Lash.
I wanted Lash.
Devlin was sleeping upstairs, but I didn’t want him. He wouldn’t drink me down like water. He hadn’t taken any of my blood for weeks now. But Lash likely didn’t know that he shouldn’t. If I told him to, he would.
I threw open the door, and bolted into Kev in the hallway, knocking him off balance. “Sorry,” he said, then did a double take at my wanton expression.
“Where is Lash?” I drawled, giving him a smoldering look.
His eyes widened. “I’ll take you to him,” he said, grabbing my hand.
He walked fast down the hallway toward the ballroom, pulling me along after him. Pushing through the doors with a shove of his hand, he started across the wide hardwood floor.
I registered my surroundings, scanning eagerly for Lash. The cracks in the walls had been fixed. Scaffolding had been erected to reach the ceiling cracks, but it was empty. There was no one here, least of all the person I was looking for. Fury rose up in me in an all-encompassing wave.
“Where is he?” I snarled.
“Lash is upstairs,” Kev said quickly, dropping my hand. He turned and ran for the door.
I ascended the stairs, and began looking around. There were a lot of supplies up here, but no Lash.
God damn it, I need him! He must have left for the kitchen. I would have to go after him. When I found him…
“Sarelle,” a voice called teasingly.
I turned around. Kev and Vince were there at the top of the stairs, blocking them.
“Where is Lash?” I hissed angrily. “He’s not up here, like you said!”
Vince and Kev didn’t reply. They spread out, and began to advance toward me slowly. Both of them were big men, burly and muscular, and the way they moved was meant to be menacing. If I had been in my right mind, I would’ve been afraid, would have known immediately what they were planning.
Instead, I was pissed off. “Get out of my way!” I shouted, grabbing a claw hammer from the stack of tools beside me. “Now!”
“We just want to give you what you need, Baby,” Vince growled eagerly. “We won’t hurt you, if you let us have you—”
I dashed between them. They lunged for me as one. I hit Vince solidly in the teeth with my hammer. The entire front five caught the impact, breaking several as he let out a scream more surprise than pain.
Kev grabbed me around the waist. I kicked him hard in the balls. He groaned and went down hard, holding himself.
I sauntered down the stairs in search of Lash, full of myself. I held tightly to the hammer, liking the weight of it in my hard. Hitting Vince had felt good. I liked the shriek he’d made when I hit him. Maybe I would get a chance to swing my hammer again on the way to the kitchen. If Lash didn’t behave, he could have some of this, too…
I’d forgotten there were two sets of stairs, that the men I’d hurt were werebear, not human. As I reached the last five stairs, Vince was suddenly there before me, his partly healed teeth bared.
“I want Lash, not you!” I snarled at him, and swung.
He evaded me easily. “Grab her!” Vince hissed.
Kev, who had come down silently behind me, grabbed hold of me.
I kicked him, but he was ready, turning his body to protect himself even as he tore the hammer out of my grasp.
“You Fuck!” I hissed. “Release me!”
“No more,” Kev ordered, tossing the hammer away. “Now behave—”
“What a joke!” I laughed. “As if either of you could satisfy me—”
Vince slapped me hard. The blow rocked my head backward, the force of it enough to break The Lust’s hold over me.
Instantly recognizing the danger I was in, my fear crashed down over me like ice water. I went still in Kev’s arms. “Let me go. I’m okay now. I’m sorry about hitting you.”
“Not a chance,” Vince said, growling. “We’ve waited a long time for this, Sar. Hold her.”
Vince began fumbling with my pants, growling softly in anticipation. I screamed. Kev put his hand over my mouth, stifling me, as Vince tried to slide my jeans over my hips. Lucky for me, I’d squeezed my vain ass into my skintight stretch jeans. They clung to me like a second skin as he tried to pull them off.
“We were all told to stay away from you,” Kev growled furiously in my ear. “Dev decided he loved you, so we were just supposed to forget how you shot six of us dead, how your boyfriends killed another eight of us over at Danial’s house that same night. But that doesn’t fly with me.”
I struggled, frantic.
