by Coralee June
“So fucking tight,” Render said while throwing his head back in bliss.
I was so close, my feeding frenzy was slowly fading away, leaving me full with the rise of an impending orgasm. Render had started moving harder, gripping my hips with his nails as he pounded my cunt, jolting my body as I gagged on Hyde’s cock. Quade kept kissing me all over, his hand pumping up and down over his shaft. My smoke was still wrapped around Gritt’s dick, moving in a steady, torturous tug, making my shifter growl and groan. I could feel all of them, a bright connection that blinded me, and it was like something inside of me snapped into place.
Quade whispered in my ear while holding my neck up for Hyde. “You’re so fucking beautiful. I’m gonna come all over you, Devi. Feed from me. Feed from us. Take whatever you need.”
I let out one final burst of the Void, draining the last bit I could from them all. Gritt bent over with a satisfied hiss, cum coating his palm in ropes as my smoke drained him. Quade tightened his hold on my neck slightly as he stroked himself with his free hand, coming onto my stomach in hot spurts.
I gagged as Hyde bumped the back of my throat again. “I’m so close,” he rasped. I wrapped my hand around him and held him still. I felt his muscles tense beneath my grip as I bobbed my head around him until he was coming down my throat, and I was drinking every last drop. He tasted so fucking good.
Render waited until Hyde popped out of my mouth before really pounding into me, using his thumb to flash circles around my clit as he pumped. “Oh gods!” I screamed. “Yes, yes, yes!” Each punishing thrust had my Void slinking back inside of me until the only thing I could feel was Render.
My orgasm came like a crash, tearing through my body with a vengeance as I screamed out, loud enough for the entire damn building to hear. Each tipping wave made my body jolt with satisfaction until all that was left of me was a panting aftershock of blissed-out tremors.
Exhaustion kissed my body as I sagged back. The calm settled deep in my bones, and I felt my powers coaxing me back to sleep. I had so many questions, but I needed to rest. I closed my eyes, knowing my paragons were protecting me, and the nothingness wouldn’t smother me. I fell asleep feeling loved for the first time since I was a little girl tucked safely in her bed.
Chapter 23
When I woke up, I was pressed between two buck ass naked bodies. I was covered in warmth, so hot that a sheen of sweat coated my body. My body...which was also buck ass naked.
Smoke was everywhere, and it took me a moment to realize that the Void was freely released. I wasn’t even conscious enough yet to reign it in.
Long, dirty blond hair tickled my cheeks, and a large hand was wrapped around my waist, fingers splayed out to touch as much skin as possible. A nose was digging into my neck, lips brushing against my collarbone as hot air flowed down my chest. Something very distinct and hard was digging into my back as the two men surrounding me snored peacefully.
It only took me a moment to realize that it was Render and Gritt, and we were in Render’s bedroom.
When I moved slightly, Render opened his gray eyes. “You’re awake,” he whispered into my ear, warm lips brushing against my lobe.
I took a few moments to steady myself before calling the Void back. Although I didn’t get the sensation that I was draining anyone of power, I didn’t want to risk it. Slowly, the smoke retreated inside of me until I could see more clearly.
“How did I get here?” I asked.
“We brought you here when you collapsed at Council Headquarters after you switched the powers of those elementals... Do you remember last night at all?”
I tried to move my legs, but Gritt had settled his thigh on top of me, and damn, it was heavy. Flashes of skin and tongues assaulted my memory, and I felt my cheeks blush in embarrassment. “Yeah, a bit,” I choked out in response.
“We spent the night feeding you power. We were worried you wouldn’t make it.”
Gritt groaned, coming awake. I could feel his eyelashes flutter against my skin. Pulling away, he stared at me with a fearful expression before cupping my cheek. “I thought I lost you before I even got you,” he murmured in a sleepy voice.
I smiled a bit, not sure what to make of this tender side of him.
“That’s just the bond talking,” I said with a small smile.
He shrugged, like it didn’t matter to him one bit. “Maybe. But you’re still fucking mine.”
To emphasize his point, Gritt moved his hand down to my right thigh. “What are you doing?” I asked, panting as the roughened pad of his finger touched me. A shiver rolled down my skin.
