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Chapter 37

Aaliyah

S ilver. Rippling silver.

The unholy pressure that had flooded me vanished, and in its place was the Void. It touched me like it had before, cooing softly like a worried mother hen.

"We really do need to stop meeting like this. Can't you pick somewhere normal, like a coffee shop?" Azer asked, picking his nails.

The blinding white of his hair was pulled back today, only the streak of black left out, hanging loosely over his face. He sat cross-legged on the ground, watching me curiously as he had been since I'd found myself here again.

I was still heaving hard breaths, searching the Void like it would take me back. I rubbed my face, trying to soothe the adrenaline that was still hot in my blood.

"Why did you bring me here?" I asked.

I didn't have the time for this. The night was in shambles, and the guys needed me. I needed them. Fallon and Adrian were facing the Call , and I wasn't there. I was falling apart, and I couldn't deal with whatever this was right now.

"Me bring you? Oh, no , baby Imperial. This was all you this time. Not sure how you managed to get me here, too, considering I am nowhere near the Eternium, but here we are," he said, and I flipped my head up to look at him.

Me?

"I wasn't trying to come to the Void," I said, and Azer's eyebrow rose.

"No? Well, you sure made it think you were, and me, right along with it. That takes power—a kind I've never seen—not even from mother dearest," he said, for the first time actually looking at me. His expression soured. "Regardless of what you believe, you did it."

"I didn't mean to," I said, flipping away from Azer as I closed my eyes, searching for home like I had the last time.

Except the Void didn't give like it had before. It held on tightly, binding even the soul in my chest as my breaths turned to pants. I opened my eyes, my hands going to my hair.

"Tell the Void that. It doesn't seem to believe you," Azer huffed, falling backward as I looked over my shoulder at him. He looked up at the sky with a bored sneer. "And it doesn't seem to want either of us to leave yet. So, you better get comfy."

Like it heard him, it responded. The floor under my feet pulsed, sending a shiver down my spine as the energy around me rolled over my skin. Testing. It was different when I was alive, in a way I still wasn't used to. It wasn't toying with my soul, trying to send me on.

It was talking to me, holding me close. As if it might not get the chance to again for a while. Like the shadows in my cell used to, before Prince had shown up. The Void felt like a living thing for a moment, and it was like coming home, my entire body leaning into it.

Like a mother's hug. Like I'd spent lifetimes here, and it was trying to make sure I was okay. The memory from before, the one of my mother in the Void with me, made it seem like it very well might be trying to do just that.

It was comforting, in a way.

"How did this happen?" I asked, and Azer hummed.

He didn't sit up, just flashed his hand in the air with a loud sigh. "Couldn't tell you. But I did agree to teach you some things if I saw you again. So, why don't we start with a lesson?" he mumbled, sighing as he rubbed his hands over his face. "Where are we?"

The silver floor wobbled. "The Void?"

He hummed, closing his eyes as he breathed deeply. He twirled a few strands of black hair around his finger, rubbing the bridge of his nose like this was all some big chore.

"You call it the Void. Others have called it the Asphodel Meadows. Bardo. Purgatory. It's kind of like a bridge . It connects everyone to their eventual deaths. It's the in between, the border between time and space, life and death. It's everything, and it's nothing."

I scooted toward him, stopping when he tensed. His hands were what gave him away, as they clenched on the material of his pants, the fitted suit bundling under the pressure. When I didn't move any closer, he relaxed. Only then did he sit up. He motioned for me to move forward, and I did, eventually sitting in front of him.

"Everyone?" I pressed.

Being so close, I really had a moment to trace his face. He looked so familiar, my mother shining in his eyes, in the tilt to his nose. It put me at ease, even as he brushed the black patch of hair back and glared.

"That is what I said, yes," he grumbled. "Reapers, though, get a little more in tune with it, a little more leeway. That's why you can talk to me here, why your physical body can sit here without fading away."

The Void pressed again, and I let my hand settle on the silver. It slid over my fingers, pressing against my palm as if a living liquid, even stretching as high as the markings on my wrists. Power flared in them as well.

"But you had Osiris here, too, before," I said, and Azer nodded.

"And it costs a lot of energy to keep him here without him, you know, dying. Reapers are different. Our souls are built for this. Others, not so much." His words sank in, and for the first time in what seemed like forever, my gifts didn't feel like demons on my heels.

