Vivid Avowed (The Evelyn Maynard Trilogy Book 3)

by Kaydence Snow

  Finally, Tyler snapped out of it and released my hair. Ethan leaned in, his mouth suddenly devouring mine, and gently pushed me back until I was lying down again.

  Ethan and Josh backed away as Tyler dropped to his knees. The low platform put me at the perfect level for him. He pushed my knees wide apart and then entered me in one smooth thrust, burying himself balls deep. I was so wet, slick all over from the steam and multiple orgasms, he slid in with ease, igniting all those nerve endings once again.

  I was nearly spent, my body pushed to its limit. But I still wanted him, still craved him, still started to roll my hips against him, begging him with my body to move against me.

  His eyes were closed, his hands gripping my thighs with more and more pressure as he struggled to take deep, even breaths. He was trying not to come, not yet, but knowing he was that close, I just wanted to push him.

  I reached for his hands, intending to pull him on top of me, but something halted my movements.

  Alec appeared over me and grabbed my hands with his rough ones. He kneeled on the other side of the platform and pulled my arms over my head, giving me a devious smirk.

  With Alec firmly holding my wrists and Tyler gripping my thighs, I was at their mercy once again. I allowed them to take control, too spent to fight them even if I wanted to.

  Tyler finally opened his eyes, took me in, and gave Alec a little nod of thanks.

  Only when he was positive he was once again in control—of the situation, of his own pleasure and mine—did he finally start to move.

  He fucked me deep and hard, barely pulling out before sliding back in. Every time his hips connected with mine, bursts of electric sensation shot from my core through my body, an orgasm building again.

  Tyler repeatedly dragged his hands over my hips, up my body, over my breasts and back down. His palms slid over my skin like silk.

  When his damp hair fell over his eyes, I ached to brush it away, feel the soft locks between my fingers. I tugged against Alec’s grip, but he only tightened it, pulling my arms tighter above my head, making my torso stretch like a lazy cat.

  Tyler picked up the pace, and on his next pass, squeezed my breasts in his hands, making my back arch. He pinched my nipples lightly just as he ground into me and leaned forward, putting firm pressure on my clit.

  I threw my head back and cried out as I came, my vision going blurry, my body writhing under his.

  With another few deep thrusts, Tyler groaned, his gravelly voice echoing around our chamber of sex and depravity. He came deep inside me, his fingers digging into the flesh of my hips.

  As my vision cleared, ice-blue eyes and a sultry smile came into focus—Alec leaning over me.

  “I fucking love watching you come.” He released my wrists and moved away to make room for Tyler. Still buried inside me, Tyler lowered himself until his chest was flush with mine. I wrapped one arm around his shoulders and finally ran my fingers through his hair, pushing it off his forehead as he leaned in to kiss me.

  We kissed for a long time, lazy and slow, our tongues caressing. Then he finally pulled out and struggled to his feet.

  I couldn’t even fathom trying to sit up. My eyes were already drooping closed. I could totally sleep here for the night—it was warm enough.

  Luckily, I had four Variants to take care of me. Water was once again sluiced over my body, a wet cloth and gentle hands cleaning me all over. Then I was wrapped up in dry towels and lifted into strong arms.

  Someone cracked a joke about making sure the steam room was thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before someone else used it, but I was already relaxing against a strong chest.

  I was asleep before we made it back to our cottage.

  Twenty-Nine

  A warm breeze caressed my naked body as the soothing sound of crashing waves drifted in through the open window. It was still nighttime, the only light coming from the partially obscured moon.

  So what had woken me?

  I snuggled closer into Ethan’s side and closed my eyes.

  Murmuring voices made me open them again. I recognized the deep honey quality of Alec’s voice and the firm, calm response coming from Tyler, but I couldn’t make out the words.

  As safe and comfortable as I was boxed in by Ethan and Josh, my curiosity wouldn’t allow me to go back to sleep.

