I’m fine, big guy. You’ll see. If you can find me.
Dmitri appears on the playing field first. He’s in his Hellhound form and it takes my breath away. He zeroes in on the shed where I sent the memory before following my scent to the bleachers. I hold my breath while he sniffs the air and prowls around the track.
You can hide your bond from me for a while, zvezda, but not forever. He warns in my mind. I just roll my eyes and stay silent.
Santos pops in next and he is utterly resplendent in his formal angel robe and brilliant white wings. He sends out beams of golden light, checking the shed and the bleachers and the track.
“She’s here. I can feel her.” he calls out to Dmitri who growls and looks up towards the bleachers on the opposite side of the track.
“Having fun, petit chou?” Thane pops up next to me, scaring the shit out of me and causing me to fall over.
“That was very naughty, sending those things to all of us. We should punish you. I should help them find you in exchange for getting to watch. That Hellhound of yours is intense, but my money's on Angelboy. He’s going to do such delicious things to you when he gets his glowy golden fingers around your neck. You scared the bejeezus out of him.” He waggles his eyebrows at me lasciviously.
I glare at him and then an idea pops into my head. “OR. You help me hide and when it comes to the punishing… you help them.”
“I’m a ghost, Kyrie. I can’t even fucking touch you.”
I think for a moment, wracking my mind for the right words to reassure Thane that I want him to be part of all of this, whatever this is.
“No. You can’t. But out of the three of you guys, who is the only one who knows my body, my likes, my dislikes, and how I react? You are. You could probably make punishment rather creative if you had a mind to…”
Thane smiles widely and plops down on the seat next to me.
“I’m listening…”
“Tell them you came to help them look, and you checked here and didn’t see me. Just, buy me some time. I have to get to the final place. It’s important.”
“Fine. But you tell them I get to participate too. Just because I don’t have a body anymore doesn’t mean I don’t want to do all kinds of things to you all the time.”
I grin up at him, lean forward and press a kiss to his ghost lips. It feels like kissing an ice cube.
“Thanks.”
He pops back out and I see him sneak up on Santos and tap him on the shoulder, narrowly avoiding getting blasted with golden light. Santos looks less like the sweet and innocent angel chef I adore and more like an avenging Archangel right now. Despite my complicated history with Archangels (thanks, Daddy issues) I am insanely turned on by his intensity. He calls Dmitri down from the bleachers and the three of them huddle together, gesturing wildly.
Whatever Thane says must be compelling enough for them to believe him as the three of them disappear in the blink of an eye. I wait a few minutes, checking to see if they are in the area. I carefully lift the garage door I installed on my bonds and send a zap of arousal to them all. I don’t even wait long enough for them to flare before slamming the door shut on them again.
Darling, when I get my hands on you….
Dmitri’s threats are full of such promise and I am already so turned on. It would serve them right if I came right here and sent them all a little mental image after the fact. But my plan is almost complete, so I resist. Barely. That better be a promise, demon. I’m in the mood to sin. I shoot back. All I hear in my mind is a growl, and it makes me grin crazily.
I reach into my pocket and pull out the weird pager thing that Melinoe gave me before we left Hell. Typing in a quick message, I scan the area to make sure my bonds are hiding me sufficiently. Melinoe pops in, cloak in hand, and scans the area for threats.
“Uh, hey. What’s up?” she asks suspiciously, taking in my evil grin and the fact that I am hiding under a desk in an abandoned stadium.
“Remember when I told you my mates were being stupid?” I begin, quickly outlining my plan. Melinoe laughs until she cries and then hands me the cloak so she can wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
“Oh my gods, you have no idea what you’re getting into, do you?” she wheezes, sinking down next to me. “Dmitri will never give up until he finds you and when he does? Honey, prepare to not be able to walk for a week. Santos keeps his stuff pretty close to the vest, but angels lean kinky. Don’t be surprised if that sweet man has a very commanding side. OH. And you should know angel jizz is glittery. Just.. keep that in mind.”
