Hearts of Darkness: A Valentine's Day Bully Romance Collection

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

  “Well, who left it upstairs, genius?” Tyler asked.

  “I did, genius, so we could try to get EVPs without our presence inhibiting them.”

  “You’re such a dick sometimes.”

  Quinn snapped, “Well, gosh, when we get back to the hotel, maybe you and Emma can hug it out.”

  Brent looked into the camera and addressed Steve. “Called it.”

  If looks could kill, the one Tyler gave Quinn would have reduced him to nothing but ashes. He grabbed an equipment case and marched it out to the car. Quinn watched him go, unimpressed, and loaded the recorder into his backpack.

  Brent hefted the last of the cases and told Steve, “Okay, that’s it except for the ride home.” Quinn stomped out of the house. Brent shook his head. “Should be a fun drive.”

  Steve grinned behind his camera eyepiece. “I can hardly wait.

  EMMA LAY IN DARKNESS, trying to meditate. She had smudged her hotel room with sage and sweetgrass, and for good measure she had wiped down the door and the windows with saltwater. The room should have been clean, and she should have been able to retreat into her quiet center and calm herself.

  She was normally very good at meditating. Emma had perfected the art, and she often had amazingly detailed visions while she turned her mind inward. The exercise was calming, and it also helped her to shed the effects of the spirits she encountered so that she could be herself again.

  Tonight, that calm center was a million miles away, and she couldn’t stop her mind from whirling. Her guides were still AWOL, and a part of her felt like it was covered in someone else’s fingerprints. She wanted to be clean, but nothing she did seemed to help.

  The minutes ticked away, and she found herself looking at the clock again and again. When the red digital numbers reached 3:00, she gave up on the concept of meditation and lay there, staring at the ceiling in defeat.

  The images from the film of her encounter kept playing in her mind’s eye. The entity that had besieged her had not provided a name, and the shape of its mist form had been that of a human female, but she had been around the block enough times not to trust appearances. Something that powerful was rarely human in origin, and she had a few queasy suppositions about what it really was.

  At a little after four in the morning, she heard the boys returning from their investigation. Since she wasn’t meditating and sleep wasn’t happening, either, she got up and went to stand in her doorway to greet them.

  Tyler was the first one to see her, and the look on his face changed from an irritated expression to one of surprise. Behind him, Quinn was bumping down the hall with an equipment case, and his gaze raked Emma from head to toe, taking in the long, loose T-shirt she was wearing. It fit her like a minidress, so she hadn’t felt exposed until she saw the look in his eye. He apparently liked what he saw.

  “Hi,” she greeted. “Any luck?”

  “Actually,” Brent answered, “no. And we were thinking after seeing that video of you that maybe the ghosts all came with you.”

  “With me?”

  “In you.”

  The three of them watched her for her reaction, and she slowly nodded. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess that makes sense. I think at least one of them jumped me... and I don’t think it’s a human entity.”

  Tyler raised an eyebrow, and Quinn said, “Would you mind if we set up some cameras and stuff in your room, maybe take a baseline reading to see if there’s any activity in there?”

  Steve started laughing. “Man, that sounds like the set-up for a porno.”

  Emma gave him a hard look, not hiding her displeasure, then turned back to the team. “No, I don’t mind. So far there’s been no activity that I can speak of, but something’s wrong, because I can’t sleep, and I can’t seem to clear my mind.”

  The three young men looked at one another, then Quinn stepped forward. “You’re a real sport to do this.”

  “I’m here for the investigation, and if I can help, I will. Besides, the family that lives there now has kids, and we don’t want them to be haunted,” she said softly. “That’s no way to have a childhood.”

  “Tell me about it,” Brent nodded.

  She stepped out of the way so that the four men could come inside. They were all weary, but they worked efficiently anyway, setting up the cameras and recorders. She watched them impassively, no stranger to the accoutrements of ghost hunting.

  Brent said, “I’m going to run these cables to the monitors in Professor Montcalm’s suite. We can keep an eye on things from there. That way, you can just sleep and act like normal.”

