by Zoe Blake
“Sure.” Caleb grabbed Cate by the hair. “How about I bring this one over and we share.”
“I like it.” I leaned down and uncuffed Cate’s ankle.
Her leg shot out, but I caught her ankle and bit down on her calf until she screamed.
“Be good.” I smacked her ass as Caleb freed her other leg. “You’re always so submissive at the office. I didn’t expect this little rebellious streak.”
She turned to me, an unfamiliar fire in her eyes. “Fuck you.”
Caleb pulled her off the horse, one arm wrenched behind her back.
“Oh, my.” Vanth’s cool voice trickled down my spine.
I turned.
She perused me with one eyebrow arched. “Your sacrifice has a smart mouth.”
“Generally not, but I think the stress is getting to her.” I gave her what I hoped was my most charming smile. Being a guest here, I couldn’t afford to piss her off. Not to mention I needed what she would give me at the end of the night.
She stepped to Cate and ran a finger down her throat, stopping just over her heart. “He underestimates you.”
“Let me go.” Cate’s eyes glimmered with tears.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Vanth smiled, her even, white teeth marked by canines that seemed preternaturally sharp.
“Please, I won’t tell.”
“Oh, I’m certain you won’t.” Vanth smiled and turned her dark eyes to me. “How are you faring this evening?”
“Wonderfully. Thank you again for having me.”
She smiled again, her dark eyes glistening like onyx. “I haven’t had you yet.” Her hand shot out and gripped my cock.
I stifled a groan as she stroked me slowly.
“I’m afraid I’m not allowed to partake.” She frowned, though merriment still lived in her dark eyes. “It would interfere with the ritual. But just because I can’t fuck doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy.” Her hand smoothed up and down my shaft, and I could swear there was the smallest hint of electricity in her touch.
“I’m sorry to hear you aren’t on the table.” I eyed the pale skin of her throat.
“Maybe some other time.”
Her touch was making it hard for me to think, much less engage in conversation.
“Remember, no blood until I say so.” She glanced at Cate. “Though yours looks like you’ve been treating her quite well. Though perhaps a little flushed.”
“I’ve been spoiling her.” I swallowed hard as she thumbed the tip of my cock. “Making her come.”
“Good. Though the pleasure is yours to take, giving will make the night easier for them. Make the end more bearable.” She gave my cock one more smooth pull before dropping her hand. “Any mercy you give isn’t wasted.” She glanced to the man reaming the woman lashed to the cross, a true frown turning her lips and narrowing her eyes. “Though like most lessons, it’s one some will learn the hard way.” She moved off through the room like a dark bird wheeling in the night.
“Jesus. I don’t know if I’m turned on or terrified.” Caleb watched Vanth’s retreat.
“She’d definitely be worth a go.” I could still feel the slight tingle along my bare skin.
“What did she mean about mercy?”
“No clue.” I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. We’ll just have to enjoy ourselves without her, won’t we?”
Caleb grabbed Cate by the hair. She seemed to crumple as Caleb dragged her over to the bed where his girl still fought her restraints.
I wanted to feel sorry for her, but nothing stirred in my heart. It had been dead since the first ritual all those years ago. I’d do what was necessary to protect my name, to make sure that my legend lived on long beyond my actual lifespan. What I was building was far more important than any of Cate’s tears.
Caleb shoved her down and shackled her next to the raging girl who gnashed her teeth as I approached.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” She arched her back. It didn’t help her escape, but it did give me an even more tantalizing view of her body. Slim and with a narrow waist that flared into full hips. I licked my lips. Her breasts—small but perfect—shook with her efforts, and her dark nipples were hard, begging for my mouth.
I sank between her knees and ran my hands to her hips. “Caleb already did a number on you.” She was swollen between her legs, the flesh red from the flogging she’d endured.
“Morgan needed a little work before the fun could start.” Caleb shrugged and smoothed his hands down Cate’s curvy body. “But I don’t seem to have made a dent in her wildness.”
