Ruin: A Reverse Harem Dark Fantasy Vampire Romance (Fire & Blood Book 1)

by Alexa B. James

  “Yeah. They reminded me of how we used to be during the days. Though we’d usually just lay around, day drink, and talk about sex.” A heaviness fell on my heart, and I shut my eyes. I hadn’t really let myself process the loss of everyone who died. I saved the four people I couldn’t survive this life without. It was a completely selfish choice because there were so many that deserved to live. I swallowed hard and whispered, “That night I came to you three in Portland, I was already part of the rebellion.” I paused for a moment, wondering why my instincts were telling me to confess all of this.

  “We figured that out,” he said, and I felt his words reverberating through his chest as I leaned back into him.

  “I was part of planning the coup, but the rebel leaders kept delaying things. One thing after another came up. As it turned out, the consort kept delaying because she was waiting for me to leave the palace. As soon as I snuck out, she had the courtesans drink the liquid silver that our allies had mined from deep in the caves. It was only supposed to knock out all of the royals after they fed. That was my plan. The king had to die, but the royals were supposed to be imprisoned in the silver cells and traded for provisions and a ceasefire. Instead of imprisoning the royals, the consort had the courtesans kill all of them. The consort used my plans, my research, my ideas, and she twisted it, knowing that her plan was something that I would never agree to.”

  It had been the first betrayal—one that even the people closest to me took part in.

  Ash’s arms tightened around me just the littlest bit. “That’s what your brother came to tell you that night?”

  “Yeah. He knew that you three were important and didn’t want you guys to be caught up in the coup. Timothy has never followed anyone’s directions but his own. He lived in the palace as part of the court but wasn’t a courtesan. I wouldn’t even exactly call him a rebel either. He just did whatever he did and was there sometimes and gone others. He’s the one who taught me how to count cards and not get caught. He always knew all these strange people, but I couldn’t even begin to understand from where.”

  “What happened to him?” Ash asked, cautiously. “We’ve all been meaning to ask you, but…”

  “No. He’s alive,” I said because I could tell from Ash’s tone that he thought Timothy was dead. “No one knows where he is, but he survived. He’ll probably just materialize one day and flip reality on its end like he usually does.”

  “So, you took over after the coup?” Ash asked.

  I was giving away so much to my enemy. But my instincts were urging me on. “Not at first. I was so angry that I told the consort I wouldn’t help her. She lasted a while without my help, but the vampires were redirecting more and more of our water away, and the crops were dying. Eventually, she said that she would release the vampire warriors she imprisoned in exchange for my help, and she would follow our agreed upon plans without deviating.”

  “There was a lot of confusion in the army on why your tactics changed from brutal to bloodless. It makes sense, though.”

  “Do you think what happened to us in Pioneer Courthouse Square was justice for all of the vampires who died in the coup?” I turned in his arms and looked up into his handsome features. Even though I knew I shouldn’t ask, my heart needed to be sure of what he thought.

  A muscle ticked in his jaw, and his warm dark-brown eyes drilled into mine. “Not even close.” He sighed. “Duchess Dread isn’t a citizen of Seattle, she’s more like a visiting dignitary, but she’s in exile. She allied herself with Seattle in the war, but she wasn’t under the queen’s direct command. I knew allying with her was a mistake, but we three had no say in the matter.”

  “I thought that the Queen made you monarchs right after the rebellion started?”

  “The queen…” he paused to sigh, “Queen Hell refused to let us have any real role in the war until after Portland fell. We were allowed to make suggestions, but only in private. It’s complicated, but Queen Hell is terrified of the vampire royals witnessing Death having any real power in Seattle.”

  I reeled back. His words made absolutely no sense. “But she made Death king?”

  “To get rid of him. If he’s king here, no one can make him king in Seattle—at least, that’s how she sees it.”

  I shook my head as I struggled to fit this information in with what I knew. “I thought she sent you here to enforce her laws in Portland.”

