Nine Lives: The Caelum Academy Trilogy: Part THREE

by Akeroyd, Serena

  “I do.” I shuddered. “I was nothing there, and I made myself something. That’s all that matters.”

  “If it’s all that matters, then why are you letting it get to you?”

  Shit. I hated that she was right on that score.

  But forgetting was hard. The abuse, the time I’d lived without food or shelter, where I’d had to…

  Fuck. I hated thinking about that time. I almost preferred the abuse to what I’d had to do to survive on the streets.

  Everyone sold themselves out there. It was normal. We held out as long as we could, then one day, when your belly was beyond empty and you thought you’d die if you didn’t eat something…

  I shuddered.

  In contrast, Eve was clean, and I was tarnished. Dirty.

  When the kettle whistled, I huffed, poured water into the pot, then grabbed a set of empty mugs by the handles so I could carry two at a time. With the teapot in the other hand, I hustled away from the kitchen and over to the sofa.

  Setting the stuff down on the coffee table, I turned and watched, seeing her switch off the kitchen light as she walked toward me like sin incarnate.

  Eve… the temptress.

  Her name was more ironic than she even realized.

  With the light behind her? Was it any wonder my cock stood to attention?

  She nestled into my side the second we both sat down, and though I was tempted to switch on the TV to avert her focus, I didn’t.

  This time was precious. Rare. I wasn’t about to waste it with distractions, even if I didn’t like what she wanted to talk about.

  “Don’t you hate where you’re from?” I asked her.

  I could almost hear the cogs whirling in her head. “I guess. Mostly not though. I don’t even think of my parents, which is very sad.”

  Yeah. It was, but… “They were going to marry you off to an old creep, Eve. They aren’t people you want to miss.”

  “Maybe. I just don’t like the idea that I can cut people out of my life and not even miss them.”

  “I don’t think you’ve had time to miss them. We’ve been pretty busy.”

  “Seeing Samuel…” She sighed. “He’s so vigilant with his family.”

  “Yeah, because he’s obsessive, Eve. Plus, he’s like Eren—constantly sleep deprived. He has time to do that shit.” I didn’t like the idea of her pulling herself to pieces over the people who were supposed to have protected her but hadn’t.

  “I just meant I wish I cared. I feel very little connection to my family. Almost like I was a cuckoo born in another’s nest.”

  “Because you were,” I told her softly, reaching for her hand and placing it on my lap. Squeezing her fingers, I assured her, “You’re holding up so well, Eve. I’m so proud of you.”

  She gulped. “You are?”

  After staring at our entwined palms, her so pale, me so dark, I turned my head to the side. “I am.”

  Her free hand cupped my cheek. “Thank you. You know I’m proud of you?”

  “What’s to be proud of?” I shrugged.

  “You embraced the other Pack without fuss, Stefan. Not many men would do that.”

  “That’s because they don’t have a woman who needs seven men to keep her safe,” I teased, laughing at her blush. Rocking my head back against the sofa’s headrest, I carried on, “I’m being expedient, draga mea.”

  “Expedient?” She hummed, but her eyes flickered with warmth at my endearment. “What does that mean?”

  “Expedient?” I teased, “I thought with the whole photographic memory—”

  She huffed. “You know what I’m asking.”

  “My darling. It’s kind of old-fashioned, but I figure you are too. It suits you.” My throat felt thick, even though I’d tried to lighten things up by teasing her.

  “I’m going to take that as a compliment,” she whispered, her eyes darkening as they stared into mine.

  “It was meant as one.”

  Both our heads were now resting on the cushion, and we were so close that our breath mingled. It felt good. Right.

  “I’m lucky,” she whispered. “To have you all. To keep me safe. I hate that I’m taking you somewhere that makes you feel the opposite.”

  I shook my head. “We all have a destiny to fulfill, Eve. Whether you like it or not, you were born for this path, and even after everything I went through, my path was always going to take me back to that place.”

  She tilted her head so that half her cheek rested against my shoulder, and the connection felt easy. So simple. Like inhaling and exhaling. I wasn’t right for her. I was stained and tarnished with the things I’d done in my past, and yet, my words had been true—our destiny was tied together.

