by Heather Long
Too.
Fucking.
Bad.
As the billy club hit the floor, I clasped his face and yanked it down for a kiss. Shock turned him rigid as I soaked in even his watered down lust. It wasn’t much, more like the soggy French fry at the bottom of the bag. It filled the hole, but lacked any kind of satisfaction. The guy sagged, and no sooner had I begun to feed, then he was yanked away. I hissed, but Maddox glared at me as he snapped the guy’s neck. The man dropped without another word.
“You want to feed, you feed on me. Until then, we’re moving.”
Well. Fuck you, too.
“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Dragon Boy M,” I told him, but when he snagged me close to him, two things hit me in the same breath.
If I’d thought he was warm in the cell, he was a thousand times hotter in the hall. His skin should be steaming, he was so hot. The second thing? He was naked. Absolutely, gloriously, one hundred percent naked. He was definitely sexy with a capital damn.
The weight of his cock poked at the too thin fabric of my so-called uniform, and I had to tilt my head to meet his gaze. Yeah, there might have been the vaguest amount of drool involved.
Vaguest.
Possibly.
A few drops.
Fuck. Me.
Why did he have to do this now when we were leaving the enforced isolation with the very tiny bed?
As if reading my mind—or maybe my body, ‘cause it got there several seconds before my brain did—Maddox dipped his head. Laser focused on that sensuous mouth, it took me a whole extra-half a heartbeat to put my hand over it before he got too close.
He just ate someone or something.
Right.
Big crunch.
Gross. Hot.
“Gargle. With. Bleach.” At the reminder, his eyes crinkled and his smirk pressed against my palm. Catching my hand, he bit down on my palm. Not enough to break skin, but enough that the pressure of his teeth sent an answering pulse straight to my pussy.
Really not the time.
Course, now I was hungry, and he’d killed off my limp noodle of a snack. Maybe I’d make him make it up to me later.
No limp noodle here.
No sirree.
After he released my hand, he retrieved a bag I hadn’t even noticed him carrying. He had to bend for it, and let me just add, the view going was almost as good as the view of him returning.
Almost.
He dragged a dark shirt on and then pulled on some pants.
Pity.
His boots were gone, as was his belt. Didn’t do a damn thing to turn me off, though. Honestly. He looked even better all disheveled, hair askew and shirt hanging open. He slung the bag over his shoulder, and it lay crosswise over his torso.
Yeah, how had I not noticed that?
“Coming?” He gave me an expectant look, and it was my turn to smirk.
“Until I was so rudely blocked?” I let that suggestion hang out there for a minute before I slapped his chest on my way past. “Not even.”
His rough chuckle chased after me as we moved in tandem toward the door. “Grip the strap,” he ordered before pushing the metal door outward. It gave him some minor resistance, but the door buckled under the force he exerted.
Yep, that just set all kinds of things fluttering. Though brute strength wasn’t a turn on by itself. Fuck, I was hungry.
Once in the hall though, all thoughts of eating took a sharp right turn. A dozen guards swarmed toward us.
“Stay with me,” Maddox snarled as he waded in.
Yeah. Sure. No problem.
He moved hella fast, and the first jerk forward nearly pulled my arm out of the socket. Yeah, that wasn’t working for me. The first guard who tried to drag me away, however, ate my elbow in his teeth. They were mostly shifters. Not that it slowed Maddox down. I was pretty sure these were wolves. They had that eau de wet dog going on for them.
It was all fun and games until one of the bastards bit me. To be honest, when asked about it later, I had no idea what I did so much as I whirled. Letting go of Maddox, I landed on the bastard, all teeth and claws. The first drag of hot blood on my tongue, and I latched. I consumed every drop, the lust for blood he’d been simmering in along with the blood in his veins.
When this prey was ripped away from me, I whirled, intent on clawing out eyes, only to come face to face with a pair of nearly pitch-black eyes with the barest ring of gray around them, dark hair, and a face like an angel.
“Bad for the digestion, Beautiful.”
Oh, I knew that voice.
“That’s it. Focus on me.”
