by Lexi Blake
“It sounded like one,” he assured me.
“Good.” I let out a relieved breath. “Knowing Dev, I could have been having a litter.”
“I shall try hard to never give you a litter.” Dev’s hand slid over my stomach and rested there. “But twins would be nice.”
I looked at Daniel. “We have to find a way to stop this whole transference thing. I don’t want to be the reason you die, Danny.”
Daniel cuddled up, his hand joining Dev’s on my stomach. “Baby, what did you expect I would do when you’re gone?”
I tried to come up with another answer but I knew. He wouldn’t want to go on. “What were you planning to do?” I asked because the sun wouldn’t kill him now. He couldn’t just walk into the light.
“I have orders to stake him,” Dev offered cheerfully.
“What?”
Dev shrugged. “I’ve been practicing. I think I can do it in one thrust. I hope he doesn’t explode. Anyway, that’s the plan. After Danny’s gone, I’ll drink myself to death and we’ll all be together again.”
I laughed because they looked so serious. “That’s a horrible plan.”
“Yes, it was,” Daniel admitted. “Dev will probably drink himself to death long before he has a chance to stake me and then I’d have to do it myself. It’s better this way. I’m not going anywhere, Z, at least not until you do. I love you. You’re my life, and now I get to go with you.”
Daniel tilted his head down and kissed me softly.
The door opened, and Declan stuck his head in. “The healer and witch will tell us nothing. Has my brother figured out that he impregnated his female yet?”
I sat up and tossed a pillow at the prince’s head.
He managed to duck. “Well, then I offer you congratulations. I look forward to being an uncle.”
As Declan closed the door, Dev sighed. “Forget what I said about twins. One of them always turns out to be an asshole.”
Chapter Seven
I woke to soft lips on mine, hands stroking me gently. I was lying on my side, cuddled down on the soft bedding. The night’s drama had exhausted me, and I’d fallen asleep shortly after the healer had left. Dev and Daniel had been talking about the implications of my pregnancy and I’d done what I always did when they started in on politics and crap. I drifted off.
But they also knew how to wake me up. I shivered as someone drew the covers off me. I wasn’t cold for long. The blanket was quickly replaced with the heat of a hard body cuddling up to mine.
“Good morning, Devinshea.” I let my head drift back to nestle against his chest as his arms came around me.
“Good morning, my gorgeous goddess.” He kissed the shell of my ear, a soft touch, but I already could feel his magic warming up my skin.
The curtains were drawn but light still filtered in, a soft glow that made our little world gauzy and dreamlike. It was easy to pretend this was a vacation and we were just a normal everyday threesome having some intimate time together.
I reached out for Daniel, running my hand along the slightly cool skin of his chest. His hand came up and covered mine, letting me know he was awake.
Dev gently turned my head toward his, his lips soft against mine, his tongue begging entry. I moaned a little and let his tongue slip into my mouth. Dev held my head still as he explored, letting our tongues play against each other with velvety languor.
“This is how every morning should begin,” he said with a slow smile as he flipped me onto my back. “Unfortunately, we have a problem.”
I didn’t see the problem. We could stay right there in bed for all I cared. Dev’s hands found my breasts, plucking at my nipples.
“Hey, don’t take forever, man,” Daniel warned.
Dev sighed, his mouth turning down. He rolled a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. “That would be our problem, lover. Our vampire is weak and surly this morning. It’s troublesome because he has some torturing to do and I fear if we don’t feed him properly, he’ll be unable to perform.”
“I need sex,” Daniel said with a self-deprecating grin as he leaned over to kiss me. He was heart-stoppingly beautiful in the soft light. His sandy blond hair needed a cut, but I wouldn’t say a damn thing because I loved the way it had started to curl over the tops of his ears.
“You need sex.” I pushed my fingers through that thick hair, brushing it back.
His dimples were on display, and I got the sexiest hint of fangs as he smiled. “We’ve been busy. I haven’t fed off the magic in a couple of days, and I’m feeling weak, baby. All that sunlight yesterday nearly did me in.”
