by Laken Cane
“Talon,” Stella said, her voice soft. “Shall we begin?”
He released Krista’s hand and stepped up beside Stella, who stood in front of the small but intricately designed altar. It contained Luke’s book, a blade, and a large silver chalice.
When Asa started to pull away to go to them, Krista clung to his fingers until he glanced at her. She let him go, and he and his men went to stand in a line before Stella and Talon.
Talon took the blade and Stella picked up the book, then began chanting words so softly Krista could barely hear her. After a few seconds, she turned to place the book on the altar, continuing to chant as she went to Asa.
Krista’s stomach clenched. She couldn’t have said why she was so nervous. It wasn’t dangerous. Wasn’t scary. So why the hell was she so afraid?
Maybe just because they were trying to make sure Vogdris couldn’t leave the city. She would much rather have sent him to the red-dark and trapped him there. Too bad that wasn’t a possibility.
Asa took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeve, and gave Stella his arm. She grasped his wrist and drew invisible lines on his skin with her fingertips, and still chanting, waited for Talon to follow her tracings with his knife.
Krista swallowed hard, her heart in her throat, and forced herself not to close her eyes. Then Luke was beside her, his arm touching hers as he pressed against her. She looked at him.
“Okay?” he mouthed.
She nodded.
Talon slid the blade over Asa’s flesh, opening the skin, and Stella held the cup below his arm to catch the flow of blood.
It seemed to Krista that she could hear his blood dropping into the chalice and that it went on forever. But then Stella and Talon moved to the second man, and Asa turned to Rachel, who stood at the edge of the circle with a cart of towels and bandages, as well as bottles of juice and a platter of cookies.
Krista didn’t take her stare off him.
As soon as Rachel was finished bandaging his arm, he shrugged on his jacket and joined Krista and Luke. She eagerly took his hand. Maybe her fear was irrational, but what if the ceremony had somehow dragged him into the red-dark? She shuddered and tightened her grip on his fingers.
They watched silently as the last man’s blood drained into the cup. Stella set it carefully on the altar, and Krista wondered if they’d feel something when the veil was painted. If Vogdris was trapped by the blood, she hoped they’d know it.
Then Talon stripped off his shirt, dipped his fingers in the blood of the humans, and lifted his hands into the air. Blood ran in streaks down his arms, and he closed his eyes as Stella consulted the book once again, dipped her finger into the chalice, and then began painting symbols on his chest.
He was ready for her when she handed him the cup. He lowered his arms and accepted it, but he never once opened his eyes. He didn’t need to see. He needed only to feel.
Stella stepped away as he lifted the cup high. He shuddered, then his body stiffened, and he turned to his right and flung the blood out of the cup.
It splatted against an invisible wall, clung to it for a moment, then began to run in streaks. She saw the veil.
And for the briefest of seconds, she saw beyond it.
She saw a man chained to a bloody, filthy stone wall.
She saw someone beating him, and blood flew and hung in the air, just like the blood from Talon’s chalice. She saw agony. She couldn’t see the man’s face, not really, but she saw his hair. She saw his brutalized body. And she knew, she just knew…
That man was Triganoth Deorthorak.
In the garden, the hellhound lifted his face to the sky and began to howl.
25
No one could console her.
“I saw him,” she said. “They’re tormenting him. He’s chained up, and they’re…” She screwed her eyes closed, remembering. “A woman was hurting him. I’m going to destroy that bitch.”
Henry had loped away after freaking them all out with his eerie howl.
“How can I go to the red-dark?” Krista said. “How does a person get there?”
They didn’t know.
“Trig has existed in the red-dark for a long, long time,” Luke told her. “He knows how to survive. He’ll be okay, Kris.”
But she didn’t believe that. “They’re going to kill him. If I don’t help him, he will die.”
“He’d be furious if you found a way into his world,” Asa said. “You would only die. Listen to us, Krista.” He took her shoulders and shook her gently. “He is a demon lord, and he will be okay.”