  “Okay,” she nodded. “Then you won’t be in here with me?”

  Quinn’s eyes were dark as he looked into hers, and she saw raw desire there. “Do you want one of us to be?”

  “Or two of us?” Tyler chimed in.

  Emma considered her options, then said, “No. I’ll just try to get some sleep. So should you. You’ve all been up all night.”

  Brent made noises with his mouth, sound effects like a crashing plane. “Shot down!”

  Emma shook her head. “What are you, twelve?”

  “Fourteen,” he replied amiably.

  “I’ll get this stuff set up,” Quinn told them. “You guys go on ahead.”

  Tyler crossed his arms. “I’ll help. It’ll go faster that way.”

  Emma glanced at Steve and rolled her eyes, and the camera man laughed silently. He filmed the team as they set up their infrared cameras and voice recorders, and when everything was set up, they knocked on Montcalm’s door until he got out of bed and opened it. Even in his half-awake state, their faculty advisor seemed formal and appropriate, and it made Emma wonder if he ever let down his hair.

  They got all of the cables set up, snaking them down the hallway and into Montcalm’s’ suite. Brent conscientiously taped the wires to the floor with gaffer’s take so that nobody could trip over them, and they went their separate ways.

  Quinn was the last one to leave. She put her hand on the door and looked up into his eyes. He was tired, so the hard edges he had around his eyes had softened, and he looked thoughtful. She studied his face, her gaze snagged by his full, kissable lips, and he smiled softly.

  “Okay. If anything goes wrong, scream, and we’ll come in to help.”

  “I hope so, because with these cords this way, I can’t lock the door.”

  He examined the entrance to her room. The cables allowed the door to close most of the way, at least enough to prevent light from the hallway from getting into the room, but not enough to latch. He turned back to her.

  “That’s not safe. I can’t leave you alone this way.”

  She was touched by the honest concern she saw in his eyes. His fatigue was preventing him from keeping her out, and she was able to feel his emotions as if they were her own. He was worried for her safety, and touchingly protective. It was the sort of emotional profile she would expect to encounter in a policeman or some other heroic first responder type.

  “I’ll be okay,” she assured him. “All I have to do is scream, right? Besides, no criminal is going to be crazy enough to attack me when I’ve got seven thousand cameras filming in the room.”

  He considered the situation, then nodded. “Okay. But if you need me, I’m two doors down.”

  She smiled. “I remember.”

  Quinn looked down the hallway in both directions, then leaned in and kissed her. She returned the touch gently and without expectations. He smiled when he pulled back.

  “Good night, Emma.”

  “Good night, Quinn.”

  Chapter Eleven

  They reconvened the next day in Montcalm’s suite. Emma’s night had been completely uneventful, and the sleep-deprived crew found new extremes of boredom when they looked through the video from the house and from the hotel.

  Emma, who had been watching one of the recorded video feeds, sat back and looked at the clock. “It’s dinner time. We’ve wasted the whole day on this.”

  “Ye
ah.” Brent doodled on a notepad in front of him. “I can’t believe that we’ve got nothing after that opening.”

  “Hauntings don’t happen on command,” Quinn reminded them. “And maybe it used up a lot of its energy when it attacked Emma, and now it’s gathering its strength.”

  “That’s encouraging,” Emma commented.

  Tyler smiled. “Maybe we’ll have more luck tonight when we’re all there.”

  “Maybe,” she allowed.

  She stood and stretched. Hours of sitting in one spot and focusing on a screen showing the same unchanging image had taken its toll on her, and she was stiff. She yawned, covering her mouth politely.

  “I’m going to get some rest before tonight,” she announced. “We should probably all take at least a nap before it gets too late. It’s going to be a long night.”

  “Yeah,” Brent agreed. He flopped down onto the couch in the suit, putting up his feet and folding his hands over his belly. “Somebody wake me when it’s time to go.”

  Quinn laughed. “I think you’ll notice when we start packing up around you, but if you’re still asleep, I’ll let you know.”

