Chapter 4
Beatrix
Waking up surrounded by male bodies was a novel experience for Beatrix. Opening her eyes, she found Titan sitting at one end of the couch. His big body was slouched down so he could rest his head on the back of the couch.
Arthur was laying across the couch with his head pillowed by the armrest. One leg was draped across Titan’s lap and the other dangled off the couch. She was nestled between Arthur’s spread thighs, both her legs across Titan’s lap and her head on Arthur’s chest.
Both Arthur’s arms were crossed over her body, as if to keep her secure from shifting and accidentally rolling off the couch.
Titling her head up, she was able to see out the narrow, tinted window behind the mahogany desk. It looked like it was bright daylight outside, but she couldn’t tell if it was morning, midday, or afternoon.
She vaguely remember all of them moving to sit on the couch after mind bending orgasms. How had the three of them managed to sleep like this all night? It was both impressive and endearing because it was obvious they’d made her comfort paramount.
She tried to lift Arthur’s arms off her, but then realized Titan was holding onto her legs. When she attempted to move one of them, she found out how heavy muscles could be!
Titan opened his eyes and blearily smiled at her.
“Morning,” he croaked. “You’re beautiful.”
He was so sincere that she didn’t laugh in his face. She had to look horrible. Could you call it bedhead if you’d used someone else’s body as a pillow and bed all night?
“Good morning,” she said.
He lifted his arms and stretched them over his head before running his fingers through his hair. That made the strands sit up at all angles, giving him an even more adorably tousled look.
“A little help here,” she said.
He chuckled and lifted Arthur’s arms off up so she was able to sit up.
They were all still naked, but she felt a little self-conscious so she grabbed Titan’s shirt from the floor and tugged it over her head.
The shirt came to almost her knees. Perfect comfiness.
If this thing between the three of them got serious, she was definitely going to steal one of his hoodies in the future!
Standing up, she stretched, trying to get the kink out of her back. Then turned to face Titan.
“Need coffee,” he mumbled, looking around. “Aww, he’s cute when he’s unconscious.”
His words drew her attention to the still sleeping Arthur. At first she smiled, thinking the man slept like the dead to not have been roused by Titan moving his arms and their talking.
The smile disappeared as she took in his pale skin and unnatural stillness. Was he even breathing?
“I think there’s something wrong,” she said, leaning over Arthur and putting her ear to his chest. Relief made her feel dizzy when she heard a slow but steady heartbeat.
“He’s fine,” Titan said, carefully lifting Arthur’s leg so he could get up from the couch. “I doubt there’s anything in his kitchen, but we could order some food to be delivered. I’m starving!”
She didn’t like Titan’s lack of concern. The longer she looked at Arthur, the more worried she got.
She gently patted his cheek. “Arthur, wake up for me.”
Nothing. This wasn’t good!
Titan put a hand on her shoulder. “I promise, he’s fine. Please don’t disturb him.”
Ignoring Titan, she patted Arthur’s cheek again, this time with a little more force. “Arthur, are you diabetic? Do you have a testing kit?”
She was about to tell Titan to call for an ambulance when Arthur finally opened his eyes. She gasped at the sight of his beautiful navy-blue eyes now covered in a layer of white as if he’d developed cataracts overnight.
“Beatrix?” Arthur whispered. His voice sounded like he was on the verge of dying. Oh god, what was going on?
“It’s okay, I’m going to get you help!” Beatrix said. “I don’t know what’s wrong, but you're not alone. We’re right here with you, and we’ll be with you at the hospital."
Instead of looking scared at her frantic words, Arthur raised his gaze to where Titan stood behind her.
“Explain,” he whispered, then pulled in a deep breath and closed his eyes as if the small interaction had exhausted him.
Beatrix scrambled to her feet and started hunting for her purse and clothes. She needed her phone to call for help, and she needed to get dressed to go to the hospital with Arthur.
“Beatrix, stop. Please,” Titan begged, getting in front of her.
She pulled on her pants. She hated not having her underwear, but she seemed to remember someone ripping them off her last night. She realized Titan was still naked. She pulled off his shirt and tossed it to him, then tugged on her blouse.
He caught it but didn’t put it on. Why wasn’t he doing anything?
“Titan, you need to help me.”
“You can’t take Arthur out of here,” Titan said, his voice quiet but firm.
She went still and stared up at Titan. “What do you mean?”
