Mary’s Virgin: Vampire Romance

by Iva Britt

  “Did we…” She stopped, knowing that the short, breathless way she was speaking was not at all appropriate for the type of question she was asking. Ambriel let it sit on her tongue a moment longer, gathering her thoughts before continuing. “Did we do the right thing? Those people… you split them apart, and I just allowed you to.”

  “We opened a new option for them, a third way,” Crowley said, taking Ambriel by the hip and drawing her closer. “Yes, perhaps fucking you in their bed was a bit of a dick move, but I am a demon now, remember. There would have been struggle in remaining together, for them. Perhaps they would have made it work, but it was equally likely they’d simply force themselves to stay in a loveless marriage because it was what was expected of them. They might still decide to reconcile, but Eo and I took forcing themselves to stay together off the table.”

  He sat up then, brushed the hair away from his horns, so that they glinted in the moonlight, strangely beautiful. When he looked down at Ambriel, it was with the air of a teacher, imparting an important, if simple, lesson.

  “You’re looking at this the wrong way,” he said. “As though splitting up was their failure state. It’s not. Not really. There’s nothing wrong with a fresh start, don’t you think?”

  Ambriel transferred her gaze from one demon to the other and back again, wondering at this. She watched as Ikaros allowed his wings to spread, stretching ill-used muscles in their post-coital glow. Crowley’s tail curled and uncurled likewise, sliding gracefully through the air as the angel watched this being, with his divine wings and demonic horns and new name, framed in the moonlight.

  “No,” said Ambriel, former Queen of Cups and newfound Fallen Angel. “Nothing wrong with a fresh start at all.”

  THE END

  Bonus 8 of 30

  Ménages des Freres (Threesome of Brothers)

  Description

  In public life, Richard and Aaron share a billion-dollar enterprise in Manhattan. They have been stepbrothers and best friends for nearly twenty years now and have shared plenty of women who can't resist their big bucks and great looks. They have become accustomed to having the same women in their private life as doms. But when Aria, a childhood friend of theirs, shows back up in town, this is one woman neither wants to share. She is a firecracker and has been featured in both men's wet dreams from a young age. The problem is, she likes both of them too. Her appearance soon sets the two up against each other until they are forced to come together to save her from an ex she came home to escape.

  Chapter 1

  ***Richard***

  I ran my fingers through my dirty blonde hair as I knocked back a lite beer. My eyes kept drifting to the double French doors that led out to the large backyard where I, my family and my friends were gathered for Sunday football. It was always a tradition if the Giants were still in the running for us all to gather at the home I grew up in.

  But this time was going to be a little different, at least I thought so. I had gotten a phone call out of the blue, a couple of weeks before, from a girl that my stepbrother and I used to hang out with when we were kids. Her name was Aria, and if my memory served me right, she was the most stunningly beautiful person in the entire world. That’s at least how I felt when I was thirteen.

  She was supposed to be back in town. So, I had invited her to come to the party, hoping to finally spark something up between us. But deep down, I knew Aaron, my stepbrother, was going to be out to get her for himself as well.

  "What has you on edge?" Aaron asked, slapping me playfully on the back. Aaron had always been the athletic one, the hot one, the outgoing one, with his ripped, tan body and dark hair. I had always been seen as the smart one and the nice one, though I had grown into my looks a bit as I got older.

  In adulthood, our brotherly dynamic worked well for us. We had been able to start up a multibillion dollar company together. Aaron handled the schmoozing while I took care of the finances and the great ideas. It was perfect. Aaron had been a built-in business partner and best friend, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t be a little competitive with him.

  "Nothing at all," I responded, not wanting to give away anything. "I think I just need another beer. How’s our team doing?" I asked ,reaching down to pull another can out of the cooler. Billionaire or not, nothing beat the refreshing taste and manliness of a can of cheap beer.

  "They're barely hanging onto their lead. It's nearly the end of the first quarter. I'm holding out for them though," Aaron said, boxing the air with enthusiasm. He was always moving and laughing; a playful guy that couldn’t help but get you in the mood for a party.

  But when Aaron stopped, his eyes glued in the direction of the door, I knew just what it must mean. I forgot all about the just opened beer in my hand and the game, when I turned to face her.

  She had just come out into the yard, and she was greeting our parents in the distance with her bright smile. She was even more perfect than I had expected.

  Her hair was still long and wavy and the color of the deepest, darkest night. It had a great contrast to her pale skin which looked as delicate as porcelain like the sun had never touched it. A red sun dress hugged her curvy body tightly, and she walked with the air of royalty, slow and purposeful, as she greeted everyone at the party as if she had never left town after junior college.

  I hoped my jaw wasn’t on the floor as she came toward me, her amber eyes glowing with anticipation.

  She came right up to me and wrapped her arms around me in a warm embrace. I quickly set my beer down and recovered from the shock of her touch and returned the hug. I wonder how smooth I looked to my brother now. I was the first one she came to see.