Her head pounded, her stomach hurt, and her eyes were stinging with tears. Trig was being tortured.
But Asa said he’d be okay.
She took a deep breath and nodded. “He’ll be okay.”
She’d have to put what she saw from her mind. The guys were right. Trig lived in fucking hell. It wasn’t his first round with pain. It wasn’t the first time he’d been chained. She’d seen him do that same thing to those he ruled.
The red-dark was a world of horror, violence, depravity. But to those who lived there, it was normal. Their normal.
The veil had been painted. As long as he was in Edgefield, Vogdris could not go back to his world. If Talon’s lines melted—and they would—he could potentially figure it out, leave the city, and then run back to the red-dark with the souls he’d stolen.
How long the paint would last, they couldn’t say.
Asa’s friends had departed half an hour earlier with thanks, cash, and a willingness to help again should the need arise.
“Let’s go home,” Luke said, as they walked from Stella’s house.
“And get some sleep?” she asked.
“No.”
They smiled at each other. “I do need something to take my mind off our demon lord.” And though she said it lightly, she was dead serious. She was filled with black worry and thoughts of torture and torment, and she couldn’t bear it. Not for long. She needed good things in her mind to force out the bad. She couldn’t help Trig, and she was only hurting herself by wallowing in despair.
Luke and Asa could make her forget.
Luke looked at Asa, even as Talon walked away. “Want to make our woman feel good?”
“Every second of every day,” Asa replied.
Her heart pounded all the way home, her body thrumming with desire and impatience. Having them both in bed at the same time was something new, and it was as scary as it was thrilling.
Asa and Luke were the same in bed in only one way—they were equally passionate. But where Luke was dark and rough, Asa was tender and devoted. Together, they’d give her everything.
And there wasn’t a more perfect time for it. Vogdris was quiet—or gone—and the veil was painted. Maggie was at her grandparent’s house for the night, and Krista was crushed with worry over Triganoth. She needed something big.
Luke and Asa were going to give it to her.
“Tonight,” Luke said, “is all about you.”
“Relax,” Asa said, “and let us take care of you.”
It was different. Strange different. Being in the control of two men, two very hot men, both of them eager to please her.
Heaven. That was what it was.
They started touching her as they climbed the stairs to her bedroom, getting her warmed up, Luke said…as though she needed warmed up. She was so hot she was about to spontaneously combust.
Once in her bedroom, Luke pulled her back against his body and snaked one arm around her waist, his palm hot and heavy against her belly. He buried his other hand in her hair and pulled her head back against his shoulder, and Asa leaned in to run his lips over her bared throat.
She began to breathe faster as Luke unfastened her jeans. The sound of him running her zipper down was loud in the silence. I’m doing this, then. I’m really doing this.
Asa took her lips as Luke slipped his fingers into her unzipped jeans, and she closed her eyes as Asa’s soft but insistent lips played with her
s. He slid his tongue between her lips, teasing them apart, then dipped his tongue into her mouth just as Luke skimmed his fingers over the slit between her legs.
She gasped into Asa’s mouth, then gave a tiny moan.
“Good,” Luke murmured. “I want to make you moan like that all night long.”
He pressed his finger deeper, rubbing the sensitive bit of flesh he found there, not stopping when Asa pulled away and grasped the hem of her shirt.
“Lift your arms, sweetheart,” he said, and took her shirt off her in one smooth movement. Her bra followed, and then Asa ran the pads of his thumbs over her nipples. He lowered his head and took one stiff peak into his mouth, swirling his tongue over it as he rubbed his palm over the other.
Luke pushed her jeans and underwear over her hips, kneeling to follow the path with his lips. He bit her ass, gently, but she knew that soon, his gentleness would turn rough. His fingers bit into her legs, urging them apart, and then he scraped his nails down her inner thighs.
