When Wolf finishes detailing the terms of the demon bargain, the silence is thick enough to cut through with a chain saw. Rylan is so still, I don’t think he’s breathing. Malachi keeps clenching and unclenching his fists.
I shift in my seat in the middle of the couch. “We didn’t promise anything.”
“And you won’t.” Rylan cuts in before Malachi can say whatever he’s stewing on. “Those terms are unacceptable.”
I straighten my spine. “Everyone in this room is making sacrifices to ensure I become heir so we stop being hunted. I’m willing to make sacrifices, too.”
“I swear to fuck, Mina—”
Again, Rylan cuts off Malachi. “There are too many potential pitfalls. Time moves strangely in the demon realms, which is something Wolf already brought up. Beyond that, we don’t know how your seraph bond might work with demons.” He shakes his head. “If it tries to bond with whoever bought you at auction, they will kill you before letting themselves be bound. The cost is too high.”
“We can bargain on my safety.” I don’t know why I’m arguing this. Ultimately, he’s right. No matter what my feelings on the matter are, if all three of them are in agreement, then I need to listen to their opinions. Rushing forward because I feel guilty is foolish. “There’s room for negotiation.”
“It won’t save you.” Malachi crosses his arms over his broad chest. “The demon who kills you will face punishment, but you’ll still be dead.”
I open my mouth, but change my mind before I tell him it’s a reasonable risk. Judging from the look on his face, he won’t thank me for saying as much. “If you’re all in agreement…”
“We are.” Malachi’s words sound like a threat.
Rylan nods. “It was a far-fetched option at best. The cost is too high.”
“You know how I feel, love. The only way I’d agree is if Azazel took you for himself, and he won’t. He’s focused on another.”
I sigh and slump back against the couch. “Then I guess that option’s out.” Which leaves only the path we’re on. Get pregnant. Become heir. Commit patricide. “What did you two find out from my father’s hunters?”
“He knows.” Malachi says the words so simply, it takes several beats before they sink in.
I push to my feet, earlier exhaustion forgotten. He knows. “What does he know?”
“That you’re enough seraphim to have their power and all that that entails. He suspects you bonded with at least me, if not the others, but he doesn’t have a way to confirm it.”
This is bad. Really, really bad. “How? How could he possibly know that much?”
“Your magic left a signature of sorts when the blood ward broke.” Wolf rubs his temples. “It’s not something I considered, but even if I had, it couldn’t be helped. Your father isn’t old enough to know what you are, but apparently my cousin decided to embrace his ambition further and handed over the information for a hefty sum.”
Rylan crosses his ankle over his knee. Of all of us, he looks most normal. Which isn’t to say he’s relaxed; I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rylan relaxed, even if he’s wearing something casual right now. He leans back. “Ultimately, this changes nothing. If he wasn’t aware of Mina’s bloodline before, he would have become aware once he caught her again. The plan remains the same.”
“Does this mean you’re going to actually participate?” Wolf drawls. He snaps his suspenders in a steady rhythm, his eyes cold. “Or will you continue to play the martyr and whine about how you didn’t want this?”
“None of us wanted this,” I say.
They ignore me.
Rylan narrows his eyes. “Forgive me if I wasn’t thrilled with how things played out.”
“No, I don’t think I will. Forgive you, that is.”
I glance at Malachi, silently imploring him to step in, but he’s watching the other men intensely. Surely he has some thoughts about this? I don’t care if Rylan and I have fucked three times in the last two days. I’m not going to compel him to participate in this race to conception. The bond is bad enough; having a child together when he’s not fully onboard is a particularly nightmarish scenario.
“Don’t stop there, Wolf. For once in your life, speak clearly.”
Wolf pushes slowly to his feet. His eyes flash crimson. “You’re a fucking coward, Rylan. You were full of plans and strategies to free Malachi from his prison, but the moment we found a way through—a way that you suggested and participated in—you start crying about regrets. Why are you willing to keep playing the victim and holding yourself at a distance from what you truly want? We are right here.”
Rylan’s eyes have gone pure silver. “Do tell me what I want, since you seem to know.”
“Of course I know. You want what we all want.” He flings a hand in Malachi’s direction. “But that’s not the problem, is it? You’ve pined for Malachi since your falling out. You were prepared to do what it took to reclaim that relationship. It’s Mina you didn’t bargain on.”