  With careful movements, I shimmied to the edge of the bed and managed to slip out of the room, grabbing the abandoned sheet off the ground as I passed.

  I was sore, every movement reminding me of what we’d done in the steam room only hours prior. But the aches in my arms, legs, and abdominal muscles were nothing to be alarmed about—if anything, they made me smile.

  I wrapped the sheet around myself and padded through the little cottage, following their voices toward the front door.

  “I just feel so impotent.” Tyler’s frustrated voice rose, and Alec shushed him. I paused halfway to the door and clutched the sheet to my chest.

  “I know, man. I just want to go out there and . . . punch something,” Alec growled, “but it’s starting to feel insurmountable. What are we supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know. That’s the problem. I have all the relevant information. I have so much of her Light coursing through me I hardly even need to focus to draw out the truth. It just comes to me. But I don’t know what the next move is. Every possible scenario puts her in danger.”

  Alec sighed.

  My days of eavesdropping on conversations and coming to erroneous conclusions were over, and I didn’t feel the need to hide from them. So I walked to the door and out onto the patio.

  Neither of them so much as raised an eyebrow. They’d probably heard me coming. They sat side by side, their chairs facing the edge of the cliff. The moon, half-hidden behind a cloud, reflected off the inky water in the distance. It was eerily beautiful.

  I sank into Tyler’s lap, and he wrapped his arms around my middle and kissed the back of my neck. Reaching out, I threaded my fingers with Alec’s, and he kissed the back of my hand before dropping it into his lap.

  “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t entirely sure what I was sorry about. So many warring feelings writhed inside me it was difficult to decipher them.

  “You have nothing to apologize for,” Tyler said firmly,

  “None of this is your fault,” Alec agreed.

  “I hate how messed up everything has gotten.” Neither of them replied. What was there to say?

  We sat like that for a while, just holding each other and staring out at the moon, listening to the water crash rhythmically against the cliffs.

  Eventually, we went back to bed, but I couldn’t get to sleep.

  I kept staring into space, thinking about all the things I’d avoided thinking about for days, if not weeks. Then I’d stare at their beautiful faces and feel my chest tighten at the mere thought of losing one of them.

  As soon as the first rays of sun streamed into the room, I got up—careful not to wake them—got dressed, and went for a run. I pushed my body despite the soreness, letting the burn in my lungs distract me, letting the crisp morning air clear my head. I went around the island twice, waving to some of the Lighthunters we’d met.

  By the time I got back, the sun was casting bright rays over the kitchen, where Ethan was cooking eggs. The others sat around the dining table, sipping coffee.

  “Hey,” I panted, pouring myself a big glass of water and chugging it at the sink.

  A chorus of “mornings” accompanied tired, lazy smiles. Ethan kissed my sweaty cheek.

  After a hot shower gave me an extra dose of determination, I came back to the dining area and pulled Tyler’s borrowed laptop toward myself. He looked up from his coffee with raised brows.

  I sighed. “I need to know what’s happening out there. I can’t pretend anymore.”

  They all paused and watched me warily.

  “Breakfast first.” Ethan dropped a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me. His smile didn’t reach his eyes.

 
; “Breakfast during,” I stated, picking up the fork and opening the laptop at the same time.

  Tyler draped an arm over the back of my chair and leaned in, bringing up news articles, intelligence reports, and updates from people we trusted.

  “I’m not gonna lie.” He sounded resigned. “It’s not good.”

  For the next hour, he updated me on what was happening past the azure waters at the bottom of the cliffs.

  The protests and violence had escalated. Some countries had been forced to declare a state of emergency; in other places, curfews and security checkpoints were coming into effect. Variant Valor had branches everywhere. They were well funded by the generally better-off Variants, and their propaganda was all over billboards and the media. The Human Empowerment Network was taking a more grassroots approach—graffiti, human-only areas, Molotov cocktails, and radicalization through social media.

