by Ari Thatcher
He decided he should tell her that, so she would understand them a little better.
Chapter Seven
Sin opened her eyes to the realization the bath water had gone cool. Small islands of bubbles floated between her knees and the end of the tub. How long had she been in there? She lifted a hand and glanced at her fingers, surprised not to see wrinkles. Her body really was dead. Or undead.
She didn’t notice a chill when she stood, either. So many little changes were easy to overlook in the day-to-day adjustment to being a vampire. Like the way her teeth felt when she and Enos made love, how the canines had grown. Grabbing the thick, fluffy towel from the bar, she patted her skin. She had always been pale and had been grateful in recent years when that look became popular. At least that was one change she didn’t have to get used to.
When she heard footsteps above, she was glad to know the guys were up there so she didn’t have to wonder what might be moving about in the attic. She’d be so happy when life took on a normal routine. Normal. Right. Rising at dusk and toasting the sunset with a goblet of O-positive. What did vampires do all day—er, night? Flit around from tree to tree?
Speaking of which, she wondered if she could fly. Turn into a bat at will. That would save on auto maintenance and gasoline bills.
Perhaps it was a good thing the three men were staying so close. With her luck she’d shift without notice in some embarrassing situation and land on the nightly news. Or YouTube.
She pulled on some clothes, barely glancing in the mirror at her appearance. One day soon, perhaps, she’d feel like dressing up and putting on makeup but for now, she couldn’t really care less about how she looked. Running a brush through her hair, she pictured each of the brothers and thought about her feelings for them.
Baen was the leader, it seemed. The big brother. She’d never known triplets before so seeing the dynamic in action was new. So alike, yet so different. Baen exuded confidence, like a man who was used to getting his way. He wasn’t bossy or bull-headed, but more like a prince who grew up knowing he’d one day be king.
What would he be like in bed? Probably a confident lover who would know exactly what she needed. Would he be the type to tell her what to do, how to touch him? The idea of him asking her to undress him, to run her tongue over his hardened length before taking him in her mouth had ripples of excitement coursing through her.
Then there was Gower. She hadn’t had as much time alone with him but her attraction had been instant. In the days since she’d been turned, her sense of smell had grown stronger and Gower’s scent was the most powerful of the three. Just catching a whiff of him as he walked past could make her salivate. She suddenly understood women who buried their faces in a lover’s shirt or pillowcase just to inhale the memory of him.
Enos was the most emotional of the three. More nurturing. He’d be the one to bring her soup in bed when she was sick. Gourmet recipe, of course. He’d be the one she’d curl up with on a winter night when cabin fever set in. His presence enriched her somehow. Making love to him had been as wildly passionate as she expected, but her heart felt calmer afterward, if such a thing was possible.
It had also made her dilemma quite clear. She needed to come to some sort of decision about her relationship with the brothers. She was drawn to each of them in different ways. She could imagine a happily-ever-after with any of them, as ridiculous as it might seem so soon after meeting them. But she had to figure out if she could handle being with all three of them as they insisted was meant to be.
For the moment, she needed to see how they were doing with emptying the attic. Hopefully the only dangerous objects in the house were up there. She doubted that, though, since the fetish had been found in her aunt’s bedroom.
She seen her aunt’s ghost only once since the demon had been driven from her body. Maybe now that Sin was safe, her aunt had gone on to wherever souls go when people die.
With a sigh, Sin wished she could sit and talk with her aunt and get the answers to all of these questions. Since she couldn’t, she went in search of the guys.
As she went up the last two steps to the attic, she almost collided with the large box coming through the doorway in Gower’s arms. Jumping back, she flattened herself against the wall. “Hey!”
The box lowered and Gower smiled down at her. “Sorry. We’re almost done up here.” He looked back over his shoulder. “I don’t know if you should go in there until we’re sure it’s clear.”
“Do you really think I’m any safer standing two feet outside the room?”
