Sacrifice: Laid Bare: Volume 4

by Grey, S. R.

  I resisted the urge to growl.

  “I’m willing to try,” Dahlia said in a rush, her green eyes meeting my gaze. “But we need to set some ground rules first.”

  Both Dunne and I nodded. Ground rules sounded good to me, like maybe Dunne could off himself after.

  “You wish,” he murmured.

  “First,” Dahlia began, ignoring me and focusing instead on Dunne. “There will be no more talking to Lucien without me. If you go into his head, you go in mine.”

  “Fair enough,” Dunne said.

  And then to back up his words, I felt him leaving my mind.

  “Thank you,” I muttered sarcastically.

  Dahlia ignored my commentary and just went on. “Second, I think we should try a trial run.” She looked from Dunne to me. “Maybe just the sex part first. I don’t know if I can handle everything…not all at once. Let’s see how I deal with being intimate with you both. And”—her eyes went solely to me—“we need to see how Lucien reacts, as well.”

  Could I handle it? I was going to have to in order to make Dahlia into a being like me. I needed to check my possessiveness at the door to save us both.

  “Okay,” I agreed, knowing I could do it if it meant saving our hides. And, well, it did.

  Dunne nodded. “That sounds agreeable to me, as well.”

  I had to bite my tongue to not utter I bet.

  Dahlia stood, taking my hand and Dunne’s. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Smiling, she said, “I think we should start now.”

  Dahlia

  I couldn’t believe I was doing this, taking two men to bed with me. And these were not just mere men, but powerful beings. I still wondered what Lucien and these creatures were, beyond being something magical. Perhaps Dunne would tell me, or maybe Lucien would afterward. I’d sure like to know what I was signing up for, after all.

  Upstairs, in the loft, I smoothed out the mound of covers Dunne had designated as a bed for me and Lucien, and then I laid back.

  I kicked off my wooly socks, leaving me in just a sweater and leggings. Lucien and Dunne kneeled on either side of me, and my emotions promptly scattered all over the place.

  I was highly aroused at the prospect of what was about to happen, but I was also insanely nervous.

  Lucien undressed first, removing his suit jacket, dress shirt, and slacks in no time. Dunne shrugged out of his black hoodie, revealing a dark tee beneath. He pulled that over his head, and then unbuttoned his dark pants.

  Within a minute, both men were naked before me. Their bodies were beautiful—hard muscles, veins trailing down firm arms. And Lucien’s smooth chest was a stunning contrast to Dunne’s marked one.

  Both men were partially aroused, but grew longer and harder when Lucien began to undress me. I lifted slightly so he could pull my sweater up over my head. When I did so, Dunne reached out and unclasped my bra. Together, they pulled the lacy fabric off and away, and then the men descended to my breasts.

  Oh, hell… This felt exquisite.

  I rose to my knees to give them better access, and Lucien sucked my right nipple into his mouth. Dunne, meanwhile, slowly licked circles around the whole of my left breast.

  “Aah, yes.” I bounced up and down as I became more aroused. I wanted to feel more than my breasts being devoured.

  When Lucien slid off my leggings and panties in one motion, I cried out, lost in lust.

  I could feel how the men loved that I was this aroused. It made their lengths swell accordingly. I took one in each hand and began to stroke their velvety skin. Lucien reached down and teased my slit with a slowly trailing finger, and I groaned as he gathered the moisture and held it out to Dunne.

  Dunne leaned forward and licked. “As delicious as I suspected,” he said gruffly.

  Now that things had gotten underway, Lucien seemed at ease. It relaxed me further, and I threw my head back in pleasure as Lucien slid his fingers in and out of me, gently at first, and then harder.

  With my mouth open, both men took turns kissing me deeply. And then I felt Dunne’s fingers join in with Lucien’s. He slid a finger inside me, keeping pace with the rhythm Lucien set.

  When he brushed his thumb over my clit, I began to pulse. “I’m going to come,” I rasped.

  “Let me give her some power now,” Dunne suddenly said. “You should give her some, too. She’s ready, Lucien. The sooner we start, the more quickly we can change her.”

