Feral Darlings

Depleted

Mal watched Ezra untangle himself from Toni. She seemed dazed by the intensity of taking them both, an almost incoherent heap as she sprawled out on the bed.

“What now, Sir?” Ezra’s smile was knowing as he rose to stretch.

“She’s had her end of the bargain.” Mal reached for him, pulling him in for an embrace. “I suggest we have ours.”

“But she’s barely even conscious.” His gaze darted back to her.

“All the better.” Mal ran his tongue over his teeth, probing the fangs that would soon puncture the tiny human. “There’ll be less distress like this.”

Ezra glanced at him, as though he thought to argue, but ultimately, he nodded. “Okay. Let me prepare her.”

Mal rolled his eyes as his lover slinked back to the bed and stretched out alongside Toni. Ezra was always so sentimental. She’d known what was in store when she kneeled for their cocks, and after multiple orgasms, she’d more than enjoyed them. Drinking from her wasn’t a cruelty, it was only fair, but still, Ezra murmured his soft words, cajoling her into cooperation.

“We’ll be quick, Toni.” Ezra stroked the side of her face. “And we won’t take too much.”

“Is that right?” Mal had seen enough, and joining them on the bed, his smile was wry. “Being fast isn’t really my style.”

Toni’s gaze flickered open. “Please.”

“See.” Mal signaled to her motionless body. “She wants me to do it.”

“She doesn’t know what she’s saying.” Ezra smoothed her hair from her face. “She’s exhausted, and drinking from her will only exacerbate things.”

“So, she eats after we do.” Mal was resolved. After so long around her beating heart, his craving was as strong as he’d ever known it. “For now, feed, lover.”

Clearing her hair from her neck, he breathed in the scent of her. Sweet, succulent, and recently fucked—Toni was just what he hadn’t realized he needed. Lowering, he sank his fangs into her soft skin, holding her steady when she reflexively fought against the sudden pain.

Her blood rushed into him, filling up his senses until it was nearly all there was in the world. It had been so long since he’d last fed, Mal had forgotten the overwhelming force of the moment. The fact that he didn’t intend to take her life only reinforced the idea—she was sacrificing so he could thrive, and in return, he’d keep her, pleasure her, and consider her requests. It was the most wonderful symbiosis.

From somewhere in the distance, he heard Ezra’s consoling words, but Mal paid them no heed. If his submissive didn’t want to enjoy the prize he’d brought back, then that was up to him. Mal would take his fill and make sure to punish Ezra’s insolence later. For that protracted, blissful period, there was only the rhythm of her heart and the flavor of her life force.

When Mal finally came up for air, he was pleased to see Ezra had also chosen to feed. Fixed to the other side of her neck, he was engrossed in the rapture of her blood as Mal ensured the wound he’d left had properly clotted. Checking Toni’s pulse, he found her alive and well—sleeping, but pale.

He shook Ezra’s shoulder gently, urging Ezra to hear his instructions. “That’s enough.”

Ezra raised his head with a groan, a trail of her blood falling past his chin. “She tastes so good.”

“She does.” Mal grinned at his lover’s satisfaction. “In more ways than one, eh?”

“Absolutely.” Ezra chuckled, applying pressure to the punctures he’d made to stop her bleeding. “So, you’re not angry that I brought her home then, Sir?”

“I can never be angry with you, Ezra.” Despite his recent fulfillment, Mal considered ordering Ezra over the edge of the bed to satiate his swelling cock, but he ignored the call. There had been enough sex for the time being. “You’re my lover.”

Ezra snorted but said nothing to deny the point. “And you’re my pale god.”

The two held each other in euphoric silence until Ezra motioned to Toni.

“We should let her sleep.” His attention returned to the slumbering woman.

“Yes.” Mal collected the ruffled blankets and draped one over her. “We need to find some actual food. She’ll need replenishment when she wakes.”

First was the pounding in Toni’s head. Had she been drinking? She turned on her pillow, unsure that she had. Her most recent memories were vague, but nowhere did she recall a bottle of wine. They didn’t indulge in alcohol at the base, after all.

Next was the ache in her neck. Oddly, the pain reverberated from both sides as though she’d slept at an extraordinarily strange angle. Her hand rose to graze the area, and she was perturbed to find evidence of a scratch or cut of some sort.

A cut?

Brow furrowing, her eyes flew open to register a room she didn’t recognize. Crimson furnishings softened an otherwise stark gray background, the space was dominated by the colossal bed she was strewn on.

