4. Reflections
Erik
She could see us.
I paused mid-thrust, looking across the room directly at Christy.
She stood in the doorway with a bat, her sweet brown eyes wide with shock.
Her velvet lips parted on a gasp and she just stared at us, her expression locked in place.
She smelled like champagne and arousal and gods, she smelled delicious.
I didn’t want to stop fucking Ray.
Both of my cocks pulsed with need. Harder than steel.
“Christy,” Ray panted, lifting his head. “Fuck. You can see us? Erik, let me go.”
“No,” I growled, pushing my cock deeper inside him.
I was angry. Furious that this had taken so long, and this was when she could finally see us? Fates be damned, I wasn’t going to stop fucking my mate until I’d come.
“Erik,” Ray groaned. “Fuck.”
“Are you going to come closer, little angel?” I asked, glowering at her. “Or will you run from us like you did yesterday?”
Christy slowly put her bat down, her brows drawing together. “How are you here right now?”
“We live here,” I gritted out, dragging my cock back. “Say hello to your phantom roommates.”
Ray tried to wriggle free, but I only tightened my hold on him. He could fight me all he wanted, if he truly wanted me to stop, he’d use our safe word. He liked being taken like this in front of her. Truthfully, between the two of us, he was far more kinky than me. Which was saying something.
“My dreams . . .” she whispered.
I raised a brow at her as I drove into Ray again, claws digging into his hips. He let out a long moan, his face pressing into her blankets, right where her body lay while she slept. Right where she’d come for me just last night without realizing it.
“Did you dream about us?” I asked.
Her expression spoke the truth. She hesitated for a moment, then leaned her bat against the wall.
“This is insane,” she whispered to herself, shaking her head.
But then, she drifted across the room to us, sitting at the foot of the bed, her eyes on us.
On my cocks. On the way Ray was taking me so well.
“Christy,” Ray rasped. “I’m sorry, we’ve been watching—”
“He is not sorry,” I bit out, thrusting hard enough his words melted into a groan. “He’s not sorry at all. I fucked him last night and he came as he watched you like a helpless little bitch.”
Her cheeks turned red. “Don’t be so cruel.”
I laughed, my voice echoing as if we were on stage. “My darling, you do not know cruel. Cruel is finding the one person who could free you and then realizing they cannot even see you.”
She scowled. “I didn’t know about monsters. You cannot be angry at me for that.”
Ray reached across the bed toward her, and to my surprise, her fingers laced with his. Just seeing the touch was enough to send me into a frenzy, however innocent it was. My limbs snapped and my body stretched until I was a horrific monster, but Christy did not gaze upon me with fear.
I caught her scent and hissed, pumping my hips harder, faster. The bed squeaked beneath us as Ray took me, all while holding her hand. How precious they would be together.
Ray whimpered, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.
I looped a claw there, tugging until he arched back onto all fours, his shoulder muscles rippling with strength.
He rarely slipped into his more phantom-like form, but I wished he would now.
I wished he would show her just how awful we both were.
Christy’s throat bobbed as she watched us, her breaths shortening as her scent of lust became stronger. She liked watching us. And maybe it was a good sign she hadn’t run off yet.
Yet.
With a roar, I gave one final thrust and came inside Ray, pumping every drop of seed into him until I was satisfied. I pulled out slowly, my eyes never leaving hers. I could not look away, and she was just as enamored. A little fly caught in our web.
I rounded the bed, not shrinking despite being a monster. I wanted her to see all of me, every part. I wanted the horrifying image of me to be seared into her memory.
She looked up, her head tilting back. Her lashes were so long and dark, dipped in ink. All of her luscious dark brown curls were drawn back into a bun, and I wished to free them. I wanted to see them tumble over her shoulders onto her breasts.
I breathed deeply and then paused, catching the scent of alcohol. “Are you inebriated?” I asked.
“I had a couple glasses of champagne, yes.”
I sighed, allowing my form to slowly shift back into a more human one. We would not touch her tonight then, and perhaps that was for the best.
“Why do you both wear masks?” she asked. “Even when you become . . .”
“A monster?” Ray asked, glaring at me as he pushed off the bed.
I snorted at him. “Don’t tell me you’re angry with me.”
Ray shoved me toward the wall. “We will return. Clothed. Drink some water, Christy, and then we can talk. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said.
My mate shoved me through the walls, then the floor, and then down to our cavern. He was angry, oh yes. We landed hard against our bed and he straddled me, hissing in my face. His face stretched, his teeth sharpening, eyes turning black. It excited me.
“What is wrong with you?” he snarled.
“It was your idea to fuck in her bed,” I said simply. “You did not use our safe word.”
“Well I didn’t want it to stop, but that was too far.”
“Was it?” I leaned up, nipping his bottom lip. He pushed me back down with a demanding growl, and now I smiled at him. “She held your hand while I fucked you. Wasn’t that sweet? So darling.”
“We’re supposed to court her,” he said, clearly exasperated. “Court her and show her that she is meant to be ours. Not frighten her.”
“She was not frightened, she was aroused.”
“Her heart was pounding.”
“Yes, and? Our hearts do the same when we’re fucking like wild animals.”
“Erik,” he snarled. “You are awful.”
He shoved off me, still fuming as he cleaned up and got dressed.
