by Jenna Payne
“My beautiful Violet,” he murmured, running his thumb along her jaw. “Even our patron saint knows how special you are.”
Lucas watched them from where he sat. He felt a mixture of jealousy and desire, watching Oliver and Violet together like that.
“It’s true,” he added, overcoming his feelings for the moment. “I’ve never experienced such an intense ritual.”
Oliver withdrew, and sat on the sofa opposite Violet. “Do you like it here?” he asked, continuing to watch her.
Violet sat up and rearranged the pillows behind her, clutching the sheet to her chest. She was worlds away from everything she knew. The streets of New York City that seemed like a dream against the backdrop of the past couple days. Her life—the modelling, the cinema, all of the time spent with New York’s bright young things in high society seemed somehow irrelevant in this strange new reality. She took a deep breath.
“Well, Mr. Deveroux, it’s difficult to define exactly whether I like it or not,” she said at last.
“Go on,” he replied with an incline of his head. He had picked up the opium pipe, and began to prepare it, setting out a small lamp and preparing a small dab of opium tar over the flame. He kept his eyes on her as he stretched the dark paste over and over again with a practiced hand.
Violet watched, wondering at the deftness with which he prepared the drug. “It’s like nothing I’ve experienced,” she said at last, “somehow, it’s more foreign than anywhere I’ve been in Europe…stranger…” she trailed off.
Oliver inserted the opium into his pipe, and held it over the flame, inhaling deeply. Tendrils of white smoke rose from the pipe, and the air of the room became sweet and hazy.
“Of course if Lucas hadn’t ended up in your backyard, you might be having a singularly mundane experience of the place.”
Violet laughed. “That may be true,” she conceded. “But there is something in the air here. It’s like a smell or, electricity or something.”
Oliver smiled at her, flashing his fangs. “That’s one of the things that drew my family here from up North, so many moons ago.”
“I was born and raised, here, but I’ve never wanted to live in another state,” Lucas said, moving across the room to join Oliver on the couch.
The older vampire passed him the opium pipe, and he took the delicately painted ceramic stem in his hands, leaning over the flame and inhaling deeply. He set the pipe down and let the smoke escape in slow-curling wisps as he leaned comfortably against Oliver’s shoulder. He stroked Lucas’s dark hair, brushing it back from his face. Before Violet could wonder about the nature of their relationship, Oliver took him in a slow and tender kiss. Lucas’s eyes fluttered shut, and he let out a low moan. The redheaded conjure man’s eyes were on Violet as he nibbled Lucas’s lower lip. She felt her cheeks grow red as she watched the two men in their embrace. Perhaps it was the sweet vapors from the opium pipe, but she had begun to feel warm and relaxed. There seemed to be no place for jealousy in her heart as desire flared in her loins. The kiss was broken, and Lucas turned to look at Violet, smirking.
“Lucas told me that you’re the only woman he’s ever desired—even before he met you,” Oliver said as he casually began unfastening buttons of the other man’s shirt.
Violet raised her eyebrows. She guessed that this meant that he had seen her in the movies. She wondered if it had truly been by chance that she had found him in her backyard that evening.
“He says he wants to paint you,” Oliver continued, as he unbuttoned the final button of Lucas’s shirt. It fell open, and he caressed the other man’s chest and stomach. “Why don’t you show me what has driven my sweet Lucas so mad?”
Violet understood what he meant at once. All of her inhibitions melted away in the opium haze under the attentive gaze of the two men. She slowly pushed the sheet down, revealing the black lace chemise and stockings that she wore beneath. The feeling of having both men watching her undress, taking her in with a look of absolute hunger in their dark eyes, was a sensation unlike anything Violet had experienced. She felt as if she were teetering on the brink of absolute euphoria. She shrugged one of the straps of her chemise off, allowing it to slip down her shoulder. Oliver’s hand was moving lower down Lucas’s stomach. He was aroused. She could see the outline of his manhood, straining against the front of his trousers as he watched her. Oliver caressed him, and he moaned aloud. He looked as if he might succumb to lust. Violet let her slip drop to the floor. She stood there now in only her stockings, her slender body completely exposed. Her small breasts and soft thighs were for Oliver and Lucas to feast their eyes on.