One of the ways our threesome worked was the fact that Daniel, like most vampires, could feed off of sexual energy. It was why the feeding process was almost always followed by a good long session in bed. Dev, being the fertility god he was, had a sort of supercharged sexual energy that when Daniel fed off of it, allowed Daniel to handle sunlight. He still didn’t like direct sunlight and he’d been exposed to plenty of it yesterday. He was probably feeling weak.
“So Dev offered to make the sacrifice?” I asked sarcastically.
“You know I will do anything to keep the three of us strong.” Dev gave me a lecherous grin. He bent down and licked my nipple before sucking it into his mouth. I let my eyes close and my hand find his hair. I had a hand on both my men. I was a happy girl.
Dev sat up all of a sudden. “Seriously? I don’t know that he’s going to go for that. You can do that?”
I stared at my faery prince.
Daniel shook his head. “That freaks me out a little. He’s started having these whole conversations with himself in the middle of talking to me.”
Bris. He was talking to Bris.
Dev rolled his eyes. “We’ll get better at it, Dan. Eventually I’ll remember I don’t have to talk out loud.”
“Yeah, so you’ll just zone on me. That’s going to be so much better,” Daniel complained.
They were ruining my perfectly happy morning. “Dev, what is Bris saying? Or better yet, why doesn’t he just say it himself?”
“He isn’t sure he should come out during intimate situations.” Dev frowned.
Daniel huffed. “Uhm, he’s a little late for that. Pregnant wife, anyone?”
“That was a ritual,” Dev pointed out. “Obviously we need him for those. He’s not nervous about Zoey. He’s nervous about you, Dan. He doesn’t want to offend you with his presence, but he has a solution to our problem.”
“I thought sex was the solution.” I kind of liked that solution.
A slow, sexy smile crossed Dev’s face. “Sex is always the solution, my goddess.”
Daniel sat up, moving much more slowly than usual. He settled his back against the headboard of the bed. Now that I looked at him, it was easy to see how tired he looked. I’d done that to him. My heart ached. “If he can help out, then please bring it on.”
Dev’s eyes changed in a heartbeat, his body relaxing, becoming more languid, his features softening slightly. I’d begun to see that there were subtle differences between Dev and the Irish fertility god who had taken up residence in his body. There were not so subtle differences as well, and that included his eyes becoming fully green without a hint of white.
“Hello, Daniel.” He turned to me, his expression infinitely warm. “Hello, my goddess. You are happy about the pregnancy?”
“Have you known about it?” He was a fertility god. He might just know when he’d done his duty and aided in population growth.
He frowned. “Yes, but I thought it best to allow you to discover the truth on your own. I understand now I made a mistake. You did not want children. I apologize.”
Daniel held up a hand. “Stop. No apologies. We weren’t ready for kids. No one ever is. We’ll welcome this child with open arms, all three of us.”
“You aren’t angry with me?” The ancient god turned his eyes on Daniel.
“It’s your nature, but we have to talk about what happens after this one. She c
an’t stay pregnant all the time, man.”
That was a horrifying thought. “What?”
Bris’s laugh was as rich as the darkest chocolate. “I can protect her. The small devices humans use are remarkably helpful.”
“Are you talking about rubbers?” Daniel asked, his lips quirking up. “That’s kind of low tech compared to other methods of birth control.”
“Ah, but those methods manipulate a woman’s hormones. Believe me, I can manipulate those far better and more accurately than any chemical. I can have a woman ovulating in no time at all. Trust me, those rubber things are your best bet against my magic.” He turned serious. “I don’t want to give you more children than you want, Daniel. But I can help you with your current problem.”
I leaned forward because our current problem included Daniel’s inevitable death. “You can fix the problem with the transference?”
Bris shook his head. “Oh, my goddess, he doesn’t want that fixed.”
“I don’t.” Daniel put a hand on my shoulder. “We went over this, Z.”
