Chapter 7
The workout room was blessedly empty except for Rhea when Emmy arrived. Her friend was already on the treadmill, earbuds in, and the console said she was running thirty-two miles per hour.
Emmy claimed the one next to her, and Rhea pulled out an earbud. “Morning! How’re you feeling?”
“Strong.” Emmy increased her speed to a jog. “Like I’m actually recovering instead of just pretending.”
“Good.” Rhea slowed to running twenty-five miles per hour. “You look better. Less like you’re going to fall over if someone breathes on you wrong.”
Emmy selected a mountain program, and the two ran in comfortable silence until Emmy finished her route.
Rhea shut hers down when Emmy stopped, her friend barely breathing hard while Emmy leaned over and gasped for air.
“So,” Rhea said casually, “you and Zander. And Spence.”
Emmy stood and tried to speak without sounding terribly winded. “Maybe.”
“You’ve been sleeping with Spence since you were poisoned, you kissed both of them at the Aurora Ball, and I figure Zander’s going to think you’re strong enough for more than a couple of kisses sooner rather than later.”
Emmy grinned. “You’re pretty smart for a birdbrain.”
“I’m happy for you.” Rhea’s tone turned sincere. “All three of you.”
“Thanks.” Emmy stepped away from the treadmill, her legs pleasantly shaky.
They moved to the weight section, and Emmy started with much lighter dumbbells than she would’ve used before the poisoning, but she managed three sets of twelve without her arms giving out, which was progress.
Rhea spotted her through a set of chest presses, then they switched. The familiar rhythm of working out together — the unspoken communication of when to push and when to ease off — reminded Emmy how much she’d missed this. The normalcy of friendship outside the intensity of everything else.
By the time they finished, Emmy was satisfyingly exhausted — and ravenous all over again. They headed to the cafeteria together, grabbed protein-heavy lunches, and sat with Felix and Toby.
Toby launched into an excited explanation of some stellar phenomenon he’d photographed, and Emmy let the normalcy of it wash over her.
And she checked in with Felix, really checked in, to see how he was doing.
The vampires were keeping him busy, and his bank account was growing by leaps and bounds.
He assured her that, while he missed sleeping with her, he was happy for her.
They both knew he wasn’t ready for a relationship, wasn’t ready to settle down, and if she was and had found it?
He was just glad Zander wasn’t interested in trying to tell her who she could be friends with.
After lunch, Emmy returned to the lowest floor, showered, and changed into comfortable clothes.
She needed to dive back into her thesis work, but first, she needed to handle something.
She found Zander in his office, door open, sitting at his desk, looking over a spreadsheet. He looked up when she appeared in the doorway, and his expression softened immediately.
“Emerald.”
“Can we talk? About tonight?”
“Of course.” He saved his work and gestured to the chair across from him. “Come in. Close the door if you’d like privacy.”
Emmy closed the door and settled into the chair, suddenly nervous in a way she hadn’t expected. “I just … I want to make sure I’m doing this right. That I’m not going to mess anything up with Spence.”
Zander’s smile was gentle. “You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” He leaned back in his chair, studying her. “You know I’ve been in Felix’s head, so I’ve been able to watch you from his point of view. I’ve seen how you balance power with both pain and pleasure. You have instincts most dominants take years to develop. Spencer will be fine.”
“But Felix isn’t—” Emmy struggled for words. “Felix is mine to play with. Spence is yours. That’s different.”
“Yes and no.” Zander’s gaze was steady. “Spencer is offering himself to you freely. With my blessing and encouragement, but there are no orders from me. It’s his choice, and that makes him yours too, at least for tonight. And if things go as I hope they will, for much longer.”
Emmy’s heart stuttered at the implications, but she pushed forward, needing to address the practical concerns. “I need a way for us to communicate without clueing Spence in, something to tell me I need to back off, check in, or that something’s wrong.”
“What did you have in mind?”
She shrugged. “I guess another form of safeword. So, if either of us says it, the other knows there’s an issue. How about chocolate?”
“Chocolate works.” Zander’s lips twitched. “Simple, clear, unlikely to be confused with anything else.”
The truth was, if she and Zander could telepath, the entire evening would be so much easier. She’d considered talking to Zander about it today, after the morning’s conversation, but she wasn’t quite ready to agree to it, so they’d just have to make the evening work without it.
