Court of the Vampire Queen: Part 1 – Chapter 12

I wake up between two male bodies. I keep my eyes closed and fight not to tense, waiting for my brain to catch up with my circumstances. As sleep fades away completely, the events of the last twenty-four hours comes back to me.

Gods, things keep happening too fast. It feels like the entire world has changed its shape around me. It’s so incredibly tempting to pull the covers over my head and hide away to avoid thinking about it, but I haven’t survived this long by ignoring the reality of my circumstances. It’s better to deal with the hard truths up front than to ignore them until they’re literally ripping your throat out.

Wolf’s back is pressed against mine, and when I open my eyes, I find Malachi watching me. I lift a brow. “Creepy of you.”

“You were thinking hard over there.” He presses a finger to the spot between my brows. “Regrets?”

“No, nothing like that.” It’s even true. I don’t make a habit of regretting my choices, but this goes beyond that. My feelings for Malachi are a pulse in my blood I can’t ignore. It’s more than desire, more than lust, even more complicated than something as ridiculous as love. I don’t understand it, but I don’t have to fully understand it in order to acknowledge its existence.

I worry my bottom lip. “How are we going to get out of this?” Will there even be a we after we do? Or will he grab his freedom with both hands and ride off into the sunset, happy to no longer be chained to a cranky dhampir with rage issues. “And after—”

Malachi twines a strand of my hair around his fingers. “When you’ve lived as long as I have, you learn to recognize the important things.”

“Like freedom.”

He snorts. “Like you, Mina. I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”

“You mean you’ve never tasted anyone quite like me.” I don’t know why I’m being so stubborn about this, but what he’s saying is impossible. We’ve known each other little over a week at this point. There’s no way he’s feeling some kind of mystical connection to me. It’s far more likely he finds me valuable in a different way. That’s how vampires work, after all. Power and ambition above the softer emotions. Always.

“I mean what I said.” He tugs lightly on my hair. “But I respect it’ll take you longer to trust me, given your history.”

“That is remarkably patronizing of you.”

He chuckles. “I’m trying to tell you I like you.”

Like feels too tame a word to use for what flares between Malachi and me. I’m not sure what to say to that, so I swallow hard and change the subject. “So how do we get out of this mess?”

“If Wolf is to be believed—”

“I am.” Behind me, Wolf turns around and slings an arm over my hip. He doesn’t quite press his hard cock to my ass, but I can feel the tension of it behind me.

Malachi snorts. “Then Rylan will be here shortly. Between the three of us, we can figure out a solution.” He shoots a sharp glance over my shoulder. “A solution that doesn’t involve your death, Mina.”

“Tsk, tsk, after last night, I’m not particularly fond of the idea of our Mina bleeding out for your freedom. Why waste all that delicious blood on something as mundane as freedom?” His breath ghosts the back of my neck. “We’ll find another way.”

“As simple as that.”

“As horrendously complicated as that.” Wolf sounds like he relishes the challenge, but even after knowing him such a short time, I’m not surprised he’s perverse like that.

I relax against him, soaking up all this skin to skin contact. It’s heady and intoxicating, nearly as much as the sex was last night. I can touch these men as much as I want. I lightly stroke my hand down Malachi’s impressive chest. “I suppose we’ll have to keep ourselves occupied until then.”

His muscles jump beneath my fingertips. “You need to eat something.” He searches my face. “I’ve also ordered you some iron supplements. Even with the blood exchange, you’re paler than you were when arriving here.”

Something in my chest warms even as my logical side points out he’s just looking after his food source. I’m no good to them if I pass out constantly from being anemic. That’s the most likely reason Malachi is acting like a mother hen. Despite my reasonable explanation, the feeling in my chest gets warmer. I find myself smiling. “I’m not quite ready to get out of bed yet.”

Behind me, Wolf blurs. One moment I’m on my side, facing Malachi, and the next Wolf is on top of me, settling between my thighs. He grins down at me, flashing fang. “No point in worrying about anything until Rylan appears. There are better ways to occupy our time.”

It’s against my nature to push worry aside when I can poke and prod at a situation until I find a way forward. But it’s hard to remember with Malachi’s brooding presence next to me and Wolf’s warmth pressing me into the mattress. I stare up at him, tracing the carved lines of his cheekbones and those eerie colorless eyes. He’s beautiful. I registered it before, but there’s something about the softness of sleep still lingering in his expression pushes him from being terrifying to just being breathtaking.

