Based on the smile on his mother’s face, she hadn’t missed the action.
He gorged himself on honey chicken, honey pies, and honey ribs while everyone talked about lighter things around him.
“Honey?” Nadie whispered.
“Yes, dear?”
Nadie rolled her eyes.
“Bears, Nadie. Bears.”
“I guess I shouldn’t make any getting stuck-in-the-honey-tree jokes, then,” she said, her eyes filled with laugher.
“Oh my God, let me tell you the story about the time Torrent and Jace got stuck in a tree!” Lorena said, her smile bright.
From that moment, each sibling and his parents deemed it necessary to explain to Nadie each and every embarrassing event from his childhood. He had a feeling if he wasn’t careful his mom would bring out the photos.
Dante, the traitor, even told a few stories of his own, but those had been when they’d first met and had been adults. He still loved hearing them, and by the smile on Nadie’s face, she did too.
Once people started to slow down, the conversation turned from stories of the past to what the Conclave had told his dragon. His family sat in silence once Dante finished speaking, the tension and worry in the air palpable.
His father spoke first. “We know of the Conclave through Jace. As god-touched, he was allowed to explain his role as Mediator and where his duties originated. I always thought of them as a council with too much power. Now I see that a few of them—if not the whole of them—are bullies as well.”
Dangerous words if they had not been said within the confines of his home. Jace had shielded his house from prying ears, much like Dante had done to his own. Only private dwellings under those projections were safe.
At least as safe as Jace could make it.
One never knew who was listening.
“Not all agreed with Alexander,” Dante put in.
His father nodded. “Then they are potential allies. I see your path unfolding only in certain ways. One, you agree with the Conclave and serve out your five hundred years of training and then any time they need after that.”
Jace and Dante both growled while Nadie, sitting between them, patted their arms.
“Stop it, both of you,” Nadie admonished. “He’s laying it all out, not telling Dante he should leave us.” Jace settled somewhat at her words but was still on edge.
Jace’s father nodded at Nadie before continuing. “The other options are trickier. Find another dragon to take Dante’ s place. If you find one who would not only have the power but isn’t cruel, all the better.”
“There is a dragon who works for Alexander,” Dante said slowly. “I believe his name is Rock. I don’t know him well.”
“Check him out,” his father ordered.
“We will have to go to the dragon realm,” Dante said.
Nadie clutched Jace’s hand. “We?”
Dante leaned over and brushed a kiss on her lips, letting Jace relax. “I need to introduce you and Jace as my mates. It’s required of my house and will allow you to fall under my protection.”
Jace held back a scowl at that. He did not like the dragon realm, but to complete all aspects of their mating, he would journey there.
“You said options,” Nadie said. “What’s the other one?”
His father raised his head, his lips thinning to a firm line. “We fight.”
Jace held back a sigh.
He’d known that was the only other feasible option, as finding a suitable replacement was beyond farfetched. But it still hurt to hear it.
The Conclave had untold powers. If they were to fight, Jace was not sure who would win.
“The bears would stand behind you.”
Jace frowned at his father’s words even as they warmed him.
“And if you die fighting?” Jace asked. He had to.
Nadie flinched beside him, and he took her hand, running his thumb along her wrist.
“Then we die beside family fighting for what is right,” his mother put in. “Absolute power will only corrupt. If my son and his mates cannot live in peace because of the selfishness and cruelty of a Conclave of others we’ve never met, then we must fight.”
Dante squeezed his shoulder, and Jace gave in. A fight for a future that would be dictated by them and not a power they didn’t understand was on the horizon.
They would fight if necessary.
They would die for one another.
He looked around at the power of his blood and of his heart.
But what of the cost?
Chapter Thirteen
Over a month later, Nadie still couldn’t get a grasp on how much things had changed. The woman in the bathroom mirror was not the same woman who had decided to walk out of Dante’s Circle and never return. She hadn’t changed physically except for the spread of dark ink splashed with blood-red roses.
Nadie loved the ink, though she had never thought she was a tattoo person. The image of long lines of ink down a certain dragon’s arms filled her mind, and she clutched the sink, a wave of deep, unending need shocking her system.
Jace had joked with her about how long she would last until she needed one of them again, and she had laughed. Oh she knew how weak her human half was compared to her other one. She was a starving succubus, desire running through her veins more potent than blood. She couldn’t last long without release, without the life force of one of her men. The dependency chided, but Dante said she would find her equilibrium soon.
He also said that both he and Jace craved her just as much, if not more. Their own dependency was masked by the dominance of their beasts.
So far, with their testing, she had been able to last only twelve hours at most until, as Dante had once put it, she would need to feed again.
She felt like a leach.
A leach who got to be with two of the most sensual and dangerous men she had ever met.
Nadie ran a hand over her face, frustrated as hell she couldn’t just get over it and learn to be this new person. It wasn’t that she hated this new feeling, no, far from it. She’d never been the prudish and proper little girl her parents wanted her to be—had tried to force her to be. The frustration came from the fact that she didn’t know how to control it. She hated feeling helpless. She’d felt helpless for two years every time she was near Dante but couldn’t do anything about it. Two years when her body would grow weak, her limbs heavy, her mind ready to break.
