by Eden Bradley
“Ah God, Konstantine…”
He was so big she could hardly take him. And she understood the danger in inflaming the passions of this particular vampire. But perhaps the fact that he’d come only minutes earlier would keep her safe. It felt too good to even consider asking him to stop.
“Take a breath,” Luka told her. “Breathe it out. Relax. And take him. You can do it, Ilana.”
She did as he instructed, letting her pussy relax around the heavy flesh of Konstantine’s cock.
“And now,” Luka whispered into her hair, “you will take me.”
The tip of his cock slid into her anus. She tensed for a moment, then sighed with pure pleasure.
“Oh, yes…”
“Relax,” he told her once more.
She pulled in a breath, forced herself to accept the second cock, and he moved past that first tight ring of muscle.
Konstantine held still for one moment, two. Then he began to pump into her. At the same time, Luka began a more gentle rhythm, pushing into her ass, sliding out. She could feel the two cocks inside her, through the delicate membrane that separated them. That friction itself added sensation, another layer upon Konstantine fucking her pussy and Luka fucking her ass. The impossible sensations that belonged to Luka, and finally, those that belonged to Konstantine.
She was overwhelmed, her mind buzzing, her body thrumming with a pleasure that drew her to impossible heights. She was coming in moments, writhing, crying out. And once more Luka bit her, on the back of the neck this time, drawing her blood into his mouth.
Instantly she was back in his body, his mind, tasting the sweet, metallic flavor of her own blood on his tongue. Seeing once more his pure adoration for Konstantine, the way the older vampire treasured his mate. The bond the two of them shared. She felt it with them, as though she were a part of it herself. Not merely as their plaything for the evening, but a part of them.
She felt tears on her cheeks. She didn’t understand them. Perhaps they belonged to her. Perhaps they were Luka’s emotions. She could no longer tell the difference. Then she heard them both murmuring over her.
“It was too much for her,” Luka said, worry in his tone.
“No, she will be fine, our little ice queen. We have simply broken through the ice,” Konstantine answered.
Broken through.
No. Impossible.
But she couldn’t think. Her vision hazed, then her mind. She slipped into darkness.
She was lying on a soft bed. Softer than anything she’d felt in her life. Smooth sheets, not the velvet coverlet of the playrooms at the club. Where was she? She was so sleepy, she didn’t want to open her eyes. And if this was some sort of lovely dream, she wasn’t sure she wanted to wake up.
She let her focus broaden—and became aware of the sound of someone breathing. She knew even before she opened her eyes that it was human, not vampire. When she opened her eyes, she gasped in shock.
It was the Scotsman.
He was just as superb in the sunlight filtering in through high, arched windows as he’d ever been in the dim and pulsing nighttime lighting of the club’s bar, the dungeons. The sun glinted copper in his auburn hair. His eyes were a calm gray. No, silver more than gray. And he was shirtless, his shoulders broad and packed with heavy muscle. He was sitting on a low, damask-covered settee. Watching her.
She realized she was naked still, her body covered only by a fine white sheet. Not that it mattered. She was proud of her body and not in the least self-conscious. No, the shock was simply that it was him sitting there, in this strange room with her.
“Where am I?” she asked, her throat dry, as if she’d been sleeping a very long time. “And who are you?”
“I’m Calam.” His voice was soft, the Scottish burr lending it a rumbling edge that reverberated in her body. Purely sensual, his voice. “You’re in the Midnight Playground. This room is one of several on the top floors used by the owners and their…favored guests.”
He smiled, and she saw the dimple in his left cheek. Such a contrast to his gorgeously masculine face, the bulk of muscle that made up his body.
“Where are Konstantine and Luka?” She sat up, leaned against the velvet-padded headboard that rose a good six feet behind her. She looked around the large room, found it to be as luxuriously furnished as the rest of the club, everything in plush cream and burgundy velvet and damask, fine wood edged in gilt, the floors the same polished marble found everywhere at the club.
“They are with Ever,” he answered.
“Ever?”
“Do you know of him?”
“Yes, of course. But, he’s a legend here. It’s hard to think of anyone I know actually being with him.”
Calam smiled once more.
“What is it?” Ilana asked him. “Why do you smile at me?”
He shrugged. “You may get to know him yourself before long.”
“How do you know so much, Calam? About Ever. These rooms. The club.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his leather-clad knees, and she saw the flex of muscle in his abs. He really was spectacularly built.
“I’ve been working at the Midnight Playground these last seven years. I started out scrubbing floors when I was nineteen years old and newly arrived from Edinburgh. I’ve tended bar here. Served in the dungeons as an assistant, helping to service the equipment, to carry the spent mortals to bed. I’ve done nearly everything here.”
“But be offered the Turning Kiss,” Ilana said, sensing a sadness in him and assuming it paralleled her own.
“Yes,” he answered, his expression serious.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “That was crass of me.”
“But correct nevertheless.”
Calam smiled at her again to soften the words. He didn’t mind her saying it, this beautiful woman he’d watched from afar for so long, and who was now right in front of him. It was true, what she’d said. A truth they both shared.
“And what are you doing here now?” she asked him.
