by M F Adele
They left me feeling empty as they pulled away, but I didn’t have more than a moment to think about the lonely sensation.
My mage lay back on the bed, dragging me back with him. Palmer’s hand circled around my throat, holding me to him as he pushed into my ass in one swift thrust before stilling.
Stone stalked across the room, the metal button on his jeans hitting the floor with a loud thump. His knees hit the bed, resting under my thighs as he lifted my hips.
Palmer’s grip on my hair made my back arch. My demon supported my weight as he and my mage filled me at the same time. My thin inner wall kept them from touching, but I could feel their dicks rubbing against one another.
I was too full.
The shower turned on, and I snapped my gaze from Stone to the bathroom, then to the bedroom doorway as near-silent footsteps faltered on the threshold.
My demon slapped the inside of my thigh. “Pay attention, Kitten.”
I extended my talons, clawing at his forearms and my own thighs as they fucked me without mercy. Every time they thought my focus frayed, they would thrust harder, push faster, until I could barely catch a breath around the onslaught of lust flowing through me.
Palmer brushed his fingers over my sides, reaching up to pinch my neglected nipples. He increased the pressure to a near painful degree before easing off. The rush of blood flow left them tingling before he began again, squeezing and releasing until my core started to clench in warning.
“Gods,” I rasped, my throat scratchy.
I came with a drawn-out moan, my body convulsing with aftershocks. My mage groaned, biting into the sensitive skin between my neck and shoulder as he came. Stone’s talons dug into the outside of my thighs as he tipped his head. His release was a strangled breath while my pussy fluttered around his cock, milking him for every drop.
I felt greedy, but as I rode out the high of fighting and fucking, I still wanted more.
I pulled myself away from Palmer and Stone, flopping onto my back on the bed. We’d barely caught our breath before I spied my fae propped up against the wall. His head was tilted as his icy eyes tracked every movement my body made.
I gazed at Vaughn from under my lashes until he smirked. “Come put your dick in my mouth, Fae. I won’t ask again.”
He swaggered forward, his eyes intense as I flipped over. When he was within reach, I dragged him onto the bed by the waist of his jeans. I ran my hands under his shirt, over his chest and abdominals as I slid down his body.
His clothes hit the floor, and I fisted his length, rolling my wrist. I leaned my head down, circling my tongue around the head of his cock, a sweet treat with a little chill behind it.
Novak sighed obnoxiously, and I cut my eyes at him.
“Am I the last to get here?”
“Yep,” Briggs told him, walking past the doorway as he towel-dried his hair.
My vampire looked at my fae, nodding his head. I let go of Vaughn, glancing up in time to see him nod back.
“What did you just plan?”
Novak grabbed my shoulders, pushing my left side until I was flat on my back. He tugged me to the side of the bed, leaving my head hanging off the edge.
“I made a plan. My bed is too high for this.”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again, staring upside-down at my vampire.
“Yes. That. I want you to do that around my dick.”
Vaughn huffed with laughter, his cool breath caressing my breasts as he climbed over me.
I grinned at him, popping my mouth open again only to gasp as my fae traced icy patterns over my clit with his fingertip. His healing magic made my nerves pulse and throb. Need hit me harder now that I was no longer tender.
I felt used in the best way.
Novak’s hand cradled the back of my head as I drank him down, swallowing around his length.
Vaughn was too gentle as he eased his way inside me, but that didn’t last long.
They’d lulled me into a false sense of leisure. Taking their time to get started, only to flip a switch.
My vampire threaded his fingers through my hair, holding my head where he wanted as he fucked my mouth. I groaned around him as my fae’s skin became cold to the touch. I shivered, trying to heat my body, but the rapid change in temperatures made my nipples peak just shy of painfully.
Vaughn’s pace was relentless, shoving Novak further into my throat with every thrust. The strength between them wound me up, higher and tighter. My core constricted. My muscles coiled as I plummeted into an orgasm that I wasn’t ready for.
If my mouth wasn’t full, I’d thank my fae for healing me.
I was blissfully spent by the time my vampire’s cock thickened, spilling down my throat as he groaned. I moaned around him as I swallowed, and Vaughn surged forward with two more powerful strokes.
“Fuck,” my fae drawled, falling onto the bed beside me.
I didn’t move, couldn’t even if I wanted to.
“Are you alive, Trouble?”
I grunted.
Novak lifted my arm, releasing it when it was parallel to the bed, and I let it fall limply.
Vaughn leaned over to peer at my face. “Do you want me to heal you for real this time?”
I snorted. “Yes and no.”
“What do you need?”
His cautious question had me turning my head to smile sweetly at him.
“I need to take a shower and wash all this,” I motioned my hand over my body, “Off of me.”
“The cum?” My vampire chuckled as he searched for his clothes.
I scoffed at him as I sat up. “The sweat.”
I lay in the bed, my legs tangled with Vaughn’s as he curled up behind me. His chilly breath caressed the back of my neck, icy fingers skating across my hip as he and York talked over my head.
The palm of my left hand began tingling, the skin heating before erupting in hellfire. York startled, throwing himself off the edge of the bed as the small flame licked over his chest. Vaughn buried his face in the crook of my neck, smiling against my skin.
