by May Sage
It hadn't been real. It had just been a nightmare.
Or more accurately, a memory.
She was in New York, now. Safe, or so perfect Fay said. Perfect Fay couldn't possibly be wrong.
Cece hated herself for those feelings, but she couldn't help her jealousy; how could she? Even now they were both free, Fay was better than her; engaged to a vampire. Happy. With a place, a purpose in this world.
She might not have felt that way if Fay hadn't been her cousin – her family. They looked like fraternal twins, if one could bypass the fact that Fay was a small dark brunette and Cece, a willowy pale redhead.
Ok, so on paper they were pretty damn different, but their facial features completely negated the rest, their fathers had been twins and both of them had taken after them.
So similar and yet, Fay had been created to thrive, while Cece was nothing.
Knowing there was no point in trying to go back to sleep, she got up. Getting dressed was still difficult for her; clothes felt foreign on her skin, she'd been naked for so long. As it was midday, and everyone, servants included, was asleep, she grabbed her bed sheet, wrapped it around her frame and walked up to the rooftop gardens where she’d landed a week ago.
Eventually, she would have to leave. This house wasn't a healthy place for her to be; seeing Fay everyday would only worsen her lack of self-worth.
But she had no money, no job; nothing.
Cece was qualified to do one thing and that was taking cocks.
Liar.
Ok, ok. She might have done three semesters of culinary school, before she'd turned eighteen. The day she'd officially been an adult, she should have high tailed it out of Riverville. Instead, she had a farewell party with her friends. The next day, when she was nursing a hangover, Vincent came for her.
She remembered it all. Stupid as she was… She'd kind of liked him. He was gorgeous, and no one had warned her against him, the way they all seemed to tell her little cousin Fay that he was dangerous. She'd thought it meant that he hadn't been dangerous for her, because her blood wasn't amazing. No, it had been because no one cared.
Or maybe they hadn't believed he'd go for her. Cece was trying – very hard – to stop blaming and hating the world… But every time she tried to forgive and forget, she remembered what it felt like to have two cocks in her vagina and one in her ass at the same time.
Amazing. It had felt amazing, and she was disgusted with herself for acknowledging that.
The the withdrawal symptoms were the worst. Try and have sex twelve hours a night for five years. Disgusting as that was, she was addicted. She was a whore.
Sometimes, like now, her hand was stroking her pussy, and she hadn't consciously chosen to do it.
“It seems I'm interrupting.”
Fuck.
She turned to face a vampire.
Cece froze, first, then she took two steps back.
He was dangerous; for her more than anyone else. His very presence threatened her sanity.
He was ten, twenty times more stunning than anyone she'd ever met, Fay’s fiancé included. Lean, tanned muscles, that seem shaped for speed; that, and his penetrating ice grey stare, his long, dark wavy hair, oh-so-casually disheveled, shot straight through her. She wanted him inside her, releasing his strength as he pounded her with abandon.
But that was what she wanted of everyone, when she felt like that.
“Here, let me help.”
She didn't even see him move; suddenly, he was in front of her and on his knees, parting her bed sheet.
His eyes flashed before his mouth found her clit and sucked.
Cece would have loved to pretend she'd told him to fuck off, that she'd screamed that she was a free woman protected by the Drake, the house of the King himself.
But what she did was to thread her fingers through his dark hair, and keep him just there.
Yes. Oh, yes.
“Please,” she heard herself whisper.
The vampire growled against her pussy, before parting her lower lips with three fingers, one of which hit her g-spot almost right away.
Soon, she had another finger in her ass, and he carried on assaulting her clit, teasing it, licking ever-so-softly one instant, and then, sucking, biting it.
She came. Oh god, did she ever come. It was glorious…
But something was missing, making the moment absolutely surreal. And perfect, too.
Even as her orgasm hit, he'd never drawn blood.
Fuck. Fuck. What had that been all about?
Michael was the smart one, contrarily to his brother, he never acted on impulse, yet here he was, sucking off a human in his brother’s house.
A free human, who was more than likely under William’s protection. That meant she also was under his protection.
Fuck. Was it Fay? Has he just made his future sister in law come on his tongue? That was going to make the next few Christmases interesting.
Even as he thought it out, he knew the answer to that. It hadn't been. Fay, as his brother frequently gushed, was an AB neg. This woman had been a lot of things, but certainly not that.
Blood was like alcohol; it was a question of taste. Some people loved Hennessy XO and Champagne, others preferred a good old pint of beer.
Michael was a beer guy all the way. Delicacies like AB neg made him want to retch, and that girl… Damn. Not biting her had taken a lot of willpower.
He forced himself to walk away after making her come, knowing his brother was more than likely going to carve him a new one regardless.
King of all vampires in the continent or not, he was still William Drake’s baby brother.
He locked himself in his room, and tried to catch a few hours of sleep; but as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was picturing a sensual redhead with a designer pussy.
For all her beauty, her most appealing attribute was her mind. He was used to deceit, hidden motives… but there had been nothing but her need to come.
Ah, hell. It couldn't be helped. He grabbed his dick and stroked it up and down until he'd calmed down.