  “Thank you.” He winked at Emma. “I sleep like the dead.”

  “That’s a question,” Tyler said, turning off the monitor he had been watching. “Do the dead sleep?”

  “Some of them,” she nodded. “Most of them just move on to whatever’s next.”

  “You don’t know what comes after this?” Quinn mocked. “I’d have thought you’d be able to draw a map of heaven or something.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating his cynicism. “I only deal with the dead who are walking around here on earth. I’ve never been to the other side, so I don’t know what it’s like.”

  “I thought someone might’ve told you.”

  Emma turned away. “You’re impossible.”

  She left the suite and returned to her room. The cables had been moved, so shutting the door all the way was no longer an impossibility. She went inside and flopped onto the bed and lay on her back.

  I spend a lot of time staring at this ceiling.

  A soft knock on the door intruded into her nap, and she got up to see who was there. The corridor was empty, but she could hear the boys talking in the suite. She walked down the hallway and leaned in through the open door.

  “Did one of you guys just knock at my room?”

  They looked at one another, and Rick said, “No. We’ve all been in here.”

  “Why?” Tyler asked.

  “Somebody just knocked on my door, but when I looked, there was nobody there.”

  Tyler and Quinn looked at one another, and Quinn shrugged. Tyler grabbed an EMF meter and walked back to Emma’s room with her. The readings were flat.

  “Well, if there was anything there, it’s gone now,” he told her. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

  They both knew that she was in the wrong line of work if a little tap was enough to disturb her, and she could see in his eyes that the offer to stay had little to nothing to do with ghosts. Over his shoulder, she could see Quinn hovering in the entrance to Montcalm’s suite, watching them. She smiled up at Tyler.

  “Sure. Come on in.”

  Emma stepped back and let Tyler come inside, and as she closed the door, she gave Quinn a big smile to show that she knew he was watching. She wanted to give him something to think about.

  Tyler stood in the middle of the room, looking at her, his green eyes intense. Emma walked slowly toward him.

  “Are you tired?” he asked, his voice husky.

  She reached up and gently took off his glasses, putting them on the dresser beside the TV. “A little,” she confessed.

  Emma put her arms around his neck, and he leaned down to kiss her, his hands on her arms. His touch was less demanding than Quinn’s had been, less aggressive, but it was compelling. He was holding back, restraining himself so tightly that his emotions vibrated with it. She wondered if he’d ever let loose before. She kissed him deeply, then pulled back as she felt Quinn approaching. The knocking on the door startled Tyler and annoyed him, but Emma smiled.

  “It’s Quinn. Should we open it?”

  Tyler cast an irritated glance at the closed door and the man on the other side. “Let him cool his jets.”

  She grinned. “Good answer.”

  They embraced again, and this time he put his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest. Her hands slid around to his back, and she was pleased by the muscles that she felt there, strong and fit. She had always known that the buttoned-down look was concealing something wonderful.

  Quinn knocked on the door again, sharp and insistent. Tyler stepped back with an exasperated sigh. Emma trailed her hands down his back and over his sides, looking into his eyes.

  “You don’t want to fight with your friend,” she told him, reading what she saw. “And you’re loyal to a fault. You want me, but you don’t want to hurt him.”

  She didn’t wait for him to answer. Instead, she went and opened the door, letting the other young man into the room. He saw Tyler with his glasses off and glared.

  “We agreed,” he told him, ignoring Emma for a moment. “Montcalm asked us...”

  “I didn’t agree to anything,” Tyler told him, “and we’re adults, and the network’s cameras aren’t here.”

  “Nobody asked me what I thought,” Emma pointed out. The men both fell silent and looked at her. She smiled. “You haven’t read your notes, have you?”

  “Well... no,” Quinn admitted.

  She sat down on the bed and leaned back on her hands. “So read them now. Do you still have them?”

  “I have mine in my pocket,” Tyler told her.

  “So have I.”

  “So...” Emma crossed her legs. “Read them.”

