Healed Hearts

by Tamsin Baker

Jackson lifted a hand and stroked a finger along Eric’s nose, the action tender and beautiful. “I only asked to be turned to save Eric and Malcolm. They were going insane and getting sick all the time. Otherwise, there is no difference in how I feel for them now that I am also a vampire.”

  Piers began to sob, and Lucas turned his mate into his chest so that he could hold him close. They were all in pain, and he didn’t know what to do about it. He’d felt helpless for so long, and there seemed to be no end to it. He looked up and met Thomas’s blood-red eyes, shining with unshed tears. He, too, stepped closer to their triad and stroked Piers’ hair slowly.

  Thomas cleared his throat loudly, the pain he must have been feeling making it hard to speak. Lucas nodded at his mate, giving him permission to explain. Lucas certainly couldn’t talk. There was an elephant sitting on his chest.

  “Ah...we do not feel that way. We never have. We knew Piers was our third but we hoped that contented feeling you speak of would emerge once we turned him. It didn’t, and that was a decade ago.”

  Abigail reached out a dainty hand to them, touching Lucas on the arm. “Have you considered you may need a fourth?”

  Lucas sighed and dropped a kiss on Piers’ soft brown hair. Was it even possible? “We have heard of such things but felt so blessed just to find Piers that we hadn’t ... didn’t know...” He trailed off as Piers pushed out of his arms.

  His young mate glared up at Lucas, his brown eyes glowing almost green in his anger.

  “Does that mean it’s not my fault? You knew there was another possibility, and you left me thinking that I was the problem in our three?”

  Horrified that Piers would feel that way, Lucas grabbed his mate and pulled his body in tight. Piers glared up at him, but Lucas couldn’t resist the urge and pressed his lips to Piers.

  Piers struggled against him for a moment, but then his lips softened, and pure pleasure pulsed through Lucas’s deprived body.

  He pulled back reluctantly and looked down on their mate. “It was never your fault, my love. There are legends of four, but I have never met one.”

  He looked over at the older vampires. Perhaps they would know something he didn’t?

  Eric, the one who looked like a Nordic Viking, spoke. “I’ve met one, once, a very long time ago. It was three females and one male. Perhaps your three doesn’t feel complete because you need another male, or perhaps a female.”

  “A female,” Lucas, Thomas, and Piers all answered at once.

  They shared a smile and looked back at the group to explain.

  “We still have a female join us on occasion. And only recently we have all had similar dreams of a specific woman. If we require a fourth, then it is she.”

  Even as Lucas said the words, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Why hadn’t they thought about this more? It seemed like the answer was staring at them in the face.

  Now just to find her. She could be anywhere.

  “Describe her for me,” Abigail requested as she stepped closer, her eyes bright with interest.

  Lucas looked around the circle, puzzled. How could Abigail help?

  Malcolm wrapped his arms around Jackson in the ultimate sign of love and possession. “Lady Abigail asked us of our dreams, and we described Jackson to her. She put on a ball and we didn’t believe there was any hope of finding him, especially after waiting so long for our third. But miracle upon miracles, he came. If you have one shared dream then more than likely it is she whom you need, and Lady Abigail may be able to help. She knows everyone.”

  Lucas looked at his mates for permission to share their intimate dreams. It had been amazing that Piers had shared it with them at all, since he shared so little of his thoughts and feeling these days.

  Piers shrugged as though he didn’t really care and Thomas nodded.

  “We have all dreamt of a woman with red hair, pale skin, and almost-violet eyes.”

  He knew it to be an odd coupling of characteristics, which is why he’d dismissed the dream as fantasy.

  Abigail gasped and put a dainty hand to her breast. “Is she... rather voluptuous?”

  Lucas’s back straightened at the implied insult. He and his mates preferred a woman with more flesh. “Yes. She is very beautiful.”

  His skin began to crawl at the haunted look in Abigail’s eyes. What did she know?

  She whispered, “I know who she is.”