Now it seemed she was back to square one.
She shook her head. No, that wasn’t right. She was just being melodramatic. It wasn’t like before where she felt undeniably at odds with everything in her life and could only cling to the thread of what she thought she could feel with Dante.
Now she had two men in her life who truly cared for her, and she thought they soon would love her. She wasn’t delusional in the fact that love was an option, but not a fact yet. That would come. She might have loved the dream of Dante when she was younger, but now she was falling in love with the man and dragon he was. Jace, too, had entered her heart in all the best possible ways. She wasn’t ashamed of what she had, and she’d hurt anyone who said she should be.
Another reason she wouldn’t be introducing her two men to her family. She didn’t want the heartbreak and the tension. She’d begun cutting ties years ago, and as with Becca and her mother, she’d sever them completely.
Strong hands clutched her hips, and she closed her eyes, inhaling that spicy scent mixed with dark chocolate and danger. She leaned back, her dragon’s chest hard and perfect for her.
“You’re thinking too hard,” he mumbled, his hands gliding over her hips, her stomach, between her breasts in a soothing exploration.
She moaned into him, that inner power stretching after waking up from a nap, reaching out to the man who held her with such care. She moaned, rocking her body back. His erection pressed against her back, and she let her head fall to the side, baring her neck for him. Dante licked along the line of her neck then bit down.
; Hard.
She gasped, the fire of his bite shocking her, her body shaking. He held on, his teeth scraping against her before he licked around the bite, soothing.
When her knees finally stopped shaking, she swallowed hard, clearing her head. “What…what was that for?”
Dante’s gaze caught hers in the mirror. “We’re going to the succubus realm in a few moments. While the mating bond is potent and others should be able to sense it, I wanted to make a claim.” He grinned, slow, sensual. “Plus I like having you come apart in my arms.”
Nadie blinked then smiled, liking how alpha her man was. “What about me? Do I get to make a claim?”
Her mate’s eyes darkened, and he turned her quickly in his arms before lifting by her hips to sit her on the sink. He brushed his hair to the side, and she glimpsed the long lines of his neck, but not before she saw a mark on the other side.
She licked her lips. “I take it you and Jace have already marked each other.”
He smiled at her again, his eyes twinkling. “You took a long time in the shower. We had to find something to occupy our time.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her mouth before she pulled at his shirt so he moved closer. “I’m going to make sure none of those women—and the men too—make a move on you. You and Jace are all mine.”
He grinned, showing very white teeth. “Of that we have no doubt. Now sink those pretty teeth into my flesh. You don’t have sharp canines like Jace or me, so a dark bruise will work just the same. Then we’ll find our bear, and you two can mark each other before we go.”
She squirmed on the counter, this talk of claiming and marking filling her with need.
Dante seemed to know exactly what she was thinking about, but he didn’t move to help her with her ache.
“When we get home, we’ll enjoy all the tastes and sensations, my sprite. For now, this will have to do.”
She scowled but moved him closer, craving his taste. He growled underneath her hold, and she licked him, his salty taste settling on her tongue. As he groaned, she bit down, not hard enough to draw blood, but to mark him as hers. He rocked against her, his fists on either side of her as if he was holding back his desire to crush her to him.
Her dragon, so strong yet so gentle.
Nadie sucked and licked until she was happy with her mark on his skin. It definitely looked like a primal claim.
Perfect.
“I see we’re all getting ready to go then,” Jace said from the doorway.
Dante grinned at her, that tongue ring of his glinting as he licked his lips. “She’s all yours,” he whispered over his shoulder before turning back to her. “At least for now. Once we get home though…well, I think we’ll share quite nicely.”
Nadie rolled her eyes. It seemed she wasn’t the only one pounding with need when it came to the triad.
“I’m going to be all hot and bothered when we go to the other realm, you know,” she said, unsure if she actually cared or not that everyone would know.
Jace moved Dante out of the way and leaned down to capture her lips in a sweet kiss. She moaned beneath him, his tongue darting into her mouth before pulling back.
“We’re going to a realm that thrives on sex and sensuality,” Jace explained. “The fact that we’ll all walk in there with prominent marks, need radiating off each of us, and a bond that they can’t challenge will only help.”
“I’m so glad you guys are here to help with this, even though it’s so weird that I’m not a human anymore.”
Jace fisted her hair behind her head and forced her gaze to his. “You’re Nadie. You’re our Nadie. That’s all that matters.”
She knew that he believed that, or he tried to. He didn’t say that, without that hope, fighting for what they wanted, finding a way to keep their Dante would be fruitless. Right then, though, looking into those light green eyes, she didn’t want to think about that anymore. She deserved to think about herself and what she wanted…if only for the moment.
“Now…about that mark,” he whispered before tugging her head to the side and sinking his fangs into her flesh.
