by Sotia Lazu
“What happens when we’re both human?” I asked instead. “Do we date? Give us a try?”
He studied my face. “Are you open to that? I thought you and Constantine... You smell like him.”
Shit. Should have showered. “I slept in his bed, but there’s nothing—” Lie. There was something between Constantine and me. I shook my head. “Nothing happened. I was lonely and confused, and we talked till I fell asleep.”
“You still have feelings for him.”
After tonight, they wouldn’t matter. I could lie now, and Alex would never be the wiser. I didn’t. “I always will, like I’ll always have feelings for you. But I won’t stay with him, and I’m asking if you want us to be something.”
I felt like a hypocrite. I wasn’t choosing Alex; I was choosing mortality. If the choice were between him and Constantine... No way to know.
“So you forgive me for what I did to you?” he asked.
I did. I had. But could I forget it? Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded.
A timid smile blossomed on his lips. “I want us to be everything. I want to have a future with you. To grow old with you.”
I couldn’t tell if I was elated or suffocated; my head was light, and my feet felt made of lead.
Alex crossed the distance between us and laid a gentle kiss on my lips. “Tomorrow on, when I do this, I’ll be able to feel your heartbeat,” he said. His palm was on my chest, but there was nothing sexual about the touch.
I let him pull me into his gleeful ramblings. We’d redecorate his apartment. Maybe get a dog. I’d get a job, possibly with Sheena, and he’d see if he could return to the force. We could go somewhere exotic next summer—we earned a sunny vacation, after the crap we dealt with. And his mom would be ecstatic if he told her we were engaged.
What?
“We can pick out a ring together. Anything you want.” Alex took my hand and brushed his thumb over my ring finger.
“A ring?” What what what?
“I don’t mean now. We’ll see how things go. But I’ll make you happy, Cherry.” A shadow crossed his eyes, and he added, “I’ll never hurt you again. I swear.”
I squeezed his fingers and leaned in closer, my face inches from his. “I know.” If we were kissing, we didn’t have to talk, and I didn’t have to think of how a few weeks of chasing hot women alongside my grandma had freed him from the guilt of almost killing me for good.
Alex crushed his mouth to mine and nibbled on my lower lip before thrusting his tongue between my lips, to find mine. While demanding, his kiss wasn’t threatening. I felt bad for allowing memories of a past he couldn’t control interfere with this moment. The darkness had washed out of him, and he was my Alex again, now and forever.
Funny how long forever sounded when our future was finite.
Chapter Nine
I WAS SURPRISED WHEN Constantine got the door for us instead of bidding us enter, but then I realized it was to show off how gorgeous he looked in his robe. Sashed around his waist, it accentuated his wide shoulders and narrow waist, and allowed glimpses of his chest. The dark-purple silk made his pallor luminescent.
He was barefoot, and his hair was pulled back in a—
“Is that a man-bun?” I asked.
He flashed a smile. “Carrie showed me an instructional video. The abundance of positive comments convinced me to give it a try.”
I wanted to say something snarky, but the updo enhanced his savage beauty. Shit. Shouldn’t think of him as savagely beautiful.
Alex snorted. “You can pull anything off, huh?”
Constantine stepped aside for us to come in, and I noticed no pants legs were visible beneath his robe, and I knew he always went commando.
I didn’t wear panties or a bra for this either, and I was suddenly too aware of my nipples pushing through the cotton of my T-shirt.
Constantine motioned at an armchair and end table at the foot of the bed. They weren’t here yesterday. “Thought you’d be more comfortable with some semblance of a distance,” he said.
Whether he meant Alex or me, I appreciated his thoughtfulness.
Alex sat, and Constantine produced a bottle of whiskey from his nightstand and filled a glass for him. He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Liquid courage?” he asked in my head.
“Yes, please,” I replied in the same manner. I downed the drink he poured me and enjoyed the burn, though the buzz from the alcohol fumes would only last a few minutes. Could we make this quick? We had to reach orgasm for the ritual to work, but that didn’t take long with Constantine.
