I withdrew and her hips twitched and her breath caught short at their withdrawal. I brushed aside the silken curtain of her hair. Iliaria gazed at me with a lazy and satisfied smile.
“Well done,” a voice called deviously from the doorway between the rooms. “Exceptionally well done.”
Iliaria’s eyes narrowed into angry slits as she turned to glare at the intruder.
Morina stood in the doorway, her slim yet curvaceous body propped against the frame, her dark coat fanned out around her as she gave a crooked smile. “My, my,” she said theatrically, “perhaps I should have fucked you when I had the chance, after all. If only I had known you’d the skills of a prized courtesan.”
“Watch your tongue, Morina,” Iliaria growled. “Jealousy and regret do not become you.”
Iliaria guided me back on the bed with a hand on my shoulder and one at my lower back. The move forced my spine to bow and my breasts higher than the rest of me. Iliaria smiled again. Only this time, it was not for my benefit. She pressed her mouth against the skin at the base of my sternum and licked a wet line upward between my breasts in obvious show.
Show or not, at the touch of her tongue, I suddenly wasn’t concerned with the fact that Morina stood watching us.
Iliaria sealed her mouth over my breast and sucked until my skin prickled.
A grunt sounded from Morina’s direction. “Flaunting your toy, Iliaria. How diplomatic.”
Iliaria sank lower on my body, her mouth leaving a trail of hot kisses across my stomach and hips. I fell back against the bed and her arm slipped out from beneath me. Her mouth brushed past the snowy fur between my legs. Her warm breath against my sex stirred me to arousal again.
“You wouldn’t,” Morina said.
“Watch me,” Iliaria said as she took me into her mouth.
I cried out and clawed at the blankets. Her mouth was hot, so hot, and I was not sure if I would burst or burn with the pleasure. That brilliant tongue stroked me broadly, fluttering tentatively at my tip in a way that made me writhe and cry out again.
I forced myself to open my eyes and watch her, to watch the up and down motion of her head as she sucked and a thousand nerve endings fired off through my body in an unyielding orchestra of delight.
My breath was shallow and my chest heaved. I shut my eyes, curling my hands into fists and balling them in the coverlet.
Another grunt from Morina’s direction inspired me to look at her. She leaned back against the door, her coat unbuttoned to reveal her attire. Her trousers were tight enough that I could see the slight swell of her Dragoste underneath.
She met my gaze as she slid a hand down her body. An air of defiance surrounded her, but her eye was filled with a hunger so fierce it made the breath hitch in my chest.
Iliaria prolonged the orgasm. When she felt my legs begin to tremble, she drew back and slowed her pace just enough to keep my climax at bay. I glanced away from Morina long enough to find that Iliaria watched her, too. I knew in that moment that though the pleasure might have been for me, the show was for Morina. Iliaria made love to me to possess me, to state her claim, and prove that she could touch me and pleasure me while Morina could do nothing more than watch.
Instead of upsetting me, her dominance thrilled me. Iliaria buried her fingers inside me and I rose off the bed, crying out again.
There was movement from the doorway and I turned again to find Morina still there, still watching. She had unhooked the top clasp of her trousers and her hand disappeared under the waistband. By the slight movement underneath the fabric, I knew she pleasured herself.
I forgot everything she had done or said to me, everything but that moment when I’d been chained to the wall and felt her sex awaken against me, felt the flame of desire leap between us both. I found myself wanting to know what Morina looked like without her clothes on. I wanted to watch her pleasure herself, wanted to see just how her body reacted to the sight of Iliaria pleasuring me.
Morina held my gaze in a stare both passionate and defiant. Her hand did not still as she thrust her hips forward, reclining against the frame of the door as her lips parted, the tips of her fangs glistening in the lamplight.
Will you? I thought, moaning as Iliaria did something with her tongue that raised me half off the bed again. Are you that bold, Dracule? I wondered.
