Chapter 12 #2
How could I explain to Nico that Amari had managed to both infuriate me and leave me uncomfortably aroused?
Or that beneath my annoyance lurked the unsettling awareness that I might have deserved his cold shoulder after what happened with Val?
Some things were better left unsaid, especially when I wasn’t sure what to make of them myself.
Nico turned to look at me more closely, his arm resting on his knee. “You healed him. That’s twice you’ve overridden the curse.”
I looked down at my hands, half expecting them to glow or transform or explain what was happening inside me. “We need to figure out what’s happening to me. How do we even get more information about what I can do? It’s not like there’s a guidebook for... whatever this is.”
The uncertainty was maddening. My whole life, I’d understood my limitations of being a null. I hated the term for demons with no abilities, but now that things were manifesting in unpredictable ways, there had been comfort in my lack of power.
What good was power if I couldn’t control it?
The thought sat heavy on my chest. What danger might I pose to Nico or others if these abilities continued manifesting without warning?
I’d spent my entire life defining myself by what I couldn’t do, wearing my null status like comfortable, if slightly embarrassing, pajamas.
Now that my identity was unraveling, I didn’t know what would be left when the threads came completely undone.
The worst part was the unpredictability. I couldn’t replicate it on command. Couldn’t study it. Couldn’t even explain what it felt like when it happened. It was like sleepwalking through someone else’s supernatural talent. And that terrified me more than being powerless ever had.
Nico tapped an anxious rhythm on his knee. “We need to be careful.”
His attention shifted abruptly, his gaze hardening as he looked over at Val. Amari was approaching the vampire with deliberate strides, his posture rigid in a way that screamed controlled anger.
The tension in Nico’s jaw tightened, his protective instincts flaring. I could practically feel him calculating whether he needed to intervene in whatever Amari was about to do.
Val sat up and opened his mouth to say something, but Amari was on him before he could, straddling him and taking his mouth in a brutal kiss.
Heat spread through my chest, and I pressed my palm against my sternum, as if I could physically contain whatever this feeling was before it betrayed me further.
Nico groaned, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation. “Are they seriously going to fuck right here in front of us? The last thing I want to do is see or hear those two fucking.”
I bit my lip hard enough to feel the slight sting, the confession of what happened lodged in my throat. Maybe Nico’s annoyance would help distract me from the need that was about to boil over. “Val kissed me.”
Nico’s head snapped in my direction so fast I swear I heard his vertebrae crack, his nostrils flaring wide as if he’d caught the scent of something putrid. His eyes narrowed to slits, and the muscle in his jaw jumped violently beneath his skin as he stared at me.
For a heartbeat, he didn’t move or even seem to breathe, just fixed me with an unblinking stare that made me want to crawl out of my skin and find somewhere dark to hide.
“Did you kiss him back?” Nico bit out the words. “Is that why Amari’s marking his territory?”
My eyes darted to the two men again. Amari moved his hips against Val while kissing him with the ferociousness that only a panther could have. It looked like he was eating Val’s tongue from where we were sitting.
“You did, didn’t you?” Nico grabbed a stick and violently dug it into the dirt.
“You don’t get to judge me.” I put my hand on his to stop his assault on the ground. “Maybe I should go join them.”
He yanked his hand from under mine as his eyes searched mine. “You can’t be serious.” He shook his head in disbelief and threw the stick.
I crossed my arms, defensive heat crawling up my neck. “It’s never bothered you before when I’ve slept with men. Why should it bother you now? I have needs.”
Judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t okay with the idea of me doing anything with Amari and Val, who were now completely naked and rubbing their erections against each other.
“Do what you want, Samara. I won’t stop you.”
I furrowed my brows and swallowed down the stab of pain his constant rejection brought. I wanted more with him, but I couldn’t wait around forever.
I stared at the two men not far away from where we sat. Amari slowly sank onto Val’s cock, his grunts filling the silence of the beach. My thighs clenched, thinking about being in his place.
Screw it.
I stood, quickly brushing the dirt off myself. “This is your chance to stop me.”
He looked up at me and then stood, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m not going to have sex with you.”
I frowned at him for a moment before I rolled my eyes and walked toward Val and Amari. I thought Nico would stop me, but he didn’t, and when I looked back over my shoulder, he was gone.
I should have gone after him, but then what? We’d apologize to each other and repeat the same scene in a few days?
“Samara… What are you doing?” Val’s voice interrupted my pity party, his breaths coming in pants and his face flushed.
Amari slowed his pace and scowled at me as if he couldn’t understand why I had approached them. His powerful body glistened with sweat, each muscle tensed and defined as he rolled his hips in a torturous rhythm that made Val whimper.
My pulse quickened, and I felt an answering throb between my legs as his gaze traveled slowly down my body, lingering on the apex of my thighs.
What the hell was I doing? I’d had my fair share of sex, even with more than one man at a time, but never with my former lover and his boyfriend.
“Well? Are you going to join us or stand there and watch?” Amari’s voice was heated.
My gaze traveled down the rippling planes of Amari’s abdomen to where he was fisting his cock with confident strokes. He ran his thumb over the glistening head, spreading the pre-cum that had gathered there in a slow circle that made my mouth water with want.