I reach up with a cautious hand and stroke my thumb along his cheekbone. “You’re very, very pretty.”

“I know.” His grin widens. “I’m going to kiss you now.”

It’s not quite a question, but I want to kiss him. I don’t know what it says about me I had Malachi last night—have him right next to me right now—and all I can think about is kissing Wolf again. But then, Malachi seems just as into this as I am.

They’re right; there’s nothing to be done right now. Or maybe that’s the excuse I cling to as I nod slowly. “Okay.”

He starts to lean down and pauses to glance at Malachi, who’s watching us with a small smile on his lips. Wolf gives his hand a pointed look. “Are you going to behave?”

“Do you want me to?”

Wolf laughs. “As enjoyable as it was to watch you fuck her while covered in my blood, I’d like to feel Mina coming on my cock more than I want a repeat right now.” He settles more firmly between my thighs and thrusts a little. “Sore?”

“No.” In fact, I feel better than I have since the first time I took Malachi’s blood. Energized and downright glowy. I’m sure if I had access to a mirror, I’d find I look a mess, but it doesn’t matter right now. I’m not sure what it says about me I desperately want to fuck Wolf just as much as I wanted—still want—Malachi, but I’m past questioning these things. Everyone is obviously into this and it’s not like vampire culture is overly monogamous. That whole mates-for-life thing is nice in theory, but when your life spans centuries, even the most intense love can shift and change. I’ve noticed partner hopping just from watching the way the vampires in my father’s colony operate. There’s no reason to think this is abnormal.

Again, I feel like I’m grasping for a reason to do this. It only means what I let it mean.

My life has been so devoid of pleasure up to this point. Is it any surprise I’m desperate to grab onto any bit of it I can touch, to glut myself on it with these two devastatingly gorgeous men? Maybe I’ll wake up in a day or two and wonder what the hell I’m doing, but I don’t care right now. I just want to feel good.

And yet…

I press a hand to Wolf’s chest. For all his pushiness, he goes still immediately. I glance at Malachi. “Are you okay with this?”

He raises his brows. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Um.” When he says it like that, I feel silly for even asking. “Because we had sex last night?”

“And I fucked Wolf last night.”

Right. I’d almost forgotten about that particular detail. I worry my bottom lip. “Still.”

Malachi props his head on one hand and looks down at me. “Stop worrying about what you should want and focus on what you do want.”

“Like it’s that easy.”

“It’s exactly that easy.” He sifts his fingers through my hair and then over Wolf’s arm. “When you’re immortal, the reasons for not taking what you want don’t hold up.”

The reminder they’ll live on forever while I age and eventually die is almost enough to dispel the lust Wolf is weaving around me. I could swear he hasn’t moved, but he’s got my leg hitched up around his waist and his cock is pressing against me in a way that feels so good, I can barely stand it. I lick my lips. “I’m not immortal.”

“Not yet,” Malachi kisses me before I can ask him what the hell he’s talking about. Humans and dhampirs can be turned, but I’m an anomaly. A dhampir with no power of my own. I might be an anomaly when it comes to the other rules, too.

I could break the kiss, could argue, could demand more information, but I am so goddamn tired of running around like a hamster on a wheel. No matter how hard I fight, how many scenarios I run, I am still trapped. My fate is still in the hands of other people.

I really am a coward, because I push away those thoughts and grab the pleasure the two of them are offering me with both hands. Malachi moves back and then Wolf’s there, nipping my bottom lip. He tastes just as spicy as he smells, something that defies explanation. The why doesn’t matter, though. It’s enough that it simply is.

He reaches between us with his free hand and begins dragging his cock through my folds. Up and down, spreading my wetness around, teasing me even as he kisses every thought out of my head. Just when I’m about to pull back to beg him to just fuck me, he notches his cock at my entrance.

And then he’s inside me.

I was too distracted by Malachi’s bite to fully appreciate that first stroke last night, but being filled by Wolf is an experience I don’t have words for. He’s big, but he feels different than Malachi. I exhale in a rush as his hips meet mine, sealing us together.

“Fuck, she feels good, Malachi.”

