by Moore, E. M.
I sucked in a breath as I felt him hardening between us. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my head in his shoulder. “There’s so much to figure out, so much to still do.”
“We’ve got time,” he said, his voice a promise. The truth rang in my chest with a ferocity I didn’t expect.
I didn’t even have to tell him I hoped he was right because somewhere inside, I knew he was. A seedling of hope started in my stomach and started to bloom. We’d defeat Dumont. I’d graduate and become a guardian while the Ravanas worked toward equal rights for guards, including the freedom for us all to be together and to do what we wanted. I didn’t know how long I’d stay human, but I’d be a guard forever. Christian said he saw me ruling with him. I’d never thought about it before. Doing something like that hadn’t even been a blip on my radar when I was who I was before, but now that I was home, now that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, I could do it. I did it just now, today, standing up in front of The Council and serving up ideas to help save our world from the clutches of a madman, and I’d do it again no matter what befell this world. It wasn’t just their world anymore; it was my world too. There was no going back for me.
I kissed a trail down Christian’s neck and worked my hands up under his shirt to splay my fingers across his bare skin. He was all sinewy muscle that delighted my fingers as I explored him. I worked his shirt off and kissed down his throat to his chest before I slipped off his lap and moved lower. Christian was the only prince I’d wrapped my lips around and brought to orgasm this way. It’d been a fierce, triumphant feeling, like he was putty in my hands. Like he was at my beck and call, and I could do with him what I wanted. I liked that feeling of power and strength, that knowledge that just I was good enough for him.
He leaned back, and I kissed a trail down his abdomen until I got to the tops of his pants. I hovered there, teasing him by rocking back on my heels and looking up. His face was pure, strained pleasure. It was a cross between wanting to tell me I didn’t have to, but wanting me so badly all the same. I pushed my finger to my lips to quiet his worries and then worked the button through the hole in his pants, then lowered the zipper. “Someone might come in,” Christian said, his voice husky, untethered as I lowered his pants along with his boxer briefs.
“You can move quick. I have faith in you.”
I took him in my hand and felt all his hard ridges from base to tip before stroking him into my mouth. My eyes almost rolled back as I felt him inside. Before I’d met anyone I loved, I hadn’t quite understood this act. What was the purpose? But now, it meant so much to me. I buried him inside, taking all of him, along with his short breaths and unrestrained hip movements. It helped that Christian was a sight to see. He was beautifully handsome, sculpted with marble and a fierceness that I admired at the very heart of me.
His hands filtered through my hair as I took him in and out, and then played my tongue over his tip. “Oh, yes,” he breathed.
I looked up, expecting his head to have fallen back, but he was still staring at me, his gaze intent watching my motions against his skin. I took him in further, eliciting a gasp of surprise from him and a buzz of power for me. I sucked and sucked, taking him in time and time again until he was hopelessly in my clutches on the bench. His breaths came quicker, his hips moved on their own accord as I bared down, quickening the upward strokes into my mouth as Christian started to crumble in front of me. He tried to push me away as his orgasm rushed ahead, but I held on, soaking him all up as he jerked inside me. I rode his pleasure out until he was lifting me by the arms and laying me by the fountain.
His hands struggled with my jeans. “I want to bury myself so deep inside you.”
My hips moved against his until he kissed up my neck and finally, my lips. I pulled him closer, wanting all of him.
He tore away, his gaze confused. Before I could ask him if something was wrong, he angled his mouth over mine again, but pulled away just as quickly. His blue gray-eyes turned to steel. He reared back, his gaze searching me over, and I followed him. “What?”
Panic clawed at my throat. Had I done something wrong? Was he not into this?
Finally, his gaze landed on my neck. He moved a strand of hair away and pulled my shirt down off my shoulder. I looked into his face and hardly recognized the person there. He was furious. “What’s wrong?” I asked again, my tone raising to another panicked level.
He met my eyes. “Who gave you this?”
