Apocalyptic Read online

  My command was only for Shaz. I wanted Arys to watch.

  Holding my wolf’s face gently with both hands, I kissed him. A soft but light touch of lips. I wanted him to breathe in my scent, to feel me so close. To crave more. When he tried to slip his tongue in my mouth, I pulled back.

  Down his chin, following the curve of his neck, I savored the heady scent of Shaz’s growing desire. Pine and wolf. Aromas of home. Over his chest, down the planes of his taut abdomen, I traced a path to the faint trail of hair that led to places of pure pleasure.

  The weight of Arys’s gaze grew heavy upon me. Resisting the urge to look at him, I kept my focus on my white wolf. Lower still my hand drifted. Each inch agonizingly slow.

  Goosebumps broke out along his skin in the wake of my touch. The force of his arousal tempted my hungers. By the time my fingers grazed the soft, velvet head of his erection, he was rock hard.

  A few strokes. Light at first, my hand circling him loosely. After coaxing a moan from Shaz, I gripped his shaft tighter, pumping it harder. Just a few solid strokes. Then I released him and turned away, leaving him quaking.

  Turning toward Arys, I found myself peering into drowning pools of black. “Close your eyes,” I whispered.

  He held my gaze just long enough to make me think he’d refuse, then closed his eyes. I had yet to even touch him, but the vibration between us hummed strong and hot. And in balance. The dark part of us took our intimacy to some rough and wild places. The light part made it all mean something.

  Finally I felt that it all meant something. No doubt. No dark voices taunting and tormenting in the back of my mind. Just us.

  Like I’d done with Shaz, I started with a light touch. Outlining Arys’s abs with my fingertips, I followed the many tight lines of him. Unable to resist, I leaned down to trace more lines with my tongue.

  Arys sucked in a breath and swore softly. The energy crackled between us. Stronger than ever before. Super charged and vibrating at a frequency I’d never felt before, I fell headlong into the pull.

  Hungrily I kissed Arys’s abdomen, working my way lower. After watching me tease our wolf, he was more than ready. I wrapped a hand around his thick shaft, biting my lip. Holding myself back now was becoming the real tease. I wanted to eat them both up.

  Gifting the smooth tip of Arys’s hard on a few flicks with my tongue, I released him and with a wicked laugh, turned back to Shaz.

  I knew better than that.

  Arys wasn’t the type to be teased. He only had patience when he was the one doing the teasing. “Sorry, my love, but it’s been too long since the three of us have been together like this. I just can’t play by your rules.” Arys’s apology preceded an abrupt change in position.

  He flipped me onto my back, so I lay sprawled on the couch between them, my head in Shaz’s lap. Pushing my legs apart, Arys selected the perfect position to descend between them.

  “This is anarchy,” I muttered, unable to muster any semblance of irritation.

  Not with his mouth already on my skin. Warm, wet kisses decorated my inner thighs. I sucked in a breath and held it in anticipation.

  Shaz slipped a hand into my hair. He twisted the strands of blonde and black through his fingers. Peering up at him through my lashes, I gazed into calm green eyes. It had been some time since I’d seen them so serene. Yet a jade fire burned in those orbs. He leaned down to take my mouth in a sensual kiss. His potent wolf vibes were rife with passion and a steadily growing desire.

  The touch of Arys’s tongue between my legs set off a small explosion in both my brain and my groin. I moaned softly into Shaz’s mouth. He responded by kissing me deeper, consuming me. The palm of his hand was a sudden, warm, and welcome sensation as he cupped my breast, teasing my nipple with the pad of his thumb.

  Turning the tease back on me, Arys gave me a few long licks, and then he stopped. Reaching under me to grab a handful of my ass, he dragged a fang over my inner thigh. I strained for his touch, needing him to keep going.

  He made me ache for it. Two fingers slid inside me. Targeting my g-spot, Arys rubbed in slow, circular motions. I quivered under his manipulations.

  Shaz held the side of my face, kissing my cheek, temple, and jaw. Adorning me with affection and devotion. I plunged my hands into Arys’s hair, whimpering with the building tremors that racked me.

