by Holly Ryan
I snapped my eyes open. My gaze narrowed in on the color orange first, specks of it lifting off my arms like magic cereal. Just a little of it, traveling up with the rest toward an air vent in the ceiling. My slayer power. Gone.
When it disappeared, I felt whole again, more so than I’d felt in a long time. Perfectly capable of taking up Night’s Fall on the ground next to me and mowing down the dead slayers whipping past my cell toward the screaming officer cowering by the far wall.
So I did exactly that.
Half a second later, I stood guard in front of the officer and swung my favorite bird/sword through the air. Body parts flew. This wasn’t me killing slayers because they were already dead. This was me destroying the last of Paul’s magic that had reanimated them. The last of Paul period.
Not to brag or anything, but I’d taken enough English classes to note the symbolism of what I was doing. I was ending slayers for good. No need for off-balance, helter-skelter, chaos, because the universe still had a slayer—the corpse flower in the ceiling that had sucked out my power. I would be the slayer in name only, forever, so no one would ever have to suffer under that weight again. Including me, in a way, because I’d already defeated the monster named Paul.
More slayers kept jerking and spazzing down the hallway, but I turned all of their flying stakes into splinters. None of them could touch me, and I suddenly realized how much of a disadvantage it was for a slayer to go up against a vampire. How the fuck had I done it all those years?
Behind the pile of twice-dead bodies at the other end of the hallway, the elevator rumbled down and came to a stop. Likely more slayers crammed in like clowns in a tiny car judging from the number already here.
Just as I sliced down the final slayer, the doors dinged and slid open. Four familiar vampires strode out and then stopped when they saw me, my bird-sword raised, clear-eyed, bushy-tailed, and ready for action of any kind. Their jaws dropped, but glimpses of some of my favorite smiles in the world lit up the whole damn hallway.
“How are you guys?” I asked, searching for any signs that the slayers had hurt them on their way down.
“Uh, fine?” Jacek said. “Slayer...wha...”
“Are you all right?” Sawyer asked.
Eddie peered at me hard through his glasses. “Is it over?”
“Belle,” was all Detective Appelt said, and he smiled, his orange-yellow eyes shining bright.
“Paul’s dead.” I nodded and wiped a bit of dead, wet slayer off my face. “I killed him a lot, and I feel pretty good about it.”
The four of them laughed, a relieved sound if I’d ever heard one, and shook their heads in disbelief. They tried to form words, but I must’ve shocked their tongues. That was okay though. We had time, so much of it that it plastered my face with a permanent grin.
“And the corpse flowers?” Eddie finally asked. “Did they not work?”
“They worked, but they had no interest in me, so I came here.”
“I’m so glad,” the detective said and then nodded behind me at the cowering officer. “Hey, Bill.”
“Oh,” he said. “Hey.”
Sawyer shook his head, his black, silky curls bouncing slightly. “We didn’t doubt you could do it, Belle, but...you were facing incredible odds, and you just...stood up to all of it like the bravest warrior in all of history.”
I shrugged. “You would’ve done the same in my shoes.”
“Not to this degree of...” Sawyer started. “Of...”
“Pique badassery?” Jacek supplied.
Sawyer nodded. “Well, yes.”
Eddie laughed and stared at me through the shock of wild blond hair in his face. “That’s my Sunshine.”
A hungry look crossed Jacek’s face, triggering a sensual curl between my legs. “Slayer, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to f—”
Eddie smacked Jacek in the gut with a meaningful look at Detective Appelt.
Jacek schooled his expression and cleared his throat. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to frolic and have fun with you to celebrate your twenty-first birthday like a proper gentleman would.”
Detective Appelt rolled his eyes, and I might’ve joined him if I weren’t laughing so hard. Surely he knew about my unorthodox relationship with my vamps, but if that bothered him, he didn’t show it. I would add that to the long list of things we needed to talk about.
For now, though, it felt damn good to be living in the moment—a very real moment—with a smile on my face and a nightmare I’d survived behind me.