“I do believe I’ve said that myself.” For all his icy tone, he looks ready to fly across the room and rip into Wolf with his bare hands.
“Poor Rylan, knocked on his ass by a pretty little seraph and her magic pussy.” Wolf snarls. “It must be fucking terrible to love the chains she’s unwittingly wrapped around you. That’s the real problem isn’t it? It’s not that you hate the bond. You fucking love it.”
Rylan shoves to his feet, but he only gets one step before Malachi’s there. The bigger man catches his shoulders. “That’s enough.”
I tense, expecting a confrontation. Rylan looks ready to commit murder, and from the way Wolf is leaning forward, he’s willing to meet Rylan halfway. But Malachi’s presence between them shifts the energy in the room. It’s still dangerous. So fucking dangerous.
But there’s an edge of desire now, where before there was only violence.
“Is it true?” Malachi’s words are so low, they’re almost lost in the crackle of the fire.
Rylan curses. “Yes.”
Malachi drops his hands. “Stop punishing us for what’s going on in your head.”
Just like that, I can feel Rylan’s emotions. The conflicting spiral of need and rage. A hurt that goes so deep, it makes my bones ache. Malachi all but ripped out his still-beating heart when he left Rylan. A loss he’s never gotten over; one he’s never allowed himself to get over. He’s nursed that wound like the grave of someone beloved, tending to it every single day for so long it boggles my mind.
No wonder he hates me.
He arrived, ready to play knight in shining armor for the man he loves, only to find Malachi wrapped up in me. Even before Malachi gained his freedom, my presence meant Rylan had to throw away a decade’s worth of plans and rush to the house to ensure he didn’t lose his chance entirely.
I understand all of this in the space of a second, and then the feeling is gone entirely as he gets his shields back under control. My eyes burn and I close them to try to keep the tears inside. Rylan won’t thank me for the intrusion, and if he thinks I pity him, he’ll hate me all the more.
I’m sorry.
Words I can’t say. Not if I want this to have a chance to work.
“I’m sorry.”
For a second, I think I’ve forgotten myself and said those damning words aloud. But no, that’s not my lips forming the syllables, not my deep voice speaking. I open my eyes to find Rylan staring at me. “I’m sorry,” he repeats.
The bond gives a pulse that has me damn near vibrating out of my skin. I scrub at my sternum, but it does nothing to dissipate the sensation. “I understand.”
He turns to Malachi who doesn’t release Rylan’s shoulders. “Things change, Rylan. How I feel about you hasn’t, not in all this time. But it was never going to be just the two of us for eternity. I’m not built like that.”
Rylan shudders out a sigh. “I understand that, now.” He glances at me again. “I suppose it’s not a bad thing to have an abundance of love.”
Love.
Love.
He’s not in love with me. He barely likes me. I can’t argue something’s changed in the last couple days, but it’s not love. I would know. Wouldn’t I?
Maybe that’s not what he’s saying. Maybe he just means it’s not outside the realm of possibilities now. Or something.
He gives another of those deep exhales. “I’m done fighting it. I want everything. You. Mina.” He glances at Wolf. “Even this asshole.”
“Be still my heart.”
Malachi is still looking at Rylan. His shield must be firmly in place, because I don’t get so much of an echo of what he’s feeling. His expression gives me even less. “On your knees.”
Rylan doesn’t hesitate. He sinks down to kneel at Malachi’s feet. I stare in shock. Even on the night when we awoke my powers, Rylan was hardly submitting to anyone. It never occurred to me that he would submit to Malachi, that he would look utterly at peace while doing it.
“You know what to do.”
Rylan reaches for the front of Malachi’s pants with shaking hands and undoes them. It’s so silent in the room, I can hear his soft exhale as he takes out the other vampire’s cock. Malachi knocks his hand away and wraps a fist around himself. He guides his blunt head to Rylan’s lips. “No teeth.” He doesn’t appear to need an answer, because he doesn’t stop his forward movement, feeding his cock into Rylan’s mouth.
Heat surges through me at the sight. Malachi can be merciless when he’s so inclined, and how he is with Wolf—and now Rylan—feels very different than how he is with me. He’s crueler, but I know Wolf loves it. Judging from the erection tenting the front of Rylan’s pants, he loves it, too.