“Devlin may have forgiven you, but we haven’t. I’d rather snap your neck here and now, but raping you is the only payback I’m going to be allowed to have. Get ready for a wild ride, Sar.”
Vince gave up trying to shove down my pants, and instead turned them inside out, peeling them off me like a skin, even as I thrashed.
“Everyone knows you get horny,” Kev continued, his hate palpable. “We’ve all been briefed. If you asked, we were supposed do whatever you asked, so long as it didn’t threaten your life or the fetus.” Kev leaned in closer. “That gives us all kinds of leeway. Dalcon’s a big believer in rough trade anyway—”
I bit Kev’s right hand hard. He jerked back from me, gritting his teeth, blood oozing from his hand.
“Stop it! Don’t do this!” I got out.
He slapped his hand over my mouth again. “Shut up! No one will believe you didn’t ask for it! You’ve fucked Lash! If you’d let that snake have you, you’d let anyone have you!”
I closed my teeth on his hand again, biting deep. But this time he didn’t let go.
Kev hissed, “You bite me again, and we’ll fuck you until we can’t get it up anymore. You bed a were regularly. You know how long we can make this last. Now hold still.”
I stopped trying to bite him as tears slid down my face. Kev eased down on the stairs with me, so I was lying on his legs and his body. I struggled harder, trying to get up.
“The best part of this won’t be doing you,” Kev hissed in my ear. “It will be seeing you for months afterward, years, us both knowing what really happened and that no one believed you didn’t want it. I’ll cherish your screams, Sar. They won’t bring my best friend back, but it’s something.”
I flailed hysterically, frantically, moving desperately, trying to get free of him as Vince unzipped his fly, and dropped his pants.
“Hurry up,” Kev said, his breath hot on my neck. “After you have her the first time, she’ll settle down. Then you can hold her for me. We’ll trade off after that.”
Vince stepped out of his pants, his penis already erect, a drop of semen glistening on the tip. I began to whimper with fear. What Devlin had done to me hadn’t been this. Dev had been gentle, even considerate. These men just wanted to hurt me. I kicked harder at Vince, thrashing.
“Hold her still,” Vince said roughly, as he began to ease his body down on mine.
There was a hiss of air. Vince fell forward onto me, shrieking in pain, a huge hole in his right shoulder, the edges bloody hamburger.
Kev sprang to his feet, and pulled out a knife, holding it against my throat. “Stay back!”
Lash stood there near the ballroom door, his eyes flat and cold, a silenced gun smoking in his hand. “Kevin,” he hissed. “You know better than this, to think you can fight me. Drop her.”
“Stay back!” Kev said, digging the knife into my neck. I let out a cry. “I can knife her before you can shoot me.”
Lash stopped and holstered his gun. Then he uncoiled his whip, pulled his knife in the other hand, and began advancing.
“Want to share her, Lash?” Kevin called out.
Lash moved closer. With the speed of a striking snake, he curled the end of the whip around Vince’s right arm, and jerked him off of me. With a flick of his wrist, he loosened the whip from him, and began closing the twenty-five feet that separated us.
Kevin began to back up the stairs, still holding me. “Stop!”
I felt the point of a knife again against my throat. Lash stopped where he was, but didn’t put down his whip or his knife.
“I know how good you are!” Kevin called. “But you can’t get this out of my hand before I cut her artery. Titus is off with Leri. She’ll bleed to death in moments. Now be reasonable.”
Lash didn’t reply.
“We’ll share her with you, Lash. I know you haven’t been with anyone since her. That was months ago! I just had some last night, and I’m already horny just from feeling Sar struggling against me. You must be in agony, going that long without any—”
Was that true? Shit, I hoped not.
Lash was motionless as a statue.
“Come on,” Kevin growled. “I can smell how much you want her. You can even have her first, if you agree to hold her for us after.”
Lash resheathed his knife, and coiled his whip up, snapping it back on his belt. “Hold her for me,” he hissed lustily.
“Yes!” Kevin shouted with relief.
I struggled in his arms, but he held me easily, the knife still at my throat.
“I want to go first,” Vince growled from the floor. “I’m hurt—”
Lash looked down at him. Vince shut right up, and didn’t move, staring up at Lash with fear.