I recalled my time with Osiris, when I'd destroyed the forest and nearly taken him with it, when I'd been at my lowest after Prince had faded.

I was a monster. Or that was what it had felt like, but this curious, playful Void felt like something different. There was life in it, a toying thing that had a purpose. It wasn't evil.

Maybe I wasn't either?

"Azer … Did you know my mother, Iris?" I asked, quietly.

I didn't think he'd answer me at first, as he rolled his eyes like it was a chore to even speak to me. Then he sighed. "Not even a lick. The other Imperials weren't exactly fond of bastards." My breath caught, and I opened my mouth to ask something else when Azer raised his hand. "Don't look at me like that. I didn't do this out of some familial love. I did it because you freed me, or rather, that lovely hunk of man you were in here with did."

The Void rippled again, but this time, a sound rang out with it, like the banging of a gong. It shattered my thoughts, even the ground below trembling.

"What was that?" I asked.

Azer's face sparked with joy for the first time since we'd gotten here, and he shook his head like he couldn't believe he had to explain this. He stood, stretching his neck.

"That was the sign for times up, and not a moment too soon. I'm not a fan of long, intimate conversations. They give me hives."

The Void rippled again, more urgently this time.

"I thought you said we could stay here," I whispered. The ache I'd felt before, the one that pushed me to go, seemed lost. Why would I want to leave? The Void cooed again, crawling up my feet and over my ankles. "I thought you were going to teach me."

This moment felt like it could go on forever, and each second I spent here, the more I wanted to stay . I wanted to learn, to understand what I was. Azer was my key to that. Hopefully, he'd be the key to figuring out what I could do, and maybe that could save us.

Azer shook his head, a dry laugh slipping out as he ran a hand through his hair. "And I thought you wanted to leave ? Forgot all about that, didn't you?"

Adrian and Fallon, the disaster that was the opening masquerade. It was like it had slipped my mind entirely, lost to the Void. Lost to me.

"Reapers can last a few minutes here, hours at most. This place will eat you up and spit out the bones if you linger too long," he said, the joking tone lost behind the shadows in his lavender eyes. Runes crawled up his skin, horns poking out of his skull, golden like the hints of ruins that cut across his face, over his high cheekbones and down into the collar of his suit. "Aaliyah, never forget this place takes. One way or another, if you stay here, it will have you. If not your life, then your memories, of which you seem to have startlingly few. The Void is great for visiting, for getting around from one place to another, but staying here is a death sentence."

I wanted to deny it, but the Void still moved, still "plucked" curiously at me. Toying. Playing. I nearly opened my mouth to protest again, but managed to keep it shut as I took a deep breath. The moment I decided to leave, it was like the Void realized it, too, sadness seeping into my bones.

"As for teaching … you need some practice understanding what you are first. You need to come to terms with the fact that you're a Reaper." There was no give to his words, no softening the blow. Or the fact that he was right. I'd fought what I was every step of the way, and the idea of digging into those gifts still terrified me. "Otherwise, no training is going to help you. So, take time, really think about it, and decide if you want to know the ins and outs of us. Decide if you're ready to fight. To kill. "

Silence fell between us, and I nodded, understanding. The voice in my head preened, and I kept my head low. "How do I get back?"

Azer moved, putting his hands together, before pulling them apart, keeping his fingertips joined. When he didn't move, I did the same. "The same way you did last time. Think about where you want to be, and picture yourself landing there. Softly. Made that mistake more than once."

Home was my immediate thought. Just not the home I recalled in my memories.

Not the Vivas house, or Eliza's.

Home was between them, the men that had made me realize life was worth fighting for again. The men that Sebek had just rained hell down on. They needed me, and they were where I wanted to be, always. "Thank you, Azer."

His face shifted into a flamboyant smile as he dipped in a bow. The sky melted, raining over us like black paint on a silver canvas, covering Azer in a flash, his last words following me.

"Sure, sure. Come back soon, yeah?"

* * *

If going into the Void felt like a tear on my soul, coming back felt like the warmth of an easy summer day.

It was gentle as my feet touched the mostly unfamiliar ground of our room at the Eternium. I still wasn't used to the space, the one that changed every time I set foot in it. It was strange, even the colors now matching that of the Vivas house, down to the stone accents along the gray walls.

I didn't fight for breath, or choke on my own blood, like I had before when coming out of a Rend .

I could get used to this.

I looked around, expecting to find someone waiting for me. The time jump made me nervous as I rubbed at my wrist, a sudden ache in the marks there, silence my only answer.