His green eyes were locked on mine, a flicker of male pride evident on his face. “Looking for your mate mark,” he replied.
I stared at his face for a moment, and Gritt held up his hand to show off the faint vines circling his ring finger. It looked like petals woven together in a wreath, and my eyes widened. “That’s a mate mark?” I asked.
He nodded. “It just showed up last night,” he explained.
Speaking of last night...
“Umm, so we all, umm…”
Render grinned at my embarrassed, stuttered words. “Yep.”
I didn’t know it was possible to blush as much as I did, but I felt my cheeks burn hotter than fire. “And then you guys just...lay next to me all night...naked...and fed my Void?” I asked, but what I really wanted to know was why all four of them had joined together last night to bring me back from the brink. I wanted to know where they all stood with me and each other, because until I knew that, I didn’t know how to process it all. Last night had been frantic and beautiful and intense. But in the light of day, I didn’t know how to feel about it yet.
Gritt shrugged. “Had to.”
I frowned. “You had to?”
“Yes.”
My eyes darted down to where Render’s hand suddenly curved over my very bare waist. The paleness of our skin matched, making Gritt’s darker tone stand out even more.
When Render started circling my belly button, Gritt growled and smacked his hand away. “Hands off. She doesn’t need skin-to-skin to feed anymore.”
“I don’t hear her complaining,” Render said, placing his finger over my rib cage and slowly moving it up. “And you certainly weren’t complaining last night, Wolfy.”
“Yeah, well she’s my fucking mate,” Gritt ground out.
Render’s hand kept moving up, over to my left breast. My entire body started to heat up, with Gritt’s hand so close to my core and Render’s cupping my heavy globe. “I’m glad you brought that up,” Render said pleasantly. “Because it seems that she’s my mate now, too. And I’d very much like to know why that is.”
My head whipped around to look at Render, my eyes wide. Gritt sat up, showing off his abs and very prominent erection, but he wasn’t paying his dick any mind. He was too busy staring murderously at the vampire.
“What the fuck do you mean she’s your mate too?” he demanded.
Render lifted his left hand, and there on his ring finger, was a mate mark identical to the one that Gritt had.
Gritt was out of bed and on his feet in a second, his green eyes flashing. “What the fuck? When did you get that?”
I sat up, looking around for my clothes, because I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go down well.
Render pushed off the bed and picked up his black slacks from the floor, yanking them on. Gritt did the same with a pair of worn jeans, choosing to go without boxers. Meanwhile, I was still searching frantically all over for my clothes, except I couldn’t see them anywhere.
“Last night,” Render answered with a menacing smirk. “You might remember, yeah? You were eating her out, our tongues brushed a couple times during the exchange. Then I fucked her hard while her smoke got you off. I’d be happy to recreate the moment if you need a reminder.”
Gritt looked pissed. I half expected smoke to pour from his red ears.
“Look,” Render began. “I know you’re a territorial barbarian
that likes to beat his chest and scream mine every chance he gets, but you’re going to have to get over this.”
“You’re a filthy blood sucker. You know nothing about shifter bonds and what it does to us. It’s fucking feral. I can’t control it any more than you can control the urge to feed,” Gritt tried to explain while dragging his hands across his face. He was vibrating with anger now, each tremor coursing through his muscles.
“Well, it’s a good thing I like to fight, mutt,” Render replied while shrugging a shirt on. I could tell by the gleam in his gray eyes that riling Gritt up amused him. “And as our mate found out last night, I also like to fuck,” he added, making Gritt growl. “I’m bonded to her now too, but I’m not going to be an idiot like you. Which means I won’t be throwing feral hissy fits every five seconds. While you chase your tail in circles, I’m going to keep on fucking Devicka. Guess you’re just going to have to get used to it.”
In a flash, Gritt launched himself at him, shifting mid-leap. He was now a massive lion going for the vampire’s jugular, and I stood there in shock as a full-blown vampire-shifter brawl started right there in the middle of the bedroom.
“Are you serious right now?” I screeched.