“I’ll kill you.” Morgan glared up at me.
“That’s not how this night ends.” I leaned over and ran my tongue along her cunt.
Cate gripped the headboard as Caleb sheathed himself in her tight pussy with one hard stroke. Jealousy flared inside me, but I turned my focus to the prey in front of me as the bed began to shake with Caleb’s rough fucking.
I pressed my mouth to her slit and toyed with her as she struggled against me. “Why fight?”
She yanked one knee toward me, but couldn’t manage to do any damage. She was too tightly bound.
“Get the fuck off me,” she growled.
Cate breathed hard as Caleb ground into her.
“It doesn’t have to be bad.” I pressed my mouth to her pussy, my tongue tickling her clit. She writhed, but I didn’t give up. Instead, I sank two fingers inside her and continued to lick her sweet spot.
After a few moments, her body began to loosen a little, her hips rolling instead of straining. Subtle, but noticeable. I curled my fingers, looking for that small ridge inside her.
She arched, her heels digging into the bed. I had her. Pushing harder with my tongue, I stroked her until her thighs began to shake, her hips locking. She bit her lip, but I felt when she came, her pussy convulsing around my fingers as I ran the broad side of my tongue against her.
When she finally took a breath, her hips relaxing, I smiled up at her.
Her knee pushed against me in a hard knock, but that was all she could do.
Sitting up, I wiped my mouth and stared down at her flushed body. Hatred roiled in her eyes, but that made it hotter.
“Don’t.” She glared.
I put one hand over her mouth—just for fun really—and positioned my cock at her entrance. She tried to shake my hand off, but I clamped down and shoved inside her.
“Fuck!” I barked as her slick walls compressed me until I saw stars.
I pulled back and shoved home. She tried to bite my hand. Fucking hot. I gripped her shoulder with my other hand and shoved her down on my cock as I thrust forward. Each impact made my balls tighten up with the need to release, but I was saving that for my sweet Cate. But I’d enjoy the hellion until it was time. I fucked her hard, mercilessly. Her tits bounced with each impact, and I surveyed her captive form, the way she tensed and tried to revolt, but had nowhere to go. Having this kind of power over another was nothing short of intoxicating.
A low drumming sound began to fill the room. It was almost time.
“Trade me. I need to finish.” Caleb pulled out of Cate, her mouth open as she panted.
I hated to let Morgan’s tight pussy go, but we were out of time. This part of the ritual was almost complete.
I climbed over to Cate, and Caleb took my spot between Morgan’s legs.
“How could you?” Cate’s eyes watered as she stared up at me.
“How couldn’t I?” I slapped her breast and pinched her nipple.
“You’re a monster.”
I smiled and pushed inside her, her pussy still wet and hot. I’d blow in no time. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
“Ted, please.”
I shushed her and leaned down to run my teeth along her throat. Her sweat was sweet on my tongue as I slid in and out of her.
She shivered, goosebumps rising along her skin as I finally let go, fucking her just the way I wanted.
“Ted,” she gasped as I bit her throat�
��not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough for her to feel my claim on her.
“I’m going to coat your pussy with me, sweet Cate.” I hammered deeper, taking every bit of her.
Her tits slid against my chest as I rode her, and Morgan moaned low in her throat as Caleb slapped her tits.
Just the sounds had my balls demanding release. The drumming sounds grew louder. It was time. I thrust hard into her. She arched and gripped the headboard. My load spilled inside her, each spurt pulling a rough grunt from me as I sealed this part of the ritual, claiming her body and soul as my own. I ground into her a few more times, getting every last drop of my come inside her, then pulled out and sat back, my chest heaving.
Chapter 7
Cate
Ted sat between my knees, his breath coming in hard bursts. Caleb did the same, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. The matching cross and snakes on his chest seemed to move along with him, the snakes twining with each inhale.
Masculine grunts and groans sounded all around us—the men finishing in each of their victims.