His fingers dug into my neck and shoulders, and I tried to look at what had gotten him so pissed off. “What is it?”
He growled. “This.”
I pulled at my own shirt, knocking his hands out of the way and stared down. There were two little teeth marks—fang marks. I closed my eyes and drifted away to the moment Nic and I shared. He’d just barely sunk his fangs into me, teasing me. “Nic,” I said, pulling my shirt back up over the marks and trying to pull away from Christian.
“Nic?” he asked, his voice rising.
“Please, Christian. What’s wrong? I thought you didn’t mind about what was going on here with all of you.”
He breathed in and out through clenched teeth, like an animal getting ready to pounce on its prey. “He marked you, Ariana. I’m going to kill him.”
He jumped off me, and in a flurry of movement, dressed himself. I stood back in awe, cowering almost at this side of Christian I’d never seen before. “Marked me? What do you mean?”
His fangs slid out, coming to pointy sharp, needle-like edges that made me wince back. Without answering, he turned on his heel and ran, nothing but a blue streak the color of his shirt marked his trail. I quickly ran after him, making sure all my clothes were on correctly as I went. I couldn’t follow him, he was too fast for me, but I had an idea of where he was headed.
Marked me? He said it like it was a bad thing, but the way Nic’s fangs felt in my skin only drenched my memories in pure pleasure. It had been almost heavenly when he did it, spurring my orgasm on as soon as his fangs penetrated my skin. I’d woken up thinking about it the last few nights. Even called Nic in the middle of the night to share a few intimate moments with him over the phone, telling him I wanted him to bite me again, and just that memory, and my own touch, pushed me over the edge with Nic falling soon after.
In fact, I was going to ask Christian to do the same thing if he didn’t take the initiative to do it on his own. As far as I was concerned, they were holding out on me, and I wanted more. That still didn’t explain why Christian was so upset. If this was just a vampire kink thing, why would he be so furious with his own brother? And no matter how much I wanted to resist the feeling, “marked” didn’t seem like a title I’d want.
19
As soon as I hit the floor with our rooms, the yelling started. Stephan peeked his head around the corner, but when he saw me, he straightened. I marched right for Nic’s room, but Stephan held his hand up. “Don’t go in there.”
I gave him an incredulous look and continued my path. The words weren’t intelligible yet; surprising, since they weren’t being quiet, not at all. They were delivered in such a rapid fury that it was impossible to decipher who was saying what.
Stephan ran forward, so fast I didn’t even realize he’d made a move until he was right there next to me. “I mean it. It’s best not to get in the middle of it when those two go at it.”
Go at it? Since when had that happened? I’d never seen Christian and Nicolai fight before, and they certainly weren’t going to fight about this. It was stupid, and private, if Christian must know. What I did with his brothers was none of his business. “This is about me, and I’m taking care of it.”
I pushed the door open. Stephan sighed behind me, but that wasn’t going to stop me. Nicolai and Christian faced one another in the center of the room. Nicolai’s bedroom wasn’t as neat and tidy as some of the brothers. He gave Connor a run for his money, but Christian’s and Stephan’s were always well cleaned and everything had a place.
Ni
c looked past Christian to me. His face was strained, caught between guilt and nonchalance. “I didn’t mean to.”
“You didn’t mean to?” Christian argued, his anger bubbling over. “So, you didn’t mean to and that makes it okay? For fuck’s sake, Nic, you marked her.”
Stephan gasped behind me. I spun on my heel, facing him as his face went white. He looked at Nic as if he’d punched him in the stomach. Nic cursed and looked away.
I strode up to Stephan, and took his hand in mine. “What’s going on?” My heart raced, dread pooling in my stomach. What had been discomfort about discussing my romantic life with Nicolai had just changed due to Stephan’s reaction. If Stephan was mad at Nic, something different had to be going on. “What does ‘marked’ mean?” I moved my hair out of the way, remembering Christian’s reaction to the two puncture wounds on my neck. “Is that what this is?”