Michael woke up early, and purposefully stayed in his room until he’d heard his brother’s voice – then, he closed his eyes and scanned the minds he could reach, until he’d located the thoughts of pretty little Fay.
Sure, it was point blank rude to spy on a stranger’s private thoughts like that, but that was what the Drake siblings did: they protected each other.
People often thought that being a psychic meant hearing every voice around him all the time and he didn’t correct them; but in truth, his talent didn’t work that way. People could talk; they just chose when they wanted to exert that skill, and the same could be said for his mind reading abilities.
Just like speech wasn’t possible without air in his lungs, he couldn’t hope to read anyone unless he was either calm or focused.
After clearing his mind from everything else on his plate, he managed to hear the familiar humming of voices – too many, at first. His range was rather wide. When he tuned out everyone else in Manhattan, he got a clearer idea of what happened around him.
There were four females in the penthouse; he immediately recognized and ruled out Charlotte, as well as another vampire’s – Jessica? That left two humans.
Sex. Both of them were thinking about sex, in very graphic details.
One was daydreaming about rope, chains, and details that gave him way too much insight about his brother’s appendages, but although he knew he’d got Fay, it was the second that caught his interest.
What made him stand numbly and peep into her fantasy like a common pervert was the fact that it was her, the woman from the previous day, and she was visualizing him, at her feet.
Had he really looked like that, buried between her long legs? Because it was hot. Very, very hot.
Reluctantly, he focused his attention back where it should be: on Fay.
Anyone who knew the Drake would have guessed that Michael would have been the first to settle
down; then, perhaps Charlotte, although it would take a hell of a man to catch – and keep – her attention.
William would be the last, and only after hell had been turned into an ice rink, yet there he was, completely smitten, and committed, too.
If that was real, Michael wished them the best; if the girl was playing his brother, he’d burn her at the stake – it was that simple.
He pushed past the images in her mind and concentrated enough to discern her words.
It took a while; her mind was stronger than anticipated, warded by defenses, but he got it.
He heard love. Pure, undiluted, happily ever after kind of devotion. That was the only thing she hid. Hell, the dumb couple hadn’t even exchanged those three little words yet. How disgustingly sweet. He prayed he wouldn’t be present when they did; that was going to be barf-worthy.
Michael breathed out and went to meet his soon to be sister-in-law.
Three
She recalled that day when her science teacher had struggled to explain gravity; it was a shame that he hadn’t had a live version of that vampire handy – all he would have to do was to point toward him and say “there, you have it.” The focal point of the universe switched from the center of Earth to him when he entered the room.
A few hours ago, Cece had told herself she must have exaggerated his appeal – it wasn’t possible for a man to be quite so captivating.
She’d been wrong.
His long dark hair was now sleek, brushed back to emphasis on his features. The look was supposed to have gone out of fashion about two decades ago, but damn if he didn’t rock it. His eyes roamed around the room, taking everyone in, before landing on her.
As per what was now her standard, Cece was wearing a long sleeve turtleneck and three-quarter length jeggings, so it wasn’t like he could see much, past her face, but for some reason, it felt like his gaze could touch every layer of her flesh, and a bit of her soul, too.
Then, he winked.
Oh, good lord, have pity on your slutty little lost lamb, for she will sin.
“Michael,” Charlotte, one of the vampires around which she lived said, beaming toward him, and although the woman was kind and understanding, Cece felt like knocking some of her perfect teeth out when the man gave her the warmest smile.
Then, twisting the knife, he opened his arms wide and Charlotte jumped to her feet to go get a hug.
Cece was pretty sure she looked like a kicked puppy, and frankly, she wasn’t even embarrassed about it.
“You should have told us you were coming, I would have organized a nice dinner with our friends,” the vampire scowled him.
“And that would be why I haven’t told you,” he replied, pinching her cheek.
The scene was domestic, affectionate, and Cece wished she could just disappear.
She didn’t know how or why, but this was going to be a goddamn disaster. Why the heck had she let a family friend lick her out? If there was no law about it, there should be.
The vampire advanced towards William and Fay, who’d been whispering disgustingly sweet nonsense throughout breakfast, his hand outstretched towards her cousin.
“Michael,” he introduced himself. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
Michael. That did ring a bell, somehow; but then again, the name was rather common.
“Likewise,” Fay replied enthusiastically; then, she turned to her and added. “This is my cousin, Cecilia.”
The one time when she would have loved nothing more than to be completely forgotten, bloody Fay had to throw her under the bus.
Cece straightened her spine and waved awkwardly.
“Indeed,” Mr. Michael Hotpants smiled, his gaze doing funny things to her as it glided over her body, taking her in from head to toe.
Oh, hell. She’d told herself that today was going to be different. She’d had her little fun around four or five o’clock, so she’d sworn she wouldn’t even acknowledge the existence of her pussy until dawn. Now she knew without the shadow of a doubt that she was going to have to run to the closest empty room and take care of business.
“Cece,” she amended.
“Is everything alright Michael?” Charlotte asked. “It’s not like you to turn up out of the blue.”
