Taken by Storm (Storms of Blackwood Book 1)

by Elle Middaugh

  He reached out and touched my nipples softly, slowly, driving me insane. "Now undress me."

  Again, his wish was my command. I ripped his shirt open so hard the buttons popped off and rolled across the floor. I jerked his pants down so fast, I accidentally clawed his thighs.

  He let out a strained hiss, but as his cock sprang free, I knew he was enjoying the pain.

  He pushed me to the floor and was on me in an instant. His eyes searched mine for any hint of discomfort or fear, but I had none.

  "This isn't going to be sweet," he muttered, nudging his dick into my crease. "It's going to be hard and fast, and hopefully... a little painful."

  I moaned as those words left his lips. Gods, what the fuck was wrong with me? I'd never been into rough sex before.

  I didn’t know where it came from, but I was suddenly feeling brazen. "Why don't you skip the bullshit and just fuck me?"

  He pounded into me like a battering ram, again and again, causing me to go through intense cycles of pain and pleasure. They came and went like two sides of a wheel—one second pain, the next second, pleasure, then back to pain. Each thrust hurt a little less than the ones before, though, and soon there was nothing but building pressure and breathless anticipation.

  "Oh, gods," I panted as I dug my nails into his skin, "I think I'm gonna come soon."

  "That's right, baby, drag your nails down my back."

  I dug in even harder, raking his skin like it was the only thing separating me from my release.

  He groaned and arched his spine, squeezing my hips so hard I'd have fingerprint marks for weeks.

  When I came, it was the most explosive orgasm I'd ever felt. It fucking wrecked my entire body to the point that the pulsing, spastic waves of ecstasy were nearly too much to bear. I rode the wave, on and on, until finally I felt more like myself again.

  That's when Rob switched our places and pulled my bloodied hands down to his throat.

  "What the fuck?" I released him and stared in horror at my copper-stained fingers.

  "Don't worry about it, Jewels," he said, putting my hands back where they were. "Just choke me."

  My mouth fell open, and my eyes went wide. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

  But his gaze was so raw and pleading, and his dick was so hard, and my will was only so strong.

  "Please."

  That's when I understood how much he needed it. He got off on pain and panic. I didn't have a sadistic bone in my body, but I apparently did have a masochist with his bone in my body. One who seriously needed some release.

  I swallowed hard and applied a little pressure to his windpipe, rocking my hips as I did so.

  "Harder. Faster." His words were harsh, but they weren't strangled or anything, so I did my best to oblige.

  Pushing down harder, I rode him as fast as I could, and just as his face turned a darker shade pink, he broke my hold and gasped that he was coming. Jaw clenched, he roared as he fell apart beneath my rolling hips, making adrenaline spike in my bloodstream. I felt like Aphro-fucking-dite herself.

  The next thing I knew, he’d switched our positions again and we were kissing like we'd just survived the end of the world together.

  Boom! The door of the training room burst off its hinges and crashed to the floor—no knock, no rattling of the knob, just gone—and in poured the other three Storm brothers.

  One look at us, and their faces paled.

  "Fucking Hades, Rob, are you all right?" Dan asked, one foot forward like he wanted to rush over to us, one foot back like he wasn't quite sure he was welcome.

  Rob and I were still naked, panting, and smeared in blood. It probably looked like I'd attempted murder on his sexy ass. An ass that was currently on full display and covering up my own nudity.

  "Yeah, I'm all right,” Rob replied with an easy grin.

  "Are you sure?" Cal asked nervously. "What the fuck did she do to you?"

  Ignoring the other brothers, I took Rob's face in my hands, accidentally smearing a line of blood across his cheek.

  "Thank you," I whispered. "That was... everything... exactly what I needed and more."

  “No, thank you.” He kissed my lips gentler than I ever expected, and my heart puddled onto the ground along with our sweat and his blood.

  "Seriously, bro," Dan said, inching closer to us. "You have bleeding claw marks all down your back."

  "I bet it's sexy as all hell," Rob whispered, only loud enough for me to hear. Then he turned to his brothers and spoke up. "Yeah, no, I'm fine. We're good. Really good."

