His hips moved in a precise rhythm, never once breaking pace. He groaned against my lips. “You feel so fucking amazing, Stevie. So wet. So hot. So fucking tight.”
That mouth of his pushed me higher and higher, the ball of light sinking lower. I met his thrusts with abandon until he was pistoning into me, that swollen cock dragging against my inner flesh, hitting every nerve. Heat spread through me, the tension winding tightly in my belly.
“Lach!” I moaned. I was so close…
“I got you, babe, I know.” He reached between us and pressed the rough pad of his thumb against my clit. Circling it and adjusting the pressure until it was just right. My entire body started shaking and I clung to Lach’s shoulders, my nails digging into his skin.
My core tightened and with one last thrust of his hips, I went flying over the edge again. Soaring on mind-blowing pleasure that shattered my mind and overtook my senses as I came shouting Lachlan’s name.
His low groans turned into loud moans that ran into one as he tensed above me, he slammed into me, coming with a growl. His cock bucked and twitched inside me as my channel squeezed him over and over, milking him dry.
When our breathing finally returned to normal, the question that had popped into my mind earlier found its way to my lips. “Lach, what did you mean when you said there was nothing wrong with me and that we would talk later?”
He pressed a kiss to my temple and pulled me close to his side. “Remember when Matty told you that as the power manifests you’ll have to take from us more often?”
“Yeah,” I squeaked. I’d known that Matteo had told them what he told me, but talking about that night while lying in Lachlan’s arms was beyond weird.
“Your power is manifesting. It’s not fully activated yet, but I think you’re starting to reach your peak. No being shy about it, okay? It’s amazing. But you have to get what you need. It’s fuel…like food.”
As I settled against his chest, I knew he was right. Could already feel the energy skittering through me. I just had to let go of these old fears and insecurities, once and for all.
I shot Lach a glance from beneath my lashes as I slid my hand down to his already half-mast cock. “So what do you think about seconds, then?”
Chapter 16
I was feeling stronger and more powerful than ever the next day. I even managed to get through my training session with Damon in one piece. The man was a machine and I’d already learned a lot from him. I couldn't wait to learn more.
The guys were lounging around in the living room when I came back downstairs after a quick shower, a fire roaring in the fireplace as always. It stopped snowing sometime during the night, but the sky was still gray outside and the world was covered in white.
“I heard you kicked Damon’s ass,” Matteo laughed in greeting.
“In my dreams, maybe,” I told him, joining him on the overstuffed sofa in the corner. “At least I didn’t die. I’m counting that as a win for today.”
“Go team,” he cheered. “Did you take it easy on her, D-man?”
I tucked a strand of golden hair behind one ear and smiled. “Is it kind of funny how that nickname is so close to demon?”
“No,” Damon said, but his lips quirked. “And no, Matty. Don’t be stupid. We’re under imminent attack and you know that I would never take it easy on her anyway.”
Well, that was news to me. So much for special treatment from my trainer.
His words gave me a sense of pride, though, and I found myself beaming.
“Everyone ready to go?” Rex asked, looking cool and sexy as he strolled into the room wearing all black with sunglasses perched on his head.
“Go?” I didn’t know we were planning on going anywhere. “Go where?”
“We need to stock up on weapons,” Lach told me, striding into the room after Rex looking just as good. Only he was wearing a blue bomber jacket and light jeans.
I gaped at them. Having recently been treated to a trip to the armory, it seemed impossible that we needed more weapons. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack,” Damon answered. “We need to be ready.”
“And the army worthy stack of weapons downstairs doesn’t constitute being ready?” If that wasn’t being ready, I didn’t think it was possible for us to be.
“Nope,” Matteo chimed in. “Besides, it’s an excuse to go weapons shopping and get out of this house for a little bit. Luci is psycho but she’s also very shrewd. She won’t attack us in broad daylight in public so it will be safer than sitting around here anyway.”
