by K Loraine
“Good morning, sleeping beauty.”
“The curse.”
“Broken.”
He sits up, raking a hand through tousled locks. “How?”
My chest is tight as I think of what Malachi did for me. For all of us. “Mal. He came for me. He…took my place.”
Phillip looks utterly defeated. “Oh, how fucking selfish I’ve been.”
My brow furrows. “What do you mean?”
“I blamed him for everything, for you not loving me. But he’s your true love. Not me.”
“I don’t think it’s that simple.”
“He woke me. I woke you. I…I’m in love with both of you.” I take his hand and bring the knuckles to my lips. “Is that something you can accept?”
“It brought you back, saved our kingdom. If loving you means he gets to have you too, so be it.”
Phillip gets to his feet before holding out a hand to help me up. “Where are we going?” I ask.
“If Mal is trapped in your curse, there’s only one way to break him free.”
“What’s that?”
“We have to find him and you have to kiss him just as you did me.”
I bite my lower lip. “What about the rest of the castle? Are they still under the curse?”
“Let’s go find out.”
We walk from room to room, finding that yes, everyone is still asleep. I thread our fingers and look up at him. “I can’t believe it’s all real.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but the truth is, we’re still the same men who fell in love with you. Your friends are still the same friends who’ve been loyal their entire lives.”
“Wait. My friends?”
“They’re fairies.”
My head is spinning. But I can’t deal with that right now. I have to save Mal, save them all. “Where is Mal?”
“He left the castle after the curse hit.”
“Where would he go?”
“I can take you to him. Are you afraid of flying?”
I scoff. “I took a plane to get here, didn’t I?”
He cocks a brow. “I’m not talking about using a plane.”
Oh, shit. He means flying like…flying. “On your back? As in, you’ll be a dragon?”
He nods.
“Promise not to eat me?”
A smirk turns up the corner of his mouth. “We don’t eat people.”
We ascend a spiral staircase reminiscent of the one I ascended when I first met Mal, but this takes us to a rooftop living space I hadn’t known existed. Then Phillip begins stripping. His gorgeous toned chest is on full display. The tattoo over his heart means so much more now. “What does it look like when you change?”
“It’s not like in a horror film. More, magic, less gore. You can watch, but it’ll get very bright as the magic does its thing.”
He shucks his pants and stands before me gloriously naked, his cock thick and half-hard. When this is all over, I’m going to spend a solid day in bed with him and Mal. He folds his clothes and hands them to me. “I’ll need these when we get where we’re going.”
My heart is hammering as a golden glow surrounds him, building to a nearly blinding light. I have to look away, and when the glow dims, I return my gaze to him. A beautiful gold dragon in his place. “You’re amazing,” I breathe, taking slow, cautious steps toward him. His wings are iridescent, catching the light with each shift of his muscles. I run my palm over the scales covering his back, and he hums in appreciation.
“Can you understand me?”
He nods.
“Can we talk?”
He shakes his head before pressing his large forehead to my shoulder and nudging me toward his back. Taking a deep breath, I climb astride, positioning myself in front of his wings. Then, he leaps off the castle and we soar through the air.
I shiver in the cold as the wind whips my face, but in what feels like mere minutes, Phillip lands on the peak of a jagged mountain. The castle isn’t even visible in the distance anymore. We must have covered a lot of ground. Maybe travel by dragon isn’t so bad.
Sliding off his back, I take a few steps away as he changes into his human form. A wide, exhilarated smile spreads across his handsome face. “You survived.”
I nod. “It was…I can’t describe it.” Handing him his clothes, I fight the blush heating my cheeks. “Where is Mal?”
He dresses and takes my hand. “Follow me.”
Together we walk to a cave in the side of the mountain. It’s cold and dark, but I can clearly see the form of a naked man lying prone on the stone floor. I run to him “Mal. Oh, Mal, you stubborn asshole.”
I rest my forehead on his and shiver at the chill covering his skin. “He’s so cold.”
“Kiss him. Wake him and break the curse once and for all.”
Nodding, I press my lips to Mal’s. His hand slides up my back almost instantly, the kiss turning deeper as he wakes and curls his fingers in my hair. A moan against my lips has me nearly crying in relief. His hard length presses into my thigh.
“Aurora,” he groans.
“Mal. We’re not alone.”
Green eyes find mine and he smiles. “So you chose both of us, then?”
I nod. “I feel the same pull for you and Phillip. I won’t be able to choose, so it’s best if you two learn to get along. We’re going to be together a long time.”
Mal gets to his feet, unashamed of his nudity or jutting erection. “Can you handle that?” he asks Phillip.
“As long as your cock stays away from me.”
Mal lets out a harsh bark of laughter. “Believe me, my cock is in no way interested in anything you have to offer.”
“Then, yes. If she’ll have us, we can both be her mates. Joining our kingdoms by sharing the same bride.”
I swallow back the lump in my throat. “Are we getting married? No one proposed to me.”
Mal smirks. “I would, but I’d rather do it while dressed and somewhere other than a dank cave on a mountaintop.”