I AWOKE WITH A GASP to darkness, a deep, almost painful ache in my pussy. I lay in an actual bed this time from the feel of it and not in the woodshed. This was excellent progress. Even better were the lips nuzzling the curve of my shoulder. The hand splayed across my stomach. The hard cock grinding against the side of my hip.
Twice as good as that came from my other side. The trail of licks and kisses over my breasts. Another hard cock pushing into my palm.
Three times as good as that was the massive outline of Sawyer kneeling at the foot of the bed, his fist pumping up and down his huge cock while his gaze feasted on my naked, writhing body.
All of us had passed out on the bed after gorging ourselves on spiked blood for my birthday party and for reaching “pique badassery.” The excitement of what lay ahead, now and forever, hummed through my body. I moaned as I thrust my hips upward, a plea for them to take me again and again.
Wouldn’t you know it? They didn’t disappoint.
Jacek and Eddie spread my legs wide for Sawyer who prowled between them like a sexy, horny beast. But instead of sticking his dick inside me, he dipped his head between my knees and ate my dripping pussy all up. I went wild riding his tongue, my cries echoing around the guest room. Eddie and Jacek fucked my sides while groaning and growling until I wrapped my hands around their two hard cocks and stroked them. That didn’t slow their hips down at all. The four of us were animals, insatiable, and I fucking loved it.
Eddie and Jacek soon spilled into my palms and then bit their fangs into my sides while they rode their orgasms out. I brought my hands to my mouth to lap at their come while Sawyer made me come again and again. Then, with a growl, Sawyer climbed up my body, his mass pushing the other two right off the bed.
“Oof,” Jacek said as he landed on the floor. “That’s our cue to leave, Smiley.”
“We’ll be back though,” Eddie promised, a touch of a smile in his voice.
“You better.” I grinned at them as I wrapped my legs around Sawyer’s ass. “We have a whole lot of catching up to do.”
They both growled at that.
Jacek stroked himself, already hard again while he slid his gaze over my naked body from the side of the bed. “Fuck, Slayer, how am I going to walk out of here with this?”
“You’ll figure it out.” Sawyer nestled himself between my thighs, the tip of his cock already nudging my opening. Red danced around the orange in his eyes as he scorched my face and the length of my torso with them. His fangs came out as he sank his length inside of me before the other two had left.
I moaned at the full feeling of him. He was so big that he seemed to fill every inch of me.
He swept his lips over mine in a brief, rough kiss as he pushed in even deeper. “I love you, Belle.”
My heart swelled even though I already knew it. “I love you too.” I smoothed the silky black curls from his face and looked him in the eyes so he’d know I meant it, too, always.
“No more gods. Just this. Just us inside this house,” he said.
“For an eternity.” I grinned up at him. “Think you can stand me that long?”
He began to fuck me then, showing me exactly how long he could stand me. And wow, it was a long, amazing time, every second of it. The vampire was made of nothing but muscle and warrior and stallion, and looked damn good while he slammed into me. We came together on a tide of kisses, my heart so full with love for this vamp. When he drew blood with his fangs behind my ear, my fang
s came out, and I sank them into bulging shoulder. I moaned at his lavender-in-the-woods taste and drank deep. Once we licked our bites clean, he pulled out gently, dropping a kiss on my nose, and then stood.
“I can smell the other two out there circling like dogs,” he said as he snatched up his pants from the floor.
“Woof!” Jacek shouted from somewhere in the house.
I threw back my head and laughed. Damn, this felt good, all this freedom and laughter. Eventually I’d need to figure out what I was going to do with my immortal self—other than sex—and I would. I had time and an infinite amount of possibilities. But the one that made me the giddiest was the idea of going back to my college coursework and maybe getting a degree in business. I could open up my own place somewhere, kind of like a coffee shop but bloodier, with different flavors that would give us vampires a little extra kick for the day. Night. Whatever.
“Are you thirsty?” Sawyer asked.
Nodding, I stretched out on the bed and grinned as Sawyer fucked me again, this time with his heated eyes. “Always.”
“Belle...”
