Netherworld II: Blood Potion No. 9

by Tracy St. John

  A millennia after it had begun, Master Miguel called, “Time. Thank you for your assistance, everyone.”

  I saw those who had been waiting their turn to punish me sag with relief. Truly punishing a wayward sub is not fun for any Dom worth his salt. I think I even heard the stoic Master Miguel sigh as he unlocked first the spreader bar then the stocks.

  “Go to your masters, sub,” he said gently.

  I tried to straighten, but the blistering throb from my hind parts was too much. My knees wobbled, and Dan was there before Miguel could catch me. I sagged against my rugged Marlboro Man’s chest, weeping with mingled pain, humiliation, and contrition.

  Tristan came to us and removed the gag quickly. Before it was fully out of my mouth, I blubbered, “I am so sorry I hurt you, I really, really am.”

  Both men pressed kisses to my hot face. Tristan soothed, “We know, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay now. Take her over here, Dan.”

  He led as Dan carried me to a corner table. Dan sat down and tried to settle me in his lap. I hissed, my sore parts coming into painful contact with his thigh.

  “Wish it away, Brandilynn,” Tristan said. “It’s not real, and you can’t be harmed this way. Wish the pain away.”

  Our spirits experience things through memory of what life was in our physical form. It takes witchcraft or being trapped in a living body for a ghost to be subject to actual injury. I didn’t deserve to let go of the agony, but Tristan’s firm voice told me this was a command. So I let it go, made myself whole again. Reluctantly.

  Dan snuggled me, his big, calloused fingers stroking through my hair. “Never again, Brandilynn. No matter what you do, I can’t ever watch you go through something like that again.”

  “I just want us to be okay,” I said, whimpering anew as fresh tears threatened. I burrowed into the warm safety of his chest and cried some more.

  I heard Master Miguel’s voice as I wept softly. “You’re really new to this, aren’t you?”

  Dan’s thick voice rumbled through the chest I pressed my face to. “Pretty obvious, isn’t it? I’m starting to wonder if this is for me.”

  “Well, the lifestyle isn’t just about sex, even if you keep the play to the bedroom. You’ve got to be ready to invest emotionally. And the fact seeing her punished hurt you so badly means you’ll be a good master. Only assholes get off on seeing a sub suffer like that, no matter what her trespass.”

  Dan’s arms tightened around me. “I have a lot to think about, I guess.”

  “Give this time to settle before you make any decisions. And listen to Tristan. You could do a lot worse for a mentor.”

  Tristan’s smooth voice joined the conversation. “Coming from you, that’s quite a compliment. Thank you, Miguel.”

  The Dom turned his attention to the vampire. “Switching to the opposite of smart, capable people, word is that the state representative from your neck of the woods is eyeing a run at the governor’s office.”

  Tristan’s tone went thoughtful. “Really? Is he giving up his seat for the election?”

  “Could be. You know how Diaz is; he can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.”

  “He does like to channel all his energy in one direction. Thanks for the tip.”

  “Georgia could do a lot worse than having you in Atlanta. Gentlemen, I hope the rest of your time here is much more enjoyable.”

  With that, Master Miguel took his leave. My tears had dried up during the conversation, and Dan bowed his head towards mine. “How are you, baby girl?”

  I was still a long ways from being all right, but I feared Dan couldn’t take anymore drama, especially from me. “I’m okay, I guess.”

  “Truth time,” Tristan said, his voice weary. “Sit between us, Brandilynn.”

  Dan helped me move from his lap to the booth seat they sat on. Sandwiched between the two men, I felt very, very small. I kept my eyes on my knees, feeling naked and vulnerable because that was exactly what I was. I worried our conversation might be as excruciating as my punishment had been.

  My hands were lying palms up on my thighs. Tristan took one in his long, elegant hands. Dan enfolded the other in his blockier, more calloused paw.

  “Are the two of us not enough for you?” Tristan asked. “I get the feeling your fear of commitment could be driving you to others.”

  I started and jerked my gaze up to meet his. I wasn’t the only one who suspected my issues might part of my attraction to Bane. Hearing Tristan suggest it got me thinking harder than ever about the possibility. It wasn’t the kind of thing I could answer right away. I’d have to sit with this revelation, get to know it to see if it applied to the problems I was having.

  To the men I responded, “You might have something there. I’m going to have to think about it. But I promise, I absolutely swear it won’t happen again. Hurting you two—” I teared up again and brayed a big, ugly sob. I was embarrassed all over again.

  Tristan’s expression was tender, and he brushed the new wetness from my face. “I’m willing to trust this promise, Brandilynn. The fact you didn’t use your safeword and accepted punishment gives me hope for the future. But you really need to get over being hurt by your family and ex-fiancée. Otherwise, you’re going to have a very lonely eternity.”

  He was warning me. Dan wasn’t the only one who would end the relationship if I didn’t get a handle on my infidelity issues. Tristan had said he was willing to give up live blood for me. I’d have to reciprocate.

  Dan’s voice turned my focus to him. “I love you. But he’s right, baby girl. Another lapse with Bane or any other man, and I’m going to have to walk away. You’ll have to accept the risk of trusting us in the short term … and only one of us in the end.”