  Piers flew to her and his hands cupped her face roughly. Lucas gasped, fear gripping his heart as he watched his treasured mate act on his impulses.

  Let her go!

  “Tell us who she is!” Piers demanded of their hostess.

  Piers went flying across the room as Michael pushed their young cub away from his human mate.

  Lucas groaned as the thump of Piers landing ricocheted around the room.

  Serves him right. Imbecile.

  Lucas and Thomas turned to block Piers’ return attack, which they knew would come. He was still so young, in so many ways.

  Piers’ green eyes flashed dangerously, but Michael was over five-hundred years old. He could kill Piers in a fair fight.

  Of course, Lucas and Thomas would never allow that to happen, so they needed to de-fuse the situation quickly.

  “Be still, Piers. You do not know the protectiveness of a mated vampire yet.”

  Piers huffed and puffed, but he did not challenge Michael again. He hauled himself into an armchair and glared at them with cold, clear eyes. When they were certain Piers would not act out again, they turned back to Abigail. She waited silently, though she wrung her hands in the dark blue day gown she wore.

  Lucas swallowed against the emotion clogging his throat.

  Was it really possible?

  “Please tell us who it is, Lady Abigail. Or how we can find her.”

  Abigail began to pace slowly around the room. They all waited for her to speak. The only sound that broke the silence was the swish of her gown over the deep pile of the carpeting.

  Lucas held his breath and focused on the pain building in his chest as his air supply dwindled. The emotional pain of this journey would soon be worthwhile, if only they could find the elusive piece they were all missing.

  Finally, she stopped in front of him and he let go of the breath he had been holding.

  She gazed into his eyes intently, and his gut burned at the sorrow on her face.

  “Her name is Lady Maryanne. She is betrothed to a Scottish Lord. I heard only today that she has been sent to him by boat. She is already travelling to meet him.”

  Lucas swelled with anger and purpose. They would find her, and they would save her from whatever Fate she’d had thrust upon her.

  No other man will have her. Never.

  He turned to look at his mates and Piers rose to his feet with a determined expression.

  He could feel their moods filling with a similar possession. As one, they headed for the door.

  “Thank you for your help. We hope to join you all soon with our fourth.” He flung the words over his shoulder, though he knew they were being rude.

  Apologies could be made later, after they’d saved their fourth from whatever tragedy was upon her.

  A female voice halted them in their tracks. “Wait!”

  Lucas turned back. Something in Abigail’s voice made it impossible to ignore her. Her face was white and pinched, and a second concern skittered through him.

  “You need to know one thing. Lady Maryanne was sent away from London in disgrace. You will need to be very gentle with her.” Her words chilled him but at the same time, enraged him. This time in history had a lot to answer for in how they treated their young women.

  He was born in a much more accepting country, in a better time.

  Who had harmed her? Anger scorched his mind while his fingers curled into talons, cutting into the soft flesh of his palms.

  “What happed to her?”

  Abigail shook her head, looking very sad indeed, then turned away with a tiny sob.
/>   “It is best if she tells you the story. But you must be patient with her.” Her words broke, and he had to fight the pain in his chest once more.

  Lucas noted both his mates had clenched their teeth before they, too, nodded at him. He regained his composure and prepared to excuse himself.

  “Of course. Thank you, Lady Abigail.”

  Piers stepped forward suddenly, surprising Lucas.

  “Abigail, I apologise for my behaviour before. I hope I did not hurt you.”

  Lucas’ heart sung with happiness to see flecks of the old Piers coming back. He’d been such a cheeky yet beautiful soul when they’d first met him.

  Abigail smiled at him. “All is forgiven, my friend, I know how passionate vampires can be. Now go.”

  Forgiven for everything, the mood between them changed instantly.

  They all bowed, and with a last lingering smile at Abigail, they fled. It was time to find their fourth.

  Chapter Two

  Piers stripped off his restrictive evening clothes and sighed in frustration.

  They’d all done their research and learnt that they needed to travel too far to reach their fourth to begin the journey tonight.