  God, fate, karma, whoever, had decided that Eve would be the one to take that tainted feeling away from me.

  “Eve?” She hummed at my question. “Te vreau.”

  “What does that mean?” That internal translator we all had would have translated, but I understood that she wasn’t letting me get away with murder.

  “It means I love you.”

  She released a soft sigh. “I’m glad, because I love you too.”

  The tension that had soared inside me, the part of me that had feared she’d reject me, relaxed in an instant.

  She’d taken my declaration of love and simplified things. Made it as easy as inhaling and exhaling again.

  I loved her harder for that.

  “If I try to Claim you, will—”

  Her words were broken off by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. My body had tensed at her words—the promise of sex had made the air between us feel sultry and warm—but disappointment hit me when I heard the steps.

  When Nestor appeared, I was relieved.

  As much as we’d embraced the fact we were all Pack now, with Frazer, Reed, and Samuel, it would take time for things to gel. With Nestor, the easiness in the moment wouldn’t disintegrate, and I wanted that.

  Hell, I wanted her, and I was hoping that Nestor’s presence wouldn’t put an end to her wanting me.

  “Hey,” Nestor rasped, his hair all over the place and his eyes bloodshot.

  We’d had a heavy discussion earlier about our next moves with Drekavac, one of the original Ghouls, and we were all wrecked as a result. His hair was a testament to that fact—he looked like he’d been trying to pull it out at the roots.

  “You want some tea?” Eve questioned, even as she raised her arm to beckon him closer.

  I’d never thought my Pack could sink deeper into a unit, but with Eve, she reminded me that until her, we’d had no softness. Nothing to sink between us to make us a cohesive group, and once Dre pulled his head out of his ass and came around, our Pack would be airtight.

  Nestor pulled a face. “Tea? That expens—”

  I cleared my throat and he caught my look. We’d made a group decision not to tell Eve how much she’d spent at Harrods. Stupid, maybe, but she’d been like a kid in a candy store, and hell, it was her first time at a supermarket.

  Sammy was right though—next time, we’d go budget, or she’d be blowing ours out of the water.

  “I mean, the flowery stuff?”

  “It’s not too bad,” I told him, then motioned with my fingers. “Pass me mine?”

  “What am I? Your slave?” he grumbled, but he dipped down to grab our mugs and handed them to us before he sank beside Eve.

  He immediately placed his head on her lap, and I was almost amused by how he’d blasted through the formalities. When she instantly began running her hands through his hair, sorting it out, I wondered why I’d been dumb and hadn’t pulled a similar move.

  Nestor sighed, as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as she caressed him, and I understood. Even though Eve was the source of our stress, she was also our peace, and I knew how nuts that sounded, but it was the truth nonetheless.

  We sat there in a pleasant silence for only God knew how long, and I’d admit to dozing for a little while as we all
just snuggled up together in a Pack pile-in. The recent past had been stressful, so the time spent like this was surprisingly rehabilitative.

  Then, she asked, “Do you think it’s strange that I enjoyed having Samuel and Reed at the same time?” And the rest was out the window.

  Nestor, apparently as frozen as I, mumbled, “Huh?”

  Fumbling with words wasn’t something I was used to, but I was just as lost. Even though I’d kind of hoped things would take this turn, I hadn’t expected she’d be the one to raise the subject.

  “I slept with Reed and Samuel at the same time,” she muttered, and from her tension, I could sense that it disturbed her. That she was uneasy… but why?

  “Does it bother you?” I managed to ask.

  “No. But it should. Shouldn’t it? Is it wrong?”

  “It’s efficient,” Nestor replied, and I wanted to slap him upside the head, but was more astounded when Eve nodded.

  “I think so too.”

  Clearing my throat, I asked, “Is there a reason you’re asking?”

  “I didn’t want you to think I was dirty or something.” She sighed. “And, I would really like to Claim you, but I wasn’t sure if you’d be bothered about—”

  At the word ‘Claim,’ my cock went from soft to hard in an instant. Just as it had before. And from the tent in his shorts, Nestor was equally as affected.