Lash strode over and stood before me, his flat eyes staring into mine. “Put her hair in front of her body, so I can see it,” he hissed. “And take the knife away from her throat.”
“You said to hold her,” Kev said suspiciously.
“Hold her arms. She’s afraid enough that she won’t move. I don’t want to feel anything but her body against mine, Jerk.”
Kev put away his knife. Shoving my hair to fall over my chest, he took firm hold of both of my arms. “You should have known better than to put your faith in a celibate were,” he murmured in my ear. “There’s no vampire here to save you this time, Sar.”
“Be quiet already,” Lash hissed at Kev, as he grabbed hold of my shoulders and bent his head to my neck.
I held still, praying the man I’d come to know wouldn’t betray Devlin, even if he still hated me. His fangs pierced me, and he began to drink. The moment he did, The Lust washed over me again.
Yes, God, Kev could hold me, anything to feel this again, to feel Lash drinking me down like water…
“Yes,” I murmured, letting my head fall back as I clasped Lash closer. “Please—”
Kev’s grip abruptly loosened. Lash groaned and pulled me against him hard, his arms going around me, grinding his hips into me. I let out a moan, then reached down for his zipper.
Lash exploded into action. Without warning, he yanked his fangs out of me, shoved me aside, and sank them into Kevin’s neck. Kevin shrieked, trying to push him away. I was painfully wrenched back towards them, my hair caught in Kev’s belt. Lash gave me another push, tearing me free. Kev shrieked loudly over and over in absolute terror as I rolled to lay on the ballroom floor, dazed.
Pushing myself up with my arms, I saw Lash let go of Kevin. The werebear slumped to the floor, his eyes rolling up as he convulsed. His mouth was agape, drooling as he jerked spastically. Vince was screaming over and over, his eyes wide with fear, as he tried to crawl away from Kev and Lash. Lash went for him next. With a hard snap, he broke his neck and Vince’s scream cut off. He fell to the floor to lie in a pile of bloody arms and legs.
“He healed,” I murmured. “There’s new skin showing through the hole in his shirt.”
Lash left them where they lay and walked over. He put his hand gently on my shoulder. “Are you all right?” he hissed softly.
“Yes,” I said brokenly, and began to cry.
Lash took my hand, and pulled me to my feet. “Come.” He took me into the nearest bedroom down the hall and shut the door.
I looked about me at the red walls, dazed. “This is the flame room.”
“Sit for a moment.”
I sat. It was good to sit.
Lash went to the bathroom sink and washed out his mouth, taking something from his pocket, and mixing it with water. He did this several times, spitting whatever it was into the sink. After, he came back over to me. “Do you want me to call Dev or not? He can come here—”
It seemed hard to think. Why couldn’t I understand his words? “What were you doing?”
“The poison I shot Kev up with won’t kill him, but he won’t be able to move for the better part of a day. It would have killed a human.” He looked at me intently. “I needed to get any traces of poison that were left out of my mouth, just in case you were still in the mood.”
My terror eclipsed my outrage. “You said that your bite was only poisonous in snake form!” I said shrilly. “You lied to me!”
“My fangs don’t change,” Lash said blatantly. “If they went back to human teeth, that would be true.”
I shrank back from him. “So any time you drank from me, you could have killed me—”
Lash’s hand shot out to grip my face hard. “I won’t hurt you,” he hissed, his flat eyes staring into mine. “I promised Dev I’d keep you safe. I can bite without injecting poison, as you well know.”
I curled up into a ball, making myself small. “Why’d you lie to me?”
“That night I said that I wanted your blood. You wouldn’t have let me
if—”
“You scared me.”
“I had to,” Lash hissed. “I had to make Kev believe that I was going along with their plan to get close to him. He was right, he could have cut your throat before I could stop him. Titus is too far away to save you. You would have bled to death.”
“No, I wasn’t scared then,” I whispered. “I was scared of you before, but not now. I trusted you to save me.”
He let go of my face. “I saw that you did in your eyes, before The Lust came.”
