Page 54

53

EVANGELINE

B lake and Riordan crowded in through my bedroom door behind me, the three of us a tangle of mouths and fingers and keening want, fueled by a desperation born out of fear and the hard, needy edge of the coming battle.

We might not survive these next few hours.

And somehow, that added a delicious wildness to the hunger devouring us from the inside out.

“Get these off.” Blake tore at my jeans, scattering my weapons onto the thick rug, Riordan peeling off my coat, while sinking his teeth into my neck before I pushed them both away with a low laugh.

“No… no .” I breathed, heat burning up my thighs, “this is for you. After everything…this time, I want to make you feel good.”

In truth, I wanted to stop time, to stretch these minutes out into years before our future was snatched away from us and maybe some of that fear showed on my face, because my mate stepped closer.

Blake cupped my face in his huge hands. “You always make us feel good. I know you’re scared of what’s coming, Evie. But you don’t have to do this.”

I pressed my palm to the center of his chest and shook my head, holding him in place. “I want to. I need to. Today I want to taste you. Both of you.” I licked my lips, more in anticipation than to tease, but Riordan groaned, hooded eyes darkening.

I dropped to my knees at their feet, looking up at them before I ran my fingers down Blake’s stomach. “Please let me do this for you.”

I couldn’t explain this need to serve them, maybe a need to atone.

But I had to do this for them. I didn’t want to take, I wanted to give. I wanted to hear them moan, to see them lose control, to hear their breathless sighs as they came apart. This was about power, maybe, but it was also about something deeper.

Something I couldn’t explain, but needed more than I needed air to breathe.

“Fucking hell, you are going to be the death of us, woman.” That fire burned low in my stomach, my nipples beading beneath my sweater, so goddamned sensitive as I worked Blake’s pants open, springing his enormous cock, along with a rush of his musky scent as he widened his stance, fingers threading through my hair until he gripped my ponytail.

His thighs trembled as I ran my tongue around the head of his cock, then sucked him deep, bobbing down as far as I could go, until he hit the back of my throat. Until he let out a raw, breathless groan and rocked his hips forward, hissing my name, gripping a fistful of hair to hold me in place as he fucked my mouth with short, powerful strokes.

I knelt at his feet, hands braced on his thighs, fingers digging in for balance, pinned beneath his gaze and Riordan’s, both of them watching my lips stretch with every deep thrust, my cheeks hollowing out on every slow withdrawal, my tongue swirling and teasing.

I closed my eyes as Blake took his pleasure, a hum of magic filling the room as Riordan watched, as delicious tension coiled between my legs until the pressure became too much and I slipped a hand down into my jeans and stroked through my wet folds, moaning around Blake’s girth as he picked up the pace.

This was me giving and him taking and this was what I’d wanted. This wasn’t atonement, but something like it, a step toward fixing the damage I’d caused, mending the cracks in our bond, with my tongue and my submission and my promise of love.

“ Fuck, Evie .” Blake’s body shuddered, his taut stomach clenching as he held me in place, spilling into my mouth, down my throat, chanting my name over and over again, as if it was the only thing he could remember.

One brush of my fingers over my clit and I came at his feet, imploding into a boneless, shaking mess as pleasure shook me to the core.

“My mate.” Blake dragged his fingers down my cheek, through the tears I hadn’t realized I’d shed as I gazed up at him. “My beautiful mate. My everything.”

Riordan watched us with eyes that didn’t have a hint of blue, the unlit room casting his face into shadow as he prowled closer and crouched down before me. “Silver,” he murmured. “You smell delicious.” He pulled my hand up out of my jeans, my fingers shining with my own release and ran his tongue between them, working into every nook and cranny until he’d licked them clean.

“You taste like a desert wind, or an exotic flower. I could eat you all day, but…”

I looked at him from beneath my lashes, “But today, it’s your turn to be tasted, my king.”

The hollows of his cheeks deepened, those heavy lids shuttered down over his eyes as he smiled the wickedest smile I’d ever seen. “I like when you call me that, Evangeline. I like it very much, indeed.”

I ran my hands up the fabric of his pants, not the rough, utilitarian weave of Blake’s, but silkier, probably handmade just for him. “I want to make sure I do a good job. I don’t want to disappoint.”

“You could never disappoint me, Evie. Never.” He ran those elegant fingers down my cheek as I unbuttoned him, and then he was in my mouth and I was drowning in his taste, in the utter power of him, another wave of lust going through me like a dangerous wind, even though I’d literally just come.

Riordan was more ruthless than Blake, his scent pouring over me in great, chocolatey waves as he rode my mouth, feeding his cock deeper, tipping my head back so he could watch me take all of him. It was so fucking erotic to be used—and watched—like this, and I reveled in the power, and the submission, of this moment.

Then he pulled away, a gentle smile chasing away the darkness as he lifted me to my feet, turned me around and laid me on my bed. He plucked a rose—one of Malachi’s roses—from the vase, and twirled the stem between his fingers, his gaze skating up and down me as Blake gently tugged off my boots, my pants, sliding off my panties.

Riordan surveyed me with eyes that burned, then dragged the dark rose down my stomach, the cold, silky petals leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

“When this is over,” Riordan purred, “we will have the future you’ve dreamed of. You’ll have it all, Evie. Everything you’ve ever wanted.” I closed my eyes. That promise, those velvety petals dragging over my skin, Blake’s shadows snaking around my legs to pull me wider, sent anticipation shivering into the deepest parts of me.

