He’d been there.
Lived that pain.
Jolie took his face in her hands as the irritation with her mates washed away. Now she had more important things to deal with. “I have you. It’s going to be okay. I won’t let him die. I promise.”
He had to trust in her.
“I know how he feels. I felt like that as Genevieve tortured me. He’s terrified and in so much pain. He just wants to let go and be free from it.”
“Oh, Flynn.”
His eyes filled with tears. “I feel so helpless.”
Jolie took his hand and led him to the back of their vehicle. “Get us home, Jacques,” she said.
“Absolutely,” he stated, patting Flynn on the shoulder. When he’d been taken, they’d all feared the worst. Here, their mate was experiencing the same thing.
“If she kills him, I’m going to hunt her down and do the exact same thing to her,” Flynn promised.
Jolie didn't doubt it.
What surprised her was that her normally calm mate was slipping into the darkness. He wasn’t peaceful anymore.
And this didn't help.
∞ Chapter Six ∞
Tuesday Night
Across Town
Vlad sat in his home drinking red wine when the messenger entered his house. With the unexpected visit came shocking news.
He couldn’t believe it.
They were back.
It enraged him to think that Jolie Harcourte believed herself to be above their laws. They’d been quite specific with what would happen if she returned.
Now he had no choice.
If he let it slide, council would doubt his ability to lead. In their world, weakness meant one thing--death.
No, she was going to forfeit her life.
There was no other choice.
He only hoped that whatever they returned for was worth it.
“Are we absolutely sure that our information is right?” he asked the messenger.
“Yes, Master.”
Her fate was sealed.
“Call together the elders, and we’ll decide what to do about this most unfortunate situation.” Vlad waited until the messenger left the room.
Something didn’t sit right about the entire thing.
He’d heard about the final battle between Jolie and Genevieve and knew that Jolie had no reason to return. Something must be happening for her to sneak quietly into the city.
Plus, add in that the messenger was from Genevieve’s old family, and his wariness was piqued.
Yes, he’d take her life, but he’d let her explain first.
It was time to make a move.
He only hoped that Jolie Harcourte was ready for the outcome. Either way, he was sure it was going to be costly.
* * * H a r c o u r t e * * *
Inside the safety of their house, Flynn excused himself. What he really wanted was to be alone.
He had thinking to do.
“Where are you going?” Jolie asked, hoping he’d be okay. She hated to see him suffer.
Flynn ignored her.
As she went to follow, Jacques grabbed her arm. “Let me do this. I know how he feels.”
She wanted to say no, but instead, Jolie gave him the opportunity to comfort their mate. “Okay, Jacques. Please help him.”
He followed after his mate, knowing exactly where he was heading. Whenever Flynn was worked up, he liked to sweat. He was likely in the gym pummeling something to death. It wasn’t like he could blame him.
It had been a shitty night.
Downstairs, he found Flynn stripped to his waist as he kicked the shit out of a punching bag.
“Do you want company?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Too bad. I’m your shadow until you calm down.”
With that, Jacques stripped down too. If his mate was going to hurt, there was no point in letting him suffer alone. “Want to fight?” he asked, dropping his silk shirt on top of Flynn’s on the floor.
Flynn spun in anger, rushing toward his mate. “I want to be alone!”
Jacques didn't flinch. With this man, he had faith in him. There was a trust building.
It was a powerful foundation.
“Go!”
Instead of listening, Jacques did something unthinkable. He slashed his claws down Flynn’s chest, tearing a howl from his lips.
It was all it took.
Flynn attacked.
The men fought, struggling to be stronger than the other. Blood splashed, hisses echoed, and pain was released into the room. Little by little, they fought at the demons wracking his heart and body.
With each hit, wound, and drop of blood, Flynn realized something. He was losing his anger.
Whether it was the violence, or Jacques’s notoriously calming touch, it didn't matter. It was pulling him back from the brink.
When he slammed into Jacques, he rode him to the mat.
“Feel better?” the vampyre asked from flat on his back.
Flynn blinked, forcing his deep blue eyes to return to normal. “No. I really wanted to be alone.”
With that, he was flipped off his captive. His body crashed into a workout bench, scattering all the weights.
Jolie happened to enter the room at that very moment to check on her mates. Her mouth dropped open, and she stared in horror at what was happening.
The men were a mess.
Just as she was about to intervene, Jacques was tossed across the room and into the wall. The thud reverberated through the space as he left an indentation in the plaster.
Flynn stood there, breathing heavy. “Are you done?” he hissed, his fangs clearly visible.
Jacques stood and stretched his neck and shoulders. The audible popping of bones told the tale. Flynn wasn’t playing around.
“I think the question is, are you done?”
Flynn didn't get to answer. As he opened his mouth, he was tackled around the waist.
The men struggled. Fingers and claws slipping from sweat and blood streaked flesh. Finally, Jacques did something unexpected to put an end to it. There was a hiss right before he sank his fangs into Flynn’s throat.
All movement stopped as Flynn was pinned to the mat with Jacques body and mouth. His breath was released in an audible moan like sigh.