I was focused on him.
“You about done there, Maddox? This is a lot of fighting for the sweet baby.”
Then Maddox was there, he had a hold of my arm and turned me slightly. “Fucker tore right through her shoulder.”
Oh. Yeah. Someone bit me. I turned to go after said fucker, when Fin caught my free arm.
“Nope, he’s very dead, Beautiful. I promise. Time to go though.” Everything but the two of them seemed to be coming from a great distance.
“You’re overdoing it,” Maddox snarled.
“I can’t help it if she’s more naturally drawn to me,” Fin said smoothly, giving me a charming smile. My heart gave a distinct double-thump. He really was gorgeous, and his voice was buttery soft. I gave into the impulse to lean toward him, but Maddox’s grip on my arm kept me from going too far.
Pain lit up along my shoulder and raced across my skin.
“None of that,” Fin murmured, pressing a kiss to my wrist. “Nothing hurts. We’re going to get out of here, okay?”
I exhaled a long breath. “Okay.” That really did sound like a great idea.
“Let’s go, straight up,” Fin ordered. “Ten levels.” He swept me up into his arms, and it made Maddox release me. The poor Mad-Dragon let out a very disgruntled sound. “You first, we need to move fast. I doubt she can keep up with either of us, so let’s go.”
The world blurred past. The throb in my shoulder returned, and bit-by-bit, the foggy cloud muffling the sounds of combat around me faded. The sheer volume of bodies lying around us should have made my gorge rise, but as it was, I could barely muster the interest.
When had we gotten up here?
I vaguely remembered getting to the stairwell and the fight there. The man holding me, swung around and stared. That was it—just stared at the guy rushing us. The guard switched directions abruptly and ran into a wall.
Not kidding. Slammed himself bodily into a wall, and the crunch of breaking bone hearkened back to Mad-Dragon’s hallway snack.
Okay, that turned my stomach a little and had my pussy clenching.
Seriously, don’t look at me like that. I said I was complicated.
“Like that, did you?” Fin asked, his lips against my ear. A delicious shiver worked its way down my spine. The guy looked like an angel and smelled like one. We might be surrounded by blood and gore, but pressed up to him, all I could scent was this deep, masculine flavor and something that reminded me of fresh brewed coffee. The perfect scent to start the day.
Fuck, I hadn’t had coffee in weeks.
My hunger redoubled, and I nuzzled at his throat.
“Oh, so tempting, Beautiful,” Fin chided with the faintest of groans. “But a little busy at the moment. Just hold that thought.”
A familiar growl echoed behind me. “Don’t you dare.”
“Temper, temper. I told you she liked me best.”
A dull roar echoed through the great stone chamber we were in. And really, it was huge. The ceiling stretched up at least three or four stories. Mad-Dragon could really stretch out in here.
“Trolls,” Fin said abruptly, and Maddox swore. “A lot of trolls.”
“What is it with you and trolls?”
“My sparkling personality?” Fin quipped. A giggle escaped, he was so blasé about it. Not all doom, gloom, and scowls like Maddox. Though to be perfectly fair, Madd
ox was hot.
Fin adjusted his stance, and I started to wiggle to have him put me down, but he gave my hip a squeeze.
“Stay put, Beautiful. We’re going to get an opening any minute, and you’re safer right where you are.”
A pull, dark, luscious, and full of familiar lust tugged at me, and I snapped my head to the side.
Dorran.
The shadows around him thickened, and despite the herd of trolls storming toward us, it was Dorran who held all my focus. Hunger cramped my side, and I strained to pull away from Fin. The languidness weighing down my limbs evaporated. As much as the warden irked me, he could slake my thirst and quench my hunger.
“Fuck,” Fin snapped. “Maddox get over here.”
A growl reverberated as Maddox stepped into my line of sight, blocking Dorran. No, this wasn’t right. I needed him. I didn’t know this insane pair, and as charming as they might be—better the devil I knew.