Constantine took the empty glass from me, set it aside, and held out his other hand. “Shall we?”
Unsure what else to do, I placed my palm in his.
He twirled me so my back was flush against him, and brought his arms around me, to skate his palms up my thighs. My body’s reaction was immediate. I leaned into him, molding to his hard planes. Giving him the lead in our dance.
He rocked his hips, and I let him sway me to his silent rhythm, as he popped the button of my jeans and lowered the zipper. His hard cock dug into the small of my back. I stood on tiptoe, so he’d rub against my ass instead. When he slid his fingers under my T-shirt, I sucked in my stomach, every muscle in my body tense with equal parts anticipation and trepidation. He was the same temperature as me, but his touch set my skin on fire. And Alex could see it.
Constantine chuckled. “Relax.”
Right. Alex knew what we were here for.
Constantine nuzzled my cheek and grazed my sides with his fingertips, before closing his large palms over my breasts. His touch was gentle yet confident. He knew my body and remembered what I liked, but he gave me ample opportunity to stop him before he pinched my nipples.
I didn’t.
He slipped one hand down my belly and inside the waist of my jeans, to cup my pussy. I pumped my hips forward, willing him lower, but his fingers stilled against my bare flesh.
“This won’t be fast,” he said, twisting and tugging on one of my nipples until I ached with need. “I have one last time to savor you, and I intend on taking full advantage of it. Unless there are any objections.”
I looked at Alex for a reaction; he must have heard Constantine’s words.
Alex’s expression was unreadable.
Another choice for Cherry to make, then.
I lifted my head and rubbed my cheek against Constantine’s. I wanted this as much as he did, and if I was to have something real with Alex, I couldn’t hide from him. “No objections”—I was glad I hadn’t fed and they couldn’t see my embarrassment painted in red all over my face—“but I want you both.”
Alex narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. “At the same time?”
“Yes.”I didn’t expect to have to talk things out.
“Not yet, though.” Constantine pushed his hand lower and ran one finger along my slit.
I squeezed my thighs together, trapping him in place until I got a response from Alex.
It took an eternity, but Alex said, “Okay.”
Constantine turned me around and tugged off my T-shirt, his fingers lingering on my breasts. I stood before him topless, and he claimed my lips with the same fervor he had on the night he admitted to forging a mental link between us.
And he messed with my head tonight as much as he did then.
If I were to decide now, I’d choose to stay with him. Luckily, my mind was already made up.
He broke the kiss and caught my gaze before helping me lie on the bed. It was custom made so he could fuck standing up—his words—which he demonstrated on several occasions. I had no doubt it was what he had in mind now. I kicked off my flats, closed my eyes, and lifted my hips so he could peel off my jeans. My bravado had been spent on my request and had taken with it all other initiative.
When an eternity passed and Constantine hadn’t touched me, I opened my eyes to find him staring down at me. Violet flecks wound around his irises, and his fangs were out.
He was hung
ry. Starving. For me.
I stopped caring about the ritual, the prophecy, ever becoming human again. My sole purpose was to sate his hunger. I was wet and aching for him. I dipped two fingers between my lower lips and brought them to my mouth, to taste myself.
Constantine growled, and Alex echoed him, as he appeared next to him.
Alex’s gaze was dark, but I wasn’t afraid. It wasn’t jealousy swimming in the depths of his grey eyes, but desire. He pulled his shirt over his head and sent it flying across the room. Hard muscle rippled and flexed, as he undid his jeans and stepped out of them.
I looked at Constantine. “You should be naked too.”
He untied the sash and let his robe slide off his shoulders and float to the floor. Next to Alex’s tan skin, Constantine looked like he was carved from living marble.
They were night and day and all mine.
Whether Constantine’s idea worked as planned or not, this would be the best night of my existence.
Constantine lifted one of my legs and laid an open-mouthed kiss over the ankle. He glided his mouth up my calf and kissed the back of my knee, as he pushed me higher up, so he could climb on the mattress between my legs.