  Reluctantly, they both took out the notes and opened them up. Quinn’s jaw dropped, and he craned his neck to see Tyler’s, and his friend held it so he could see it better. Emma had written the same note to both of them.

  ‘After the evidence review, we’re going to break for a nap. You’re both going to want to spend the nap with me. Both of you get mad, because you think you might lose out. Here’s the thing, though: you’re both going to win.’

  Quinn looked at her in consternation. “What the hell?”

  “Hell has nothing to do with it.” She crooked a finger at them. “Come here, boys. It’s a big bed.”

  The looks of disbelief on their faces made her smile. She straightened up and sat on the edge of the mattress, holding out her hands to them.

  “Is your heart okay?” Tyler asked.

  “Fine,” she nodded. “Never better.”

  “You’re sure?” Quinn came closer, his leg brushing against her knee.

  “About my heart, or about wanting both of you?”

  He smiled. “All of the above.”

  Tyler came over and stood on her other side, and she glanced up at him. She put on hand on his hip, guiding him to step closer. Her other hand tugged at Quinn’s belt buckle, working the leather free. He reached down to help her, and she palmed them both, rubbing gently through the fabric of their jeans. Their cocks hardened beneath her touch, and she licked her lips in anticipation.

  “I’m absolutely sure.”

  Quinn looked at Tyler, his face flushed. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Of course you can,” Emma encouraged. She had never done a threeway before, but she wanted it in ways she couldn’t explain. Deep inside her soul, she had an emptiness, and only these two men could fill it. She needed this.

  “I...”

  “Don’t be a coward,” she said, smiling to take the sting out of the words. “You share an apartment. What’s sharing one more thing?”

  Tyler objected, “You’re not a thing.”

  “Mm, I like that.” She pulled his zipper down. “If you can’t take it, Quinn, just close your eyes. Me? I’m keeping mine open.”

  The pit of her stoma
ch coiled up, predatory and laser focused. She took Tyler’s erection out of his pants and rubbed it with her hand. It was long and uncut, and she rolled the foreskin back to reveal the pink head beneath. Her other hand reached through Quinn’s zipper and found what he had to offer, thicker and shorter than Tyler’s but just a pleasing.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” Tyler breathed, and then he forgot how to speak because Emma wrapped her lips around him and sucked delicately. He groaned and flailed for a moment, not knowing what to do with his hands, and she smiled around his cock.

  Quinn pulled away. “No... I can’t do this...”

  She released her lips’ hold on Tyler and faced Quinn with a hard look. She could feel the coldness shining from her eyes. “You’ll stay,” she ordered. Her voice didn’t sound like her own.

  Quinn stared at her, locked by her gaze. He stayed.

  She alternated between the two of them, going down on first Tyler then on Quinn, lapping and sucking at their hot, hard flesh. The energy they poured into her piqued her hunger but slaked her thirst, and she didn’t understand the things that she was feeling. She only knew that she needed more of them.

  When they were both rigid with desire, she stood up from the bed and stripped, tossing her clothing away haphazardly. Quinn and Tyler did the same, and when they were nude, Emma crawled back onto the bed and pulled them with her. She pushed Quinn onto his back and straddled him, staring into his eyes as she lowered herself down onto his cock, her pussy swallowing him greedily.

  “Come here,” she ordered Tyler, and she pulled him down to kneel behind her.

  She took him in her hand and stroked him as she rocked her hips, working Quinn into madness. He closed his dark eyes and tipped back his head, revealing his throat, and Emma was filled with the need to bite him. She bent and put her mouth against his neck, but at the moment she was about to bite, Tyler thrust into her alongside Quinn. Her cunt strained to hold them both, and she cried out at the delicious combination of pleasure and pain.

  Tyler fucked her fast and hard, rubbing against Quinn’s cock and filling her almost beyond tolerance. She moaned and fisted the covers, and the icy coil in her guts got tighter. Emma thrust back at Tyler, and his hands went to her shoulders, gripping hard. Quinn’s hands fell onto her hips and held on as he began to thrust as well. They filled her with their cum.