“Are you going to let me go now?” My chin wavered.
Ted smiled. “Didn’t I please you?”
“Y-yes.” I nodded. “But I figured since you, you know, since you—”
“Came deep inside you that I’m done with you?”
“Yes.”
“No, Cate.” He shook his head. “There’s more.”
“More?” I shook my head. “I can’t take anymore.”
“Sure you can.” He stood and began unshackling me.
“Please, Ted. Please. I’ll never say a word.”
“I know you won’t.”
His words sent a chill through me.
“How can you be so cruel?” I yelped as he freed my hands and yanked me from the bed.
“It’s just survival.”
“Survival?” I fought as he dragged me back to the leather horse. “What about this is surviving?”
“You’ll see.”
“See what?” I reared back and swung at him, but he caught my hand before I could slap him.
“Power comes with a price.” He shrugged and fastened my hands to the leather horse, but left me standing. “And I’m always willing to pay.”
“What does that even mean?”
He pulled on a black robe. “It means that what you think of as cruel is just me doing what I need to do to keep my life on track. If I want to remain CEO, to keep shooting up the Forbes rankings, and to eventually settle down with a family that understands the sort of man I am, then this is what needs to be done.”
“You’re insane.” I cringed away from him as he stroked my hair.
“Like I said, you’ll see.”
The woman in black strode up to the front of the crowd again, her eyes surveying everyone. “The ritual of flesh is complete. Now, we move on to the ritual of blood.” She motioned to the dark area of the room behind her.
My knees went weak. “Blood?”
Ted patted my shoulder. “I didn’t want to give away the plot too soon, but—” He sighed. “You aren’t leaving here alive.”
My eyes widened and I stared at him. “Ted, please—”
“There’s no going back.” He had the nerve to give me a small smile. “This was done from the minute you walked into my office for that interview. A girl with no close family or friends? A girl who no one will miss? A girl who hasn’t told anyone she’s been flirting with the boss? Come on, Cate, you may as well have had a sign blinking over your head that said ‘sacrifice me to your pagan gods.’” He laughed low in his throat. “Okay, maybe that last part was a bit over the top, but you see what I mean here. You’re perfect. You’re going to disappear tonight, and sure, maybe the cops will eventually come looking, but I’ll say you left work early and said you were going to meet someone for a date. No one will be able to link you to me or this place. I haven’t told a soul about you.”
My head spun. “The waiter at the restau—”
“The servers there see me with a different girl every other night.” His eyebrows lowered apologetically. “None of them will remember a thing about you.”
The men around us began leading the women toward the back of the room, the dark area where the woman in black had disappeared moments before.
Ted adjusted his robe and tied it, then unbound me and took a smaller red robe and wrapped it around me.
“Here we go.” He tied it at my waist.
I eyed the edges of the room, looking at the exits. Young men with dark hair guarded each door and fanned out along the walls.
Ted pulled me forward. “You can’t escape. I’d catch you or they would.” He inclined his head toward the nearest guard.
My feet seemed to be caught in sludge, and I began to pull at Ted’s grip. “I can’t—”
“You can. It’ll all be over soon. Painless, I promise.” He spoke of my impending murder as if it were nothing more than a shot at the doctor’s office.
“Ted, please don’t.” Tears welled in my eyes.
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me forward past the raised dais and into the gloom. Caleb and Morgan walked next to us, though her wrists were bound, the gag back in her mouth.
“Shh.” Ted dug his fingers into my side. “Over soon, I promise.”
He carried me forward. The huge chalice sat in the middle of the floor, a red pentacle drawn around it on the black floor. I shook my head and pushed against Ted, but he was too strong.
“Bring your sacrifices and prepare.” The woman motioned for one of the guards to set out smaller chalices at each point of the pentagram. “Five have been chosen,” she intoned. “Five to receive the blessings of the holy trinity, those who live below, and those who existed in the void long before man appeared on the earth. Their power cannot be measured, but it can be drawn upon and shared. You five have brought powerful sacrifices, lights that will go out so that you may burn even brighter.”