I hid nothing in my expression while I held Morina’s stare. I wanted her to drop her trousers and show me what she was doing to herself. I slid my hands up my body and cupped my breasts, tugging lightly on my nipples. Morina seemed encouraged at the gesture. A grunt fell from her as her hand struggled more vigorously beneath her breeches.
Iliaria’s mouth became a vise around me as she sucked, calling my attention back to her. I placed a hand on her head and the flicks of her tongue against me increased. I cried out, twining my hand in her hair and jerking her head back as the orgasm tore through me.
A long moan sounded from Morina’s direction, but before I could turn my head to see, Iliaria climbed my body and caught my mouth in a hard kiss. When she broke the kiss, Morina was gone.
“I’m sorry,” Iliaria said as a line creased across her forehead. “I shouldn’t have used you to taunt her.”
“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t apologize. You were spectacular. You should never apologize for that.”
“And you, my dragă…” She hoisted me up into her lap and her sex stiffened against my buttocks. My dragă, she’d called me. The possessive intonation in her words gave me a sense of excitement and belonging. “You were curious about her,” Iliaria said, her voice soft as she searched my face.
“Yes,” I admitted, seeing no reason to lie. I traced her brow and let her see what I felt in my heart. “But I love you, Iliaria, and she is no threat to what I feel for you.”
“Do you promise?” she asked and a pang went through my heart as I thought of Renata. When I had first taken Iliaria to my bed, Renata had fairly much asked the same thing of me; that I would not revoke my love for her and give it to another. I hadn’t. I still loved Renata. I’d simply come to love Iliaria as well.
“I think our hearts are capable of more love than we give them credit for.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Even if I fell for Morina,” I said and added, “which is unlikely, but even if I fell, do you really think I would love you or Renata any less?”
“I like to think you wouldn’t,” she said, tracing my shoulder.
“I swear to you,” I whispered, “I wouldn’t. I’ve fallen in love with you, Iliaria, and it hasn’t in any way belittled the love that I feel for Renata. I love you both.”
“I want to make love to you until we collapse and sleep with exhaustion,” Iliaria murmured against my mouth.
I cupped her face in my hands. “Then we shall.”
It was not pity, nor was it necessarily the insatiable well of desire within me that inspired me to agree to her request. It was love, and the thought that, at some point I would leave. I would leave her behind not knowing if I would survive to come back to her arms.
Iliaria laid me back across the bed and we made love, again and again, until our muscles were weak, our minds cloudy, and our bodies entirely spent. She wrapped her long body around mine, one of her legs flung over me. She played with my hair, making me relax.
“I miss her too,” she said when I was on the verge of sleep.
“Renata?” I asked, just to be sure.
“Yes.” She tousled my hair rather playfully. “Pesky though she can be, somehow, we fit you, and somehow, in that way, we fit together.” After a few moments, she asked, “Does that make sense?”
“Yes,” I said as I pulled her arm more snugly around me. “I think it makes perfect sense.”
Iliaria pressed a kiss against my temple and tears stung at my eyes. “It’s a good thing the Dracule aren’t monogamous, isn’t it?” she asked with a chuckle. “You’re able to cling to one of us, but you’re not whole without both of us. I know t
hat, Epiphany.”
I laughed, though something in the statement made me sad, too. Her tenderness undid me and she held me while I cried. A heavy melancholy fell over me. She was right. I was not whole without Renata. Without her, it felt as though a piece of me was missing, a large piece that I went about my day trying to ignore.
I would not be whole until I had the two of them again, until both of them held me in the safety of their arms.
I buried my face in the bend of Iliaria’s neck, inhaling the musky incense scent of her. “I love you.”
She cupped the back of my head in her hand and drew me closer. “I love you too.”
She wrapped her arms around me tightly and I sank into her strength and protection.
My sweet Dracule, I thought as I traced tiny circles over her lower back, you’ve no idea the gift you’ve given to me or how, in some way, you’ve helped to redeem us all.
