoved into the vampyre’s chin, and he fired off two shots, taking off the man’s head.
He, too, fell in a pile of dust.
They turned to look for Jolie.
She was trapped against the killer’s body.
“Let her go!” Jacques shouted.
The man laughed. “We’re here to take her out. We have no argument with either of you. Walk away. Let me do my job.”
Flynn weighed the options. “Who are you?”
Jolie hissed at the metal against her throat. It was pure silver, and it was tipped with mercury. She could feel it dripping on her chest. One slice, and she was dead. He’d take her head clear off.
“Her executioner.”
“Baby,” Flynn said, staring in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”
With that, he pulled the trigger. Fortunately, his aim was perfect. It went through her shoulder and directly into the captor’s heart.
They both fell.
The men rushed toward her. The vampyre behind her was decaying, just not as fast as the others.
“Holy shit!” Flynn muttered.
Jacques stared at his mate with wide eyes as he slipped out of his shirt to help Jolie into it. “I never want to see that again,” he stated.
Jolie held her hand over the hole in her shoulder. “That was one hell of a lucky shot,” she muttered.
Luck or not, she was alive. In the end, that’s all that mattered.
“Who the hell are they?” Flynn asked, sweeping her up in his arms.
Jacques picked up
the dagger. “We’ve got a problem,” he stated, showing it to Jolie.
“Oh, shit.”
Flynn stared at them. “What?”
“That mark,” Jolie stated, “belongs to the tueur.”
Jacques needed to make sure. Ripping open the dead man’s shirt, he found the same mark on the decaying vamp’s chest. “It’s them.”
Flynn still didn't understand. “Who are they? You’re going to have to help me here,” he said struggling to translate a word he’d never heard before.
Jacques tried to explain it to him. “That’s the term vampyres use for ones who slay their own kind.”
“Wait, you have vamp hit men?”
“In a way, yes,” she admitted.
“We have to get out of here,” Jacques stated, rushing them toward the bikes, but then he saw a car that Demetre must have been using. The plan changed on the fly. “Jolie’s in danger. We need to leave them behind.”
Flynn was okay with that. They could live without the bikes.
Jacques used his mind to hotwire the vehicle. His eyes flashed predatorily.
“Who would want to kill you?” Flynn asked, climbing into the back, all the while holding Jolie against him.
“That could be a long list of people,” she admitted. “Look at the families we killed, mistresses I took out, and even in Paris, we raised hell. I’d be more shocked that someone doesn’t want to kill me.”
She had a point.
Before reaching the house, they dumped the ‘borrowed’ car on the side of the road. They were pretty sure no one was following them, but now they’d have to trek in on foot.
At least it wasn’t too far of a walk.
“How are you?” Flynn asked, peeking under her shirt.
“The bleeding has stopped. It went straight through my arm. I’m already healing.”
He was glad, especially since he’d shot her.
As they entered the woods, Flynn was still carrying her. While she protested non-stop, he wasn’t putting her down. He was her shield.
“The tueur know their prey. They’ll be watching our house,” Jacques admitted.
“What do we do?” Flynn asked.
Jacques stared up at the star filled sky. “It’s still early. I say we wait them out. We’ll be safe out here.”
“Will we? In the woods?” Flynn asked. “I don’t know about you, but I didn't feel them coming at us. I can usually sense the undead.”
Jacques explained, “They were using some black magick. We’ll have to employ the same tricks if they’re playing that game.” It looked like they were going to be visiting their favorite priestess sometime in the future.
She scanned the area. “We’ll be safe here. They won’t expect their killers to fail. When we don’t show up, they’ll assume we’re dead. Besides, we can go in the back way through the swamp.”
Flynn had to trust them. He had to admit his gut wasn’t screaming, so they were likely safe.
Jolie grinned at her mates. “Whatever can we do out here in the moonlight? Here we are, two men and a helpless woman.”
“Helpless our asses,” Flynn stated.
Jolie held on as Flynn navigated the terrain. When she saw something that appealed to her, she pointed, getting their attention. “Wait!”
They stopped.
“There are some rocks over there. Can we stop and take a break?”
Flynn didn't know if she was serious. “You want to hide in some snake infested rocks? Did you hit your head?”
She laughed. “No. I need blood. Even though my wound is fine, I need to feed. It seems that I’m hungry.”
That had their attention.
Flynn did as she asked. When he sat on one of the rocks, he could feel her fingers running across his body through the shirt.
‘I need you.’
‘Take me,’ he offered.
There was only a momentary pause before Flynn experienced the blissful heat of her fangs sinking into his body. As she drank, the pleasure overwhelmed him. It was like floating in a warm pool of ecstasy.
When she released his throat, his fangs were peeking out from behind his lips.
Jolie was pleased. He was distracted.
“Jacques?” she called, needing him too.
He sat beside his mate and opened his arms. Jolie crawled into his lap and teased his body with claws and fangs. “My love,” he whispered when she found the spot right below his ear.