  Ash looked to the side. “That’s the least of her concerns. Queen Hell is obsessed with controlling Death, but even she knows that eventually, he’ll become too powerful to be controlled by anyone. She doesn’t control Ruin and I in the way she once did, either. Our bond to Death is too strong. Queen Hell sent us here to rule a desolate and war-torn kingdom because she wants to keep us preoccupied and completely dependent on her.”

  The way he talked about the queen was laced with so much bitterness, my heart squeezed and stomach clenched. And as his eyes met mine, I could see the raw pain there in his dark gaze.

  “Was she your lover?”

  The look in his brown eyes hardened, and I immediately wanted to take the question back. I’d pushed Ash too far.

  “I’m sorry, Ash—it’s none of my business…

  “No,” he growled. Then, softer, he said, “No. You can ask that. If I look angry, it’s not directed at you, Kori. In the days before the dome, I lost everything, my parents, my friends, the world I knew… I was going out on rescue missions, day and night, just hoping that I wouldn’t make it home safely. I met Queen Hell after her house collapsed in an earthquake south of Seattle, and somehow, I got mixed up in the mission to save the humans trapped underneath. Death and I worked together that day and became fast friends. He ended up following me on night missions and making sure I came home. He tried to keep me separate, but I was too curious, and I got progressively more tangled in his world. One day, Queen Hell offered me a place in her bed and by her side. She told me she loved me, and fuck, I wanted to be part of their world.”

  His tone grew progressively more bitter as his story continued, and, on impulse, I wrapped my fingers around his.

  “She was using you?” I asked.

  “You could say that.” Ash squeezed my hand and closed his eyes. “Queen Hell was using me, but not for sex and blood. She wanted me to control Death, and I had no fucking clue. After changing me into a vampire, Queen Hell told me that she could never touch me again because I was forever going to be a warrior. I would be a warrior, because Death could never be elevated above that station. Death was the most powerful vampire in Seattle—in a coven, the most powerful royal vampire always ends up the ruler, but you have to be a royal. Queen Hell knew that if she ever elevated him into a position of even the slightest amount of authority, sooner or later, the royals there would kill her and make him king. The sum total of my existence had become a single threat—if Death didn’t acquiesce to her every demand, she’d kill me—the only thing was that she found me less amenable than she expected—so Hell found and turned Ruin. At that point, we both fell in line, but she was obsessed with the threat Death posed to her reign.”

  “Is that why she was always sending you three here?” I asked as the implications of his words sunk in. “To keep him out of the way?”

  “That, and to keep us busy. She knew that Death and I cared about rescuing at-risk humans, and so she tasked us with saving more humans than we could ever possibly protect. She also used us to taunt King Razor

  “I thought Hell was a good queen—you guys said that she protected humans in her city…” the words choked up in my throat. “She did that to you?” She took advantage of his innocence in one of her strategic plots. The story made me so angry, my whole body started to shake.

  “Hell is a good queen and a terrible person.” Ash’s eyes opened, and the expression in them warmed. “My history with her aside, she’s not all bad. Hell was horrified at what Duchess Dread did in Pioneer Courthouse Square. She wanted a peaceful resolution. There was supposed to be negotiati
ons. Queen Hell knew you guys were running out of food and water, so Seattle was going to press its advantage and offer you a parliament government under vampire rule. We were all in a meeting drawing up plans when we got the news that Duchess Dread had snuck into the city and killed all of the commanding officers.” He paused, working his jaw back and forth. “We thought that you were dead.”

  “You thought about me?” I reached up around the back of his neck, barely able to touch my fingers together.

  He blinked rapidly. “We came into contact with every single person in both the Seattle and Portland court. We know all of those people out there. But you were the only one who treated us like your equal. How could we possibly forget you—one of the most powerful people in Portland-- sneaking out to fuck us in a hotel room that was worse than cave sleeping?”

  “As I remember it, I offered you money for sex. A lot of people would be offended by that.” I rested my head against his shoulder to hide the blush blooming on my cheeks.

  “You gave us priceless jewels for sex.” His hand ran over the back of my hair. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s treating us like your equal… at least at court.”

  “Well, I’m still waiting for you to make good on your service for my payment.”

