Enacting Revenge

by Erin R Flynn

  I was panting, holding my hand and staring into his eyes… And not in the water anymore. I realized only then we weren’t in the water. He’d brought us to his apartment because he could.

  “I didn’t want others to hear or see you so upset,” he explained. “I brought us here after I teleported to you in the water and I saw you were about to blow.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered, staring down at my thighs. Tears dropped from my eyes, and I had no idea what was going on with me.

  “Soraya, I’m sorry,” he whispered, moving closer and hugging me to him. “I’m sorry I didn’t get it. I’m sorry I hurt you when you’re so upset and hurt already. I’m sorry I fucked up when all you wanted was fun and a day off.”

  That was what was going on with me. He totally nailed it. My plate was so overloaded that his little cherry-sized mistake toppled the sundae over or whatever.

  “Did they satisfy you?” I whispered, hating that I was being an insecure woman, which I never was, but I realized it was all tied up in seeing my father. Seeing him had made me feel the ugly, beaten, and starved little timid and terrified girl I’d been. Seeing him had made me remember all the times he’d said he wouldn’t be able to marry me off and no one would want me.

  All those wounds had been reopened with seeing him again, and unfortunately Hunt had tripped over them.

  “No. I had fun because I thought we were having fun. I thought you were enjoying it. Yes, I’m a guy and we like blow jobs and fucking, but if that was all I wanted, I could pick up bar flies or whoever. I thought we were into the playing, and I missed the rest because there’s too much going on and I’m new to these waters. It’s not an excuse, but it is the reason, and I’m sorry, so, so sorry I failed you when you needed me not to most.”

  I bobbed my head. “I think I’m not numb from seeing Father anymore. I think it opened some wounds and insecurities I thought long since healed and you tripped over them.”

  “I realized that,” he whispered gently as he pulled me onto his lap. “It was about the fourth slap I saw the fear in your eyes I have in others who were victims and lashing out.” He gave me a moment to settle with that. “Soraya, I don’t know how to fix this now. People saw us fighting out in the water. I don’t know what to do and not make this worse.”

  “I do, but it’s not nice or really making up,” I admitted.

  “Do it. Protecting you and keeping the vultures away is more important,” he blurted, hugging me tighter. “No one can know you have these wounds or figure it out that it’s because of what happened. Please, Soraya, do whatever and protect yourself. Please. I’m sorry I walked into this and triggered you, but do it.”

  Him saying that healed a lot of hurt in me. I kissed him and moved to take him in me, much to his shock. I rocked my hips and moved faster, putting his hands on my ass and bringing us back to the island.

  “Bad dog, please your master,” I moaned, digging my nails into his neck and changing his collar so he couldn’t come. “You like sticking your dick in other bitches? Huh? Whose pussy you like better?”

  “Yours,” he growled, thrusting up into me. “Yours is always best. Shit, I love fighting with you. Punish me. You want a vamp to bite me this time too?”

  Sometimes he was pretty smart and quick, I had to give Hunt that.

  “No, I want all of your energy on apologizing the rest of the weekend.”

  “Yes, fuck, yes, use me all weekend for whatever you want,” he moaned, thrusting harder. He finished me that way and then begged to lick me.

  “Did you lick them?” I asked, fisting his hair and pulling hard so everyone saw. “Did you lick other pussy, dog?”

  He snorted. “No. I’m not licking some bitches who offer me sex to get near you. Do I look that stupid?” He leaned in before I could let go, and I heard some hair rip. He licked my lower lip in submission. “I only lick my master and her friends if she wants me to. Let me show you how I long only for your pussy, Soraya.”

  I nodded, and we put on quite the show for the next hour or so, long enough for it to be time for tea. I collapsed to the day bed when we were done, and I was completely sated, ready for a nap.

  “Okay, seriously, what have you taken?” Andrew demanded of Hunt. “I’ve never seen endurance like that, and you’re just a pup.”

  “I ask her to alter the collar so I can’t finish,” he answered, leaning over and kissing my shoulder as he hugged me from behind. “She’ll let me come when she feels I deserve it.”