“Um, I have something to tell you that's going to freak you out,” he said, looking uncomfortable. “But I promise, we’d never hurt you.”
“Titan, you’re not making any sense!” she exclaimed. She held up her phone. “You have two minutes to explain and then I’m calling for help. I’m not risking Arthur’s life for no reason.”
“Right, well, I guess I might as well feed him to show you,” Titan said, going back to the couch. With almost no effort, Titan picked Arthur up, then sat back down with the smaller man settled in his lap.
It was touching to watch Titan hold Arthur’s mostly limp body in his arms with such tender care. He cupped the back of Arthur’s head and pressed the smaller man’s mouth to the side of his head.
“What are you doing?” she asked, stepping closer. “Arthur needs professional help, not wherever this is.”
“Trust me, please,” Titan said, looking up at her with pleading eyes. Then he rolled his gaze to Arthur. “Drink from me. I know you don't want to, but your flock needs you, and my blood will give you strength against the daylight. Do this before we lose Beatrix. Please, Arthur.”
As Titan said those last words, he pressed Arthur’s mouth hard against the side of his neck.
Beatrix was about to call a halt to whatever strange thing Titan thought he was doing, only to see long fangs emerge from Arthur’s mouth and sink into Titan’s skin.
“Oh my god!” Beatrix exclaimed, frozen in place. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Vampires didn’t really exist, did they?
Titan moaned as Arthur pierced his skin and started sucking.
“Take all you need,” Titan murmured, his face flushing with pleasure. “I’m a big guy, you can’t hurt me.”
“This is insane,” Beatrix whispered, horrified.
No, that was a lie. She wanted to be horrified, but she felt intrigued and confused. The combination of Titan gently cradling Arthur along with his expression of pleasure was uncomfortably arousing.
Beatrix shook her head. “This is wrong.”
“We’re part of a world you don’t know about,” Titan said, his voice a little unsteady as if someone was giving him a hand job under a table. Except it wasn’t something that simple, it was two adult men living out a weird vampire fantasy.
She couldn’t pull her eyes away and was shocked to see color return to Arthur’s body. It wasn’t long before he was able to support his head and pulled away from Titan.
“Thank you,” he whispered, licking his tongue across the two puncture wounds in Titan’s neck. Along with his skin, his eyes were back to normal.
“I hope you do it often,” Titan murmured with a content smile. “Especially after we exchange souls so you can feel how good it is.”
Sitting up, Arthur tried to stand but was shaky and his legs wouldn’t hold him. Titan was quick to grab him and guide him back down.
“Damn it,” Arthur grumbled. “I don’t like being this weak.”
“I’m here to be strong for you,” Titan promised, tucking Arthur close to him.
Jealousy flared at the intimacy between the men. They were her partners too, why were they ignoring her?
Then she remembered that Arthur had bitten Titan and drank his blood.
Right, she shouldn't be jealous of crazy people.
Still, they looked so gorgeous sitting side by side snuggling.
“No, this is insane,” she said, rubbing her hands over her face before facing the two of them. “You guys need professional help.”
“Beatrix, I could put you in thrall and force you to believe us,” Arthur said, his intense eyes almost seeming to glow. “But I don’t want to do that to someone who is meant to be part of my flock. Please, for the sake of our future together, listen to what we have to say with an open mind.”
Before she could respond, Arthur looked at Titan. “Show her your wolf form.”
Titan nodded, gave Arthur a quick kiss on the forehead, then stood up. Beatrix opened her mouth to say something sarcastic when Titan’s form shimmered and shifted. Suddenly there was a massive dark gray wolf where Titan had been.
A scream came out of her mouth instead of biting words.
Stumbling back, she came up hard against Arthur’s desk. Scrambling over the top of it, she dropped to the other side, never once taking her eyes off the wolf.
“Titan is a wolf shifter,” Arthur explained, standing up. He wasn’t entirely steady. The wolf made a soft whimpering sound and pressed against Arthur’s side, helping to support the man.
“Thank you, Titan,” he murmured, placing a hand on the beast's back. He lifted his gaze back to her. “You’re safe, Beatrix. Neither of us would ever hurt you.”
“Did you drug me?” Beatrix asked. Maybe there was a new type of designer drug out there that she hadn’t tried before.
Arthur snorted. “Of course not.”
His amusement at her question was enraging.
“Excuse me for trying to find a normal reason for all this madness!” she snapped.