I wanted to tell him that it meant something that he had had me there in his power and he hadn’t taken advantage. Right now he was probably regretting he hadn’t…Embarrassed at my unkind thought, my face flushed.
“Why were you in there anyway?” Lash hissed. “You said you were coming to meet me for lunch. How am I supposed to keep you safe if you don’t do what you say you will?”
“I went looking for you,” I replied, coloring further. “Kev lied to me, told me you were there.” I sank down to the floor, sitting cross-legged.
Lash eased himself down beside me. “But you don’t want me now, right?”
While Lash had made sexual remarks before, they’d been teasing or hostile. His words now were polite, laced with an undercurrent of passionate need. What Kev had said about his celibacy had most likely been true.
Disgust rose in me at the thought of Kev, at what he’d tried. But more disgust was for me, that in the midst of attempted rape I’d still managed to get off on the idea of fucking Lash. What the hell was wrong with me?
“I’m going crazy,” I said brokenly.
“Maybe,” Lash offered, after a moment. “But it’s not like you got there by yourself. For a human, I think you’re handling things really well.”
I wiped at my tears. “I hit Vince with a hammer. I enjoyed it. I was hoping to hit others—”
“If I were you, I’d have hit him, too,” Lash said drolly.
I looked over at him. “I’d have hit you if I found you, if you hadn’t done what I wanted.”
“No hitting me,” Lash said, giving me baleful eyes. “Not that you’d have needed to. I’d have done what you asked, whatever it was.”
I looked back at him, biting my lip. He stared back at me, unmoving.
I looked away. What was it about him that called to The Lust? It had always wanted violence, back from the first. But Lash had never hurt me. I’d witnessed him hurt Theo, but that was it. None of this made any sense…
What did I know for a fact? Only that The Lust had risen today when Lash had drunk my blood. But The Lust rose and was sated with Devlin without Devlin doing any blood drinking. Maybe it was Lash’s fangs entering me that had incited The Lust to rise?
I cast another quick glance over at him. Lash looked back, clearly still hoping.
If he kissed me, would The Lust rise? There was only one way to find out. But did I really want to go there again on purpose? Sure I’d fucked up his life, driven his girlfriend to another state, and he’d been celibate now for months. But that didn’t make sex with Lash a good idea.
On the other hand, what if he didn’t need to touch me for The Lust to rise? The first time I’d just looked at him. I’d been minding my own business this very afternoon when I’d been driven to seek him out. What if we left here, and The Lust came back in the kitchen during lunch, or worse, a couple days from now when I was home with Theo? For whatever reason, it clearly wanted Lash this time. If I denied it again, I might be even more violent the next time it overtook me. What if I picked up a gun then instead of a hammer?
I had to control this. It was better to get it over with now where we had a little privacy.
I reached for him, my eyes a little scared. “Come to me.”
Lash looked at me in surprise, and then moved closer, coming into my arms. He pulled me tight against him, molding his body to mine, the press of his erection straining to be free against my groin. I reached down between us then, hesitantly, and very slowly ran my hand across the hardness. He let out a loud hiss, his pelvis contracting against me.
The Lust rolled over me like a steamroller, squashing my resistance flat, making me feel like I had not been with anyone in years. Without a word, I unzipped his jeans and reached inside. He was hot and swollen, already a little slippery in his readiness. I curled my hand around his shaft, and he thrust into it, hissing with eagerness. I brought his penis out of his jeans, stroking him quickly. Lash hurriedly unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his jeans, baring himself fully to me.
I looked at him with hot eyes, savoring the sight of his engorged flesh. I hadn’t been wrong about his width, and his length was good, too, though nowhere near Devlin’s. I stroked his hard shaft gently, rubbing the tip. He responded immediately, moving frantically in my hand, letting out groans with each thrust.
I wanted him somewhere else besides my hand. Moving my hips closer to his, I put the head of him against my underwear, wanting him to feel how wet I was for him, how ready my body was to accept his. Then I moved them aside just enough to rub the head of his cock on my clit. Lash shifted with a jerk, then went still. I pushed my pelvis toward his, sliding the head of his penis inside just a little. Lash made an agonized cry. I braced myself for him to grab me, eagerly anticipating the shove of his flesh into mine. But he remained where he was, breathing rapidly.