The air around us darkened, even as Fin’s grip on me turned to stone. He had my arms locked down, and the grip around my legs didn’t let me do more than wiggle my feet. Not even the sweet attraction of his scent could dissuade me. A clash of bodies exploded in front of us as Maddox let loose with another roar.
Even though the twisting was in vain, I glared at Fin. Unfortunately, he ignored me in favor of narrowing his eyes at the troll looming over us. Maddox had vanished into the darkness, though the sounds of his battle roars and the collision of fleshy impacts added to the cacophony of battle. The troll bellowed with all of his stinky might, and the distraction loosened Fin’s grip on me just enough to slip free.
He swore and then barely got his hands up in time to block the troll’s huge and heavy fist. To my surprise, though really why anything surprised me at this point I couldn’t say, Fin not only caught the monstrous arm that was easily thicker than his whole body, but he stopped it. Then struck with his own fist, sending the troll sliding backward.
Okay.
That was hot.
Astral-Boy had skills.
Fiona…
The whisper of Dorran’s voice curved around me, and Fin’s lovely face vanished as the shadows closed around me. Edging right up against pain and frustration, I turned into the darkness. It had never held any fear for me. My fingers had just brushed the warden’s, when the darkness recoiled and a hard body slammed into me.
Bright light pierced the shadows, and my eyes watered at the burn. I hit the hard stone floor as the shadows whipped backwards, the tangle of them leaving me, and suddenly, all the throb of my shoulder head butted against the hunger pangs wrenching my sides, and I fucking hurt.
Seriously fucking hurt.
Legs obscured my view, and I canted my head back to find a Viking like figure standing over me. With hands that looked like they’d been dipped in blood and an expression so full of vicious wrath, he was a nightmare incarnate. Still, the warden retreated, even as tendrils of his darkness lashed out and slapped against the light, only to sizzle, pop, and burn.
I couldn’t look away. It was kind of like staring into the sun during an eclipse. I was probably frying my retinas, but what was one more agony atop all the rest? A troll shrieked at the newcomer, and Viking-guy literally tore the guy in half and then ripped off one of his arms to beat another one.
“Well, better late than never,” Fin said cheerfully as he hooked his hands under my armpits and dragged me upward. With my back against his chest, he bound me with his arms around me, even as…
“That’s Rogue.” The two disparate pieces of information snapped together like a puzzle slotting into place.
“Yup,” Fin said, then nipped my ear. “We’ll discuss you being shadow-addicted later, it’s time to go.”
The sting of his teeth scraping my earlobe sent an answering wave to all my other hurts. Somewhere along the way, I’d torn up my palms. There were gouges in my side that oozed blood, and I was pretty sure I’d bitten the inside of my lip. The blood welling up just added to my starvation.
Maddox emerged from the dust clouds and darkness, coated in gray ash with blood running in rivulets through it. Filthy, but alive.
It was a good look. Somewhere, he’d lost his shirt, but his pants held up despite being utterly shredded from one thigh down.
This was a man who could easily walk around in a loincloth and totally get away with it. To be honest, he should absolutely be encouraged.
Then the noise just kind of faded. Maddox stared at me, chest heaving and eyes furious. What the fuck did he have to be so pissed about? I wasn’t the one who started all of this. If anything, I’d gotten dragged up those stairs.
Oh. Rescue effort.
Right.
I shook my head a little to try and clear more of the fog. Why it was so hard to focus all of a sudden, I didn’t know. To be honest, it was like being drunk and fighting a hangover in the same breath, without any of the fun stuff—you know, like alcohol.
Our latest arrival spun, and if he wasn’t a gruesome sight, I didn’t know what was. The light around him had at least dimmed to not eye-popping bright anymore. But what held my attention now wasn’t the gore on him or the light he’d extinguished, but the ferocity in those too blue eyes. They pinned me in place like an insect on a pegboard.
“He’s been feeding on her,” he said in a voice so rusty with disuse, it came out even deeper than Maddox’s. “She won’t leave willingly.”
“We noticed,” Fin stated almost idly. “Why do you think we’ve been trying to hang onto her?”
