Twenty
Marcus
Once Avalon had her glass in hand, he led her to the library where Varos had stored the huge cushion that he’d ordered for her.
“I know it’s not yours, but I was hoping this would make you feel more at home,” Varos explained.
Avalon squealed, leaving Marcus to take her glass from her as she threw herself into the fluffy cushion. “Thank you.”
“I wasn’t sure if you wanted to keep your apartment and didn’t want to take anything you didn’t permit me to.”
“So you just bought a new one instead?” Avalon was laughing, though there was a tone to her voice that Marcus couldn’t quite place.
“Well, now you can have two. One in your room and one here,” Marcus suggested. “At least, once we have brought your other one here.”
Bright honey eyes stared up at them, and she finally relaxed. “Thank you.” A single tear broke free and fell, leaving a thin red line over her porcelain skin. “Thank you,” she repeated.
He and Varos fell to their knees beside her. While Varos took her hand, Marcus brushed the tear away with his thumb.
“I don’t know what else to say,” she whispered, blinking back more tears.
Marcus was the one to answer. “I think I speak for both of us when I say we expected you to rip us to pieces.”
Avalon graced them with her beautiful laugh, lips curling into a wide smile. “How could I do that? You came for me. Saved me. Yes, I’m having trouble accepting who I am now. But that’s only because it feels wrong. I’m drinking the blood that’s designated to save people.”
Marcus had never even considered that. Even now that he was, he didn’t feel bad about it. He was scared to share this with her, terrified that she wouldn’t see him as the angel she thought he was. That thought had likely gone out the window hours ago but it was nice to have for a moment.
“Would you like us to help you forget?” he asked, salaciously licking the blood from his thumb.
Marcus could imagine the delicious blush that would have spread over her cheek, if Avalon had still been human. “But Lysander is going to be back soon.”
“He can join, whenever he’s ready.”
Varos snorted. “I’m not sure he’s ever ready for that.”
Though he’d never admit it, it bothered him that Lysander was the first to make her come. He was eager to make her fall apart, to know what she looked like crashing over the edge. The sounds alone nearly had him ruining his expensive trousers.
When she didn’t answer, Varos stood and took her hand again. “Drink up and lose yourself in your books.” And with a soft kiss across her knuckles, he left.
Yet again, he was left feeling like an asshole. Avalon was uncomfortable and the only thing he could think about was stroking his own ego. He leaned forward, kissed her forehead, and followed Varos from the room. The fact that she didn’t call after him only made his guilt worse. Would she have let them stay if they hadn’t fed and drugged her? Probably not.
That realisation hit him like a rock. He was no better than that rapist they were holding in the warehouse. His bedroom door slammed behind him, and he froze. Now she probably thought he was upset with her. Which he wasn’t—he hadn’t meant to use that much force.
Fuck!
The cushion rustled, and Avalon cautiously approached his room. She knocked quietly and he took time to school his emotions before he opened the door as gently as he could.
Avalon stood there book clenched to her chest as if that was her shield for the battle ahead, her lips sucked between her teeth. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said quietly.
“You didn’t.”
“You slammed the door.” Then she flinched, seemingly surprised by her own assertiveness.
He offered her a hand, which she took right away. As he pulled her into his room, her head swivelled to take everything in. He led her over to his sitting arrangement and sat down beside her as she laid the book in her lap.
“I’m not upset with you. I am solely enraged with myself,” he revealed, turning his upper body to her.
“Why?”
“Because I realised, I treated you wrongly. When I fed on you, I drugged you and bent your will to suit my own selfish needs. I shouldn’t have used your vulnerability to gain something I wanted from you.”
“But I already told Varos it was fine. I enjoyed it.”
“Yes, but would you have easily let us do that if you hadn’t been craving our blood or our antidote?”
“I would have been more nervous but yes: I wanted it. I wanted you . It felt good being with you. Yes, feeding helped but as I said to Varos, I trust both of you. Then and now. I needed to feel something else, to erase his memory. If anything, I was using you.”
Keeping hold on her hand, he took in her expression, looking for any hint of a lie. Not that he thought she would lie to him but deep down, he worried she was just saying what he wanted to hear.
“I hesitated because I had the time to think about it and let those insecurities creep in.” She dropped her chin to her chest. “Sometimes I think too much about something and get…”
“It gives you time to think about all the things that could go wrong.”
“Yes. I enjoyed being with you, but since I hesitated, I pictured all the embarrassing things that could happen.”
“We have never done anything like this either. We are unsure ourselves.”
“But not unsure about yourself. You were so confident and I’m just waddling about like the ugly duckling.”
“You’re not ugly.”
“That’s not the point,” Avalon sighed. “You two are like… gorgeous swans or majestic lions and I’m like a baby giraffe who can’t find her feet.”
Marcus threw his head back and laughed, the picture vivid in his mind. “Just a few minutes ago you called me old and now I’m a majestic lion, huh?”
Avalon punched his bicep. “You get the picture.”
“You painted a beautiful one.” Sobering, he took her chin between his thumb and index finger. “You are a gorgeous lioness, just as majestic as we are.”
“You’re swooning me, but do you know what the sweetest thing about it is?”
“No, but I would love to know.”
“You mean what you say.”
“I do.”
Her hand found his cheek and then her lips were on his. At first, she was hesitant but when she felt him lean into her she relaxed into the kiss. She tasted like heaven: sweet, but there was something fierce about her. Her hand moved up, her fingers tickling over his skin and around his ear till they threaded through his hair and held him tight. He let her lead, pulling her into his lap to straddle his thighs.
