Chapter 3
SHARA
Even though I finished everything on the tray, my stomach still somehow managed to growl, which sent Guillaume back to the kitchen. Though I wasn’t sure it was human food I needed.
I’d lost some of my blood when I threw up. Not a lot—but a hit. If my reserves’ margins were so thin…
I definitely needed to Call more Blood to my side, and soon. I didn’t want to wait and end up so stressed and miserable. Though how many could I reasonably feed and enjoy the same way I loved everyone else?
“As many as you want,” Rik rumbled against my ear.
Of course, the big guy was rock hard against me. In more ways than one. While Sekh and Nevarre both stepped closer to the bed, drawn inexorably by the vicious endless tide of my rising hunger.
My fangs throbbed, and before my next heartbeat, Sekh dropped to his knees in front of me, using his effortless feline grace to simply hop onto the bed and land without even rattling the empty teacup and saucer on the tray.
He handed the tray to Nevarre and then crawled closer on all fours, his hands on either side of my hips.
His golden eyes blazed with heat, though he still gave me the heavy-eyed, sleepy look.
A lion promising his prey he’d just fed and certainly wouldn’t give chase.
Even though that was exactly what he most wanted to do. Run me down. Hunt me. Let me scramble to my feet and run some more. Playing with me, knocking me down, letting me think I could escape, even while he stalked me.
“I would never,” he protested, tipping his head to the side so his neck curved invitingly. “Though you can chase me anytime you wish, Your Majesty.”
“It could be fun,” I admitted as I rubbed my mouth on his throat.
He pulled back slightly, eyes narrowed intently on my face. “Which one?”
My lips quirked. “Exactly my point.”
Disgruntled, he huffed out a breath that fluttered wisps of my hair. “The General of the All Seeing, Never Sleeping Legion, is at your command, Your Majesty. Though I’d sooner allow your alpha to skin my hide than indulge in primal chase games with our queen and risk things getting out of hand.”
Allow, because nothing could harm the stone sphinx or draw his blood.
Nothing except me. I fought the urge to simply stab both sets of nails into his flanks.
Not that he would mind in the slightest—but we only had an hour before Gwen came.
With so many Blood, I’d love to include as many as possible in any sexy times.
I certainly didn’t want to leave Nevarre out.
Unless he minded being between me and another Blood…
:Never,: he immediately replied. :Any combination you desire will always be something I want too. Use me in any way you can possibly imagine, my queen. I’ll love every second of it. Even if you order the knight to fuck me.:
Since Guillaume was hung like his hell horse…
Nevarre dropped his kilt. “Bring it the fuck on, my queen.”
NEVARRE
Some might assume my primary gift was Morrigan’s Shadow, spreading darkness across the battlefield when my queen needed to obscure her movements.
Or the grove of magical ancient trees growing around her house.
The disgruntled warcat thought my best attribute was the kilt and how good my legs—and ass—looked beneath the plaid.
Or my hair, which fell past my waist in a silky black curtain, growing longer each time my queen touched me.
But in fact, my best gift was making myself indispensable.
I was everywhere and anywhere my queen had a need. Fly her doctor into the nest. Help a fellow queen establish a nest after a long absence. Manage her modern phone. Pick out a stunning dress with matching shoes and jewelry. Always completing each task efficiently and easily.
While simply wallowing in the joy of serving my queen’s smallest whim.
Especially if that meant I was close at hand when she hungered.
She stretched out her left arm, and I clasped my fingers with hers, allowing her to guide me where she wanted me. Sekh obligingly moved back enough to let me take his place, not minding in the slightest that now I’d be the one thrusting into her.
Not when he’d be fucking us both on top of me. On top of her alpha. Because no one disputed Rik’s place at her back. He tore open his wrist to lube himself up, saving her bite for later once we brought her enough pleasure. Though we could never get enough of our queen’s desire nor her blood.
I would always want more, more, more. Every time she allowed me close.
She pressed her lips to mine. :Same. I only want you more every single day.:
:Take all that I am, my queen. I’m yours. Always.:
Her shining hair stretched out across the massive mattress like eager vines, tangling around my limbs.
Mingling with my own hair. So soft—yet powerful—I couldn’t help but shudder with sheer bliss.
Fragrant with smoky incense and sultry flowers, as if she walked sacred temples in her sleep.
She wrapped her hands in my hair, pulling me closer.
Welcoming me between her thighs. With a deep, pleased sigh, she arched up against me as I slid into her.
Silk and heat and power, flowing over me. Drowning me. Happily.
