Raina was very slowly coming back to her senses. She only then became aware of how silly she must have looked, wiping at her mouth and then licking at her own hands, so she abruptly forced herself to stop. The room was beginning to spin with steadily intensity and her vision was becoming a bit watery. Her breathing was still labored, her heart thudding in her chest, and her skin was once again flushed with sweat, although this time she felt stiflingly hot rather than chilled. When she tried to take a step back, she stumbled a bit and slammed her back painfully against the corner post of the bed. Her motor skills were shot, and she actually chuckled a bit at her own clumsiness. She was not having a panic attack this time; she was simply drunk out of her mind on blood. Serenity’s hands pushed Raina to stand upright. Raina was so out of it that she hadn’t even noticed her approach.
“Raina! How long has it been?”
“I … I dunno,” she answered, blinking slowly. “A couple days or so?”
“That’s impossible! You’d have gone completely rogue by now if that were true, especially after being wounded with silver,” Serenity said softly, trying to keep her voice down in spite of her alarm. “Didn’t you feed before you left London?”
“Well … Olivia did offer me a full measure before the … the big meeting thing. Y’know, the summit, the big whooptie-doo thing with the IVC,” Raina slurred, “or whatever the hell you wanna call it…”
“Blessed Goddess,” Serenity gasped again. “This is not good. I’m so sorry, I had no idea. This is my fault. I never even thought to ask before…”
“Forget about it. It’s all right. You’re cool with me, babe,” Raina reassured her with an inebriated smile, touching her cheek lightly. Her fingers left red smears upon Serenity’s face.
Serenity guided her over to the bed and lowered her down to lie back upon the bed with her feet hanging over the edge. She took the shoes from Raina’s hand and set them aside upon the floor, then hurriedly grabbed a large pillow from one end of the bed, lifted Raina by her shoulder, and placed the pillow behind her head.
“Just relax and I’ll set everything straight for you right away, your grace,” Serenity assured her as she hurried away, holding her wrist.
Raina heard her light but quick footsteps going away for a moment as she stared dreamily at the print on the ceiling. She hadn’t noticed before, but the scene upon the ceiling was actually not a panoramic photograph like the rest of the walls but instead a hand-painted pattern to make it appear as though she were lying upon her back on the floor of a forest, looking straight up at the immensely tall evergreens that towered overhead. The illusion was impressively accurate … and especially realistic when her vision was so blurred by the spinning motion that distorted her sight. She closed her eyes for just a moment.
Her eyes shot open wide once more when she felt two pairs of hands grabbing hold of her shoulders and hauling her to sit upright. Serenity stood before her, naked as ever but holding a small white hand towel over the wound to her wrist. Holding Raina upright from either side was Thomas and Sophie. Her vision was affected by her drunken vertigo, but her other senses were quite sharp, and she could easily smell the alcohol on their breath. Sophie was giggling softly as she brushed a few curly, damp strands of hair away from Raina’s face. She was not nude as Raina had previously suspected, but she was only clad in her underwear and bra.
“You need to feed more, and you need it right away,” Serenity told her. “Your servants have volunteered to offer up their blood to you. I will summon my consorts to offer themselves, as well, when you are done with them.”
“Don’t you worry, love. We’ll take good care of you,” Sophie told her with a smile, caressing her face.
Thomas finally shrugged out of his leather biker jacket and offered his wrist to Raina, saying only, “Here. Me first.”
Raina didn’t hesitate this time. She was quicker about it now, too. She knew what she was getting into. The act was still fresh in her mind from having bitten Serenity. She took hold of his wrist with both hands, brought it up, and bit down firmly enough to pierce his skin with her teeth immediately before quickly pulling back. He didn’t even flinch – what a macho dude. She sucked upon the fresh well of blood and hummed approvingly. He didn’t taste as good as Serenity, but certainly good enough. She already knew his taste from before. Well, at least what this part of him tasted like, anyhow.