  Davis’s face and voice were all over the reports—both news and top-secret intelligence.

  So was mine.

  He was holding press conferences to tell the world I was the key to everything, making it sound as if the technology he was creating would solve everyone’s problems.

  According to Lucian and Kyo, Melior Group was struggling to keep up with him. They were stretched thin. Part of the forces were tasked with assisting human law enforcement, trying to make the streets safe, but some of the elite teams were still hunting Davis, trying to take him down discreetly.

  Lucian happened to connect while we were going over the reports. He explained, “Part of the problem is that he keeps moving and he’s well protected by his own lackeys, some of them with dangerous abilities. Then there’s the issue of discretion. We need to take him quietly, if possible. We can’t just tackle him to the ground in front of a dozen cameras. But by far the biggest problem is the mole we have. Whenever we get a solid lead and set up an operation, he disappears. We suspected it before, but now it’s undeniable that someone high up, maybe even someone on the board, is leaking information to Davis.” He sounded tired and far away on the other end of the line, and I felt bad we’d abandoned him. Tyler was his righthand man, and he was here with both hands tied behind his back. “There is serious division in the management here, and it’s starting to trickle down the ranks. The number of people I can trust is woefully small. Charlie is doing all he can to weed out who the problem is, but they’re covering their tracks very well. I don’t know how much longer it’ll be before I lose complete control over any aspect of operations.”

  He had to get off the phone then, and Josh made more coffee as we kept going over everything.

  Bradford Hills Institute was on partial lockdown. Scared parents were pulling their kids out of school, and even some faculty had stopped showing up. Classes continued amid tight security, but the situation was tense and tenuous. Schools all over the country were in a similar situation.

  An encrypted message from Charlie described the mood: “People are terrified. It’s like they’re all hunkering down and preparing for Armageddon. The US isn’t in a state of emergency, nor do we have any curfews in place, but there are outbreaks of violence from time to time. The streets are deserted, half the businesses closed. It’s eerie.”

  “Who can we trust?” I looked between them all. I needed to know where we stood when push came to shove.

  Alec leaned forward on the table. “Uncle Lucian. Aunt Olivia and Uncle Henry. Dot and Charlie. Ed and his brother, maybe. Kyo, Marcus, and Jamie, definitely. A handful of other agents you haven’t met. I know they’re loyal. Other than that . . .”

  It was a short list.

  “Dana.” I nodded firmly. “She may be jaded and frustrated with the way she’s been treated her whole life, but deep down she’s a good person. She’s shown me that more than once. Plus, she likes me. We’re practically best friends now. Also Mr. Takata and his men. He’s more than proven himself. What about the Lighthunters?” I questioned just as one of them walked through our front door.

  Nina had clearly heard the tail end of our conversation, but she didn’t seem offended by it.

  “Yes.” She nodded, perching on the arm of the couch. “You can trust the Lighthunters.”

  “Are you positive? They were pretty pissed you brought us here.” Josh made a good point.

  Nina nodded. “They were, but mostly at me for not informing them. We take the security and secrecy of this facility very seriously. Honestly, we are all horrified at what Davis is doing, the way he is perverting the Light for his own sick reasons, the division it is causing all over the world. We can feel it more than anyone. It is painful. We want to help, but we have stayed silent and secret for so long. Honestly, we just don’t know where to start.”

  Nina ran her hands over her cropped hair and stood, starting to pace. “A lot of the meetings recently have been about what our next step needs to be. The more reports that come in from our people on the ground, the more helpless we feel.” She huffed.

  I folded my arms and leaned forward. If a super-secret, mega-rich society of badasses was at a loss, what hope did the rest of us have?

