Tempting The Gorgon: A Gorgon / Vampire Romance

Chapter 24

The first swipe of Arch’s tongue ran from my ass to my clit in one deliciously smooth move that hit all the sensitive spots on the outside of me. He groaned at my taste, and I looked down to see him staring at my pussy with the amount of admiration I’ve only read about in romance books.

This male wanted to devour me.

He wanted to taste every part of me, and I knew he’d let me turn the tables and command him if I wished.

This was my favorite part about my relationship with Arch. He didn’t make submitting something weak. He made me feel that I was truly the dominant one by letting him take control. I didn’t feel small or that I was at the disposal of his wants and needs.

I didn’t feel like a victim or something less than to let him command me.

To heed his demands to call him Daddy.

To let him control my body.

He showed me in the last few weeks that I was in control all the time.

Which made my submission to him even more beautiful.

I was giving him a gift, and I never thought spreading my legs for someone who looked at me like I was the most precious possession in the world for me, not for my powers, would feel as empowering and heady. I was fucking ready for this vampire to devour me.

“Please, Daddy,” I begged, the honorific coming easily on my tongue like it was what he was meant to be called.

“Is my slut begging me for relief?” He looked up at me from between my thighs, his russet eyes gleaming with lust. For my blood, for my cunt, for me in general? I wasn’t sure anymore, and I thought it might be all three as he dove back in with his tongue.

“Fuck!” I arched my back off my desk, moaning into the room, which seemed to cause Arch to increase his frequency. Before I realized what was happening, his tongue was vibrating at a speed vampires normally reserved for their dicks.

“Holy shit,” I muttered as Arch’s lips wrapped around my clit with his mouth while his tongue assaulted it over and over with a rhythm too fast to comprehend. His mouth felt like a clit stimulator someone would happily pay hundreds of dollars for.

I whimpered, a sound I didn’t know I was capable of making, coming on his tongue in record time and gasping for air as he continued his onslaught of pleasure and vibrations and eating my pussy like I knew only he could.

He let me ride out the high, only slowing when he could tell I was overstimulated and peered up at me from between my thighs.

“You taste like my new favorite dessert, temptress. Does your vein here…” He paused his words to run his finger along a vein on my inner thigh, running right next to my pussy lips. “Taste as delectable as your sweet cunt? I’m not sure I hit it at the club in Charlotte.”

He licked my cum off his lips and dragged his fangs along his lower lip as he examined where he might bite.

“You’ll only know if you have a taste.” I offered him this encouragement. I wanted him to know I was fine with him biting me even if I had my safe word to stop it at any time.

He knew how big of a deal it was for me to offer him a vein, and I wanted to share this with him before I left. I wanted to thank him in this twisted way for not demanding I stay or fighting me on going alone.

Arch knew saving this gorgon was important to me, in the same way I knew him letting me go without turning into a feral alpha was a test for him on how he’d handle having a partner who demanded space and autonomy.

“I suppose you’re right, temptress,” he said before striking with his fangs. A sharp pang rang out, causing all my snakes to hiss. They normally remained silent in any sexual scenario to offer me privacy, but it sounded like they weren’t even immune to Arch’s fangs. I felt his smile against my flesh at the echo of hissing that came from them, along with the deep moan I released at the sensation of him drinking directly from me.

It was indescribable. And unlike anything else I’d even experienced. I had been distracted in the club, and we’d had so many others around us.

But in my office, we were alone. It was intimate.

It was special and different in all the right ways.

The sharp pain remained, fading into a dull ache as he drank his fill. He drew back, showing me the crimson blood that coated his chin. He looked like a kid high off candy, his eyes were so bright and excited. I couldn’t truly appreciate the adoration on his face before he struck again on the other side, biting into my skin and drinking my blood like it was his favorite snack.

He drank, licked the wound, and struck again.

Over. And over.

And over.

My entire inner thighs were coated in bite marks. He thrust two fingers into my center as he licked up another wound, and I came immediately.

He knew what he was doing—playing my body like an instrument he knew better than himself.

“That’s it, Vinni. Break my fingers with your tight as fuck cunt.” He was feral now; I could see it in his gaze. The blood he drank was more than I’d ever seen him consume, and he looked like he could keep going but stopped himself. “I’m going to fuck this tight little pussy now, and you’re going to strangle my cock. You’re going to coat me in your blood, and I’m not going to wash it off until you come back to me so you know how you own me as much as these marks show the world you’re mine even when I’m not with you.”