He balanced the box against the railing. “I guess you’re right. I just don’t want anything more to happen to you.”
She wasn’t sure if her lips spread in a smile or a grimace. “I’m already dead. What else can happen?”
The pain that flashed in his eyes pierced her heart. “Oh God, I’m sorry, Gower. I know how hard you and your brothers are working at keeping me safe.”
Moving to stand beside him, she reached up and stroked his cheek, enjoying the sensation of the stubble there. The shadow of a beard never seemed to grow longer, giving him a permanent rough, sexy edge.
He lowered the box to the floor and pulled her into his arms. “I recognized you when I first saw you. Not that I knew who you were, Sin, but what you were. A part of us, in a way.”
“Why didn’t I feel anything?” Warmth spread over her as she remembered planting her face in his chest, and just what her body had felt. “I mean, like I knew you.”
“Who knows? Whatever your gifts are, they apparently aren’t precognition. It doesn’t matter. We found you anyway.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, running a fingertip along the shell before trailing down her bare neck.
Sin shivered at his touch. “I’m glad. Even if I am confused.”
He met her gaze and held it. “Don’t overthink it. Just let it happen.”
She wanted to ask what she was supposed to let happen, but he leaned down and kissed her and she forgot anything but the taste of him. She’d had lovers in the past, even a long-term relationship with Tim, the man she thought she would marry. But never had a kiss been like this. Passionate. Loving. Like a gift from his heart.
Groaning, she crushed her breasts against him and tried to relieve the urge she couldn’t explain. It was more than sex. More than physical. She tugged the back of his plaid shirt from his jeans to feel skin beneath her hands.
Gower broke away. “Not here on the steps,” he said, panting and grinning. “Too dangerous.”
He led her to her room, yanking off her shirt before she even reached the bed. As soon as the fabric cleared her head, he captured her mouth again. Their hands worked as quickly as their lips, tugging at buttons and zippers. Gower almost fell when he tried to sit on the bed and take off his boots. “Give me a minute.”
“Too long,” she grumbled, tugging at the heel of his raised foot. His boots slipped off and she yanked at his socks, then his jeans and briefs. “About time,” she said when he sat gloriously naked in front of her.
Forgetting her own nudity and the usual discomfort it brought, she knelt down and cradled his balls in one hand while wrapping her other around his throbbing cock. He was hard for her. That fact had to be the hottest thing ever. The sound of him sucking in air when she licked the precum off the tip was a close second. Nothing would please her more than to please him at this moment.
She flattened her tongue and lapped him like an ice cream cone, then took him deep in her mouth until he reached the back of her throat. Tightening her lips, she slowly drew back, flicking her tongue around him as she did. She built a rhythm, her need growing as she felt him swelling in her mouth.
“Not yet,” he gasped, lifting her to her feet. “I want to be inside you the first time I come.”
He pulled her onto the bed as if she weighed nothing, rolling onto his hip beside her. When she tried to turn toward him, he pushed her back. “Let me look. You’re beautiful. So beautiful.”
O
ne hand drew a lazy path around her swollen breast, down the curve of her waist and across her belly. She tightened her muscles in reflex, knowing his eyes followed his fingers.
“Relax.” He planted a kiss on the flesh below her navel. “I plan to get to know every inch of you no matter how well-padded. You might as well get used to the idea.”
Moving her gaze to his eyes, she found him watching her. “I won’t say the obvious, since you admit to the well-padded part. I’m not used to anyone seeing me. Touching my fat.”
“Your body will change with your change in diet. You might be pleasantly surprised. I, however, prefer you like this.” The tip of his tongue circled her navel before diving in. It aroused her as much as if he’d touched her clit. Her hips jerked. Her legs parted slightly.
Gower grinned. “I seem to have found a sensitive spot. I’ll remember that.”
He shifted on the bed and suckled at her breast, reaching across to pinch the nipple on the other. Flames shot through her, surprising her that her nipples were so sensitive, so reactive.