What was he waiting for? Suddenly it hit me: he was waiting for me to tell him what I wanted.
“Please, Lash,” I whispered. “Take me.”
As soon as I said the words, Lash was in motion. He yanked off my underwear and pushed down his pants further, almost ripping them off in his desire. A half second later, he rolled me on top of him, settling my hips on his as he slid in with a loud hiss of pleasure.
“Ahh!” I cried, throwing my head back, grabbing fistfuls of his T-shirt in my hands.
Lash began moving at once in long purposeful strokes, even as he reached his hands up to unfasten my bra. My breasts swung free, my bared nipples stiffening instantly. He slid his hands up to cup my breasts, rubbing his hands over my nipples as he thrust. I tried to push up his shirt, wanting to feel his chest, but he quickly stopped me with his hands. Grasping my hips, he pushed me down on him forcefully, driving into me over and over. I grabbed hold of his T-shirt again with both hands, moaning loudly.
God, he felt so good! “Kiss me,” I groaned. “I want to feel your tongue—”
Lash pulled my upper body down on his immediately, sliding his arm around my shoulders as he kissed me deeply. His tongue caressed mine, licking eagerly, exploring as his mouth devoured mine. He made no noise, except a soft hiss now and then of pleasure.
Muffled cries escaped my lips as waves of pleasure washed over me. God, I was so close! I needed him to bring me! “Bite me!” I gasped yearningly. “Please!”
Lash broke the kiss and moved his head down to my neck, sinking his fangs in. I came screaming. His hand snaked out quickly and covered my mouth, muffling my cries. I shook hard in his grip.
Before my climax faded, he rolled over onto me, covering my body with his. He moved frantically, shoving himself inside as far as he could. He jerked suddenly, spilling himself with a soft cry. As before, he withdrew from me almost immediately and lay on his back making soft hisses, jerking as his orgasm ebbed. He didn’t touch me at all, or say anything.
Slowly, in the space of several minutes, rationality returned. Before I had entirely come back to myself, Lash pulled on his pants, got up, and left the room.
Feeling sordid, I used the opportunity to clean myself up the best I could, and put the little clothing I was wearing back the way it should be. I was just finishing washing my face when Lash appeared with my jeans, socks, and sneakers.
Ah. “Thanks,” I said as he handed them to me.
He nodded. “Are you ready for lunch now?” he asked politely.
“Yes,” I said, pulling on my jeans and the rest. As I followed him to the kitchen, neither of us said anything.
I was grateful he was making this easier for me by not talking. Or maybe he didn’t want to talk. This wasn’t a romance: what he’d done was just another part of his job, even if he did enjoy it.
No one was there when we got there, even though it was noon. Either someone had overheard us and everyone had cleared out, or some crisis had happened. Either way the silence was great. I needed time to think.
My plan to control myself had worked, giving me a theory: The Lust had chosen Lash because it had wanted someone to drink my blood. The question was why.
There was also the weirdness that Danial had spoken of back on vacation: why was I able to climax when The Lust hit me during this pregnancy, when orgasm had been impossible during my previous pregnancy? Devlin usually bit me during The Lust, but his drinking my blood wasn’t required; at least, it had been sated without me asking him to. Also, as it had been with Danial, sometimes The Lust came and went without my climax, as its goal seemed to be Devlin’s orgasm. Lastly, Dev’s bites usually caused substantial pain after The Lust left. In contrast, Lash had bitten me twice. Neither wound had been painful; in fact, I didn’t even feel the bites now. Yet his biting had brought me immediately both times.
Why was The Lust interested in him at all? Lash is no vampire.
“Sar,” Lash hissed, closing the kitchen door behind us and locking it. “I need to go back to the ballroom. Stay here while I’m gone. Don’t let anyone in, unless it’s Dev. I’ll call him and tell him to come down and get you.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
“Always a pleasure,” he hissed with a small smile, then turned to go.
“Wait,” I said suddenly. “I don’t know what Devlin may have said to you about taking blood from me, but—”
“Shit!” Lash swore, stopping and turning to me. “I’m not supposed to take any, am I? Dev was bitching about it.”