“I just need to grab my coat.” I hopped off of the sofa and lingered at the bottom of the stairs.
“Meet us in the garage. We’re taking the SUV,” Damon told me.
I dashed up the stairs and got my coat before heading out the door to join them. The SUV was, as I should’ve known, a sleek black thing with bulletproofing in all its doors and windows. I was told that Rex had kitted it out for my safety.
“That seems like overkill,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Nobody laughed, and Rex met my gaze with a dead serious one of his own. “Trust me when I tell you, it’s not. That’s what the last crew thought. Every one of them underestimated Luci.”
The words were another stark reminder that, despite the pockets of joy and laughter and their attempts to reassure me, this was no game. The succubus after me meant business and I’d do well to remember it.
I made a mental note to ask Damon to run through that series of kicks again when we got home.
Matteo opened one of the rear doors for me and I slid into the luxurious interior. The seats were made of a soft leather and there were more buttons on the dash than I could even possibly imagine what to do with.
I was sandwiched in the back seat between Matteo and Rex while Lachlan jumped into the passenger seat and Damon, no surprise there, slid in behind the wheel. As it turned out, the weapons store was only about a thirty minute drive away.
The place was huge. It was like Toys“R”Us but deadly. The walls were lined in guns and knives and all sorts of things built for destruction. The guys were all business as they made their way around the store, but there was no question that their eyes were lit up like kids’ at Christmastime when we started browsing.
Guns“R”Us, as I nicknamed it in my head, was clearly a hit.
I trailed along behind them, trying to keep up with what they were saying, but I didn’t understand most of it. Stuff about magazines and trajectory and scopes and weights.
“How about this one?” Damon asked Lach, holding up a lethal looking crossbow.
Lach took it from him, turned it over in his hands and then flashed his megawatt grin. “It makes the cut.”
He placed it into the cart Rex was wheeling around—because those were needed at munitions stores?—and off we went. Lachlan declared two more bows satisfactory before we moved on to the next aisle.
“This one,” Matteo said, picking up what looked like an assault rifle. “We have to have it.”
I stifled a grin. “You sound like a child begging for a toy.”
He cracked a wide smile. “I would drop to my knees to beg for this thing.”
“Please don’t,” Damon said. “It’s yours.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Matteo shot back.
Damon flipped him off with a cocky smile.
“What’s next?” I asked.
“Grenades,” Rex grunted.
I eyed him incredulously but he shot me back a solemn stare. “You have got to be kidding me with that.” Crossing my arms, I glared at each one of them in turn. “You’re serious?”
“You have to stop asking that, love. We’re always serious about weapons.” Amusement lit up his eyes. “It’s one of the three things we never joke about.”
“Yeah? What’re the other two?”
Damon held up three fingers. “Food.” He dropped one. “Fucking.” Another. “And your safety. Not necessarily in that order.”
My heart
fluttered but it wasn’t time to get all emotional. Instead, I tipped my head in a curt nod. “Fine, then. Get the damned grenade.”
The solemn expression disappeared from Damon’s face, replaced by a grin. “Excellent.”
I laughed, following them to the checkout counter. The clerk’s eyes grew wide as he took in our haul. Then he cleared his throat and shied back an inch.
“Should I ring this up all together?”
“Yeah,” Matteo answered. I wasn’t sure if it was the sight of the four massive tattooed guys or the arsenal of weapons they were purchasing, but the clerk actually mouthed ‘are you okay?’ while the guys argued about the long-range capabilities of Matteo’s new toy.
I gave him a covert thumbs up, touched that he even cared enough to check. I was so giving them five stars for customer service in a review if I didn’t get my head lopped off by that psychotic, bird-hypnotizing bitch.
“We’re loading up for a bear.”
The clerk didn’t look convinced by my explanation, but he nodded and continued ringing up our purchases. The guys loaded their stuff into new carts and we headed out. As soon as I stepped out of the store, a bunch of vultures circling overhead caught my attention.
“That’s weird,” I muttered.
