by Dakota Rebel
“What do you mean?” Mitch asked, looking from me to my dark lover.
“You did this, didn’t you?” I asked Ash, my tone calm.
“Reagan, I’m sorry. I just…I couldn’t lose you. It was the only chance I had, and I took it. I figured if you didn’t want it, you could choose to be taken out later. But I wouldn’t let that monster steal you from us. You just found us.”
I smiled sadly and walked over to my lovers. Running a hand over Ash’s chin, I lowered my face to kiss him then reeled back and slapped him across the cheek.
“You’re supposed to help people,” I said, a growl in my voice.
“That’s what he did,” Cyrus argued.
“No, he turned me into a monster.” I held up a hand to stop the protests from the various non-humans in the room. “Listen to me. I love you all, and I think you can agree that I’ve grown a lot as a person. I don’t mean to say I’m a monster because I’m going to be a vampire or a werewolf. I’m a crossbreed. I’m both and neither. The only two creatures like me were bat-shit crazy. What does that mean for me? I could kill all of you once this fully takes hold.”
“Reagan,” Ashim said, getting to his feet and stepping around Cyrus to come to me. “It’s already taken effect. I had to force the poisons to attach to your cells in order to save your life. The way you are right now is the way you’re going to stay.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, looking around at my family.
“We’ll figure it out,” Jarrod said as he stood up too and pulled me into his arms. “You’re the most important woman in all of our lives. Do you think we’d ever let anything happen to you?”
“And you know, without a doubt,” Mitch joined in, reaching around his lover to smooth his hand over my hair, “that if the time comes that you fear for your safety or anyone else’s, if you need me to take you out, I will. I promise. It may kill me to do it, but I won’t let you be a monster.”
Cyrus came over to us, too, and we all stood there for a moment in a strange, yet wonderful, group hug. After a minute, I shrugged them off.
“Are you all right?” Jarrod asked, looking down at me with concern.
“I’m…hungry,” I said, a tinge of fear washing over me.
“We’ll take care of you,” Cyrus said with a smile.
“And that’s our cue,” Mitch said loudly. He leaned over and kissed me on the forehead then took Jarrod’s hand. “Make sure all the shades are pulled,” he warned before leading his lover into the bedroom.
Ashim immediately went to all the windows and lowered the sun-cancelling blinds Mitch had installed, while I stood in Cyrus’ arms and shivered.
“I don’t want to do this,” I whispered as he pulled me into his warmth. Even as I protested, the soft thumping of his pulse found its way under my mouth. I licked up his throat and sighed at the taste of his skin.
“It’s an instinct, love,” Cyrus said, holding me tighter as if to prove he’d never push me away. “Ash is here to make sure it doesn’t go too far. But you have to bite me. It will only get worse if you put it off. I know you’re not happy about it, but part of you is a vampire now, and this is what you have to do.”
“Just know that Cyrus and I are always willing donors for you.” Ash came back over to join us. “Don’t ever hesitate to ask. We love you, and we know what’s best for you now. All right?”
I nodded against the curve of my blond lover’s neck. The smell of his blood seeped through his pores, and I couldn’t take it any longer.
“Don’t let me hurt him,” I whispered to Ash as I lowered my mouth to Cyrus’ skin again and bit down.
My fangs sank easily into him, and the hot blood that sprayed from the wound into my mouth was like the finest wine I’d ever tasted. So hot and thick, with a woodsy musk to it. I drank and drank, giving myself over to the rush of the feed, silently trusting that Ash would pull me away if I went too far.
Cyrus cried out, his knees buckling so hard that only my hands under his arms kept him on his feet. Ash gently nudged me, his hands pulling at my shoulders until I reluctantly retracted from the skin between my teeth.
I licked my lips and looked up at Ash, my body aching with a different need. “I’m still hungry.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you sure about this?” Ash asked, though he was already pulling my sweatshirt over my head. “It’s been a long day. You died tonight. Maybe, you should take it easy.”
“I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time,” I said as I ripped his T-shirt down the front. “I want you. I need you. I love you.”
“Cyrus?” Ash asked, looking at the man who was on the floor behind us.
“I’m out for this round,” he groaned. “I forgot what it’s like to be food. Afraid I finished before you even started.” He got to his feet, and I saw the telltale sign of his pleasure staining the front of his jeans.
I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck. He leaned down and kissed me before twisting me back to face Ash. “Give him hell, kid.”
With a growl, I launched myself at the darker man, my legs wrapping around his waist as I slammed my mouth over his. Ash wrapped his arms under my legs and held me tight as we nipped and licked at each other’s lips.
He carried me to the sofa and dropped me to the cushions. I shimmied out of my jeans as he undid his own pants and let them fall the floor. A groan escaped my throat at the sight of his cock, hard and leaking at the level of my face. I leaned forward to taste him, but he pushed me back gently.
“Not until you’re used to the fangs,” he said with a smile, and I heard Cyrus chuckle behind him.
“Fair enough,” I agreed, running a tongue over the sharp incisors. “Then get down here and fuck me.”