  "You guys," Ben said, following Dan almost nervously. "This looks like a fucking murder scene. Like someone died here or some shit. Should we be worried? Because, I'm not gonna lie, I'm fucking worried."

  Rob rolled his eyes. "It's just a little blood."

  "Maybe if you're a vampire," Dan muttered. “For a normal fucking person, that’s a lot of fucking blood.”

  But Cal's expression turned hard and thoughtful. "Are you saying...?" He stopped, as if he couldn't quite believe what he was about to say. "Did you two just have violent, angry sex?"

  Rob's nose scrunched as his eyebrows rose. "Maybe?"

  “And you’re into that sort of thing?” Cal asked, eyes locking onto mine.

  I licked my lips, tasting the sharp iron twang of blood on the tip of my tongue. "Um... I guess I am when my magic has reached its limit."

  "You know how your muscles give out, Cal?” Rob asked over his shoulder. "Or how Ben blacks out, or how Dan runs out of air and has to breathe?”

  He waited, but they said nothing, only nodded.

  "For Jewels, her lust for sex turns into something similar to a vampire's bloodlust. It's inescapable and undeniable. It’s a subconscious, raging need. The only thing that can soothe the ache is long hours of torturous waiting or giving in to what she wants."

  Ben raised a brow. "And you just happened to be strolling by?"

  "Taron and Tamara came and got me when they realized something was wrong.”

  Ben nodded. "That makes more sense. But hey, at least you finally found a living person who isn’t averse to your algolagnia."

  Dan’s brows creased. “And in the common tongue that means...?”

  “It means I like pain,” Rob replied bluntly.

  “Sexual pain,” Ben corrected. “The discomfort you experience while using your magic is not at all the same.”

  Rob shrugged. “Whatever. I’m sure he gets the point.”

  “So, every time Lexi’s magic meets its limit, she goes into a murderous lust frenzy?” Dan asked.

  Rob grimaced. “The murderous part was encouraged by me, because..."

  "Because you love pain," Dan filled in, nodding. "Got ya."

  Cal crossed his arms, lips stuck in a taught line. "When did you learn to control your magic?"

  I peeked out around Rob. "Just this evening. But could you guys give us a minute? I'd prefer to continue this conversation after I've washed the blood off and gotten dressed."

  "Oh, yeah," they all sort of mumbled, scratching their necks awkwardly and walking away.

  Cal paused in the doorway, however, and glanced over his shoulder. "Wash up and meet the rest of us in the lounge in a half hour. We're going to celebrate tonight."

  “Celebrate what?”

  He smirked. “You being a badass.”

  Chapter 27

  The party was small this time—just the five of us—and intimate as fuck.

  By the time Cal filled another lowball glass to the brim with whiskey and strode to the center of the room, I was three sheets to the wind and lying on both Ben’s and Dan’s laps.

  “Lady and gentlemen,” Cal began with only the slightest hint of a slur in his voice, “I believe we have a proposal to discuss.”

  “Hopefully not yours to Bria,” Dan replied, grinning lazily. “Because I’m just about done hearing about that.”

  Cal rolled his eyes, which looked even brighter than normal thanks to the pink backdrop of his sc
leras. “Fuck no.”

  “Then what, exactly, are we discussing?” Rob raised a brow from across the room and finished off his whiskey. He was the only one who still sounded completely sober. But, I supposed, as a high-functioning alcoholic, he would have the highest tolerance levels.

  Cal spread his arms out wide, as if he were addressing an entire kingdom of people, rather than the four of us. “Alexis’s harem of Storms.”

  “Reverse harem,” Ben corrected with a smirk. “Because she’s a woman and we’re men, not the other way around.”

  I smiled adoringly at him. Even drunk, he was still so knowledgeable.

  “Whatever,” Cal said, taking a sip of his glass. “I want to know what everyone’s thinking.”

  “I’m thinking, I’m in,” Ben continued, getting my hopes way the hell up. “As long as our little Sailor can keep things fair.”

  I nodded quickly, silently promising to keep things fair.