Stephan ground his teeth together, and looked over me to his brother. “You did this?”
Nicolai marched toward me and moved my shirt and hair away at the same time. He hissed when he saw it. “I didn’t realize they actually sunk in. I was just…caught up in what we were doing. You know how it is with her.”
Stephan turned away, his head lowering to look at the floor.
“What the hell is it?” I said, turning toward Nic. “Why is this such a big deal?”
Christian pushed past Nic and took my hands in his. “It’s a big deal because sinking your fangs into a human means you’ve marked them. It’s a way of staking a claim. He’s basically made it impossible for the rest of us to be with you.”
I staggered back, but Christian held on tight, a life preserver in the madness. “That’s why you couldn’t kiss me? But I could…” I stared down his body, remembering the way I made him feel not ten minutes ago. If it was true that Nicolai marked me as his, why could we still do that?
Christian’s throat worked. His gray-blue eyes were wide. Worry and anger warred in his depths. “Because that had nothing to do with you, Ariana. That was all about me. When I tried to kiss you, it just felt wrong. It felt like I shouldn’t be there, it felt like I shouldn’t take pleasure in it, and now I know the reason why. Nicolai’s decided to do whatever the hell he wants, no matter the cost.”
“I didn’t decide,” Nic seethed.
“You have no self-control,” Christian barked. “You marked her like a blood whore.”
I blinked, my hands clenching my middle as my stomach roiled at his words. Blood whore. I knew that was bad. That was definitely a title I didn’t want. A title that would ruin any respect I’d earned.
Nicolai pushed Christian. He went sailing into Stephan who held him up. “Don’t call her that.”
The door burst open, and Connor came striding in. His easy grin melted from his face as he took all of us in. “What’s the yelling about?”
None of us said anything at first, but then Nic said, “I made a mistake.”
Connor laughed. “Well, what’s new?”
Christian stood tall and straightened his shirt around himself. “You won’t be laughing in a second, brother.”
Connor looked from me to Stephan before asking. “What happened?” At least I wasn’t the only one who knew Stephan would tell the truth no matter what and with the honesty we needed in situations like this.
“Nicolai bit Ariana.”
Connor turned, his blond hair whipping around his face. “No.”
Christian gestured toward me, and Connor followed his lead. He walked right up to me, put his hand behind my head, and lowered his lips to mine. Within seconds, I knew the difference. I didn’t feel anything from him. It still felt good to me. It still felt like it always did when I kissed one of them. I wanted more, but from them? Nothing.
He ripped his lips away from mine and growled. He launched himself at Nicolai, his fist piercing the air between them until he struck Nic’s cheek. My hand covered my mouth as shock rippled through me. “No!” I moved forward, yanking Connor off Nic and getting between them. “Stop fighting. I’m sure we can figure this out.”
Nic rubbed his jaw. To his credit, he hadn’t attempted to go after Connor in retaliation. If he had, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stop the fight, and the way everyone was feeling right now, Christian or Stephan wouldn’t have intervened either.
“Maybe I can heal the wounds,” Stephan offered. “It’s a longshot, but I can try.”
“Wounds,” Nicolai scoffed.
Stephan’s jaw clenched. “If it was one of us, you’d be furious, Nicolai. You wouldn’t have stopped at one punch, and you wouldn’t be having a rational conversation right now. You’d be out for blood, so just…don’t even talk.”
Nic’s eyes rounded. I looked at the faces of the men I loved and recognized all the hurt and pain. “I’d like to try that, Stephan. Could you please?” I’d liked being bitten by Nic, but I still wanted the connection with the other guys too. What if I couldn’t get that back? What if it was gone?
Stephan left immediately. I turned to Connor and tried to keep my emotions in check. “You’re sure you can’t kiss me?”
His shoulders slumped. “I can kiss you, Princess. It just feels so wrong. Marking someone when you’re a vampire is like staking your claim on them. We think it evolved due to food sources. If you mark a human, they’re your food source. No one else can touch them.”
