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TWENTY

Sorsha

“And then while we’re getting the prisoners out of there, the virus your hacker programmed can be spreading all through their computer systems, erasing their data!” Gisele bounced on the RV sofa, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “It’s the perfect plan.”

I thought her confidence might have been a little overboard, and Thorn appeared to agree. “We still have many details to determine,” the warrior said from where he was standing propped against the back of the driver’s seat.

“We’ll get there,” Omen assured him with the restrained smile he’d been showing more often over the last day. “It’s all coming together.”

It’d better be. After scoping out the docklands building as well as we could around the Company’s protections and surveillance, we’d spent most of the last couple of days piecing together how we could best break in and unleash the many shadowkind they held captive. The contribution from Ruse’s hacker friend meant we could also destroy any hazardous information their experiments had uncovered so far—if we got the chance to use it. But having nearly twice as many people on our side this time around and significantly more experience tangling with Company guards made the mission feel less daunting.

“I just wish I still had my scorch-knife,” I said, making a face at the thought of the blasted camper van.

Omen was close enough to jovial to give me a playful pat on the shoulder. “Maybe we’ll find you a new one, Disaster.”

“It’s time to celebrate, then!” Bow sprang up from where he’d been chowing down on a salad of clover and strawberries and beckoned to Gisele. “If we’re not storming the gates until tomorrow night when the next delivery comes by, it should be safe. Where’s the good stuff we just picked up?”

As they pawed—or hoofed?—through the contents of their cupboards, I glanced up at Omen, who despite his good cheer hadn’t relaxed enough yet to actually sit down. It was hard to resist needling him, so I didn’t. “Still pissed off that I talked to Jade about getting help?”

He glowered at me, but only for a moment. His expression lightened again as his gaze traveled around the RV. “It didn’t exactly bring us a heap of seasoned warriors… but I’ll concede that I’d rather have these two joining us than be going it alone. Especially since I doubt Rex has any more camper vans for you to get blown up.”

I elbowed him in the hip, which was as high as I could comfortably reach from the sofa. “I had even less to do with that act of destruction than I did with Betsy.”

He hummed to himself as if to say we’d see about that, but the glint in his eyes might have been actual amusement. Even if I hadn’t tamed the beast, I’d at least gotten him wagging his tail.

Before that thought could lead to me ogling his ass again—just to check whether he had a real tail at the moment, nothing more, shut up—I yanked my gaze back to our hosts. Gisele had produced a caramels tin she popped open to reveal a hefty stack of joints.

Ah. The other kind of grass indeed. No surprise that was how these two celebrated.

“Who wants in?” Bow asked, grabbing one. “We’re happy to share.”

As he lit the joint, sending a whiff of that pungent musky smoke into the air, I shook my head. “I’ll pass. Not really my thing.” And even though we were parked in a lot of city buses looking very city bus-y ourselves, I didn’t totally trust the disaster Omen had been teasing me about not to descend on our heads.

Apparently our hedonistic incubus wasn’t one for the MJ either. Ruse waved off the offer with a crooked grin. “Even the good stuff makes me queasy. Believe me, no one’s sadder about that than I am.”

Snap considered the rolled papers with tempered curiosity. “I’ve never tried this before.”

“Go ahead,” I said, tapping his calf with my foot under the table. “Just take it easy.”

As he accepted the joint Bow passed him, Thorn loomed closer. “What possible purpose does this serve?”

Gisele smiled at him. “It’s just for fun. Helps you relax and gets your mind thinking in creative ways. Maybe we’ll figure out those details that are missing while we’re flying high.”

Or maybe they’d only be inspired to make a run for Cheetos and French fries, but I was willing to wait and see.

Thorn paused, his gaze shifting to me for a second. Thinking about my suggestion that he needed to loosen up? At his evident wavering, Bow added, “It’s easy to shake off the effects if you need to. Popping into the shadows and back eliminates the chemicals from your system.” He giggled, the weed’s effects appearing to have kicked in. “As long as you can remember that you can pop into the shadows. Oh, that is good stuff.”

“I certainly wouldn’t become so muddled as to forget that,” Thorn said with sudden resolve, and held out his hand. Son of a jacked-up jaguar, I wouldn’t have predicted that, but I was plenty interested in discovering how it’d pan out. What could possibly go wrong?

