Tom nodded, tracing the line of her jaw with a knuckle. “He tried to send them at us, but he couldn’t get past Nigh’s wind. It’s how he snared you; he charmed you, and grabbed you with it like a harpoon.”
Rani chewed her bottom lip, jumping out of her skin at the snap of the kettle button when it finished boiling. She held tighter to Tom, instinct making her press close, knowing she was safe with him. She drew short, shallow breaths, his scent twining with the oxygen that expanded her lungs until she calmed, feeling silly for jumping at shadows.
“We won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Tom promised quietly, seriously. He feathered a kiss over her cheekbone and warmth bled from the brand on her thigh, their bond surging with strength and affection.
“I know,” Rani murmured. She might not have known them long enough to trust them a hundred percent, but she was eighty percent there. “And I won’t let anything bad happen to you, either,” she insisted, peering up at him. “I promise.”
Tom’s blue eyes softened. His hand slid along her cheek, cupping her face, and he kissed her, all softness and promise. It wasn’t what she’d expect from a mischievous cat like Tom, but it was perfect, and exactly what she needed. Her hands fisted in the back of Tom’s shirt, her chest pressed to his, and she kissed him harder, faster, coaxing a moan from the back of his throat.
She was aware, through the brand on her chest, of Nigh watching them, and it only made her body burn brighter with heat, a shiver moving down her spine.
When Tom picked her up, her legs wrapped around his waist and her tea long forgotten, Rani expected to be set on the worktop or the table. Instead, Tom walked her over to the sofa and spun her until she leant over the back, her ass in the air. She was still dressed in the towel from this morning so her backside was exposed, and cold licked down the backs of her thighs.
“Hello, Rani,” Nigh said with a slow grin from the sofa she’d been thrown over. “Fancy meeting you here.”
Rani just made impatient grabby gestures until he moved close enough for her to take his face in her hands and kiss him, harder and faster than she’d kissed Tom, something about Nigh bringing out the dark depths ofneed in her.
Tom ran his hands up the backs of her thighs, making her jump in surprise. He squeezed her ass, and a low groan came from the back of his throat. Rani couldn’t have said exactly how she recognised the meaning of that sound, some instinctive cat part of her, but she knew exactly what it meant. One simple word. Mine.
Rani’s pussy pulsed. She started to pull back, guilt slicing through her at the three of them being sexual without Eri, but Nigh’s fingers wrapped around her hair. He met her eyes and said, “Let us give you what you need, woman. You’ll feel better, and you’ll be stronger.” He kissed her roughly, stealing her breath. “And then we can go get Eri’s antidote.”
Rani couldn’t argue with that. The brands on her thigh and chest blazed, light bleeding from the twin paw prints as she and Nigh kissed again, needy and gasping, their teeth knocking together as they became more desperate.
Tom ran a finger from her asshole all the way to her clit and Rani tore away from Nigh’s mouth with a gasp, moaning as Tom circled her bundle of nerves and sent frissons of bliss through her. The sofa back was digging into her stomach, but Rani didn’t care one bit as warmth and pleasure replaced hurt and worry, washing away her fears.
Nigh caught her mouth again, his fingers tight in her blonde hair and possessiveness racing down the bond to Rani. She kissed him back with frantic need, but she was only half conscious of him sucking hard on her tongue, the rest of her awareness focussed on Tom’s fingers working her closer and closer to orgasm, her body given entirely to his will.
“Tom,” Rani gasped as he increased the pace of his fingers, her clit swelling and aching as he pushed her right to the edge. Her hands went lax on Nigh’s cheeks as her eyes rolled back and her body shook, orgasm tearing through her in waves, each one stealing more and more brain function until she was left empty and euphoric.
Nigh kissed her cheek, brushing away hair that had fallen into her face as she blinked, the room coming back into focus. “You’re fucking stunning.”
Rani laughed breathily. “Thanks.”
“Lift up,” he said, a ring of command in his voice, but Rani was too bleary to figure out what he meant until he and Tom lifted her off the sofa anyway. Nigh slid a cushion between her stomach and the hard sofa back, and Rani’s heart went to mush. They knew about her discomfort, and to have them caring for her ... it poked some vulnerable place in her until her eyes stung.