She shuddered and slid her fingers between Asa’s lips and her breast so she could feel him moving his mouth on her nipple. He nipped it, then pulled it deep into his mouth, almost painfully deep, and she cried out in pleasure.
Luke pushed his fingers between her legs from behind, so close to touching her throbbing center, so close, but tormenting her by making her wait. She wiggled her hips, trying to tempt him to slide his fingers inside her, but he gave a low, sexy laugh and refused.
She felt his teeth on the back of her leg, high up, a quick sting that he quickly soothed with his tongue.
Asa let her nipple pop from his mouth, taking a moment to lick it slowly and thoroughly before straightening to shrug off his suit jacket, then his shirt.
She sighed at his masculine beauty and ran her hands over his huge biceps before pulling him to her so she could tug the band from his hair. She ran her fingers through it until it hung messily around his face, half her mind on Asa’s hair, and half on Luke’s mouth as he ran his tongue over the bend of her knee.
He stood suddenly and sandwiched her between his body and Asa’s, then lowered his head to gently bite the tender area between her shoulder and her neck. She felt him move away, then Asa was kissing her, and when Luke came back, his clothes were gone, and he was pressing his bare flesh—and his hard dick—against her body.
“Asa.” She cleared her throat and tried again. “You’re the only one with his pants on.”
He grasped her hand and moved it to the waistband of his pants. “Take them off me.”
She slipped her fingertips into the top of his pants, brushing his warm erection as she reached behind her with her free hand to squeeze Luke’s hardness. And suddenly, she couldn’t wait to have two bare, hard dicks in her hands. She knelt to slip off Asa’s shoes before staring up at him, her body buzzing with desire, to do as he’d suggested and finish undressing him.
When she stood, Luke slid his hands over her ribs, then cupped her breasts, squeezing them as Asa leaned over to lick them almost carefully.
Then Asa picked her up and carried her to the bed, and once she was lying in the middle of the mattress, Luke climbed in on one side and Asa got in on the other.
Luke moved to kneel between her thighs, then grasped her knees and ran his hands up and down her legs, his fingers just barely brushing the flesh between her legs.
“Luke,” she whispered hoarsely. “You’re driving me crazy.”
“Before we’re finished with you,” he said, “I want to hear you scream. Although…” He slipped the tip of his finger inside her. “more of those sexy little moans will work, too.” He pulled his wet finger out to rub it over her clit before pushing it farther inside her.
She moaned.
“There it is,” he whispered.
Asa watched Luke exploring her wet folds, his stare fierce and dark, making her even hotter. He put his palm on her belly, then slid his fingers down to join Luke’s. When Luke pulled his fingers out of her to rub them over the swollen nub of flesh, Asa slid a finger inside her, then pulled it out to brush her own juices over her clit while Luke pushed his fingers back inside her.
Over and over they did that, working in perfect rhythm, until she arched her back and cried out, shuddering. She would have clenched her thighs on their hands if they’d have allowed it, but as she climaxed, they held her knees open and refused to let her close them.
Before the waves of pleasure ended, she felt a tongue probing at the folds of aching flesh and opened her eyes to see the men had traded places. Asa stretched out on his belly, his face buried between her open legs.
Luke folded her fingers around his hardness, then threw his head back, biting off a swear word when she squeezed his cock and ran her thumbs through the moisture beading at the top.
She screwed her eyes shut as Asa pleasured her, and when she opened her mouth to give a hoarse whimper, Luke slid his hand under her neck, lifted her head, and thrust his dick into her mouth.
She could hardly concentrate on Luke while Asa was driving her crazy, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t take all of him, but that didn’t matter, either. She tasted him, automatically sucking, swirling her tongue around his satin-covered hardness, loving that he was in her mouth as she was in Asa’s.
Finally, Luke pulled out, groaning as he squeezed himself, trying to regain control. When he got it, he stretched out beside her, then turned her face to his so he could kiss her lips. Gently, because they were still swollen and sore from her battle with Michael.
