by Eva Chase
“I certainly wouldn’t become so muddled as to forget that,” Thorn said with sudden resolve, and held out his hand. Son of a jacked-up jaguar, I wouldn’t have predicted that, but I was plenty interested in discovering how it’d pan out. What could possibly go wrong?
Snap took one drag from the joint and shoved it back to Bow with a hacking cough. “That is—that is enough,” he said weakly as Ruse clapped him on the back. “I don’t suppose you have any more strawberries?”
Thankfully, the equines did. While Snap made short work of those, Thorn sucked away on the spliff with a slight flush creeping across his tan skin.
“I can’t see that it makes any difference at all,” he announced after a few minutes, but a few minutes after that, he was chuckling to himself while he peered at the sparkly countertop. “I never realized it before. It’s as if you could connect each glint to find the source,” he informed us, whatever that was supposed to mean.
Pickle scampered across the table, his head weaving as if he’d gotten a bit high off the atmosphere too. Omen rolled his eyes and went up front to study the maps on the Everymobile’s GPS some more.
By the time Thorn was lying on the floor beside the cabinets discussing horse feed, favorite forest terrain, and the slant of the evening light across the ceiling with our hosts—all with equal enthusiasm—the stink of the smoke was getting a bit much for me. Snap stirred restlessly, eyeing Thorn with obvious bewilderment, and Ruse… The incubus was smirking at his companion’s newfound state of levity, but there was something muted about his glee at the situation. It could be the smoke was getting to him too or more of that odd reticence I’d noticed coming over him.
A burst of confidence rushed through me that might have been a tiny bit bolstered by a slight second-hand high. We knew where our enemies were. We had a plan to smash them tomorrow night. Even with new allies on our side, it was going to be absurdly dangerous. We all deserved to enjoy ourselves thoroughly before then.
I stood up. “Ruse, Snap, come on. I think we should have our own non-smoking celebration.”
Snap leapt up, an eager glow brightening his face. Ruse’s smirk took on a sly slant, but he got up more slowly, maybe with a little hesitance?
Well, we’d see what we could do about that. He’d only ever hesitated before because he’d thought I wasn’t fully committed. How could I have forgotten that?
I motioned for them to follow me and sauntered down the hall to the RV’s second bedroom, where I’d slept the past two nights.
You could tell the current owners had been responsible for decorating the space. The comforter had a dreamy purple cloud print; the built-in wardrobe had received a coating of silver glitter. The gauzy curtain over the small window sparkled with matching spangles in the afternoon light. The only other illumination came from a circle of fairy lights fixed to the ceiling.
Not really my taste in décor, but when our hosts had managed to provide me with a double bed in a freaking RV, I had no complaints.
Especially now that I might get to share that bed with not just one but two of my new lovers. As they came in after me, I sat down on the edge of the bed, my heart beating faster.
I’d never done anything like this before—but wasn’t that all the more reason to try? If Thorn could get high, I could handle a threesome.
If the men involved could handle it, that was. Snap beamed at me but then glanced uncertainly at Ruse. “How did you want to celebrate, Sorsha?”
I reached up to grasp his hand and turned my own gaze on Ruse, who looked oddly uncertain too for a creature whose natural habitat was bedrooms. “I think your soundproofing ability would come in handy right about now.” One of his supernatural skills allowed him to ensure the sounds of lovemaking didn’t escape a given room, thank all the glitter around us.
“And then I’ll play voyeur?” he asked.
I kicked him—lightly—in the shin. “That wasn’t what I was thinking. Haven’t you offered on half a dozen occasions to teach Snap a few advanced techniques? No time like the present.”
The incubus and the devourer considered each other. I couldn’t tell which of them was more torn—or why Ruse was torn at all when this had been his idea to start with. Oh, well. If he left, that was up to him. Snap and I could still enjoy ourselves perfectly well.
“If it helps your decision any…” I said, and tugged off my blouse and undershirt together to remove my protective badge as well. Might as well put the assets on display. I leaned back so my boobs perked up even more in my demi-cup bra.