  Lucien withdrew his fingers from me, and Dunne’s thumb slowed to a stop, keeping me at the cusp of orgasm, but not quite there yet.

  Lucien gripped my chin and made me open my eyes. “Are you okay with taking some of our power now?” he asked.

  “Uh-huh.” I nodded drunkenly. I was willing to agree to anything in that moment.

  “Okay.” Lucien kissed me deeply.

  He then made me lean forward till I was on my hands and knees. He positioned himself behind me and turned my head so Dunne’s cock was mere inches from my face.

  “Take him in your mouth, Dahlia,” I was told.

  I did as Lucien commanded, and soon heard Dunne’s moans of pleasure. I wondered how long it had been since he’d been with a woman. Probably ages, I concluded.

  He was not quite as long as Lucien, but he was a bit thicker. I allowed myself a few seconds to grow used to his girth before I began sliding him in and out of my mouth with ease.

  “Fuck,” I heard Lucien mutter.

  I knew then that watching me pleasure Dunne was a turn-on for him.

  I instantly felt better, knowing Lucien was enjoying this, as well.

  When Lucien slowly entered me from behind, the feeling of being filled in two ways by these men was indescribable. I came immediately, but since they were not ready, Lucien reached around and began caressing my clit, building me to another orgasm immediately. When I came a second time, both Dunne and Lucien joined me in release.

  I felt a huge surge of their power, probably too much, but I grabbed for it anyway, in the way Lucien had taught me the first time he’d transferred power to me.

  I was filled with so much, I felt overwhelmed. “Oh, Lucien, Dunne…”

  With that much power inside me, along with the essence of these two beings, I began to feel lightheaded.

  “She’s passing out,” I heard Lucien say as he pulled out of me.

  Dunne had already withdrawn from my mouth, and I heard him add, “Don’t worry. I think it’s working better than expected. We gave her a lot, but she’ll be fine soon enough.”

  Before I faded, I asked what I was becoming. But neither man responded.

  Since I was becoming like them, I was given the answer to what these men were from within me. The answer I’d sought for so long was not only in me, it was me.

  Or, it was what I would be soon enough.

  “Incubus,” I murmured before I drifted off.

  Lucien and Dunne were incubi, and I would soon become the female counterpart, a succubus.

  Only thing was, all three of us were much, much more. We were beings who’d been imbued with immeasurable power. Together, or individually, we were unstoppable.

  But I, holding so much of their power at that point in time, was especially so.

  Lucien

  “Are you sure she’ll be all right?” I asked.

  Dunne and I had dressed and retired to the downstairs main room. Dunne was knelt before the fireplace, his dark hoodie back on and pulled up. I supposed he felt more comfortable hidden, despite what we’d just shared.

  He stoked the fire vigorously with an iron poker, making the embers snap and crack.

  Without turning around, he chuckled and assured me, “Yes, Lucien, Dahlia will be fine. It’s working already. I gave her more than I intended…and I think you did, as well.”

  He turned and eyed me curiously, and I nodded. “Yes. I didn’t mean to, but I lost control.”

  “So, Dahlia made us both a little crazy.”

  I chuckled. “Seems so.”

&n
bsp; Dunne cleared his throat and resumed messing with the fire. “Because of our loss of control, Lucien, Dahlia is now becoming like us more quickly than I’d anticipated. I doubt she’ll even require a second go-round with us both.”

  I blew out a relieved breath, while Dunne muttered snarkily, “Much to my chagrin. I was hoping to have her at least once in the way you did.”

  I was standing close behind him, and I took a step back so as not to whack him across the head for his forwardness. I couldn’t really blame him, though. To have Dahlia once, in one way, was to want her in all ways.

  Sighing, I changed the subject. “So, does this mean Dahlia now knows what we are?”

  We were incubi, but strong as fuck, in every conceivable way.

  Dunne shrugged, seemingly unperturbed as he stoked the fire. “Probably,” he stated.

  I turned and took a seat on a threadbare and sunken-in sofa, and then proceeded to think things over. I wasn’t feeling nearly as relaxed as Dunne in knowing our secret had been divulged. We weren’t permitted to discuss our true nature ever, which made me all the more apprehensive in knowing it had been revealed.