“The towel has to go,” Tom said, tugging at the place it was secured to her body. Rani huffed a laugh and helped him get rid of it, stretching her arms in front of her and arching her back, her body still pleasantly lax.
“If you knelt in front of me,” Rani said to Nigh with a mischievous smile, “I could probably reach you. With my mouth.”
His indigo eyes darkened, his pupils dilating as he got to his feet, unbuckling his belt and kicking off his jeans and underwear in one fell swoop. Rani was right; when he knelt on the sofa, his hard cock bobbing in front of her, Rani leant her head forward and closed her lips around his tip, his low groan making her feel ... sexy.
Tom’s lips brushed over her shoulder, a searing point of heat that made her sigh through her nose, and then another kiss met the tip of her spine, then another lower down. He kissed the arch of her back as he teased the head of his cock through her dripping folds; she sucked hard on Nigh’s cock as Tom teased her clit, sending sparks through her body and making her inner walls contract.
Any worries she had were far away as Tom nudged at her entrance, his hands curling into her hips as he thrust inside, shallow at first, letting her get used to the feeling of him stretching her, and then sinking deeper.
Rani grabbed Nigh’s thighs and dug her fingers in, needing to hold onto something as Tom rocked his hips against her ass, the position helping his cock hit spots so deep that Rani gasped a curse around Nigh’s cock.
She didn’t care that her ass must have looked massive with her bent over, or that every thrust sent quivers like earthquakes through her thighs; all she cared about was the promise of more pleasure, just out of reach. Every thrust, every groan from Nigh’s throat, and every hot, open mouthed kiss Tom placed on her spine sent her racing closer to release.
Rani found that she loved Tom’s hands pressing deep into her hips, Nigh’s fingers gripping tight to her hair as his grunts and groans came faster, louder. She liked their roughness, and sucked Nigh harder, writhing against Tom’s cock as he let out a string of vulgar words and fucked her fast, without restraint.
Tom’s fast pace sent her headfirst into orgasm, and Rani’s lips clamped around Nigh’s cock, her body bucking. Nigh gripped her hair tight as he came in her mouth, Rani swallowing on instinct as he gasped a shuddering cry.
As aftershocks rippled through her inner walls, Tom thrust deep and groaned, twitching inside her. His hands slid between her stomach and the cushion, his arms wrapping around her as he stilled, nuzzling the back of her neck. Rani smiled
After a moment, Nigh pulled out of her mouth, caressing her cheek with his thumb and bending to lay a kiss on her forehead. “Come here, Rani, you’ve been bent over there for too long.”
Rani groaned, not coherent enough for words yet.
“I’m not moving,” Tom muttered, clinging to her.
“Fine, you can both move. Lay her down on the sofa.”
Rani allowed herself to be maneuvered onto the couch, snuggling close to Tom as he stretched out behind her, his arms around her. She only moved when Nigh lifted her head to set a pillow beneath her.
He sat on the floor with his back to the sofa, close enough for Rani to be able to reach him. She found herself tracing the tattoos on his neck and shoulders, painting abstract designs on his body as she floated back to earth.
“What are the blueprints for?” she asked, many minutes later when Tom had fallen a
sleep.
“They’re for you, actually,” Nigh replied, turning to look at her. Something about him was different, less snarly, as if his edges had softened. “You need to memorise them. As soon as you can map three exit routes from memory, we’re breaking into Dark Star’s house.”
And just like that, herstomach knotted. But she carefully sat up, trying not to wake Tom, and asked, “Where do I begin?”
The Things We Want
The house where Orion Child—or Dark Star, as he went by now—lived, and where Rani’s mates had grown up, was in Oxford, on the riverbanks overlooking a castle-city that most residents of the human city didn’t know existed. It had been abandoned for years, but something—Rani wasn’t sure what—had happened to bring it back to life, and it was being renovated. Any demolished buildings were being rebuilt, and people were moving back into homes that had been empty for too many years.