A chill filled the air, the dancing of joy as Red came to my rescue, trying to clear the unease. His emotions were all over the place, a mix I couldn't nail down as he curled his way around my shoulders.

"Where are they?" I asked aloud, I realized, as Red's chill became intense.

Reading a spirit was an odd experience. It was never exact, and most of the time, I had to guess at least to some degree. With Prince it was easy because I could see him, watch his face and gage his reactions if what I was feeling wasn't complete. Even then, we had our own language to make up for the parts I couldn't read. With Red, it was harder, and I guessed a lot more. But right now, I knew exactly what he was feeling because it mirrored my own thoughts.

Worry.

His chill danced away from me, and I followed, trying to stop the hope I'd found in the Void from withering away. We came to one of only two doors in the room, and I stepped up gingerly, my hand falling on the wood. The instinct to keep quiet was a constant presence in my mind, even when the mantra that destroyed me didn't ring out loud. I pressed my ear to the door, when the sound on the other side had me snapping back and pulling it open.

It was agony, the groan of someone that had been flayed open. I knew it, felt it inside.

The room was dark, and Red bound away from me as I took in the sight. Adrian and Fallon.

Adrian was sitting in the corner, his knees clutched close to his chest, head buried there. He flexed, another ripping sound echoing from him as he burrowed deeper into himself.

Fallon wasn't better, with his legs stretched out in front of him. His eyes were a blood red, with narrow gashes on his chest where his nails had dug in. His suit, that beautiful green corset, ripped open and stained, tie strewn on the ground next to where he was sitting.

A breath of fear surged in me, ending in my mouth as sour bile flooded it. My muscles tensed, my head suddenly pulsing with a need to flee. Like an instinct I couldn't quite shake, the sight of his red eyes almost too much. Fallon gritted his teeth, tears lingering in the corners of his red eyes.

Another agonized cry came pouring out of him, his head tipped back in a look I'd never seen.

I couldn't abandon them, not now. He didn't move even when I stepped into the room, closing the door. The floor creaked under my feet, exploding in my ears.

I cautiously reached out to him as I kneeled, gently wiping away the sweat that had pooled on his brow, sticking his sunshine hair to his forehead.

Fallon's hand shot up, grabbing my wrist as I fought a strangled gasp. His fingers dug into the skin, his red eyes suddenly flaring as he dragged his nose on the thin skin there. I didn't dare move, trapped by the intensity, by the feral need I saw, and the short breaths that came from him, each ending on a tormented moan. When his fangs dragged over my skin, I shivered.

I waited for the biting pain of them, but he didn't move, his breath growing haggard as he breathed me in. The Eternium likely wouldn't even stop him, because I wanted him to do it, to sink into me and take what he needed. I wanted him to feed.

If he couldn't bite, then I would for him.

"Fallon?" I asked.

His eyes drifted to mine again, fire burning in them. Hunger, confusion, lust. They blended, morphing until he pulled back, still panting.

" Aaliyah, " he managed, his head tipping back, his throat exposed as his fangs tore open his lip. A deep, keening cry ripped from his chest as he contorted. "It's not safe— You … You need to leave."

The fear I'd had for myself was gone, washed away by this man on the floor who tried so hard to keep himself together when the commands of a madman fought inside of him. I found it almost silly that he'd ask that.

I couldn't leave him—them—not like this. Never like this.

"No, Fallon. I won't leave you to suffer alone."

* * *

Fallon

Everything ached.

My bones, my blood, my fangs . The skin on my body, which felt like it was trying to flay itself open. It was internal, a feeling that seemed ingrained in me, down to the fucking marrow.

It'd been years since the Call had been so violent it shook me physically. I didn't want to admit how bad it was.

I jolted again, trying to follow Sebek's command, and the Eternium held me in place. I was both thankful and endlessly pissed that it kept me from what I needed. From the feed . Heat had taken hold, my skin feeling as though it were on fire.

Adrian wasn't any better, pressed into a corner, surprisingly silent as he trembled. The same position he'd been in since the others had dragged us in here.

They'd left us, reluctantly, to fend for ourselves. Our time was short enough as it was, and someone needed to play damage control after the shit show that went down.

We should be there, too, but there was no fucking way we'd be moving like this. Our only option had been to wait and hope that Nero hadn't been lying when he said Aaliyah would be back. Based on the warmth that seeped into my skin from where a hand touched my face, I'd guess the asshole was right. There wasn't anyone else with a pulse that would be brave enough to get close to us right now, to open the door when they no doubt heard us.