When he tilted his head back, exposing the strong column of his throat, the deep moan that rumbled from his chest vibrated through me, settling like liquid heat between my thighs.
My fingers twitched at my sides, imagination running wild with how he would feel pulsing against my palm instead of his own.
I looked back at the trees, searching for any sign of Nico among the shadows. If it had been two women beckoning him with promises of pleasure, he wouldn’t have hesitated for a single second. Because other women weren’t me. He’d made it perfectly clear it would never be me.
“Come here,” Amari growled, the alpha in him coming through. “Let us take care of you.”
My hesitation evaporated, and I lowered to my knees next to them. His fingers threaded into my hair, pulling me toward him and bringing his lips to mine.
He kissed me as if he were starving, and I melted into him. His hand reached around my back and unclasped my bra. Val pulled it off me, cupping one of my breasts in his hand.
Amari broke our kiss. “Lie back, Val.”
Val complied immediately as Amari tugged down my underwear. I stood quickly, kicking them off. His hands found the backs of my thighs, and he guided me until I was standing over Val’s head.
“Let him taste you.” Amari’s nostrils flared as I sank down onto my knees, my pussy hovering over Val’s face.
My breath shuddered as Val’s hands gripped my thighs, pulling me down toward his waiting mouth. The first stroke of his tongue made my entire body shudder. I braced my hands on his chest, overwhelmed by sensation.
Val’s moan vibrated against my core as he devoured me, his tongue making a sweep from my hole to my clit. I rocked against his mouth, chasing the pleasure building inside me.
Amari’s fingers tweaked my nipples, sending sparks of pleasure straight to my core. “You’re so beautiful like this.” He leaned forward, taking one of my nipples between his teeth.
“Oh, fuck,” I gasped, my hips jerking at the tinge of pain.
Val tightened his grip, holding me in place as he sucked my clit between his lips. He added his fingers, stretching me in the most delicious way as he pumped them in and out.
The pleasure built rapidly, coiling tight in my belly. Amari moved between my breasts as Val curled his fingers, hitting that spot inside me that made stars explode behind my eyelids.
Amari released my nipple and leaned back, his hips working on Val’s cock in slow circles. “Are you ready to take my cock?”
My walls clenched at the image of him pounding into me, pushing me over the edge. I threw my head back as pleasure crashed through me, Val’s tongue lapping at my release.
Before I could catch my breath, Amari was moving me again. “Hands and knees,” he ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument.
He helped me off Val, positioning me on all fours. Val’s face was glistening with my arousal, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched Amari move behind me.
Amari’s cock pressed against my entrance, teasing me. “Still think I’m an asshole?” His hand ran down my spine to my ass and squeezed.
I glared over my shoulder at him. “Yes.”
His lips quirked upward at one corner before he slammed forward, burying himself in one smooth thrust. The breath left my lungs in a rush as he filled me completely.
“Fuck,” I moaned, my fingers digging into the sand as he began to move.
Val repositioned himself behind Amari, and I could tell the moment he entered him again by the way Amari’s rhythm faltered and let out a guttural groan.
Each of Val’s thrusts drove Amari deeper into me, creating a perfect chain of pleasure. Amari’s hand slid around to find my clit, rubbing it between his fingers.
The sounds of skin slapping against skin were primal and raw, and exactly what I needed. But I wanted more. “I need to see.”
Amari growled and pulled out, waiting for me to turn over before grabbing my legs, lifting my hips, and sliding back inside. The angle nearly had me screaming.
“You’re so fucking tight.” Amari’s thrusts grew more erratic as Val wrapped a hand around his throat, pulling his head to the side to expose his throat.
He bit down on the junction of Amari’s neck and shoulder, not breaking the skin but marking him.
My walls clenched around Amari’s length, drawing a groan from deep in his chest. His fingers worked faster against my sensitive bundle of nerves. “Come for me again.”
The pressure built rapidly, and when my second orgasm hit, it was even more intense than the first, radiating outward from my core until my entire body trembled with the force of it.
I cried out wordlessly, my inner walls pulsing around Amari’s cock. He cursed, his rhythm faltering as my release triggered his own. His fingers dug into my hips as he flooded me with his release.
Behind him, Val let out a hiss, his fangs descending as his own climax approached. For a moment, I thought he would feed on Amari right in front of me, but he threw his head back instead, his final thrusts pushing Amari deep as he came.
Amari’s body trembled between us as Val continued to pump into him, milking every drop of pleasure. Finally, all three of us collapsed in a satisfied heap.
As the fog of lust cleared from my mind, my chest tightened with something that felt dangerously like regret.
Amari seemed to sense my shift in mood, his hand finding mine and squeezing gently. The gesture was unexpectedly tender from someone who seemed to detest me and had fucked me senseless.
Val rolled to his side on the sand next to me, his fingers tracing patterns on my hip. “Are you okay?”
I stared up at the sky, uncertain how to answer. The physical satisfaction was undeniable, but the hollow feeling in my chest suggested I had made a mistake.
I wondered where Nico had gone and what he was thinking. Had he watched from the trees, or had he truly left? And why did I care so much when he had made it clear he didn’t want me?
“I’m fine.” I closed my eyes against the sudden burn of tears.