Where am I?

It wasn’t the base, but where else could she be?

It took a few moments of straining at her blurred memories for the truth to cascade down on her, images of Mal, Ezra, and the things they’d done to her landing like a tidal wave. That was when her heart had started to drum relentlessly, and she tried to sit up, but as soon as she was half upright, the mysterious backdrop around her started to spin.

Her hand rose to her temples as she eased back onto the covers. They’d fed from her . She remembered the initial pain when they’d broken her skin, and the panic that had risen when she was easily overcome, though she’d seemingly dozed through most of the rest.

I was tired after all that sex.

Heat rose on her cheeks as she recalled the sexual marathon they’d engaged in before they’d bled her, the muscles between her legs contracting at the hot memories. The carnality had been something else, and although she still wasn’t sure she approved of the double penetration, she couldn’t say she’d detested it. To be so consumed by the two of them, powerless to their combined possession—it was more than she’d been ready for.

“Oh, God.” She blew out a breath. “It really happened.”

“Yes, it happened.” Mal appeared at the door, his expression sardonic as he leaned against the frame dressed in only his tight-fitting pants. “Our little human is awake.”

“Excellent.” Ezra was at his side then, also topless and carrying what looked like a bowl. “You need to eat, Toni.”

“I…” She immediately thought to protest, but easing herself to her elbows, she accepted how famished she was. Whatever he had in that bowl smelled good too, an enticing aroma of vegetables—in a soup, perhaps? Her body needed the nourishment, especially after they’d depleted her of blood. “I am hungry, but I feel dizzy when I sit up.”

“Let us help you.” Mal moved like lightning, and to her surprise, he was by her side in a heartbeat, supporting her as she rose to a seated position.

“Th-thank you.”

It was peculiar to see the blond with the icy blue eyes as anything but an antagonist. He’d been the one who’d first talked about feeding from her and he’d also been the one who’d fucked her backside. She shifted uncomfortably at the thought, wondering whether she’d ever be the same. For all that, though, he seemed content to prop her up as Ezra brought the bowl closer.

“Here.” He lowered it to her lap. “It’s only soup, I’m afraid. We’ll need to replenish our stocks if you’re staying with us.”

“Am I staying?”

She glanced at them both, taking the spoon Ezra offered, and in the silence that followed, she pondered the question of whether she still sought to flee their alleged sanctuary.

The time with them had been a perplexing myriad of competing emotions. She’d lurched from chilling fear to infernal arousal, had been fucked into oblivion before being drained of her life force. How could she reconcile such a list? Yet, beneath the confusion, one thought lingered. These men did seem to be vampiric, and if she could spend time studying their traits and behavior, she’d become the first scientist in the world to document their species.

That would be something. It wasn’t only the fame and plaudits that she craved, though, a part of her did seek them, but the sense of doing the work she’d come to do. She’d been based there to catalogue existing species, and, if possible, discover new ones. What better innovation was there than the two giants crowded around the bed?

“I’m thinking about it.” Mal’s lips twitched as he gestured to her bowl. “Eat while I think.”

Gripping the spoon, she lowered it into the steaming soup.

“You say you want to study us.” Mal sounded skeptical. “What does that constitute?”

“I’d love to see more of what you’re capable of.” She cringed at how that sounded. “I mean, no one has ever seen your species before.”

“Plenty have seen us.” Ezra took a seat on the bed beside her. “They just haven’t realized what they witnessed.”

“Which is the way most vampires prefer it.” Mal sighed. “We exist in the shadows for good reason.”

“You’re afraid of the human reaction?” She blew on the spoonful of soup before sliding the warm broth past her lips. The broth was hot and good, and eagerly, she dove for a second mouthful.

“Hardly!” Mal scoffed. “We just choose ease over confrontation. Constantly fighting with our food is tiring, Toni.”

“After so many years, we like a quiet life,” Ezra added.

“Right.” Unease twisted in her tummy. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to being referred to as ‘food’.

“But I might be on board with you shadowing us for a while.” Mal’s eyebrow arched. “If you’re content to repay us.”

“With sex and blood, I suppose?”

Her disquiet bloomed into something closer to excitement, her mind full of the recollections of their bodies entangling with pleasure. She hadn’t loved donating to them, but aside from feeling weak, there appeared to be no catastrophic consequences.

“That’s right.” Mal chuckled. “Sex and blood.”