  Everyone said that sex changed when you were Chosen, and I was so ready to learn why quality over quantity was better.

  Nestor sat up and twisted so he could look at Eve. “Our world is different than the one you and I and Stefan were raised in, Eve. Maybe it’s wrong outside these walls, but what matters is what happens inside them. Do you understand me?”

  She pursed her lips. “I do, but it does sound like something a man would say because he wants to…” Her cheeks pinkened. “You know.”

  “No. I don’t,” I teased, laughing when she hit my leg.

  “You totally do,” she grumbled.

  “You did it, Eve, several times, so I think you know the words,” Nestor joked, and his remark had her scrunching up her face.

  “Fucking.” She whispered the word like the dirty curse it was, but the way she gnawed on her bottom lip had me thinking a thousand other curse words.

  My mark throbbed as it sensed the time to be Claimed was nigh, and it was a reminder that, at last, the pain would be taken away. I’d dealt with it for so long now, that I didn’t even really feel it anymore. It would be nice for that low-level ache to disappear though.

  I rubbed her leg, enjoying the silkiness of her gown against my hands. “Are you sure you want this?”

  “Oh, yes, I’m sure,” she replied, her tone strident enough to have Nestor and I chuckling. “I just wasn’t certain if you two would be.”

  Did it come as a surprise that Eve enjoyed threesomes?

  Hell, yeah, but did I look stupid? I wasn’t about to complain.

  Plus, she’d been born to be different. The Succubus lived inside her as the Incubus had lived inside us all. For me, it was my majnūn, but for the others, they knew what it felt like to crave sex. To need it. Eve was a part of that, endured the same wants and desires as we all did.

  It would have been strange if she didn’t need to act on them as well.

  She blew out a breath. “Should we go to Nestor’s room?”

  Nestor grinned and then he grabbed her. She squeaked as he hauled her onto his lap, pressing her back to his chest, and I watched as my brother made out with my woman, her gorgeous neck stretched as she craned her head to reach his lips over her shoulder. The sounds of their kissing went straight to my cock, and as I watched, I palmed myself through my shorts. My Incubus was beyond ready to be Claimed, to be made hers, and I knew that Nestor had to be feeling the same urgency as I had.

  Though I wanted to kiss her, I took advantage of her position, with her thighs spread over Nestor’s, and rubbed my hands along her splayed legs. The gown pulled taut over her lap, thanks to her position, and I hauled her up so I could free her from its cage. She moaned into Nestor’s mouth, and I grinned as she began shivering when I rubbed my hands against her bare skin this time.

  The lack of skirt let me eye her pussy, which was covered with some white cotton panties. They shouldn’t have got me hot, but they did. Eve was a blur or wickedness and innocence, and everything about her got to me.

  Every.

  Fucking.

  Time.

  I couldn’t stop myself from dropping to my knees, couldn’t stop myself from shoving her panties aside so I could explore her with my fingers.

  Though a part of me wished I’d been the one to take her virginity, I was mostly glad that this wasn’t her first time so we could do whatever we wanted to her, make her truly feel what it was like to be shared by her men.

  I nipped at her inner thigh as I stroked her pussy, rubbing her clit in a way that had her bucking with delight. Nestor’s hand dropped down too, making me aware that he was cognizant of my actions as I was of his.

  When we both touched her, she rocked back against us like we’d set her on fire, her body stringing taut as unanticipated pleasure ricocheted inside her. It made me want to see her explode, or implode, from our caresses.

  I was rough with my fingers, insistent with my desire for her pleasure. Nestor was as urgent as me, and though he bore no mark like Dre—instead Eve wore theirs—he was just as desperate for her as I was with my back tingling and sparking with pain with the need to be Claimed. We reshuffled on the couch so I could pull her panties down all while he shot me a glance over her shoulder.

  I knew that look.

  It wasn’t our first rodeo, after all, but it would be our last with any other woman between us.