“We used to have a house there,” Tom told her, his arm around her waist. “Our family, I mean. But our grandparents moved away before we were born. I wonder if we’ll get the house back now the city’s inhabited again.”
“I doubt it,” Nigh muttered, scowling at the dawn-lit castle-city. It looked like a mountain in the middle of the river, with curtain walls spiralling from the base to the castle at the very top of it, church spires and dark roofs poking above the walls at random intervals. It was the prettiest city Rani had ever seen, and she’d lived in Richmond all her life. “That’s not what we’re here for anyway.”
Rani swallowed, turning away from the castle-city and focussing instead on the ivy-covered terrace house rising three stories above them. Iron gates enclosed a small garden, and warm amber light spilled through the lower windows onto the front step. It looked inviting. Not the sort of place a psychopath murderer might live. Except one did.
“Remember the layout?” Nigh asked, bending down to look her sternly in the eye.
Rani nodded, swallowing her nerves. “And I know three exit routes, like you said.”
“Don’t, whatever you do—” Tom began.
Rani finished, “Let him herd me into the basement. I know.”
They’d gone over this countless times during the dark hours of night. Rani was tired, but she was energised, and she was ready to fight for her mate. No way did Dark Star get to hurt Eri and use him as leverage to get what he wanted. Not happening.
But Rani had to make him think it was happening.
Nigh pulled her into the shadow of a tall tree and lowered his mouth to hers, kissing her with fierce, bruising passion. “I hate this,” he muttered with a scowl, the leather of his jacket rustling as he tugged her closer. “But,” he added, when she opened her mouth to argue that this was the only way it would work, “I know you’re right. You have to go in alone.”
Tom’s hand slid along her back and he turned her towards him, his long blonde hair brushing her cheeks as he kissed her too, deep and slow until Rani’s body began to tingle. “Reach for us if you’re in trouble. Push emotion into your brands or tug on the bond, anything.” He kissed the tip of her nose, his pale blue eyes full of worry instead of his usual mischief. “I’m sorry you’re messed up in this, gorgeous.”
Rani shook her head. “I’m not. I’m glad I found you. I wasn’t expecting three mates,” she said with a laugh, “and definitely not three brothers, or three cats, but ... I like you. All of you. And I’m not going to let your father hurt Eri.”
Kill Eri she didn’t dare to say, but the words hung between them anyway.
She rolled onto her tiptoes and kissed Nigh, then Tom, one last time, drawing a deep breath and feeling something in her settle as their scents filled her lungs: woodsy bergamot from Tom and amber and musk from Nigh.
“Nigh,” she said with a smile as he began to go over the details of their plan again, his hands firm on her waist. “I’ve got this. Trust me.”
He didn’t look happy about it, but he nodded and released her. “Call for us and we’ll come and get you.”
“I know,” Rani replied, and she did. One sign of distress from her, and her mates would burst in and save her. “I’m going to be fine.”
It was a mantra she echoed to herself as she walked away from them, the reassuring smile slipping off her face as she opened the iron gate and approached the house, sweat pricking her back and her hands shaking. She wished her sister was here beside her with an intensity that took her off guard. Rani would feel a lot safer with Nell here; she had once broken a boy’s nose just because he snickered at Rani tripping over an uneven pavement. There was no doubt she could break Orion Child’s nose, too.
But ... he had midnight magic. Maybe even Nell wouldn’t be able to take him on. But Rani could. She had her own midnight magic, she had her mates as backup, and she had enough blazing anger to spirit her across the last few steps between her and the door.
Taking a deep breath, Rani lifted her fist and rapped on the green wood with her knuckles.
It only took a few seconds for someone to answer.
“Sweet Rani,” Dark Star said with a charming grin as he swung the door open, his eyes glowing with delight. “I knew you’d come to see me. Alone are you?”
Rani nodded, fighting a shiver. “I want the antidote.”
“I know you do,” he replied softly, sadly, and beckoned her inside.
Rani stepped over the threshold, her heart beating fast and hard, her instincts blaring in warning.
“But we don’t always get the things we want,” he finished and locked the door behind her.