The rough need in his voice tightened my nipples, made me squeeze my thighs together. I arched my back and rode my hips against the air, already so wet and aching. As a slayer/fae, I was horny, but as a vampire/fae/pirate, I was insatiable.
“Will this feeling fade some?” I asked.
Sawyer threw on his black T-shirt, the fabric tight against his bronze, tattooed skin, and then adjusted the bulge in his jeans. “Maybe eventually. It hasn’t faded for me since I met you, though. You’re all I think about, even in sleep, but I’ve found ways to handle it.”
“Like jacking off?” I asked, and slipped my hand between my legs.
“Yes,” he growled as I curled two fingers in and then pulled them back out soaked. “Pretty much constantly.”
I sank them in again, even deeper, and rode my hand, while he watched and rubbed himself through his jeans.
“Fuck, Belle.”
A low rumble sounded from outside the door that sounded a lot like Jacek. He likely wanted in on the fun too.
Sawyer rolled his eyes. “One dog has sniffed you out. I’ll go get you a drink, but it might be a while.” He raised his eyebrows and pointed to the raging hard-on pressing against his jeans.
“Take your time. I love you, Sawyer.”
“I love you too.” Smiling, he opened the door to a panting Jacek leaning against the frame.
“I can’t take it anymore. Your desire smell, Slayer...” His eyes instantly grew fiery when he saw what I was doing to myself. He brushed past Sawyer, patting him lightly on the chest as he did. “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, big guy.”
I blew a kiss to Sawyer who chuckled on his way out. “It’s a good thing I have three vampires to take care of all my needs, isn’t it?”
“Uh-huh.” Jacek dropped his athletic pants and then crawled up on the bed with me, his knees bracketing my hips. He took my hand out from between my legs and drew my two fingers into his mouth, licking and sucking at my juices.
Moaning at the feel of his tongue, I reached out and stroked his rigid cock, and also to tug him down to sink inside me forever. But he wasn’t having it.
He grinned as he slid my fingers from his mouth and licked his lips. “I have a present for you other than my dick.”
“Another one?” The three of them had lavished me with presents last night after we’d come home, like a new laptop, books, sparring equipment, and a fancy new collar for Cleo, because it was unofficially her birthday too.
“Yeah. Get on your hands and knees, and I’ll show it to you.”
I liked where this was headed already. I assumed the position, and seconds after, Jacek grabbed me roughly by the hips and slammed into me, fucking me with wild abandon. I cried out and met each of his hard thrusts. When I was close to coming, he slowed and pulled my back to his chest, still pumping inside me. He angled my face toward his and kissed me, pouring every bit of love I felt for him back into me, and then something buzzed in one of Jacek’s hands. I started to look, but he cupped my cheek and kissed me deeper, preventing me from turning my head. He pressed the buzzing thing against my clit, and I cried out in shock into his mouth.
A vibrator. He’d gotten me a vibrator, and between it and his quickening pace, I turned into a feral, sexual animal. I grinded against it and then back into him, my whole body a writhing storm.
“I fucking love you.” Jacek grinned against my kiss, and it was such a thing of beauty that I came.
Hard. A torrential orgasm that poured down over my body again and again. Jacek had to hold me upright to keep me from melting into a puddle so he could finish. And he did with a bellow. We drank from each other, Jacek’s spring-rain taste washing through me.
Sated for now, I melted face-first into the bed. Jacek followed me down, kissing the back of my neck, my shoulders, back up to the tips of my ears.
“I love you, too, Jacek.” I looked over my shoulder at him and touched my fingers to his jaw. “So much. Thank you for the present. Thank you period.”
He kissed my palm and smiled. “You’re welcome. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy in my life as I am right now. Right here. With you.”
I grinned while the backs of my eyes burned. After the torture he’d been through with Roseff, he needed to be happy, and the fact that I might have something to do with that made me love him that much more.
“Me too,” I said.
He didn’t cuddle with me, or at least I didn’t think he did. I slipped into sleep and then woke sometime later with Eddie’s name on my lips and a matching ache between my legs. But also an agonizing thirst at the smell of blood.