Snap took one drag from the joint and shoved it back to Bow with a hacking cough. “That is—that is enough,” he said weakly as Ruse clapped him on the back. “I don’t suppose you have any more strawberries?”

Thankfully, the equines did. While Snap made short work of those, Thorn sucked away on the spliff with a slight flush creeping across his tan skin.

“I can’t see that it makes any difference at all,” he announced after a few minutes, but a few minutes after that , he was chuckling to himself while he peered at the sparkly countertop. “I never realized it before. It’s as if you could connect each glint to find the source,” he informed us, whatever that was supposed to mean.

Pickle scampered across the table, his head weaving as if he’d gotten a bit high off the atmosphere too. Omen rolled his eyes and went up front to study the maps on the Everymobile’s GPS some more.

By the time Thorn was lying on the floor beside the cabinets discussing horse feed, favorite forest terrain, and the slant of the evening light across the ceiling with our hosts—all with equal enthusiasm—the stink of the smoke was getting a bit much for me. Snap stirred restlessly, eyeing Thorn with obvious bewilderment, and Ruse… The incubus was smirking at his companion’s newfound state of levity, but there was something muted about his glee at the situation. It could be the smoke was getting to him too or more of that odd reticence I’d noticed coming over him.

A burst of confidence rushed through me that might have been a tiny bit bolstered by a slight second-hand high. We knew where our enemies were. We had a plan to smash them tomorrow night. Even with new allies on our side, it was going to be absurdly dangerous. We all deserved to enjoy ourselves thoroughly before then.

I stood up. “Ruse, Snap, come on. I think we should have our own non-smoking celebration.”

Snap leapt up, an eager glow brightening his face. Ruse’s smirk took on a sly slant, but he got up more slowly, maybe with a little hesitance?

Well, we’d see what we could do about that. He’d only ever hesitated before because he’d thought I wasn’t fully committed. How could I have forgotten that?

I motioned for them to follow me and sauntered down the hall to the RV’s second bedroom, where I’d slept the past two nights.

You could tell the current owners had been responsible for decorating the space. The comforter had a dreamy purple cloud print; the built-in wardrobe had received a coating of silver glitter. The gauzy curtain over the small window sparkled with matching spangles in the afternoon light. The only other illumination came from a circle of fairy lights fixed to the ceiling.

Not really my taste in décor, but when our hosts had managed to provide me with a double bed in a freaking RV , I had no complaints.

Especially now that I might get to share that bed with not just one but two of my new lovers. As they came in after me, I sat down on the edge of the bed, my heart beating faster.

I’d never done anything like this before—but wasn’t that all the more reason to try? If Thorn could get high, I could handle a threesome.

If the men involved could handle it, that was. Snap beamed at me but then glanced uncertainly at Ruse. “How did you want to celebrate, Sorsha?”

I reached up to grasp his hand and turned my own gaze on Ruse, who looked oddly uncertain too for a creature whose natural habitat was bedrooms. “I think your soundproofing ability would come in handy right about now.” One of his supernatural skills allowed him to ensure the sounds of lovemaking didn’t escape a given room, thank all the glitter around us.

“And then I’ll play voyeur?” he asked.

I kicked him—lightly—in the shin. “That wasn’t what I was thinking. Haven’t you offered on half a dozen occasions to teach Snap a few advanced techniques? No time like the present.”

The incubus and the devourer considered each other. I couldn’t tell which of them was more torn—or why Ruse was torn at all when this had been his idea to start with. Oh, well. If he left, that was up to him. Snap and I could still enjoy ourselves perfectly well.

“If it helps your decision any…” I said, and tugged off my blouse and undershirt together to remove my protective badge as well. Might as well put the assets on display. I leaned back so my boobs perked up even more in my demi-cup bra.

Snap made a hungry noise low in his throat and moved to join me without another second’s hesitation. He trailed his fingers down my back, kissed my shoulder, and peered up at Ruse again. “I would like to know what you can show me. For Sorsha.”

“Looking to put me out of a job, huh?” the incubus joked, but his roguish face had softened. When he met my eyes again, the gleam in his brought an unexpected flutter into my chest. “I did offer, didn’t I? I suppose a tutoring session can’t hurt anything.”