“Very,” Matteo agreed, his eyes narrowing. Rex flanked me and the guys started forming a loose circle around me as the skies started going dark.
“We need to get her out of here, now,” Lachlan snapped. No trace of humor in his voice. It was laced with steel and tempered in fire.
“No doubt about it,” Damon said. “Move!”
We broke out into a jog that quickly turned into a run when the birds bore down on us in a roar of fluttering wings and maniacal screeches. Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, they were swooping down, clawing at us with their talons and jabbing with their open beaks.
The guys closed ranks around me and yelled for one another, fists flying. They managed to fight some of the birds off but others broke through and dozens of animals tore into the exposed skin on my hands and face. Their razor sharp beaks ripped through my jacket, letting in bursts of icy cold air as they clawed.
The cold and the pain were the least of my worries as those needlelike nails dug into my shoulders. Suddenly, I felt disoriented as my feet left the ground.
“No!” I screamed, thrashing and jerking now, terror threatening to choke me dead.
How was this even possible? A pack of vultures was trying to carry me away. I was a foot off the ground, then two, then five as I flailed my fists, every lesson I’d been taught fizzling away under the weight of panic.
Just when I was certain all hope was lost, Damon’s vise grip locked around my ankles and he held on to me for dear life.
A swarm of birds blocked my vision and came at my eyes, forcing me to screw them shut. A scream was ripped from my lungs when I felt a chunk of flesh being torn from my cheek. Pain radiated through me, intensifying when a similar pain tore through my arm.
I could hear voices yelling and people crying out, but I couldn’t open my eyes. Tears rolled hot down my cheeks, falling like streams from my eyes. My heart was pounding in my ears and my stomach was burning. Bile was rising up, bitterness pooling at the back of my mouth.
Suddenly, a round of shots rang out. Sound became muffled, leaving behind nothing but a low, muffled whistle as I dropped to the ground in a heap on top of a hard body.
I knew I should open my eyes but I was too afraid of what I might see. Even more afraid of what I wouldn’t.
Had those demon birds gouged out my eyes? Had they killed one of my protectors?
Dimly, I heard the sound around me increase like it was coming through a wall. Someone crying and it took me a few moments to realize that it was me. Sobs wracked my body as the form beneath mine moved.
My eyes flew open and Damon’s eyes were the first things I could make out, my vision still blurred with tears. He wrapped his arms around me tight, the relief on his face so stark, that it stole my breath.
The commotion around me had me looking up to see Lachlan and Rex. They were both a little bloodied, but barely injured and I cried even harder from sheer relief.
“Matteo?” I asked.
A second later he came into view, his mouth turned into a grim smile.
“We’re okay. We’re all okay.”
But I wasn’t.
The memory of the sharp claws and razor beaks tearing into me…being dragged helplessly into the sky, brought on a fresh wave of fear.
Damon’s voice, low and soothing, spoke in my ear. “Hang on, angel. It’s almost over.”
He repeated it like a mantra as he moved and stood, lifting me into his arms, holding me tightly to his chest as we rushed for the SUV.
Time passed in a vacuum, it felt like it had been hours since we’d emerged from the store but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes.
Black spots swam in front of my eyes as the small crowd in front of the store gathered closer and tried to make sense of what they’d seen. I screwed my eyes shut again, not able to face any of it yet.
My body was trembling so much it was like someone had set me to vibrate. The black spots seemed to seep from my eyes to my veins, my bones. My very soul.
Energy leaked from me along with the hot, wet blood that was caking my skin. By the time we fought our way through the gathered crowds to reach the SUV, Damon stopped dead in his tracks. Despite feeling like I was about to faint, I cracked open an eye and my blood ran cold.
There, on the outside of the SUV, written in thick, dripping blood, were the words “Vultures love dead meat” in cursive, rounded lettering.
My mind swam, my head dropped back against Damon’s chest a second before blackness enveloped me and the world fell away.