Phillip takes my hand. “And if we do? Will the answer be yes? We can bring your father to live with us. We can take care of him.”
Tears spring to my eyes. “Yes. If you ask, I will say yes.”
Phillip kisses me long and deep, then Mal pulls me from his arms and does the same. “I love you both,” I whisper.
“And we love you. Now, let’s return to the castle so we can ensure the curse is broken. The sooner things are back to normal, the sooner we can get to that proposal.”
Epilogue
Aurora
“I never thought I’d see this day,” my father says as we sway together on the dance floor in the middle of the beautiful Ashean countryside. My wedding gown swirls as he spins me out and then back to him. “I wish your mother was here to see it.”
My chest clenches at the thought of her, and the locket I’m wearing with her photo feels heavy with importance. “She’s here.” I place my palm over his chest.
Phillip stands next to Mal, dressed in a black tuxedo with a pale gold tie and matching pocket square, Mal in solid black. I hadn’t been able to publicly marry both of them, so today was our wedding reception. The Ashean public thinks I’m married to their prince. Our private ceremony took place last night under cover of a velvet black sky and a multitude of stars. They are my mates, my husbands, and for the first time in my life, I feel whole.
“Both of them?” Father asks as the dance ends and the two of us walk back to the table.
“Yes, Dad. Both. They broke the curse. Together. I think it’s why no one had ever been successful before. Sometimes true love is more complicated than one-plus-one equals two.”
“I should have been more open. With your mother. I shouldn’t have made her choose.”
The distress in his voice makes me want to cry. “Don’t think like that. It wasn’t your fault. If she hadn’t chosen, I might never have been born.”
“And what a travesty that would be,” Mal says, approaching us with two glasses of champagne.
He hands one to me and the other to my dad. “Might I steal her away?”
“You already have.”
Mal slides his palm across my lower back, and we leave the party, the music fading to nothing more than background. “Where are we going?” I ask.
He chuckles and leans close, whispering in my ear, “You’ll see.” The feel of his lips brushing my skin makes me shiver with longing.
Away from the wedding party, where everyone wants to chat and take our pictures, I can breathe. As we round the path through the forest, I gasp at the sight of a picnic set out in the clearing where I’d so often met them in my dreams. Lamps filled with glowing candles hang suspended from tree branches, and Phillip waits with a smile on his face.
“We needed some time with you now that the party is winding down.” Mal steals a soft kiss and threads our fingers together.
“Good. I need time with you both as well.”
Phillip pulls me into his arms as soon as I reach the edge of the blanket he’s laid out. “Hello, wife.”
“Hello, husbands.”
“Enjoying your party?”
I giggle. “More now that I’m here with you and it’s quiet.”
He kisses me breathless and begins the daunting task of unlacing the corset bodice of my dress. “Mal, come help with this blasted thing. I can’t see what I’m doing.”
Mal doesn’t hesitate. His fingers take over while Phillip continues to kiss my lips, my neck, the tops of my breasts. Mal’s lips trail over my shoulder and down as each lace is undone and more and more of my back is exposed. Soon I’m almost fully bared to my dragon mates, and desperate for them both.
“Tonight we’re going to mark you so there will be no doubt we belong together.” Mal’s voice is rough.
“How?” I ask.
Phillip takes my palm and presses it to his tattoo. “Like this.”
I nod and swallow. “Will it hurt?”
“Only for a moment.”
“How will you do it?”
Mal nips my neck. “We’ll give you some of our fire. Breathe it into you.”
“Won’t that kill me?”
He shakes his head. “You’re our true mate.”
“Don’t worry, princess. We will make you feel so good, you won’t even know it’s happening.” Phillip sinks to his knees as my gown falls to the ground. His lips blaze a trail between my thighs, and the two of them make good on their word.
I’m boneless and sated when they’re done with me. Lying on the blanket between them, I stare up at the dark sky with nothing but love in my heart and a brand on my chest of two dragons, intertwined. One black, one gold, and both mine.
Meet the Blackthorne Vampires
Keep reading for a sample of the first book in The Blackthorne Vampires series.
Blood Captive
The Blackthorne Vampires: The Blood Trilogy #1
Prologue
The soft thud was what woke me. Not the breaking glass of the window in my mother’s bedroom, nor was it the cry for help she must’ve certainly let out. Just a soft thud. I remember that sound more vividly than anything else from that night. It was the night that changed everything. In the span of a few moments, I lost my entire life.
“Mom?” I whispered in the dark, my feet cold on the hardwood floor of the hallway that separated our rooms.
Strange gurgling noises floated out from behind her open door, and my gut clenched. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go inside. Apprehension prickled in icy patches across the back of my neck. Something was very wrong behind that door.
Then I heard it. The rasp of her voice, strangled and weak and so unlike my mother’s usual musical tone. “Liv,” she said.
“Mom?” My words trembled, almost stuck in my throat, and when I pushed open the door, terror gripped my heart and turned it to stone.
