Page 55 of Lord of Ruin (The Age of Blood #2)

Creeping up the stairs towards the small flat that had become Isaac’s home and safe house, Shan’s heart beat an unsteady rhythm in her chest. She knew she shouldn’t be here: it was an imposition, a risk, a violation.

Even having taken the needed precautions—having stopped at home to change into her old Sparrow’s clothes, having wandered the streets of Dameral to lose any potential tails—it still felt like endangerment.

If she was the one who brought Isaac back to the King’s attention, she would never forgive herself.

But she couldn’t keep lying to herself, couldn’t keep living in this contradiction between her heart and her head, so she had to see him.

After weeks of tension and silence it was time—for all they went through and all they had done to each other, she wouldn’t just vanish without a word.

She would give him her goodbyes and her love, a pained farewell as they let go of all they could have been, in a better world.

But, from the low, choked out moans from the next room, she wasn’t the only one who had come to Isaac.

She recognized the sounds, had chased them herself on many nights, the signs that Samuel was nearly at the peak of his pleasure.

Pressing forward, she eased the door open to see them tangled together, naked and flushed, Samuel spilling over Isaac’s hand, his entire body trembling from the force of his release.

As for Isaac, he looked at her as she stood in the doorway, little more than a voyeur.

The thrill of getting caught had her body warming, the all-too-familiar ache budding in her lower abdomen, her cunt getting slick from just watching.

Isaac smirked at her, his expression smug and knowing, and Shan realized that he had known she was here.

His vampiric senses had picked up on her arrival, and he had taken advantage of it to stage this little scene just for her.

He didn’t say anything though, continuing to pump Samuel’s red, deflating cock, pushing him past the point of pleasure into harsh oversensitivity.

His hand was carefully curled around Samuel’s length to protect him from the stark brutality of his talon-like claws, darker and sharper than any jewelry Shan had ever worn.

“It seems we have a visitor,” Isaac said, his voice calm and steady. In control. Dominant. “A little spy. What do you say, darling? Should we punish her for bad behavior?”

Samuel gave a little moan of approval, too blissed out to form words. But he held out his hand, shifting towards her. Making an offering of himself, the soft lines of his body shining in the candlelight, sweat-slicked and handsome.

Swallowing hard, she jerked her head in a quick motion. Hells, this was wrong. She had come here to end things with Isaac, to cut this off before they hurt themselves even worse. “I didn’t come here for this.”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t need it,” Isaac replied, gently. “Come on, Shan, let me take care of you, one last time.”

She swallowed hard—so he knew it too, knew that whatever they could have had would never survive this world they inherited and the choices they made. That no matter what came next, nobody would win.

So why, then, shouldn’t she take this offering? Why shouldn’t they say goodbye just like this, a memory to hold onto for the long years to come?

She took one step forward, then another, as tentative as a hare under the watchful eyes of a predator, until she stood at the edge of the bed.

Trembling with want. Isaac rose up on his knees, pressing his lips to hers, coaxing her open as he tangled his claws in her hair.

The kiss was equal parts bitter and sweet—as tender and as painful as a goodbye.

She could taste Samuel on his tongue, the bitter musk lingering in Isaac’s mouth.

Both of her men together, and blood and steel was she thankful that she got this even once.

For just a few minutes, she would know what she could have had, and though it would hurt when the dawn came, it still gave her just a sliver of solace.

“All right,” she breathed, and as consent was given, Isaac pulled her down onto the bed. She landed between them, Samuel moving as they covered her. Their hands roamed all over her body, stripping her bit by bit, tossing her clothes aside until she was as bare as they were.

They nipped their way across her body, the tempting tease of Isaac’s fangs pressing into the tender ache of her breasts, scraping over her nipples, never quite hard enough to break skin.

Samuel’s blunt fingers dipped into her cunt, spreading her open until she keened, his thumb brushing roughly against the sensitive bundle of nerves.

Only to stop when she got close to her release, denying her the pleasure she so desperately needed, slipping away from her slick core and leaving her so painfully empty.

She reached out, trying to grab Samuel but ending up with fistfuls of both of them, her voice a growl in her throat. “Who taught you to do that?”