  I smirked at Andrew. “I told you. You fuck for your pleasure. He fucks for mine. And we play just as dark as I used to with you.”

  “You certainly do,” he grumbled, shaking his head and going for the tea spread.

  I turned in Hunt’s arms and pressed my lips to his ear. “Thank you, Remy.”

  “Always,” he breathed, giving me a sweet kiss. “Take a nap. We’ll wake you when it’s time to get back and change.”

  “Screw anyone while I’m sleeping and I’ll remove your dick, pet,” I murmured as I drifted off.

  Apparently I cared enough to not want him to touch other women. Wasn’t the plan not to care or get attached?

  Nailed it.

  13

  I changed the plan on what to wear for dinner. The blander black gown seemed not enough after the show we’d put on and what was going on. No, I decided to go the opposite direction for several reasons.

  One, I loved fucking with people.

  Two, it would protect Hunt better if I took certain things more seriously instead of just treating him like a pet, as people might fuck with him then.

  Three, part of me wanted to do it as a big fat “fuck you” to my now dead father, as he’d spent so many years telling me no one would ever want me, and he would be dying all over again in Hades to know I was keeping a lowly wolf at my side.

  Popping over to The Resort after I got ready, I bit back a smile when Hunt and Brax had matching shocked reactions to the white lace gown that was absolutely meant for weddings. It was completely backless, ultra low cut in the front, and basically just covered half of my breasts and the nipples. It was also meant to be worn with a slip, and I wasn’t even wearing undergarments.

  Oh, and it had a several feet long train.

  I flicked my wrist and changed their tuxes so they were wearing white shirts, vests, ties, and a large white rose pinned to their lapel. I figured that way they’d match the small white rosebuds in my curled and pulled up hair.

  “Why?” Hunt asked after several times of trying to find his voice.

  I was going to be snarky but decided against it. “Because you protected me earlier, and if you’re my pet, I will protect you.” I smiled when understanding flashed his eyes. I was riding that line between pet/consort and mating. I moved closer to him and smiled, fixing his tie. “It’s fine. We’ve not mated, but I’m over a thousand, Hunt, and I’ve never taken a pet or consort. People will talk. I made the collar permanent to protect you, so now we do it right.”

  “Why?” he breathed, cupping my cheek. “The collar was punishment for betraying you. All of this was because I was on the wrong side. Why are you doing any of this and not sticking me in a coffin in the ocean?”

  “You had help being on that wrong side,” I answered. He went to ask again, but instead I pulled his head down to mine, kissing him gently. “Just enjoy it because I’m sure tomorrow I will go right back to being a bitch.” I looked at Brax. “I need a favor. Can you gift us some crazy cake later since I can’t make food appear?”

  He waited until I moved away from Hunt and then pulled me against him, kissing me desperately. “Fine, but I get two dates after this tribunal. I want at least that chance because I’m doing it to protect you too.”

  “I’ll give you four,” I agreed, smirking up at him. “As long as one is another play time in the ocean.”

  “Gladly.”

  They escorted me into the ballroom, and to say people were shocked was the understatement. Sangria and Cameron l
ooked as if they were having a hard time figuring if they should burst out laughing or check if Hades had frozen over.

  Probably both.

  However, the ancient nest invited themselves again, and Victor and Andrew looked ready to chew nails or kill either man at my side. Lovely.

  I led us over to them, giving them a bright smile. “Start shit and I’ll shove something bad up your arses. No, we’re not mating. This is politics and being smart. He is now the only man I’ve ever acknowledged as my anything, and then everyone finds out I’m Soraya Warloc.”

  “It’s smart,” Victor said, chilling out.

  “Wow, I couldn’t even hear what you said,” Hunt muttered. “Their hearing must be amazing.”

  When appetizers started being served, I carefully picked up my train and held it over my arm so no one tripped. Hunt was amused when I kept feeding him all the fresh seafood, being all lovey dovey with him. He played the part though, hugging me from behind while I ate, nuzzling my neck as we talked with the others.