Raina was surprised to find that the more she fed upon him, the clearer and more lucid she became. The room wasn’t spinning as much now. Her vision wasn’t as wavy and sometimes blurred. She was still sweating, though – profusely, now, and enough that she was desperately wanting a shower before she went sour. Her heart was still racing. Her hands were a little bit unsteady, and she felt a bit clumsy as he pulled his wrist away and offered his other wrist for her to bite when the first wounds began to gel over. Her thoughts were still a jumbled mess of near-panic and stupid lust, but she was at least very conscious now of everything that was happening. She wasn’t losing bits of time anymore.
She had the presence of mind to stop at one point and catch her breath, licking her lips as she looked up to Serenity who had pulled up a small chair and sat nearby to watch with one leg crossed over the other and an elbow propped upon her knee as she kept pressure upon her wounded wrist. She was smiling pleasantly now, watching intently. She was being good and keeping to herself, but Raina could clearly sense things from her direction that said she longed to do otherwise.
“Are you just going to sit there?” Raina asked her.
“Yes, I am,” Serenity replied. “You need a spotter. You’re still in the intermediate stages of bloodlust. I have to make sure you don’t lose control.”
“Too late for that,” Raina said as she turned abruptly and grabbed Thomas by the face, kissing him fiercely.
As she kissed Thomas, she heard Serenity explain, “I meant that I’m here to make sure you don’t hurt yourself or anyone else, but … well, I suppose you won’t mind if I just sit back and watch you play for awhile.”
And play she did. Raina finally let herself go wild upon Thomas. What the alcohol and the soul-searching conversation she’d had with Serenity had earlier begun, the small feast of blood had finally managed to finish in destroying her inhibitions completely. She wanted this. She had wanted him, right from the moment she’d first laid eyes upon him. She had held back, though, and for too damned long. Why? She had been saving herself for Loki. Stupid, stupid girl! She could have anyone she wanted. She was the Grand Duchess. Her word was law. What she wanted, she took. And she was taking what she wanted right now, taking him in her hands, and then into her mouth. She didn’t care that she was being watched. She didn’t care that Sophie was trying her best to join in … although her absolute drunkenness was making her a giggling, clumsy, silly thing more than a helpful bedmate. Raina wanted Thomas, and now he was hers, and that was good enough for now.
Raina scratched him once by accident in her haste and her passion, but not enough to draw blood and, thankfully, not enough to ruin the mood. And though she wanted to keep doing what she’d been doing – she loved to give as much as she enjoyed receiving – she eventually decided that he’d had enough.
“Now,” she said. “I need it now.”
He obeyed with a smile. He pushed her aside, stood up, and pulled her toward the edge of the bed by her ankles. The hemline of her dress was pushed up just enough so that he could see what he was doing, and an instant later, they were joined. He was not as big as Loki, and that was perfectly fine with her. She braced herself, expecting pain, but there was no need for drastic adjustment – it was all silk and gliding and relief. They just fit.
It was different, being with a Sabertooth – different, but in no way any less enjoyable. She had become so accustomed to being with Loki that the idea of someone with a single hair below the neckline had begun to seem almost strange to her. In fact, she hadn’t been with anyone like Thomas since that night she’d become Loki’s Maker by accident
, a night she remembered only in bits and pieces and now loathed. Ultra-bareness and ultra-smoothness was nice, but just as well, contrast and variety was an exciting change of pace, just the same. She felt the tickle of his hairs against her every time he bottomed out with a flesh-upon-flesh slap. Every other impact caused her eyes to roll back into her head and made her squirm and cry out underneath him.
Before long, he withdrew, guided her to turn over upon the bed and stand upon the floor with her elbows upon the edge of the bed, and he went right back at it. From this angle, she could now see that Sophie was lounging upon the bed before her, barely able to keep her eyes open as she struggled to remain conscious. She saw Raina looking at her, she smiled, laughed, and shuffled towards her as she lay upon her back, halfway crawling under her as Raina propped herself upright. She kissed Raina awkwardly and sloppily, lipstick smearing everywhere, and Sophie reached down to caress her however she pleased. Raina did not protest. In all honesty, in that very moment, she truly wanted to do more, to pull Sophie in front of her, kiss her, touch her, and taste her. She was too physically awkward in that moment, too intoxicated and too wrapped up in her passion to do much of anything except hold herself upright and enjoy it all.