Did he think some other kind of hook-up would hurt? I wasn’t sure how to ask that question, especially in front of Snap. And then Ruse leaned in to capture my mouth, and questioning his exact phrasing was the last thing on my mind.

He kissed me with such intensity it left me breathless, all my nerves quivering in anticipation of what would follow. He nudged me over on the bed so all three of us could sprawl there side by side and glanced across at Snap.

“The first and most important lesson: explore. There are no perfect spots or motions that get every woman off. You caress here and kiss there to see how she responds. The sounds she makes. The speed of her pulse. The heat of her skin.” His smirk came back. “For your first round of homework, put that advice to test while I enjoy these lovely lips a little more.”

He claimed another kiss, easing us both right down on top of the comforter. The intoxicating pressure of his lips turned even more potent with the stroke of Snap’s hand up my side to my chest.

The devourer had already proven he was an intrepid explorer during our previous encounters. He unhooked my bra and, attentive to Ruse’s advice, teased his fingers not just over the sensitive peaks of my breasts but all along the curves, across my ribs, down my spine, as if he were charting every plane of my naked skin.

His lithe fingers woke up tingles of sensation everywhere he touched, but when a particular spot made me hum, he lingered there a little longer. Soon it felt as if my whole body was thrumming with awakening pleasure. When Snap finally returned to my chest with a flick of his thumb over one nipple, I gasped into Ruse’s mouth.

“The student learns quickly,” the incubus murmured, and dipped his head to attend to my other breast.

Snap scooted higher, and I turned my head to meet his softer but no less passionate kiss. His forked tongue slipped between my lips, drawing lines of bliss inside my mouth.

I dug my fingers into his silky curls, into Ruse’s shoulder as the incubus swiveled his tongue to urge the peak of my breast even stiffer, wondering what miracles I’d worked in some past incarnation to be worthy of this moment.

Snap kissed me harder and tweaked my nipple again. As he left my mouth to nibble along my jaw, Ruse slid his hand lower. When he reached the waist of my jeans, a sharper heat jolted between my legs. My hips canted upward of their own accord.

“Patience, Miss Blaze,” Ruse teased, jerking my zipper downward. “We’ll set you alight in all sorts of places.”

Snap paused in his attentions to watch Ruse help me squirm out of my pants. The neon glint came into his eyes.

“You tasted her here before,” he said, his fingers gliding down my abdomen to the hem of my panties. “I want to try that—I want to learn how to make her feel as good as when you did it.”

“Hmm.” Ruse branded my breast with another scorching kiss. “I’m sure that could be arranged, if our mortal has no objections.”

I let out a laugh that turned into a gasp when Snap grazed his fingertips over my clit through the thin fabric. With just that light touch, my entire sex woke up with a pulse of pleasure. “No objections whatsoever,” I managed to say. “Instruct away.”

As he pulled my panties down, Ruse trailed his lips across my belly and over my hip. Each point of contact lit a giddy glow beneath my skin, just as he’d promised.

Snap bent by my thighs and pressed a tentative kiss just below my belly button. He inhaled deeply, and my nerves tingled at the way he appeared to revel in my scent.

“The word of the day is still ‘explore’,” Ruse said in that chocolatey voice of his. “Sample every bit of the terrain to see where she reacts most enthusiastically. Soft or forceful; lips, tongue, teeth, and fingers—make use of every tool at your disposal in every way. But carefully until you’re sure you’re onto something. Even the strongest of women have some rather delicate pieces down there.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

Snap’s head dipped lower. He slicked his tongue over my clit, the forked tip encircling it for an instant, and an even giddier heat rushed through my core. A whimper shuddered out of me.

As he suckled me harder, I returned my hand to his head, tangling my fingers in his hair and expressing my pleasure with both the pant of my breath and the tug of his curls. The latter became more important when Ruse eased up beside me and reclaimed my mouth.

Within moments, I really was blazing everywhere. Between my legs, Snap coaxed more and more pleasure with each increasingly confident swipe of his tongue and nibble of his teeth. He delved one finger right inside me, his other hand stroking my hip down to the sensitive back of my knee. As bliss spiraled up from my sex, Ruse’s mouth on mine and his skillful fondling of my breasts drew out even more to join it. My body practically vibrated with the heady waves.