I touched my neck. “I’m fine. Your bites aren’t even bleeding.”
Lash flicked his eyes to my neck. “You heal faster now, because of the blood Dev gives you.” His tone was annoyed. “All the same, I shouldn’t have.”
“Camlyn said my blood levels were fine. No one is taking my blood now but you. It’s okay. You seem to like it.”
“It’s not the taste, though you taste good,” Lash said hesitantly, then stopped.
There was something he didn’t want to tell me. What? “And?”
He looked at me a moment, as if weighing his response, then closed the door, locked it, and came back to stand in front of me. “You remember the night I first tasted you?”
When you were being an asshole. “Yes.”
“Remember how I fell asleep?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“It wasn’t because I was just warm, and comfortable, though I was both of those.” He paused. “I have what you might call a mild headache, from the potion I take. It’s present all the time now; day after day, month after month. I’ve gotten used to it over the years, so much so that I didn’t notice a difference when I first drank your blood. But as I was watching Titus heal you, it suddenly hit me that it was gone. The relief from finally being free of the pain was so good, I relaxed completely, falling asleep.”
The constant pain he was in was probably the reason why he was so irritable most of the time. Now he was pain-free and he’d just been laid for the first time in months. No wonder he was verbose. “How long did it last?”
“Almost a week.” His tone was wistful.
What he’d taken had been insignificant and I owed him big for saving me. “Then take some each week when I come here to see Dev. The small amount you take won’t hurt.”
“Why are you offering it to me?” Lash said suspiciously. “I’m not that good of a lay compared to Dev, at least from what I’ve done with you so far—”
“I don’t want you to be in pain,” I said, flushing at his bluntness. “And your bites are—”
“I’ll take it if we have sex,” Lash said, getting up. “Otherwise, no.”
“Why not?”
Lash shoved the chair, sending it sliding to crash into the table. “Because you’re running some angle by offering me your blood.” His words were cold, and hard, all trace of gentleness gone. “What do you want from me?”
I knew I should keep my mouth shut, but I didn’t. “The Lust seems to like you best,” I said quickly. “It was thoughts of you that brought it, those first times it rose with my other lovers. You almost brought it when Kev was holding me, even though I was terrified. I thought if you took it every week, maybe between that and Dev—”
Lash backed away from me a step. “It can’t like me better than Dev. I’m not a vampire. I don’t believe you—”
“I don’t know why, either!” I replied desperately. “It doesn’t make sense. But the only angle I’m working is to control myself.” I swallowed. “I don’t want what happened this afternoon to happen again.”
“You’re telling the truth,” Lash hissed. “At least what you believe to be the truth.” He came closer to me. “As for Devlin’s other guards, don’t worry. I plan on making a harsh example this evening. They don’t always remember verbal warnings. They always remember bloodshed, particularly when it’s their blood staining the floor.”
His casually evil tone sent a shiver down my spine. “So you won’t consider my offer?”
“I’ll take some if we have sex again,” he agreed. “I won’t take more than I did today, a few swallows or so. If my pain gets worse, I’ll ask you for some when you visit. Good?”
I nodded. “As long as you take some if I ask you to.”
“Well, of course,” Lash replied irreverently. “I’m not anxious to be hammered.”
I let out a snort of laughter. “Sure—” Abruptly I remembered the hammer smashing Vince’s teeth, then Kev grabbing me. I sat down quickly, sickened and upset.
“Are you okay?” Lash said, laying his hand on my arm.
When he touched me, The Lust rose its head high. Yes…He could have me here on the kitchen table, just like he had Cin on the pool table at Davy’s…
Madness engulfed me. The sex hadn’t helped! The Lust still wanted him. Shaking my head, I reached out, and gently pushed his hand off me. “No.”
Lash moved back from me, leaning against the counter.
Yes, this was just like in the kitchen at Theo’s old place. Lash had been great that night. He’d be even better here…
I trembled, trying to push my urges away. I fought my desire to touch him, to have him, to open my mouth and tell him to take me now. Slowly the feeling passed, leaving me shaky and weak.