“Good girl,” Oliver murmured. In spite of having taken opium, and the passionate scene unwinding around him, he seemed to be in complete control. Violet couldn’t tell if he was enjoying himself or not. His face was neutral and perfect in its ageless beauty. He was undoing Lucas’s trousers now, pulling the buttons of his union suit apart in rapid succession, revealing his body to her. Lucas looked wanton. He pushed his hips against Oliver’s touch, but his eyes were on Violet.
“Come, Violet, let’s give our Lucas a little bit of what he wants, shall we?” Oliver said with a slight smile as he released Lucas’s manhood.
Violet dropped to her knees in front of them. She felt it now, the hunger that she saw in the men’s faces. She wanted to taste Lucas. She wanted him to take her in front of Oliver. She wanted to be devoured whole by these men. She crawled to the sofa and nestled herself between Lucas’s legs, taking him into her mouth. He let out a hiss of pleasure and grasped a handful of her hair. Oliver was pinching his nipples and biting at his neck, leaving little red dots across his pale skin. He remained there for an instant, watching Violet on her hands and knees, ass up in the air as she pleasured Lucas. He stood up suddenly, crossing behind her. In a swift motion he dropped to his knees, caressing the smooth skin of her bottom before giving it a good hard slap with the flat of his hand. Violet gasped in surprise. He slapped her again. Her skin flushed red under each assault. He caressed her, and then rested a finger teasingly between her thighs. She moaned and pushed back against him. Lucas was immobilized by her ministrations, his breath ragged as he moaned aloud.
“Lucas,” came Oliver’s voice from behind her, his voice portrayed complete calm, “I’m going to take your woman. Would you like that?”
Violet could sense him moving behind her, undoing his button fly. One hand rested on her hip, then she felt him push against her, easing into her heat. She couldn’t help but gasp aloud at the sensation. She braced herself against the couch, looking up at Lucas. His dark eyes were clouded with desire as he watched Oliver thrust into her. He reached for the opium pipe and held it over the flame once more as he inhaled. Tendrils of white smoke drifted up from his lips in lazy spirals. His expression was one of absolute bliss. Violet moaned as Oliver filled her to her core, moving slowly, ever restrained in his desire. She pushed back against him, demanding more, and he pulled away, leaving her wanting.
Without a word exchanged, Lucas got to his feet and took his place behind her. Violet cried out and thrust against him, grabbing at his thighs as pleasure shot through her, electric and unrestrained.
“My beautiful Violet,” Lucas was murmuring as he grasped her hips.
Oliver sat back on the sofa, watching the two of them. He had never seen Lucas so passionate about a lover before. This Violet Miller—a famous muse from New York City—would she want to stay with them? The love that Oliver felt for Lucas was one of father and lover combined. He couldn’t bear the thought of what his unhappiness might be if Violet left Louisiana and returned back to her charmed life up North.
Violet was lost in ecstasy now. It was as if she had fallen into a trance again. Her hands were braced against the couch as she offered herself in nothing but her stockings to the man behind her. It was strange that she trusted him implicitly. The rest of her life faded into obscurity as Lucas thrust against her, hands around her slender waist as he increased his pace.
She could feel pleasure building inside her, threatening to explode.
