Tempest of Vengeance Read online

  “Shh,” I said, giving him a soft kiss. “I know. It’s okay, Lash.”

  I felt a gentle caress of fingers down my spine, and knew it was Devlin. Sure enough, his arms enfolded me, as I sat still astride Lash. Devlin turned my head so I faced sideways and he kissed me, his tongue plunging into my mouth, as if he wanted to eat me. I kissed him back the same way, my arousal almost a raging fire in its intensity. His hands tangled in my hair, and I felt his erection as he rubbed himself against my ass.

  I froze, a little afraid of what he might ask me to do, because I wasn’t going to do it, no matter how much he might want me to. He was much too large of a man for me even to consider it.

  Devlin felt me tense, and pulled back slightly from me. “I’ll just watch you, for now,” he said softly, giving me a smile. “I want to see you come for him, Sar.”

  I flushed red, and Devlin gave me a sultry look, his smile widening to a grin. He flopped back down beside us, his one arm propping him up on his elbow.

  “I’m ready, Sar,” Lash said, guiding my upper body down on his. He kissed me roughly again, and I caressed his warm skin with my hands, loving the feel of his body under mine. I cupped his face in my hands, evoking a slight shudder of pleasure from him. He rolled over on top of me quickly, sliding in and out of me, kissing my face, my neck, and my breasts almost feverishly.

  I groaned. I’d been close before, just feeling his excitement in having me. It was overwhelming now, to feel his body against mine, stroking me, loving me!

  “Say my name for me, Sar,” he rasped, burying his face in my neck and sucking on my skin first gently, then harder. “I’ve waited months to hear you cry it out for me. Say it!”

  He bore down, rubbing purposely with each thrust, and I was suddenly there in a sweet burst of pleasure. I climaxed shaking in his arms, moaning his name, “Lash! Yes! Lash! Please!”

  Lash uttered a pleased hiss, and began rapidly to drive himself into me hard and fast, and in a few seconds, he came again as well, holding my body to his tightly as he spasmed into me, spurting into me over and over as he let loose a loud undulating scream. This time he didn’t let go of me until he’d given me everything he had left. A minute later, I felt him finally begin to shrink inside me, and he pulled out with a soft sigh, giving me a gentle kiss. My heart was pounding, and Lash moved off me to lay by my side, still shaking slightly as he fought to breathe. His hand slid down my arm to clutch my hand, his fingers entwining in mine, unwilling to break contact.

  I felt Devlin come up by my other side, and he was breathing hard too, from just watching us. He kissed me deeply, and before I knew it, he was positioning himself on me, aligning his hips with mine.

  Hey! I opened my eyes fully, as I moved to push him off me, but before I could, Lash’s hand released mine, darting out to grip his arm, stopping him.

  Devlin gave him a nasty look. “What is the problem?” he said, his voice heavy with lust. “Isn’t it enough that you went first?”

  “Ask her first,” Lash hissed, not letting go, his snake fangs bared, and his eyes flat. “Before you just take her, ask her.”

  Devlin hissed at him with red eyes, his vampire fangs bared. Lash didn’t let go of him or back down.

  Devlin’s eyes narrowed, then shifted to me. “Do you want me now or not?”

  “Yes, of course,” I consented. “But first give me a minute to use the bathroom, Dev.”

  Devlin moved off me, and I went into the bathroom, closing the door. In a few minutes, I came back in and settled down on the bed, beckoning Devlin to me with a smile and a crooked index finger.

  Devlin rolled me over to face Lash, and then pulled me back hard against him, thrusting the full length of himself inside my wet center. I let out a sharp cry of pleasure, feeling myself so thoroughly filled. “Kiss her, as I have her,” Devlin growled under his breath.

  Lash came up in front of me, and began kissing me again, caressing my breasts with his hands, tweaking the nipples. Devlin began stroking me gently with his penis, touching me all over inside as only he could. I moaned and shuddered under their ministrations. Lash kissed me harder, his hands tangling in my hair as his mouth devoured mine. My body was awash in sensation, pure bliss, and I shook in their arms, as they loved me together. Within moments, I was cresting the wave again, crying out my raw fulfillment in piercing screams. Lash drew back to watch me, his hands stroking my face and lips as I sought fervently to kiss his fingers so enticingly beyond my reach.

  Dev thrust harder, his face buried in my neck, though he didn’t bite me. He shouted my name loudly, and held my hips to his, shuddering over and over. “Sar!”

  He softened and withdrew with a sigh and brief touch of his cool lips to my throat, while Lash brought his mouth to mine for one last ravishing kiss.

  “That was so good,” Devlin groaned, turning me towards him and settling his head again on my chest, in the same position we had started the night. “I love to see you at that last moment before orgasm, Sar.” He gave a satisfied sigh, and relaxed against me.