The Lust had never risen so quickly again after being sated. Never. Devlin had tried one night, being in one of his moods. He had been unable to raise it once he had sated it. Lash had raised it again within minutes, with almost no effort. What was going on?
“I smell your desire,” Lash hissed softly. “If you need me again, just say so.”
“I do,” I whispered. “And I’m scared to death.”
Lash came over to me, grasped my arm, and pulled me to my feet. His arms went around me. “Why are you scared?” He began backing me slowly toward the table.
I wiped at my eyes, even as desire flooded me. “We just did this—”
Lash pushed my pants down carefully, then lifted me to sit on the table’s edge. “That’s okay. A man likes to be in demand.” He leaned in and kissed my neck, his fangs pricking me.
I leaned back from him, then raised a hand to his face. Carefully I touched the tip of one hooked fang that was always revealed by his scar. “You’re not a man.”
Lash smiled wider, both curved fangs glistening as his forked tongue snaked out to stroke my cheek. “You’re right, I’m not. But I’m what you need—”
The Lust engulfed me. Frenzied, I went for his belt buckle. Lash kissed me feverishly, as I dropped his pants. He grasped my rear with both hands, then pulled me forward quickly, impaling me. I let out a moan, and he kissed me again, devouring me as he began to thrust.
Lash stroked my tongue with his, then ended the kiss. Baring his fangs, he sank them into my neck. Heart racing I clasped him to me, kissing his neck, his face, anything within reach.
“Deeper,” I hissed needfully. “Harder.”
Lash lifted my ass, then moved backwards while supporting me, easing us down into a chair. He drove in another few inches, then began to move fast, straining. My orgasm built quickly. In seconds it burst. As I began to scream, Lash withdrew his fangs and covered my mouth with his. Where I ended he began, his muscles clenching beneath me as he came.
As The Lust faded, I pushed back slightly from him, panting, not sure what to say.
He grasped me and gave me a chaste kiss, then released me. Carefully I stood up.
As he came free of me, Lash let out a soft hiss of satisfaction. Then he was all business as we both put our clothes back on.
When I was dressed, I turned to him. “I’ll stay here and wait for Devlin.”
“You won’t have to,” Lash hissed, going towards the door. “He’s heard us.”
Devlin’s room was above the kitchen. I flushed as Lash unlocked the door to admit Devlin, his golden eyes tinged red.
“What happened?” he asked snidely. “You get her this far and give up?”
Lash faced Dev accusingly, his normal humor oddly missing. “What happened is your favorite asshole grabbed Sar. He and Vince planned to rape her and blame The Lust. In the process of handling that, The Lust rose—”
Devlin snarled, his eyes glowing red like hot embers. He gripped the doorjamb, sinking his nails deep into the hardwood with a creak. “Did you kill them?”
“They’re in the ballroom,” Lash hissed. “I’ll take them to the dungeon.”
“They said it was payback for me killing some of them that night you came for me,” I whispered.
“Take them to the dungeon!” Devlin thundered. “Now!”
Lash nodded. “Kev’s out cold for today, but Vince will recover as soon as his neck is reset. You want them healed up for you, or you want me to take care of it?”
“Just take them there now,” Devlin answered curtly.
Lash nodded, then left.
Devlin grabbed hold of me, crushing me against him. “I’m sorry this happened,” he murmured. “Teleport now to Danial. Tell him you’ll spend tonight with him. I’ll come to you later on tonight, be with you there at his house—”
There wasn’t going to be a later for us, but I felt too much guilt rejecting him right here after he’d just heard me have sex with Lash. “It was close, Dev. I’m all messed up.”
Devlin was still apologizing. “—I’ll punish them for this, Sar. You won’t see either of them again, ever, so don’t worry. Nothing like this will ever happen again, not to you, not here at my home—”
“Before I leave, I have to tell Serena what happened,” I interrupted, remorseful. “She cared about Vince a lot. She needs to know.”
“I can have someone else tell her, Love,” Devlin said, drawing back from me. “You don’t need to.”