“I know.” His voice has gone deep, gained a little of that sexy growl that I’m starting to crave. He’s still got my hand in his and he laces our fingers together as his friend starts to fuck me in slow, rolling strokes. The feeling makes me go soft and molten, each thrust rubbing against something inside me that has the top of my head in danger of spinning off.

Wolf moves back, bracing his hands on either side of my ribs and looks down our bodies. I follow his gaze, and fuck. The sight of his cock sliding in and out of me, of his body rolling with each thrust, of the way I spread to take him deeper… “Wolf.” I moan.

He shortens his strokes, rubbing that spot over and over again. “Malachi.”

I blink up at him, a part of me wondering why he’s saying Malachi’s name while he’s inside me, but then Malachi shifts closer and snakes a hand down my stomach to stroke my clit. Did I think the sight of Wolf fucking me was enough to send me to the moon? Malachi’s fingers lightly rubbing my clit in the way I love, Wolf’s cock inside me hitting that spot… Gods, it’s too much.

I dig my heels into the mattress as I orgasm, but they hold me in place. And they don’t stop. The pleasure just keeps rolling over me again and again, until Wolf’s strokes hitch and he drives into me with a rough curse. I swear I can feel him coming, filling me up, but I don’t get a chance to wonder if it’s my imagination because Malachi gives his shoulder a light shove and Wolf flops onto his back next to me.

Before I can mourn the loss of him, Malachi drags me over and turns me so my back is to his chest. He hitches one of my legs over his hip and then his cock is wedging its way inside me. He’s broader than Wolf and even though we were just fucking, he has to work to sink all the way into me.

“Fuck.” I reach out to claw at the sheets, but Wolf is there, catching my hands and moving to nuzzle at my breasts. He palms them as Malachi grips my thigh with one big hand and spreads me farther, sinking deeper yet.

“Don’t bite her.”

“Spoilsport,” Wolf murmurs against my nipple. He works his way down my stomach, trailing lightly teasing kisses. I tense as I realize where he’s going, but neither me nor Malachi stop him as he settles at my hips and leans forward to lick my clit.

I arch back against Malachi and then moan. This feels dirty and decadent and I can’t quite believe it’s happening.

Malachi begins to fuck me. It’s nothing like last night. Not brutal at all. It’s almost…lazy. As if he plans to memorize every inch of me. Wolf’s licking me in the same way. It’s as if they have time now they got the first orgasm out of the way. As if they want to enjoy this as much as I’m enjoying it.

I can’t afford to think too closely about that. I’m not capable of it right now, anyway. All I can do is take what they give me.

Then Wolf’s mouth is gone and Malachi jolts behind me. I lean forward enough to see the other man biting his thigh, mirth lighting his crimson eyes. Malachi curses and then he’s driving into me in rough thrusts. “You fucking bastard.”

Wolf gives one last pull from his thigh and then his mouth is back at my pussy. This time he isn’t messing around. He sucks on my clit as Malachi pounds into me hard enough they have to hold me in place between them to keep us from inching across the mattress.

And then I’m coming and nothing else matters. Malachi thrusts again, and again, and then yanks me back onto his cock as he grinds into me. We exhale as one, but he makes no move to pull out of me. Wolf kisses my lower stomach and then moves up to flop down beside us. “That was a fun appetizer.”

I blink at him. “Appetizer.”

“Yes.” He turns onto his side and props his head in his hand. “I haven’t fucked Malachi in years, and you’re a delightful new snack.” He leans forward, his eyes still crimson with lust. “I said I can go for days, love, and I meant it.”

Malachi curses and plants a hand in the center of Wolf’s face, shoving him back. “She’s half human. She needs to eat.”

“Pity.” Wolf throws his arm over his eyes. “Fine. Go do your human things.”

“Wolf.” Malachi grips my hip, keeping me from moving. “Go put something together for breakfast.”

Wolf lifts his arm enough to give us a long-suffering look. “If you insist, but I’m getting my cock sucked when I come back.”

“Go.”

He huffs and rolls off the bed. Even though I don’t know him well, I can still tell he’s putting on a show as he walks out of the room, well aware we’re watching him walk away.

The door barely shuts behind him when Malachi strokes his hands up my body to cup my breasts. “Tired?”

As if I can’t feel him getting hard inside me again. I shiver. “Don’t stop.”