Aaliyah, my fucking troublemaker, wasn't one to turn away from something like that.

Lavender flooded my lungs, and my mouth watered. I nearly moaned, the scent of her driving me crazy, and I almost didn't believe it was real until the sound of her heartbeat burrowed into my mind as saliva flooded my mouth. My tongue shot out, licking the sweat from her wrist. I wanted everything she'd give me, and that seemed to be the only thing that could get through to the Call . Her soft looks and the way she touched me. Her heart. Her mind.

Her blood.

I hardened in my pants, aching as the Eternium kept me from biting down.

All at once, I realized how much of a mistake that could have been. Aaliyah was the only person I wanted my fangs in, and the Call registered that. If I got her permission, the Eternium wouldn't even get in the way.

I bit my own tongue to stop from asking, from begging her to let me have just a taste.

Another eternity passed when her hand pulled away, and I loathed to admit my own fucking weakness as a beg caught behind my clenched teeth.

"What can I do?" Ali asked, allowing me to breathe again.

Her hair was a halo of white around her head, framing her face as she looked down at me, her hands hesitating above my skin like she was worried she might burn me. She was an angel, one that I reached out for, aching for her touch as the Call quieted in my head. It was still there, demanding sacrifice, demanding things that tore me apart to even think, but at least it gave me enough room to speak.

"Run," I whispered, my voice hoarse. "Get out of here, Ali. It's not safe."

Blood against a barren ground.

I hated to think of the moment that had been my deepest regret. The moment that I tucked away, a moment that had been so close to the surface even before Sebek forced the Call to come barreling back into me.

I'd killed Aislinn, and I'd seen her face in everyone since the moment I was pulled off Archon's roof. Felt the fear in my chest every time Aaliyah got a little too far away. Felt that fear everywhere when she got too close.

It hurt even to speak, and she hummed, setting her hand in mine again. I fought a whine that tried to force its way out when she pulled. I shook, screaming at myself to let her go, even as my body warred with the idea.

"Not a chance, Fallon," she whispered.

Had I not felt like dying, I would have laughed.

I frothed at the mouth like a freshly Turned Vampire. Eyes red, fangs down and dripping. And she still told me no. Still looked at me so tenderly, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I did to deserve a look so adoring.

"You can't save her, you know," Aislinn whispered, sending a tremor down my spine as her face took over Ali's, snarling like a rabid dog as her eyes rolled back.

A streak of red slid out of her nose, across her mouth. Her neck, like always, was ripped apart, blood sliding down the front of her, pooling on the ground beneath her.

I jerked away, crumpling farther against the wall with a haggard breath. I slammed my head back against it, trying to clear the mirage, some wrecked part of my head whispering my worst fears when it stayed where it was.

Was this just another trick?

"Look at me," Aislinn whispered, her voice calmer than it should have been with the way her face contorted, painted with rage. "Fallon. Look. At. Me ."

Ali was there, just for a second, enough to grab onto. All at once, she was all I could see, Aislinn washed away to the background, standing against the wall as I gasped for breath.

Ali looked over her shoulder until Aislinn faded away. Only then did Ali look back.

"Can you see her?" I asked, partially broken by the thought that this was more than just my imagination.

Was Aislinn really back? Here to pay me back for her death?

I'd deserve it.

"No," Ali whispered, brushing the hair out of my face. She cupped my cheek, and I pressed my nose into the thin skin at her wrist. Where my mark no longer sat. I'd done everything I could in the past to deal with the Call , but nothing soothed it like her touch. "But I know what it feels like to look at someone who no one else thinks is real."

"She's a smart one," Aislinn hummed, materializing next to me with a grin. She wore the same hide skirt and covering she did in my memories, making it that much harder to ignore her when the Call came raging again. It was like watching dominos fall when I lurched toward her, not able to stop the reaction as my body pushed for blood I wasn't giving it. "Then again, so was I. And look where it got me."

She flashed her nails, raising an eyebrow when I looked away.

"What's she saying?" Aaliyah asked, all kindness in the way she held my hand while Aislinn sneered next to me.

"You can't save her," Aislinn whispered again as the Call sent another shiver down my spine. My fangs ached, and again the Eternium held me back. I jolted forward, snapping my teeth together. "You can't even save yourself."

