by F. E. Heaton
She shook herself out of her thoughts before they could dive down the avenue of wondering what tonight would've been like had she let him in.
Valentine whispered something in her ear and then stepped into the shower. It was all the permission she needed to bring things onto a calmer level with Venturi. She had thirty minutes alone with him.
Walking into the room, she heard the bathroom door click shut and thanked Valentine for this gift of time with Venturi. She could see in his blue eyes that he needed it. The confidence and hunger the spell had given him had lifted and now he looked hesitant. When she got closer to him, she smiled reassuringly, hoping to chase away the fear in his eyes.
Taking hold of his hands, she led him to the bed and waited until he was laying down on it before kneeling beside him. She leaned over and swept the wet hair from his face and then took the towel from him. His quietness surprised her. She'd always thought that he'd be passionate and hungry if they had time alone together, but instead he was laying on the bed looking at her with eyes full of muddled emotions.
She sat close to him, bringing her knees up to her chest, her hip and ankle pressed against his side. Holding his gaze, she ran her fingers lightly over his cheek and frowned at the cut there. His look shifted, eyes revealing something other than fear and desire.
Fatigue.
Realising what he needed, she knelt astride him and flattened his cock against his belly. His eyes darkened for a moment, but she chased away his desire by running her hands up his torso, her palms pressing in as she began to massage him.
Venturi sighed out what little breath he had and struggled against his desire to close his eyes as Prophecy worked all the tension out of him. With each pass of her hands, sweeping over his body, she chased away a little more of the pressure and lifted more of the weight from his shoulders. He watched her face, studying her and devouring the affection in her expression as she worked to relax him. He couldn't help feeling tense. Everything before this moment had been beyond his control, but now he was alone with her and it seemed Valentine wasn't going to be coming back soon. He had to remember to thank the Aurorea for giving him this time with his mate. It was beyond his expectations.
He sighed again when Prophecy leaned over him, pressing soft open-mouthed kisses against his skin as she continued to work out the knots in his muscles.
He hadn't realised how tired he was until now. The constant fight to protect the gate to Hell seemed miles away, nothing more than a distant memory. His eyes followed Prophecy's every move. Tonight had brought to his attention just how much he'd missed her over this long time apart. When she'd greeted him in the ballroom, he'd wanted to cry with the relief of seeing her. He fought for her, each night without fail. He fought to keep her safe from the creatures intent on making this world theirs. He fought to keep their love alive. Seeing her had stirred such emotions that he hadn't known how to contain them, and when she'd kissed his cheek and told him that she'd missed him, he'd been unable to speak, to do anything but hold her and savour her, and give himself something to hold onto in the coming months.
Now she had given him so much more than that.
The love she'd never been able to put a voice to was there in her eyes, bright and shining and beautiful. He didn't need to hear the words to know how she felt. Each time they spoke on the telephone it was there in her voice, in every word that she said, even if she was speaking of battles and strategies.
Taking hold of her hand, he pulled her down to him, drawing her close and wrapping one arm around her. He'd never thought he'd have this. To be this near to her, to touch her like this, was something from a dream.
He rolled her onto her back and in one fluid move he was inside her, buried as deep as he could get and ready to die right there. He stilled his hips, containing himself, and looked into her eyes. She smiled at him, her dark eyes still reflecting all his feelings.
Lowering his head, he lightly kissed her as he began to move, thrusting long and deep into her. He could feel her in every inch of him, was engulfed by his feelings for her and thoughts of how much this moment meant to him. This was a dream, a delicious fantasy.
Prophecy broke the kiss and stared into Venturi's blue eyes, drowning in the depth of emotion she could read in them. She tightened around his length, memorising the subtle differences between Valentine and him, and savouring this moment of completion between them. Long months spent worrying about him faded away and she vowed that she could endure a year of not seeing him if they could have this when they were together.
She held his gaze as he thrust into her, slow, long and so deep that she would come undone before long. She cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb against it and absorbing all the love he held in his eyes. Doing this with him felt wrong on some levels but right on so many others. Valentine had given his permission for this to happen. The doubts and fears that were pushing at the back of her mind meant nothing. Valentine wouldn't leave her, and neither would Venturi.
He lowered his head and pressed light kisses to her cheek, one for each thrust he made into her. She closed her eyes and gave herself over to the fire burning inside of her, the flames of her desire licking through her body with each stroke of his cock. He was so deep, so close, that she felt as though he was a part of her. Holding onto him, she clung to him like she had to Valentine, silently praying that what they were doing wouldn't put an end to their growing relationship. She wanted things to remain unchanged between them, only altered in a positive way.
He whispered words into her ear that made her heart clench. She knew he loved her, had seen it in his eyes so many times, even when he'd been fighting his feelings and she'd been battling hers. She wished she could tell him how she felt, but she'd never been able to put a voice to her feelings. Fear of losing Valentine had sworn her heart to silence, but she got the feeling that when the sun set tomorrow evening, her voice would be free.
Venturi growled in her ear as he came, taking her with him, and then it melted into a deep rumble of a purr that made her hold him tighter and stroke his hair. She knew what this meant to him, what it meant to them both, and her heart said that Valentine knew too. That was why he'd given her time alone with Venturi. He'd wanted her to seal the bond between them as best they could without being able to mate. He trusted her.