When I came to, I found myself on the sofa in the living room at our home with a flurry of activity around me.
Lach and Damon were standing over me, eyes wild with worry as they passed their hands over my body.
“What are you doing?” I croaked.
“Trying to heal you,” Lachlan gritted out, growling and jumping to his feet. He shoved his hands into his hair and then punched the stone wall.
I glanced down and saw that I was naked but for my panties. There were claw and bite marks everywhere and scratches down my legs. I was even more beat up than I thought. I tried to move, to sit up, but paralyzing pain shot through every part of me.
My stomach rolled and the blackness started closing in again but I fought it back.
“Shh, angel,” Damon said soothingly. “Just lie back, we’re going to figure out why you won’t stop bleeding.”
What? Terror ripped at my heart. I wouldn't stop bleeding? Tears streamed from my eyes, rippling past my ears and wetting my hair as I followed Damon’s advice and stayed lying down.
Matteo came into my field of vision, his face the same mask of worry and gut-wrenching pain that the others wore. He was carrying a small, porcelain bowl and held it out to Damon. “Here, try this.”
He knelt down next to Damon and took one of the swabs that were floating in the greenish mixture. There was a strange smell wafting from it, like mint and mud and something that I couldn’t place. Matteo brought the swab to a wound on my arm. There was a faint stinging sensation that ceased almost immediately.
“Fuck,” Damon said harshly. “It’s not working.”
“I’m close, though,” Matteo breathed. Looking down at my arm, I saw that the bleeding had slowed but hadn’t stopped. “I’ll try again.”
He rose to his feet, shooting me a look that threatened to rip my soul in half from the anguish in his eyes. “You stay right here. I’m going to fix this.”
Rex thundered into the room. “I put out those feelers, even down to the boss man. No one has any more of a clue than we do what it is. They suggested all the same magic we’ve already tried.”
“I’ll get it right, I promise you that, babe. Hang in there,” Matteo said
, scurrying from the room.
Damon kept running his hands an inch or so above my skin, sending warmth over it but bringing no healing. A string of curses that would make a sailor blush was streaming from his mouth. His jaw was set in determination, his eyes shining resolutely.
Lachlan came back to my side, the same look in his eyes as in Damon’s. He glanced at Damon. “She’s going to be all right. It will take time before her own magic can heal her and she’ll be in pain and weakened, but I don’t think this is fatal. If Luci wanted her dead, she’d have made the poison lethal. She’s toying with us. I can’t believe she actually did that in public. She’s clearly emboldened and I don’t fucking like it.”
“None of us like it, Lach, but this is what we’re dealing with right now,” Damon snapped. “We will find a way to heal you,” he said, changing his tone to a murmur.
Lachlan didn’t shy away from Damon’s reprimand. Instead, he lay a hand on his shoulder. “Look at her eyes, bro, she’s really out of it.”
I wanted to tell him that I was, but my voice wouldn’t work. My lips moved, but nothing came out. Rex joined the huddle on the floor, his warm hands taking mine. “She’s here. I think whatever poison those birds had on them has finally paralyzed her voice.”
Tears of relief stung my eyes, though they wouldn’t be able to differentiate them from the tears of pain that still hadn’t stopped flowing. I managed a small nod that Lachlan caught and my relief was mirrored in his eyes, a hundred times more intense. “There’s our girl.”
The guys worked tirelessly, coming up with idea after idea, none of which had worked so far.
They were talking quietly among themselves and I could only make out a few phrases. Lachlan saying, “Remember what I told you?”
Damon replying with, “Yeah, but it could be dangerous to try that when we don’t know for sure.”
I didn’t know what they were talking about and I couldn’t focus on it. Dread was starting to creep into my body, not for fear of the wounds I’d already sustained, I could deal with the pain for a while, as excruciating as it was.
The thought that was clouding my mind was a different one entirely.
Her Demon Harem: Reverse Harem Duology 1 (The Succubus Chronicles) Page 13