  "Thank you for inviting me," she whispered in my ear with her bell of a voice, having to get up on her tip toes to reach me. I smiled at her as she pulled away, and I knew at that moment more than ever that I had to make her mine.

  Chapter 2

  ***Aaron***

  I watched in annoyance as my little brother put his hands on the woman I had been obsessed with since I was eight years old and couldn’t believe he hadn’t mentioned that she would be coming to the party. I hadn't seen her in more than five years now, and until this moment, when I saw her walk into my parents' backyard, I thought I had lost her forever.

  "Aaron?" she asked, pulling away from my brother and turning her amber eyes on me. She was one of those women who sounded and looked sultry without trying. In fact, she was the hottest damn thing around, but she had no idea. She had always been oblivious to her own beauty.

  "Aria, it's been too long," I told her with my bright white smile. I made sure to flex as I reached for a hug from her as well, but I couldn’t help but notice she didn’t hug me as tightly or for long as my brother. He would pay for that later. Ten years ago, he would have been no competition for me, but his ownership in half our multibillion dollar company and his blonde hair and blue eyes which he finally grew into with a little muscle had landed him as many women as me in adulthood. It hadn’t bothered me until now, though, as the woman who I needed to be my future somehow was standing between us.

  Aria squeezed my muscles playfully and I played it up. "I see someone still works out," she commented flirtatiously. "Oh, how I’ve missed the both of you," she added with a sigh, looking back and forth between us.

  If this was any other woman, I knew how my brother and I would settle the debate. The two of us had a not so well kept secret among the nighttime community of Manhattan; we were prolific doms who often shared our sub women, doubling their pleasure. If it was anyone but Aria, we would take her back to our lair and both have our way with her and see whose name she called out first, but I couldn’t let that happen. Aria was different. She was the star in every wet dream I'd had since I discovered masturbation and the female body. I couldn’t bare to share her; not unless she got down on her knees and begged me to. I was deathly afraid that one day, she just might.

  "So, what have the two of you been up to, other than breakings ladies’ hearts w
ith your wads of cash?" she teased, digging in the cooler for her own drink. Instead of a beer, she pulled out a strawberry wine cooler; the first drink she ever tried when we were teenagers. In fact, I believe I was the one who gave that to her the first time I kissed her. That also turned out to be the only time. I was ready to change that.

  "We've been really focused on the company," Richard replied, always having the smart and right thing to say. "It's been going great. We've been here in Manhattan like always, though. I think we're more interested to know what you've been up to," Richard added with a smile. I guess being raised by a woman in PR had its advantages. Richard’s life had been spent alone with his mother until she married my father when we were eight. I already knew Aria by then, but Richard pulled the rug out from under me with his courteousness and nerdiness. I had always figured she felt sorry for the guy. There was nothing to feel sorry for now, though. The true test was yet to come.

  "Oh, this and that," she said mysteriously, though I noticed a twinge of discomfort at the question. “I’ve been overseas most of the time, in Italy. There is some good wine and beautiful countryside, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be, to be honest.” Aria looked incredibly uncomfortable talking about it for so reason. So, I decided to be her savior and change the subject.

  "Who's up for a game of football!" I called out, getting cheers of approval from my father and some of my cousins. Richard looked at me, and I saw that competitive edge in his baby blue eyes. The game was on.

  Chapter 3

  ***Aria***

  I planted a pretty smile on my face the same way I had been doing for years now. Ever since I left Manhattan, things had gone downhill for me more than anyone realized. I had kept my issues a secret and isolated myself for so long, but watching those two boys...no...men, wrestle over the football in a display equal to marking their territory of me, made me regret my six-year absence.

  I laughed as Richard and Aaron made asses of themselves, trying to impress me in a game of football in their backyard, the Giants game running in the background. Seeing the two of them at their parents' house brought back a flood of memories that I had suppressed for a long time while I pursued a man I wished I had never met. Now, I felt free to let my heart remember how I felt for these two again, and it was just as fulfilling and heartbreaking as before. I had learned nothing in my years of growing up and growing older. I still had a crush on the both of them, unable to decide on just one.

  However, it seemed to be even harder now, as the two were more evenly matched. Richard had always been my best friend and confidant, and he had even been my first kiss. But he had never been popular or sexy before. He was just a sweet little boy wanting acceptance as much as I did. But now that I saw how he had changed, I could see he had grown into his looks, rivaling Aaron's obvious manly profile with his own perfected and soft one with a thin but defined chest and well coifed blonde hair. He could easily be a male model.

  Aaron looked the same as he always had, not even aging a day. His killer football body was still there, and he was just as cheeky as I remembered. How had I wasted all my time away across the ocean with a monster, instead of being right here at home to grow up with these two? I was thrilled to finally be back, and I hoped the winds were going to change for me now.

  "What if I want to play?" I called out as Aaron did his own version of the end zone dance after making a touchdown. It didn’t matter that I was wearing a dress, I wasn't the type of girl to sit on the sidelines. I think that was why I got along so well with them. I wasn't afraid to have fun or get dirty.