Gritt nearly tackled Render to the floor, but the vampire flashed out of the way at the last second.
“Stop it!”
Neither of them listened, of course.
I rushed over to the closet and frantically looked through clothes, but it was like the damn vampire only wore his uniform, suits, or Dracula capes. I could hear grunts and growls and something breaking, so I quickly snagged a blood-red dress shirt and a black cape off the hangers. Grumbling, I pulled the shirt on, buttoning it all the way up before rolling the sleeves so that my hands could reach through. I tied the cape, knowing that I looked like a damn Halloween secretary dressing up for my skeezy vampire boss.
Grumbling, I stepped back into the room, only to see feathers floating in the air from the torn mattress and pillows. The bed was now lacking its four posters, the chandelier had shattered on the floor, and the vampire and lion were still going at it.
“Knock knock!” I heard from the other side of the bedroom door. Hyde breezed inside the room, not even batting a silver eye at the scene in front of him. He was holding coffee in one hand and a brown sack in the other. When he spotted me over by the closet, he walked over, stepping over pieces of plaster after Render was thrown into the wall. “Brought you breakfast, sweetie,” Hyde sung while handing everything over to me. I wanted to take a moment to sink into his thoughtfulness, but I didn’t get to enjoy the nice gesture, because the fighting paragons had me distracted.
When Gritt tried to swipe his giant paw at Render, he hit the armoire instead, making the top half of it splinter off and go flying in our direction. I screamed and ducked, but Hyde caught the large chunk of wood before it could hit me in the face. He set it on the ground and sat down on the velvet cushion to watch the guys fighting like this was the best entertainment he’d had in weeks.
I looked down at him incredulously as he laced his fingers behind his head and rested against the wall, one ankle crossed over the other and a smile on his face.
“What are you doing? Help me stop them!”
He looked up at me. “Why would I do that? You might as well get used to this. Shifters are territorial as fuck.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “This is not my life.”
“What’s going on?”
I looked up to see Quade saunter in next, looking cool and collected in khaki slacks and a gray-blue shirt. He looked like he hadn’t shaved in a couple of days, but the stubble looked damn good on him. When Render flashed over to slam Gritt against the wall where Quade was standing, the elemental threw up his hand, making a massive wall of ice appear in front of him. The fighting supers crashed into it, but it didn’t slow them down at all. They were up and across the room, fighting again in a second. I couldn’t even see Render move, he kept flashing so fast. Gritt suddenly shifted again, changing from his lion animal to a Peregrine Falcon. His bird started dive bombing the vampire with ridiculously impossible speeds. At least now I knew what animal number two was.
Quade strolled over to Hyde and me, snapping his fingers to make a chair of plushy snow appear beside where Hyde was sitting. He yanked a rug over the snow pile and then sat down, spreading his legs out in front of him.
I blinked down at them. “Are you guys for real right now?”
Quade looked at me nonplussed. “What?”
Huffing out a sigh, I turned my attention back to the shifter and vampire who were successfully destroying the bedroom. “Stop fighting right now!” I screeched. I hated when they fought. It was like I was right back in the cafeteria, and it made me uneasy. When they fought, anxiety churned inside of me, making me buckle with nervous panic.
The knowledge that they could get hurt was almost paralyzing to me. I had to stop them, but they weren’t listening. No one ever fucking listened to me. I was feared, hated, ignored. No one ever asked if I wanted to be a Void. No one ever asked if I’d meant to take away my mother’s powers. No one asked if I wanted to be exiled, or if I wanted to be the council’s tool. No one asked if I wanted to come to this academy and be mocked and despised by my peers. And fate didn’t fucking ask if I wanted to be mated to paragon assholes who hadn’t even wanted me around in the beginning.
I felt something bubbling up within me. Anger. Uncertainty. Fear. Panic. I was so godsdamned sick of my life being decided for me. Of everyone acting around me without any care or thought about how I felt. They were my mates, and they weren’t hearing me. And every time they took a swipe at each other, it was like they were landing the blows on me.
The Void became a tangle of turmoil inside of me. Smoke started to pour from my mouth. Enough was enough. The darker parts of my mind whispered in a seductive tone. Take control. Take it now. Make them stop.
