“I had sex with Presten,” Isabel blurted out. A part of her felt like she just confessed to cheating on him. The air was so still, that she could hear the sound of Oz’s breathing. And her breathing. She was nervous as hell.
“Alright,” Oz said after what felt like an eternity of scrubbing down the wine glass. “And why did you feel like you needed to tell me that?” he asked.
“I— I don’t know,” Isabel said, turning away. Suddenly she felt like an idiot. Oz was just looking at her with glassy eyes, not moving. “I guess I just thought I owed it to you,” she continued.
“Isabel, you know I love you, right?” he asked, walking towards her. He moved slowly across the carpeted floor; Isabel wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss her or yell at her. “Right?”
“And I love you, too,” she breathed. “Which is why I felt like I needed to tell you this.”
“Our love for each other is independent of who we sleep with,” Oz said. “I knew you were sleeping with Presten… it wouldn’t be normal if you didn’t.”
“I just really needed to feed at the time, and you were giving me the cold shoulder and I—”
“Isabel, you don’t need to justify yourself… you have needs, and so do I. Sometimes we’re going to turn to each other for those needs, and sometimes, we’re going to have to resort to other people to get what we want.”
Isabel nodded. For some reason, she still felt uneasy. All her life she kept jumping from one person to the other, but right now, the idea of monogamy appealed to her more than ever. It was ironic, she thought, given that her entire being depended on promiscuity. “You’re right,” she said, despite herself. “I don’t know what I was thinking, I guess I just didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”
“Is that all this was?” Oz asked, folding both arms across his chest. He stared at her playfully, his eyes looking as though they were about to pop out of their sockets. He bit his bottom lip and looked away again, inspecting the dusty utensils randomly spread out over the table. “This is one weird-ass motel room,” he said.
“It’s nothing, just forget about it,” Isabel said, brushing her fingers through her hair. It had gotten so long over the past month that she felt like she could almost trip on it. “I think we should all stay up tonight and plan what we’re going to say at the council,” she muttered. “How about we call the rest of them in here?”
“Sure,” Oz said, sprinting for the door and swinging it open. “Hello, ladies and gentlemen, would you ever so kindly step in here so we can arrange what we’re going to say tomorrow?” he called down the hall, motioning for them to step inside. Isabel peered over Oz’s shoulder and she could see Abeo and Solange pacing the hallway, trying to find their rooms.
“Hello,” Abeo said, popping his head in through the inched open door. The rest of the succubi slowly followed and they poured into the room, one after the other. Jared sat on the bed; Solange pulled a chair and slumped down on it. It creaked under her, but she couldn’t care less. Suddenly Isabel felt overwhelmed by what was happening, so she retreated into the bathroom for a while before stepping back out again, trying to take in the fact that they only had a few hours to prepare. They would need to stay up all night, plotting how to present their case. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen,” Oz said again, putting his hands together. Isabel thought he surely must possess the skills of a public orator. He stood with such poise, such confidence that a part of her felt like he had already prepared his speech. “When the sun comes up, we’re going to make our way for the council to present our case, and by the end of tonight, we will have come up with a plan for this.” The rest of them nodded, like disciples listening to their master. “Now, Isabel, what do you think is going to strengthen our case?”
“The fact that we’ve got Gavin locked up in our dungeon,” she said, staring back at him. “Along with the rest of the vampires.”
“This is a rather dangerous statement,” he said, not taking his eyes off her. “We cannot claim to be holding the “rest of the vampires” captive because then we would be fabricating the truth. We’re only holding some of them captive, but not all.”
Jared smiled. “He’s right, we need to be very precise in what we’re going to say.”
“So, we’ve got Gavin… what else do we have to strengthen our case?” Oz asked again, scanning the room with his eyes. Isabel felt like she was back in college again, and Oz was that sonofabitch professor always looking for the right answer but never getting it.
“We’ve taken control over the rebel’s mansion,” Ava said, shifting her weight to one leg. She had been standing by the door this entire time; Isabel hadn’t even noticed that she was there.
“The rebel’s mansion is a useless thing to being up in our case,” Oz said coldly. “The vampires have already taken over the old mansion, the original mansion… they’ve wholly reshaped and constructed it. As far as headquarters go, the vampires already have the upper hand.” There was silence. Oz was pacing back and forth, eyeing them as they pretended to be deep in thought. “Come on, you guys,” he said again. “Think small, think about what’s next to you. Think!”
“I, I don’t know,” Isabel said, her voice boiling down to a hoarse whisper. She thought back to scenario time when her college professor wasn’t even directly addressing her and she felt the need to get up and leave the lecturing room because she was so overwhelmed. But she wasn’t going to leave this time. This time, she was going to see things through.
“You, of all people, should know,” Oz said, eyeing her coldly. “It’s Isabel, you guys! Isabel is the chosen one! She’s one of the strongest most powerful succubi to ever walk this Earth! She’s our most valuable weapon.”