“So, what’s this about blood whore then?”
Connor growled again, his hard stare focusing on Nic who’d turned away. “Feeding can be a sensual experience. It heightens emotions, especially if the participants are already turned on, the vampire feels it ten times over. The same can go for the human involved. It’s kind of…erotic.”
I nodded, silently agreeing with him. It had felt good. Really good. “I think Nic did just get carried away. He would never—”
“Just? He just got carried away? We all feel the same things for you, Princess. You didn’t see one of us sinking our fangs into you, did you? No. Because we wouldn’t do that to the rest of us.”
“He didn’t mean to.”
“Just stop, Ri,” Nic finally said. “They’re right. I’m selfish and self-centered and think about nothing but my own pleasure. I bit you because I liked it. I bit you because I enjoyed the hell out of it, and—and—”
“Enough,” Christian said, his voice surprisingly calm. Stephan, who’d come back in during Nic’s short tirade made his way over to me and opened the tin of his miracle salve. In this case, I hoped it worked.
It wasn’t about being tied to Nic, it was about wanting to be tied to all of them, too. Stephan’s fingers worked into my skin. I shifted my head to the side so he’d have ample room to work with. When he was done, he tipped my chin and touched his lips to mine. He pulled away slowly, a small, tentative smile on his face. “I just had to see for myself.”
“Do I feel…wrong?”
“You feel exactly like you used to, Ariana. You’re perfect.”
“So you can—”
He shook his head. “It’s us who’ve changed now. Our reaction to you, I mean.”
I turned to Nic, noticing the bend in his shoulders, the way he carried all the weight he’d been holding on to lately. “I need a few minutes alone with Nic.”
Feet shuffled toward the door, but then Christian’s voice spoke up. “Now that you’re marked, Ariana, it will be hard to resist Nicolai. I ask that you try to do that for the rest of us until we can figure things out.”
I nodded, understanding Christian’s sentiment. When the door closed behind him, I walked up to Nic and put my arms around him. He stiffened. “Shouldn’t you hate me about now?”
“Hate you? It’s way too late for that.”
“So, we’re already into despise territory?”
“Would I hug someone I despised?”
“Maybe if you were going to choke the life out of them.”
I smiled. “Look at me, Nic.” He turned in my arms. I looked at him straight, the smudges under
his eyes more prevalent than just an hour or two ago. “I’m only going to ask once. Did you mean to mark me?”
His head fell. “No. I guessed I knew I was toying around with something I shouldn’t, but I never meant to go that far. I’ve teased you with my fangs before, and you seemed to like it, so I did that. Next thing I knew, I was putting just that much more pressure because of the way you reacted to it.” He shook his head. “I just…wanted you to remember our first time.”
I chuckled darkly. “Well, you’ve succeeded in that. Now everyone will remember our first time, too.”
He ran his hands through his hair and clasped his fingers behind his neck. “I fucked up. I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what to say or do to make this better. I didn’t mean to do that to them, but I have been acting like a dick lately, Ri. I can’t talk to any one of them without getting pissed off. I can’t even get along with my own father. Earlier when he told Connor he could help out, but yet, I’m still here, sidelined, sitting with my thumb up my ass, I was impossibly angry. I can’t stop the anger. It’s consuming me, and maybe this was an outlet. Just a way to let everything go and experience the two of us. I just…don’t know what happened. You have to believe me.”
I took his hands in mine. “I do believe you. You’re not selfish, Nic. I think you’re the exact opposite, actually. You just said you were trying to make me feel better. That’s not selfishness, is it?”
“I know what the consequences are. I took the chance and it backfired. I’d never done that before to anyone. God, it was just so…perfect. You and me, finally together for the first time and all my clear, level-headed thoughts went right out the window.”
“Level-headed? You still are Nicolai Ravana, aren’t you? You haven’t been abducted by aliens or anything, right?”
He bit down on a smile. “Aliens don’t exist.”
“Yeah, like vampires don’t exist.”