Ash lowered himself to me, his mouth finding mine again as he settled his hips between my legs. My body was a bundle of coiled nerves, and I knew it wouldn’t take much to push me over the edge tonight. The adrenaline had come, gone and come back again. I’d died and been reborn. I’d satiated one hunger, and my dark lover was about to feed another. It had been a hell of a night.
My ass rose off the couch to meet Ash’s forward thrust as he slammed himself inside of me. The feel of him stretching me so widely nearly shoved me over my precipice. My nails dug into his flesh as his pace stayed hard and fast. Over and over again, he plunged into me, his pubic bone hitting my clit so hard my body shook from the speed of it.
“I’m not going to last long tonight,” he grunted into my ear before seizing the lobe between his teeth.
“Neither am I,” I admitted. “That’s fine. Just fuck me.”
He increased his tempo, and my orgasm washed over me harder than I’d ever felt before. It was as if muscles I didn’t even know I’d had were clenching and releasing at a dizzying rate. A scream tore from my chest, turning to a howl that echoed through the apartment as I came.
Cyrus’ wolf answered my call with a bay of his own. The night was rent with shouts and screams as my body continued to stutter with release and Ash came hard and deep inside me.
Finally, he faltered, his hips slowing to a stop between my legs before he freed himself completely of my body. I panted heavily between waves of reflexive nerve twitches.
Turning my head, I was surprised to see a large, tan wolf staring back at me. I smiled at Cyrus and ran my fingers through his thick fur. He flicked his tongue out and licked my hand, the tickling sensation making me giggle.
“Mitch asked me to make sure everyone’s okay out here,” Jarrod called from the hallway.
I looked up to see him standing there in pajama bottoms with his hand over his eyes.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, a blush creeping up my face. “Yes, we’re fine. And we’re done. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Please stop banging my sister in my living room!” Mitch screamed from the bedroom.
“We may have to move,” Jarrod muttered as he shook his head, his eyes still averted before turning back to
shut himself in the bedroom again.
I looked back up at Ash, and he just grinned down at me, making me laugh again. Before long he was cracking up, too. I knew that everyone was exhausted and getting slap happy.
“I’ll sleep on the floor if you two want to take the sofa,” I said as I slid out from under Ashim.
“You’re not going to sleep with us?” he asked, his tone full of hurt.
“Well, I didn’t think you’d want to sleep with a corpse,” I said honestly. “I’ve had a vampire die on me before. It’s not pleasant.”
Cyrus nudged me with his big, fuzzy head. Looking down, I could see the glare in his wolf eyes. Apparently, he wasn’t about to let me sleep alone either.
“Okay,” I said in defeat. “But if it gets uncomfortable for you, don’t worry about hurting my feelings and moving. I totally understand.”
I stood up and started gathering pillows and blankets from around the room, dropping them in the middle of the floor so Ash could sort them out into a bed for us. When everything seemed as comfortable as it would get I threw my sweatshirt back on and settled between my lovers. Ash threw an afghan over me and settled in at my back while Cyrus turned around a few times then flopped down in front of me.
I felt dawn breaking outside. It was as if a great, heavy weight pressed down on my body. Taking a deep breath, I tried to prepare myself for death again. I wondered if it would hurt or if I’d just drift away.
In all the time since Mitch had been turned, I’d never asked him stuff like that. I’d always figured he wouldn’t want to talk about it. Now, I wished I’d taken the time to pester him about how it felt to be dead. Or undead.
After a few minutes, I was surprised to find I was still conscious. When I’d been with Skip, he’d died the second the sun had risen. His body was cold and hard as if rigor had set in within moments. Though I felt the sun cresting outside, my heart continued beating and my body felt nothing but normal exhaustion.
“Reagan?” Ash asked, nuzzling my neck. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. “I’m still here.”
“Well, that’s one fear down then,” he said with a yawn. “I’m sorry, babe. I’m going to pass out.”
“No, that’s fine.” I squeezed the arm that had snaked over my waist. “We’ll talk later. Ash?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
The arm around me tightened. “I love you, too, Reagan.”
“I love you, too, Cyrus,” I whispered against the furry ear that was flicking my chin.
He rubbed his muzzle against my cheek in response. As sleep finally overtook me, I realized I could happily spend the rest of my life between these two. Human, wolf, vampire, we could handle anything as long as we were together.
Tomorrow, I’d have to call the captain and give him my report. I didn’t anticipate it going well. I didn’t care. I was done. I’d killed Duran and found true love. What the hell did I care anymore what my father thought of me?
“Go to sleep,” Ash whispered against my ear.
I smiled and snuggled deeper between them. Closing my eyes, I knew tonight would be the start of the life I’d never known I’d always wanted.
Epilogue
Three months later…
“It was a lovely service,” Ash said as he leaned over to kiss my mother’s cheek.
“Thank you,” she said stiffly. “I never thought I’d attend both of my children’s funerals. I could shoot my husband.”
“Mom,” I hissed. “Knock it off. You know this is what I wanted.”
I stood at the back of the cemetery with my family as I watched my empty coffin being lowered into the ground. The whole thing was so surreal.
“I don’t understand this family,” my mother hissed with a sniff. “You’re all fucked in the head.”