  “On the edge, right where I want you,” Arys murmured, again stopping his delicious torment. “Get on your knees, Alexa. Facing me.” His command was followed by a resounding smack on my ass.

  Relaxing back against the arm of the couch, the vampire regarded me with a devious grin. I sat up and pushed onto all fours. Behind me I felt Shaz repositioning. I knew how Arys wanted to do this. Such a voyeur, he arranged us so he could watch Shaz take me from behind. It conveniently left my head in his lap.

  Over my head the two of them shared a look. I could only see Arys from my position on the couch, but that was enough for me to see the ease with which they communicated without need of words.

  The exciting sensation of Shaz’s shaft rubbing against my ass had me offering myself to him without shame. Arys watched with intrigue, nodding to our wolf who found me wet and ready. He thrust inside me and I groaned.

  That snapped Arys’s focus back to my face. Fisting a handful of my hair, he held my gaze. No words needed here either.

  Wrapping my hand around the base of Arys’s shaft, I licked it like a lollipop. Swirling my tongue around and over before sucking as much of him into my mouth as I could. I took both of my men inside me, filling myself with the two people who held me together.

  I’d like to have believed that we would always have this. I’d learned enough in my time to know better than to expect smooth sailing. There would always be bumps in the road.

  Arys and I were more formidable restored than we’d ever been when unbalanced. Not everyone was going to be cool with that. We had to expect some blow back. Factor in the strong circle of friends, lovers, and allies we’d acquired, and it only increased the odds of someone finding a reason to stir up shit for us.

  None of that mattered right now though. I couldn’t think beyond the steady rhythm of my wolf driving the moans from me. Or the taste of Arys, slightly salty in my mouth. His groans fed my ego and my desire.

  Moving in tandem, reading each other with ease, the two men changed up our position. Arys spread out on the couch, pulled me down on top of him and slipped inside me. Shaz stood next to the couch, just inches from my head. I was more than happy to give him the same oral attention I’d given Arys.

  The many sensations of our lovemaking teased me. From Arys’s cologne tickling my nose to Shaz’s ragged breaths, and the way they each felt beneath my fingers and inside my body. The power cycling between us ran with a high-pitched frequency. The lights in the kitchen flickered.

  I alternated between using my mouth and hand on Shaz. He clutched a handful of my hair with clawed fingers. He was getting close, which brought me closer. I drew on my mate’s lusty vibes, riding the building waves.

  With both hands on my hips, Arys held me in place against the force of his thrusts. My inner muscles began to tighten around him. Arys grasped one of Shaz’s hands and used it to tug him closer.

  Shaz took it a step further. Gently pulling away from me, he nudged Arys up into sitting up on the couch with me still in his lap, riding him. Curious but intrigued, the vampire didn’t question the request.

  Our wolf slid onto the couch behind Arys, meeting my gaze over his shoulder. My breath caught as I saw what he had in mind. So many times I’d looked into Arys’s eyes over Shaz’s shoulder. This was an interesting turn of events.

  Watching me take Arys inside me over and over, Shaz pushed a hand into the vampire’s hair. Wolf fangs were visible when he put his mouth to the back of Arys’s neck. First, he tasted him. A swirl of his tongue on flesh. But we all knew what was coming.

  Beneath me, Arys trembled. He wanted it and he wanted it bad.

  So did
I. Bearing witness to the moment my wolf would claim my vampire was almost enough to make me climax from the anticipation alone. Was this really happening?

  Eyes wild with wolf, Shaz bared fangs and bit deep. Arys’s eyes closed in bliss. His grip on my hips tightened as he jerked me down hard onto him. The bite was messy and bloody, but Shaz kissed and licked the wound, his hand tight in Arys’s hair.

  His other hand descended between his legs where he touched himself, moaning softly. It was more than I could take. I came hard, squeezing Arys tight inside me. His release was immediate. He flung a hand back for Shaz who grabbed it tight in his. I let my head drop down against Arys’s firm chest. Letting the pleasure waves rush over me, one after another, I smiled to myself.