  And then I caught a flash of his aura and realized he was embarrassed. Hunt was the hot and gruff cop who was always angry, and here I’d melted his brain with sex and had him acting all cuddly at an elder event.

  “What?” he asked when I kept glancing at him over my shoulder.

  “Just wondering what happened to the asshole I gave crabs to,” I admitted under my breath.

  “He’s spent the past few months in Chicago having his faith in people slowly restored,” he answered after a few moments. “I can’t ever have my parents or Mina back, but I know they’re together and at peace now. Tommy told me you handled all of the videos of Mina. It hurts so bad that they went after her because of me, but I think I’ve accepted I tried my best and without the help I should have been given.

  “That doesn’t make what I did right. Nothing ever will. I betrayed you, and I have to live with that. I picked the wrong side, and I think part of what I’m feeling now is I got so much wrong. I understand why I did, but it was humbling. I’m still that asshole and probably will be the moment I get back to work, but this has also been a vacation for me, and I haven’t had that in so long.” He kissed my hair. “Plus, you melted my brain with sex.”

  I was about to burst out laughing when I realized Victor, Andrew, and a few of their nest were looking at Hunt with promises of death. “Don’t. He’s making it right. The government tricked him, and the wolves didn’t help him. He thought I was corrupt and would go to jail. They lied to him, and he’s taken his penance more seriously than any who have wronged me before, including the both of you.”

  “How?” Andrew and Victor bit out at the same time.

  “He accepted the collar and let me link us so he understands what it is to be one of us, the price we pay for our magic. I was also leading him to the conclusion I just came to, as him being tied to me gave him some of the energy feel from the earth. It’s nature, and it’s helped his aura some, the residual pain we all feel.”

  “If they punch me, they’ll kill me, right?” Hunt asked after a moment.

  “Yes, I’ve seen Andrew take someone’s head clean off,” I hissed, thinking he was a moron for even bringing it up. “Your debt is to me. They don’t own me.”

  “No, but you’re family to them,” he muttered gently. “You are, Soraya. Even if it went all wrong and they hurt you, or Andrew tricked you when you were young and stupid and Victor cared more about one upping his brother than you, they still see you as family.” He shrugged when I pulled away and gave him a crazy look. “You sleep talk. Honestly, it’d be so fucking adorable if it wasn’t always bad stuff. You sort of whimper and flop around and talk.”

  Brax nodded when I glanced at him. “At one point when he shifted back, you were both doing it, and I wondered if I’d fallen asleep with two pups running in their dreams.”

  “I didn’t know,” I grumbled, feeling a bit naked that people knew that. “You’re both the first I’ve ever let sleep over, and I have to sleep behind my wards or I can do magic in my sleep. My power is partially rooted in memories and thoughts, so mine can have a lot of power to them.”

  Several of the nest snorted, but Andrew just smirked at me. “Like popping down to the sweet shop in only your dressing gown when you had a craving?”

  “Or covering the whole estate in rose petals because you thought us all in need of baths?” Victor teased.

  “My favorite was when she had dreams of doing the laundry and suddenly all the bedding would be gone on cold nights,” Walter said as he joined us. “Or the fires in the estate would flare because she was cold.”

  “Yes, I know I wasn’t easy to live with, thank you,” I muttered. “I almost killed a few of you when those fires spread and I almost took down part of the estate before anyone could wake me from my nightmare.”

  “You never told us what that one was, but you said you weren’t cold,” Walter pushed, studying me carefully.

  I sighed, fidgeting with the long sleeves of my dress. “Father found me and sent me to the fires of Hades like he always promised he would if I disobeyed him.”

  “We need to celebrate that man is dead,” Walter sighed, shaking his head. “Let me see what bubbly your people have.”

  “Or can we see this hidden alcohol storage?” Bacchus purred, and I shot him a nasty look. He only shrugged. “They’re pushier than you would allow us to be. I want to see it.”