She cried out, not in pain, but from the scorching heat shooting down her spine. She clung to Jace, wrapping her legs around his waist. He growled against her, rocking his erection against her core.
He pulled away too soon, leaving them both in such need she wasn’t sure she could walk.
“My turn,” he growled then moved his head to the side, baring the unmarked side of his neck. She went at him as she had Dante, wanting to crawl all over both her men, never letting them go.
Soon, she thought to herself. Soon.
The wind danced through her hair, and she took a deep breath. The three of them stood in the clearing, waiting for the portal to open to let them through to the succubus realm. Dante held the invitation that had been sent by messenger just the week before. It had taken longer than she’d thought for the succubi to get back to them about meeting, but the men said it wasn’t unusual.
According to Dante, the entire paranormal world and its realms knew the seven lightning-struck existed. Some were excited about new life, others much more violent in their reactions. Nadie was the only succubus of the group of women so far, and now she was about to meet the people that could be her own.
She only hoped they accepted her—at least to the point that she’d understand her powers.
“Ready?” Dante asked, his hand firmly holding hers.
“Ready,” Nadie answered, breathless.
He blew a small tendril of fire, and she smiled, loving the small sparks of his dragon. She’d yet to see his other form—nor had she seen Jace’s. They were all getting to know their human halves, and hopefully soon, she’d get to know their other ones as well.
The portal opened in front of them. Unlike the bear one, which had been a splash of color and smelled of home, this one was…sensual. Dark smoke spiraled and curled around the opening, a deceptive laziness she was sure was meant to entice the summoner and summoned as one. Dark red spirals of smoke mixed in with the black before fading away, purples and pinks taking their place before the red made another appearance.
Dante pulled her forward, and soon the three of them were surrounded by warmth…but not of home and hearth. No, this was velvet and silk against her skin, dark chocolate and strawberries on her tongue, firm hands on her hips and in her hair, a sin so inviting she almost moaned in response.
Once they made their way through and the portal closed behind them, she sucked in a breath, her body cooling as they stood in a large room.
Dante tugged her closer, his hand a proprietary grip on her hip. Jace stood on the other side of her, his arm draped around her shoulder in a move no one could dismiss as casual. No, the fact that the marks on all three were blatant and in view of all others due to their hair being pulled back hadn’t been enough.
Not by far.
Couples, triads, and more were scattered around the large room, their bodies writhing as they lay with one another. Some were clothed, the bare hint of skin and seduction more heady than the full-on nudity of others. While none of them were actually having full-on sex—Nadie had a feeling that would come soon—they all were so sensual and inviting that her inner succubus stretched, wanting a piece of it all.
The dragon to her left and the bear to her right, however, blocked her in, reminding her succubus that she was theirs.
Her succubus reached through her body, wrapping its power around her, filling her with an inner need and peace she hadn’t known she’d possessed.
“Welcome, Nadie Morgan, to the realm that may one day call you their own,” a woman said in front of them, her voice like a whip on bare skin, shocking yet intoxicating.
Nadie raised her head and met the gaze of the woman who’d called her name, barely holding back from sucking in a breath at her beauty.
The woman’s long black hair fell in soft curls around her breasts, bringing attention to the drop-dead gorgeous curves that se
emed to scream sex and desire. Red-painted lips were a sharp contrast to porcelain skin and dark eyes. She had the look of a cinema siren rather than a succubus…or maybe it was both.
She wore a cream silk dress that covered her body from neck to toe, a very different look from the others in the room who showed more skin. However, when the woman stepped closer, Nadie saw why the woman oozed evocativeness and seduction. The slits up the sides of her dress reached the tops of her hips—the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything under plain and clear. But only when the woman moved a certain way could anyone see skin.
The tease was more of a tantalization than the blatant exoticness clothes of others.
Bravo.
The woman looked between the two men at Nadie’s sides and smiled a smile filled with such dark promise that no one could have mistaken it for anything else. Nadie’s hackles rose, and she bared her teeth.
Dante and Jace were hers.
The woman raised a brow then smiled for real this time. “Nadie, I am Corena, Queen of the Succubi.” She raised an arm, directing Nadie’s attention to a man by her side that Nadie hadn’t noticed.
Her mind had been so focused on her own men and the woman in front of her that she’d missed one of the most beautiful men she’d ever seen. Full lips, a careless grace upon his face, dark eyes, and silky chestnut hair.
Oh yes, this man was sex on a stick but paled in comparison to the mates at her sides. She pushed warmth through the mating bond—something both had taught her to do—and her men growled softly at her side, accepting it.
“This is Dresden, King of the Incubi,” Corena explained.
Ah, yes, Dante had explained this. The realm was rumored to be matriarchal. However, the queen had a king who acted more of a Consort than king. Their relationship was rumored to be open to many partners—both casual and with meaning—but the king and queen had ruled for hundreds of years, side by side.
It was a love story Nadie wanted to know more of, but right then, all she wanted to do was take her men back to their home and have their way with them. The heat and carnal energy in the room was intoxicating.
Tangled Innocence Page 14