  Oh, well. I supposed it no longer mattered, since Dahlia was becoming one of us as the minutes passed.

  “Exactly,” Dunne said, standing.

  “Hey.” I lunged forward and grabbed his arm, spinning him around to face me. “Just because I shared Dahlia with you doesn’t mean you get a free pass inside my head any time you want.”

  Dunne shoved me away. “Don’t lose sight of who’s helping whom here,” he warned.

  “Or what?”

  Dunne’s eyes flashed red and his scars, visible now that his hood was askew, seemed to deepen. Anger coursed through him, and he hissed, “I could still end you.”

  He could, yes, but I knew the one thing that would stop him. “Dahlia will kill you if she wakes and finds I’ve been offed by you.”

  Dunne bellowed with laughter. “Dahlia possesses only a modicum of the strength I have. I hardly think she’d stand a chance.”

  Suddenly, we were both silenced by the sound of a rumble. Like thunder, only louder.

  I cocked my head. “Storm coming, you think?”

  “I don’t think so,” Dunne murmured. “At least, not the kind you’re thinking.”

  More rumbling, and then the front door flew open. Icy air and snow blew in. Dunne and I watched, mesmerized, as flakes joined together to create a small tornado-like presence in the doorway.

  We both stumbled backward when a female figure emerged from the tornado. It was Dahlia, or a spirit-form of her. I knew for a fact she was physically still upstairs, asleep.

  “Amazing,” Dunne whispered as Dahlia walked toward us. “Perhaps I was wrong. She may very well be stronger than I.”

  Dahlia appeared paler than ever, her skin almost translucent. Her swollen breasts spilled over the silky white material of the low-cut gown she was wearing, thus leaving the tips of her ripe, pink nipples exposed. Well, almost, if not for the cover provided by her flowing red hair.

  She stopped mere inches from us. As her emerald eyes grew black, Dunne and I collectively wondered what we’d done. Even we could not leave our bodies and take on a spirit-like form. Had we gone too far and given Dahlia too much of our power?

  “You have, my loves,” she said, reaching out to us both.

  Dunne and I took hold of Dahlia’s outstretched hands, and she allowed us to feel just how incredibly powerful she was at the moment.

  “Fuck, Dahlia,” I muttered, impressed.

  “Beautiful,” Dunne mused. “We’ve created something incredible, Lucien.”

  And we had. I couldn’t disagree.

  She squeezed my hand, and then Dunne’s. “I belong to you both now. I will for all eternity. But…” Her eyes held only mine. “It is Lucien who will forever hold my heart.”

  “I’m fine with that,” Dunne replied in an uncharacteristically humble manner. “I never intended on making Lucien endure having to share you with me for an indeterminable time.”

  “We will have to be together one more time, however,” Dahlia informed us. “All three of us, as one.”

  I cocked a brow. “And why is that?”

  She turned to me. “The balance is too far shifted to me. I must give some power back to you…and to Dunne.”

  “She’s right,” Dunne confirmed.

  I didn’t feel angry or irritated. Seeing Dahlia as she was before me, I knew she was right—the balance would have to be restored.

  “But first,” Dahlia said, smiling smugly, “I intend to right some wrongs.”

  She let go of Dunne’s hand and reached up to lower Dunne’s hood from his head. When he resisted, she said one word: “Don’t.”

  He nodded, and then he allowed her to lower his hood the rest of the way. Dahlia passed her hand over his face, making his skin ice over in the places her fingertips touched.

  “What are you doing?” Dunne sounded terrified.

  “Shh…”

  “Dahlia?” I questioned when she placed her hand on one of Dunne’s scarred cheeks and the ice grew thicker. “Whatever you’re doing, love, you need to stop.”

  She yanked her hand from mine and shoved my shoulder down so hard I had no choice but to kneel on the floor. “Quiet!” she ordered.

  I had no idea what Dahlia was up to, but it was becoming abundantly clear not I, nor Dunne, could stop her.