  He bucked his hips, and I hauled at the hem of his shorts and dragged them down for him. We weren’t interested in each other, only Eve, and we’d do whatever it took to get the party started—expediency truly was our watchword.

  It was fast and quick, but I delved between her thighs, the sudden need to taste her nectar was a throbbing ache inside me. I flattened my tongue down against her clit, and when she squealed, I smirked against her pussy then began to nibble on the tiny nub. Nestor’s fingers dropped down to her gate from behind, and when he groaned, I knew she was wet without even having to test her myself.

  Her responsiveness was the sex equivalent of putting a gun to my head.

  She was ready for us, so ready, and in barely any time at all.

  As Nestor primed her with his fingers, I carried on taunting her clit, rubbing it with my tongue, then flicking it and slurping down on the center of her pleasure. When her hands dropped into my hair, caressing me, I pulled back. That she wanted more made it a perfect time for Nestor to get on this.

  A lot of guys might have been freaked out by their brother’s cock suddenly tunneling into their woman’s pussy, but we weren’t ‘a lot of’ guys. We were Pack, and our pleasure was our woman’s.

  When she arched her back, her head pushing into the crevice of Nestor’s shoulder, I watched in awe as she wriggled and writhed against him. The slight pulsations she made with her hips had my eyes flaring as I watched her work his cock inside her, and when Nestor reached under the neckline of her gown to cup her tits, I grabbed a hold of my cock and pulled it out so I could jack off to the delicious sight.

  There’d come a day when she’d take us both, when we’d go in her ass and pussy, but as ready as she might think she was, I highly doubted that was going to happen any time soon.

  When my grip hardened on my shaft, I released a groan, and the sound had Eve’s eyes flaring wide open. She watched the way I jerked off, watched me for endless seconds as she reared up, bracing her knees on either side of Nestor, then pressed her hands to his thighs. The way her tits tunneled in Nestor’s grip made my mouth water, but the sight of her beginning to ride him reverse cowgirl?

  It was porn come to life.

  I reached down to grab a firm hold of my balls,
twisting them to stop myself from shooting off like a rocket. When she worked Nestor better than a stripper, my tongue cleaved to the roof of my mouth as I imagined getting inside her, finally fucking her and making her mine.

  Was I surprised when Nestor hauled her back against him, fit his teeth to her shoulder, and bit down?

  Nope.

  He was gouille.

  They were a Shifter race, and though he wasn’t as bad as the Hell Hound or the Were, they were biters. Eve seriously needed to get used to being marked.

  The bite preempted his orgasm, and for whatever reason, that seemed to be what Eve had been waiting for. As he shot his wad deep inside her, she sped up her pace, then began touching her clit to get herself to the finish line.

  I didn’t have to feel it to know when she tightened around Nestor’s dick. My Incubus slurped down both releases like they were ice cold beverages on a hot summer’s day. The power in the air turbocharged the soul, empowered him, and we both watched as Nestor released a sharp cry that had me clenching my jaw as my own needs began to take precedence. I often fed this way, but there was nothing like being inside a woman. My woman.

  Shuddering as she slumped against him, totally spent, it didn’t stop me from grabbing a hold of her and dragging her down to the floor.

  I knew I should take her to bed, or should set her back on the couch, but this felt right.

  It spoke of my urgency to be inside her, and I wasn’t about to waste any time. My Incubus needed her as badly as I did, and when I parted her legs and saw the remnants of Nestor’s seed flowing from her pussy, I instantly pressed the tip of my dick to her slit and thrust into her.

  It was, as I’d thought, like coming home.

  And for a boy who’d never had a home?

  Those feelings were even more powerful, even more overwhelming.

  I couldn’t stop myself from collapsing on top of her, from letting her curve her arms around me and cuddle into me. It would have been torture not to be this close, to look deep into her eyes and see my haven as I thrust into her as fast as I could without giving her rug burn.

  Neither Nestor nor I showed her any of the gentleness we’d become known for among the girls at Caelum, and while that was wrong because Eve was our mate and more deserving of our tenderness than anyone else, it was because she was our woman that we couldn’t.