“No,” I persisted, resigned. “A woman should tell her. I’ll do it, before I leave.” I’d be damned if would let one of those women who hated her tell her. It was going to be hard enough to hear it from a friend, especially as there was no way to downplay the circumstances.
“Come upstairs,” Dev said, taking my hand. “She’s in her room, sleeping.”
I followed him, glad of his hand steadying me. “Kev said I’d killed his best friend. That was the real root of it, at least for him. Vince…I don’t know why he went along with Kev.”
Devlin released me. “It’s true, you did kill his friend. But death is one of the risks of working for me. You were only defending yourself.”
I hadn’t been looking for a pep talk on the rightness of my actions. Maybe this was him trying to make me feel better? “I’ll see you later.”
Dev kissed me, then gave me a hard look. “Tell Theo, if he wants to come, I’ll leave one of them for him. He has a right for vengeance. You are his to protect as much as mine.”
I nodded, trying not to give into the surreal feeling his words had created. “I’ll tell him.”
Devlin went downstairs. I knocked on Serena’s door.
She opened it, her face streaked with tears. “Lash already told me, Sar.”
Damn it, Lash. “I’m sorry—”
She got up and hugged me. “It’s not your fault,” she said. “Lash told me what happened.”
I hugged her back, and didn’t say anything.
“I should’ve known,” she said softly. “Kev had fantasies; he asked me to—”
“Stop!” I said harshly. “Please Serena, I don’t want to know.”
“Vince never said or did anything. I don’t want to believe it.”
I hugged her harder. “I’m sorry. I know you cared about him—”
“I do, but that doesn’t mean I blame you for this,” she whispered, letting go of me and stepping back. “I’ll see you when you come next time.” She closed her door gently in my face.
We both needed some time. “I’ll see you then,” I said aloud, and turned away.
I teleported to Danial’s, ending up in the snow on the lawn. In my haste, I’d forgotten my coat and my keys.
Fuck, who cared? My first priority was getting to a shower before anyone smelled snake scent on me. I went to the front door and knocked lightly, praying Mary was on duty.
Instead, Danial opened it a moment later dressed in his robe, clearly annoyed. He took one look at me and knew immediately something was wrong. “What happened?” he said, reaching out to enfold me in his arms. “I can smell that snake on you from here—”
As soon as he touched me, my strength evaporated. I dissolved into tears. “Some of Devlin’s bears tried to—”
“Shh, Sar. I can guess the rest.” Danial walked me to the nearest phone, picked up the receiver, and began dialing.
“You don’t need to talk to him,” I said, irritated. “He said he’d be by later.” I moved out of his embrace, then walked to his bathroom. “I need a shower.”
Danial put down the phone and came after me. “The Lust raised with Lash?”
I nodded, stripping off my clothes. “Don’t tell Theo. I don’t need him to have another hissy fit.”
Danial nodded once. “He won’t hear it from me. Relax in my room when you’re done. No one will disturb you.” He turned and left.
Had it been my anger or the scent of sex with Lash that had caused him to leave? It didn’t matter. I was a big girl. I would go shower, cry, and pull myself together.
I took a long hot shower, wrapping my arms around myself as I sobbed out the delayed shock and fear. The familiar scent of my favorite blackberry shampoo soothed me, telling me I was safe, and that it didn’t matter what might have happened, only what had happened. I had gotten away from Kev and Vince. Lash had saved me. That was all that mattered. I told myself that over and over until I believed it.
When I emerged, Danial was gone. I went looking for him and stumbled across Theoron and Elle in her room, playing a board game, Dark Tower.
The old game was from my youth, back when computers were new and did only small things. The object was to journey completely around the board picking up keys and loot, and then when you’d made it back to your starting point, to challenge the tower. The most fun was going to tombs and ruins looking for treasure, because the computer chose for you at random what you would find.
Once in a while, the tomb or ruin was empty. Sometimes there was gold, or a dragon-killing sword, or a flying horse. Often there were bad guys waiting for you in the dark, protecting those treasures. There was no way to know how many bad guys you’d have to fight. Most times there were only a few waiting when the door of the ruin creaked open. These could be easily beaten. Sometimes there were too many to fight, though. Then, like in life, you were doomed.