  Then I gave them both a playful smack and said, “Let’s move this upstairs.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  ARYS

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d watched the two of them sleep. It felt like someone else’s memories. Someone I didn’t recognize as me anymore. Because that had been before.

  Before we’d been forced to go through hell in search of the other side. Before we’d become the worst versions of ourselves on the downslide to destruction. Before my light half and I had found ourselves and each other again.

  I sat up against the headboard of Alexa’s giant bed. She lay curled on her side, pillow tucked under her cheek. For the first time in months, something that resembled peace left her face soft and beautiful. Free of frown lines and anxious furrows.

  The woman had barely slept since becoming a vampire. It was about time she finally got some rest.

  Shaz sprawled between us, asleep. An act of trust and affection that spoke the words he had yet to say. I needed no words though. I knew. Our relationship had undergone many evolutions in the time we’d known each other. I strongly suspected it had not yet reached its final form. All in good time.

  A hand went to the bite on the back of my neck. I hadn’t expected him to make such a move. Though he had yet to put it to words, I knew how the white wolf felt about me. I’d gladly bear his mark anytime.

  Sensing my gaze, he cracked one green wolf eye open, the way animals do when someone draws near while they slumber. Satisfied that there was no threat, his beastly eye closed, and he settled in against me. If anyone needed the rest after the recent chaos, it was Shaz. He’d been running damage control round the clock.

  His head rolled against my thigh. That near-white shock of hair was soft against my bare skin. Unable to resist, I dragged my fingers through it. I harbored fantasies of fisting that platinum hair while making him moan my name. Again, all in good time.

  Killing Alexa, for the second time, had satisfied my darkest desire. This time my obsession died with her. Feeling her slip away I’d had no guarantee that she would come back. The moment I drew the last fragment of her energy, the last of her spark, the darkness scattered and I saw clear again.

  Everything we’d done. Everything we’d become. It all hit me and I came apart.

  If Shaz hadn’t been there to keep me together, I don’t know what I might have done. Holding her lifeless body in my arms, knowing it might be the very last time, it had reduced me to the bare bones of who and what I am.

  A man on a monster’s journey. A killer without remorse. One half of a whole, my existence meaningless without her. If Alexa had turned to ashes in my arms that night and I had somehow survived it, I’d have walked into the first sunrise after.

  When she’d come back to us and opened those beautiful brown eyes, I’d profusely thanked a God who’d long ago stopped listening. I didn’t deserve anymore chances.

  But she did.

  With my fingers in Shaz’s hair, I studied Alexa. The sheets had slipped down, allowing me a nice view of her body. Smooth pale skin. Supple breasts that offered both pleasure and comfort. A slender neck decorated with a smattering of blonde and black tresses. And a silver feather.

  Alexa’s body bore the many marks of her lovers. Some of them temporary, like the claw marks on her hips and ass from Shaz. Others seemed to be permanent, like the streak of black in her hair.

  I eyed the angel’s mark. We’d be having words about that, he and I. I hadn’t missed the fact that he’d been the one to know for certain how Alexa could find restoration. Suspicious? Just a little.

  When I’d brought it up to her a few nights ago she’d warned me off, citing that Falon was hers and she’d deal with him. It had led to a heated exchange, a bitch slap was thrown with my face on the receiving end. It all culminated in some hot sex on the floor in the hallway.

  The restoration kept us from drifting too far to one side or the other for long. What it hadn’t done was affect the feisty conflict that arose between us. Though now it didn’t result in murderous feelings. Just a few slaps and a good fuck.

  We felt like us again. But better. Stronger.

  Falon was Alexa’s own personal therapy. I got it. I did. It didn’t bother me that she had more lovers than I did. This wasn’t a contest, and if even it were I’d blow her out of the water with my historical count of lovers.

  What bothered me was Falon’s past coming back and making my other half a target. What bothered me was the goddamn immortal mark on her neck. The angel had his uses. He’d proven that much. However, if so much as a single hair on Alexa’s head met with harm because of him, I’d never rest until he paid for it.