  Lash slipped one arm under my neck, and put the other one on my shoulder. “You were just as I remembered,” Lash said softly, giving me a kiss on the cheek as he nestled his body in back of mine. “And it was worth it all these months, to wait for you.” He kissed the nape of my neck gently. “Get some rest. I’ll be right here, keeping you both safe.”

  I snuggled down between them, and promptly fell back asleep.

  * * * *

  It was late afternoon when Lash awoke me by moving. “I need to get up, shower, and check on some things before it gets much later,” he said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Duty calls.”

  I immediately thought about offering to shower with him. “Um, I—?”

  “I’ll shower later, when I come back,” Lash amended, giving me a knowing smile that said he’d guessed at my intended question. “If you’ll wait for me?”

  “I will,” I said warmly, unable to contain my happiness.

  Lash gave me another kiss, this one eager. He dressed rapidly, strapped on his weapons, and a moment later, he was out the bedroom door, closing it softly behind him.

  “You love him, don’t you, Sar? Tell me, if you do.”

  “Yes, I do,” I whispered. But all the intensity of what I felt was there in my soft words.

  “Give your Oath to me then,” Devlin persuaded. “You don’t ever have to be without him again, Sar, if you do. You never have to sleep again without his body beside yours.”

  I knew when I heard him say that, I was going to do it. I wanted Lash too much not to be in his arms again, to feel him loving me, to be with him, near him. The love I felt for him was so deep I was drowning in it. And there would be no Lash without Devlin as part of the deal. Even if my weresnake lover didn’t need Dev’s blood right now, he would need it eventually to keep from dying again. Further, Lash would never leave his best friend, even if he didn’t need Dev’s powerful vampire blood to keep living. Plus I needed Devlin myself, for protection if nothing else. Most importantly, I wasn’t leaving Venus again while she was so young, no matter what. Not after what had happened to Devon.

  “What Oath do you want? When?”

  “I want what you promised me before,” Devlin purred with pleasure. “But also that you won’t run off with Lash. I want your word you won’t marry him, now that Theo and you have separated. I can take it from you tonight, if you like—”

  I shook my head. “The divorce isn’t final yet, Dev. Don’t you think we should wait until it is?”

  “Love, Theo’s with one of his own kind now,” Dev said gently. “You know Theo. I’m betting they are probably already engaged, because I know him, and he’s going to want to marry her. To do that, you and he are going to have to get divorced, not just separated. He is not going to reconsider, from what I have heard from Brian. I’d think that you wouldn’t want him to anyway, after all that’s happened. Or do you want him to be your lover still? Because if you do, you may not be
able to have Lash, too.”

  I sighed. I didn’t want Theo to reconsider; I didn’t want him anywhere near me, much less in bed with me. But how to explain that, without admitting what he’d done? “You don’t understand,” I said reluctantly. “I don’t want to be with Theo again at all. In fact, you can put a provision in the Oath that I’ll never be intimate with him again—”

  “I’m not going to do that,” Devlin interrupted, hugging me gently. “You may change your mind over the years, Sar.”

  “I’m not going to change my mind,” I whispered. “Not about this.”

  Devlin moved back from me, and turned my body slightly, so he could look me full in the face. “Did something happen that night you broke up?” he asked searchingly, his eyes tinting red. “You sound almost as if you are afraid of him.”

  “It wasn’t pleasant,” I mollified, trying to downplay my true reaction. “He said some awful things to me.”

  “Time may make you forget,” Devlin said patiently. “But I understand your hurt feelings. In any case, I’m asking only that you promise not to marry Lash.”

  “Just for kicks, what makes you think he would even want to marry me?” I responded. “He’s not the marrying kind, I wouldn’t think.”

  “I’m not talking about traditional marriage, Sar. Lash wants you to be his mate. And I don’t want there to be jealously, like Theo had. If Lash doesn’t have his own separate rights to you, he won’t be inclined to fight with me over my rights to you. You saw what he did earlier, when he got between us. I don’t mind him reminding me to treat you as you should be treated. I do mind him getting in the way of me having you when and where I want to.”

  Ah, Dev, what a charmer you are. Sigh. “All right.”

  “I’d want you to Oath to Danial again, too, when you give your promise to me,” Dev continued. “Like you, I still have hope that he will recover, and if he does, I want him to be able to be with you, for the both of us to be with you together, like we were before. Lash will not mind that, Sar. He knows I’d ask that of you.”

  “That’s fine. I expected that, Dev.”

  “And there are a few things more,” Devlin went on, eliciting a look of disbelief from me that he still wasn’t done.