Opening her mind even a crack was a huge security concern, and she wasn’t prepared to do that just yet.
Maybe later. When this felt more permanent. When she trusted him more.
“You’re thinking quite hard about something,” Zander observed.
Emmy shook her head. “Just running through scenarios in my head. Making sure I’m prepared.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie.
Zander stood and came around the desk, leaning against the front of it so he was closer to her.
“Spencer’s scents are easy to read. You’ll know exactly how he’s doing — when he’s enjoying himself, when he’s approaching his limits, when he needs more or less.
Trust your instincts. Trust what his body is telling you. ”
Emmy felt some of the tension in her shoulders ease. “Okay.”
Zander reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, the gesture unexpectedly tender. “He’s been half in love with you for months, and he wants to serve you. This is a gift he’s giving you, and I know you’ll honor it.”
“Half in love,” Emmy repeated, warmth blooming in her chest. “He said that?”
“He did.” Zander’s smile was soft. “And I suspect the other half isn’t far behind.”
Emmy stood, suddenly needing to move. “I should go. Let you get back to work. I have thesis stuff to work on.”
Zander caught her hand before she could leave. “Tonight is about all of us finding out how we fit together. There’s no pressure to be perfect. Just be present, be honest, and trust that we’ll figure it out as we go.”
She nodded, squeezing his hand. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
Emmy left the office feeling steadier. More prepared. The chocolate safeword gave her a safety net. Zander’s reassurance that she could read Spence’s scent reminded her she wasn’t going into this blind.
And tonight, they’d see if three very different people could build something that worked for all of them.
She was terrified and exhilarated in equal measure.
But mostly, she was ready.
Emmy’s heart hammered in her chest as they prepared to start the scene. She had Dead Can Dance playing softly, and she focused on the beat.
Vampire suites come with attachment points all over the place, and a chain hung from the ceiling in the sitting room, waiting for them to attach Spence to it.
Sofas and chairs had been moved to the wall, leaving a big open area for them to work.
“Arms up, boy,” Zander said, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through the room. Spence obeyed instantly, lifting his cuffed wrists to the chain. Zander secured them, then squatted to attach the spreader bar, forcing Spence’s legs wide on the wooden box he stood on.
Zander stood, unhooked his wrists from the chain, and reconnected them two links higher, stretching Spence’s body taut, pulling his torso long and lean, muscles standing out in sharp relief under the dim, warm lights.
Emmy breathed in, taking a measure of where Spence was in the moment. She was pleased the overarching scents were excitement and pure lust. His cock, already standing proud, was another testament to his arousal. Zero fear, just trust, submission, and overarching need.
She trailed her fingers down his chest, feeling the rapid thump of his heart, the heat of his skin contrasting with the cooler air.
“Look at me, Spence,” she ordered, her voice soft and steady despite the thrill racing through her veins.
His gaze met hers, dark and dilated, full of that quiet fire she wanted from him.
“Zander tells me you don’t have a safeword. That he’ll act as your safety net.”
“Yes, Ma’am. He knows what I can handle, but we won’t need him to do that.”
She hoped he was right, and she’d do her best to make it so. Tonight was about giving him a sweet burn of pain that blurred into pleasure, the kind that left good echoes in the soul. Not bad ones.
And yet, in order to claim someone, you have to take them past what they think they can take.
“I put my wrists into the cuffs, and I held them up to the chains. I choose to be here. I choose to submit to your will, to your needs and wants, to be whatever you need of me.” Spence’s words were softspoken, but the way his gaze held hers, unwavering, sent a jolt straight to her core.
Power exchange, raw and real — not taken, but given.
She felt it coil between them, a living thing.
Zander moved behind Spence and slid his hands over his hips. Spence gasped, and Emmy realized Zander had penetrated him from behind.
“Breathe,” Zander said, and Emmy watched as Zander pressed in quickly, inch by inch, until he was seated deep.
Spence’s breath hitched, a low groan escaping, but his eyes stayed on Emmy’s, the connection unbroken.
Zander didn’t thrust yet, just held there, savoring, his own arousal scenting the air like aged oak and night-blooming jasmine — vampire strength undercut with heat.
Emmy lifted the penis plug from the side table, a slim stainless steel rod with a flared end, wired subtly for the TENS unit she’d control. She showed it to Spence, letting him see the gleam of it, and the thickness.