I am at a brief loss for words at that little tidbit, so I abruptly change the subject. Because I mean. Glittery angel jizz. That’s… an image.
“I wanted to ask you about Thane. We’ve kind of.. Rekindled something. Is there any way he and I might be able to…” My voice trails off and Melinoe gives me a kind smile. “Are you asking me as your cousin or as the Goddess of Ghosts?”
“Um, both?”
She smiles at me. “As your cousin, I am super happy for you. I think you two have great energy and only a pure love could have bonded him to you like it did when you tried to Reap his soul. That bodes well for you. As the Goddess of Ghosts, I am duty bound to tell you that there is no way a ghost can regain their corporeal body on this mortal plane. They can sometimes occupy another body for a time or, if you change to one of the angelic planes or the in-between, they can become more solid.”
I slowly process that information and tuck it away. Dmitri and Santos haven’t let me visit any other planes yet, just Hell and Earth. Excellent information to know.
“Well, I shouldn’t keep you. Are you sure this cloak will work? While I wear it, they can’t find me?”
Melinoe grins and it comes across slightly evil.
“Honey, you could walk right up to one of them and grab them by the dick and they wouldn’t be able to see you or get ahold of you unless you let them.”
I drape the cloak over my shoulders and give Melinoe a giant hug.
“You’re the coolest cousin in the world, you know that?”
“I gotchu, boo. Go have fun giving your mates blue balls. I’ll see you… in a week. If Dmitri is feeling merciful.” She blinks back out and I open the garage door again, reaching out to caress each of my mate bonds.
Stepping out onto the bleachers, the cloak covering me, I leisurely walk towards the old Beta Beta Mu house. After the flood, it has been closed up. Repairs were completed several weeks ago but the national chapter left it closed for the semester.
It’s the perfect house to plan a dangerous and sexy game of hide and seek in.
Zapping my matesbonds with little jolts of arousal, I revel in the growing feelings of frustration that come at me.
Kyrie, this is a dangerous game you are playing. Come home, face the music. We can be merciful. Santos sounds stern, and it makes my panties wet. I dig through my memories and find an explicit one involving breaking in a new toy. I send that to all three of them and smile when the bonds flare so bright it almost blinds me.
Skipping up the steps to Beta Beta Mu, I scan my horizons and take a deep breath and walk right through the front door.
It’s time to bring the rest of the players to this game.
Chapter 6
Stepping into the house that had been my home for the last three years brings back waves of memories. The hearth in the living room brings back memories of beautiful moments with Thane.
The grand staircase brings back memories of group photos and countless nights spent celebrating my sisters as they came down all dolled up for dates and special events. The large dining area is missing the giant table that we all used to eat around. I know this house like the back of my hand.
My matesbonds are going crazy and Dmitri is getting increasingly threatening in his whispers. I love it. Remembering how he was sniffing the air, I wiggle out of my wet panties and place them on the floor in the center of the foyer.
Taking a mental pictur
e of them, I shoot that image to the three of them and wait. Thane will probably recognize the tile work of our foyer. But Santos and Dmitri will be at a disadvantage. It’s fun to see how well they play together. Peeling off the rest of my clothes, I move through the house and drop them in different rooms until I am naked under the cloak. I make a mental note to dry clean it before I give it back to Melinoe. Manners matter.
The first sign I have that Dmitri has found my panties is the house-shaking roar he lets out in his Hellhound form. It sends shivers of desire through me and I continue my mission of taunting them.
MMmm. Sexy roar, you made my nipples so hard with that one. Dmitri is silent in our mind-link for a long moment and I stand still, staring down the hallway. He must be prowling, hoping to sneak up on me. Sure enough, a dark shadow races past me, darting into the bedroom where I left my bra. I ease down the stairs and stand just inside the kitchen door. Santos has arrived and so has Thane. They both look so infinitely kissable that I wish I could just call a make-out break.
