I rested my head carefully on Iliaria’s shoulder. “How long were you lovers?”
“A while,” they both said.
“It was purely physical,” Iliaria said.
“It was,” Morina added. “But still—”
“Not bad?” Iliaria cut her off. “Those better be the words about to leave your lips, Morina.”
Morina stared at her brazenly. “And if they weren’t?” she asked, but it was obvious she was toying with Iliaria.
Iliaria’s arm slid down my back as she raised my shirt. “I’ll remind you that you pleasured yourself while watching Epiphany and me together.”
Renata moved toward the bed and slid in behind me. Her hand folded over Iliaria’s against my lower back. I felt Renata’s breath against my cheek. “Cara mia,” she whispered playfully. “What have I missed, hmm?”
Before I had the chance to reply, her mouth sealed over mine and she teased my lips open with her tongue. I moaned at the touch of her, at the exquisite feel of her.
Iliaria grunted beside me as Renata’s tongue danced with mine and I sank back against her shoulder. “That’s not a fair thing to do in front of a woman who’s crippled.”
Renata drew back, her eyes sparkling mischievously. She turned toward Iliaria and caught her mouth in a kiss. Iliaria made a noise of surprise and raised her free arm as if to push Renata away, but she didn’t. She lowered her arm and returned the kiss with a fervor that sent blood humming directly between my legs.
Renata broke the kiss with a triumphant smile. “Mmm.” She touched Iliaria’s glossy hair. “Better?”
Iliaria’s eyes burned with a heat that I’d never seen her direct at Renata. She turned that smoldering look on me and said, “Almost.”
I went to her, discerning what she desired of me and offering my lips as she kissed me as passionately as she had Renata.
“Now it’s better.”
I reclined against her uninjured shoulder and snuggled down, curling my leg over hers. Renata spooned me and rested her face against the side of my neck.
Morina hadn’t moved from her spot just inside the room. She stood-stock still as if she wasn’t certain what to do. Iliaria must’ve noticed the same slight etching of pain and longing in her, for she held out a hand.
After several moments, Morina came to the side of the bed. She took Iliaria’s hand in her own and fell to her knees with a choked sound that made my heart feel as though it was cracking. She pressed her forehead to Iliaria’s hand and breathed, “I’m sorry.”
Iliaria raised her face and wiped the tears from her good eye. “I know, Morina,” she said. “I know.”
Gingerly, she guided Morina into bed with us, trying not to jostle her injured side. Iliaria held her loosely while she cried and I reached out to stroke her arm with Renata’s comforting presence against my backside.
Some people are really bad people, like Damokles and Lucrezia, but the Dracule in our bed was not one of those. Sometimes, the people we think are bad are merely misguided by their pain. They disguise their wounds, but deep down, they can be saved.
The future was unforeseeable, though it was like to be fraught with danger with Damokles still alive and seeking to lay claim to the Draculian throne.
But now, in this moment with these strange, beautiful women, I was as happy as I could possibly be.
And one thing I was certain of, we would fight to protect what was ours.
About the Author
Winter Pennington is an author, poet, artist, and closeted musician. She is an avid practitioner of nature-based spirituality and enjoys spending her spare time studying mythology from around the world. The Celtic path is very close to her heart. She has an uncanny fascination with swords and daggers, and a fondness for feeding loud and obnoxious corvids. In the shadow of her writing, she has experience working with a plethora of animals as a pet care specialist and veterinary assistant.
Winter currently resides in Oklahoma with her partner and their ever-growing family of furry kids, also known as, “The Felines Extraordinaire.”