:No feeding on her,: Rik commanded in the Blood bond. :Not unless she orders it. She needs to conserve her power for the coming rescue.:
:Understood, alpha,: I replied.
He let me have a few moments to soak in the exquisite feeling of being inside her.
Her mouth roamed my throat, licking and tasting my skin.
Stirring her hunger to a fevered pitch. She worked one of her hands free of my hair so she could plunge her nails into my buttocks.
My back arched, a groan of bliss escaping my throat.
I thrust harder, deeper, making my own rhythm while I could.
Desperate to feel her pleasure pouring over me.
I ground my pelvis against her and lightly scraped my fangs over the curve of her breast. Her delicate nipple. Teasing us both.
:Fly, my queen. Let me carry you on blackest wings of night.:
But I was the one flying. Gliding, falling into her.
She drank me down, her thighs locked around me.
Even though she used her nails to feed, I could taste myself on her bond.
I flew through her on wings of Celtic magic, my frantic heartbeat a war drum.
Chants, stomps, the clang of swords against shields as we marched.
Morrigan’s voice cawed through my mind. :WAR COMES, SON OF SHADOW. PURGE THE OLD RULE AND WATER THE GROUND WITH THEIR BLOOD.:
Shara’s breath caught and she tipped her face up to mine, her eyes gleaming like chips of velvety midnight sky. “The Morrigan calls House Isador to war once more.”
“We’re ready, my queen.” Rik slid his forearm around in front of her face, pressing the bleeding wound to her mouth. “Feed long and hard.”
He shifted her between us, adjusting her body so he could slowly penetrate her ass.
Gritting my teeth while she moaned and trembled against me, I fought the urge to sink deep and unload.
I wanted as much time as possible. Rik wasn’t even all the way inside her yet, and I could feel her pussy tightening on me.
Rhythmic squeezing. My fangs throbbed and I pressed my face into her throat, breathing in the sweet scent of her skin while she quivered in my arms. Her magic licked at my skin, a hot silken wave of power that sizzled all the way to the bone.
Staring up at me, her mouth locked to Rik’s arm, she whispered in the bond. :You can feed too, you know.:
I hesitated, surprised she hadn’t heard Rik’s order in the bond. Though he’d been working at fine tuning his connection with all of us so as to disturb her as little as possible.
“I told him not to,” Rik replied. “You need to conserve your strength.”
Her eyes flared. :Oh. You did? When?:
Rik flexed his big body, sliding to the hilt inside her. Making both of us groan and twitch. I could feel the heavy press of his cock alongside mine, barely separated by thin membranes. “As soon as he started fucking you.”
:But I didn’t hear it. Even in the bond.:
His lips curled in a smug grin. “I know. You shouldn’t be troubled by Blood business, my queen.”
:You’re never—:
He arched his hips up beneath her, lifting us both, and she lost her train of thought.
Sekh let out a rumbling purr that prickled my nape and sent a quiver of goose bumps down my spine. “Now it’s my turn.”
I smelled his blood first. Fur and lion and endlessly blowing sand. Then I felt the hot drip down my crack.
:Don’t hurt him,: she said. :He’s not Mehen.:
I pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Though to be clear, my queen, I wouldn’t mind being manhandled either.”
Sekh flattened his body against me, covering me in hot muscle. “There’s a difference between minding and enjoying. The dragon fucking loves getting mauled, and I’m more than obliged to deliver exactly what he wants.”
For a moment, he just lay against me, soaking me in without even trying to get inside me.
He wasn’t a big man, not like Rik. In fact, he was only as tall as me, which was to say average in height and build.
But he packed a wallop of aura. Energy crackled in the air around him.
Command written into every cell, his stone hide impervious, his eyes Seeing all.
The battle fury of three thousand sphinxes burned in his body.
But despite all his power and strength, in the end, he was still a man.
A man who’d stood alone at the edge of the world for millennia, watching everyone’s lives unfold on earth.
Seeing everything—but unable to touch or taste or hear.
I imagined Seeing our young queen’s fear when she fled the house in Kansas City, alone and unprotected.
Knowing what lay in wait for her in the world.
But unable to do anything to help her. Not even give her a word of warning or advice.
Never dare hoping to be here. In her bed. Sandwiched among her Blood.
His hot breath soaked into my ear. “How long can we fuck before you come, Son of Morrigan?”
My balls tightened, already on the edge. If she kept her fangs out of me, and her nails in me, feeding, I had about half a prayer of lasting until he got all the way inside me.
I didn’t have to say a word out loud. He huffed out a lion rumbling laugh. “That’s what I fucking thought.”