In all honesty, Jolie wasn’t sure what would happen next. Not too long ago, Flynn wouldn’t let Jacques even touch him in bed, let alone a full on throat feeding. This intimate contact was still relatively new between them, and once you added aggression to it, there was a chance it could go bad.
Real bad.
Here was Flynn, pinned to the floor as Jacques slowly fed. It was anybody’s game at this point.
Flynn didn't move. The second his mate’s fangs broke his skin, the anger flooded away. Gone was the pain, and in its place was peace.
Delicious.
Calm.
Peace.
Jolie moved closer. Where she expected to see fury, there was none. Flynn remained on his back, his one hand on the mat, the other on Jacques’s neck as he rode out the feeding. On his face there was no anger, only calm.
She licked her lips at the visual.
Jolie couldn’t help it. She’d just watched two sexy men pummel each other, and now they were pressed together in a sweaty lump.
God help her.
Slowly, Jacques released him. “Better?” he asked, staring down into Flynn’s eyes.
He nodded. “Yes. I’m good.”
Only, that was a lie. While he didn't mind Jacques feeding so unexpectedly from him, he did mind that the blood lust had him by the balls. There was that voice in his head, screaming for him to be fed.
Flynn wasn’t sure he’d ever escape it.
“Are you two okay?” Jolie asked, moving closer.
They both glanced over.
She stopped.
Jacques was watching her, licking his mate’s blood from his lips. Flynn w
as staring at her like she was on the menu.
“Jacques?” she whispered, moving back. “Flynn?”
The men moved, each one facing her.
Jolie swallowed.
“I’m very hungry,” Flynn admitted, as his fangs were clearly visible.
“I’ve fed, but it’s not enough,” Jacques admitted.
Jolie felt her blood pressure rise. She wanted to do cartwheels, praying they meant mating.
She stopped moving when her back was to the wall.
Flynn was at her first. “I hate this outfit,” he whispered in her ear, just before ripping his claws down the front of it. “I want my mate naked and ready for me.”
She moaned at his touch. Apparently, the blood lust was driving the bus, and Jolie was more than okay with that.
Jacques blocked her escape. “I want my body buried in yours, Jolie,” he admitted.
She glanced back and forth, not in panic but in need.
The men smelled like each other, and it lit the fire in her belly. She needed this. If watching them fight wasn’t hot enough, she’d had to watch them feed from each other.
“Please,” she whispered, right before Flynn dropped to his knees in front of her. When she was free from her clothes, he began lapping at her wetness.
“She’s ready,” he murmured.
Jolie almost didn't recognize his voice. It was thicker and filled with lust.
Jacques ran his mouth across her shoulder.
“Then we should have her.”
Flynn teased her with his entire tongue. When she moaned, he stared up at her. “Then we should take what we want.”
It was all it took.
Flynn pulled Jolie forward, until she could feel herself falling. When she landed, it was in his arms. Together, the men positioned her on the mat.
She couldn’t speak, let alone think.
“I’m overdressed,” Flynn stated, stripping out of his pants. When he dropped back down, he ran his fingers over her wetness. The taste of mate called to him.
“I’m going to make you scream.”
She gasped as he dove in, his mouth working her into some wild frenzy. All the while, Jacques watched, biding his time.
Jolie went to move, and she couldn’t.
Now, she knew why he was waiting. He was holding her down. She was trapped.
Their prisoner.
Prey.
“Flynn,” she moaned, her body shaking. When Jacques finally focused on her, running his hands down her body, Jolie knew she was in trouble.
It was the best kind in the world.
Flynn nipped her, throwing Jolie from the ledge. She moaned, her body wracked with pleasure. When she opened her eyes, both men were side by side, between her spread legs.
“Blood,” Flynn said, not asking, but telling her.
Together, they moved as one, each picking a thigh. When they found the most intimate place for mates to feed, they didn't hesitate.
They struck.
Jolie indeed screamed, but not in pain.
It was total pleasure.
With each suck, she shook even more.
It was like thousands of fingers caressed each and every pleasure point in her body. When she was writhing in ecstasy, only then did they stop.
“You first,” offered Flynn.
Jacques slid up her body, finally freeing her from his control. Immediately, her hands found him.
“Jolie,” he whispered, as she stroked his erection.
Her heart pounded.
“Please take me,” she begged, staring into his green eyes, right before they bled black.
“My pleasure.”
With that, he slid home.
Jolie moaned at the invasion. By no means was it an easy ride. Jacques pummeled himself into her body, taking what was his. While Flynn’s blood was lingering in his mouth, the feel of Jolie wrapped around him completed the ecstasy.
“Jolie,” he hissed.
Flynn took that as his sign. Moving closer, he straddled both of their bodies. When Jacques threw back his head in pleasure, he struck.
He was fast.
Efficient.
On target.
Flynn wrapped his arms around his mate’s shoulders as he buried his fangs in Jacques’s throat.
The vampyre howled in pleasure and pain, tearing him and Jolie from the edge. With each suck from Flynn’s mouth, wave after wave of pleasure filled them. Flynn was repaying the earlier pleasure, tenfold.
