by Lexi C. Foss
"Feed, Loey," she mumbles against my lips. " Feed off me. I'm no mortal, but it'll help you get through the rest of your shift."
I would...if I could stop kissing her. But she's so sweet, so damn sweet. I can't stop. Now that she started it, I'm all revved up, fisting the sides of her shirt to keep myself somewhat grounded.
What about Travis, that little voice in my head whispers, snapping my eyes open. "We shouldn't be doing this, Ellie. Travis..."
"Doesn't care. We've had several girlfriends throughout the years. Granted, he's a little thrown 'cause they've always been evenly shared, but I have a feeling he'll work his charm on you before you know it."
So I was right. They're poly.
"I don't know if he will. I don't feel anything like this with him." I kiss her harder to prove my point, hissing as my fangs drop of their own accord.
Giselle chuckles, pulling my lip between her teeth before offering up her neck. "Because I was hogging you. Give him the same chance you gave me and I promise you he'll rock your entire world. How do you think he got me?"
“I mean, he’s not terrible looking,” I joke, grazing her skin with my fangs.
“Exactly, so give him a chance.”
4
Loey
Saturdays are our busiest night at the bar. You’ve got people coming in and out all night. Some will even stay until we close. It can get crazy, but I look forward to the chaos. It’s one of the few times I’m not thinking about blood, about preying on an innocent and sucking them dry until they’re nothing but skin and bones.
I definitely don’t have the time to think about it tonight. We are slammed. For every drink I serve, another three pop up. I’m pretty sure we’re almost at capacity, too, that is if we’re not already.
“Lolo, take a break in five.” That’s Ben. He owns The Mad Orchid, and he’s actually an incredible human being.
The best boss I’ve ever had—aside from Jude, of course.
In some ways, he reminds me of Vaughn in a lot of ways. They both have the silver fox look going on, and they’re cool as a damn cucumber twenty-four-seven. I absolutely detest when he calls me Lolo, though. That’s one thing Vaughn does not do.
“You did it again, Benjamin,” I yell back over the music, shaking the crap out of this lady’s basic-ass Daiquiri. “And I don’t need a break.”
If I take a break, I’m going to be tempted to—
“Yes, you do,” a female’s voice chimes in, and after hearing that voice in all kinds of octaves last night, I know exactly who it is without taking a look at her pretty face.
My heart slams against my chest as a mental replay flickers through my mind yet again.
Not sure how I manage to pull a martini glass from the shelf behind me without dropping it, but I set it onto the counter and go about pouring the drink with pure finesse as I cut my eyes to Ellie’s awaiting smirk. “What are you doing here?”
Chin in her hand, her smirk widens. “To see you, obviously.”
My stomach flips. “I’m working, though.”
“Mhmm, and it looks like bossman just told you to take a break. I’d say I got here just in time,” she counters.
Lips quirking, I slide the martini glass toward the woman in front of me and take the cash she’s set on the bar, pointing my stare back on Giselle. “Where’s Travis?”
“Home,” she shrugs.
Interesting.
“Go take a break,” Ben demands in my ear. “You’ve been at it like a maniac for hours. Plus, she looks like fun.”
“She is,” I toss back, grinning as his eyebrows shoot up to his hairline, an impressed expression coloring his handsome features.
“Oh, really?”
I nod salaciously. “Really.”
Ben cocks his head aside, yanking the washcloth hanging from my back pocket as he all but shoves me out from behind the bar. “All the more reason to take that break. Bye. Wren and I got it,” he insists, and I know that’s the end of that.
Fighting him would be futile from all angles. I’ve learned that the hard way with Ben. He’s lenient and super chill, but once he puts his foot down about something, there’s no working around it.
I don’t even get to respond. He’s already wandered back into the madness, clapping Wren on the shoulder as he scoots past her and her electric pink locks.
Chuckling, I spin on my heel to make my way over to Giselle, who’s staring me down with those hypnotic duo-toned pools.