What about once the Eternium was over? What if we didn't kill Sebek, and none of this was worth it? I'd fought the Call for decades, and I'd never feared it more than when Aaliyah was nearby.

Aislinn was right. I was the threat, the monster. Just like I'd told Ali after she'd barreled into our lives; I hadn't been lying then, and I couldn't lie to myself now.

Aislinn's smile was venomous, victorious, as clear as the bloodlust.

"You aren't alone, Fallon," Ali said with a breathy whisper as she shook her head. "I'll take care of you."

She managed to get me to my feet, half dragging me the few steps to the bed. I followed, willingly. She got me laid down, making sure I was comfortable, before she left.

The moments she was gone were agony, the Call coming back full force. She walked by a few moments later, Adrian on her shoulder. He was doing his best to support his weight, lacking a smile as she finally got him here, too.

She crawled her way between us, Adrian pressed to her front and me to her back. My arms went around her instantly, even as I fought it. Her skin was a balm, her touch like the first sip of water after days in a wasteland. The Call dulled again, enough to breathe, to register the room.

The voice in my head screamed at me, told me to snap and bite and kill. I saw every person that had died at my hand. Aaliyah's veins pulsed under her skin, and the fear of the Call lingered.

"I'm not leaving you." Aaliyah said, resolve settling in the stubborn tilt of her nose, and I looked down at her. "You won't hurt me, Fallon. You can't."

Her hand was brushing against my wrist, the one that encased her against me, her fingers toying with the blank space where her mark had been. The mark that had made me hers. She scooted back, molding to me, and I wrapped my arms around her.

I was obsessed with the heated touch of her hands and her sweet lavender scent. The blood lust grew out of control, and arousal was quick to follow. She flushed where my lips brushed her neck, but she didn't back away. I shook out of my mind as the Call blended with desire.

I pressed a hand into her abdomen, fingers shaking against her taut stomach as I held her still, not able to stop myself from rolling my hips and grinding into her as she wiggled.

"I'm not in control right now, Ali," I whispered, my lack of it hurting nearly as bad as the unfulfilled Call . It soured my mouth, making my tongue numb, like I'd failed her. "Stop moving."

It was silent for a moment, when Ali rotated just enough to look me in the eye. I was surprised to see the haze in hers, the heat that had coiled and smoldered. The slight arousal I'd felt suddenly slammed into me, my cock like stone in an instant.

The haze of the Call faded more, and I stifled a moan when she pressed into me, shivering slightly.

I tried to open my mouth, to warn her again, but all I could get out was a groan that I buried in the silk of her hair. Adrian shuffled in front of her, his own panting slowing.

"Will it help?" Ali asked, blushing. The concern in her eyes was like a bucket of cold water, cooling me down, but not enough to drench the heat completely.

"I don't know," I answered.

I'd never fought the Call with sex before. Of all options, this was the last thing I wanted for Ali. She deserved to be treated with care and love that I couldn't give her right now.

It'd destroy me if I hurt her. I was already shaking my head when she grunted, stopping me.

"Fallon, I can't just sit and watch as you both suffer," she whispered.

When she moved again, it was to mold herself entirely to my front. Her hand came to mine, interlacing our fingers and bringing them up so she could kiss the back of my hand. "You won't let me feed you. I won't even ask. Let me try this, please."

Fuck.

She wasn't wrong. There was no way I would be biting her, not right now, but the idea of having her …

Every moment of those two years in the lamp with her, every touch and breathy moan came rushing back. It was strong enough to knock some of the haze away, clearing my mind and my eyes as the red bled away.

I held her until my hands shook, grinding my teeth as each shift of her body had me searching for more.

It was tempting, to the point that I had to physically stop myself from pulling her closer.

"I can't give you soft right now, Ali," I managed, my breaths coming out in between grunts. My hips jolted, and I gritted my teeth. "You being here is enough."

This wouldn't be like the training room, where I could work her down and be in control of the situation. There was only the drive to feed, and if it wasn't going to be on blood, then the sex would fill the gap just as viciously. Soft words were all I'd have, and even then, I questioned my ability to give her that.

Blood on a barren ground.

"Fallon, I don't need you to be gentle," she whispered, and fuck me if the absolute certainty in her eyes didn't make me groan. "Let me help you."

Denial was a sharp word on the tip of my tongue that I couldn't quite get out. I wanted to push her away, to get through this fucking Call so I could track her down later, when the time was better.