I raised my head, wanting to see him, but Alex hopped on the bed next to me and leaned down for a kiss that left my lips swollen.
Constantine trailed more kisses up my thigh, ignoring my barked orders to go higher still. He took his time nibbling on the tender flesh, and then moved his attentions to my other leg, never touching my aching center.
I reached for his hair, intending to use it as a lever, but Alex grabbed both my wrists and pinned them to the mattress, over my head. His cock nudged my hip, teasing me.
Constantine recaptured my attention by spreading my legs as wide as they’d go and laying a kiss on my pussy.
“Finally,” I said.
Constantine shook his head. “Oh, I’m going to make you beg for it.”
It didn’t take long.
He alternated between flicking my clit with his tongue and sucking on it. He grazed it with his teeth. Pushed his tongue inside me. The sensations drove me to the edge but weren’t enough to send me tumbling over it.
Alex kept me in place, his hands on my wrists and a leg pressing down on my knee. I was exposed and needy, and I couldn’t get enough of their divine torture.
Which I’d never experience again.
The thought was sobering, but I forgot about it when Constantine worried my clit with his teeth and tapped it with the tip of his tongue.
“Please,” I sent through our link. Out loud I added, “More.”
Constantine laughed and sat back on his haunches. I thought he wanted me to beg aloud, and I was about to do just that, when he thrust two long, thick fingers in my pussy. I pumped my hips, and he leaned over me to close his lips over my nipple. He hooked his fingers inside me and began slamming his palm against me, so the heel rubbed against my clit.
His fangs descended again, piercing the skin around my nipple, and making me arch into his mouth.
Alex let go of one wrist and pinched my second nipple punishingly. I stretched and grabbed his hard cock. It throbbed in my fist. I couldn’t focus on him, though, because my mind—my entire being—was rolled in a ball in my cunt, waiting to erupt through my cells.
I was close. So close.
Constantine fucked me with his hand, rubbing against the bundle of nerves inside while pressing on my sensitive button. I pulsed in time to his thrusts, tasting release but not attaining it.
I let Alex’s cock slip out of my grasp. I didn’t trust myself not to dig my nails into him. He nuzzled my neck and kneaded my breast, but that wasn’t what I yearned for.
In my head, I chanted, “Please. Please. Please...”
A million times, I must have said it, before Constantine thought at me, “Since you ask so nicely...” He pressed the heel of his hand down on my clit and mentally said, “This is how I want to remember you. Falling apart with pleasure. For me.”
My body shook with the force of the orgasm that tore through me. I had to clench my jaw, to keep from screaming as white-hot fire radiated from my core to every one of my nerve endings.
I lost control over my senses, and the sounds of the night above reached my ears despite the relative soundproofing of the room. An owl. A passing car. Wesley’s heartbeat two floors above us. I was grateful not to catch the scent of the women who lived here till recently. I only smelled Alex and Constantine. Their arousal. Precum dripping from their cocks. My blood.
Constantine slanted his lips over mine, and I tasted myself on his tongue, before melting into his kiss. I dug my hand in his bun and loosened it, letting his golden mane cascade down his shoulders.
“That was amazing,” he said out loud.
I didn’t answer, too busy regaining my bearings.
And then he flipped me on my stomach.
Stars blinked behind my eyelids when I slid them shut.
Constantine licked down my spine, and his tongue sent tingles along my fingers and toes. His hair tickled my skin. He gave my ass a playful bite, and I shook it with a giggle.
Alex got out of bed and stood in front of me. He fisted his hand in my hair, and tugged me upward. When I propped myself up on my elbows, he found his way into my mouth. This time I paid his cock better attention. I swirled my tongue over the tip, and sucked until my cheeks hollowed. He moaned and pumped his hips against my face, and I touched my teeth to the underside, the way I knew he liked it.
Constantine straddled my legs, and his erection poked at me. Why was he wasting time? Why wasn’t he already inside me?
