Chapter 9 – Thorne #2
The drive lasts ten minutes before we’re pulling into a parking garage underneath a high-rise in Lower Manhattan. The building is sleek and modern despite the surrounding architecture that’s hundreds of years old.
We pass a security booth manned by two men, one human and the other a bear shifter.
They nod to Vara, somewhat nervously, which doesn’t surprise me being how intimidating she can appear.
I can’t imagine how powerful she must look in her human form.
The two smile at Layla next and it’s not a friendly smile.
It’s full of dangerous want, predator leering—a reaction she gets a lot from men because Layla is beautiful and voluptuous with thick thighs, a plump and biteable ass, and tits that perfectly fit in my hands.
Mine.
The men's eyes widen when they spot me, realizing their mistake of looking at my woman.
“I’m yours, Thorne,” Layla whispers and squeezes my hand.
Did she know I was seconds from gouging their eyes out?
She brings my hand up to her mouth and kisses my knuckles. My tense body relaxes immediately.
“Don’t worry, they’ll be taken care of by the morning,” Vara says.
She could mean firing them or killing them, but neither of us ask her to clarify.
Vara’s building is almost as secure as Layla’s as we approach a private elevator.
Of course Vara would have her own entrance.
She taps an access card to the reader and the doors open.
She taps the card again and the car rises.
It takes about a minute before we arrive at the penthouse, some sixty floors up.
The doors open to a gallery foyer with several large closets, a half bath, and a laundry room.
We walk on, entering an open room with vaulted ceilings that have to be at least twenty feet tall with floor-to-ceiling windows. I don’t doubt they stay open to let the sun stream in during the day. Sphinxes love the sun—which makes me wonder why Vara tends to live a nocturnal lifestyle.
I see she has UV protectors on the windows. Has she always had them, or did she install them recently after meeting two supernaturals who can’t walk in the sun?
She gives us a quick tour. The living space has a gas fireplace, a huge television hangs over it, taking up a good chunk of wall.
There’s an open dining area and a kitchen any chef would salivate over.
Aside from the stainless-steel appliances, there’s a huge island topped with marble and seating for four.
“These floors are beautiful,” Layla gasps.
“Brazilian walnut,” Vara responds as if expecting Layla to know what that means. When the vampire queen ‘oos,’ I realize Brazilian walnut flooring must be something luxurious.
The penthouse’s main level has two bedrooms and a media room. Vara keeps it full of art, record albums, and musical instruments. I assume she can play all of them: guitar, piano, cello, violin.
As immortals, life can become boring when there’s nothing new left to experience. Many of us learn all the languages and teach ourselves how to play every instrument imaginable. Like myself. I can play several, including the piano and guitar.
Vara points upstairs to a loft, explaining that’s where the main bedroom is located. But instead of taking us up there, we go outside to a private wraparound terrace with lush landscaping, a fire pit, a built-in hot tub, grilling station, and amazing views of the city.
“Vara,” Layla sighs. “This is just magnificent. I love my penthouse in Midtown, but the views in Lower Manhattan are unmatched.”
One World Trade Center towers over us and off in the distance, the Empire State Building shines bright in pink and blue.
The air is fresh and clear up this high, and it reminds me how much I miss flying and stretching my wings.
I don’t fly nearly as much as I used to.
Most of my patrols to protect this city are stationary or on the ground.
Vara smiles at the compliment, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. I can’t imagine how hard she must have worked and all the sacrifices she’s made throughout her life to get to this point.
“Would you all like something to drink?”
Vara waves us back inside and into the kitchen. She grabs a glass of wine for herself, and I ask for water. Layla also takes wine, but I have to wonder if she needs blood.
When was her last feed?
Should we call for a donor? Can she have my blood?
I guess I don’t know much about vampires. We help them when needed, like tracking down rogue vampires, but until I became Layla’s head of security, I had never personally known a vampire. I never sat down and chatted with one.
Surprisingly, I’ve never fucked one either.