Snap made a hungry noise low in his throat and moved to join me without another second’s hesitation. He trailed his fingers down my back, kissed my shoulder, and peered up at Ruse again. “I would like to know what you can show me. For Sorsha.”
“Looking to put me out of a job, huh?” the incubus joked, but his roguish face had softened. When he met my eyes again, the gleam in his brought an unexpected flutter into my chest. “I did offer, didn’t I? I suppose a tutoring session can’t hurt anything.”
Did he think some other kind of hook-up would hurt? I wasn’t sure how to ask that question, especially in front of Snap. And then Ruse leaned in to capture my mouth, and questioning his exact phrasing was the last thing on my mind.
He kissed me with such intensity it left me breathless, all my nerves quivering in anticipation of what would follow. He nudged me over on the bed so all three of us could sprawl there side by side and glanced across at Snap.
“The first and most important lesson: explore. There are no perfect spots or motions that get every woman off. You caress here and kiss there to see how she responds. The sounds she makes. The speed of her pulse. The heat of her skin.” His smirk came back. “For your first round of homework, put that advice to test while I enjoy these lovely lips a little more.”
He claimed another kiss, easing us both right down on top of the comforter. The intoxicating pressure of his lips turned even more potent with the stroke of Snap’s hand up my side to my chest.
The devourer had already proven he was an intrepid explorer during our previous encounters. He unhooked my bra and, attentive to Ruse’s advice, teased his fingers not just over the sensitive peaks of my breasts but all along the curves, across my ribs, down my spine, as if he were charting every plane of my naked skin.
His lithe fingers woke up tingles of sensation everywhere he touched, but when a particular spot made me hum, he lingered there a little longer. Soon it felt as if my whole body was thrumming with awakening pleasure. When Snap finally returned to my chest with a flick of his thumb over one nipple, I gasped into Ruse’s mouth.
“The student learns quickly,” the incubus murmured, and dipped his head to attend to my other breast.
Snap scooted higher, and I turned my head to meet his softer but no less passionate kiss. His forked tongue slipped between my lips, drawing lines of bliss inside my mouth.
I dug my fingers into his silky curls, into Ruse’s shoulder as the incubus swiveled his tongue to urge the peak of my breast even stiffer, wondering what miracles I’d worked in some past incarnation to be worthy of this moment.
Snap kissed me harder and tweaked my nipple again. As he left my mouth to nibble along my jaw, Ruse slid his hand lower. When he reached the waist of my jeans, a sharper heat jolted between my legs. My hips canted upward of their own accord.
“Patience, Miss Blaze,” Ruse teased, jerking my zipper downward. “We’ll set you alight in all sorts of places.”
Snap paused in his attentions to watch Ruse help me squirm out of my pants. The neon glint came into his eyes.
“You tasted her here before,” he said, his fingers gliding down my abdomen to the hem of my panties. “I want to try that—I want to learn how to make her feel as good as when you did it.”
“Hmm.” Ruse branded my breast with another scorching kiss. “I’m sure that could be arranged, if our mortal has no objections.”
I let out a laugh that turned into a gasp when Snap
grazed his fingertips over my clit through the thin fabric. With just that light touch, my entire sex woke up with a pulse of pleasure. “No objections whatsoever,” I managed to say. “Instruct away.”
As he pulled my panties down, Ruse trailed his lips across my belly and over my hip. Each point of contact lit a giddy glow beneath my skin, just as he’d promised.
Snap bent by my thighs and pressed a tentative kiss just below my belly button. He inhaled deeply, and my nerves tingled at the way he appeared to revel in my scent.
“The word of the day is still ‘explore’,” Ruse said in that chocolatey voice of his. “Sample every bit of the terrain to see where she reacts most enthusiastically. Soft or forceful; lips, tongue, teeth, and fingers—make use of every tool at your disposal in every way. But carefully until you’re sure you’re onto something. Even the strongest of women have some rather delicate pieces down there.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.