  "Are you sure you can handle us?" Aaron asked with the raise of an eyebrow. I was certain there was an innuendo in there as I walked up to him and took the ball. I wasn't a little girl anymore, and I wasn't afraid of what either of them had to offer, even if I had been through hell and back.

  "I can certainly handle all you've got for me," I answered, looking at them both. I met Richard’s blue eyes with my amber ones, and I could see he was reading behind the lines. He had always been the smart one.

  "Alright, then we aren’t going to go easy on you," Richard quipped.

  "I don’t expect you to," I told them, getting ready to run with the ball.

  I took off toward the fence, pulling in my side as the boys tried to grab me. I felt ten years younger as they chased me down the yard in my flip flops, still able to outrun them. That was, until Aaron caught up with me just before I crossed the imaginary line that would give me a touchdown. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down into the grass, and Richard joined in the tackle. It was like any scene from when we were kids, other than the effect it had on me. I couldn’t escape the image of the three of us like that, entangled together in a bed somewhere, me not having to choose which one could touch my body. I wanted to know them both even more intimately than I already did.

  I stood up and brushed off my dress, startled out of my thoughts when I heard an elated cheer coming from just inside the house. Something must have been happening in the game.

  We all went inside the door to see, and Aaron was immediately entranced by the way the Giants were suddenly winning the thing, stomping on the Packers' defense. I watched his reactions with a smile on my face when I felt a hand touch mine. Looking behind me, I saw that Richard was there, looking at me instead of the television. I felt the sudden need to sit on his bed and just talk the way we used to. Aaron was the type of guy I could make out with all day long, but I could tell Richard anything. That was just as priceless.

  I checked to see that Aaron didn’t notice before I snuck Richard up the stairs and into his old bedroom, which was surprisingly unchanged, shutting the door quietly behind us.

  Chapter 4

  ***Richard***

  Aria giggled as she climbed up into my bed, and I felt like a teenager once again, just hoping to land my first kiss with the girl I had been crushing on for years. She leaned up against my headboard and sighed, looking so much like she belonged there. If only I could reach out and capture the moment forever.

  Aria reached out and grabbed my hand. "Isn't this nice, being back in here?" she asked, looking around the room. Mine and Aaron’s rooms were about the only things that had not changed at our parent' house since we left. It was like they kept them as they were just in case we shrank back into children and moved back in. But in this moment, I was glad for it. There were so many memories in that room. Aria and I used to sit there and gossip for hours.

  "It is. There are a lot of memories in here," I told her, looking over at her glowing face. Her heart-shaped visage and amber eyes looked like she was still the sweet, unsure twenty-year-old I last saw before she left town for what I was afraid was for good. But her body, and I assumed, her mind, had gone through a lot of changes.

  "I know, we had our first kiss in here," she said quietly, looking over into my eyes for the first time since she had brought me up into my old bedroom. She leaned her forehead into mine, and I thought for a moment she might kiss me, but she grabbed my hand instead. "I can't believe I used to think you were gay!" We both got a laugh out of that. The night I kissed her for the first time she had mentioned that’s what she had thought.

  I caressed her arms with my thumb, and we sat there in a happy silence, but I could tell something was weighing on her mind. It was the real reason why she brought me up there. It was probably the reason I had been the first one she called. "You've always been so easy to talk to," she whispered at the ceiling. "I just don’t know how to say what I need to say."

  "You can tell me anything, Aria. I know I look different, and I have a lot of money now, but I'm still just me." Aria let her head drop to my shoulder, and I felt like I was as close to heaven as I had ever been. If only I could get more from her; claim her as mine.

  "I have to tell somebody why I'm back here," she said. I was all ears at that point. "I'd love to tell you or Aaron that it has to do with you, and in a way, it does, but only because you make me feel safe."

  "Aria, I'm glad
you feel safe here, but why wouldn’t you?" I had a bad feeling about what she might reveal. I knew little about the time just before she decided to leave Manhattan beyond the fact that she had just lost her mother to cancer and met a guy that she was moving maybe a little too fast with.

  "The man that I left with, his name was Chad. He was a lot older than me, and he introduced me to this whole new world of sexual desire and complete domination. I was his sub, and it was a pleasure like I've never known. But then he started breaking through boundaries. He took away safe words. He would lock me up in a cage. He would beat me. Things got worse when he ended up in Iraq for a year with the National Guard. He came back different. There was no more pleasure; just pain. I came here to get away from him. I left in the middle of the night with cash I'd been stashing up little by little over months. I thought I’d never make it back here alive."

  Aria had tears in her eyes at this point, and I was shocked by what she was telling me. I couldn’t imagine having Aria in my arms every day and choosing to treat her that way. I wanted to hold her tight and let her know I would never do that, and I would never let anyone else do that either.

  I pulled her close, wrapping my hands around her back and waste. Her body was so soft and warm. "I wish I would have known; that you could have called me to get you out of that. I want to let you know, as a dom myself, that that is not what we're like. That is not acceptable, and had he been a part of the community here in Manhattan with Aaron and me, he would have never gotten away with treating anyone that way."