The quick look he sent her meant shut up or perhaps we’ll talk later and bless her heart, the vamp didn’t take either for an answer.
“Come on. Fay and Cece are family – get used to it.”
After glaring at her, hoping to get her to drop her gaze, Michael sighed, giving up.
“The human politicians have actually tried to blackmail me into giving them a voting place in the council.”
“Idiots,” Charlotte grumbled. “What did they have?”
“Interesting pictures of the last Christmas party. The usual human nonsense.”
For some reason, the three vampires exchanged amused looks. Compromising pictures did sound like some sort of big deal; not in their books, apparently.
“In any case, I thought they might try to get to you. There’s also the matter of last week’s incident. If there’s a threat, we’ll fair better under the same roof.”
As no one else seemed inclined to ask, and she was dying to know, Cece lifted her hand, before dropping it and blushing at her silly gesture. It wasn’t like she was in third grade.
“What kind of pictures?”
Everyone except Fay smirked.
“Humans generally have an inaccurate idea of what may seem incriminating to a vampire.”
Because that was making this clear. Reading her confusion, Michael casually replied, while helping himself to a portion of sausage and eggs.
“It showed me in bed with one of my friend’s wife. And another one of my friend’s daughter, too.”
“At the same time?”
He just raised an eyebrow, as if to ask, “what do you think?”
Oh. Well, that was… mh. Wait a minute, why wasn’t anyone other than Fay and her reacting to this?
“And it’s not a problem?”
“It may have been, if it hadn’t been common knowledge. In fact, if memory serves, Mina’s mate was the one who took those particular pictures.”
“And that’s normal?” Fay retorted curtly.
Michael didn’t grace her with so much as a shrug.
“Usually. Most of us like to share. It’s also necessary in certain circumstances.”
And he said all that while buttering a toast.
“Circumstances?”
“Drinking blood,” William clarified, rubbing her tense shoulders. “We talked about this. It’s not a problem these days, with synthetic blood.”
Fay nodded, seeming reassured; but Cece caught Michael’s look. She may be mistaken, but it didn’t seem like he was sharing that opinion.
Cece watched, rather intrigued as he stared at William, who discreetly shook his head.
Well, if that wasn’t delightfully interesting. Saint William, patron of the philanthropic hotties, was hiding something from his future wife.
Cece was a bit confused by her own reaction. She should be quite delighted, a little bit smug, maybe. She should revel on the potential scandal likely to -unfold.
Instead, she found herself quite concerned. She was going to find out what that had been about – and if William was playing Fay in any way, she’d have her back.
What the heck? Before that day, she’d never known that she cared about perfect little Fay.
“You must be kidding!” he seethed, doing his best to prevent himself from shouting it out loud.
They were in his brother’s office, only a few doors up from the lounge where Fay was studying, and he respected William enough to keep this conversation private – although he was being freaking stupid.
“You have something with that woman, brother. There’s a chance you might actually keep her forever, dammit. Don’t ruin it.”
“That’s exactly what I intend to do,” his butt-headed brother retorted.
�
��You cannot have a monogamous relationship. It has never worked. Never. There’s not one single exclusive couple who lasted over two centuries, since the beginning of time.”
It wasn’t in their nature; hell, it wasn’t even human nature, either. Most people cheated, in deed or in thoughts, and their relationships barely lasted a few decades. When planning a bond valid until the end of time, coming out right away with an open arrangement was just more responsible.
“That’s entirely inaccurate,” William replied, getting up, and walking towards his shelves.
There was a faded picture of the three of them – Charlotte, William and him – back from 1920, and next to it, a new addition: Fay, asleep, her dark hair spread on silken pillows.
The second unusual addition was a book. William was all about the latest gadget; he didn’t understand Michael’s tendency to horde rare original books – the minute kindles had been invented, he’d thrown out all of his hardbacks. He might even have gotten rid of the first editions, if Michael hadn’t stopped the sacrilegious autodafé.
He took the book and carelessly threw it at Michael, who winced as he caught it as carefully as possible.
Then, he saw the title. He threw the book right back, without even feeling a little bit guilty.
“What has that got to do with anything?”
It came out as a growl.
Michael didn’t have an issue against shifters, as a whole; but the couple this book was about was another story altogether.
It wasn’t bad enough that they’d dared breaking every single law; they’d also written a book about it – bloody wolfbane. The tale of a vampire and a shifter doing the whole happily ever after.
It might have been ever so slightly less infuriating if one of the two parties hadn’t been his mother.
“You know they say that shifters who find their mates are immortal – and they most definitely are monogamous, too.”
“Only one issue with that. They are shifters. You aren’t.”
William just lifted one eyebrow.
“Ok, you aren’t entirely a shifter.”
His brother was born a vampire, just like him and Charlotte, but years ago, before he’d even turned into an immortal, he had been stupid enough to drink a bit of shifter blood. His friend Adrian Klein and him had a habit of pushing their sparring too far and somehow they’d exchanged enough blood to give him a few shifter traits: a quick temper, enhanced senses – even compared to a vampire’s – and the set of dark wings Michael was so not jealous about.