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Speed Demons by Gun Brooke. When NASCAR star Evangeline Marshall returns to the race track after a close brush with death, will famous photographer Blythe Pierce document her triumph and reciprocate her love—or will they succumb to their respective demons and fail? (978-1-60282-678-6)
Summoning Shadows: A Rosso Lussuria Vampire Novel by Winter Pennington. The Rosso Lussuria vampires face enemies both old and new and to prevail they must call on even more strange alliances, unite as a clan, and draw on every weapon within their reach—but with a clan of vampires, that’s easier said than done. (978-1-60282-679-3)
Sometime Yesterday by Yvonne Heidt. When Natalie Chambers learns her Victorian house is haunted by a pair of lovers and a Dark Man, can she and her lover Van Easton solve the mystery that will set the ghosts free and banish the evil presence in the house? Or will they have to run to survive as well? (978-1-60282-680-9)
Into the Flames by Mel Bossa. In order to save one of his patients, psychiatrist Dr. Jamie Scarborough will have to confront his own monsters—including those he unknowingly helped create. (978-1-60282-681-6)
OMGqueer edited by Radclyffe and Katherine E. Lynch, PhD. Through stories imagined and told by youth across America, this anthology provides a snapshot of queerness at the dawn of the new millennium. (978-1-60282-682-3)
Coming Attractions: Author’s Edition by Bobbi Marolt. For Helen Townsend, chasing turns to caring, and caring turns to loving, but will love take five steps back and turn to leaving? (978-1-60282-732-5)
Oath of Honor by Radclyffe. A First Responders novel. First do no harm…First Physician of the United States Wes Masters discovers that being the president’s doctor demands more than brains and personal sacrifice—especially when politics is the order of the day. (978-1-60282-671-7)
A Question of Ghosts by Cate Culpepper. Becca Healy hopes Dr. Joanne Call can help her learn if her mother really committed suicide—but she’s not sure she can handle her mother’s ghost, a decades-old mystery, and lusting after the difficult Dr. Call without some serious chocolate consumption. (978-1-60282-672-4)
The Night Off by Meghan O’Brien. When Emily Parker pays for a taboo role-playing fantasy encounter from the Xtreme Encounters escort agency, she expects to surrender control—but never imagines losing her heart to dangerous butch Nat Swayne. (978-1-60282-673-1)
Sara by Greg Herren. A mysterious and beautiful new student at Southern Heights High School stirs things up when students start dying. (978-1-60282-674-8)
Fontana by Joshua Martino. Fame, obsession, and vengeance collide in a novel that asks: What if America’s greatest hero was gay? (978-1-60282-675-5)
Lemon Reef by Robin Silverman. What would you risk for the memory of your first love? When Jenna Ross learns her high school love Del Soto died on Lemon Reef, she refuses to accept the medical examiner’s report of a death from natural causes and risks everything to find the truth. (978-1-60282-676-2)
The Dirty Diner: Gay Erotica on the Menu, edited by Jerry L. Wheeler. Gay erotica set in restaurants, featuring food, sex, and men—could you really ask for anything more? (978-1-60282-677-9)
The Marrying Kind by Ken O’Neill. Just when successful wedding planner Adam More decides to protest inequality by quitting the business and boycotting marriage entirely, his only sibling announces her engagement. (978-1-60282-670-0)
Sweat: Gay Jock Erotica by Todd Gregory. Sizzling tales of smoking hot sex with the athletic studs everyone fantasizes about. (978-1-60282-669-4)
Missing by P.J. Trebelhorn. FBI agent Olivia Andrews knows exactly what she wants out of life, but then she’s forced to rethink everything when she meets fellow agent Sophie Kane while investigating a child abduction. (978-1-60282-668-7)
Touch Me Gently by D. Jackson Leigh. Secrets have always meant heartbreak and banishment to Salem Lacey—until she meets the beautiful and mysterious Knox Bolander
and learns some secrets are necessary. (978-1-60282-667-0)
Slingshot by Carsen Taite. Bounty hunter Luca Bennett takes on a seemingly simple job for defense attorney Ronnie Moreno, but the job quickly turns complicated and dangerous, as does her attraction to the elusive Ronnie Moreno. (978-1-60282-666-3)
Dark Wings Descending by Lesley Davis. What if the demons you face in life are real? Chicago detective Rafe Douglas is about to find out. (978-1-60282-660-1)
sunfall by Nell Stark and Trinity Tam. The final installment of the everafter series. Valentine Darrow and Alexa Newland work to rebuild their relationship even as they find themselves at the heart of the struggle that will determine a new world order for vampires and wereshifters. (978-1-60282-661-8)
Mission of Desire by Terri Richards. Nicole Kennedy finds herself in Africa at the center of an international conspiracy and is rescued by the beautiful but arrogant government agent Kira Anthony—but can Nicole trust Kira, or is she blinded by desire? (978-1-60282-662-5)
Boys of Summer, edited by Steve Berman. Stories of young love and adventure, when the sky’s ceiling is a bright blue marvel, when another boy’s laughter at the beach can distract from dull summer jobs. (978-1-60282-663-2)
Summoning Shadows: A Rosso Lussuria Vampire Novel Page 35