  Nina kept ranting. I had a feeling she needed to get it all off her chest. “There are some advocating for gathering up as many Vitals as we can, especially the Vivids, and bringing them to our secure locations. They want to bunker down and ride it out from the sidelines, just as we have for centuries. But that is ridiculous! We can’t continue to ignore the tension in the Light, not to mention all the humans! Who is supposed to protect the humans? Granted, some of them need protecting from themselves—I mean, who runs at a Variant with a paralyzing ability armed with nothing more than a baseball bat and their convictions?” She bugged her eyes out incredulously as she referred to footage of one of the riots in Russia that had gone viral.

  “Others are arguing we should get involved—come out to the world and tell them of our existence, fight to bring back peace. But people are scared of that too. There is a reason we went underground. I am just not so sure those reasons hold up any longer.”

  “Something that unifies people could go a long way. A revelation like this—that Lighthunters are real—could bring real hope to Variants,” Josh mused.

  “Yeah, but what about the humans?” Tyler argued. “They could see this as just another advantage the Variants have.”

  “Not if you present it in a good light,” Ethan argued. “I mean, shit’s bad, but there are places managing to stay peaceful—look at Iceland, Canada, New Zealand. They’re all managing to keep their shit together. Their governments are pushing messages of unity, and people are following through on the ground, working together and refusing to get whipped up into . . .”

  We were all staring at him, struggling to keep the slight shock off our faces. Ethan wasn’t usually this vocal in these discussions. He listened and made sure he knew the important parts, but he left the questioning and arguing to Tyler, Josh, and me.

  “What?” He frowned. “I read the news. I just prefer to read about the good bits.” He folded his arms and looked down into his lap.

  “No.” Nina stopped pacing. “That is brilliant!”

  “It is?” Ethan looked at her, surprised, a smile pulling at his lips.

  “It is! And it is so simple. Marketing makes the world go round, does it not? Isn’t that what Davis is doing—just really clever, aggressive marketing? If we are careful about the message we send . . .” She muttered to herself in French. “This could make all the difference. If someone can take Davis out, and then we go public with a message of peace and equality . . . We would need to put action behind our words, maybe pick both a human and a Variant organization to support. . . Yes, that might just work. I have to go!”

  She ran out of the cottage, probably on her way to convince her leaders that all they needed was a good marketing plan. I hoped they still planned to provide support with their impressive resources—not the least of which were weapons and people highly trained to use them.

  Yes, changing public perc
eption and getting people to work together once more would go a long way. But sometimes, it was necessary to fight.

  “None of it will make a difference as long as Davis is out there,” I declared.

  Tyler gripped my knee. “They’re trying, baby.”

  They.

  The people we’d left behind were doing all they could to bring down the pathetic excuse for a man I had the displeasure of calling my biological father. While we took a holiday in the Greek islands.

  I stood, sending my chair scraping back.

  “We need to help. We need to stop hiding and take out the root of the problem or . . .” die trying. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. The thought of a world without the four of them in it was more than I could bear, but this was so much bigger than us, so much bigger than me.

  Yet, somehow, I was the key. I was the only one who could get to Davis. Because I was the only one he wanted.

  “What we need to do is keep you safe.” Alec leveled a hard stare at me.

  I knew that look, the tension in his shoulders. He was gearing up for a fight, but I didn’t want to waste any more time fighting him.

  I gave him a sad smile. “I know. That’s why we ran. That’s why we’ve been staying hidden. I get it. Trust me, I do. My mom made every argument you could possibly think of in support of the whole ‘running for safety’ thing. But the thing is, much as I love her and believe wholeheartedly she was just trying to protect me, she was wrong. And we’re wrong by continuing to hide now. The longer we run from this, the worse it’ll get.”

  “What exactly are you suggesting?” Josh raised his voice—so unlike him.

  They all started speaking over one another, arguing with points I hadn’t even made. They were scared. I let them get it all out, patiently standing at the table and keeping my mouth shut.

  When they finally quietened down, they all stared at me with sad, resigned looks.

  “You’re determined to do this.” Tyler had already figured out the gist of my plan.