She smiled and stared at the canopy above when Venturi kissed her neck. He was trembling and she could sense the struggle within him. He couldn't bite her, no matter how much he wanted to. To mark a mated vampire without permission was to subject both yourself and that vampire to excruciating pain.
He drew himself out of her and rolled onto his back. She heard him heave a long sigh and noticed that this time he wasn't breathing. She wasn't panting either. Their dance had been slow and intense, not fast and passionate. It had left her soul breathless, not her body.
She purred when Valentine pressed a kiss to her foot and slowly worked his way up her thigh. A thought flitted across her mind, but she knew better than to go through with it. As much as she wanted a shower, she would have to wait. She couldn't leave the two men on their own now that the spell was clearly wearing off.
Her eyes closed and she relaxed into the bed when Venturi joined Valentine in his exploration of her. She stretched her arms out by her side and melted as they both moved achingly slow over her body, kissing her so lightly it tickled. Moaning, she encouraged them to continue, resisting the lure of sleep as it beckoned her.
The sun would rise soon.
She reached out with her senses and checked Valentine and then Venturi. Both of them were tired, as tired as she was. They wouldn't be able to resist sleeping when the sun broke the horizon. She was running out of time, but felt no urge to hurry. She could fall asleep now and be happy with this night they'd had together. She'd float away to dreams of them and hopefully wake to find this had really happened.
Valentine reached her breasts and swirled his tongue around a nipple, blowing on it to harden it. Her hand came up and brushed
over the smooth skin of his shoulder. He felt warm beneath her touch and she wondered how hot he'd had the shower. Sometimes she turned the heat up as hot as she could bear it, just to see what it would've felt like to be alive. She'd never felt that. Born a vampire, she had never known the sunrise or sunset. She'd never experienced life.
Her thoughts were chased from her when Valentine's lips captured hers in a tender kiss. They brushed against hers, his tongue sweeping along them to part them. She willingly opened her mouth to him, opening her heart at the same time. He smiled and kissed her deeply, eliciting a moan from her. Venturi's fingers trailed over her thigh and grazed her nether lips. She tensed, her hips jerking up as she stopped breathing in anticipation. She felt him brush over her clit and dip down to draw up slick arousal to it. He circled it slowly, teasing and torturing her at the same time.
Valentine palmed her breast and tackled her tongue with his own, kissing her breath away and forcing her to halt her breathing. She didn't want to break contact with him. She could spend hours latched onto him like this, kissing him without a pause for air. The advantage of being a vampire.
Her knees were pushed apart and she arched her back when Venturi parted her nether lips and darted his tongue into her slippery folds. A new flood of arousal swept through her when she tensed and his tongue flicked her pert nub. The assault to her senses was delicious, a heady intoxicating pleasure that made her go limp and let them do as they pleased with her. She raised her hands above her head in an act of surrender, willing herself to keep them there, as though she was their captive, unable to make them stop.
She didn't want them to stop.
She gasped when Venturi slid one long finger into her folds, probing deep and wiggling it in a way that made her instinctively shift her hips, wanting to draw him in further. He pulled it out again and licked downwards. She screwed her eyes shut and kept kissing Valentine. She almost bit his lip when Venturi thrust his tongue up inside her and out again. He lapped at her juices, moaning and tightening his grip on her thighs. The sound of his pleasure made her wetter for him, wanting one of them back inside of her.
Valentine murmured words into her ear, sweet ones that set her heart aflame and passionate ones that made her body tremble. She grasped hold of the headboard when Venturi worked his way back up to her clit and he sucked on it, hard. Her eyes shot wide open when Valentine sunk his teeth into her neck, his arms locking around her and restraining her. It was too much. The pleasure of it was maddening, sending her out of her mind and rekindling the lust that had turned into calm desire.
She held on to the tattered threads of sense as Valentine gave the first pull on her blood and Venturi sucked again on her clit. Her fingernails became claws, digging into the wooden headboard to anchor herself and stop her from grabbing hold of Valentine. She wanted to be helpless, wanted her two loves to have their way again. Valentine adjusted his grip and bit down harder. She screamed her climax at the ceiling and bucked her hips up against Venturi's mouth, her thighs trembling as she came down from her high. Valentine didn't stop drinking, but he slowed, pulling at a more leisurely pace on her blood.
She sank into the bed, sighing out her breath as a lazy smile wound its way onto her lips.
Venturi kissed her thighs, feeling them quiver beneath his lips. His eyes strayed to her glistening pussy. He wanted to be back inside there, sheathed in her tight core and as close to her as he could get without a mating. He lightly ran a finger down the outer lip, tickling the curly dark hair before sliding it inside her folds. He nudged it into her core, moaning as she gripped him, still convulsing and wet from her release.
Tearing himself away, he raised his head and sniffed, groaning as his cock ached at the smell of her blood. He needed to taste it but knew he'd have to gain Valentine's permission in order to do so, and while the Aurorea would share some things with him, he was certain that wouldn't be one of them.