Circles of Power
The shirt Rani had borrowed from Nigh before they left was well and truly stuck to her back as Dark Star made a dismissive gesture at the front door and spears of inky magic criss-crossed over it. Trapping her inside.
“It wasn’t particularly smart of you to follow my demands,” Dark Star said conversationally, brushing past her in the direction of a door at the end of the dark, narrow hallway. He clearly expected Rani to follow, and she did, but only after squeezing her eyes shut and forming the long, star-flecked whip she’d called into existence back at the flat. She wound it into a coil and held tight to it as she tentatively crossed the hall, the scent of incense and flowers all around her.
She’d been expecting a kitchen or a front room through the door Dark Star had vanished into, but that was far from what she got. The walls were painted black and covered in chalk sketches—words, sigils, scrawling paragraphs, and big, scary-looking magic circles. The floor was similar, but only one circle was drawn there, right in the middle of it.
“Like I said,” Dark Star went on, his voice still frustratingly normal. The smile he wore attempted to set her at ease but it was a lie. No matter how charming he seemed, he was a serial killer. “It wasn’t smart of you to come here. But I knew you would. So I began without you.”
He gestured at the vast circle on the floor, and the woman laid out in the middle of it. It took Rani longer than it should have to figure out it was his wife, her mates’ mother. She was dead, but no scent of rot came from her—pale and wrinkled, but not decomposed. She was in startling condition for a woman who’d died fifteen years ago. Her yellow sundress was faded and dusty, but Orion had clearly cared for her, her red-blonde hair brushed and gleaming. It was sad, Rani thought.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said, and she wasn’t compelled this time. She really meant it. “But you shouldn’t be killing people to get her back.” She dared to meet Dark Star’s eyes. “Doesn’t it sully her memory to do all this, to kill all those people...”
Dark Star’s mouth set in a line. “I’d rather have her furious at me and alive than dead.”
Rani dropped her gaze. All she felt was pity now. “So you’d do the same to me,” she said, careful not to step into the room, wary of those chalk symbols. “You’d take my mate from me.”
“If it gets me my mate back,” he replied, “yes.”
Rani had been trying to figure out who he reminded her of, with hi
s composure and his smooth, schmoozing words. He reminded her of a politician she’d seen on TV once—passion in his voice but something ... lacking. Empathy, maybe.
She swallowed, squeezed her whip of magic harder, and said, “I want the antidote for Eri.”
Dark Star sighed, and his whole bearing changed as magic surrounded him like a shimmery Aura. Rani averted her eyes, her heart pounding as the reality of just how in danger she was hit. His smile was smooth and charming as he said, “Look at me, sweet Rani.”
Rani squeezed her eyes shut, jumping as she felt him slide nearer, his hands on her shoulders. Sickness squeezed her stomach, an oily weight. She was very tempted to reach for her brands and beg her mates to come and get her, but she couldn’t leave without the antidote: Dark’s Star’s saliva. It was the only thing that cured a claw wound. Without it, she’d lose Eri. Kind, sweet, generous Eri. He deserved better than this, better than a father who would kill him as blackmail material.
Rani dragged a shaky breath into her lungs and carefully slid her whip down her arm until the handle rested in her palm. She had to be brave. She had to be.
“Open your eyes, sweet girl,” Dark Star said soothingly. “You don’t need to feel grief or pain or fear. I can make it all go away.”
Rani could feel the magic whispering over her, tempting her to relax, to give in and let all her worries slip away. It felt so good, the promise of peace and pleasant emptiness.
But if she let the magic in, her mate would die.
For Eri, Rani whispered to herself, and cracked her eyes open. Not so she could fall into Dark Star’s compulsion, but so she could see where his wife was placed in the chalk circle. Rani prayed her magic followed her desperate command for accuracy as she snapped her whip out, exhaling in relief as the tip curled around the woman’s wrist.
Sorry, Rani said silently, hoping the woman’s soul could hear her. I’m so sorry.
She wrenched back with all her weight, which was considerably more than the waif-like dead woman, and pulled her out of the circle, smearing the chalk sigils.
Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection Page 75