  Annoyed and restless, I slipped from the bed, tugged on a pair of loose fitting sweatpants and headed downstairs. I grabbed my sketchpad and a few pencils from where I’d left them on the kitchen table and flopped into my comfy old recliner.

  It still sat in the middle of the living room where I’d left it, trying to get a rise out of Alexa. It had worked. Enjoying what I knew would be a short-lived victory, I flipped open the sketchpad to where I’d been working. A profile sketch of Shaz covered the page, his face turned slightly away. It was the view I often caught of him while slipping unnoticed glances his way.

  The gentle scratch of my pencil on the paper soothed me. It was one of my favorite sounds. Although nothing could top the sound of my lovers in the throes of pleasure. Or a victim’s moans seconds before they turned to screams.

  Lost in shading the background of my sketch, I didn’t sense Alexa’s approach until she appeared from the hallway. She took one look at me reclined in the chair she hated and rolled her eyes.

  Setting my sketchpad aside, I held out a hand to her. “Come here, my love.”

  Draped in one of Shaz’s black t-shirts, hair spilling in disarray about her shoulders, she climbed onto my lap and settled in against me. My arms went around her, and I pressed my cheek to her hair.

  We sat there in silence for several long, comfortable minutes. Just enjoying the calm and one another.

  “This feels weird. Not wanting to tear each other’s throats out. Good weird though. The right kind of weird.” She laughed softly, tucking her head in under my chin. Tucked tight against me, she felt so small and fragile. An illusion I knew and yet maybe not so much.

  My wolf had a sensitive heart beneath her tough-as-nails, in-your-face exterior. She let me see it in that moment. Curled up in my lap, on the chair she loathed, looking tiny and harmless. The packaging was certainly deceiving.

  The absence of her light had robbed me of so much, and I hadn’t been able to care. With its return I was made whole again. My missing half restored, I hoped to never not care again.

  Hugging her tight enough to make her squeak, I chuckled. “See, this chair isn’t so bad. It has its good qualities.”

  She reached to touch a worn spot on one of the arms. “It’s hideous, Arys. I hate it. But you clearly love it. So you can keep it. But not in the middle of the damn room.”

  There were no small victories as far as this woman was concerned. I grinned to myself, content with the win.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Nothing about The Wicked Kiss had changed. It was the same eager crowd of willing victim
s. The same regular vamps who opted to keep a low profile by prowling the party crowd instead of hunting the streets. Loud music poured from the speakers. Party in the front. Pleasure in the back. Business as usual.

  But I had changed. Arys and I, we’d changed. I felt more alive than I had since before the turn to vampire. In a different way though. The constant tug of war between light and dark had been subdued, from a raging inferno about to blow to a steady hot but controlled burn. Conflict naturally arose between the two sides. One couldn’t exist without the other. But for the first time in pretty much ever, it felt right. Like we could handle it now. Like everything was as it should be.

  Two weeks now had passed since that night outside the hospital. Two blissfully calm weeks. A few nights of calm? Sure that was somewhat normal. Weeks? Not damn likely.

  So when Justin found me lounging on one of the couches with Ebyn, I knew from his grim expression that shit had been disturbed. Licking a trace of blood from my lips, I left the dopey wolf and rose to meet the hulking vampire.

  He waited for me to draw close enough to hear his low tone. “There’s a demon asking for you. He’s willing to wait outside, but he’s not leaving without delivering a gift from Prince Bane. Whomever the hell that is.”

  Fuck me. Here we go.

  “Don’t worry about it, J. I’ve got this. Thanks.” No, I so did not have this, but I wasn’t about to admit that to anyone.

  A demon could have popped right into the middle of the club uninvited and unannounced. He’d asked for me and then waited. So he was playing an angle here. Maybe just to lure the hybrid queen out of her blood den for a parking lot attack. Although I couldn’t see why Bane would send someone to do that in his place.

  Striding through the lobby, I drew the Dragon Claw. Dagger in one hand, a perfectly balanced gold and blue psi ball roiling about in the other, I stepped outside. And almost ran smack into the demon who stood conspicuously right outside the entryway.