Chapter Five
Sage
The first lash lands sharp across my ass, a clean line of fire that snaps through me like lightning. I jolt forward with a gasp, the sting flaring hot, but grounding. For a breath, it silences everything else: the guilt, the chaos, the ache in my chest. All of it fades behind the crack of leather.
"Count," Asher says, voice cold as ice, absolute command.
"One," I breathe out, shaky.
Crack.
The second lands just above the first. I suck in a breath, my knees tightening, the bedpost cool under my grip.
"Two," I whisper, my voice trembling.
Kayden's fingers find my chin, tipping my face toward him. His gaze is dark, burning, molten with something that looks like possession. His fangs have dropped, barely restrained.
"That's it," he murmurs, his thumb stroking my cheekbone. "Feel it."
Crack.
A third strike, perfectly placed. My eyes widen. The sound I make is more guttural, deeper. Kayden watches my expression, the tremble of my lips, the shiver that ripples down my back. I know he's drinking it all in like a substitute for blood.
"Three," I say, louder this time.
Asher doesn't speak. Doesn't waver. He delivers the punishment with the same unwavering rhythm, neither cruel nor kind. Just controlled.
Crack.
"Four," I gasp, the sting sharper now.
My skin feels fever-hot where he's marked me, the pain building into something else. Not just tolerance, but a craving. The ache inside me blooms like a bruise, dark, aching and somehow right.
Crack.
The fifth lands lower, right across the tender backs of my thighs. I cry out, the jolt sparking arousal that feels forbidden.
"Five," I choke out, tears rising.
There's a pause.
Kayden leans in, his lips brushing my ear. His hand ghosts down, tracing the welts, his touches both reverent and cruel.
"You think you can make two vampires fall for you, rip their hearts out, and just… walk away without paying for it?" he whispers, his voice low and dangerous. "That's not how this works, sunshine."
His palm presses over one of the welts, applying just enough pressure to make me flinch. Satisfaction simmers in his eyes, and something inside me answers.
This dark edge they both carry—the way Asher dominates with silence and precision, the way Kayden devours with heat and chaos—speaks to a part of me I've barely let breathe. The part that doesn't want to escape even when it hurts.
It wants to be claimed. It wants more.
Kayden's hand continues sliding over my welted skin, his touch a cruel caress, both soft and taunting.
Every stroke ignites the nerves Asher just punished, sending electricity across my body.
I'm trembling not just from pain and arousal, but from the weight of their presence, from the way they hold me in the moment.
Crack.
The sixth strike lands, and I cry out sharper. My grip on the bedpost tightens, knuckles white.
"Six," I gasp, my voice cracking.
Kayden's lips press to my shoulder, heat and fangs grazing. "You take pain beautifully," he murmurs, tongue flicking over my skin. "Makes me wonder what else you'll take for us."
Crack.
"Seven," I breathe, my thighs clenching, legs shaking. It lands on a fresh spot, high and searing. I can feel how raw my skin must be now and still… I want more.
Kayden moves to the other side of me, his hand curling in my hair, pulling my head back until I'm looking up at him. His eyes glow with something feral.
"You want us to forgive you?" he says, voice a low rumble. "Then earn it."
Crack.
"Eight." My voice is barely audible. My body jerks, spine arching.
His hand doesn't leave my hair, holding me still as Asher delivers another.
Crack.
"Nine," I whimper, tears streaming down my cheeks. I don't know if they're from pain or from something deeper loosening inside me. Something that's been locked up for far too long.
I feel Asher step closer. His body heat is a wall behind me. His belt brushes against the curve of my ass.
"Last one. Take it for us, Sage."
Crack.
It breaks something. A sound that tears from me is not quite a scream or a sob, but a visceral release. My body sags forward, shaking, heart pounding in my ears.
"Ten," I whisper, the word falling from my lips like a vow.
Asher drops the belt, and then his hands are on me, touching with care. He kneels behind me and presses a kiss to one of the welts, a gentle contrast to everything before. His mouth moves lower, and he whispers, "Still with us?"
I respond with a small nod.
Kayden's hand cups my face, thumbs brushing away tears.
"I hate that I love you this much," he says, voice rough, eyes shining like he's half a breath from destroying something. "I hate that I'd forgive you. That I already have."
Kayden helps me up. My hands release the bedpost, fingers trembling, legs unsteady. I fall into his arms, and he catches me like something he's reclaiming. His kiss is not soft, nor sweet. I kiss him back with everything I have, tasting fury and forgiveness on his lips.