I suppose if Layla needed blood, she’d have already taken care of it. I do know that vamps have synthetic blood they can drink to hold them over until they can get a donor.
I would let Layla drink from me.
The thought of Layla sinking her teeth into my neck sends a wave of lust down my spine and around to my cock. If it’s anything like when I fed from her, then yes, I’d very much like Layla to bite me.
“Are you okay?” Layla asks as Vara sets a glass of water in front of me. “What are you thinking about that has your heart racing?”
“He wants you to bite him,” Vara says with a chuckle.
“What? How do you even know that?” I stumble over my words, but don’t deny Vara’s accusation. I glance at Layla, and she winces.
“You do kinda look like you want me to bite you. Your pupils have expanded so much that I can’t even see the blue in your eyes anymore. Your fangs have also dropped, and you’re drooling.”
I wipe the back of my hand against my mouth, but it comes back dry. Layla giggles.
She’s teasing me?
I smile at her adorable humor. She rarely shows it. She hasn’t had time to be so carefree in this new role of hers.
I also find myself smiling a lot more since meeting these women.
Instead of answering me, Vara takes a sip of her wine.
“I have a theory. One I assume you both have as well,” she says, swishing the liquid in her glass.
She takes another drink, torturing us a little by dramatically drawing out her thoughts.
I’m ready to strangle her, then immediately get turned on by the idea, when Vara finally says, “I believe we are mates.”
Layla and I say nothing for several seconds.
“Who? You and Layla?” I ask.
“Me and Thorne?” Layla offers.
“You and me?” I add.
Vara rolls her eyes, clearly hearing the panic in our voices. “All of us. All three of us.”
“Are you… um… all… the three of us?” Layla says, words failing her. In the short time I’ve known the vampire queen, I know she’s rarely left speechless.
“Mates. We’re mates,” Vara repeats, exasperated by our overreaction.
“Oh,” I mumble because somehow, I’ve also forgotten how words work.
I was just thinking about mates earlier. So, I’m not crazy? If Vara is validating my suspicions, perhaps it really is true.
“But... it’s... absurd,” Layla says. She throws up both of her arms in frustration, her voice a pitch higher.
The corner of my mouth tilts up at how adorable she looks while having an existential crisis.
“Blood mates for vampires are rare. I mean, sure, Millie found hers, but she’s only one of three known cases.
So for me to have found not one but two? It’s unheard of.”
“But not impossible,” Vara counters.
Layla’s face twists as she lets herself process the information. She frowns; her brows furrow. Then one brow lifts as a part of herself considers the possibility.
“I mean… I did have this thought at one point and it would explain... a lot of things,” Layla says. “Like why I’m so fucking horny around you two. But I dismissed the idea of us all being mates because there’s not a known case of it happening.”
Vara turns to me. “What do you believe?”
I shake my head. “Mates do not come easily for my kind either. Xander didn’t find his until his 999th year of living. Gargoyles are cursed beings just like vampires.”
How strange to think I might have actually found my fated mate…
no, mates. While it’s imperative for royals to find theirs before their 1000th birthday, otherwise they permanently turn to stone, it’s somewhat rare for all other gargoyles.
Or rather, it takes centuries for us to find them.
Even my friend Locheran has yet to find his, and he’s about to turn 1,000.
I would consider myself lucky to have found mine at age 712.
“Cursed to the night, yes,” Vara muses. “Cursed to never fall in love? That you are inherently evil? No. The witches may be petty cunts. Passionate lovers too...”
Vara’s words trail off, and her cheeks redden as she bites her lip, probably thinking about a past lover who was a witch. I have to agree with her there. Witches are fantastic lovers. The magic they exude, especially during sex and when they come, is transcending.
“What I’m trying to say is a witch’s curse can weaken if the sole belief behind the magic has proven to be false in nature. Things you once believed to be true can change and that includes the idea behind mates.”
“But how do you know for sure?” Layla asks, crossing her arms and shifting on her feet.