“I don’t have to be inside Daniel’s body to see through to his soul. He’s happy about the transference, though he has to know to protect you all the same. It won’t work if someone uses one of those guns on you. Barbaric weapons. So put it out of your head. No, I was talking about our vampire’s weakness. Even if she eats, the pregnancy will be hard on her. And by hard on her, I mean hard on you, Daniel. Her weaknesses will affect your ability to daywalk.”
“So even if I feed properly I’ll struggle?” Daniel asked with a long sigh. “I’m not used to being weak. It’s been a long time since I felt so human.”
“Like Devinshea said, sex is the solution.” He held his hands out, showing off Dev’s body. “I am sex, Daniel.”
My ears perked up. Well, my whole body perked up because I would pay so much to see that show.
Bris chuckled. “That wasn’t what I meant, my curious goddess.” He turned, his right palm facing us. “I can channel the energy through Devinshea’s hands. I can give you a boost that should last several days.”
That was disappointing, but it could be helpful all the same.
“I’m up for that, man. I hate feeling like this. I’ve gotten used to seeing the sun. It was hard to wake up this afternoon.” Daniel struggled to get to his knees.
“I’ll have you waking with the dawn if you like, Your Highness.” Bris got to his knees as well.
And I just kind of watched because they were both naked. Pretty, pretty naked men. My men.
“What should I do?” Daniel asked, sounding uncertain for the first time.
Bris closed his eyes, taking a long breath. It filled Dev’s chest, accentuating his every muscle. “You just get ready, Your Highness.”
He touched Daniel, his big palm going right over Danny’s heart.
“I thought we agreed you would call me Daniel. God, is that supposed to happen? I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.” Daniel started to move away.
I got up on my knees behind him after seeing exactly what was freaking my vampire hubby out. He had a hard-on to end all hard-ons. His cock was standing straight up, reaching almost to his navel.
Bris stared at him, his face slightly flushed with embarrassment. “Again, I apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Daniel stilled once I put my arms around him. “It’s just…it’s not that way between me and Dev.”
His slight hesitation gave me hope for a kinky future. “He’s not trying to have sex with you, Danny. He’s just going to touch you.”
“I wasn’t mad, Z. I’m just adjusting again.” Because it was pretty inevitable. He’d said it to me himself. You could only have a fertility god in your bed for so long without dealing with the consequences. In my case, that was getting pregnant. In Danny’s, I was pretty sure it meant exploring his sexuality in a way he hadn’t planned on before. I, for one, would buy pom-poms and cheer on the day. His hand came around, his fingers threading with mine even as he gave his attention to Bris.
“Forgive me, Bris. No matter how much power I claim, I seem to still be just a man, and I fear change sometimes. Even when I know there’s nothing to be afraid of. Please touch me. I won’t cringe. Believe me, cringing ain’t what I’m afraid of. I’m going to like this, aren’t I?”
For once Bris looked almost human. His grin was so sweet. “I’m afraid so, Daniel.” He touched Danny again, but this time they made a connection.
I watched as a visible pulse of energy went from Dev’s body to Daniel’s. His hand tightened around mine and he groaned, long and hard. His whole body shook, but it was easy to see it wasn’t from pain. I let my free hand wind around Danny’s waist to touch his cock. He came instantly, coming in my hand in long jets.
“Fuck. Yep, that’s what I was afraid of.” He couldn’t help himself. He laughed as he kept pulsing in my hand.
Bris finally broke the connection and Daniel dropped over, his body hitting the bed. Bris reached out to touch my face, his fingers brushing my skin. “He should be fine for several days, perhaps as long as a week, and I’ll check in on the babe. Take care of yourself, my goddess.”
Suddenly Dev was back, his eyes normal again. There was a devilish grin on his face. “That was awesome. Dan, you okay?”
Daniel didn’t move, simply gave Dev a thumbs-up. “Yep. I’m good.”
Dev growled and I was suddenly in his arms. He pulled me close, our chests coming together. His cock rubbed against my belly. “I’m good, too. I’m fucking fantastic. And Daniel still needs a bit of blood. You know what that means.”
Daniel pushed himself up. His face was still pale because he hadn’t had enough blood, but it was obvious he was feeling better from the smile on his face. “Only if you’re feeling up to it, Z.”