“Have you eaten?” An innocent question to the average human, thoughtful even, but we all know what she’s getting at.
“Not since earlier, no,” I admit, shrugging as she gives me this chastising look, dark, curly head falling to one side and all.
“You’re killing me, Smalls,” she quotes, and then we’re out of there, flashing through the bar and out the same exit we took last night. Seconds later, my back’s hitting the bricks of the building, her hands falling flat on either side of my head. “Why are you so hard-headed? You need to feed, Loey.”
“I know but—”
She sets the same finger I had in my mouth last night against my lips, shushing me softly. “But nothing. The less you feed, the less control you have. Take it from me; I was exactly the same when I first turned. You have to sate your needs in order to practice true restraint.”
“I don’t like hurting people, Ellie. It’s not right. We shouldn’t even be alive.”
Giselle’s expression softens, hand sweeping up to claim my chin and lure me closer. “And yet, we are. We died and were given a second chance. Yeah, it comes with a price, but we get to live. Eternally if we play our cards right.”
Our lips brush; that’s how close she’s reeled me in. I don’t know what it is about her, but I can’t think straight when she’s this close, can’t form a proper sentence to save my goddamn life. “Why would... That’s not…”
“Shhh,” she silences me, “Objections will change nothing. End of the day, we’re vampires and we need to feed, whether we like it or not.”
“I’m not hungry,” I whisper, eyes falling shut, a harsh breath shooting free from my throat as her lips press harder against my own.
“Lies. I can feel your energy, L, hear the thundering of your pulse. You’re on edge, baby, and you know it.”
“‘Cause of you. I’m on edge ’cause of you.” No point in hiding it. It’s not like she didn’t have her mouth on my pussy just twenty-four hours ago.
“Looks like that makes two of us. I’ve been riding the high of last night all day. You can thank Trav for me being here right now,” she states, and before I can so much as ask what exactly she means by that, she’s sealing the deal, pressing me flush to the rough brickwork with her entire body as her lips glide over mine.
I melt against her, couldn’t help myself if I tried. It feels so right.
And yet it’s so wrong.
As harsh as this is going to sound, they shouldn’t be here right now. I was supposed to drive my stake through their hearts before I left their apartment, but they trapped me. They connected with me in a way I’ve never felt for one person before, let alone two.
“Feed, Loey,” she mumbles against my lips. “Feed off me. I’m no mortal, but it’ll help you get through the rest of your shift.”
I would...if I could stop kissing her. But she’s so sweet, so damn sweet. I can’t stop. Now that she started it, I’m all revved up, fisting the sides of her shirt to keep myself somewhat grounded.
What about Travis, that little voice in my head whispers, snapping my eyes open. “We shouldn’t be doing this, Ellie. Travis...”
“Doesn’t care. We’ve had several girlfriends throughout the years. Granted, he’s a little thrown ’cause they’ve always been evenly shared, but I have a feeling he’ll work his charm on you before you know it.”
So I was right. They’re poly.
“I don’t know if he will. I don’t feel anything like this with him.” I kiss her harder to prove my point, hissing as
my fangs drop of their own accord.
Giselle chuckles, pulling my lip between her teeth before offering up her neck. “Because I was hogging you. Give him the same chance you gave me, and I promise you he’ll rock your entire world. How do you think he got me?”
“I mean, he’s not terrible looking,” I joke, grazing her skin with my fangs.
“Exactly, so give him a chance. That’s all I’m asking for.”
5
Travis
I can already tell you this is going to be a problem.
I’m not trying to be cynical. It’s just…different this time. Three has never been a crowd in the past. Granted, they’ve never been anything long-term, either, but they were always mutual from the start. Ellie and I had a method, the perfect game plan that worked seamlessly every time.
And then Loey happened.
Giselle typically has to scope out the area and find someone she likes. Not with Loey, though. From the moment we walked into The Mad Orchid, my wife’s entire vibe shifted; squared shoulders, confident chin, and as soon as we found some seats at the bar, she also spotted her prize behind it.