She grasped his biceps as if to keep him there, when what she really wanted was for him to explore lower. Her hips rocked and her knees rose, letting her legs fall wide open. “I want you to…touch me…”
His palm brushed over her belly and ran down her hip, avoiding her throbbing center. “Where?”
She bucked again. “Oh yes, there…”
His fingers curved over her inner thigh, stroking upward, but again moving away before reaching her pussy.
“Gower, please…”
“Please what?” He nipped at her breast, flicked his tongue over her nipple and ran his fingers through the curls on her mons.
“Please touch me.”
“You said that already. Touch you where?”
Her frustration built until she wanted to grab his hand, plant it on her labia and shout, here. Instead, she showed him. With her center finger, she reached down and split her lower lips, finding slick wetness and heat. “Like this.”
He growled and scooted between her legs. Spreading her labia, he encouraged her to continue. “Let me watch.”
Sin looked away. She’d never masturbated for anyone. She’d always been too self-conscious about her body, her desires. Meeting his gaze again she could see how much he wanted her. For him, she could do it. Dipping two fingers into her juices, she drew them upward, splitting her fingers to go around her clit. She gasped. His gaze was like an extra hand down there, touching, stroking.
She pinched her swollen clit, imagining he was the one doing so. Flicked a fingernail over the sensitive spot and enjoyed the flames. Then pushed her fingers deep inside and fucked herself with them.
“That’s it,” he said.
When she pulled her fingers out, she felt his tongue lap the juices escaping her. Taking her hand away, she rocked into his mouth, desperate for the feel of his tongue inside her.
His tongue plunged deep and stroked her slowly. As good as it was, it was also torture, dragging out the act when she wanted quick and dirty. “Faster. I want you to fuck me faster.”
“Not yet. Let it build. We’ve got all night.”
“But your brothers might come in. And it feels too good. I just want more.” She was becoming a sex fiend. All fucking, all the time. Was it the availability of the brothers, or part of being a vampire?
She didn’t care, as long as it didn’t stop.
Gower lifted himself above her and inched his way up, kissing, licking and just breathing as he went. “You’ll get more. You’ll get all I have to offer. And if my brothers come in, they can wait in line.”
She only barely caught part of what he said. His teeth on her nipple took all her awareness. Rolling the sensitive flesh, biting just to the point of pain, he made her breasts swell.
Stabbing lances of arousal reached the places she was used to feeling and new places, too. Her palms itched to feel the heat of his skin. It startled her to find his body temperature so cool when she ran her hands over the sculpted muscles of his back. He nibbled at her collarbone and she reached for his hard ass cheeks, cupping her hands and drawing him up.
“Fuck me now, please,” she begged.
He rose on his arms. “Fuck me now, who? I want you to say my name.”
Her lips curled in a small smile. “Fuck me now, Gower.” The laugh that followed came from deep in her belly. Was there a bit of an ego problem between the brothers?
“That’s more like it.” His cock hovered at her entrance. She spread herself wider trying to connect. Slowly, he pushed inside.
Her pussy gushed its welcome and she cried out. He felt so perfect there. Her inner muscles tightened around his cock. He seemed to swell in response, thrusting deeper.
She clutched his shoulders taut with the power he kept restrained. Feral, animalistic strength beneath her hands. Inside her pussy. The tension in him matched hers as she came closer to shattering.
Sin rocked in time with him, taking him as far inside as she could. Her fingers dug into his skin and her head rolled back. So close. So wet. The slapping sounds and their mixed scents added to the sensations driving her. “Oh God…”
“That’s it,” he grunted. “Come with me. Let me feel it.”
He lifted her knees and pushed in, finding that spot that took her to the edge. Her pussy clenched and the knot released in ripples of pleasure that took away all thought.