“You do not serve us.” Those petals dragged up the inside of my thighs, and Blake growled, deep in his throat as he crawled beside me. “We serve you . You will be our queen, Evangeline, and the day will come when I will place the crown on your head myself.”

I didn’t care about crowns, only half listening, dizzy with pleasure, Blake stretched out on the bed, fingers stroking my peaked nipples, aching breasts. My eyes fluttered open when Riordan dragged his cock through my pussy, swirling through the juices before thrusting forward, filling me up.

“We will survive this,” Riordan said fiercely. “And when we return, our life will begin. Our future.”

He rode me slowly, taking his time, as if battle and death weren’t waiting for us all, as if we’d already reached that golden future he’d promised. But this was enough, the perfection of the three of us together, and when Riordan groaned out my name like a curse, when he bowed his head and spilled and spilled inside me, his hands gripping my hips like he never wanted to let go, I fell over the edge right along with him.

Then the king of the Nocturne clan went to his knees in front of me and dressed me, kissing every inch of my exposed skin, as if he couldn’t stop himself. Blake helped me to my feet, brushed my hair back in place, re-sheathed my knives.

I was a little wobbly, the air drenched in the rich scent of our combined release, my body humming, knowing…we at least had this moment to take with us to France.

“Thank you.” My smile was blurry, my head still swimming from post coital bliss. “I just…thank you.” I took their hands and squeezed. “Thank you for going to France, I know Malachi’s crimes can never be forgiven, but…this means everything.”

“If we all make it back, I’ll try, Evie,” Blake rumbled. “I can’t promise you I’ll be his best fucking friend, but for your sake…I will try to accept him.”

* * *

My heart pounded against my ribs when Blake lifted Silas's globe above his head, its surface glowing like a newly minted star over our closely knit group, gathered on the gravel drive. The magic around us turned thick, pressing against my skin like static electricity before a storm.

“Are you certain you can track him?” Riordan asked me for the third time, his voice every bit as tight as his arms were banded around me.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the thread that connected me to Malachi—that unbreakable blood bond stretching across the ocean to him—the tether pulsed faintly, like a distant heartbeat. “Yes,” I said, opening my eyes. “He's still near the castle, but he’s moving... deeper into somewhere dark.” I didn't like how the bond seemed to be growing fainter by the minute.

Blake’s dark gaze slid to mine. “If that prick gets himself killed before we get there, I'll personally find a way to resurrect him just so I can kill him again.”

“Your concern is touching,” Eldric remarked dryly, but I could see his agitation as he wrapped his rust colored cloak tighter around him. Eldric was a scholar, not a warrior, and his gaze kept darting to the doorway of the castle as I hid my smile, knowing who he was looking for.

The poor male was head over heels in love with my sister, and he didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into. But Angel deserved to be happy, and I wasn’t above playing Cupid, if I thought Eldric would do just that.

Fiona, on the other hand, looked battle ready in head-to-toe leathers, her dark red hair pulled back into a tight ponytail like mine. From the bumps and bulges beneath her coat, I’d say she was as heavily armed, too.

Nash finished his guard’s final instructions. “Remember, only engage his thralls, or any threats guarding the perimeter. Our objective is to clear a path for Team A to gain access while Fiona drops the wards. Ravok is not an enemy to be confronted alone,” he told them, then added, quietly, so only Riordan and I could hear, “Even for one as powerful as Malachi.”

“He thinks he's protecting me—protecting all of us—by going alone,” I said bitterly. “The noble idiot.”

Nash’s soldiers lined up behind him. “The tactical team is ready. We’ll get Fiona into position to eval and breach any magical barriers.”

Fiona looked unruffled as she said, “The castle's old enough to be guarded by primitive magic, which can be stubborn. But at the same time, it’s simpler to bypass. I will create an opening, long enough for you to pass through, and if I’m careful, Ravok won’t even know you’re there.”

“Ready?” Rohr whispered, crushing me tighter against him. “Nash tested the globe, after Fiona explored its limits. That thing can get us there in one jump, if we use the rifts, but you’ll need to keep your eyes closed and remember to keep breathing.”

“Everybody stick together and don’t panic. The rifts will get us there faster, but they’re cold as fuck,” Nash warned, buttoning his coat all the way to his chin.

“What are these rifts?” I asked Riordan quietly. “Are they dangerous?”

“Not in the way you’re thinking. They’re pockets of magic, suspended in space. We can dematerialize to one, jump to the next, then the next, and make it to France in minutes. By using the globe, none of us are expending precious energy transporting ourselves there, which would take hours.”

“So they’re like shortcuts?”

“The way we’re using them, yes.” He tucked me under his chin, while Blake watched approvingly. “Now wrap your arms around me, close your eyes and don’t let go.”

I closed my eyes and reached for that thread connecting me to Malachi. The connection was like trying to grasp smoke, but I refused to let him slip away. I pictured his face—not the cold mask he presented to the world, but the rare, unguarded expressions I’d touched and tasted, the ones only I knew about. The slight curve of his lip when something genuinely amused him. The intensity in his eyes when he looked at me as if memorizing every detail.

“Now,” Blake whispered and the entire world dissolved.