I laid there for a few moments, then sighed, dressing before sliding up behind him.
I circled my arms around his waist and rested my chin on his shoulder.
We stood before a mirror, our bodies transparent.
Our masks glinted in the warm candlelight.
Standing side by side, our reflections before us—he appeared to be my other half.
“Look at you,” I murmured. “You have your own fears to face as well.”
His scowl melted into annoyance. “We are to return to her and be gentle.”
“You can be gentle,” I said. “But I shall not temper my true self.”
“You must.”
“I will not,” I said, turning him around. “Should she not choose me, then so be it.”
“But you will die,” he whispered, anguish tugging at our bond. “The curse. Now that she can see us, we only have so long.”
“We will tell her of the curse,” I said.
“No.” He shook his head, adamant. “Absolutely not. She should not carry that burden.”
The curse placed on us by a witch long ago, binding us to this land, keeping us trapped here until our fated mate came along.
The third soul we’d been waiting on for so long.
But he was right. The clock was ticking now.
The witch made it so that once we found our other mate, we would die, unless our fated mate bonds were created and full of love.
It was rather cruel.
“We only have five days,” he said. “Five days now that she can see us. Not even a full week.”
“We fell in love in less time.”
“And in doing so, we became cursed.”
I pulled away from him, his words squeezing my chest. “I do not regret it,” I whispered.
I’d been betrothed to the witch, but then I’d met Ray. And I couldn’t look away from him. I’d fallen for him, knowing he was meant to be mine. That our fates were intertwined.
His hand slid over my back. “Neither do I, but I cannot lose you. It would destroy me. So please. Behave.”
I rolled my eyes, but I would do my best. Well, I’d try, at least.
At the end of the day, I wasn’t exactly a heroic monster.
Ray was very invested in presenting me as one, apparently.
I sighed as he finished getting ready, and then followed him back through the cursed apartments built on top of our home.
After a couple of fires and collapsed tunnels, we’d been buried deep and built over.
The city today sat on top of everything that once was.
I didn’t long for those days, truthfully. But I did miss how grand the theatre had been before it was burned and buried. That a portion of it had survived was very lucky for us, even if it was hidden away now.
We materialized in Christy’s living room. She had changed into black sweats and sat on her couch, her legs tucked against her chest, a cup of tea balanced on her knee. Her throat worked as she swallowed a sip, her cheeks turning red.
“For a few seconds, I wondered if I’d hallucinated the entire thing,” she said.
“You did not,” Ray said gently. “I am sorry that you found us . . . like that.”
“I am not,” I quipped.
Ray ignored me as he went to the couch and sat opposite of her. “My name is Ray. I’m a phantom. This is Erik, he is also a phantom.”
Christy put her cup of tea down and leaned forward, reaching for his hand. They shook and then her attention turned to me. I stepped closer to her and held mine out, a shiver running up my spine as her fingers slid into mine. I leaned down, pressing a chaste kiss to her knuckles.
She blushed and drew back. “So, why are you in my apartment? I should probably be calling my harpy friend, but I don’t think either of you wish to harm me.”
“Not at all,” Ray said. “Quite the opposite. As for why we are here, we live here. Well, under the apartment building, really. And we were drawn to you, as we suspect you could be our mate, and well . . .”
“I couldn’t see you,” she said, nodding.
The curse. I wanted to tell her about the curse. But Ray had been so adamant we didn’t. I put my hands behind my back and started to pace, keeping an eye on both of them as they continued to chat.
“And the two of you are together,” she said. “Clearly.”
Ray nodded. “Yes. Erik and I are mates.”
“But you think I am your mate too?”
“Yes.”
She seemed to consider this, and the way her brows furrowed together amused me. I stopped pacing for a moment, studying her.
Patience had never been my strength. More than anything, I wished to take her back to bed and finally feast upon her. Share her between Ray and I and kiss every part of her. Find out if she could take our cocks at the same time.
Patience, Ray demanded in my mind.
Ah, yes. Of course he would hear those thoughts. Perverted phantom.
Shut the fuck up, Erik.
I smiled to myself as I started pacing again.
“It’s been a very overwhelming day.” Her voice was soft and even sounded a little faraway. “I’m sorry that I ran yesterday. I didn’t know.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Ignore Erik when he’s being unreasonable.”
I scoffed, but didn’t comment further.
“Also, did you really have to fuck in my bed?”
I stopped pacing and faced her. “Does it upset you? That I pinned him down where you sleep and had my way with him?”
Her cheeks were scarlet now. She was silent for one moment . . . two . . . “No,” she finally said. “But now I know I’m not dreaming.”
“We will refrain from doing that again,” Ray said.
“Unless you want us to.”
Christy’s eyes met mine and I was lost. Lost in their darkness, in the promise of salvation, in how beautiful she was. How lovely, a crimson rose blooming in winter, disrupting the barren cold with life.
“Do you?” I asked. “Do you want us to stop?”
“No.” She never looked away. “I don’t want you to stop. You have my consent.”
“We’ll get your consent tomorrow,” I said. “When you’ve got no champagne in you.”
“Perhaps you can join me for breakfast,” she said.
Ray nodded eagerly. “Yes. We would love to.”
I smiled and nodded in agreement. Ray could have whatever food she provided and I . . .
Well, I would devour her.