“Sloane,” Hyland hissed, her voice quiet but laced with intense aggravation.
“How do you know if she answered or not?” I heard Ripley ask.
“She always answers.”
I caught myself grinning at her reply, easing myself from between my guys.
“I’ll be back.”
“Sloane. I know you hear me.”
“I’m here, Hyde. What’s wrong?” I asked, closing the bedroom door as I walked out.
Ripley growled. “Stop knocking on the fucking door.”
“Uhm,” I started.
“Do you have a minute? Rip and I are having some issues,” Hyde remarked in fake-cheer.
I ambled through the cabin, slinking out the front door to give the girls a little privacy in their call. I sat on the stairs, pulling the flames closer to my face so that I could see them better.
“Who’s knocking on the door? Where are you at?”
“Well,” Hyde began, sucking in a deep breath. “We’re in my bathroom, trying to avoid men.”
“Annoying, overbearing men,” Ripley added.
Hyland snorted, shouting, “Go away, Dolyn. We’re talking to Lo.”
“You mean you called to tattle.” His gruff voice was muffled.
“Yes. Now. Go. Away.”
I bit at my bottom lip, shaking my head. “I can hear him stomping, so I bet he’s pouting. Tell me what's wrong.”
“Gods, Lo. It’s a little wild in the Drake house right now, and neither of us knows how to handle it.”
“My mates are helicopters, hovering over me at every turn,” Ripley whispered forcefully. “One of them tried to follow me to the bathroom. Hyde came to rescue me before I had a chance to kill him.”
“Was it Dolyn?” I questioned.
She huffed. “No, but I’m about ready to claw to his eyeballs out too.”
“We need some fucking space,” Hyde admitted to me before yelling at
the door, “Leave us alone.”
“It’s just me,” someone said to the girls. “I came to check on you.”
“Fuck all the way off, Arwen.”
“Don’t be like that.”
Ripley growled again. “I’ll gut him for you. Just give me the nod. I don’t need verbal confirmation.”
“Wait,” Hyde whispered. “Lo, what should we do? Kill them or…”
I chortled, standing up to pace the pathway as I thought about their problem. I wasn’t sure what Hyde and Ripley wanted me to do about the predicament they were in when I was just as lost as they were.
The only difference between us was that I’d had a few weeks of experience with my mates, and I didn’t want space.
“I mean, I’ll kill them for you, but I need you to make sure that’s what you really want. It would be a shame to waste good men, or at the very least, good dick.”
Ripley scoffed. “There is no dick that’s worth my freedom.”
“Bitch,” Hyde drawled. “No truer words have been spoken.”
“Okay,” I cut in before they started convincing themselves that murder was the right option here. “Can you sneak out of the house, Hyde?”
“What kind of question is that?”
I huffed at her sarcasm, holding my index finger to my lips as Jack sauntered up to me. “I’ll summon you now so you can feel where I’m at. Then I’ll summon you again in twelve minutes. If you can’t get out, call me back.”
“We’ll be there in less than fifteen.”
I closed my hand, snuffing out the flame, and turned to Jack. I whispered Hyde’s name in my mind, pulling her to me. She shouldn’t have an issue following the path to me.
“I saw you out here with the hellfire in your hand and thought you might have been talking to Papi. I was hoping he’d heard from Nate.”
I groaned. That was a whole other set of issues that I didn’t want to think about.
The only thing that I could focus on was my earlier thought.
I didn’t want to be separated from my mates. I didn’t want space. I knew I’d thought about this a dozen times in the last few weeks, but it was more true now than it was yesterday.
“Fuck,” I muttered, rubbing at my chest.
The little black thing behind my ribs was seriously becoming a nuisance. How had I fallen for my mates so fucking fast?
I’d just slipped right into normal, everyday bullshit with them, and it was shocking the shit out of me. Granted, it wasn’t everyone’s idea of normal... But I wasn’t hiding. I hadn’t even tried to pretend like I was anything other than the mess that I was. Gods. I’d—
“Why do you look so panicked right now?”
I shook my head. “Uh-uh. Nope.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Grim inquired, moseying up behind Jack.
“No. Nope.” I shook my head harder.
“What the fuck, Lo?”
I cleared my throat, pinching at my bottom lip as I whispered, “I think... Uhm, I think my heart has grown four sizes too big.”
“You’re not the Grinch,” Jack quipped.
“Are you sure she’s not?” Grim argued, playfully raising a brow to get a rise out of me.
“My chest feels all fuzzy and shit, and I don’t think I like it.”
Jack scoffed. “For Devil’s sake, bitch. Get a grip.”
Grim patted my shoulder. “That’s called love, Lo. Say it with us. Love.”
I gagged, mostly because it felt like the right thing to do. But also, I knew what fucking love was. I’d had it... Done it? Taken part in it?
“Felt it?”
Jack was gambling tonight. I narrowed my eyes at him, and Grim cut in.
“This is good. It’s a step in the right direction.”
“This is bad,” I stated. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I still don’t understand why you’re freaking out,” Jack mumbled.
A full-body shiver rolled through me. “I don’t know if I like this.”