Ted eased me to the floor in front of a chalice. It was then that I saw the dark, curved blade sitting next to it.
“Please, Ted.” I turned to him, my eyes piercing his with my pleas. “Don’t do this.”
“It’s done, Cate.” He stroked my cheek. “There’s no backing out.”
Morgan struggled as Caleb forced her to the floor beside us. Some of the other women fought, too, while others seemed cowed and broken, their knees hitting the floor without a fight.
“Don’t make this hard.” Caleb grabbed her by the hair.
“You have been prepared to receive the blessings of the many and the one.” The woman shed her cloak, her nude body ghostly in the low light. “You will be strengthened, protected, deified on earth as you deserve.”
Ted reached for the knife.
“No.” I tried to pull away, but he held me in place.
“This must be done.” His grip turned to iron as he lifted the blade from the black floor.
“This must be done. On my command.” The woman peered around the room, her eyes lighting on mine. “This final step is what is required. The gods demand sacrifice. The only way to reach your full potential is to finish the ritual.”
Ted raised the knife to my throat. “I’m sorry.” He said the words, but I didn’t believe him.
The woman clenched her fists. “Now, my daughters!”
I plunged the dagger into Ted’s heart.
Chapter 8
Ted
I didn’t feel it at first. The slicing agony set in seconds later, and I tried to slit Cate’s throat. But my blade simply bounced off the fair skin of her neck. None of her blood. Nothing. Just a pool of crimson forming beneath me as my heart pumped and shredded against her blade.
“What—” I gasped as she twisted the knife.
“Now my daughters, collect the blood in your cups.” Vanth rushed around the pentagram, checking each couple and stopping in front of us.
“Hecate, well done.” She smiled and handed Cate the cup. “Drai
n him.” She pulled open my robe.
I sat back on my haunches as an odd coldness settled over me. “What is going on?” My lips could barely form the words.
Vanth patted my head as if I were a silly dog. “Sacrifice, of course.”
Cate smiled, all the fear gone from her face. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but it was so easy. The knife was right where you said it’d be in my robe, and I just …” She let out a triumphant gasp. “I just did it!” She pressed the cup to the wound in my chest.
“Stop.” I tried to bat her hand away, but my movements were sluggish and weak.
“You’re my child, of course you could do it!” Vanth kissed Cate on the forehead. “Get all you can before his last breath, then stop. We don’t want dead blood mixing with the live. And one more thing.” Vanth kissed her again. “Happy birthday!”
Cate smiled. “Thanks, Mom.” She returned her gaze to mine. “I guess you’re the candle I’m blowing out, huh?”
Vanth laughed. “Oh, how droll you are, Hecate.”
A low groan came from my left.
Vanth turned. “Morgana! Stop stabbing him! You won’t get enough live blood that way.” She hurried off as Cate gripped my shoulder, keeping me upright as my world began to go dark.
“Cate.” A wet bubble popped on my lips. Blood?
“It’s Hecate, really. Named after my great-great-great-great grandmother. Though there may be a few more ‘greats’ in there. Not entirely sure.” She gave me the same sweet smile I remembered from the day of her job interview. “Don’t look so confused.” She pressed the cup harder against me, as if trying to make sure she didn’t lose a drop. “There was a reason I showed up in your office that day, a reason I wanted the job, a reason I got the job, and a reason I played you so easily.”
I couldn’t speak, everything in me going cold.
“But don’t be mad.” She leaned up and kissed the tip of my nose. “It’s all about power, just like you said. You got the power all those years ago. I was too young then. My sisters and I—” She glanced around the room, but I couldn’t see anything beyond her anymore. It was too dark. “We’re all Marie’s daughters. Different fathers. Mom has a habit of dispatching whoever she mates with.” Her eyes glittered. “So black widow, right? Anyway, me and the girls, we’re taking over.”