  Daylight would burn them alive, so they needed to be smart about how and when they travelled.

  He pulled back the covers on his bed and began to settle into his room for his daytime rest.

  He had, rather selfishly, demanded his own bedroom long ago. After years of trying to make the pain of his rejection bearable, he’d preferred solitude to sharing with his mates.

  The bed was huge and decadent, suiting his French lineage. It had a large, carved wooden bed head, and the walls of his room had been painted a deep burgundy.

  It was beautiful, but it was his, not theirs. Lucas and Thomas shared one bedroom together, the original one where they’d turned him into a vampire.

  Piers could not rest. He paced the large room, his heart restless and lonely. He had been so angry about the gnawing ache that had consumed him, that he had separated himself from his men. Mostly to punish them, but very quickly he’d learnt that it hurt him too.

  Badly. But his pride had demanded he stay the course and lie in the bed he made, quite literally.

  Now he ached even more deeply than he had before. He missed them so very much, but didn’t know how to go to them.

  Should he apologize for his behaviour and the choices that had brought them here?

  Beg, perhaps?

  Would they even listen to him after all that had happened?

  He lay down on his large, empty bed and began to stroke himself out of the need to feel something. Anything other than the loneliness that clawed at him.

  They had been offered hope tonight. The first ray of sunshine in what seemed like years of darkness. He needed to fix things with his mates before they found their fourth.

  It was the only way they were all going to be happy again.

  A moan escaped his lips as his cock swelled. He clenched his teeth to stifle the noise. He did not want them hearing him. They would probably laugh, knowing how he pleasured himself alone, while they pleasured each other.

  Memories of nights long gone assailed him as his body grew tighter, harder. Lucas had the softest, most talented mouth. Thomas the tightest arse. They had loved him in ways he had never thought possible, and then he had spurned them.

  One hand reached down to cup his balls while the other pulled his cock, harder and faster.

  He released both and reached up to grab the wooden bed-head. Frustration clawed at him as his lust rose like a wave.

  God, how I want them.

  There was only one thing for it and his pride needed to take a step back and let his heart take over.

  “Luc. Tommy. Please.”

  He whispered their nicknames into the silent night, half fearful they would hear him and ignore him.

  Piers opened his eyes, and they were in his bedroom.

  His men, naked and beautiful, stood staring at him as he lay on his bed, hard as rock.

  He didn’t think about the words. He just said what had to be said, what his heart longed for him to shout from the top of their building.

  “I need you.”

  Thomas and Lucas glanced at each other and then looked back at him.

  He groaned and pulled himself to sitting. His stomach did little back flips, he was so nervous. He knew he probably deserved to be shunned after what he had put them through over the past decade, but he prayed that they wouldn’t punish him after everything they had gone through.

  “Please forgive me. I am so sorry for the last years we’ve spent apart. I’ll do anything to make it up to you, but I need you both tonight.”

  Lucas flew on top of him and knocked him flat.

  Piers gasped when Lucas gripped his wrists and pinned him to the bed.

  “We want all of you or none of you, Piers. Be with us. Love us. Stop torturing us with your whores.”

  Piers struggled against Lucas’ hands but found himself helpless beneath his three-hundred-year-old mate. His cock surged against Lucas’ belly.

  It wanted him so badly.

  Lucas sat up and straddled Piers’ waist but held down Piers’ arms still. “Do you agree to our conditions?”

  Piers nodded. Of course, he did. He never truly wanted the lovers he taken in the past. It had been just another way of punishing them, and in the long run, himself.

  He wriggled, loving the feeling of Lucas’ hot skin touching his. Being held still under his mate was flaring his lust higher and his balls throbbed with unreleased tension.

  “Say it,” Lucas growled at him. His brown eyes had flecks of yellow, and when he was impassioned, they showed even more.

  “I won’t stray anymore. We will find our fourth, or I will be happy with you both. Nowhere in between.”

  Lucas stared into his eyes for a minute, as though testing his honesty. Then his large lover bent his head and devoured Piers’ mouth.