“Gee, thanks,” Mitch said with a laugh as he walked up to us.
“You came!” I threw myself into his arms.
“I never miss a Baine funeral,” he said as he hugged me back. “Jarrod couldn’t make it. He said he’ll get you flowers when he gets back.”
“This is a little creepy,” Cyrus said. He stared at the cluster of mourners who crowded around the gravesite.
“Well, I imagine night funerals are generally pretty unsettling.” I shrugged. “But it wasn’t fair to exclude the vampires from the farce of a service.”
My father was there, speaking with some military brass who’d made the trip from Egypt with him for the funeral. It was nice to see I was respected enough to warrant a full military burial. I was worried that people would figure out I wasn’t really dead. Especially since I’d insisted on coming to my own service. But no one seemed to notice me.
The captain said people believed what they wanted to believe. It was easier for the military to accept I’d been killed in the line of duty, give me a purple heart and give my mom a bunch of money than it would be to get them to accept I’d been infected on the job.
A couple walked toward us, and I lowered my face so they wouldn’t recognize me, in case they were someone who’d known me.
“It’s okay,” Ash said as he nudged my arm.
I looked up to see Crystal and Mike grinning at me. Crystal threw her arms around me, and I hugged her back just as tightly. I hadn’t seen them since the night I’d tried to blow myself up, though I had spoken with both of them on the phone several times.
Crystal had explained how she’d managed to connect telepathically with me. She was, after all, a very powerful wiccan priestess. As she’d come clean with me, I’d learned she had all kinds of special talents. Though we’d been thousands of miles apart, we’d managed to become even closer since she’d invaded my mind and helped save my life in that strip club.
“Your father is in quite the mood,” Mike said as he shook hands with Ash and Cyrus.
“Yeah, well, he’s a prick.” I shrugged.
“He’ll get better,” Crystal said sympathetically. “Now that both of his children have become infected, he’ll have to try to be more accepting. I know he’s a bastard, but he loves you.” She looked at Mitch sternly when he snorted. “Both of you. Besides, I have a feeling that once his grand cub is born, he’ll be less reluctant to be in your lives.”
“His what?” Cyrus asked in surprise as my hand automatically went to my stomach.
“You mean I’m…” I looked at Crystal who just smiled. “Really?”
“Congratulations to you all,” she said, patting my face softly.
“We’re going to have a baby?” Ash asked, his hand sliding over mine on my abdomen.
“It would appear that way,” I said, my voice full of awe.
“Oh man!” Mitch said with an excited clap. “I’m going to be the coolest uncle ever. I’m married to a damn rock star.”
“You are not going anywhere near my child,” I argued with a huff.
“What?” he asked, his eyes wide with mock innocence.
“After all the shit you let me do as a kid, there’s no way you’re responsible enough to hang out with my child.”
“What did he let you do?” Mom asked suspiciously.
“Never you mind,” I said quickly. “I’m just saying. I don’t know what I’m saying. Forget it.”
I was still clutching my stomach. It was crazy. I hadn’t even thought I could get pregnant. With everything my body had gone through, between feeding on blood and shifting every month, it had never dawned on me that I could conceive a child. Fear clutched at my throat as I worried that I wouldn’t be able to carry the baby to term. What if something happened? What if it couldn’t survive on my liquid diet? What if—
“Stop it,” Crystal interrupted my head panic. “Reagan Baine, you listen to me. Everything will be fine. This baby is a gift, and you’re going to carry it just fine, and it will be healthy and happy. Just like its parents.”
“How do you know that?” my mother asked.
“I know things,” Crystal said with a shrug.
>
“You promise,” Ash asked, his voice barely a whisper.
“I promise.” She nodded as she patted his hand. “Do you want to know the sex?”
“No!” I shouted before the guys could answer. “Not yet. Later, but right now, I just want to watch the rest of my funeral with my family. The twenty-one gun salute is coming up. And they’re going to play Taps for me.”
“You are a sick bitch,” Mitch said as he shook his head.
“Hey, not many soldiers get to see their own burial,” I argued. “It’s an honor.”
“It’s a farce,” my mother said with a sigh. She wrapped her arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. “Though I have to say I’m glad you’re done with this hunting nonsense. You’re going to be a mother. It’s time you settle down with these nice young men and make me a pack of grand…cubs.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Ash said. “Happy to oblige.”
I rolled my eyes as I turned back to see the seven armed service members raise their rifles to their shoulders.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
“Let’s go home,” I said to my lovers.
“I thought you wanted to hear your death song,” Cyrus asked in surprise.
“Nah.” I shook my head as I pulled them away from the others, leading them toward the car. “I’ve never felt more alive in my life.”
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Also by Dakota Rebel
Sassy’s Studs – A Vegas Bound Book
Have you ever been tied down on the hood of a car in the desert by two guys?
Well, don’t knock it till you try.
Moving back in with my parents had never been at the top of my to-do list. However, when the economy tanked and I lost my job, there weren’t a whole lot of options left open to me.
I was so grateful to run into two of my college crushes. And I’ll tell them just how grateful I am…as soon as they take this gag out of my mouth.