I let his words marinate in the air, the claim he was declaring wasn’t shocking but had me gaping all the same. We hadn’t fucked yet, despite doing everything else multiple times. He wasn’t going to let me go to the mainland without claiming this piece of me.

And I wanted him too.

I’d wanted him too for a while now, but he’d respected my desire to wait.

The cocky vampire wasted no time removing his fingers before unbuttoning his pants. He shoved them down speedily, revealing his cock, which I hadn’t seen.

It was fucking pierced.

Not only the tip, but every thick inch of him. Eight barbells pierced the underside of his cock. The way his hand rubbed up and down over them had me salivating.

“Fuck,” I muttered, unsure what to say. I couldn’t look away.

He was going to wreck me.

And I was looking forward to it.

“You like what you see, slut?” I looked up to see him smirking down at me.

“Yes, Daddy,” is all I could manage before licking my lips.

“Good, because you’re going to be taking all of me like the filthy whore you are, aren’t you temptress?”

I gulped at his filthy words.

“Yes, Daddy.”

“I hadn’t wanted the first time to be in your office, but I am done waiting.” He paused his hand and stepped toward me, notching his hard and pierced cock at my entrance. I looked up into his eyes as he stared down into mine. Never afraid of the power within them. “Tell me you want this, Vinni.”

His eyes searched mine, looking for any sign of reluctance at this change in programming. But he didn’t need to search, I was beyond on board. I sat up and licked at the seam of his mouth before pulling away to stare at him again.

“Please.”

His pupils flared before he thrust his thick cock into me all the way to the hilt in one brutal thrust. I screamed in pleasure at the intrusion, and the pain it brought was so welcome and delicious I came again, squeezing his cock as it began a slow vibration within me.

“Fuck, temptress,” he growled above me, pulling back out and shoving back in, vibrating his delicious fucking cock in a way that had me squirming. I was wet, beyond drenched, and I knew he was fucking my own blood into me with how much of a mess he had made drinking from me before.

It was dirty.

It was degrading.

It was fucking everything.

“You’re taking me so well, Vinni,” he muttered, increasing his thrusts but leaning closer so he was looking right at me. I tried to look away from his intense gaze, the feelings overwhelming me in a way that I hadn’t felt before, but his fingers redirected my chin to face him, forcing my eyes to meet his own.

This was intimate and grew more so with each of his thrusts.

“You.” Thrust. “Are.” Thrust. “Mine.”

He thrust again, and I felt him twitch inside me while he came, moving his cock so fast inside me it triggered another orgasm, forcing me over the edge of the cliff he threw us off.

Our breaths were heavy, echoing around the room as the only sound while we each came down from the delirious high we’d had together.

I opened my eyes to find Arch staring at mine still, never letting me escape into my own thoughts or dive deep into why this was wrong or how Arch was the exact opposite of what I should want after my history with his family.

He pulled out of me, the piercings sliding out of my folds in a torturously delicious way, and the sound that left as our combined liquids escaped would have been embarrassing if it weren’t so fucking hot.

So fucking dirty.

“Now that my cock is out of you.” I giggled at his signature cocky as fuck smirk as he remained above me. “I need you to know how serious I was. It wasn’t just the bloodlust, Vinni. I am so beyond obsessed and in love with you.” My breath halted at his confession. “You don’t need to say it back, but I’m not letting you leave this island without knowing how much you’re mine. You are mine, temptress. With every part of my soul I know it, and I’ve known it since you first threatened to break every bone in my body.”

I kept still at his words as he continued.

“I love you. You are mine. But more importantly, I’m so fucking yours. I’m yours in whatever way you’ll have me. I’ll be your employee, your lover, your sub, your annoyance.” I chuckled at the last one despite how his words affected me. “I’ll be your coffee boy, your hype man. Fuck, I’ll even be your stalker if you tell me to never contact you again. I’d stay in the shadows and watch you forever if you never let me speak to you.”

I blinked at him.

He was offering me everything. He was offering me the choice of what I wanted him to be. Or if I even wanted him in my life at all.