Thomas did not last very long. With a cry of passion, he filled her and then all but collapsed upon her, nearly causing her to fall upon Sophie. Raina turned enough that they fell to the side and then laid there for a few moments, breathless and tingling from head to toe with a strange but pleasant numbness. The buzz she’d been experiencing from her intake of blood had all but completely subsided by then, replaced instead purely by the intoxication of carnal knowledge. She felt good … no, she felt great … but she was far, far from satisfied. This couldn’t be it. There had to be more to this, especially after all that damned anticipation.
“Hey,” she said, elbowing Thomas in the ribs as he lay behind her, spooning up against her and still buried completely within her. “I never said you could stop.”
“You’re not done?”
“Not even close.” She clenched those muscles deep within, squeezing him, and drew an approving groan from him. “Feels like … you could go again.”
“But…”
“Why not let me have a go,” Sophie said as she rolled onto her stomach and began to push herself upright.
As Sophie reached for where Raina and Thomas were still physically joined, Raina caught her wrist and held her hand away. Their eyes met and Raina shook her head. A moment ago, it had seemed like a good idea; now that she was more in control of herself, she knew better.
“What? Why the bloody hell not?” Sophie asked rather rudely. She suddenly looked almost ready to cry like a petulant child.
“I just want … one at a time,” Raina replied breathlessly. “No Roman orgies.”
“One at a time? Even better, then! Just you and me.”
“Sophie, no. I can’t,” Raina insisted as she began to finally catch her breath. “Let’s not.”
“Why?”
“Because, I … I just can’t.”
Sophie’s lower lip curled a bit with her trademark pout. “Am I not pretty enough for you?”
“You’re very pretty, Sophie.” Raina was vaguely aware of how slurred her words came out. She sounded a lot more drunk than she felt.
“Do you no longer fancy girls?” she asked. Sophie glanced over to Serenity, who was still sitting discreetly covered and observing with a smile. Sophie grinned at Raina. “No, I think it’s a safe bet to say you still do.”
“I just can’t … with you,” Raina admitted reluctantly. “You’re just too … too young.”
“Too young? How am I too young? I mean, look at me!” she demanded with slight hostility, grabbing her own breasts and giving them a brief shake. “I’ve never been too bloody young for anyone else! I was never too young for Duvessa!”
Just like that, the mood was ruined. Raina narrowed her eyes at Sophie. She practically hissed at her servant, “For the last fucking time, Sophie, I am not Duvessa!”
Serenity could tell this was going downhill. She got up from her chair and moved over toward the bed, taking Sophie by both hands and helping her up.
“I think it’d be best if we went downstairs for awhile, dear,” she said as she began to lead her away from the bed. Sophie was still quite drunk and stumbling about as Serenity tried to guide her along.
Thomas withdrew and rolled onto his back with a sigh. Raina smiled and immediately rolled back over to straddle him, pinning him down with her hands upon his chest. She grabbed two fistfuls of his T-shirt and felt the curls of his chest fur being pulled as she slid herself over the now slippery but still very firm length of him.
“Now we’re finally alone,” she said to him.
“Yes, we are,” he confirmed with a smile.
“I’ve got you all to myself.”
“Yes, you do.”
“What should I do with you?”
He chuckled. “You’re the Grand Duchess. Your word is law. You tell me.”
“Okay then,” she said, guiding him back into herself and sliding down with a sigh. “As Grand Duchess of the IVC and Mistress of the House of Fallamhain … I hereby command you to fuck me like I’ve never been fucked before.”
“As you wish, your grace.”