She woke some time later with Gower lying across one of her legs, his arm pinning her to the bed. The weight of him was delicious. She sucked in a deep breath, enjoying the smells of their mutual sweat and cum. She should be feeling the need to wash, to cover up, but the stickiness between her legs was proof of life.
Her new life.
Chapter Eight
“We need to talk.” Sin stood at the head of the basement stairs looking down at the three men gathered around the boiler.
Baen looked up. “Can it wait until we get this piece of shit working? I’m afraid the alternative is hibernation until spring thaw.”
She grimaced. It had taken her two days to work up the nerve to say those four words and he wanted to put her off. A cool draft swept over her and made his point. “Okay. I’ll be sitting near the fireplace.”
Somehow, her body reacted more slowly to changes in the air temperature since she became a vampire, but when she got cold it seemed she would never be warm again. She snuggled into the wing chair closest to the flames and pulled a quilt around her. Cleo jumped into her lap and kneaded her thigh while purring.
Suddenly the cat froze, her golden eyes looking toward the basement door. The other two cats ran out of the kitchen and stopped, also staring at the door. Three furry tails twitched their distress.
“What is it?” Sin waited, as if they would answer. Maybe the guys were coming up the stairs and the noise caught the cats’ attention. She continued to watch the door to see who would appear.
Cleo growled. Inky’s fur rose on the back of her neck and her tail doubled in size as the hair there stood on end.
“Baen? Gower? Anyone?” She couldn’t bring her feet to carry her across the room, closer to the basement door.
Knowing something had to be wrong since no one had opened the door, Sin forced herself to walk. When she was within three feet, a black mist filtered through the cracks around and beneath the door. “What the—”
Stumbling back as she tripped over a cat, she called out. “Gower! Enos? Someone come up here now!”
She clawed at the rug beneath her hands in her rush to back away. No noises rose from downstairs. Had they gone out the exterior door?
The black shape hovered above her, constantly changing shape but never taking a definable form. Her fear for the men outweighed her fear of whatever this thing was. Carefully, not looking away more than a moment at a time, she rose to her feet and backed into the kitchen.
As soon as the kitchen door flapped shut behind her, she turned and ran to the back door, yanked it open and crossed the back p
orch. She fumbled with the handle of the outside door, not expecting it to be locked. Finally, cold air blasted in her face and she ran down the three steps.
The ground was icy and her shoes skidded as she rounded the corner where the exterior door sat a few inches above the ground. She was grateful Enos had shown her where it was, so she didn’t have to run all around the house.
Sin slid to a stop at the base of the door, reached for the handle and yanked, bending her nails below the quick. It was locked from the inside. She shook her hand to ease the sting and blew on her fingers. Balancing on one foot, she stomped on the door. “Baen? Can you guys hear me? Open up!”
The stillness in response sent chills clear to her soul, if she still had one. She kicked again at the metal door. “Gower? Enos? Come on, guys, this isn’t funny.”
When no one answered, she ran back into the house. The cats stood just at the edge of the living room, tails still twitching. The black mist had taken an elongated, almost humanoid form in front of them.
“Who are you?” Sin asked.
The mist rippled like a stone skipped across it.
“What are you?”
Suddenly the cats looked toward the basement door. Sin strained to hear what they did. Taking a deep breath while she tried to figure out how to get to the door without confronting the mist, she smelled smoke.
With a glance over her shoulder, she confirmed the glass doors in front of the fireplace were closed and the smoke exited through the chimney. Was that what she smelled?
Pale, grayish tendrils of smoke escaped under the basement door, curling as they rose. The basement was on fire.
Where were the men?
Instinct told her fire could kill vampires, just as it did humans. She had to get the door open and make sure they weren’t trapped.
Gathering her nerve, she ran toward the basement. The mist moved to block her. She hesitated, bit her lip and ran through the mist.
A mucky, rank slime coated her skin. Sin squealed. It stank of rotted flesh and stagnant water. Still, she had gotten through and reached the door. Grabbing the handle, she let go immediately as it burned her palm.