Samuel laughed, dipping to press a soft kiss to the inside of her thigh. “I have a good teacher.”

“He is a good student,” Isaac confirmed, catching her wrists and pinning them above her head with a single hand, his grip strong and bruising. The position had her back arching into the stretch, leaving her dreadfully, wonderfully exposed.

Vulnerable in a way that she rarely let herself enjoy, the amount of trust it required too great.

But with Isaac, with Samuel, she could find freedom in the lack of control, a release that she tried to deny that she needed.

But Isaac knew her too well, knew exactly what to give her, holding her delicate heart in his hands.

“Spread your legs, Shan,” Isaac commanded, his voice low in her ear.

She spread her legs automatically, even though she wanted nothing more than to snap them closed again, to chase what little friction she could find.

But Samuel pushed his hand into her hip, holding down, while looking to Isaac for instruction.

Isaac pulled Samuel closer, using his free hand to split Samuel’s lower lip open. Shan watched as he lured Samuel into an open-mouthed kiss, the low buzz of magic sizzling over both of them until Samuel jerked back like he had been stung.

“Hells.”

Shan glanced down to see that Samuel’s erection had returned, hard as steel, flushed a deep red as precum leaked from the tip.

If she had been more aware, she would have laughed at the audacity of it, the quick burst of Blood Healing leaving Samuel ready to fuck.

But as it was, she could only think of one thing, her clit throbbing in time with the unsteady beat of her heart.

“Please,” she gasped, though it burned her to ask so openly, to beg. She wanted him inside her, wanted to be filled completely until he spilled, filling her to the brim.

Isaac pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, purring, “Well since you asked so nicely. Samuel—make our beloved come.”

Samuel moved instantly, following Isaac’s demand without question as he crawled over Shan, slotting between her spread legs. Her hands found his arms, tense under her fingers, as he slid between her folds, so hard and hot against her most tender flesh.

To her side, she heard the slick sounds of fingers against wetness, turning her head to find Isaac with his hand between his legs, using his own arousal to rut his cock between two fingers.

He watched the two of them, his gaze dark and intense, as if they were there only for his own titillation.

A private show for him to enjoy as he sought his own release.

The casual ownership of it had her clit throbbing, and she wanted to reach out, to slip her hand into him and force him to be just as broken as she was. But Samuel chose that moment to spear her open on his cock, his thick length sinking into her in a slow, steady motion.

A whine caught in the back of her throat as Samuel bottomed out, rocking into her with little ruts that could barely be called thrusts. Isaac huffed his displeasure, abandoning his cock to tangle his hand in Samuel’s hair, pulling it back with a harsh tug that had Samuel moaning.

“I told you to make her come,” Isaac snarled, and Shan could feel the way Samuel’s cock twitched in the tight sheath of her cunt, the way he enjoyed the cruel way Isaac spoke to him. “Now fuck her properly or I’ll have to do it myself.”

“Yes, sir,” Samuel gasped, before Isaac shoved his face down into Shan’s chest. He latched on to her nipple without complaint, the sharp sting of his teeth lighting a pleasure that ran right to her core.

He laved his attention on her before Isaac moved him to the other breast, the cool air of the room stinging against her damp flesh.

“Better,” Isaac purred, his hand sliding down Samuel’s back. She couldn’t see it, but she could feel it when Samuel jerked forward, the way he pressed those claws into the meat of their lover’s ass. “But you can do more.”

Bracing himself on his arms, Samuel pushed himself up so that he could fuck into her with hard, steady thrusts, each surge forward slamming his pelvis against the tender bud of nerves, racketing her pleasure higher and higher.

She was so full, clenching on every centimeter of his length inside of her, Isaac directing Samuel like he was little more than a tool to please her.

Samuel might have been their lover, might have been the sweet balance that kept their relationship from falling apart, but in this moment he was nothing more than the cock Isaac wore in a harness around his hips.

Samuel bit his lip, worrying it so hard that a fresh burst of blood appeared, red and thick, dripping down on her chest, staining her skin in crimson.

He was so pleased to be used in such a demeaning manner, his entire body flushed as he continued to pound into her, trembling as he approached his peak. “I—I’m close—”