My beautiful, raven-haired mother lay in a pool of her own blood. A raw wound ran from her jaw down to her shoulder, the blood poured freely over her white nightgown. It was a sight fit for a horror movie, not my home. She stared at me, eyes glassy, mouth moving, but no words escaped. I rushed to her, kneeling in the still warm blood, my knees slipping as my hands fluttered uselessly over her. I didn’t know what to do, how to stop the bleeding without hurting her. Panic flashed across her features and I leaned down to tell her she was going to be okay, even if it wasn’t true. Instead, she whispered one word that sent ice down my spine.
“Run.”
Chapter 1
Olivia
I stood at the balcony rail of the bar in the middle of the city, staring at the Portland skyline. Lights, noise, and people, it was everything I never got to experience as a kid. A soft breeze washed over my face and I tilted my head up toward the darkening sky, ready for tears or despair or crushing grief to take me.
Tonight marked one year since my mother’s murder, and the anniversary of the night my entire world changed. Instead, I watched the clouds and wished I was completely alone so I could have shouted into the air. The cold fist of anxiety clutched my chest, making it hard to breathe as panic threatened to take control of my senses. I balled my hands into fists, squeezing my fingers until my palms ached from my sharp fingernails digging into the flesh. Blood welled in a few of the crescent-shaped indentations, but I brought myself back from the edge.
“Are you okay?” a male voice asked, catching me by surprise.
Embarrassment mixed with irritation at being interrupted. I turned on my heels to find a man standing near me, gaze roaming my form. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
His lips quirked up in a grin. “You look like you’ve got something on your mind.” As good-looking as he was, I was nowhere near in the mood to deal with his attention. “Would you like me to get you a drink? We could talk about whatever’s going on.”
“I said, I’m fine.” I shook my head and moved to head back inside, hoping to get past him.
His eyes were a heavy weight on my back as I walked away from him and back to the table where my friend had been sitting. Though friend wasn’t really the right term for Masie. She was my co-worker, and somehow she’d talked me in to a night out in the city.
Searching the crowd, unease curled in my belly with every passing moment. Where the hell was she?
My tension ebbed as she came into view, her long wavy teal hair like a beacon. Until I spotted the man I’d just been talking with at her side, along with another man who had his hand on her waist.
“Hey, girl. This is Davis,” she said, motioning to the guy touching her. “And this is Matt.”
Matt offered me a sheepish grin, but I didn’t reciprocate. This was why Masie and I weren’t destined to be friends. We were far too different. “You know, I’m not feeling very well,” I said. “I think I’ll head home.”
Masie’s brows rose in surprise. “Really? We just got here.”
“You stay. I’ll get a cab.”
She didn’t think about it for very long. “Okay. See you Monday.”
“Unless you’re too worn out after tonight,” Davis said, nuzzling her neck. “You might end up drained.”
I wanted to tell her maybe she should come with me, but Masie was already shoving her tongue down his throat. Matt locked gazes with me again, his attention making the back of my neck prickle. Apprehension had my heart racing with every step I took toward the exit. I’d been on the verge of a panic attack most of the evening and I didn’t know why.
The music died to a dull throbbing of bass as soon as I got into the corridor and the door closed behind me. I was so ready to get out of there. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open without me needing to push the button. Adrenaline coursed through me, making me run for the elevator. My toe caught on the edge of the piece separating the corridor from the elevator car, sending me hurtling toward the floor with a cry. But instead of landing face first, I found myself in the arms of a tall, handsome man. His dark eyes sent a wave of unease and dark desire through me as he looked me up and down.
“Car
eful, little bird,” he murmured. Something in his voice made me shiver. It was like he’d just told me he wanted to fuck me instead of offered a warning. The doors slid shut behind us, and the man hit the button for the basement level.
“Thanks,” I said, shrugging out of his hold. “I’ll keep that in mind.” I reached for the buttons so I could press the one that would let me off at the lobby, but he stopped me.
He leaned forward and inhaled, his body far too close. “What are you running from? Your heart is beating so fast.”
Alarm shot through me. “What?”
“And you’re bleeding.” Long fingers toyed with the ends of my hair and he frowned as his hands drifted to mine and turned them palms up to expose the small cuts from my nails. “I can smell it.”
“I had…a panic attack. The pain brings me back.” Why was I telling him all this?
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest as he backed away. “What’s your name, little bird?”
The last thing I wanted to tell this guy was my name. “Thanks for catching me. I should get going.” I tried to move past him, but he stood in my way, and I really had no way out until the elevator opened.
“Your name,” he demanded.
“Olivia Stewart,” I supplied, working hard to keep my focus off his magnetic gaze. It seemed like he was pulling me into the depths of his eyes.
“Olivia.” His soft utterance of my name twisted things low in my belly. He was strange and sexy, but I was also desperately uncomfortable. “You smell delectable, Olivia.”
I had no idea what to say to that. His entire demeanor was so inappropriate, so socially odd, I was at a loss for how to react. “Thanks?” I said, but the word sounded like a question.
“You’re like…sunshine. Like a warm summer day. Like exactly what I need.” His hand wrapped around my upper arm, gripping me hard. “Who sent you here to tempt me?”
There was such anger in his voice, I wondered if he was stable. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I came here with a friend.”