When I could treat her like a queen, not fuck her like a beast.

"For what it's worth, I'm in," Adrian chimed in, breaking the last of my control. He seemed to recover quicker than I could, his eyes clear, though still red. He brushed his lips over Ali's neck, toying as she threw her head back in a throaty moan. " I'll make sure things don't get too out of hand. Though … I'll be abstaining from the main event. I don't want my first time to be within eye shot of Fallon's dick."

Aaliyah turned, wrapping her arms around my neck. Adrian took up the spot at her back, before groaning as her scent flooded his nose.

"I trust you," she whispered, and I struggled to keep my grip on my control.

Then her lips hit mine, and she tasted like fine strawberries and the sweetness of Aldovin Chocolate. Any fight I had fled, and I was lost to her.

I flipped us, putting her back flush against the bed, swallowing her startled breath as I claimed her lips fully, intent on devouring her. The Call was a nagging in my mind that dulled, and every touch of her skin was solace. Each gasp was another second of clarity.

"You can't be having all the fun," Adrian whispered, his voice cracking.

I had to physically pull myself back, my head tipping as my throat closed up, my fangs biting into my lip.

Adrian was quick to capitalize, finding Aaliyah's mouth. Her eyes were still closed, but the sweet little moan she made was as captivating as kissing her myself.

Aaliyah was still wearing the dress that she had worn earlier tonight, a flushing purple that clung to her like a second skin. On a more rational night, I would have taken it off properly and worshiped every inch of skin I was eager to unveil.

But as soon as my hands touched it, I was tearing it in half, ripping it away from her with a guttural groan. Aaliyah's startled gasp spurred me on, the sound swallowed by Adrian's kiss as my lips sought out skin. I started at her neck, fangs aching to sink in, traveling down her chest and lower until I was pressing my nose into her cloth-covered core. I breathed her in deep, laving my tongue over the fabric, her flavor exploding on my tongue. I moved again, licking, toying, my fingers digging into her hips.

"You have to give her more than that, Fal. Our girl's begging," Adrian whispered, his voice bringing me back to the noises that Ali was still making.

Her eyes were completely blown, tiny gasps mixing with the softest begs as I pulled away enough to look at her. I thought she might cry when I didn't immediately dive back in. I was starstruck by her face, the expression on it something I wanted to burn into my mind.

"I don't think he can hear you, sweetheart," Adrian whispered into her ear, his hand sliding over her exposed nipple, toying with it until the peak was hard, and she was straining to get closer to his palm. "You can do it . Beg him again. "

She looked at him, her eyes tearing up as she arched again. My mouth watered as some twisted part of me watched her suck in a harsh breath, craving the way she whimpered when she did.

"P-Please, Fallon. I need you," she cried out, her head tipping back.

Her legs trembled around my head, her thighs brushing my ears.

"Did you hear it that time, Fal?" Adrian asked, watching Ali with an adoration that had blown away any trace of the Call on his face. "Our girl needs to come. She asked so sweetly."

I grabbed her underwear, tearing them off like the dress, the fabric snapping. I was sure it stung as Ali cried out, but as soon as it was out of my way, I fell on her.

Thumb on her clit, tongue buried inside her. She was ambrosia, and I hoarded it as Adrian brushed her hair back, whispering sweet things in her ear until we had her entire body shaking. I didn't let up until I felt her tense around me, her walls pulsing as she came.

I should have pulled back, my tongue trailing another line over her slit that had her sobbing. My remaining grip on my control wavered, and I craved it again. The sight of her flushed with a pleasure that I gave her. I slid one finger inside, curling it upward until she choked on a moan. I pulled another climax from her, just as ruthlessly as the first, my eyes never leaving her face as her flush went all the way down her chest. My dick was iron in my pants, weeping as I ground my hips into the bed.

By the time the third orgasm hit, she was a panting mess. Sweat stuck her hair to her skin, her teeth leaving an imprint on her bottom lip.

On the fourth, her begs had turned into whimpers, tears streaming freely down her face as she shook. Adrian was quick to dive in, dragging his tongue over the salty trail, licking them away with a groan. Her walls fluttered around my fingers, her stomach quivering as I ran my tongue over her sensitive clit.

Adrian cooed, running his hands through her hair, giving her his hand so she'd have something to squeeze. Through it all, she never said to stop, never losing that beautiful lust-drunk face.