“I’d even leave Haven Pass if you commanded me. It would break me, and I’d probably find a way to off myself since I don’t think I could live in a world with?—”

“Stop,” I said, the word cracking as my voice was hoarse from being fucked into my desk with no abandon. “Do you mean that? You aren’t just pussy and blood drunk, offering me whatever I want out of some weird sense of nobility after fucking me for the first time?”

He barked a laugh, and it was so unexpected that I joined in the laughter. Arch had a way of making the most serious situations more lighthearted than most. It was something I probably needed more of.

“Vinni,” he said, leaning in close so our noses touched. “I meant every word. And I’ll remind you of it every day. I’m yours, temptress. However that looks like for you, I’m yours. Until you don’t want me anymore. I love you.”

He didn’t let me speak, probably knowing I wasn’t ready to return the three words he kept sneaking in and kissed me. I tasted my own blood and arousal on his tongue as he wrapped it around my own, invading my mouth like he’d invaded my body and soul with his words moments earlier.

“Now.” He pulled back, pecking me once on each side of my mouth. “I believe you have a dragon to catch and I have a club to open in less than a week. I can’t have you here distracting me.”

He stood up and pulled his pants on without washing his dick off.

I rose to my elbows. “Tell me you weren’t serious about not washing your dick off, Arch.”

He didn’t answer me. He only fastened his belt and buttoned a few of the loose ones on his black dress shirt, then threw a wink at me before walking out of the room.

How many of his crew, or any number of races, could smell blood from across an open field, let alone in an enclosed space?

He’s crazy, Omari said.

He’s hot, Faddei added.

That was amazing, Titi swooned.

That was everything, I answered back to them.

The streets of Portland,Oregon were cold and slippery at the beginning of February. The weather wasn’t all that different from the island, but I wasn’t a fan and knew the sooner we’d get back to Haven Pass, the better.

We hadn’t wasted any time and left soon after Arch finished shaking my foundations to their core. He rushed back to my apartment since I’d given him a key and packed me an overnight bag in case we were delayed for any reason. We weren’t flying on Dom this time, so we had more room on the boat. It was only a couple of hours from the harbor to Oregon’s coast since Guillermo’s magick pushed us along.

My pussy hadn’t stopped its persistent throbbing in the most delicious way since Arch left my office. It was a pleasant distraction from the incredibly difficult challenge that was before us. We’d managed a plan beforehand, but it wasn’t anything like when we went to Charlotte. That club had been scoped out extensively by Franny and the girls to determine the pup’s location and any other important details. We’d had the time and resources to infiltrate the club, put on a distraction, and get out.

Portland was different.

There was an actual gorgon in this club. Someone like me. A gorgon was rare and wouldn’t stay put in the place for long; with my luck, she was probably already moved and headed out of town.

“I have an idea for us, but it’s a bit weird.” I addressed the group of males that came on this mission. Guillermo, Patrick, Rory, and Dom surrounded me. None of them paused when approached with the mission, and for the first time in too long, I didn’t feel like I was talking myself into trusting someone. It just came naturally.

“I love a weird idea. What is it, Lavinia?” Patrick asked.

“First, I’ve decided you can call me Vinni now.” The shock on their faces caused me to chuckle. “I know, I know.” I sighed. “The only reason I hated Arch doing it was because it reminded me of my mom and sisters. But now that I’ve reunited with them, Vinni is really what I prefer.”

“Well shite, never thought I’d see the day,” Rory said, giving me a small wink.

“It makes sense that your mate’s nickname would resonate,” Guillermo said with a nod.

I nodded until the words fully settled.

Did he say mate?

The world froze.

My eyes widened.

The silence around the group was deafening as Guillermo coughed, and I saw his sea-blue eyes widen in shock at his admission.

“I’m sorry, what the actual fuck did you just say?” I asked.

Rory smacked Guillermo upside the head. “Even I knew not to tell her like that, mate.”

“Tell her?” I asked. I met Patrick, Rory, and Dominic’s eyes and saw the almost-guilty look in all of them. Guillermo looked as if someone had kicked him in the balls, his cheeks were bright red, and he had a nauseous look on his face like he was about to puke.

“I’m… I don’t.” Guillermo stopped talking and gaped at himself. “I can’t believe I said that.”