  Piers moaned, tears prickling his eyes. No one kissed like Lucas. With his passion, his sweetness. The way his tongue tasted Piers’ mouth so perfectly.

  He’d missed Luc so much.

  Lucas broke off their kiss and releases Piers’ wrists, then moved his pelvis up so that his knees were just below Piers’ armpits, and he thrust his pelvis forward.

  Lucas’ cock was right in Piers’ face. He moaned. It was so beautiful. Long and thick with bulging veins. Very much like Lucas’ entire body.

  Piers had always loved how large Lucas was. His body was perfect, in every way.

  Piers grabbed the shaft with one hand and sucked the head greedily into his mouth.

  A surprised yelp escaped his throat as he felt Thomas caress his hard own cock with his hand. Piers sucked more of Lucas into his mouth and moaned as Thomas put Piers’ cock into his mouth.

  Incredible.

  Oh, it’s been too long.

  Piers’ balls tightened in response to the intense pleasure, and he relaxed his jaw as Lucas began to pump into him, thrusting hard and fast.

  Piers used his tongue whilst he sucked.

  “Swallow me, lover.” Lucas grabbed Piers’ hair and fucked his mouth hard.

  Lucas groaned loudly as he used Piers.

  Piers revelled in the possession, jerking and swallowing the sweet, thick cum that spurted into his mouth. Lucas had always tasted so good.

  Lucas pulled back and flipped Piers over onto his belly, then pulled him up onto his knees. As Piers felt one of them move between his legs, he opened his thighs wider.

  It had been years since he’d been fucked.

  In the last five years of fucking strangers, he had always chosen women. No man could compare to his vampires, so he had never tried to replace them. He ached for the penetration, nay, the possession, only his men could give him.

  Slicked fingers oiled him up, and he turned to see Thomas behind him.

  Thomas smiled, his fangs white and sharp.

  A shiver of anti
cipation coursed along his spine as Thomas pressed his long cock to Piers’ arse and pushed the head into him.

  Pain pierced Piers and he groaned. Then Thomas thrust hard, and pleasure spread all the way through Piers’ belly.

  “Oh, fuck. Yes, Tommy...” Piers chanted, using the nickname for Thomas once again. It was a pet name that he hadn’t used in many years but felt so right on his lips now.

  Lucas’s face appeared in front of him. “Don’t come, Piers.”

  Piers frowned, his cock swelling as Thomas fucked him deeper and harder.

  Piers gasped and groaned, gripping the sheets beneath his fingers in an attempt to do as he was being told.

  Oh... fuck... “I’m going to come if Tommy keeps doing that.”

  Thomas thrust in and out, his moans of pleasure echoing around Piers’ room and pushing his lust higher.

  Piers panted and his balls tightened. He was so close to final bliss.

  “You are not allowed to come, Piers,” Lucas repeated, his tone harsh as he leaned forward and bit Piers’ bottom lip, which caused enough pain to dampen his arousal.

  Thomas came loudly, roaring out his pleasure while filling Piers with hot cum. Piers shuddered, his orgasm on the brink of no return as the ripples of seed fulfilled him.

  Thomas pulled out of him as soon as he had stopped moaning and began stroking Piers’ back. “Good boy.”

  “Agh...” Frustration clawed at his stomach, his body strung up as tightly as a violin. Why weren’t they letting him finish?

  Piers shuddered with need and laid his head down on the mattress. He had been so close and they were deliberately withholding it from him. Why? He wanted to scream, and he wanted to cry from it all.

  “Are you two punishing me?” he asked them quietly, his voice sounding pathetic even to his own ears, yet there was no way to stop it.

  A harsh laugh sounded, and he was flipped, spread-eagled on the bed. He was helpless once again. Not physically. He didn’t care about that. He was helpless under the weight of his need and his love for them.

  Lucas held his arms down, his face tight with hunger, and Thomas lay across his legs. As a pair, they were unbeatable.

  Thomas spoke, his voice deep and smooth, yet his body shook with tension.