  “Oh, it’s like that now?” He growled, and there was an abrupt switch in the atmosphere of the room, from serious to dangerous. “I guess time for talking is over.” His hands slid down my sides and gripped my hips. He broke away and growled, “Do you want to show me now?”

  “Show you what?” I peeked up, and the moment his heated gaze landed on mine, heady lust pumped through me.

  “Are you ready to show me your pussy, Kori?”

  I sucked in a shaky breath. “Yes.”

  His hands bunched the material of my black dress, sliding it so my mound was laid bare.

  I reached down to the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head, watching his muscles ripple as they moved.

  He paused before grabbing me again. “I’m not going to fuck you until I trust you, Kori, and that’s not yet. I know that if we have sex, my thoughts will get really convoluted when it comes to you, and I can’t afford to do that right now.”

  It was fair. I was his enemy. Yet, disappointment slammed through me. I wanted him so much my pussy was beginning to ache.

  His hands came up and wrapped around the back of my neck. He examined my expression closely as his thumb ran over my jaw. “You wanted cock, didn’t you?”

  “We’ll go at your pace.”

  His hands slid over my shoulders and down to my zipper. Slowly, he unzipped me, and my dress slipped down my body and to the floor. “I can get you cock, Kori, if that’s what your body needs right now.”

  My breaths came faster. I felt my nipples growing so tight they almost hurt. Even though refusing was the absolute last thing I wanted to do, I knew I had to. “I think it’s better if I only feed one of you at a time.”

  “I’m not talking about feeding us. I’m talking about us feeding you.” His hands went under my knees and back, and he tossed me onto his massive bed. His sheets were silky smooth against my naked skin. I looked up at Ash as he leaned two hands against the bed. He crawled between my legs, and his fingers immediately plunged inside me, pumping in and out. His thumb rolled over my slick clit, sending a pulse of pleasure through me. Reaching forward, he lifted my wrist to his mouth. “You’re already getting close. I’m going to bite you, and then you can cum.”

  “Bite me,” I whispered.

  His teeth struck down, and I gasped as pain slammed through me for a second, but a tide of sensation slammed into me, hard and fast. I moaned and writhed as his fingers pumped into my wetness.

  I thought that maybe he was finished with me when he leaned down and whispered, “Are you ready to have two cocks in you, Kori? One in here and one in your mouth.”

  I gasped as even more wetness spilled out of me and onto his fingers.

  A slow smile crept onto Ash’s lips. “So , that a yes then?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  “Good.” He pulled away and climbed off the bed. When he left the room, he opened the door wide, leaving my nakedness exposed. In the living room area, both Death and Ruin stood, huddled together and talking. They looked over as Ash leaned out of the doorframe.

  “Whoever gets here first can join us,” Ash said.

  Ruin turned and shoved Death onto the couch, vaulted over another sofa, and rushed past Ash into the room.

  I was going to tell them that Death was welcome too, when Ruin climbed up between my legs and his tongue made low circles on my inner thighs, and I couldn’t speak through my shuddering breaths. His mouth closed over my bud, and I was so ready for him, that an orgasm ripped through me as soon as he massaged his tongue into my clit.

  Ash climbed onto the bed beside me, completely naked. His huge cock stood fully erect, and I couldn’t help but stare at its perfection. Ash ran his hand over my hair. “You love cock, don’t you, Kori?”

  “Not every cock, but with both of yours,” I gasped, “Its love at first…” I twisted up, leaned in, and ran my tongue over the tip. He sucked in a breath, and I took him in my mouth. Ash growled with pleasure, his hands still in my hair, as I brought him deep into my mouth.

  “Fuck that’s hot,” Ruin whispered.

  I grabbed Ash’s cock and pulled away to look at Ruin who was gazing up the length of my body. Keeping Ruin’s bright blue gaze, I rolled my tongue over the tip of Ash’s cock, making both men groan.

  “I have a very dirty thought,” I whispered as I grabbed a couple of pillows and propped them under my head. “Both of you should climb up on me.”