All five-foot-two of her.
That two might even be generous. Loey’s a tiny thing, but she’s perfectly packaged.
Whatever her exact height may be, Giselle wanted her, and I was game. I could already picture all the different ways this could go. She was one of us, too, which always makes things more interesting.
Vampires aren’t fragile like mortals.
We can play dirtier, rougher. The possibilities are endless.
Or they were, until Ellie went against our plan, did her own thing, and ran with it, leaving me somewhat in the shadows. Yeah, alright, so I got the husband introduction, but that was it. What passed between them after that… Shit, even I felt it. Just observing them was fascinating and yet suffocating. It’s like their souls met, too, and they just…clicked into place.
Something Loey and I didn’t do. When she looked at me, I didn’t see that same fire in her baby blues. Actually, I saw a whole lot of jack shit. Zilch. Nada. There was nothing other than confusion and uncertainty.
Any sane man would’ve argued against his wife running off with her, but I’m not that man. That’s not my style. Giselle and I have been together far too long for me to try to control her now. We’ve never had trust issues, and I’m sure not looking to start that shit now.
It’s hard, though. I’m the odd man out in this equation and I don’t know what to do with that, how to act. Ellie wants to see more of Loey, so where does that leave me? Am I just supposed to make myself scarce?
“So, are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, or am I gonna have to pick a fight to get you talking?”
Ellie.
I hadn’t even heard her come in.
Lifting the beer bottle to my lips, I turn my head to meet her approaching form and watch her from the other side of the kitchen island as I down what’s left of the lukewarm ale. Tastes like fucking shit, but that’s my own damn fault. I babysat this one, unlike the other five I guzzled down before.
She takes one look at me and the graveyard of bottles beside me, and sighs profoundly, setting her palms to the edge of the counter. “Six? You’ve had six? I wasn’t even gone that long.”
“Yeah…You were…” I’m not exactly slurring, takes a big guy like me at least a twelve pack to start feeling it, but I’m starting to slow down for sure.
Giselle gives me that look as her dark head falls to one side, the look that tells me I’m stupidly about to open a can of worms I definitely don’t want to clean up. “I was not. An hour at most, if that. She was working.”
Rolling the face of my watch toward me, I take note of the time and scoff the quietest laugh as I hop onto my feet. “Nope,” I pop the fuck out of the P. “Almost two and a half.”
“Wow, Trav… You were timing me?” She sounds as offended as you’re imagining, those duo-toned eyes of hers boring into me like lasers as I go about tossing all of the bottles into the recycling bin.
“Not really. I’m well aware of what time you left, though, and it was not an hour ago, I’ll tell you that.” I make way to leave after that; neither one of us are in the proper headspace to have this conversation right now, but I’m cut off before I can take five full steps.
Giselle flashes in front of me, anger and a heaping dose of determination emanating off her in scorching waves. “So Loey’s the problem then, yeah? That’s what your shit mood today was about? Why would you tell me to go see her then?”
Called it, didn’t I? I knew this would be an issue, and I hate every second of it. Ellie and I don’t fight. In all the years we’ve been together, I think we’ve suffered through two or three powerful arguments, and the fact that we’re clearly headed in that direction now—over a stranger no less—ignites the blood in my veins faster than I can process.
“Do you not see her as a problem?” I snap, balling my fists at my sides.
“No, I don’t, obviously, and to be completely honest, I’m not quite understanding why you do,” she snaps back, shoving a sharp, crimson claw against my chest.
Her eyes narrow, too, daring me to voice what I’m feeling.
Wow, we really are going here.
I don’t bother trying to stop the laughter bubbling in my chest despite knowing it’s only going to fuel this and her onward. “The fact that you don’t see it is what’s most alarming.”