Snap’s head dipped lower. He slicked his tongue over my clit, the forked tip encircling it for an instant, and an even giddier heat rushed through my core. A whimper shuddered out of me.
As he suckled me harder, I returned my hand to his head, tangling my fingers in his hair and expressing my pleasure with both the pant of my breath and the tug of his curls. The latter became more important when Ruse eased up beside me and reclaimed my mouth.
Within moments, I really was blazing everywhere. Between my legs, Snap coaxed more and more pleasure with each increasingly confident swipe of his tongue and nibble of his teeth. He delved one finger right inside me, his other hand stroking my hip down to the sensitive back of my knee. As bliss spiraled up from my sex, Ruse’s mouth on mine and his skillful fondling of my breasts drew out even more to join it. My body practically vibrated with the heady waves.
I jerked at Ruse’s shirt to get at the sculpted muscle underneath. He nipped my earlobe before stripping it off. As he leaned over me again, Snap’s long finger hit just the right spot inside me, in perfect concert with his lips on my clit.
“That’s it,” I said, unable to stop my hips from arching up. “Right there. Oh…”
And then I couldn’t speak at all with the flood of bliss that rose up over me, surging higher so swiftly it stole my breath. With one more swipe of his tongue, it crashed in a burst of ecstasy that knocked all thought from my head. My hand clenched in Snap’s hair.
As I lay there, momentarily jellified, he peered up at me. A hopeful smile curled his glistening lips. “That was a good one?”
A laugh tumbled out of me. “They’re all good ones, but that one definitely makes at least the top five.” A different sort of hunger gripped me, gratitude and desire mingling. “Get up here. You should find out how good being ‘tasted’ can make you feel.”
Snap scooted up the bed, and I sat up, yanking at his Henley shirt. He let me tug it off him, but when I reached for his pants, he blinked, and the rest of his clothes vanished in the same trick he’d used in the cabin. Even if there was no syrup to be had here, my mouth watered at the sight of his long, lean frame on display, cock jutting eagerly from his slimly muscled hips.
Ruse chuckled. “I guess this is where I take my leave.”
I grasped his wrist before he could get off the bed and caught his eyes. “I want you too. If you’re up for it, I mean.”
His hazel eyes glimmered with a hint of their unearthly shadowkind glow. “Always,” he said softly. “How do you want me?”
An eager shiver shot through me at the thought of the possibilities. “Inside me. I’ll leave the rest up to you. I know I’m in good hands.” I grinned at him and turned back to Snap.
I kissed the devourer on the mouth first, taking my time to revel in the passionate intentness with which he returned the gesture. As I made my way down his trimly toned chest, pecking more kisses against his smooth skin, Ruse knelt behind me. The incubus ran his hands down my back, over my sides, and up my torso to cup my breasts. His squeeze of my nipples left me growling for more.
When I circled the head of Snap’s erection with my tongue, the devourer’s chest hitched. “Oh, that is—That is very good.”
“It gets even better,” I assured him, and took his cock right into my mouth.
The tender skin there held the same fresh, sweet taste as the rest of him with its darker mossy undertone. Delicious. I pressed my tongue to the veins on the underside and swiveled it around. Snap groaned. Then I was groaning too, as Ruse tested my slit with his fingers and slid his own cock inside me in one practiced thrust.
We moved together in an erratic rhythm that slowly came together: Snap’s hips jerking up and his hand squeezing my shoulder, my head bobbing over his cock while I sucked him farther down, my body rocking as Ruse plunged deeper into me. Every eagerly desperate sound that escaped the devourer’s mouth, every ecstatic stutter of the incubus’s breath as he drove us both toward release, sparked my own bliss even hotter than the delectable friction inside me could generate on its own. The whole room seemed to have lit up with our pleasure. Well, maybe the profusion of sparkles had something to do with that too.
When Ruse sped up his thrusts, his fingers slipping around my hip to stroke my clit, it wasn’t just sparkles but twinkling stars that formed behind my eyes. I moaned around Snap’s cock, sucking harder.