Santos, do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you right now? I call it out softly, a direct-message to his mind, and he whirls around, searching for some sign of where I might be hiding.
“Come out and play with us, sweetheart.” He is sending little jolts of golden light into the corners and I watch as one of them goes right through me. Remembering what Melinoe said, I creep closer to him. With a deep breath, I reach out with my cloaked hand and stroke down the center of his wings. He yelps in surprise and whirls around, but I dart out of the way. Narrowing his eyes at the corners, he calls up the stairs.
“She’s got Melinoe’s cloak.”
Did sweet cousin Melinoe tell you that her cloak can hide you from me, pet? It can. For a while. What she neglected to tell you is that the Hell-borne can sense that which is Hell-created. I may not see you, but once I get a whiff of that cloak, I can track you to the ends of the Earth. Your move.
Thane is hovering over the center of the room and Santos is staring directly at the corner opposite where I am. Dmitri is still in Hellhound form and he is prowling directly down the center of the stairs, shifting to his human form when he gets to the bottom of the stairs.
Realistically, while I could stretch this game out longer, I probably only have another hour before I get too tired to pay attention.
Going up on my tiptoes, I walk over towards Dmitri and circle him, giving him a wide berth. With his attention on the rest of the room, I reach out and hover my hand over his bare ass.
I don’t think I am ready to stop playing yet. This is my move. I send the message out to everyone before I slap his ass as hard as I can. He whirls around but I have already danced out of the way, narrowly avoiding Thane who is trying hard not to laugh at the look of fury on Dmitri’s face.
You want me to come out and play? Fine. Answer me this question: are all three of you my mates?
They all freeze as I shout into their minds. Santos is the first to answer, lowering his hands and calling back the golden light he has been shooting out. Slowly, he extends his wings and points to the rose gold tips on his flight feathers.
“You are my mate, sweetheart. My loyalty and my love belong to you.” My heart blooms and I creep over to where he stands and caress his feathers. He holds still and lets me do it, the shudder of awareness floating through both of us at the touch. Mine. I claim him with a thought and our bond blooms stronger in my mind.
Thane looks around and then shrugs. “I’ve never stopped loving you, Kyrie. Death will not stop that. I can’t give you what they can. I may never touch you again. But, if you’ll have me, I want you. Forever and for all eternity.” I move away from Santos and reach out to caress Thane’s upper arm. He whirls around in surprise at the touch and I am surprised to feel him so solid. Mine. When I claim him, a slow smile spreads across his face and my heart expands.
We all turn towards Dmitri who is standing stone-faced at the bottom of the stairs. Our bond is pulsating with emotions and it’s hard to tell what he’s feeling. I take pity on him and walk up to stand in front of him. Grabbing hold of our bond with everything I have, I pour the depth of emotion I have for him into it. The frustration, the admiration, the arousal, and the growing love. I just push it all into the bond and watch the emotions play out on his face.
And you, my growly Dmitri? Are you my mate? Will you protect me from all who seek to harm me? Will you guide me and teach me? Chase me and capture me? Be part of my Pack? Can I call you Mine?
“Zvezda, my soul belongs to you already. You are mine and I am yours.” His normally pale green eyes are dark and I can feel the power in his words. All three of the bonds click into place in my head and my heart. I need to touch them, to feel them, and to love them.
Taking two steps forward, I’m close enough to Dmitri that I could kiss him if I wanted to. And I want to. Desperately. Reaching out, I caress his cheek and he startles. MINE. I shout into the bonds and then I unfasten the cloak and let it fall to my feet, exposing my bare body to all three of them.
Dmitri reacts the fastest and hauls me up against his chest, his lips as demanding as his hands. His hands run up and down my body, the heat feeling like brands against my skin. I can’t get enough and I moan into his mouth. Santos comes up behind us, his cool hands soothing the heated skin where Dmitri caresses me. Roughly, Dmitri turns me around, shoving me into Santos’ arms and I raise my lips to his, smiling shyly.