Isabel could feel a weight being dropped to her chest. It’s not like she didn’t know it from the very beginning: this whole thing, start to finish, rested on her, and her only. Everyone else was at the periphery, or at least that’s what it seemed like. Ultimately, when Oz had done his part as the orator, when Jared has done his part as the loyal follower, when Ava has done her part as the gutsy rebel, it was only Isabel who remained.
“And what about Presten?” Abeo asked. “Isn’t he the chosen one, too?”
“Ah, I’m glad you asked,” Oz said, his lips curving to a wry smile. “Do you know why I never mentioned him, even though he’s the chosen one?”
“Because no one knows him,” a voice said from the far end of the room. Isabel turned around to see who it was. To her surprise, it was a girl she had never spoken to before; she was one of the people they had summoned outside the old mansion, but she hadn’t really gotten the chance to get to know her.
“This woman is a goldmine,” Oz said, his pearly teeth showing through his smile as he looked at the woman who had spoken. “Tell me, what’s your name?”
“Abigail,” the woman said, hugging her knees to her chest.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Abigail. Do you mind telling us a little about yourself?”
“I’m a shapeshifter,” she said, her hands clasped around her ankles. “That’s pretty much it.”
Isabel opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She and Oz exchanged brief glances before he smiled again, trying to conceal his confusion. Isabel was weary of shapeshifters, especially after what happened with Mikael. This woman was dangerous and she had to be recognized as such. “Interesting,” Oz said after a long pause. “I’d love to get to know you after our meeting… if that’s okay with you, of course.”
Abigail just nodded and looked away. It wasn’t like she was uninterested, but there was something weird about her, something peculiar. Isabel thought maybe she was just introverted, but then again, she knew nothing about her or where she came from. It was a bit worrying.
“Now, back to what we were saying… the council doesn’t know Presten. Or, of course they ‘know’ him, they just wouldn’t recognize him if they saw him,” Oz said, searching their faces for a reaction. “An
d so, that makes him our secret weapon. What do you think, Presten?”
“I think you’re absolutely right,” he said, peering at Isabel. She was still stuck in her own head.
“So basically, I’m the front, Presten’s our secret weapon, the hostages are the bait,” she said finally.
“Exactly.”
“Well, I think we’ve got most things sorted out,” Ava said, rising to her feet. “I have a good feeling about this.”
“Will you sit back down?” Oz asked, agitated. “We still have a lot to cover, right now we’re just trying to figure out where we are.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were my college lecturer,” Ava said, folding both arms across her chest. Of all the girls that Oz knew, Ava was probably the sassiest.
“I’m sorry,” he said after a pause. “I just don’t want us to screw this up, because if we do, we might never get another chance.”
“We’re not going to screw up,” Ava said, slumping back down on the floor. She sat cross-legged, gawking at Oz as he tried to gather his thoughts. “We’re a strong group, I think we’ll be okay.”
“Alright, well, the night is still young, ladies and gentlemen! We have a lot of time on our hands… and a lot more planning.”
CHAPTER 11
Isabel was dead tired. It was approaching four AM; she had been stuck in the same position for hours now. She rose to her feet, cursing under her breath, as her legs seemed to have fallen asleep. When she peered out of the window, all she saw was the blue dark seeping into the room. “I think we should call it a day,” she said finally.
“I think so, too,” Ava said, rising to her feet as well. “I’m gonna go out for a walk right now, anyone wanna join me?”
“I do,” Abeo said, getting up on his elbows and bouncing to his feet. Solange followed, and so did Abigail. One by one, the rest of them began pouring out of the room, flashing Oz a coy smile as they did so.
“Well, I guess that just leaves the three of us,” Presten said, cocking his head towards Isabel. She smiled at him and averted her gaze to Oz, who had finally settled in one place. At one point during the night Isabel began to wonder if he would dig a hole in the ground just pacing back and forth. Suddenly she felt an overwhelming urge come over her. She could see Presten out of the corner of her eye; he was gawking at her, following her every move. The bed looked tempting despite the spotted sheets and she could see herself crawling under the covers with not one, but both of them. Silence settled in the air; Isabel knew something was going to happen. She said to herself that she wouldn’t even try to stop it.
“Well, what do you feel like doing?” Oz asked, his eyes fixated on Isabel. He didn’t even look at Presten; it was like he wasn’t even there.
“What do you feel like doing?” she asked, her eyes darting from Oz, to Presten, and then to Oz again. The two men couldn’t even stand being in the same room together, let alone the same bed, with the same girl. Oz was so protective over Isabel, but then again, so was Presten. They had both grown so fond of her, that it was difficult, almost impossible, for her to imagine them allowing her fantasy to come true.
“You tell us what you’d like us to do, and we’ll do it,” Presten said boldly. He eyed Isabel with such lust, such passion, that she felt the need to be fucked by him, right then and there. But not only him… Oz was just standing there, gawking at them, biting his bottom lip and then clenching his jaw. He couldn’t stand the idea of another man being with her, but the thought of fucking her with Presten around was so compelling. He wanted to blow her mind, to make her wish she never even considered another man in the first place. He could see it in her eyes, how much she wanted to be fucked by him. And he could see it in Presten’s eyes, too. He wasn’t all that competitive. In fact, he didn’t love Isabel half as much as Oz did. Oz just wanted him to be a bystander, to show him that nothing and nobody could make Isabel feel the way she did when she was with him.