I jerked at Ruse’s shirt to get at the sculpted muscle underneath. He nipped my earlobe before stripping it off. As he leaned over me again, Snap’s long finger hit just the right spot inside me, in perfect concert with his lips on my clit.

“That’s it,” I said, unable to stop my hips from arching up. “Right there. Oh…”

And then I couldn’t speak at all with the flood of bliss that rose up over me, surging higher so swiftly it stole my breath. With one more swipe of his tongue, it crashed in a burst of ecstasy that knocked all thought from my head. My hand clenched in Snap’s hair.

As I lay there, momentarily jellified, he peered up at me. A hopeful smile curled his glistening lips. “That was a good one?”

A laugh tumbled out of me. “They’re all good ones, but that one definitely makes at least the top five.” A different sort of hunger gripped me, gratitude and desire mingling. “Get up here. You should find out how good being ‘tasted’ can make you feel.”

Snap scooted up the bed, and I sat up, yanking at his Henley shirt. He let me tug it off him, but when I reached for his pants, he blinked, and the rest of his clothes vanished in the same trick he’d used in the cabin. Even if there was no syrup to be had here, my mouth watered at the sight of his long, lean frame on display, cock jutting eagerly from his slimly muscled hips.

Ruse chuckled. “I guess this is where I take my leave.”

I grasped his wrist before he could get off the bed and caught his eyes. “I want you too. If you’re up for it, I mean.”

His hazel eyes glimmered with a hint of their unearthly shadowkind glow. “Always,” he said softly. “How do you want me?”

An eager shiver shot through me at the thought of the possibilities. “Inside me. I’ll leave the rest up to you. I know I’m in good hands.” I grinned at him and turned back to Snap.

I kissed the devourer on the mouth first, taking my time to revel in the passionate intentness with which he returned the gesture. As I made my way down his trimly toned chest, pecking more kisses against his smooth skin, Ruse knelt behind me. The incubus ran his hands down my back, over my sides, and up my torso to cup my breasts. His squeeze of my nipples left me growling for more.

When I circled the head of Snap’s erection with my tongue, the devourer’s chest hitched. “Oh, that is—That is very good.”

“It gets even better,” I assured him, and took his cock right into my mouth.

The tender skin there held the same fresh, sweet taste as the rest of him with its darker mossy undertone. Delicious. I pressed my tongue to the veins on the underside and swiveled it around. Snap groaned. Then I was groaning too, as Ruse tested my slit with his fingers and slid his own cock inside me in one practiced thrust.

We moved together in an erratic rhythm that slowly came together: Snap’s hips jerking up and his hand squeezing my shoulder, my head bobbing over his cock while I sucked him farther down, my body rocking as Ruse plunged deeper into me. Every eagerly desperate sound that escaped the devourer’s mouth, every ecstatic stutter of the incubus’s breath as he drove us both toward release, sparked my own bliss even hotter than the delectable friction inside me could generate on its own. The whole room seemed to have lit up with our pleasure. Well, maybe the profusion of sparkles had something to do with that too.

When Ruse sped up his thrusts, his fingers slipping around my hip to stroke my clit, it wasn’t just sparkles but twinkling stars that formed behind my eyes. I moaned around Snap’s cock, sucking harder.

We all careened into release together. Snap’s head tipped back into the pillow as his salty cum flooded my mouth. I swallowed and gasped with my second orgasm pealing through me. Ruse bent over me with a satisfied sigh and a few last lazy pumps of his hips to extend the bliss a little longer.

I slumped next to Snap, and Ruse sank down at my other side. The devourer looped an arm across my waist, the incubus rested his hand on my thigh, and for a few minutes as we lay there in the afterglow, we felt perfectly connected. Like a single being, no push or pull of competition. I didn’t figure it would last, but I’d enjoy it while I had it.

Snap was just shifting closer to kiss my temple when my ringtone carried from my purse. I grimaced but waved at Ruse for him to retrieve it from the floor. No one much called me, so if someone was bothering, it might be important.

The number on the display was Huyen’s. Maybe the Fund’s leaders had come to a change of heart? But when I squirmed onto my back and raised the phone to my ear, it was the voice of one of the other members that spilled out.

“Sorsha? I don’t know what the hell you’ve gotten into now, but I thought you should know—Ellen was attacked this evening.”