  “Me too,” Dan agreed with a cheeky grin. "We can share. Hell, we like sharing. We’re brothers. We’ve been sharing for most of our lives. But only if it's even."

  I nodded again, agreeing to keep things even, and my heart rushed.

  Rob stood up and moseyed over to the bar to refill his whiskey. After assessing the bottle, he took it instead and left his glass behind. “You guys know I’m in; it was my idea in the first place.”

  I smiled at him, and my heart swelled further, beating even faster.

  Which only left... Cal.

  The Sky Prince sighed but stared at me with a hard-to-read expression on his face. “I don’t know yet.”

  “Well, the rest of us need to set ground rules,” Rob decided, taking over the conversation. His elbows were propped on his knees with the bottle dangling loosely from his fingers in the middle. “One. Keep it fair. That means equal. If you fuck one of us, then you have to fuck the others."

  My gaze darted over to Ben who seemed to be studiously avoiding making eye contact. He was the only one I hadn’t been with yet. I hated that he kept falling into the “good guys finish last” category, so I made a promise to myself to remedy that as soon as possible.

  "That sounds fair,” I said, “but I don't want it to feel forced. We're not going to, like, plan sexy times in advance or schedule it on a calendar or whatever."

  They all nodded their agreement.

  "Two," Rob continued. "This stays between us Storm brothers. No adding other princes or random peasants to the group."

  My throat tightened. What if Adam came back? I would never want to turn him away...

  "Uh-oh," Dan teased. "She's thinking about it..."

  Rob sighed. "There's already another guy you want to add to the list?"

  I took a deep breath. "Well, there was a guy from back home who—"

  "Fuck no," Rob said, shaking his head.

  Dan nodded his agreement. "No ex-boyfriends. You want to see us jealous? Lose our shit? Kick someone's ass? That's a surefire way to ruin the dynamic."

  Ben smiled sympathetically. "I want you to be happy, Sailor, but we all need to be happy in order for this to work. Can you do that? Be happy with just us Storms and no exes?"

  I bit my lip. I'd be sad to say no to Adam if he ever returned, but I had no doubt the three of them could make me happier than I'd ever been. Besides, Adam had been gone for years. He could have been dead for all I knew.

  Gods, that hurt to think about.

  "Okay," I reluctantly agreed. "No exes. But the not-adding-others-to-the-group-thing goes for you guys too. You're not the only ones who get jealous."

  "Deal," they agreed, a little too quickly.

  "I'm serious. I don't give a fuck how hot she is, how rich and royal, how willing she is to throw herself at you. I don't want you to even look at her in a sexual way."

  Ben sighed. "Contrary to how Dan makes it seem, we're really not the playboys you might think we are. Our lives are packed full of horror and insidious obligations. Not only would we not have time for another woman in our lives, we also wouldn't want to expose anyone unnecessarily to this fucked-up lifestyle. Your bad luck in ending up here was the best luck we've ever had."

  I smiled as my heart melted. "You're amazing at wording, you know that?"

  He winked once more, and my heart did crazy flip-flops. "Thanks, Lexicon."

  “What about Bria?” Cal asked, causing my brows to dip dangerously low.

  “What about her?” I asked, and even I could hear the bitterness in my voice.

  “What if we added her to the group? That way, I could be a part of this and prevent international war.”

  “No foreigners,” Rob decided, nipping Cal’s ridiculous idea in the bud.

  I was grateful he’d spoken up, because I’d hate to sound super petty by denying Cal’s idea solely on the basis of jealousy. Then again, we’d literally just discussed our jealousy issues, so he should have fucking known better.

  “Rule number three. We keep our circle small,” Rob continued. “The Storm King has eyes, ears, and influence across the whole damn planet. There are very few people we can trust. As in, probably just the five of us.”

  Ben, Dan, and I nodded our agreement while Cal flexed his jaw. “Fine.”

  “Does that mean you’re in or out?” Dan asked.

  “I still don’t know.”

  It was better than a flat-out refusal, so I was going to accept it for now.

  "Any more rules?" Ben asked, glancing around the room.

  "How about number four," Rob said, holding up as many fingers. "No public displays of affection."