His scalp stung from her grip but not as forcefully as his cock pressing against his restraints. He grabbed her waist to pull her closer, groaning at the sharp prick to his lip. Avalon jerked back, covering her mouth as the tang of blood filled his. Marcus chuckled and licked the blood away. Only then did he realise that she’d never finished the glass they had given her.
“You’re thirsty.”
Avalon stared at him, seemingly uncomfortable admitting that he was right.
Varos appeared in the door frame, her glass of blood in his hand and awaiting Marcus’s approval before he stepped over the threshold.
Avalon gratefully accepted the glass, not meeting Marcus’s gaze. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I liked it.” He leaned back, his whole body at ease beneath her as he carefully freed her from her sweater. To his surprise—and delight—she only wore a lacy bra beneath it.
Varos reached around her and lifted the glass to her lips. “Drink up, little dove.”
She did while Varos peppered kisses across her bare shoulder and stroked her thighs. When it was empty, Varos set it aside and nuzzled over her neck and nipped playfully at her ear. “I think Marcus would love to steal another kiss but is too shy to ask.”
“So shy,” he teased, giving Avalon his best pout.
She leaned forward, carding her fingers through his hair as she sealed her mouth over his once more. She was less demanding, likely scared of losing herself again.
He danced his fingers over the thin fabric covering her thighs. Her first moan flooded their kiss when he grabbed her waist and ground his aching cock into her .
Varos wrapped his arm around her waist, needing more permission before he continued south. “May I?”
In response, he felt her guide Varos’s hand under her leggings, right where she needed him. Another soft moan vibrated their kiss, and he eagerly swallowed it up. Her legs twitched, hips rocking as Varos found her clit.
“We need you, little dove,” Varos whispered roughly into her ear. “But we won’t do anything you don’t want.”
Avalon broke the kiss, arching towards Varos. “I trust you.”
His fangs had descended, tickling his lower lip. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward and licked along the hollow of her throat. “Tell us to stop and we will,” he assured her.
Avalon tightened her grip, guiding him by his hair to that sweet spot where her pulse once thrummed beneath her skin. Needing no more permission than that, he sank his fangs deep. She sighed, his antidote filling her system and her blood dripping down his throat. He let a satisfied hum rumble his chest, his own blood rushing south so fast it was painful.
Though he didn’t want her to move, poor Varos was struggling to get her undressed. Marcus lifted her, careful not to separate from his bite. Avalon briefly protested, then she noticed Varos slipping her leggings off her body. Instead of returning onto his lap she nudged his legs apart and knelt on the couch in front of him. He slid back to give her space. One of her hands fumbled with his belt, the other reaching back to pull Varos close by his neck.
“I want you too,” she panted, words slurred. “Both of you.”
Fangs met muscle and Varos ripped a moan right out of her throat. Avalon dropped both hands to his belt, working the leather open with ease. She unfastened his pants next, and he sighed with relief once his cock was freed. Delicate fingers wrapped around him, her thumb brushing right over his slit.
Fuck. He groaned and bucked into her touch, knowing he wouldn’t last long.
Her thighs tensed too, and he could only assume that Varos had found her clit again. She fisted him, humming through Varos’s bite. She wasn’t teasing him. No, it was almost as if she wanted to take her time exploring his body, learning exactly what made him tick. Her blood was sweet in his system, his head drowsy from the overwhelming sensations.
“Varos,” she scolded.
He opened his eyes to see his friend sitting back and licking his lips.
“I know, little dove, but I need you.” And with that Varos’s pants hit the floor and his cock was in his hands.
Avalon shifted, offering herself to Varos while keeping her grip on his cock. Marcus took the opportunity to work her clit, her body vibrating in response. Varos pushed through, sinking his fangs into her neck once more.
Closing his eyes, Marcus fell into a daze, quivering in response to her soft touches along his shaft. In return, he spoiled her clit with fast strokes. He loved how her body rocked back and forth between them, bucking into his hand and rolling back onto Varos. Avalon braced herself with one hand behind Marcus’s head, lips teasing along his shoulder until her fangs tickled his skin.
Then she was embedded deep in his flesh, her antidote pouring through his veins like soothing ointment to a burn. He quickened his pace, using the other hand to tighten her grip on his cock and show her exactly how he liked it. She let him use her, wanted him to do it. Their sweet little dove was eager to learn. He jolted in her hands, her body rocking against his as she drained his neck. Varos groaned, the sound of skin against skin filling the room.
His body wanted, needed the release. His toes curled and his muscles tensed, but he didn’t want to come without her. He increased pressure on his fingers, relishing in the muffled cry that earned him .
Avalon came first, her body shaking through her orgasm and her legs giving out. Varos held her up, fucking her hard until he spilled deep inside her. Marcus pumped his hips into her willing hand, finding his own release, cum spilling through her fingers. Fireworks shot through his system.
Avalon finally collapsed onto him, completely and utterly sated.
Varos, like the gentleman he was, was already cleaning her up. Marcus opened his eyes, nearly losing it again at the sight of Avalon licking her bloody fingers clean.
Knowing exactly what he was thinking, Varos chuckled and gently kissed Avalon’s hair. “You did so well.”
“You both feel good,” she whispered, her lips in a lazy smile and her eyes threatening to shut.
“And taste good too,” Marcus laughed, taking the cloth Varos was offering him. “Would you like me to run you a bath?”
Avalon shook her head. “I think I’ll just shower off.” She stretched before standing up and pulling the sweater back over her head, then happily strutted out of the room.