  They immediately caught my meaning, and Ash straddled my chest as Ruin knelt between my legs.

  With one of his hands propped against the wall, Ash pushed between my lips as Ruin’s tip pushed into my entrance. Ash brushed my hair from my face, looking down the length of his body at me. “Do you want us to fuck you, Kori?”

  Feeling a thrum of nervous anticipation, I nodded.

  “She’s saying yes,” Ash growled back as hunger flared to life in his eyes. He gripped the base of his dick and slowly pushed into my mouth.

  I arched my hips, and Ruin supported me with two hands under my ass as his hard, thick length slid into my slick channel. I felt every inch of them as they both glided into me.

  Reaching up, I grabbed Ash’s hips, knowing that it was the only way I could communicate what I wanted. This position was complete surrender as the men pushed in and out.

  Instead of wanting Ash to slow down, though, I craved more. I wanted them to fuck me. I gripped Ash’s hips and pulled him forward until his cock was deep in my throat. I sucked him in and pushed him back only to pull him deep again.

  “You really love our cocks, Kori,” Ash whispered through harsh pants. “She wants us to give it to her harder.”

  “Whatever she wants,” Ruin groaned as he buried himself in deep, pulled back, and slammed home again. Pleasure ignited in me at his fast, furious pace, and I moaned around Ash as he moved in long glides. Both men groaned and panted, and watching Ash come undone above me while holding his hard cock in my mouth sent waves of desire into my pulsing clit. Sensation assaulted every inch of my body, and I tipped over the edge, moaning around Ash’s cock as Ruin pumped into me.

  As soon as my orgasm released me, Ash’s eyes looked down lazily. “You ready for us to fill you with cum?”

  I nodded, sucking harder. He pushed deep, his cock pulsed, and his warm seed coated the back of my tongue. I swallowed it down and, as he pulled away, licked the tip of his cock. Ruin groaned and slammed inside me, loading me with warm liquid deep within.

  Both men pulled out of me and rolled me beside them on the bed, squeezing me between their massive bodies. All three of us laid naked, skin on skin, and I couldn’t help but marvel at how right this felt and how sated my body was after being with both of them at once.

  Exhaustion swept t
hrough me as the men wrapped me in their warmth, and my eyes slipped closed. Just as sleep threatened to pull me under, Ruin asked, “You awake, Kori?”

  I was too tired and sated to muster a response, so I didn’t answer.

  “She’s asleep,” Ash said, he paused for a few seconds before asking, “Are you thinking the same thing I am right now?”

  “I think so,” Ruin said.

  “That we shouldn’t have done it this way… not with her. This is the stupidest fucking way we could have arranged it.”

  “Yeah, we fucked up,” Ruin said as his lips traced over my forehead.

  Ash’s fingers combed through my hair. “What are you going to do if she picks Death or me?”

  “What will you and Death do if she picks me?” Ruin asked in return. “You have to admit that it’s the most likely outcome here.”

  A tear slipped out of the corner of my eye as the true most likely outcome ran through my mind. I couldn’t pick any of them. I was destined to either betray these men or my family and humankind.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  KORI

  Silence woke me. There was no other explanation for it. I had fallen asleep to the even cadence of Ruin and Ash snoring softly to either side of me, and a heavy silence pulled me from a deep sleep.

  “Kori,” a vaguely familiar voice said. “Get up very slowly. They can’t hear you, but you—”

  My eyes snapped open, and I screamed. The sound seemed to echo around the room as I looked over at the Sorcerer standing beside Ash’s bed.

  “What is wrong with you?” I whispered as I sat up.

  “Move carefully. If you jostle them, you’ll wake them.” He held out a hand. A blood red hood covered most of his auburn hair. Otherwise, he looked the same as the last time I saw him. Exceptionally undistinctive save for the scar.

  I rose slowly, every movement sending a pulse of terror into my heart. As I had climbed over Ruin’s naked, sleeping form, I saw his chest rising and falling and his eyes sliding side to side under his eyelids. When I checked, Ash also slept soundly with a hand pillowed under his cheek.