  He peered over at me frantically as Dahlia iced the other side of his face…and then his chin…and then his forehead. Closing his eyes, he tumbled to the floor, unconscious.

  Good God. What have we done?

  Had we created not something beautiful, as Dunne had proclaimed, but something wicked and mean?

  I tried to stand to stop this über-powerful form of Dahlia, but soon realized I could no longer move. She had rendered me motionless.

  Leaning down, spirit-Dahlia kissed my lips. I could not move to kiss her back, though I wanted to. Evil, or not, I would always love Dahlia.

  “I love you, too, Lucien,” she whispered as she pulled away. “And that is why I must do this.”

  She was in my head, but before I could ask her what she meant to do, she uttered, “Now go to sleep, my dear.”

  I then crumpled to the floor.

  Dahlia

  I needed Lucien and Dunne to be in the same unconscious state my physical form was in for what I was about to do to work.

  When we did all wake, we’d require one final night together to rebalance our power. What I told the men was true—I held far too much. But while I had all this extra strength, I intended to use it to spare Lucien of his part in his parents’ insidious pact.

  In the form I was in, no one could stop me.

  It wasn’t as hard as I thought to locate Lucien’s family. Fortuitous for me, they were all together. Even Selene was there, dining with Lucien’s parents at their English estate.

  I merely imagined myself there, and suddenly, I was in their dining room.

  “Oh, my God,” Selene cried out when I appeared at the grandiose dining room table, seated directly next to her.

  I reached over and snagged a piece of very rare steak from her china plate. “Oh, filet,” I murmured. “My favorite.”

  Lucien’s mother, Lucienna, held her hand to her chest as she watched me suspiciously. “Franklin, please. Do something.”

  Franklin Chambers was Lucien’s father, the only member of the family I’d not yet met. He was a practitioner of the dark arts, a sorcerer, some claimed. Here at the Chambers’ dinner table, however, he looked like nothing more than a distinguished business man.

  Lucien resembled him greatly, I had to say. Both possessed the same finely chiseled facial features and tall height, though Lucien had his mother’s dark features. The elder Chambers had salt-and-pepper hair and light eyes.

  Franklin Chambers was not to be underestimated, however.

  I learned this when I felt a jolt of power coming from him. “Leave,”
he commanded.

  I squared my shoulders. “No.”

  Lucienna joined in with her husband in trying to dismiss me. “You are not welcome here, succubus. Whether in your spirit form, or your true self, you must go. ”

  Ahh, so they knew what I was. Did they also know Lucien and Dunne had made me this way?

  “How is this happening?” Selene asked.

  She scooted away from me. Wise move. I was still angry with her, though not as terribly as I should’ve been. After all, she was Lucien’s parents’ pawn, and a pawn of her own family, too.

  Lucienna kicked back and lit a long, slender cigarette. “Franklin,” she began on an exhale, “it would seem our son has been up to no good.”

  “Clearly,” Frank agreed.

  So, they knew how I’d become this way.

  Some bickering commenced about how to handle this turn of events, until I slammed my hand down on the heavy wood table. “Enough,” I said. “I am what I am now. And there is nothing you can do about it.”

  Silence descended. They knew I was right.

  “Okay, then.” I adjusted the bodice of my gown when I caught Lucien’s father staring at my partially exposed chest. Gross.

  Back on track, I went on, “Here’s what’s going to happen—”

  “Oh, this should be rich,” Lucienna muttered.

  I ignored her. “Lucien is not going to be party to any pact you made before he was even born.”

  “Impossible!” Frank roared at me.

  I whipped my hand toward him and his mouth was suddenly bound shut. I liked this level of sheer power. It was going to suck to have to give some of it back when I returned to Lucien and Dunne. But alas, the power among us had to remain balanced, or all sorts of harm would come, like the harm these people planned to inflict on society for their own gain if they were to possess this level of strength.

  “Yeah, not going to happen,” I scoffed.

  “It will happen.” Lucienna’s dark eyes bore into me. “And there is nothing you can do about it.”

  “It’s already decided,” I replied calmly. “With me now as strong as Lucien, you can’t fight us.”