Oliver was undressing now. Letting his white linen drop to the floor as he pulled off his shirt and trousers. Violet took in the sight of him hungrily, admiring his powerful build. His white skin was covered in black tattoos. Voodoo symbols and coats of arms. An elaborate cross was tattooed on his chest, which rose and fell rapidly, betraying his desire as he moved to embrace Lucas from behind. Without a word, Lucas withdrew, and Violet moved up to the couch, spreading her thighs apart and resting a hand there as she watched as Oliver kissed Lucas’s cheeks. He nibbled his neck from behind as he stroked his manhood and slipped a skilled finger inside of him. Lucas was beside himself with arousal. He surged forward, thrusting into Violet as Oliver spread him apart, pushing inside of him—taking him whole. He let out a strangled moan of pleasure and bit down hard on Violet’s neck. Oliver thrust hard into him, and his face transformed into a mask of ferocious desire. Each thrust drove him closer to the edge—closer into Violet’s heat. She writhed against them. Lucas was sucking at her neck now, and the pain of it mixed with the pleasure, as he drank of her body and soul. She was barely conscious of Oliver whispering.
“Take her. Take her, Lucas,” he was murmuring over and over again in the younger man’s ear as he thrust into him. “Together.” He was taller than Lucas, and he leaned over him, sinking his fangs into the other side of Violet’s neck. She writhed and moaned at the mercy of the men. Lucas pushed into her one final time, bellowing into the crook of her neck as he came to his crisis, filling her with his seed. Violet bucked against him, lost in a haze of absolute pain and pleasure, losing control as her orgasm crashed over her. Her eyes rolled back, and the room went dark.
When she awoke hours later, she found herself nestled in between Lucas and Oliver in a large four-poster bed. Each man had thrown a protective arm across her as they slept. She was surprised to find that her neck was free of pain. Her teeth felt unfamiliar and strangely oblong. They were sharp. And then she knew. Her heart swelled with a strange happiness as she felt the steady breathing of the men beside her. She had fallen in love with them. She had fallen in love with New Orleans.
THE END
Bonus Story 35 of 40
Son of the Dragon King
It had been a year. She was certainly over him.
She stared blankly at the blinking computer screen in front of her, unable to concentrate on anything as thoughts of her ex-boyfriend Brian flooded her mind.
Today would have been their 3rd anniversary. They would have planned something special, like spending the night at the beach and having a candlelit dinner by the shore. She should have been walking barefoot in the sand, happy and contented as she held hands with the man she loved.
Suddenly, she shook her head vigorously in frustration and annoyance, her shoulder-length brown hair flying in all directions.
Shut up, Jen. You’re way over him! He’s a thing of the past.
She felt stupid imagining such things. He was long gone, and in fact she had just gone a full month without checking his social media accounts or and looking at their old photos… or at least, digging them up. She’d actually buried those in her backyard.
But throughout the past week, she’d been dreading this day – the day which would have officially marked three years together. She knew the power of this day alone would be enough to drive her back to misery. She should have been more prepared. All she’d planned was to bury herself in her work, but she found she could not do that because her mind kept drifting.
“Earth to Jen Smith!” somebody called from behind her, making her whip around in surprise. It was her good friend Melissa, a lab assistant like her at the Barrington Research Center.
“Hey, Mel,” she said, forcing a smile. The sadness in her hazelnut eyes, though, gave her away.
Melissa gave her a disapproving look. “What were you thinking about just now?” she asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Jen immediately raised her hands in apparent surrender. “Guilty as charged,” she muttered. Then sighing, she said, “Sorry I couldn’t help it.”
Melissa’s expression turned to one of concern and sympathy. “I know it’s hard not to think about him, but you’ve got to keep yourself distracted with other things. That jerk doesn’t deserve any more of your attention or thoughts! He treated you like garbage, Jen. Or do you want me to remind you again of the sordid details?”
“Mel!” Jen protested. “Of course not.” Then sitting up straight and squaring her shoulders, she smiled again and smoothed her shiny brown hair, showing off her small beautiful face. “Okay, let’s go. What did you have in mind?”
“Well…” Mel started. “For one, we can go check out that dragon shifter skeleton fragment that they recently uncovered up in Alaska…”
Jen stood up at once, her face filled with shock and awe. “Oh my gosh! They didn’t!”