“I’m hungry,” Isabel said, her lips barely moving. The words slipped out of her mouth like dark confessions and when she raised her eyes to Oz, he was already smiling. He had been waiting to hear her say these words.
“And what do you want us to do about that?” Oz asked, stepping in closer to her. His hands were stuffed inside the pockets of his jacket, and when he came close enough, Isabel went ahead and kissed him. She felt his lips caress hers softly at first, and as her hunger grew, her hand wrapped around the back of his head and Oz’s hands grasped her waist as their kiss intensified.
Presten watched the couple with a small smile on his face, but deep down, he knew there was no way he could just sit back and watch. The scene in front of him was mesmerizing and when Oz’s hands slid Isabel’s robe off her body, her naked curves on full display, Presten felt his cock instantly grow hard in his pants. He got up, slowly, calmly, straining to maintain his control as he walked up behind Isabel and rested a hand on the small of her back.
Isabel broke the kiss and looked back at Presten. A part of her longed for him, while the rest of her body itched for Oz. She remembered the last time she had been between two men, when Gavin had shared her with the angel, but something told her that this would be different. She could feel it with every goose bump that broke out across her skin.
Presten pushed up against her, his hardness nestled against her cheeks as Oz brought her face back to him and kissed her again. Her hands quickly stripped him of his shirt and as she was about to remove his pants, she felt herself being turned around forcefully to face Presten.
She gazed into his eyes and the smile on his face reflected exactly what he was thinking. He knew how hungry she was and exactly how far she was willing to go to quench that feeling. With a strong hand on her shoulder, he pushed her down onto her knees in front of him. He slid his pants down, revealing himself to her and she wrapped a hand around his thigh as she let her tongue slide up and down his shaft. She heard a sharp intake of breath from above her and she smiled seductively before taking him into her mouth. Her lips wrapped around him, sliding him in as far as she could take him.
There was a flutter of clothes behind her and she slipped Presten’s cock out of her mouth to turn and look at the chiseled nakedness of Oz. She felt herself get instantly wet at the thought of running her hands across his skin, the feel of his muscles at the tips of her fingers. She wrapped a hand around his cock, bringing him closer, and swallowed him into her mouth. Isabel looked up at the angel and she could see the challenging smile he shot at Presten.
She alternated between the two, hungrily attacking them, a feeling of unbridled sexual desire racing through her. She made her mind up quickly as she watched the reactions on their faces, the mix of smile and desire, the tension that was building up. She was going to have them both, right here, right now.
Isabel stood up, quickly jumping to her feet as she pushed Oz back and onto the couch. She wasted no time straddling him and with a quick motion guided his cock to her pussy and slid him in. He entered her easily, effortlessly, penetrating deep inside her as she moaned in pleasure. She looked back at Presten and gestured to him and when he was close enough, pulled him onto the couch beside Oz as she began to ride the cock inside her.
Isabel bent down, taking Presten’s cock into her mouth as her hips moved against Oz. Her pace quickened, the fever and lust inside of her growing at the feeling of both men inside her and she felt a tingle race up and down her spine. She hadn’t expected how much pleasure this would give her and despite her conflicting feelings for Oz and her hunger to be satisfied by both men, she found herself reveling in the rush of emotions coursing through her.
Presten suddenly stood up, his cock sliding out of Isabel’s mouth, and he moved behind her. She looked over her shoulder, knowing fully what he intended to do as her hips bounced up and down on Oz. She met his eyes and as he positioned himself directly behind her, she pushed a hand against his chest and slowed her pace.
“Slowly,” she said, breathing heavily, her chest rising and
falling. She felt Oz’s lips wrap around one of her nipples and suck hard, and she closed her eyes against the needed distraction. She waited, losing herself in the attention Oz was giving her breasts, and inhaled sharply as she felt Presten push against her from behind.
Slowly, carefully, he slid inside, and she clenched her teeth against the pain of being stretched in places she had never been stretched before. Presten’s hands squeezed her cheeks as he continued to enter her. Fire shot up from her asshole and through her body and she wrapped her arms tight around Oz’s neck.
Then Presten stopped. She waited for the pain to subside and Presten was patient enough to give her the few seconds she needed to get accustomed to his cock inside her. She opened her eyes and gazed into Oz’s and he gave her a reassuring smile.
“You’re okay,” he said, brushing the hair from her face.
Isabel nodded, and Presten began to pull out slowly, and then push back in. He took it slow, and after a few strokes, the pain had subsided and all Isabel could feel was the pleasure that came with his movements. She began to move her hips against him and gasped at the dual feeling of both Oz and Presten inside her. Presten picked up the pace, reacting to her movements, knowing that she no longer needed the gentle treatment.
Loved by The Alpha Wolf (The Lone Wolf Book 1) Page 77