“They look good, don’t they?”
I jolt. I was busy watching Malachi fuck Rylan’s mouth, I didn’t even notice Wolf moving to stand behind my chair. He leans over the back of it and rubs his nose against my neck. “They have something special. Always have. Do you find that threatening? You’ll never be able to touch it, seraph bond or no.”
I might laugh if I could draw a full breath. Does he think he’s telling me something I don’t already know? I recognized the bond Malachi has with Rylan the moment the other vampire showed up. Just like I recognized the history he and Wolf share. Because of that, when I answer, I’m able to do it honestly. “No. I don’t find it threatening.”
“What a marvel you are.” He hooks the bottom of my sweater and moves back enough to tug it over my head. “We can’t let them have all the fun, can we?”
“I like to watch.” I bite my bottom lip as he cups my breasts. “Unless you have a better idea.”
“I might.” He dips a hand beneath the band of my leggings and cups my pussy. I keep my gaze on the vampires before us as Wolf slides his fingers through my folds. Malachi has his hands on either side of Rylan’s head and he’s thrusting forward roughly, forcing the other man to take every inch of him. Rylan has his hands on Malachi’s hips, but he seems to be encouraging the violence of the moment. I catch a glimpse of claws, which only further confirms that.
They’re really beautiful together.
“Malachi won’t come in Rylan’s mouth,” Wolf murmurs, the very definition of a devil on my shoulder. He presses the heel of his hand to my clit as he pushes two fingers into me, and then three. “He’s saving that seed all for you. He’ll let Rylan get him close, and then he’s going to come over here and fill you up.” He licks the curve of my ear. “And then Rylan’s going to do the same as soon as Malachi’s finished with you.”
I whimper. “But…”
Whatever I was going to say disappears as Malachi pulls back. He traces Rylan’s lips with his cock, his eyes gone pure black. “You’ve denied me too fucking long, and I’m reclaiming what’s mine.”
“Yes,” Rylan whispers.
Malachi grabs Rylan’s throat and hefts him to his feet. “I’m going to come inside our little dhampir, and then I’m going to take your ass while you fuck her.”
Wolf chuckles against my neck. “You should feel how her pussy clenched at that. She’s on board with this plan.”
I try to hold still and not lift my hips to fuck Wolf’s fingers. “I can speak for myself.”
Malachi finally looks at me, his hold on Rylan’s throat causing the other vampire to do the same. “Well, little dhampir. Are you on board with this plan?”
“Yes.” As if there’s any question. I honestly wasn’t sure we’d ever get to this point, where we were all in rhythm with each other. It might not hold once we’re through and a new day comes, but I won’t do anything to tip the balance in the wrong direction right now.
I want this too bad.
“Hold her down, Wolf.”
“With pleasure.” Wolf moves before I have a chance to protest—though I’m not sure what I’d protest—and grabs my wrists. He guides them up to the corners of the back of the chair. The position leaves my chest fully exposed and gives me nowhere to hide.
I don’t want to hide, but I can’t stop the instinct that demands I fight being held down. I can’t budge Wolf. The knowledge sends a forbidden thrill through me. These three vampires can do anything they want to me, and there’s not a damn thing I can do to stop them. I don’t want to stop them; a fact we’re all readily aware of.
They can feel my emotions, after all. There might be a sprinkling of fear, but it only ramps my desire hotter.
Malachi pushes off his pants and stalks to me. He shoves my legs wide, looping them over the arms over the chair. There’s nowhere to hide now. I can do nothing but whimper as he rips my leggings down the center seam. He doesn’t even bother to push them all the way off my legs, just slides them down to my knees so he has no barriers to my skin.
He guides his cock, still wet from Rylan’s mouth, into me. Even with Wolf using three fingers to ready me, my body fights the intrusion. Malachi’s just too damn big. He plants his big hands on my thighs, pushing them up and back, holding me down as he continues his unrelenting advance.
Watching his thick length disappear into my pussy is almost enough to make me come right then and there. He’s so fucking huge. His cock spreads my pussy obscenely, and I can’t shake the feeling that he’s stamping his ownership onto my very soul.
As if he can sense the direction of my thoughts, he growls. “You might have the bond, little dhampir, but we do, too. You’re ours as much as we’re yours.”