  Panic gave me the sensation of my heart skipping a beat. To face losing either man was terrible to contemplate. Allowing myself to trust one or both of them had frightening implications of its own. My thoughts gibbered too wildly to give them speech, so I simply nodded.

  I knew I had to face the inevitable at some point. If I wanted to keep Tristan and Dan, I had to put my faith in them. And then I would have to choose one. One man to believe in, to have faith that he wouldn’t yank my heart out and stomp it to bits. To hope he’d keep my love safe. To not turn on me, to not suddenly decide I wasn’t good enough.

  I didn’t know that I could hand myself over to either of them like that. I know, it’s stupid to toss aside the love of two wonderful men, men I probably didn’t deserve. But I was so scared to be hurt again.

  Thank goodness Tristan was willing to let it go for the moment. He kissed my hand and smiled at Dan. “Well. It would be a shame to let this place go to waste. What do you say about finishing the reclaiming of our sub?”

  Dan looked towards the play area, and one corner of his mouth lifted. “I would certainly like to get some joy out of this day. Lead on, Master Tristan.”

  Tristan stood. “Let’s go, sub.”

  Dan and I rose, and I followed the men, my head lowered meekly. I made sure I didn’t look at the other patrons of the club who had witnessed my shame.

  They led me to the padded sawhorse. At Tristan’s order I got up on it, crouching on the arm and leg rests to be strapped down for their pleasure. Feeling the bindings close over my ankles and wrists, I began to feel safe again. Relieved in fact, as if I’d just avoided catastrophe.

  Of course, tough decisions still lay in my future. One of the joys of BDSM is that when you’re engaged in it, only the present matters. You completely wallow in the here and now, the worries of tomorrow an eternity away.

  Tristan’s long fingers stroked through my hair, his touch so gentle and loving I got a fresh delivery of tears in my eyes. I lifted my face, and he opened his fly. I moaned as he filled my mouth with velvet-covered steel. He held my head, stroking in and out, hot and pulsing against my tongue.

  Dan’s welcome bulk moved up between my legs. He too was tender with me, as if trying to make up for the punishment I had receiv
ed. He slipped into my folds, slow and careful. Mingled arousal and regret for my impetuous actions swirled within me at his caring use. Dan is very much a man who enjoys hard, physical sex. This cautious lovemaking spoke volumes about his feelings for me.

  I crouched between them, a repentant sub and grateful receptacle for their desires. I would have endured any discipline for this moment of complete immersion in being theirs. I opened my throat to take all of Tristan, glad that as a ghost I didn’t have to worry about gagging and interrupting his pleasure. Honey flowed thick and rich to ease Dan’s passage. Both men groaned to be held in my tight, wet warmth.

  I rolled my eyes up to gaze at Tristan. He stared down, his eyes so dark they were almost vampire black. His lips were parted, allowing the tip of his tongue to wet his lips as he watched his cock slide back and forth between mine. I rubbed my tongue along the pounding vein on the underside of his member, just the way he liked it. His mouth dropped open a little more. In the throes of sensual bliss, his chest heaved in the memory of breath.

  Dan’s strokes were long and smooth, his thickness filling my channel as if it had been molded inside me. The perfection of our fit seemed divine, as if the gods had ordained us for one another. The constant pressure on that interior sweet spot, the one that raised the hairs on my arms, only bore out this notion. I trembled all around him, and he moaned from time to time, caught up in the sweetness of our union.

  They were moving quicker now, their rhythm matching by accident or design, I didn’t know. I gripped the armrests I was strapped to as molten heat built in my belly, fed by the sliding perfection of Dan finding that nest of nerves over and over again. Their growing excitement fed mine, along with the joy of belonging to them.

  My service was not that of the Beasts’ property, whose pleasures were unimportant, whose bodies only existed for the use of the shifter gang. My submission was that of a woman beloved by the men who gave as much ecstasy as they took. A woman who was adored despite her many shortcomings.

  I whimpered as sparkling heat licked through me, whispering of impending elation. Tristan and Dan worked me faster and harder. Tristan’s face tensed, his teeth clenching as the oncoming release inched closer. I sucked and swallowed against him, inviting his sweetness to fill my mouth. I clenched internal muscles to massage Dan, to gather his seed as well. Both men groaned.

  Dan’s rough fingers slid beneath me to rub my clit, sending white-hot bolts through my belly. I cried out around my mouthful of Tristan, and he answered with a shout of his own. Hot juices spurted into my mouth, filling me with the deliciousness that was my vampire lover. My nether parts clenched hard, and I was off, riding waves of nirvana as Dan’s drawn out moan joined the symphony and he jerked within me.

  They heaved against me, saturating me with their passion as my sex flexed and I swallowed every precious drop. We became one entity, forging our broken bond into wholeness once more. As their cocks pulsed streams of ardor into my body, I thought of how much I loved these men, how I’d do anything to never hurt them again. Oversized libido and fear of commitment or not, I would remain true to Tristan and Dan.