I took a deep breath, willing my eyes to stay blue or green, full well knowing they were probably edging closer to orange and red territory with the hint of betrayal I felt at this reveal. Had Arch known?

Of course the cocky vlákas had known.

“Are you saying Arch is my mate?” I paused to look at the others. “And that you all knew?”

The collective gulps around the small table were undeniable. A group of big, intimidating males were looking at me like I was about to kill them all.

I mean, I could have if I wanted, I guess.

But these males were also my friends.

“You’re my friends, and you lied to me.”

“Feck me,” Patrick said. “Vinni. I promise we?—”

I raised my hand to stop him. He was going to offer excuses.

I wasn’t in the mood.

“We don’t have time to deal with this right now.” I pushed the revelation to the back of my mind except for one last piece of information I needed. “Did he know?”

The four of them didn’t answer me, but the way all of their heads drooped at my question told me all I needed to know.

Arch had known.

He’d known I’d been his mate this entire time.

He’d known he had some twisted fucking claim on me that folks in our world could have with one another. I’d heard it called a soul tie or a soul bond as well, all of which spoke to one thing.

You belonged to that person.

You were captured and held by an invisible cord to them no matter what you did.

You aren’t captured,Luxor told me firmly.

You’ve felt this the whole time and were just ignoring it, Titi added.

Wait, did you guys know too?

Obviously, they all echoed.

You weren’t ready to hear that just yet,korítsi, Titi said before they quieted down.

I had finally begun feeling free to fall for Arch, to even love him since he was so different with me than his father, than his brother, than any other male I’d interacted with… Only to get trapped by another fucking bond. It might have been a different kind of bond, but I was still trapped.

Do you truly feel trapped, Vinni?Luxor asked. Curiosity laced his tone instead of judgment.

I sat in consideration, ignoring the questioning looks from the four males who were here to save a young gorgon and were now dealing with my small breakdown at this revelation.

Did I feel trapped? Did I feel like he had control over every part of me?

“I can’t deal with this right now. We need to save this girl.” I meant to say this to my snakes, but the words echoed between the males who were risking their lives to help an innocent.

The others nodded in agreement and tried to push back the guilt on their faces, most of all Guillermo. As the town therapist, he was probably most ashamed of his reveal since I was sure he had violated some rules they had about this sort of thing.

I reached over and squeezed his hand. I was proud of how far I’d come with physical touch. “I know you didn’t mean to say anything,” I offered the witch.

He swallowed. “I’m incredibly embarrassed. I don’t think that has ever happened. I blame us being in this goddess-forsaken cesspit of a city.”

“It doesn’t seem all that bad?” Rory asked. “A little wet and definitely cold, but?—”

“You weren’t here when we picked her up,” Guillermo said. “Dom is the only one who might understand how I wish to burn this entire town to the ground and feel no remorse about it.”

I looked at the blue-eyed dragon who sat stiffly in his chair across the table. His warm, deep-brown skin looked almost pale as he stared out the window, as if he were lost in a memory Guillermo’s words brought up.

“I suppose we do need to talk a little bit about the assholes who own this particular vampire club before we head in,” Dominic said, a resolved melancholy lacing each word.

“Only the basics, right?” Patrick asked. “I don’t want to pry into Lennox’s history any more than necessary.”

I loved that he respected her privacy even with her not here.

“She told me that she expects me to share whatever is necessary to help us. She won’t let her trauma hinder any sort of rescue for an innocent being held there,” Guillermo said. “With that said, I don’t think we need to share much of Lennox herself. She was a victim of their trafficking without fully realizing what was happening to her.”

“Trafficking?” Rory asked, a deeper tone to his voice laced the word than I was used to from the jovial fae.

“Why would they want a human?” Patrick asked, which I was thankful for since I was curious myself.

Dominic made it obvious he was staring Guillermo down hard at the questions. Guillermo took a deep breath and let it out. “Lennox isn’t human. She has some memory loss from the time and doesn’t want to know, but I don’t think we can go in there without telling you because as soon as they see Dom or I, they will have information you don’t know, and I refuse to risk the gorgon for something that is factual about Lennox.”

I told you, Titi said.

“My snakes are admitting they were right. They called that she wasn’t human from the moment they met her.”

Patrick laughed, but Rory only stared at Guillermo so hard it was even making me uncomfortable.