“Sweetheart. You are breathtaking. And most of all, you’re ours.” He whispers down to me before tipping my chin up and lowering his lips to mine. His kiss starts gentle but it quickly builds in intensity, and I am lost in the flurry of hands covering my body. Coming up for air, Santos turns to Thane who is hovering above us, a hungry look on his face.
“Melinoe said an angelic plane could allow Thane to…” my voice trails off and Thane turns to Santos with wild hope on his face.
Santos pauses for a moment and then nods. “The beaches of purgatory?”
Dmitri looks surprised at the suggestion but nods after a moment. I squirm to get out of the man-sandwich I find myself in and try to pick up my cloak. An amused expression crosses Dmitri’s face as he reaches down and picks up my cloak with ease, holding it just out of my reach.
“Oh no, little star. You have a punishment awaiting you. You aren’t getting this back.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m naked.” I hiss back, turning to Santos for help. He just shrugs and looks at me with a gleam in his eyes. “You are. I think you should stay naked for a while.”
Dmitri growls in approval and mutters something in his demon language. An imp appears and salutes him. “Give this to the Goddess Melinoe. If it does not arrive, I shall have you drawn and quartered daily for the next century.” The imp takes the cloak with an air of reverence and disappears.
Thane crowds into us as Dmitri and Santos lock arms and the four of us are transported to the beaches of Purgatory.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when they said “beaches” and “Purgatory” in the same sentence but a bright purple sky, inky-blue water, and bright yellow sand wasn’t quite what I imagined. It’s beautiful in its own right and I can’t help but stare at all the different beings milling around. There are Hellhounds in their shifted form, their eyes blazing red. Demons with elaborately curled horns and hooved feet frolic in the sand, while tiny green imps scurry around. I even see a few people who exude the golden glow that shows angelic parentage, even if wings aren’t visible.
My curiosity almost overwhelms my self-consciousness of being naked and forced to walk alongside Dmitri and Santos as we stroll through the crowd. I lose sight of Thane for a minute and dig my heels into the sand, refusing to move forward until I can see him and touch him.
Dmitri gives me a swat on my ass, but when Thane comes walking towards me on the sand, he gives me a little push forward.
“I can feel the sand, petit chou. The sand and the water. I can feel it.” Thane’s arms encircle me and
his hands settle on my waist. “I am so happy for you,” I smile back at him, “But if you don’t kiss me this very second, I might die and then you’ll die again and we’ll be back to square one.”
I barely finish my sentence before Thane’s lips are devouring mine, his tongue sliding easily into my mouth. It’s a familiar kiss, but one that says so much. It holds both apology and promise and I melt into him, curving my body around his.
I reach down to stroke the hardness that is digging into my thigh, but Dmitri catches my hand and holds it away from my prize.
“Oh sweet zvezda, you do not get to play yet. We have a score to settle with you.”
Thane laughs and gently pushes me back into Dmitri’s arms.
“You know something very interesting about Kyrie? She has incredible self-control. You can play games with her for hours and she refuses to break. She’ll take whatever you throw at her. It’s really quite remarkable, except…” Thane trails off and I feel the little hairs on my arms stand straight up.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” I hiss at him, trying to wrench out of Dmitri’s grip so I can get in his face.
Thane just laughs and smiles at Santos and Dmitri.
“Orgasm denial. She becomes so… Compliant.”
I gulp, chancing a look at both of my captors. Santos looks thoughtful, and Dmitri looks positively demonic. Great.
They march me through the crowd, growling at anyone who dares look at me twice. I will never admit it to them, but I kind of like it. The being on display, the possessiveness, the way they publicly claim ownership over me, guarding me as if I were their Queen. It really, really, works for me.
We arrive at a small resort-like collection of tents and platforms set along the beach. Dmitri motions to Thane to take his place, waiting until he is sure that Thane has a hold of me before he walks over to the proprietor and starts an animated conversation that seems to involve yelling, hand gestures and at least two flame balls.
Smiling to himself, he returns holding a single key.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 180