“I don’t know,” I said with a laugh. I put my arms on Dev’s shoulders and spread my knees wide. “Do I seem like I’m feeling up to it?”
He knew what I wanted and slid his hand down my body. His fingers gently opened the soft flesh of my pussy and rubbed. It didn’t take long before his fingers were soaking wet. He held them up for Daniel’s inspection. “She seems to be feeling up to it.”
Daniel’s fangs were fully out and despite what had just happened, his cock seemed ready to play again. “I should take a shower.”
He did have stuff all over him.
Dev didn’t give a flying shit. He just rubbed himself on me, completely uncaring that I had Danny’s come on my hand. “You know what they say, Dan. Get dirty before you get clean. No one is bothered here. I swear, I’ll get you to toss out that unneeded self-consciousness if it’s the last thing I do. There’s no place for embarrassment in our bed.”
Daniel moved in, reaching for me, his eyes darkening. “Well, you know I try to follow your lead when it comes to this.” Daniel pulled me down to the bed, settling in beside me.
Dev parted my knees, making a place for himself between my legs. “Why don’t you work on those luscious tits everyone in my family seems to love so much and I’ll pay particular attention to this sweet little pussy.”
Daniel kissed me before dropping his head to my breasts and brushing them with his tongue. His fangs scraped along my skin, drawing just the tiniest bit of blood that he licked up with a grateful moan before suckling my nipples one after the other.
My eyes nearly rolled to the back of my head as Dev laved my flesh with affection. His tongue slid over and over, licking every part of my pussy. He spread my labia and sucked on each petal while his fingers worked into my channel, rubbing deep inside. He licked and sucked, his tongue darting here and there.
Daniel plucked at my nipples, rolling them between his fingers. He licked at my neck, his fangs scraping again in little bites that made me jump. It was just the right side of pain, just enough to get my heart racing, and then Danny’s tongue would come out to soothe the ache.
He finally moved up, bringing himself level with me. He brought his wrist to hi
s mouth and bit down. “Open up, Z.”
“You should feed first.” He was still too pale for my liking.
Dev pinched my clit, nearly making me scream. Yeah, that was still the right side of pain, but just barely. “He gave you an order. He wants to feed you. Bris just pumped a ton of sexual energy through his system. If he wants you to drink, you drink or I’ll stop what I’m doing and we’ll talk about discipline.”
I can’t lie. When Dev got that dark voice, I softened and my whole system heated up. I let Daniel place his wrist over my mouth and I drank.
Warmth filled me. Daniel’s power flowed through me.
I gave myself over as Dev fucked me with his tongue, his clever fingers finding a rhythm on my clitoris as his tongue plunged in and out and his magic started to hum across my skin. I felt Daniel sigh against my breast as the magic hit him again. I’d felt Bris’s magic up close and personal. It was addictive. This magic was filtered through Dev and therefore a bit gentler. It still felt like heaven. It rolled over my skin, warming me everywhere.
Daniel finally pulled his wrist away, his smile telling me how much he’d enjoyed sharing blood with me. “I’ll make us strong, Z. You’ll see. Dev and I will take good care of you.”
“Goddess, you taste so good.” Dev moaned against me and I could feel he was getting restless. He pushed my legs farther apart, giving him full access and leaving me completely bare to him. He switched now, working two fingers into me as his tongue tormented my throbbing clit.
Daniel moved up and kissed me, our tongues playing around his fangs. He took over the kiss, his tongue matching the rhythm of Dev’s plunging fingers, and I came apart. My arms wound around Danny’s neck as I held onto him while the orgasm rolled over me.
Before the first one had fully registered, Dev was up on his knees, working his erection into me.
“It feels so good,” he moaned. “I’m going to like not wearing a condom, lover. You’re so fucking tight and hot around me.”
Daniel moved in behind me so my back was against his chest. I could feel his cock hard against my back but he did nothing about it. He pushed me up and wrapped his arms around me. “I love you, Z,” he whispered in my ear as he reached around and gently played with my nipples.