  My brows furrowed as my jaw dropped open. "What the hell? That's no fun."

  "Yeah," Dan agreed with a frown. "I should be able to kiss her or grab her ass whenever I want."

  I giggled despite how serious they all looked.

  "Sorry, but above all, this little arrangement has to remain a secret. Our father wants Jewels to choose one prince. He'd lose his shit if he found out we were consorting with one another behind his back."

  Dan's eyes narrowed as he thought. "What if I'm the prince she chooses? Can we do PDA if we're married?"

  My mouth went dry. Holy fuck that word still scared the hell out of me.

  "Not a chance," Rob said, glowering at his brother.

  "Think of it like this," Ben explained. "What if you're not chosen? What if I am, or Rob, or even Cal? How would you feel watching us hug and kiss all day while you got ignored?"

  "I'd be fucking pissed."

  Ben nodded. "So, it wouldn't be fair to the others if the public couple displayed more affection than the private group."

  I crossed my arms, inadvertently pushing up my boobs. All four guys groaned and adjusted their positions in their chairs. "So, you want me to, like, act all cold and heartless toward my future husband?"

  Ben chuckled. "It's not like anyone would blame you. You didn't exactly ask for any of this."

  Dan nodded. "Better that than feed the jealousaurus."

  That made me smile. "I don't know how successful I'll be, but I can try to not eye-fuck you guys all day." Which brought me to another point. I took a deep breath. "Speaking of which... what are your thoughts on... group activities?"

  Dan's brow raised, clearly intrigued. "What sort of activities?"

  "Like, group dates?" Ben asked.

  "We should do as many things as a group as possible," Rob agreed. "To minimize any hard feelings."

  I was thinking of different hard things entirely.

  "Maybe we should get a group tattoo?" Ben suggested. "I like the one you picked for her, Rob, but this one would be a symbol of our commitment to the team dynamic."

  “Team dynamic?” Rob shot him a flat look. "What would it be? Three dicks and a set of tits?"

  “I'm sure we can think of something slightly more creative than dicks and tits,” I said, rolling my eyes.

  "Three swords and a sheath?" Dan teased.

  "Three pens and a paper?" Ben added, joining in.

  My
eyes lit up. "A rose and three thorns."

  "Three twigs and a berry." Dan's grin was huge and totally contagious.

  "I'm still partial to the tits and dicks," Rob said, crossing his burly arms.

  I shook my head, staring at the floor as they got further and further off track.

  Dan watched me with a curious glimmer in his pale green eyes. "I don't think that's what Sexy Lexi meant..."

  After a moment of silence, Rob caught on first. "You mean... are we comfortable being naked together? Comfortable with one of us fucking you while the others watch?"

  I swallowed the cottony spit in my mouth and chugged the rest of my wine. "Yeah. Or possibly even... joining in... somehow."

  I watched each of their eyes glaze over as they contemplated all the glorious possibilities.

  To my utter surprise, Cal spoke up first. “Better make that tattoo four dicks and a set a of tits.”

  My attention snapped over to him, and my mouth fell open. “Are you serious?”

  He chuckled somberly. “You think I want to miss out on everything you guys just talked about? It’d be like watching my life go by without me in it.”

  I stared at him for a moment, trying to read between the lines of what he’d said and what he was thinking. There was an overwhelming sensation of guilt and uncertainty radiating off of him. A clash of sentiments that I was pretty sure stemmed from his unwavering desire to do the responsible thing and his inability to make it happen.

  “We’ll find a way to prevent the war,” I promised, figuring that was the root of the problem.

  He nodded in return, but I wasn’t quite sure if he believed me.

  “So, we’re in agreement?” Rob asked, putting his hand out in the middle the group. “It’s the five of us, come hell or high water?”

  Dan added his hand. “Rain or shine.”

  “No ifs, ands, or buts,” Ben said, putting his hand in.

  “At any cost,” Cal agreed quietly, adding his hand to the pile.

  Then they all turned to me.

  “Abso-fucking-lutely.” I put my palm on top and felt a rush of excitement filter through me. This was it. We were really doing this. Something good—something perfect—had finally come out of the bad.