Giselle groans and throws her head back, one that quickly morphs into an enraged growl, obsidian veins beneath her eyes coming out to play. “Can you stop beating around the goddamn bush, Travis, and just say what it is you clearly want to say?”
“Again, the fact that you don’t see it, that I even have to tell you is just…” Shaking my head, I step around her and start for our bedroom again. “A century together and a pint-sized blonde is our demise. I never would’ve guessed it.”
“Our demise? Are you serious right now?” she spits venomously, halting me dead in my tracks.
Very slowly, I turn my head, meeting her stare from over my shoulder. “Does it look like I’m joking?”
Silence falls between us then, a thick veil clogging the entirety of our apartment. It’s so dense, you could slice it with a blade, maybe even choke on it if you swallow enough.
When she doesn’t reply, I shake my head a second time and take off for a third, but yet again, the next two words out of her mouth jerk me to a full stop.
“I’m speechless…”
She’s speechless? She?
“Yeah,” I scoff, “That makes two of us, Ellie girl.”
“The question is, why are you even thinking like this? What could possibly have prompted you to think th—”
“She’s not mutual.” The truth thunders in my voice, silencing her instantly. “None of last night was mutual, and you know it. We agreed, Ellie. If I was going to share you—triad, always, not we have each other, and one of us has a little something extra on the side.”
I’m waiting for her to explode, to counter with anything other than what she does. I swear I blink and she’s in front of me, the rage in her eyes now extinguished. Her features have smoothed back to their normal state, too, although the crinkle of her eyebrows speaks volumes. Her gaze drops between us, and after a beat or so, she reaches out and takes my hand.
“What do you mean it wasn’t mutual? You were there, you had me.”
No, I didn’t.
“I had your body, Ellie, that’s it. Your mind, your pleasure, hell, your soul wasn’t. You were with her. It was all about her. At one point, you even told her I could sit out if it meant you got to have her.”
She cringes, her mouth popping open to reply, but words fail her. Squeezing my hand, she shakes it almost desperately, at a clear loss of how to tell me otherwise. She knows she can’t, knows I’m right. My cock might’ve been buried deep in her cunt, assisting Loey in bringing her over the edge, but facts are facts.
They didn’t n
eed me, and Loey sure as fuck didn’t want me.
“I can’t explain it, Trav,” she finally replies, her voice hushed. “I’ve been trying to figure it out all day, and I can’t. Seeing her again didn’t help, either, and I don’t think it’s something I’ll be able to figure out any time soon. I just know that it feels good, it feels right, and I want to explore it. That doesn’t mean I want you or love you any less. You’re my husband.”
“Who was easily expendable last night,” I remind her.
She shakes her head adamantly. “You weren’t expendable. I was just…”
“Drowning in her.” There’s so much resentment in my tone, resentment dripping in the bright, envious shade of green. “Do you understand how hard it was to have my dick inside you and know that almost every single moan to fall from your lips was for her?” My jaw locks tightly as the image flickers in my mind.
Me at the edge of the couch with Ellie’s ass in my grip.
Loey beneath her.
Their mischievous giggles.
The sounds of their slow, wet kissing.
The continuous wave of goosebumps claiming her skin under Loey’s touch…
“They weren’t all for her,” she argues softly, pulling me toward the sea of mismatching couches I was just thinking about. Falling onto one of the cream sectionals, she urges me to join her, climbing on top of me once I’ve dropped into the space beside her. “You were inside me, fucking me, owning me like always.” Her hips roll into me as she says this, the seam of her midnight black jeans running along my shaft.
“That was far from owning you, baby,” I hiss, sucking in a breath through my teeth. “I barely even got to kiss you.”
Lips curling dubiously, she drapes herself over me, kinky curls falling around us in a dark veil. “Don’t exaggerate. You kissed me, tasted me. Shit, I’m pretty sure you got to taste Loey off of me, too.”
I did, and she tasted just as sweet as my girl said she did. Another fact I’m having a hard time accepting amid the chaos she brought to our lives.