I tried to lift my hips, but he slapped my ass.
Nice.
One slicked finger—saliva?—separated my buttcheeks and pressed against my asshole. I bucked. I’d said I wanted him and Alex at the same time, but I didn’t like things going up my ass. Well, except a couple times, when Alex’s fingers were more adventurous than usual.
But I couldn’t take Constantine’s cock.
I mean, have you seen that thing? It was too big for back there, but it perfectly matched my pussy, that craved him desperately.
“You said you wanted both of us,” he whispered in my mind. “I chose first.”
Alex didn’t pause his thrusts, and I couldn’t speak around the dick in my mouth, so I sent Constantine, “Don’t hurt me.”
“Do you want me to stop?” he sent back.
Maybe? “Why choose to go there?” I asked.
“I saw your face contort in bliss for me. I want to hold on to that memory, not watch while life seeps out of you.”
Sold. “Do it.”
He pushed his finger in, past the tight ring of muscle, and I bit my lip. I’d gone this far with Alex and enjoyed it. I forced myself to push back into it until I felt Constantine’s knuckles against my pussy. He withdrew slowly, and my flesh gave way more easily when he inched back inside. Soon he was sliding his finger in and out of my ass at the same time Alex fucked my mouth.
Constantine tried to add a second finger, but my body clenched around him. He tilted up my hips and buried himself inside my pussy in one hard thrust. My inner walls fluttered at the intrusion, and he took advantage of my surprise, to drive his second finger in my ass. And it was good. Scratch that—it was great. His cock hit all the right spots, and his fingers in my ass added to the delicious feeling of being filled.
Alex closed his fist over his cock and slipped it out of my mouth. I flattened my upper body to the mattress, watching as he moved his hand lazily along his shaft, like he didn’t want to come yet. Of course. He’d soon be inside me too.
Yes.
I met Constantine’s thrusts, feeling each down-stroke like a jolt of electricity to my core. I was seconds from coming again.
And then the bastard pulled out.
My mewl of frustration turned into a groan when he positioned the tip of his cock at my asshole. He squeezed the first inch inside, and I wasn’t all that thril
led. It burned and stretched me, and I didn’t see what people liked about it.
He stilled. “Tell me when you want me to move.”
Never?
I nodded and twisted my hands in the sheets. I once wanted to be a porn star, damn it; I could handle anal. And I trusted Constantine to make it good. “I’m okay,” I said.
He drove forward slowly, stopping every so often to caress my back or use our link to tell me I’m beautiful and that the memory of this moment would get him hard for years to come. He didn’t let his sexy talk get sentimental, but his touch reminded me of how he felt. How he said he’d always feel.
It was too much. “Can you be quiet?” I thought at him. “I’m trying to focus on taking your huge dick in.”
He chuckled and brushed my hair out of the way to kiss the back of my neck, then sent me a mental image of himself buried in my ass. “Beautiful.”
It kind of was.
He withdrew as slowly as he entered me, until only the tip was inside, and then sheathed himself inside me again, with a little more force. He kept going until the near-unbearable discomfort deepened into a different kind of ache. The burning sweetened into pleasure. The stretching made me feel full and yet want more. This was what people loved about it.
A few more lunges, and I was impaling myself on him with abandon. “So good.” I fed on people and played with their memories, but this felt like the naughtiest, dirtiest thing I’d done. And I couldn’t get enough. I was a fucking convert.
Constantine laughed and snaked his hand around my hip. I thought he meant to find my clit and send me headfirst into another spiraling release, but he grasped me and used his vampire strength to flip us over.
Ah.
I draped my legs back over Constantine’s and arched an eyebrow at Alex.
He didn’t need more of an invitation. He crawled between our spread legs and ran his hand up the length of my body. He palmed my breast, and I held his gaze as I closed my fingers around his shaft and guided him inside my pussy. He entered me in one smooth stroke. When I felt his balls slam against Constantine’s, I expected one of them to recoil, but neither seemed perturbed or inclined to stop.