To find one great love during the course of one’s lonely existence is a truly remarkable thing. To find two great and passionate loves was more than I could have ever asked for. Silently, I made a vow…
As long as I lived, I would never let anything come between us. If I had to learn to fight, to kill, and to cheat to protect what the three of us had, I would do so gladly.
Chapter Seventeen
The sound of running water woke me. I stretched before shambling out of bed to see what Iliaria was doing. I found her in the small bathroom beyond, propped on the edge of a porcelain tub.
“A shower would be easier given the wings,” she said with an affectionate smile, “but I figured you’d prefer a bath.”
I pushed the untamed curls of hair out of my face and nodded. The door to the bedroom opened and I stepped out to see who it was.
Vasco’s eyes widened when he saw me. He stood frozen with his hand on the doorknob before he quickly lowered his gaze. “Sorella…”
“What?” I asked.
He motioned at me with a hand.
“Oh. Oh!” I snatched the crumpled blanket off the bed and used it to cover myself.
Vasco chuckled. “Grazie, colombina. I feel strangely like I should say something more.”
“Sorry, Vasco.” I couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up from within me. “That’s probably not the first thing you want to see in the evening.”
He gave a dashing grin. “No, but I can certainly say I see what keeps our queen and that Dracule of yours interested.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Sì, I’m trying to make the situation less awkward.” He rolled forward on his booted feet and asked in a teasing whisper, “Is it working?”
“A bit, though perhaps you should knock next time before entering a woman’s bedchambers?”
He raised his hands in the air. “My apologies, sorella.” He motioned at me again with a sweep of his arm. “I did not know you strutted around…”
“I just woke.”
“Sì, but I’ve never known you to sleep in the nude,” he said.
“I don’t often die in the nude, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“You do now?”
I raised my hand to indicate Iliaria’s ring on my finger only to find it wasn’t there. “Well, no. The ring,” I said, suddenly realizing it was gone.
“Azrael probably has it,” Iliaria said from behind me. “Considering you don’t need it as a Dracule.”
I nodded and Iliaria asked Vasco, “What do you need?”
He straightened in a way that reminded me more of his courtly appearance than how he interacted when it was just us. I don’t think he was trying to make amends, per se, so much as simply showing her the same respect he would have shown to Renata.
“All’s ready when the two of you are.”
Iliaria nodded and Vasco dismissed himself. He stepped out of the room, but not before he pretended to tip an invisible hat to me.
“He’s acting odd,” she said.
“He just got a surprising eyeful of lady bits and assumes you’re still mad at him for nearly drowning me, I think.”
She chuckled. “So it’s true, he is like your brother?”
“Of course, what else would he be?”
She shrugged. “Just curious.”
“You didn’t think there was something between Vasco and I, did you? He doesn’t like women, and if you didn’t know, I’m not particularly fond of the male anatomy myself. I told you, I was a virgin when Renata took me.”
Iliaria took me by the wrist and led me gently into the bathroom beyond. “You’ve never been with a man?”
I shuddered. “No, absolutely not. Have you?”
“No.” She tugged at the blanket around me and I released it. The blanket fell to the floor as her hand slid down my side to cradle my hip. “Hmm, so technically,” her arm slid behind my back as she brought us close together, “you’re still virgin flesh.” She buried her face in the bend of my neck and began nibbling on my skin. I released a heavy sigh and reached up to hold on to her shoulders.
“Again?” I asked, pretending to be surprised. “So soon?”
Iliaria picked me up and carried me to the bath, her lips tickling the lobe of my ear. “Yes,” she murmured between nibbles. “I promise, it’s better than swimming.”
It most certainly was.
*
Freshly bathed and clothed, we descended to the lower levels of the hotel to continue my training. Thus far, Iliaria hadn’t asked me to change my form, for which I was thankful. It was so much easier moving about on human feet rather than the slightly bowed and claw-tipped legs of the Draculian form. Though the wings still felt heavier on my human frame, my balance was greatly improved.
I wondered which form Iliaria preferred. I asked her when we passed through the lobby. She considered my question.