  “Oh, did you assume there’s only one, darling?” I purred, smirking at him as I picked up a plate of shrimp from a passing server. “You’ll have to be more specific. Did you want wine bottles or barrels? Hard liquors need to be stored in other conditions and are somewhere else. Then there are a few storage places my coven has access to regularly for when we gift a nice bottle of this or that.”

  “Well, I know you won’t show me all of it, so how about that last one?” he asked.

  I glanced up at Hunt. “Which would you like to see, pet? It is our night to celebrate our permanent bond.”

  He cleared his throat and instead of answering, thought of what he wanted clearly so I would catch it, Brax almost choking on what he’d been eating. The angel looked at us and nodded. “Invite me to that date for sure.”

  “It’s sort of fun we can communicate like this,” I admitted, never appreciating it before. I pursed my lips at Hunt, smirking when he kissed me. “Good pet. Let’s go see the barrels you want to fuck me over another time.”

  “As long as we bring a picnic, it sounds like a nice date,” he muttered, kissing along my neck.

  It did, and it melted my cold heart some.

  I brought our group over to my hidden and secured underground storage in Europe that I’d purchased centuries ago. It had been flooded catacombs that I’d bought for nothing and used my magic to fix. I’d updated it with technology since then, but it had that ruins feel that I loved.

  “How much money do you seriously have, Soraya?” Andrew whispered in awe as he stared at the huge space loaded with more barrels of wine than a winery. He went over to one of the labels and gave me a stunned look. “This is over four-hundred-years old. You can’t even buy wine that old. Our stores don’t even have something like this, and we’re thousands of years old.”

  I snorted. “You guys drink too much wine to keep anything so long. You used to mix it with blood to keep the blood longer when there wasn’t modern equipment.”

  “That doesn’t answer the question.”

  I shrugged. “I have no fucking idea. I handle none of that. We have several accountants and money managers in the coven that Helen and Tommy work with.” I gave him a look when he opened his mouth to ask more. “Andrew, do you remember how hard it was to get me to focus on much of math when you all tutored me? Do you think that got any better when it got more complicated and tax codes and interest rates?”

  “No,” he snorted, shaking his head. “Gods above, you were such a horrible student if you weren’t interested. I thought storms would start when you got frustrated.”
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  I winced. “A few did when Helen talked me into starting a coven officially and setting it all up. Jerome has learned not to show me much more than summary sheets.” I shrugged again. “All I could think to show you is the quarterly income summary sheets from Magical Healing.” I narrowed my eyes at him when he opened his mouth. “But you are not my husband or even lover to see those.”

  “No, but I did suffer to teach you math, so at least let me see how well my student did,” he countered after a moment.

  “Brat,” I grumbled, caving because it was actually pretty fair. I made my tablet appear with the end of the year totals from last year and handed it over. “For you only then.”

  “Bloody fucking hell, Soraya,” Andrew whispered, his eyes going bug wide. He went a bit pale as he glanced at me before looking at the tablet again. “And this is just the one company? What do the others make?”

  “I don’t have a clue.” I shrugged and sent the tablet back to my apartment when Victor tried to reach for it. “There’s not much overhead for the cleaning company. Salaries really. There’s no storing of supplies or trucks to drive to locations. Though that might change since Keegan is moving forward with the bespelled cleaners for in between appointments.” I waved off what else I was going to say. “I don’t know. PI makes the most I think.”

  “It wouldn’t even make a dent in your bloody fortune to pay off our whole tax issue and liens if that’s the profits from one company,” he whispered in awe… But then winced. “I apologize, Brother.”

  “She knew I was worried about money, and that’s why she was suddenly hiring us even if she wants to throttle us both,” Victor muttered and then sighed when I gave him a curious look. “England has not caught up to the US in the laws for supes. Before we were so well known and more than myth, we did a lot of sneaky everything to stay under the radar.”

  I gave a slow nod. “Yes, I remember you selling the estate to each other for next to nothing.” My eyes went wide. “Tell me the government hasn’t come calling to collect that bill?” I let out a whistle when they both nodded. “Bastards. You’ve done more to save them at times than their whole military.”