He moaned in pleasure as she began sipping from him.
Flynn watched as the hunger grew in him. What he really wanted was to touch her. His adrenaline was still pumping, and that made it hard to control the beast just below his skin.
“Thank you,” Jolie murmured, setting Jacques free. “Look at that water, isn’t it calm and peaceful?” she asked, pointing at the moonlight kissed pond.
When she backed away from her mates, she knew they had hours before they could sneak inside at dawn. Maybe she could find something for them to do.
Slowly, she slipped out of Jacques shirt.
The men watched her unbutton her own destroyed clothes.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Flynn asked, still staring at her.
“I think so,” she said, dropping the material to the ground. Next came her bloodied bra. When she was topless, her hands rested at the ties on her leather pants. “Anyone want to take a swim?”
Flynn almost pointed out there were likely snakes in the water, and who knew what, but Jolie was shoving her pants down her long legs, and he was tongue tied.
“Yes,” replied Jacques, scanning the area. “We’re safe here. We’re far enough from the house that no one will feel us.”
That was good enough for her. Slipping out of her panties, she stood in front of them naked. “I’m going in. First mate to catch me gets to have me.”
With that, she was in the water.
The two men stared at each other. “I’ll watch for the tueur first,” offered Flynn. “We’ll take turns. I don’t want to leave us unprotected.”
He was good with that.
Jacques was out of his pants and in the water after her. He’d recalled many times they’d frolicked like this in their youth. He’d been captivated by Jolie then and still was.
When he caught her, they sunk under the water.
He whispered into her mind, ‘Remember?’
‘Yes,’ she replied, sending him the memories she’d squirrelled away. They were ones where he would chase her through the woods, and she would be the prize.
Sometimes he caught her, sometimes he failed.
Now she wasn’t making him chase.
Their mouths met, and she made love to his. While lips sealed them together, hands wandered wantonly across flesh.
Jolie moaned underwater, the sound staying trapped between their pressed mouths. They were in their own private bubble.
Jacques held her tightly to his body. He never wanted to let her go. As they floated to the top, he wanted to recreate something they’d shared so long ago.
As they broke the surface, Jacques led her to the soft dewy grass. “When we first did this,” he whispered, his eyes meeting hers, “we were so young. Then I wanted to tell you desperately that I loved you.”
She touched his cheek, bringing his mouth down to hers in a kiss. When they broke apart, her heart was thumping in her chest. “I think I always knew,” she admitted. “I was just too scared to believe that someone would find worth in me. I was broken and bruised. If not for you, Jacques, I wouldn’t be where I am today. There’d be no us, no Flynn, and no family. You created all this.”
His heart skipped.
“I love you, Jacques.”
His body pressed her into the chilly blades of grass as the heat of their bodies warmed them after the quick dip in the water. He could feel his other mate not far away, keeping watch over them.
“I love you too, but we should stop.”
Jolie’s hands paused from sliding across his back. “I’m sorry,
what? Are you feeling okay?”
“He should join us,” Jacques finally stated. “When we first did this, it was just us. Now it’s not. This doesn’t feel right to me anymore. I never thought I’d say this, but we’ve changed, Jolie. I may have gotten us to this point, but Flynn altered us, and for the better. We’re not a twosome anymore. I think that if we’re going to add this to our memories, Flynn should be part of it.”
“You’re a really good man, Jacques.”
“So is Flynn. You chose well,” he admitted, pulling her to her feet. As they approached him on the rocks, Flynn glanced down at his watch.
“Wow, someone’s trying to get into the record books.”
Jolie giggled. “We didn’t start. We couldn’t.”
Flynn glanced around. “Is someone coming?” He scanned the area as his whole body went on alert.
“No. We decided that it wouldn’t be a memory for us, without you,” she said. “Join us.”
That surprised him. While the men didn't have qualms with sharing her, alone time was generally precious. If Jacques was giving this up, that, in itself, was a gift.
“Are you sure?” he asked, glancing over at his other mate.
He grinned. “I’m positive.”
Flynn remained sitting on the rock. Jolie moved to stand naked between his legs. When she looked over her shoulder, her other mate was watching her.
“Let’s make love in the moonlight,” she offered.
Jacques pressed her body into Flynn’s as both their mouths began moving across her flesh. Flynn lapped at the wet drops on her throat, and Jacques her shoulder.
They shared their treasure.
Jolie was lost in the pleasure as her mates were making her crazy with their hands. Jacques rubbed his naked body across her bare bottom, proving that he was wild with need.
Flynn played with her breasts, stroking and touching every inch to give her more and more pleasure. Her hands found the zipper of his jeans, and she set him free.
All three moaned.
Flynn leaned back, pulling Jolie with him. While her hand teased his flesh, Jacques found his chance to begin their matting. Taking her hips in his hands, he slid deeply into her body.
Dangerous Retaliation (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 4) Page 47