* * * *
Chapter Fifteen
Raina awoke from a death-like sleep without any memory of having laid down to sleep, and only a vague recollection of anything in the hour preceding that. Not for the first time, she awoke to find herself naked in bed with a stranger, or at least a man who was mostly a stranger to her. Making the situation a bit more unique, though, was the additional realization that she was in that bed sandwiched between a strange man and a strange woman. Dragging the situation from unpleasant to downright humiliating was the discovery of two other men and yet another woman at the opposite end of the immense bed, their nudity presumed but hidden discreetly by the comforter under which they had huddled together.
Taking in the sight of her surroundings, she found that the arrangement of resting vampires was different than she would have expected. Remembering at least some of her brief tryst with Thomas, she had expected to find him still spooning against her, but instead had found Lord Redhorn. The blonde on the opposite side of her was not Sophie, but rather Duchess Serenity. And sandwiched between Sophie and Lord Gerald at the other end of the bed was Thomas. At the moment, she didn’t remember a thing of it. She had absolutely no recollection whatsoever of finding herself in the midst of a six-person orgy. The idea just seemed beyond absurd; no matter how drunk she had been in the past, and in spite of the opportunities that had been presented before, she had never, ever once consented to taking part in a six-person gangbang. In fact, the one and only time she’d been with more than one person was her first and only occasion of being with Brenna … a memory she only dreaded because of what had happened shortly afterward, and because it had also involved Duvessa.
Had she really drank that much the night before? No, apparently not. Sitting up slowly and cautiously, expecting to be overcome with a wave of nausea, she was surprised to find that she didn’t have the slightest bit of dizziness. She was still tired, feeling as though she had been awoken by something sudden and unusual, but she was in no way sore. Even her wounds felt significantly better, only causing her affected muscles to feel a bit stiff now rather than aching painfully with every other movement of her upper body. Aside from her fuzzy thoughts and a bit of short-term amnesia, she didn’t feel the least bit hung over.
Everyone was out cold. As vampires tended to be heavy sleepers, her movements as she sat fully upright did not stir anyone in the least. More than one person upon the bed was snoring, the loudest of the bunch actually being Thomas. The filtered rays of daylight that were restrained by tinted glass and windows covered with heavy drapes in the living room below cast a soft glow upon her surroundings, more than adequate for her to clearly see things but not nearly bright enough to sting he
r eyes or make her squint. She saw smears of dark color here and there upon some of the others, and there were visible bite marks upon both Serenity and Redhorn in a couple of seemingly random places. Raina checked herself but could not find a single bite wound upon her body, only the now mostly-healed wounds from her duel with Duchess Camille. She did, however, feel things that were either fully dried or half-dried and tacky upon herself and a general unclean feeling that made her want out of the bed immediately.
Moving as slowly as she could bear, Raina slid the covers down a bit and tried to slip out from between her two immediate bedmates without waking them. Redhorn had his hand upon her hip, almost possessively hugging her against himself in his sleep, and as she moved herself upward and away, she lifted his hand and instead placed it upon his true mistress, Serenity. Raina half-stood upon the firm memory-foam mattress of the bed and watched as Serenity rolled onto her back with a soft groan. Redhorn snorted and shuffled slightly, snuggling up against her side with his arm now across her waist. Raina successfully stepped out of the bed, covered Serenity and Redhorn with the soft, dark green cotton bed sheet, and made her way toward the doorway that she recalled led into the bathroom.
Along the way, she found her dress draped across the chair with deliberate care, and a scattered littering of everyone else’s clothes upon the floor. The only things she was still wearing were her fishnet stockings, now ruined with rips and body fluids, and her big “Look at me, I’m the Grand Duchess” golden ankh – something that others considered akin to a queen’s crown but what she now felt ashamed to be wearing. She was tempted to grab her dress and slip it on, just to have something covering herself. However, nobody was looking, and her morbid sense of curiosity meant that she needed to see just how bad she looked.
The Darkest Colors- Exsanguinations Page 31