  I could do this. I had to do this.

  Chapter 10

  It was near dark when I showed up at Bane’s trailer, materializing in the living room. A thrill of terror raced down my spine to see no sign of Fizz or the werewolf agent. I quickly went down the hall, passing a bedroom filled with exercise equipment, and a utilitarian bathroom. The last door, the one to Bane’s bedroom, was closed and light filtered out from beneath it.

  I stepped through into the master bedroom, spartanly furnished with a bed, dresser, and nightstand which had all been new in the 1980’s. Pressboard chic, no less. A laptop was the dresser’s lone accessory, the nightstand a little more lavish with an alarm clock and ring of keys.

  Fizz’s baby doll tee and breath-inhibiting jeans were a pile on the tan-carpeted floor. Fizz herself was laid out on the bed, clad in pink nylon bra and panties. Bane stretched out next to her, propped up on one elbow. Eye popping in bare-chested glory, the crotch of his jeans livid with erection, he trailed fingertips over Fizz’s bare midriff.

  “Wake up, Brandilynn,” he whispered, his golden eyes molten. “Wake up, little girl.”

  Resolutely ignoring the surge of heat I felt looking at the agent (and how delicious it would have been to open my eyes to see that looming over me), I parked my hands on my hips and spat, “I don’t think so, you mangy mutt.”

  I wished I had a rolled-up newspaper to pop him on the nose with. Some guys will accept a ‘no’ in the present, hoping it would change to ‘yes’ in a future setting if they kept pushing the issue. Bane was apparently one of those.

  I settled in to wait and watch. It was only a few minutes later that Fizz’s eyelids fluttered open. She blinked slowly a few times, taking in her surroundings and the hopeful shifter watching her carefully. I had to laugh when she screeched in his face.

  “What? You! Cop!” She rolled over, a windmill of skinny arms and legs before she hit the floor running.

  Bane lunged after her. “Oh shit, Fizz, wait!”

  She shrieked as his fingers slid across her back. “Get off me! I ain’t going down for you, Bane! They ain’t killing me over you and that dead girl!”

  She scrambled free of him and took off down the hall. Still laughing, I transported into the living room, slipping into Fizz before she could get out the front door. I turned to face Bane as he barreled after. Not realizing Fizz’s body had stopped and now waited for him, his momentum carried him nicely into my swinging fist. I got him square in the mouth, spreading his lips in a funhouse grin. It didn’t drop him, but it did stop him cold in his tracks.

  I could feel Fizz’s shock to find herself usurped again, followed by a surge of mean delight as a few drops of blood welled from Bane’s lower lip. We were on the same page as far as putting the agent in his place, though for different reasons.

  I folded skinny arms over a nearly flat chest. “Now that I have your attention, what do you think you’re doing waiting for me to show up in your bed?”

  Bane stood over me in shock, rubbing his busted lip. “Brandilynn?”

  “No, dog breath, it’s Zsa Zsa Gabor. I told you, I have a boyfriend!” I yelled, uncaring if he had a spy outside or even hiding in his fridge. Then I slapped him for good measure.

  He growled, the sound slipping between lengthening canines. I stepped close and growled back.

  “What, are you going to try to scare me into sex? Force me with threats? Is that the kind of man you are?”

  Bane’s eyes widened, and he took a step back, raising his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I was just mad you slapped me. I’ve got the hint. Sorry.” He had the grace to flush with embarrassment.

  I tapped my bare foot on the nubby carpet. “You’d really be sorry if I’d hit you in my old body. It was a lot stronger than this one.” I ramped up my anger, determined to make sure he would stop chasing me. “And if you try anything else, the next hint will be a baseball bat upside your stupid head!”

  He scowled at me, his ears flattening to his skull. “I said I was sorry. I will never try to seduce you again.”

  “You’d better not, jerk.” I stormed past him, returning to the bedroom to yank Fizz’s horrible clothes on. It seemed to take forever to struggle into those ridiculously tight jeans.

  When I turned around, Bane was in the doorway, watching me. He didn’t say anything untoward or make a move, but the bulge in his pants told me his interest in me hadn’t waned one bit.

  Too bad. With the memory of Tristan and Dan’s pained expressions as I’d taken punishment still fresh in my mind, I found it almost easy to dismiss the handsome were. To distract him I asked, “When is Fizz due for work?”

  Those golden eyes drank me in, and his rumbling voice trembled my bones. “About forty-five minutes. I’ll take you on my bike.”

  Fizz’s stomach chose that moment to announce its emptiness. And her head felt heavy
with the continued effects of the drug. “We’d better hit some fast food and coffee. I’m feeling all sludgy and starved here. Spot me five bucks on that?” It wasn’t really a request. In my opinion Bane owed me for his attempt to get me in yet another compromising position.

  His slow smile, all the more devastating for its bad wolf image because of the swollen lip, made me uncomfortable. “Sure.”

  I pushed past him, trying not to notice the admiration in his voice and eyes. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was more interested in me than ever. For my part, I was determined to not get gooey over Bane again, no matter how darned good he looked shirtless and wearing that pirate’s grin.