“Honestly?” She shook her head. “I never really thought about it. I’m comfortable in both.” The corner of her mouth curled slyly. “You prefer this one, don’t you?”
I grinned. “How did you guess?”
She laughed and shook her head again, the long braid of her hair dancing past her waist. I reached out to wrap that braid around my hand when she caught me by the wrists and pulled me back against her.
“You’ve got to stop distracting me, Epiphany.”
“I’m the distraction?”
She held me tight, her arms closed around me like shackles. I could feel her heartbeat against my spine. She rested the side of her face against mine. “You will have to change form,” she said. “You need to learn to fight in both.”
“I know.”
She released me and gave me a playful push from behind. “We’ve more training to attend to.”
She opened two gold doors at the end of the hall and we stepped into the ballroom beyond. Anatharic pushed off the wall when we came in, his dark wings folded around his body. He bowed and used his head to gesture toward a table upon which he’d placed a row of weapons. Iliaria opened the long brocaded coat she wore and drew the crescent blades of the Dracule. She motioned toward the table with the tip of one.
“We should begin now, so we’re not at this all night.”
I took the blades they offered, not knowing who they originally belonged to. I hefted them and found that they were heavy yet strangely well-balanced in my hands.
They showed me how to use the blades first by slow-motion example. Both made their footwork and dancing blades appear easy and effortless as they circled each other.
I found, as with the obstacle course they had set for me, putting their instructions to action was not as easy or effortless. If the blade wasn’t held just so, a person risked losing it entirely. Iliaria stood behind me and the line of her body followed mine as she walked me through the motions as we sparred with Anatharic. She showed me how the curled edge came in handy for disarmament as well as a thrust-pull motion that would deal quite a bit of damage.
She swung outward to prove her point, using the hook like a claw before she jerked it backw
ard. “Do you see?”
Slightly distracted by the heat of her body, I nodded.
She seemed satisfied and turned to Anatharic. “Go easy on her,” she said before she took a seat next to Vasco and Cuinn.
Easy was not exactly how he went. Anatharic held his blades aloft and crossed his arms in a loose X shape in front of his body. I stepped up to face him, and as soon as I was within arm’s reach, he launched a full-out wildly slashing attack. I raised my blades to block him, constantly turning my wrist to turn the blade so that he could not catch hold of it and disarm me.
He pushed me backward across the marble-tiled floor, his elongated ears drawn back in fierce concentration. Frustrated, I ducked his next swing and skittered some feet away from him. I threw my blades down in a clatter.
“Epiphany, what are you doing?” Iliaria asked with a thread of annoyance.
Anatharic’s ears swiveled uncertainly. I kicked the blades with my booted feet and said, “Come on, then.”
Anatharic shrugged and obliged. His right blade made an arch toward my face, and I used my speed to escape the shot. I reached out with an open hand and slammed my palm into his wrist. The hit to his wrist was too sudden for him to react, and when I hit him, his arm flung away from his body.
It caught him off guard for the split second I needed to slip past his defense. I stepped into him and brought my knee up hard into his groin. Anatharic’s body bowed forward out of reflex and I grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved, using my weight to steer his momentum.
Anatharic fell in a heap on his side and I fell on top of him, lowering my head to his chest. With muscles I wasn’t used to having, let alone using, I whipped my tail up in a semicircle behind me and lowered the barbed tip against his cheek.
“If you’re going to go for a killing blow that way,” Iliaria said, approaching, “You’re going to have to make sure you have the force behind you to follow through with the throw.”
Anatharic wiggled beneath me and Iliaria ordered him to be still. He did.
One of her hands touched my lower back and the other cradled my right hip. “Like this,” she said, “follow my hands.” She pulled back on my hip and I went back with her. The move was strangely intimate and I tried to ignore it. “And forward,” she said, and her hand at my lower back encouraged me forward. “When you come forward with it, throw your upper body forward and then down, so that you don’t end up putting a barb through the back of your own head. Got it?”
Summoning Shadows: A Rosso Lussuria Vampire Novel Page 28