“They did,” her friend confirmed. “The DNA matches the previous one they found in the same area. But this recent bone actually makes up part of the wings!”
“Wow,” Jen breathed. “So they’ve brought it in here?”
“Yes,” Mel answered, lowering her voice. “Bernard just called me to let me know.”
Jen laughed. “Pays to date the head archaeologist huh?”
Mel laughed too, but her bright blue eyes were twinkling. She flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and strutted out the door of the office. “Come on, Jen!”
Jen followed her out into the pristine white hallway. As they walked together, they discussed the recent discoveries over the last year involving dragon shifters. The existence of these half-human half-dragon creatures had been established and proven some years ago. But they were believed to have become extinct around 12000 years ago. However, the newest unearthed remains were unbelievably dated in the 1800s!
“This is really exciting,” Mel said, talking animatedly. “I mean, what’s going to be next? Are we going to find bones that are just ten years old?”
Jen’s eyes widened. “Would that mean that there are still some dragons lurking in our midst?”
Mel grinned. “Yeah, that would be awesome.”
“Or scary…” Jen whispered, picturing a monstrous dragon hiding in an alley and suddenly attacking people. She shuddered.
She was so lost in her thoughts that when they rounded the corner, she almost crashed into someone else. Looking up, she found herself staring into the intense gray eyes of one of the lab managers. She immediately blushed. “Oh, I’m sorry!”
The slightly older man standing in front of her looked harsh for a moment. But upon seeing her face, his features relaxed. “Hello, Jen,” he greeted, the sides of his eyes crinkling a bit. He ran a hand through his dark hair, which fell to just below his ears. He didn’t even seem to notice Melissa.
“Uh, hello, Jack,” Jen said hesitantly.
“How are you?” he asked. “Where are you headed?”
Melissa was quick to answer. “Just meeting a friend. We’re on break.”
Jen didn’t say anything. She wasn’t really used to lying, especially to a manager! He hadn’t always been her manager. They’d started in the company about the same time, but over the years, he’d kept moving up the ladder and was now a highly respected authority.
“Have a good day,” Jack simply said with a smile. His eyes lingered a bit more on Jen before moving off.
“That was close,” Jen said, breathing a sigh of relief. They weren’t really prohibited from going to the storage area but they were supposed to fill in a form and ask for permission, from one of the superiors.
“Not a big deal,” Mel said with a wave of her hand. Then in a more eager tone, she said, “You know what’s a big deal, though?”
“What?”
“The fact that Jack Roberts is obviously into you!” Mel gushed. “He’s really cute, although too serious for me. But for you… Well, someone that responsible and manly and a little more mature is pro
bably what you need.”
“You’re imagining things, Mel,” Jen pointed out. “He’s not into me. No way.”
“No, listen. You ought to talk to him more instead of avoiding him so much. You’ve been too caught up thinking about Brian even after that stupid jerk was long gone, and that’s why you’ve been missing out on the real goodies!”
Jen actually laughed. “Goodies?”
“Yeah,” Mel said. “Just start flirting again, Jen. Have some fun! Go out and enjoy life!”
Jen was silent for a while. Mel actually had a point. It might be a good way to heal her broken heart.
Finally, they reached the storage area at the basement, where Bernard ushered them in. He looked handsome in a pair of slacks and his usual knitted vest over crisp white long sleeves. He dressed a little formally in the office, but his goofy, adventurous nature was what had attracted Mel to him.
They followed him into a cooler, darker, and bigger steel room that had a ceiling that was probably about two stories high.
Jen gazed at the oddly shaped bone structure in the center of the room. It was about the size of a small car. She circled it slowly, seemingly mesmerized as her imagination ran wild with images of colossal modern-day monsters.
“We’re guessing that’s about one-fourth of one wing,” Bernard told them as he and Melissa joined Jen near the bone. “I still have to run some tests and try to fit it with the older dragon shifter DNA we have on record.”