Uncontrollable, my power shot out of me, my smoke filling the room entirely and wrapping around all four paragons. Some people saw red when they got out of control. Me? I saw black. Black smoke clouded my vision, and all I could think was make them stop, make them stop, make them stop.
“Shit!” Quade yelled as my smoke surrounded the room.
Gritt and Render immediately stopped fighting to turn and look at me and the mass of stormy power I’d unleashed. I felt every ounce of power bleeding from me, and it wasn’t until Gritt shifted back into his human form that I tried to painstakingly tug the Void back.
“Can I have my amulet, please?” I asked through clenched teeth, beads of sweat rolling down my skin.
Hyde hurriedly stood up and fished it out of his pocket before tossing it to me. My fingers shook with the barely contained rage bubbling from within as I clasped it firmly around my neck. Something felt off. The Void had never raged this hard, had never fought me with such heat and destruction, had never taken over like that so quickly. My memories of last night flickered through my mind. It was like the Void had sucked me inside of it. My body wasn’t mine anymore, and it had something to do with these paragon bonds.
“Why were you fighting?” Quade asked while brushing snow, feathers, and splintered wood from his pants. He was apparently taking on the role of mediator now, and I was more than willing to let him. I didn’t trust myself not to lash out again.
“She’s my mate. He has a fucking mate mark, too!” Gritt yelled, but it sounded more like a lion’s roar.
“What, you mean this?” Quade asked, with a smug smile before holding up his hand. “It was on me too when I woke up.”
“I have one too!” Hyde exclaimed excitedly before putting his hands behind his back. “But it’s wrapped around my cock; care to inspect it, Sweets?” he asked me with a wink before jerking his hips forward suggestively.
Gritt seethed. “I’m going to fucking kill all of yo—”
“No one is killing anyone!” I screamed.
This was too much to take in, too much to proce
ss. It felt like I was in a fist fight, blow after blow hitting me in the gut with no time to recover. I knew there was a pull between all of us, but now they were all marked, and I didn’t know what that meant exactly. There was also a terrifying darkness sitting inside of me, brooding and demanding to be let out. I didn’t trust it, didn’t trust that I wouldn’t hurt them.
“I-I need to go,” I stuttered before wrapping the cloak around me tighter.
“What? No. Stay,” Quade pleaded while reaching for me, but I pulled out of reach. I took a step toward the door while keeping my eyes on all four of them. “Gritt will calm down. He’s always hot headed, but he’ll figure his shit out. Stay. We need to figure this out, Devi.”
“No. I need to figure this out. None of you gave a damn about me a couple of weeks ago. Hell, some of you were willing to torture me to get me to leave. I don’t understand any of this, and last night”—my voice trailed off as I tried to think of how to word what was worrying me—”the Void is changing. It’s becoming something I’ve never had to deal with before, and it scares me. Switching powers hurts, and everything is so damn confusing. Everything started flaring up when I met you four. I need time to process. I need time to figure out what the fuck is happening to me.”
Gritt took a pained step toward me, but I held my hands up to stop him. I had to figure out what the Void was doing, and hopefully stop this before I lost myself to it. “I’m going to the cabin now. I’m just really freaked out, okay? Please just...give me space.”
I spun around and fled, the pulling sensation protesting like a swarm of hornets in my gut. I didn’t want to leave them, not really. But something was off, and I couldn’t risk staying.
I couldn’t risk them.
Chapter 24
Beads of sweat rolled down my skin as I let the Void out in bursts. My entire cabin shook from the power. With no one here, I felt like it was safer to unleash the smoke plaguing my soul. Ever since the Void-induced orgy and the subsequent fight, I’d been practicing alone in my room. I didn’t have anyone to feed on, but it felt good reaching for that darkness within me and letting it out. It wasn’t enough though. I’d need to feed again soon, but I wasn’t ready to see my paragons yet. Maybe unleashing my powers was a bad idea. I’d been coping before, chaining it up like the monster it was. Now that I’d had a taste, I always needed more. It was like an addiction—a staunch craving that never went away.