He was momentarily distracted by her blue, blue eyes. They were large, rounded, yet slightly tilted at the corners, the only softness in her otherwise perfectly carved face. High cheekbones, a fine jawline. Even her throat, her collarbone were perfectly made. Her body was all long, lean curves, her legs endless. He had to breathe through the desire pulsing through his system like heat. Like an electric shock, being this close to her, and her naked beneath the sheet.
“In general, I am in the dungeons,” he answered after a moment. “Playing with those who ask for me. They like me because I can take a lot. I don’t mean to be a braggart. But I’m known for my stamina. I love the pain play. And I can switch just as happily, topping their mortal playmates for their entertainment. They pay me generously, house me here at the club. It’s the best damn job I’ve ever had, frankly.”
He grinned at her. He couldn’t help it. He could see she didn’t find any of it shocking, as most people would. But of course, she was in bed after a night with the vampires. There should be very little she would find shocking after that. He must seem almost mundane to her, being merely human. Although, she was human, as well, and she was fascinating to him. Becoming even more so, now that he could talk with her.
He knew Konstantine hadn’t asked him here merely to guard over her sleep. He knew the old vampire and his partner, Luka, would want much more from him. He could hardly wait. To be with them—they were as dazzling as any of the vampires were. More exotic, with their Russian accents. Luka’s golden skin and Asian features. Konstantine’s great age and power. And something about their chemistry together…their intense bond made them even more attractive.
And Ilana was to be a part of it.
He was going hard simply thinking about it. Sex with this particular vampire pair. And sex with her…
“I actually meant,” Ilana said, interrupting his train of thought, “what are you doing here, watching me sleep?”
“Watching you sleep.” His grin
widened. “I know—I’m being vague. I was asked to come and watch over you, so that you shouldn’t wake alone.”
“Ah. Thank you, Calam.” She smiled, and all the coolness left her face. And left him harder than ever, his cock pulsing.
Need to touch her.
His hands fisted at his sides.
“Do you need anything?” he asked her. “I called for some tea just before you woke.”
“Tea would be lovely.”
“You’re lovely,” he told her. “I’m sure you’re not unaware. I’m sure you know if you weren’t, you wouldn’t be here. But I felt the need to tell you all the same. You have the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen…dark blue, like the sky just before the sun sets.”
She blushed. So pretty. Absolutely female. It seemed to confuse her, either his compliment, or her response to it. She bit her lip, looked away for a moment, through the tall, paned windows at the gray London sky. He followed her gaze. It looked lonely to him, as it often did. Or perhaps it was that he’d been alone for so many years.
Something about her…maybe that he could sense the softness beneath her hard, icy exterior, the one she showed to the outside world. It made him feel that loneliness more than he usually did. It was something he’d lived with most of his life. Ever since…well, he wouldn’t think of that now.
He didn’t like that he sensed that same loneliness in her. He didn’t want that for her. He couldn’t stand it.
“Ilana?” She turned back to him as he went to sit on the edge of the bed. “How are you? Do you feel all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Truly I am. I feel good. A bit sore all over, but this wonderful bed is helping. I feel as if I’ve slept forever.” She stretched, her arms overhead.
He couldn’t help but let his gaze dart to her breasts as the sheet fell away. Gods, but they were spectacular. Full and heavy, the nipples pale pink. Succulent.
“For nearly two days,” he said, lifting his gaze back to hers with some effort.
He smiled once more, for no reason that he could tell. Lovely. Warm. Driving that vague sense of loneliness away. She was here with him. He didn’t need to think of anything else. And in her smile there was something seductive. Sweet, yet there was a definite invitation there. He felt a frisson of desire spark in the cool air between them that had to do with something other than his own hardening cock. It was her desire as well, emanating from her like a hint of perfume in the air.
He stared at her a moment, watched as her pink lips parted, her tongue darting out for a moment to moisten them. Nerves in that small, quick motion, but yes, desire like a flame, warming them both.
“Ah, I would climb in there with you right now if Konstantine and Luka hadn’t laid claim to you,” he told her.
“Have they?”
He nodded.
Her smile broadened, her long lashes lowering over her alluring blue eyes. “And if they hadn’t, I would invite you to.”
If only she would lean toward him, draw him into bed with her. Let him feel her naked flesh against his.
The door opened and they both glanced up, but it was only a serving girl with the tea tray. She set it down on the foot of the bed, gave a wordless nod and left the room.
Calam poured for them both into fragile china teacups painted with the club’s dragon head insignia in black and gold, wicked teeth bared, its long tongue a graceful arc in red. He set one cup on a saucer, handed it to her along with a small plate of scones and fruit.
“So, what’s your story, Ilana?” he asked her as they sipped their tea. He had to distract himself or he was going to pull her into him, kiss her. Push her down on the bed and slide into her warm body.
Ah, no. He’d better keep her talking. Konstantine hadn’t given him leave to do any of those things to the vampire’s chosen lover. Not yet, anyway.
“My story?” She set her cup down on the saucer, took a bite of the fruit on her plate.
“We all have one. Shall I tell you more of mine first while you eat? Yes?”