We all careened into release together. Snap’s head tipped back into the pillow as his salty cum flooded my mouth. I swallowed and gasped with my second orgasm pealing through me. Ruse bent over me with a satisfied sigh and a few last lazy pumps of his hips to extend the bliss a little longer.
I slumped next to Snap, and Ruse sank down at my other side. The devourer looped an arm across my waist, the incubus rested his hand on my thigh, and for a few minutes as we lay there in the afterglow, we felt perfectly connected. Like a single being, no push or pull of competition. I didn’t figure it would last, but I’d enjoy it while I had it.
Snap was just shifting closer to kiss my temple when my ringtone carried from my purse. I grimaced but waved at Ruse for him to retrieve it from the floor. No one much called me, so if someone was bothering, it might be important.
The number on the display was Huyen’s. Maybe the Fund’s leaders had come to a change of heart? But when I squirmed onto my back and raised the phone to my ear, it was the voice of one of the other members that spilled out.
“Sorsha? I don’t know what the hell you’ve gotten into now, but I thought you should know—Ellen was attacked this evening.”
21
Thorn
As soon as we arrived in view of the tall, white hospital building, my combat instincts shot a twinge through me. I materialized on the vehicle’s sofa by the driver’s seat and thumped the back of that seat. “Keep driving past. Someone’s watching. We don’t want them realizing there’s anything odd about this vehicle.”
Bow nodded, the centaur’s hands tight on the steering wheel. Had it only been minutes ago that we’d been chuckling and exclaiming over… I couldn’t remember what now, only the exhilaration that had come with the supposed brilliance we’d stumbled on. Diving into the shadows and back out again had felt like leaping through the frigid flow of a mountain waterfall, wiping my senses clean.
That “grass” the equines had given me had been potent in its effects. It had certainly loosened up something in my mind while I’d inhaled the smoke, but the uncertainty of what I’d actually been thinking in that loosened state left my nerves on edge. Perhaps not a substance I’d partake of again.
Sorsha sat rigid at the other end of the sofa, her fingers curled around the edge of the leather seat. “Did you see Company people out there?” she asked.
“I’m not sure of the exact threat, but someone hostile toward us is monitoring the place. Several someones. And I can’t imagine what other party would match that description.”
She shifted her weight. “I have to get in there. I have to see her and make sure she’s okay.”
“What good will that do?” Omen demanded, hi
s posture tensed where he was leaning against the kitchen counter across from us. “You aren’t a doctor, and your powers have nothing to do with healing. You can’t help her with her injuries. Company people have seen you before—they’ll notice if you go in. And given how thorough they are, I think we can assume they’re watching every entrance.”
“It’s my fault they attacked her,” Sorsha said. I didn’t fully understand why this meant she needed to visit the woman—wouldn’t it be more sensible to steer clear and avoid drawing further danger?—but her voice was so raw it squeezed my heart.
Omen did not appear to be similarly affected. He motioned sharply at her. “So, get whatever details we might need to inform our plans over the phone, and leave it there. She abandoned our cause. You don’t owe her anything.”
Sorsha glared at him. “Maybe not in shadowkind terms, but humans don’t work like that. I’ve known Ellen for more than a decade—she and Huyen helped me get back on my feet after Luna died. I owe her a hell of a lot more than the last few weeks can decide. I’d be an actual monster if I didn’t make an effort to show I care.”
“Well, it looks like you’ll have to do that over the phone. Because you’re not walking through any door on that building.”
I glanced back toward the hospital, taking in the rows of glossy windows all the way up its dozen or so floors… and the neighboring office building, darkened at the end of the day, standing right next to it. The memory of Sorsha snatching the flower pot from the apartment balcony flashed through my mind.
“Maybe she doesn’t need to use a door,” I said before they could keep arguing. “I could slip into the place through the shadows, find a room that faces the building next door where I can open a window, and she could jump across.” I looked at Omen. “I’d make sure our mission remains uncompromised.” I wasn’t sure how well I could hold to that statement, so I didn’t make it an outright promise.