When he pulls away, I'm breathless.
Then it sinks in. The word.
Love.
He said I love you this much. We never said that to each other before. Now it's out, and it came from him, from Kayden, like it's always been there.
"Love," I echo, my lips shaping the word like it's foreign.
He lifts a brow, that wicked smirk returning. "Yes, love. My tainted, untempered, undead love." He leans closer. "But don't think that gets you off the hook, sunshine. We're far from finished with you."
"He's right," Asher's voice cuts in.
His hand grips my hair, and his mouth crushes mine in a kiss that makes my knees buckle. It's filled with domination, control, possession, and I want it all.
When Asher pulls back, his hand remains in my hair, holding me steady, reminding me exactly whom I belong to in this moment. His eyes are steel, but I notice the glint of a dark pleasure in them.
"You should have your voice back," he says, tone clipped. "Repeat your safe word."
"Marigold. But I don't want to use it."
He nods. His approval is subtle but clear. "Then we continue." He glances past me to Kayden. "Your choice, brother."
The sound Kayden makes is feral. A low, vibrating growl of anticipation.
"You know what I keep thinking about?" he asks, stepping closer. "Our ride back. The way she squirmed in your hands. The way you shoved yourself in her tight, little ass, and she made those sounds."
My breath catches.
"Did I jerk off to that memory?" Kayden continues. "Of her face? Her voice? Her body taking it? Yes. More than once. And now… now I want to be the one ripping those sounds out of her."
Asher gives a nod, the corner of his mouth twitching in dark amusement. "You'll need to prep her." His voice is matter-of-fact, clinical, but his eyes are burning.
And just like that, I'm pushed into Kayden's arms. He turns me to him fully, his gaze ravenous.
"You don't want to bite me?" I ask, brushing my fingers across the sharp curve of his fangs.
He groans, deep and low, like the sound is dragged from the pit of him. "Fuck yes, I do." His eyes close for half a second as he breathes through it. "But it's not the time."
I smile faintly, pressing into him, deliberately teasing. "Your self-control is… surprising."
"It's not self-control," he says, leaning in, his grin sharp enough to cut. "It's priority setting."
Kayden raises his hand, catching something Asher tosses from the nightstand.
Lubricant. He shows it to me like a promise.
"Are you ready for this?" he asks, voice rough but careful, searching. I nod without hesitation. "Then on all fours."
His hand presses to the back of my neck as he guides me down. The carpet beneath me is soft, warm from our bodies and the heat in the air, but everything else feels electric. My skin, my blood, every breath.
He crouches beside me, his palm still at my nape. "We're going to erase him," Kayden says, voice low and seething with intent. "Every fucking touch, every sound he ever pulled from you. There will be nothing left but us. Our claim on your body. Do you understand?"
I swallow hard. The raw possessiveness in his voice punches into my chest like a brand. My pulse hammers. I nod. I understand. More than that. I want to be theirs fully and irrevocably.
"Good girl," Asher says from behind me. Just those two words, spoken with quiet certainty, send a thrill down my spine.
The contrast between their rough dominance and the soft, devastating praise unravels me further. My body is trembling, stretched tight between ache and anticipation.
They shift behind me, heat radiating off them in waves. I feel hands on my ass, warm and deliberate. Then Asher moves with slow precision and spreads me apart.
I gasp, the sudden, exposing motion lighting something sharp and molten in my core.
"Asher…" I whimper, unsure if it's a plea, a warning or a thank you.
"It's all right," he replies calmly. "We need to prep you. Stay still." He presses a kiss to the curve of one cheek, something chaste and more intimate than it has a right to be.
Then his hands grip again, spreading me wider. My breath catches, body flushed from head to toe with embarrassment and arousal. I breathe through it, surrendering.
Kayden gathers the lube. I hear the subtle click and the slick sounds as he coats his fingers.
Then, contact. The cool glide of lubricant across my most sensitive cleft makes me arch, the contrast between heat and cold nearly too much to bear.
"Fuck…" I breathe out.
"Stay. We have to make sure you're slick enough," Kayden murmurs, voice dark with promise.
His finger slides in, slow and steady, the coolness easing the stretch, but the sensation still makes me cry out softly. There's nothing gentle about the way it jolts through me.
"Fuck… oh gods…" I pant, face pressed against the crook of my arm as he thrusts once, then again.
"Exactly," Kayden growls near my ear, the sound wrapping around my spine like a chain. "Because I will fuck you here, sunshine."