“Give her to me,” Rogue ordered, but rather than release me, Fin actually backed up a step dragging me with him.
“Fight over her later,” Maddox ordered. “We need to go now. The path is clear, but he’ll bring back reinforcements.”
“Let him,” Rogue said with so much arrogance, I believed he would relish the opportunity. “Killing him would be one way to free her.”
“While I don’t mind the fight, I’d rather get Kitten to somewhere secure and let her feed. She’s hungry.”
Thank you.
I almost said it aloud, but then thought better of it when Rogue seemed intent on boring his way into my soul, and the longer he stared, the more uneasy I became.
Mad-Dragon I got.
Astral-Boy? Him, too. Mostly.
Even Dorran—longing punched through me. I’d been so close to feeding, and now he was absent. If I followed through with their insane plan, I’d be out of his reach.
That was what I wanted, right?
I wanted out of that cell.
Out of this prison.
I wanted what remnants of my life were left to me.
All of those things were true. But so was the sudden anxiety swarming me. If we left, I’d never see Dorran again. I might…
What, Fi? What might I do? Die?
The thought was so patently ridiculous, I snorted, and yet the ever tautening ball of anxiety in my chest began to compress my lungs.
“Give her to me,” Rogue said taking a step toward us.
“No,” Fin began, but whatever else he might have said was lost in a whoosh of motion as Rogue suddenly wrenched Fin’s arms away from me and slid one of his gross, bloody hands to my waist. I slammed against him, and if Fin and Maddox were steely, Rogue was damn near diamond in his surface tension. No give. At all.
It was like being stabbed and cradled in equal measure.
Pleasure and pain.
His hunger?
It was absent.
Except…
The lust unfurled like a slow moving avalanche that gained force and speed as it rolled downward to me.
“I wasn’t asking,” Rogue finished his sentence, and then the air whistled past us. I had to hold on for dear life and even managed to get my legs around his hips. He never so much as let me slip, but the wind hitting my back cut at me.
It must have sliced my shirt half to ribbons, or maybe that was my flesh. I barely had time to process Maddox’s furious expression or Fin’s
shocked one before they were gone.
The race through the night seemed to stretch into infinity. Time ceased to have real meaning, and if not for the definitive squeeze of Rogue’s hand to my ass, I might have written this off as a bad dream.
Nightmares. I had been known to have them.
I’d been stuck in one for weeks now. They even called it Nightmare Penitentiary.
The sudden stop would have cracked my neck, but Rogue had a hand against my hair. My gratitude for the thoughtfulness died a swift death when he pulled the hand away and my hair clung to the bloody debris decorating his fingers.
Yeah.
Gross.
Stomach lurching, I swallowed back the bile as the raw coppery scents from too many different bodies hit me at once. Troll. Shifter. Pretty sure a couple were vampires, too. And at least four or five others that I didn’t know and really didn’t want to know.
Instead of putting me down, Rogue pinned me to a wall and leaned his hips into mine. There was no heavy cock shoving its way at me, so that wasn’t what he wanted.
Good—
The thought stuttered as he sliced at his throat just above where his neck joined his shoulder. Ancient blood slid out of the wound, fresh, hot, and so pungently sweet and savory, my mouth watered.
“Feed, little sváss.” The order settled into my bones, and unlike Maddox or Fin, I wanted to obey this one even if a small part of me continued to rebel. I didn’t even know this guy.
“I’m not a vampire,” I argued.
“I don’t care,” he retaliated, and then cupped my head and pulled my mouth to the injury.
Yeah, that argument wasn’t really working for me either.
The first brush of his blood to my lips, and I latched on without a second thought. Decadence exploded across my tongue, and I closed my eyes as a throaty moan vibrated in my throat.
Sinking my teeth into the wound, I worked it wider, and then it took active sucking to pull more blood from him. I applied myself, because I wanted more. Tightening my thighs against his hips, he rewarded every pull with a grind against me, and where he’d been lacking an erection before, one nudged at me now.
More, the crater of lust simmering beneath the surface cracked wide open, and then it swallowed me hole.