Jolie couldn’t hold on.
She exploded.
It was hard not to as two of the world’s sexiest men were sharing everything they had. When she saw Flynn move into position, it made her all hot and bothered.
This was what mates did. Gone was the hesitation between their touching, and instead they were openly being one.
As they tumbled, Jolie enjoyed the freefall.
Jacques finally pulled away, so overwhelmed with pleasure. He glanced over his shoulder at Flynn, who was wiping blood from his lower lip with his thumb.
“Sorry. I was still hungry,” he said, his fangs giving him that sexy lisp.
Jacques rolled off Jolie’s body, still riding the sexual high from the feeding. There was nothing more erotic than taking one mate while the other feasted on his blood. Jacques motioned toward Jolie. “I do believe it’s your turn.”
Flynn pulled her to her feet. “Finally,” he admitted.
Jolie let him lead her wherever he wanted. Her whole body tingled with energy. When Flynn sat against the wall, Jolie straddled his hips.
“Ride me, mate,” he whispered, teasing her breasts with his fingertips and tongue.
Jolie moaned.
She was helpless to say no. She wanted him in the worst way, and he knew it.
When she slid Flynn home, he blinked. Gone were the brilliant icy eyes, and in their place were deep dark blue ones that signaled he was one of them.
“That never gets old,” he muttered.
With a slap to her ass, she began her ride. As Jolie bounced her way to orgasm, Flynn watched every motion. “I love you,” he finally whispered.
Her heart skipped.
God! She loved him too.
Jolie was madly in love with both of them.
Jacques moved closer, still hard and wanting more. This sweaty fight had him needing her mouth on his body.
“Take me again, Jolie,” he ordered.
She never wanted this mating to end. Eagerly, she orally worshipped Jacques’s erection.
Flynn couldn’t look away. He was afraid if he did, he’d miss a second of watching Jolie service them both.
As she ground down on him, his body heated to crazy levels.
Jacques buried his hands in her hair, forcing Jolie to take more and more of him. As he looked down, Flynn’s eyes met his.
“Not going to last long,” Jacques admitted.
That was fine with Flynn, since he was on the edge.
Jolie was falling. With one hand on Flynn’s tan chest, and the other on Jacques’s pale leg, she offered them the push over the edge that was needed.
Her nails dug into flesh.
Flynn shouted in release.
Jacques moaned, and Jolie fell.
They tumbled into the abyss to enjoy the warmth and pleasure which began wrapping around them, binding the three even more.
When Jolie could focus past the blood pounding in her ears, she heard Death’s voice.
“Our deal is complete.”
Three sets of eyes popped open.
“What the hell was that?” Flynn asked.
“Death.”
Jacques was worried. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “You heard her, didn’t you?” she asked. This was odd. “I’m not imagining it, am I?”
The men both nodded, “Yes.”
Jacques didn't understand. “I thought you traded your soul for Flynn’s child.”
“I did.”
There was more laughter as the black tend
rils tried to break free from her body. They didn't only threaten Flynn, but Jacques too.
Jolie moved away, despite wanting to remain in their arms.
The wisps crept across the floor toward the men.
“Jolie,” Flynn hissed, as one wrapped around his naked body. It actually yanked him from the wall, almost dragging him across the floor toward her.
Jacques reached for his mate, offering him his hand. Once they touched, the darkness backed away.
“Please stop!” she ordered.
The darkness vanished.
“This is why screwing with Death is a bad idea,” Flynn stated, as Jacques pulled him to his feet.
“I was careful when I negotiated.”
“How did you phrase the deal exactly?” he asked, full of concern for all three of them. Death was tricky, and the slightest aberration in the deal could come back to haunt them.
“I was cautious with the wording. Death is difficult to bargain with, but let me see if I can remember the exact words.”
Jolie thought back to that moment.
The men waited.
Death helped her out.
‘My newly acquired soul, not Flynn’s, for a full term, successful pregnancy from my mates.’
She shared the words with the men.
“Jolie, the way you phrased the deal, it makes it sound as if there will be more than one child. You used the word mates, and that’s two, not one,” Flynn stated, pointing at both of them.
She didn't know what to say.
“Call Vanth,” Flynn ordered. “We’re not screwing around with this. Someone’s heart could get broken.”
They both knew who that would be. Jacques had the most to lose in this. If their dark mistress was including him in this, he couldn’t help but hope for that miracle. He tried to remain calm, but it wasn’t easy.
“Vanth! Come to me.”
The room shimmered as Chloe appeared, but her eyes gave her away. The demoness was there.
“Yes?”
They told her what happened.
“Were you three copulating?”
Flynn stared at her. “Could you pick a worse word?”
“Fornicating.”
“I need to stop talking,” he stated. “This is a battle that I’m never going to win.”
“Can you ask Death what’s going on?” Jolie asked. “We need to know what I’ve done.” She was afraid, and Jolie was sure it was written on her face, as heard in her voice.
Dangerous Retaliation (The Harcourte Vampyre Society Book 4) Page 10