“You said that,” the hellsteed smarted, a Cheshire-style grin spreading over his face.
“Quick. Argue with me. Fight me. Slap me, Jack.”
He snorted, and Grim shook his head.
“You’re being ridiculous. What’s wrong with loving people, Lo? You deserve to be loved and feel those emotions and—”
“Or just feel anything other than anger and annoyance.” Jack shrugged when Grim glared at him. “It’s true.”
“You are not helping,” the reaper stressed.
“I’m being the brother in this scenario.” Jack pointed to his chest before turning his finger to Grim. “You be the best friend.”
I began to pace again as I summoned Hyde for the second time.
Why was I freaking out? I didn’t know.
The way Hyde and Ripley were so ready to get away from their mates gave me a warped sense of anxiety that I didn’t like.
I was not going to circle back around that subject.
My heart had been a clumsy bitch, and here I was…
Happy.
Despite the monstrous amount of bullshit that had or was happening, I was fucking happy.
Which only meant one thing.
Something was going to go horribly wrong soon.
That was the cycle of my life.
Hyde and Ripley stepped out of the Void a few feet away from us, and I didn’t have any more time to be consumed in my own thoughts.
Hyland Drake started bitching immediately.
“I swear, Lo, these assholes need to learn what space means. Ripley couldn’t even close the door to change clothes without one of those idiots standing on the other side.”
She snorted at herself. “Like neither of us knows how to climb out a window. Dolyn is a moron.”
Ripley pulled her hair over her shoulder, running her fingers through the ends.
“As it turns out, there’s no space in Stars. The idea of a safe place to stay is more than I’ve had in a long time, but I won’t be guarded like I’m china in a bull’s pen. I’m not delicate. I won’t break.”
“So Dolyn is being Dolyn, then? Over-protective, no sense of a personal bubble…” I massaged my temples as Hyde stomped around the yard.
“Yes and yes,” Ripley replied.
“The one guy, Tiago, is really talkative, and Ozlo is intensely quiet. He stared at me like he was trying to find the best way to tear me apart. When I asked him what his problem was, he walked off without a word, but then he was in every room I went in.”
“Ozlo is just weird,” Hyde admitted. “But he grows on you. Eventually, he’ll start talking, if Dolyn and the genie ever shut up. My brother has a few friends who are quiet like that and several who are just dicks. Wait until you meet Soren.”
“No thanks,” Ripley muttered. “The other guy that was with them was enough of a dick for me to steer clear. I was serious when I said I’d gut him for you.”
“Wait,” Jack broke his silence, holding his hands up. “Who was a dick to you?”
“My mate,” Hyde growled. “That’s why I’m freaking out. Arwen walked into the house—like he does every time he comes over—and decided to inform me that I was his.”
“The cute necromancer that was with Dolyn earlier? That Arwen?”
I put my hand over my mouth to cover my smile. Not that it was funny... But she was so worked up, I couldn’t understand why she didn’t do the Hyde thing and tell him to sit down and shut up.
“Yes,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes. “The very hot necromancer who told me a few weeks ago that he wasn’t into dating demons, much less one that was a decade younger than him.
“He didn’t care that I wasn’t interested in more than looking. Apparently, just checking him out while he trained with my brother was enough for him to let me know that he wasn’t fucking me.”
From the tree line, I heard a male yell, “That’s not what I said.”
Ripley shifted with no warning, snarling in the direction of his vo
ice. Her panther form was as large as my wolf, all sinewy muscle, coiled to attack. She was a dire-breed.
“Yes, it fucking was,” Hyde shouted. “Stop stalking us.”
“Holy shit,” Jack whispered. “This is better than daytime television.”
I mentally called to my guys, “Can you come outside for a moment? I think I’m going to need some assistance.”
23
York
Sunday, June 7th
Morning
Sloane had been gone for all of thirty minutes when she called us outside. Her mental voice was somehow urgent and filled with humor, and that worried me.
Vaughn and I lurched off the bed, bolting for the bedroom door. Novak rushed into the hallway at the same time, his hair a wet mess atop his head as he straightened his shirt.
Palmer followed behind Briggs and Stone, the three of them already through the front door by the time we made it out of the hallway.
Outside was just... bedlam.
There was no other word for the scene that greeted us.
The biggest panther I’d ever seen prowled in front of my mate and Hyland. The little succubus slung her arms in the air, careless to the potential danger. My stomach bottomed out as it bared its teeth.
Blaire was sitting on the steps of her cabin’s porch, observing the chaos without a care in the world. Baylor and Grim sat beside her with Jack standing a few feet away. He was near hysterics as he bit at his fisted hand.
One man stood across the yard, his eyes wide as he tracked the panther. Three more shadowed figures moved within the trees, their footsteps echoing around us.
Sloane massaged her temples with both hands.
There was a moment of stunned silence, and then the panther loosed a violent purr, whipping its head from the three approaching figures to Briggs. He cautiously stepped forward, drawing the shifter’s attention to him.
“Ripley?”
He motioned for the panther to come to him. She huffed, still standing too close to our mate.
Vaughn pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing as he asked, “What the fuck is happening out here?”