She nodded, taking a small bite of the fresh scone, then licking a crumb from her pretty pink mouth.
“Well, I was born in Edinburgh, as I mentioned earlier. My mother was a prostitute.”
He saw her flinch. Saw how she tried to hide it by sipping from her cup. So, she had a story too. Most of those at the Midnight Playground did. He wouldn’t press her about it.
“It was a hard life, as you can imagine,” he went on. “Hard for her. Hard for me. When I reached ten years of age her madam gave her an ultimatum—either I start serving the customers as she did or I had to get out. My mother didn’t want that life for me. She thought I might have a better chance on the streets.”
“And did you?” Ilana asked.
He shrugged, wanting to ignore the old pain. His mother was long gone. He’d heard that much when he was still a teenager on the streets of Edinburgh. Dead from some illness gone untreated—he’d never been able to find out what it was. Mostly, he tried not to think of her anymore. What else was he to do? She’d done the best by him she could. End of story.
“Probably,” he answered Ilana. “I joined a group of street urchins. The oldest at that time was perhaps fourteen. We stayed together…” his chest went tight. This was much harder to forget. He never would. It was what drove him out of Scotland. What had driven him to seek out the vampires. He took in a breath before he went on. “Well, we stayed together until I came here.”
She watched him carefully for a moment, but didn’t press him further. He was glad for it. It was rare he told anyone about how things had ended for him there. It was too damn hard.
“Now, what about you?” he asked, trying to shake it off, that old sense of loss. Guilt.
Ilana set her teacup down on the tray, sat back, leaning against the headboard. “My mother was…wealthy. I was taken from her at thirteen and…I suppose it won’t shock you to know that I was forced into the brothel life.”
“But you escaped,” he said simply. It hurt him to think of what she’d been through. He swallowed it down.
She is just like the rest of us here.
Except that there was something different about her. For him, anyway.
“Yes. At eighteen. I got out. Went to work as a hostess in the restaurants, worked my way up until I got into the nicer places. But it wasn’t enough. It was never enough. Do you know what I mean?”
Why was it important that he understand? Ilana couldn’t figure it out. He was just another beautiful male. A human male.
He nodded. “Those of us who come here come looking for more. More than we could ever find in the mundane existence we mortals lead in the world outside.”
“And you’ve been here seven years, and are still human.”
“Yes.”
She searched his face, his warm silvery eyes. “Do you never give up hope, Calam?”
“Not yet. But tomorrow is another day, for good or bad.”
He was grinning again. He seemed to possess an infallible good humor, despite what sounded to be a very hard life. No harder than her own perhaps, but that had been hard enough. She felt as if they understood one another in that regard.
She liked him. And he was one of the most gorgeous human males she’d ever come upon. She’d thought so the first time she’d seen him in the club. And up close…his skin was nearly as pale as one of the vampires, with just a sprinkling of freckles across those impossibly broad shoulders. Skin like milk. And the skin on his face was just as fine, yet his features were purely male.
She was warming all over, and not only from the tea. There was something about Calam her body responded to. Something deep and primal.
“Ilana,” he said, his tone low. He leaned in, moving a few inches closer.
She could smell the scent of him, of soap and male flesh. Her sex gave a hard, sudden squeeze.
“Calam, I—”
“I know. Ilana…” He lifted a hand, reaching for her. And dropped it when the door opened once more.
&
nbsp; Chapter Three
She knew without looking it was a vampire entering the room.
Luka.
When she looked up she found his gaze on her, that glossy hazel, his eyes almond shaped, exotic.
“It is good you two are getting to know each other,” Luka said, smiling as he crossed the room. “I can smell your desire. Both of you. This is good as well. Konstantine will be pleased. I am pleased.”
Calam stood as Luka approached the bed, and Ilana felt a surge of desire as the vampire drew near.
His gaze locked onto hers as he settled onto the bed beside her, leaned in and kissed her cheek. His lips were a warm brush of flesh, soft and hard all at once. She was always surprised at how warm the vampire’s flesh could be.
He lifted one hand, brushed it over the spot he had just kissed. “And your beautiful flesh even warmer than ours,” he murmured. “So hot. Hot for me, Ilana. And for our friend, Calam. Yes. And for Konstantine as well. We will make a fine group.”
“All of us?” she dared to ask.
“All of us.” Luka reached behind him and pulled on Calam’s hand until Calam stood next to the bed. “Take the tea tray away,” Luka said to him quietly, “and undress. Konstantine will join us soon.”
Calam smiled, took Ilana’s teacup from her hands, removed the tray. Then he stood beside the bed and kicked his way out of the black leather pants he wore, leaving him naked. Glorious. His erect cock was thick and dark at the tip. Ilana’s body went soft all over, a melting heat at her core.
She was to have him. Calam. And Luka and Konstantine. Had she ever dreamed of anything she could have wanted more?
“And Ever,” Luka said, a small smile on his face as he reached for Calam, stroking his hand over the strong male thigh.
“Ever,” she repeated, dizzy with it. The idea was overwhelming, even for her, a woman who had served the desires of dozens of men over her lifetime, first by force, then by choice. A woman who had slept with a dozen vampires since coming to the club. But this…