“She’s a muse.”

My jaw dropped open, and Dominic gripped his cup tight enough to crush it. Thankfully, he’d already finished his coffee.

“A what? A muse?” Rory asked. “Like from Hercules?”

Guillermo shook his head, but I interjected. “Not exactly, but similar.” I didn’t want to get too off track. “Muses have the power of influence. They inspire those they choose, but they can use that inspiration to control or manipulate as well. They aren’t rare…” I gulped at what I was about to say because it put Lennox at even greater risk. “They aren’t rare because they don’t exist. They were killed centuries ago because of their powers. They were hunted and slaughtered. If Lennox is truly a muse, that means…”

I let the implication settle among the group.

She would be hunted.

Guillermo full-on growled from the other end of the table. I lifted my hands. “I’m just stating facts. You know I would happily kill anyone who tried to harm a single pink hair on her little head. I’m just shocked she’s even real.”

Before being passed off to the Beckett Coven, I’d heard of the muses and their powers in the time before humans became the dominant race with their endless breeding and shorter lifespans. Muses were thought to be magickal and beautiful creatures, like the sirens or the goddesses themselves, from the stories I grew up with around my birth family.

At this point, it was hard to consider myself Greek, even though it was obvious by my coloring and when the Greek slang I was raised with came out. I knew so many languages that my accent was whatever I deemed it to be and wasn’t naturally anything specific anymore, but the culture was part of me.

I was Greek. And if Lennox really was a muse, it meant that she was the most coveted being on the entire planet.

“She refuses to acknowledge the truth, and I’ve done all I can to try and help her to realize her power and how coveted she is by hunters.”

Hunters weren’t much of a problem for vampires since I’d learned early on in my Beckett stay that they were on some powerful payrolls, but there were rogue ones that couldn’t be bought with coin or power. Ones that would hear of a muse and see only the title of Muse Slayer.

“How powerful is she, exactly?” Rory asked. He was the most intense in this conversation. I suspected for some time that he had a crush, but based on his reaction to this, I wondered if it was something more. He’d been careful not to touch or look at me too closely when we were at the club in Charlotte, and I knew it was because of how Lennox might have felt at being physical with another female. It was part of the reason I put him in charge of Arch’s punishment.

“Lennox could bring the entire world to her knees if she wished,” Guillermo answered, looking Rory directly in the eyes. The two seemed to share a common thought at that moment and then resumed conversation. “Regardless of her true nature, Lennox got out of the club we are about to go into.”

“Thank feck for that,” Patrick said, and we all nodded in agreement.

“But the bastards who took her didn’t forget, I’m sure,” Rory added, his accent more pronounced. He was angry, as was I, at the admission. Spunky little Lennox had been exposed to who knew how much torture at the hands of these club owners. Trafficking clubs were part of the Beckett’s bread and butter, so I knew firsthand how atrocious they could be.

“I was exposed to vampires that trafficked for most of my life,” I said. “And they aren’t kind in the best of times. I’m not sure about everyone else’s experience, but I can say for sure that Arch is the outlier for vampire hospitality and general kindness.” I wasn’t lying, and it brought me some solace to know that he was far removed from his family.

“So, what can we expect tonight?” Dominic asked Guillermo. He was the one in charge of this mission despite my being a gorgon. I was mostly here as a distraction, yet again, but also as a person for the youngling to trust. I had no problem with that if it meant they could get the girl out.

“We aren’t pulling any punches. We know the type of clientele this establishment caters to, so anyone should be considered a target worth killing. Innocents do not go there.” The others and I nodded. Maybe I wouldn’t need to be bait after all. “This is different from how I understand the Charlotte operation worked. We aren’t even using the front entrance. We are on a get in, get the gorgon, and get out mission. No hesitations, no pleasantries, and lots of dead bodies by the time we’re done.” Guillermo’s eyes gleamed at the prospect, as if his bloodlust were strong enough to eradicate any who sought Lennox harm.

“Why didn’t we bring more weapons?” Rory asked.

“We have the most valuable weapon of all,” Guillermo said, nodding in my direction.

I looked around at each of the males who agreed to be here and gifted them a smile, showcasing my full, pointy teeth while forcing my irises to go a color they hadn’t seen before.

Gray as fucking stone.