"You're gorgeous, love. You can give us one more, can't you?" he purred, as lost as I was as he traced her neck with his tongue.

I groaned, grinding again into the bed. I needed inside of her like I needed to feed. There was nothing I craved more.

"I can't, I can't . Please, I need you, Fallon," she cried, arching her back as I curled the two fingers I had inside of her, making sure she was warmed up enough.

The part of me that was hesitant had long since died, and I was already crawling up her body, shedding what was left of my clothes in jerky movements. I kissed her, letting her taste herself on my tongue.

"You have me," I whispered, pulling her away from a hesitant Adrian, flipping her onto her knees.

She dropped forward immediately, ass in the air, moaning loudly when I ran a hand over her sensitive nipples.

"That's it. You're ready for him," Adrian said, with such a careful tone that I wouldn't have known he was as feral as I was if I couldn't see the red in his eyes.

The Call was still riding me, shifted from blood to lust like a switch. I was a mess, and I knew I'd likely kick myself for this later. I'd thought of this moment so much over the last few weeks. I didn't want it to be like this, so rough, so carnal. I'd wanted to show her what she meant.

I couldn't this time. So, I vowed the next would be different.

"Ready?" I asked, trailing my hand over her back, soothing the bunched muscles as she relaxed in my hold. She looked back at me, her face pressed into the sheets, stained a red that had my hips jolting against her, the top of my shaft sliding over her clit. Lust simmered in the lavender of her eyes as she pressed back against me.

"Yes." Was all she got out before I lined up and sank deep.

I grunted, bottoming out with a breath, Aaliyah's high-pitched moan music to my ears. Her fingers dug into the comforter, the silken red making her look like a meal placed out in front of me. I held still as long as I could, running a hand down her sweat-lined back, until I physically couldn't stop the need to move. I pulled out with as much gentleness as I could muster before my hips snapped forward. Her moan was all I needed.

Adrian crawled onto his hands and knees in front of her, claiming her mouth with a kiss that dominated, and she squeezed around me so tight my eyes rolled back.

"Look at you, taking him so fucking well," he purred, all gentleness to the brutal pace I set, one I had no chance of controlling. My fingers bit into her hips, my body slinging over hers as I reached around, toying with her clit. She spasmed around me, her body exhausted. "That's it, breathe through it, love. You're doing beautifully."

"I can't come again. I can't. " She arched, Adrian catching her face, kissing away the tears again.

"One more, Ali," he whispered, his hand sinking into her hair as he traced his tongue over her lips. He kissed her gently, toying with her as I sought to drive myself deeper. She gasped, squeezing tight enough that my pace stuttered, and my eyes rolled back. "Give us one more, beautiful. You can do it; you're doing so good."

Her back tensed, her legs trembling as she sobbed. Had she not nodded, I would have stopped. Done anything in my power to make sure I pulled away, but she pushed back against me, powering into my thrusts as she fumbled for Adrian again. He held her arms, being the anchor she needed as the bed creaked loudly under us.

A normal human would have broken under my next thrust. It was a mess of sweaty limbs, grunts, and groans. When she shattered, I was right behind her. I came, burying as deep inside her as I could go.

The need to bite down was there, so strong I nearly blacked out. My heart raged against my mind, my fangs sinking into flesh as Adrian jammed his wrist at my mouth. I grunted, glaring at him as he snickered.

I bit down a bit harder for that, pissed he couldn't feel the pain of it.

We stayed like that, panting as the world came back to us. Each breath brought a moment of clarity, a moment without the ever present need to feed. I didn't have blood on my mind as I slipped out of Ali; her moan cracking as she sagged to the bed. The only thing I could think as I stared down at the woman I loved was that, fuck , we were sticky .

The Call had receded, buried again for the time being.

"Did it help?" she asked, panting as she checked me over.

Even if she had made it worse, I'd have told her yes.

"Absolutely, love," Adrian whispered, his eyes clearing, the amber dulling as the Call faded. He stood, pulling her bridal style into his arms. He walked toward the bathroom, and I followed.

I ran her a bath, but she was already out by the time it was full for her. We cleaned her up, gently washing and checking the marks that had been left on her skin. I glowered at the bruises I'd left, promising to her and myself that next time I'd be more careful. We pulled one of my shirts on her before sliding back into bed.

We should have followed the others out, should have gone to deal with the crowd of frothing Eternals … but we didn't.

When we slept, it was easy. The Call gone.

Only lavender remained.