Asa took his mouth away every time she neared her release, teasing her until finally she wrenched her lips from Luke’s and pleaded, “Asa, please!”
He was not one to deny her—not for long. So with his fingers and his tongue, he gave her what she wanted—and it was one of the hardest, most intense orgasms of her life.
She arched her back, crying out, her voice hoarse and loud. Pleasure streaked through her entire body, and she clenched her thighs around Asa’s head as she came. It was too much, surely it was too much. But in the end, it was just enough, and she begged greedily for more.
Asa crawled up beside her, and he and Luke grinned and high-fived each other, pleased. She laughed at them, but not for long, because Luke took Asa’s place between her legs, kissing and licking his way down her body before biting the softness of her lower belly. His mouth and fingers were harder on her flesh than Asa’s—scarily so, bordering right on the edge of pain. She could feel him holding himself back, trying to maintain some sort of control.
And that excited her greatly. He understood that, and he thrilled her with that delicious fear, even as Asa’s thorough hands and tender mouth gave her such contrasting emotions and sensations that she wasn’t sure, in the end, if she could truly bear any of it.
Asa turned her to her side with her ass against him, grasped her leg to pull it over his body, then probed her opening with his thickness. He didn’t enter her, no matter how much she squirmed against him, but held her firmly still. “Luke,” he said.
Luke grinned and slid up her body, pressing himself against her, his mouth at her breasts. As Asa rubbed against her, the heat and pressure grew once again, and Luke began to move down her body.
He darted his tongue between her legs, then reached up to squeeze her breasts before gripping her throat.
She gasped, unsure, loving that she was unsure.
Luke massaged her with fingers and tongue as Asa finally, finally pushed himself deep inside her. He filled her up with his thickness and she cried out, the overwhelming sensations of Luke’s tongue and fingers blending with the hugeness of Asa’s hard, huge, thrusting cock.
Luke moved up her body to take a nipple into his mouth, his fingers still around her throat, rubbing her clit as Asa began to pound into her hard. Fast. They brought her to yet another thundering, screaming orgasm.
Dark spots danced on her closed eyelids, her thighs quivering, her heart racing as Asa pounded into her, his groans hoarse as he came with her.
And they weren’t done.
She couldn’t come again—her body was spent.
Heavy and languid she drifted in their arms until Luke lifted her from the bed and they took her into the bathroom. Asa turned on the shower, and when it was the perfect temperature, Luke set her on the bench, and they began to wash her.
She put her palms on the bench and thrust up to meet Luke’s fingers as he cleaned her, sure she couldn’t come again, but then the pressure began to build once more beneath their hot stares, their expert touches, their kisses.
Luke stood and pressed his back against the wet wall, his erection jutting and eager. “Give her to me,” he said, his voice low and rough.
Asa picked her up and turned her to face Luke. Sliding his hands beneath her thighs he lifted her, his big body pressing against her back as he held her open for Luke, murmuring softly into her ear as Luke positioned himself at her opening and then with one huge, hard thrust, shoved himself inside her.
She couldn’t move, held so securely between them, could only take it as Luke’s fingers bit into her flesh and he pounded against her, into her. Asa’s body was slippery and wet behind her, and at that moment she couldn’t remember a time when she’d been slammed with so much overwhelming, uncontrollable pleasure.
Afterward, she was completely drained and utterly content. They bathed her, gently, tenderly, then tucked her into bed. She snuggled into the softness of her bed, cuddled and secure between their warm bodies, and as they held her and murmured to each other, discussing work and life, she fell asleep.
Life, at that moment, was perfect.
It would be a long, long time before she felt such blissful, beautiful peace again.
26
She was satisfied to stay home the next day while the other slayers and Asa went to work, delightfully sore and exhausted, her body heavy with remembered pleasure.
Beth offered to pick Maggie up from school so she could take her shopping. Maggie needed some new clothes and her favorite shop was having a big sale, Beth said. Krista happily agreed.