It wafted from the mug on the nightstand with a pinch of cinnamon. Still warm. I took a long drink. Still perfect. When I finished, I made the “aaaah” sound at how good that had hit the spot. Yeah, I know. Sometimes I did things that even annoyed myself. Oh, and would you look at that? My fangs didn’t come out. It was the little things in life and death—and the big things—that made me happy.
Now, I needed my Eddie fix. Why hadn’t he come to me? Then I remembered—he’d gone to bury his sister again in a town another state away. On our way out of the police station, we’d had to fight off more dead slayers, though I’d dispatched most of them already. Sawyer had seen her before the rest of us and had whisked her away from Eddie so he wouldn’t see Sawyer’s mercy killing. We’d offered to go with Eddie to bury her, but he’d refused, and we obviously hadn’t pressed him on the matter. After his horrific past, he had every right to do as he pleased.
I dozed a little more and then woke to see him standing in the doorway, completely naked and untamed and fully erect.
“You rang?” he said softly.
I held my hand out to him, attempting to read his expression. “I did.”
He crossed the guestroom and I rose to my knees to hug him to me. He squeezed me tightly and kissed my hair, our unbeating hearts pressed up against each other, when once upon a time, he hadn’t trusted me enough to touch him.
“Are you okay?” I whispered.
“I am,” he said, his lips brushing my cheek. “She’s at peace and so are you, and you’re both entirely free from Paul. It’s a relief, a weight lifted, and I can only imagine that you must feel that times a million.”
“Yes.” I pulled away slightly so I could press my lips to his. “Very much so.”
He smiled then, his orange-yellow eyes like a warm sunset on my face. “I love you, Sunshine.”
I slid his hair across his forehead just to feel it between my fingers, just as another excuse to touch him. “I love you too.”
He kissed me then, soft and gentle, as he pushed me back down to the bed. His cold skin glided across mine as he covered my body with his from head to toe, every part of us touching, loving, and wrapping around each other. Our kiss deepened as he tilted my head back with both hands, and with one thrust, he was inside me.
I moaned loudly, already at the brink of coming, but I wanted this to last. After all, we had time. With a thrust of my hips, I flipped him onto his back so I could make love to him forever. Or until he had to go back to work. I swept his hands over his head and held them there while I rode him at my own pace so I wouldn’t shatter to pieces too soon. He felt too good, though, kissed me too well, looked too damn good with his wild blond hair that always looked like he’d just finished fucking.
It didn’t take me long to forget about everything and writhe on top of his cock while he thumbed my nipples and thrust up inside of me. His eyes flamed red as he let out a growl. Then he dropped one hand to grab my ass and sank it lower to press a finger into my asshole.
Electrical sensations erupted in a violent, frenzied orgasm that stormed down to my toes. I cried out, but Eddie smothered it when he sat upright and kissed me roughly. Then he came, too, and we clung together, biting into each other’s necks. We stayed like that for a long time, drinking and sucking and riding out the continuous aftershocks.
Finally, I licked his neck clean and looked at him, grinning so hard, it made my face hurt. Then a thought struck easily inside my non-mashed potato brain. “Are you guys going to tell me what it took to turn me into a vampire? You said it was this long, complicated process to change a slayer.”
He skimmed his lips over my jaw and nodded. “Roseff discovered a simple exchange of blood wouldn’t work unless they had an anchor.”
I blinked. “Wait. Are you saying I really am a pirate, like with a boat’s anchor and everything?”
He laughed then, a sound of pure happiness. “I mean a figurative anchor, Sunshine. Something to hold the vampire inside and mix it with the slayer. Jacek thinks Roseff’s anchor was fear, fear and insanity, maybe because his transition was pretty long. What do you think your anchor was?”
“Love,” I said without hesitation.
“Which was likely why your transition was so fast after the three of us exchanged blood with you. Love is a lot less messy and complicated.” He dropped a kiss to the tip of my nose. “Or yours is, anyway.”