Vara sighs, taking a sip of her wine as she gathers her words. “To be honest, I felt you both the moment you were born. Thorne, your birthday is June 1st, correct? You’re 712 years old?”
I let out a long stream of air and nod.
“I remember that day. It was as if a part of me had… woken, and I could breathe a little easier. Nothing sexual, of course, just... freeing. Then a second shift happened about three years later on March 24th. Another part of myself opened. I’m guessing that was when you were born, Layla.”
Layla slowly nods; her mouth open in awe as she intently listens to Vara.
“I hadn’t thought much of these feelings, mostly because I didn’t understand what they meant at the time.
I went on with my life. I had long left Egypt and traveled around the world.
I drowned my loneliness and depressive thoughts with extravagant things.
A life of luxury. Plenty of sex. Except the one thing I always wanted failed me: I never loved.
“I was in Europe in the 1930s when hunters found me, so I flew across the ocean to the Americas, landing in New York City. I had sensed you both nearly immediately. You were both here in the 30s, correct?”
“I got here in 1921,” Layla says.
“1922,” I add.
I also remember the night I arrived in New York City. I’d flown across the Atlantic Ocean after accepting Xander’s invitation to join his army. I was excited, eager. I couldn’t explain why though.
Now it’s making more sense. Layla was here. My mate.
I can’t believe our paths never crossed in all this time. Though, I took my new position with Xander’s army seriously. I didn’t socialize outside of my fellow gargoyle soldiers. Not until recently when Locheran started dragging me to human clubs to be his wingman.
I’d heard of Layla, of course. She was the vampire queen’s royal advisor.
I’d also heard about Vara. The arrival of the sphinx, who is likely one of the last of her kind, was all supes could talk about for months.
For me, the night of her arrival left me in pain, my chest aching.
It lessened as the years went by, but never fully leaving my body.
Now I know that the constant pull was my heart calling out for my mates.
It took way too long to find them too.
“Instead of seeking either of you out,” Vara continues, “I decided to let destiny take the lead. I let fate bring you both to me.”
I rub my palm down my face. “Okay... but why are we just now finding each other? And why both of us?”
“I’m not sure,” Vara says. “But if it’s to protect each other, then I will lay down my life for you both.
If it’s to fight for our kind together when we’re revealed to the humans, then I will battle until my final heartbeat.
If it’s to… give you all the pleasures of the world, then I will gladly grab Layla by the hips and bury my face in her delectable cunt while you take me from behind, Thorne. ”
Fuck.
My cock twitches at the words.
Both women jerk their heads to me, clearly feeling my lust.
“No fucking way,” Layla says, breathless. “I thought I was losing my mind. Anytime Thorne seemed to be turned on, I was too. Our orgasms when fooling around have been nothing short of intense... but now it all makes sense.”
“Shared pleasure,” I say in awe.
“It appears so,” Vara says, walking to where Layla and I stand at the kitchen island. “I felt it every time you and Thorne were together without me.”
She places her palm on my chest and smooths it over my pec, then down my stomach, her claws getting dangerously close to my cock. Her touch burns my skin despite the fabric of my shirt between us.
“If we truly are mates,” Vara continues, “then we will be able to hear each other’s thoughts. That’s how I knew you wanted Layla to bite you.”
I glance at Layla, and her fangs are bared.
“You thought the words ‘bite me’ and while they were quiet and weak in my head, it was very clearly your voice. I believe after we complete the bond, the shared thoughts will become more frequent, stronger. However, like other fated mate couples, we’ll learn to control what we want to hear and what we send out. ”
“Complete the bond…” Layla says the words dreamily, and I can’t help but picture all three of us tangled together in the throes of hot fingers-and-tails-and-my cock knotted in a cunt-sex.
The women both whimper, me unintentionally sending a shot of lust their way.
“Yes,” Vara says breathlessly. “But here’s the problem.”
My body tenses, waiting for her to give us the bad news. Because if it sounds too good, it must be. There will always be a ‘but.’
“I have no idea how a bond between three mates is completed or what will happen after.”