He pushed himself up onto his knees and stroked his cock, running his hand down it and pulling the skin back to reveal the head. His thumb brushed over it as he watched them, Prophecy writhing beneath Valentine as he drank her blood. The smell of it was making him crazy, filling him with a hunger the intensity of which he'd never felt for anything or anyone.
When Valentine released her and sat back on his heels, Venturi watched the Aurorea clean her blood from his lips. The marks were pronounced on her throat, surrounded by spots of blood that he wanted to lick up. She sat up and smiled at him, her eyes dropping to his cock for a moment before meeting his again. He was surprised when she looked at Valentine and he nodded, giving him a glance that painfully reminded him of that night in Romania when the Aurorea had told him to give her his blood and not feel anything from it. It had been impossible of course.
Valentine looked at him, his eyes holding all the invitation he needed to have him moving towards Prophecy and again wondering if this was really happening.
She came to kneel before him, her eyes wide and laced with a hint of trepidation. He brushed the rogue strands of her blood-red hair from her face and smiled, showing her that he wasn't quite sure how to proceed either. It was strange to have Valentine watching him do this, doubly odd to have him give him permission to. He felt like a youngling again, doing as his sire bid and learning all this. He'd bitten countless people, countless vampires too, but none of them had made him feel nervous like she did.
"Come,” Prophecy whispered, wrapping one hand delicately around the back of his head.
He sighed and closed his eyes, feeling her fingers twirling the hair at the nape of his neck, drawing him slowly to her. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself and cleared his head, determined to make the most of this in case it never happened again. This would definitely keep him fighting and keep him alive. If there was the tiniest chance it could happen again, he'd never let anyone best him.
His eyes opened and fixed on the marks Valentine had placed on the left side of her neck. He lowered his mouth to them, his lips hovering a hair's breadth from her skin, and breathed in the sweet scent of her blood. His teeth itched and lowered, the bones of his face shifting to allow their descent. He took another breath and then paused.
Prophecy tried to tug him to her but he went rigid, refusing her.
He drew back and marvelled at the hurt look in her eyes, as though she thought he wasn't going to do it. She was crazy if she thought he'd pass up this opportunity to taste her and be as close to her as he could possibly get.
No, he would bite her, but he wouldn't mark Valentine's side of her neck. He wanted everyone to see what had happened this night. Her party was due to continue tomorrow night and at the ball, she'd be wearing both of their marks proudly on her throat. If he bit the other side, everyone would know she had two lovers now.
Shifting across to her other side, he gently caught hold of her jaw and raised her head up and to the side, exposing her throat. He stared at it, at the scars on it that were Valentine's, and the thought that he was finally going to add his to them made his stomach tighten and his heart clench. He brought his mouth slowly down to her neck and kissed it, licking it and tasting her skin. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her neck and pressing her cheek against his.
She sighed into his ear and he frowned at how close he could feel to her without even being inside her. The whole atmosphere around them lightened until he felt as though he was floating in space with her, and Valentine was nowhere to be seen.
Opening his mouth, he wrapped his lips around a spot near her jugular on her throat and slowly sunk his teeth into her. She tensed and whimpered, but he knew it wasn't a cry of pain. It was pleasure. Her fingers dug into his shoulders, gripping him tighter to her as she nipped playfully at his earlobe. He wrapped his arms around her waist, his fingers pressing into her sides as he bit down hard. His hips jerked against her as her blood filled his mouth, drowning his senses in the sweet heady taste of her. Taking a long pull on her blood, he ground against her belly as she groaned in his ea
r, her breath tickling it as she begged for more. He didn't realise he was digging his claws into her sides until she tensed and whimpered again, and this time he knew he'd hurt her. A low growl made him loosen his grip and shrink back a little so he didn't anger Valentine any further.
His hands slipped to her backside and he pulled her against him, trapping his aching cock between them as he drank her down. She rubbed against him, driving him mad with desire. His hips instinctively thrust forwards, grinding his length between their bodies and adding to the pleasure spiralling out of control inside of him.
Prophecy frowned when she felt a little dizzy and whispered into Venturi's ear to let her go. She was amazed that he relinquished her so easily. He drew back and stared into her eyes, his black ones showing all his concern. She smiled, trying to silently reassure him that she was fine.
Sitting back on her heels, she gave herself a moment to recover. Having one man take blood from her had been pleasurable enough, but having two made her feel as though she was going out of her mind. It spun a little, making the room go with it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, holding it in.
Something brushed against her lips and she opened her eyes to see Valentine's wrist there. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. Pushing his wrist aside, she crawled across the bed to him and latched her mouth onto his neck. She bit down hard, sucking at the same time and trembling when his blood filled her mouth. She greedily swallowed it down, not spilling a drop.
A muffled moan escaped her when Venturi moved up behind her, his hands palming her backside and kneading it. She felt Valentine's hands against her breasts but didn't release him. She loved the taste of his blood and the intimacy of biting him. It felt more sexual than screwing him. While sex was pleasurable enough, blood wasn't freely given and to be offered it made her feel as though she was chosen by that person, special enough in their eyes to warrant such an intimate and trusting act.