  “No one else,” Devlin said possessively. “Not unless I agree for there to be someone else some night with us, besides Lash and Danial and possibly Theo.”

  “We have enough possible partners in bed with us now, Dev. More than enough, really. And I just told you, I do not want to be with—”

  “I will give you the unconditional right to refuse any man I might suggest,” Devlin said. “You will always have that right, except with me—”

  Not a surprise. I rolled my eyes.

  “—but there are two other men who visit me regularly. I consider them both dear friends. One of them is coming into town in a few weeks. He and I usually share a woman, when he comes to visit. You don’t have to be the woman, Love, but I like to do that with him. And if you don’t want to be the woman, I would want your permission to still do that, when he visited. It would be here, or in his hotel—”

  “I’d rather not,” I replied with a grimace. “I’m not a casual sex kind of person. The Lust was an exception.”

  “You haven’t seen him, Sar,” Devlin said seductively. “Reserve judgment, if you would, until you do. He wouldn’t hurt you. He is a lot like Danial was sexually, both in body and technique, though he has some of my more noticeable...attributes.”

  TMI, Dev. I rolled my eyes, but nodded that I would consider it, though really, I wouldn’t. “Anything else?”

  “I’d want you to come here to live, with me, permanently. I want you near me, Love, living here with me and V, not miles away. Lash will want that, too.”

  I blinked at him. “But what about my land? My farm?”

  “You love your land like I love mine. I understand that. But your land isn’t protected as well as mine, or large enough for all of my men. You should give the land and barn to Theo, let him live there—”

  “He wouldn’t want to,” I said stridently. “I wouldn’t want him to, either, not with Jenny.”

  Devlin was thoughtful and silent for a while, holding me. Finally he spoke. “You know it’s not the money,” he said, stroking my arm. “We can keep the barn, and the land, but if no one lives there, the barn and land are going to fall into a state of disrepair, like Hayden did when I was gone to Rio.” He paused. “Your place is here with us, with the people who love you. This is your home now, Love.”

  “Let me ask around at Danial’s...Theoron’s,” I quickly corrected. “You’re right, that it makes no point to keep my home, if we aren’t moving back there. I hate to sell it, but maybe Theoron can come up with some ideas of what to do so I don’t have to.”

  “So you’ll do it?” Devlin asked excitedly.

  “If I do, you are going to make me some promises, too,” I stated flatly.

  “I told you I’d always give you my blood, if you needed it,” Devlin assured me. “I’ll always protect you, and I’ll support you, too—”

  “I know you will, though the last isn’t necessary. But I have some conditions.”

  “Such as?” Devlin said, his liquid golden eyes expectant.

  “No more other women,” I said pointedly. “No sharing them with your friends, no—”

  “Sar, I told you before, there are some things I like to do that will hurt you.”

  “If you want rough oral sex with...whomever you went to last time for that, fine. But nothing else. Find something else to do with your friends who visit.”

  “We like to do that, Sar! We always have!”

  “Then save us all some time and heartache, and don’t promise yourself to me! I don’t have to sleep in your bed, or be your lover, if you miss being with other women that badly. I’ll ask Lash if I can bunk with him from now on.”

  Devlin gave me a terrified look, and pulled me into his arms. “Okay!” he said quickly. “I won’t be with anyone but you, save oral sex, and if you give me permission sometimes, for special occasions.”

  “Dev, it’s a fine line you are walking on,” I said frostily. “Can you walk that line? Last time it ended badly. And I am not going to give you another chance if you mess up again.”

  “Yes, I can walk it now,” Devlin said seriously. “I’m not going to be the idiot that I was before. I suppose I can think of other ways to entertain guests.”

  “Are you sure?” I said sharply. “Don’t waste my time getting a promise unless you are.”

  “I’m sure,” he said resolutely.

  “Then keep your extracurricular activities to Hillary and Tiffany.”

  His eyes went wide with shock. “How do you know their names? I never—”

  “Never mind,” I said coolly, enjoying a private thrill of triumph. “Promise you’ll keep it to just them. Don’t ever do it here, at Hayden. Nowhere here, not even outside on the grounds. If this is going to be my home, if I am going to be Mistress here, I’m going to be the only mistress here. Get my drift?”

  “I can do that,” Dev said, after a moment.

  “I also want you to promise me that you’ll let me go to Lash as a snake,” I said hesitantly. “To let me be alone with him sometimes, to coil with him, as often as he needs me to do that.”

  Devlin’s eyes went wide again. “You would do that for him?”

  I nodded. “He needs it. He explained to me months ago how it is for weres, that they need sex in both forms. He probably won’t ask me to do it for him. But I want to try it.”

  “I don’t want you to become weresnake,” Devlin said slowly. “It would have to be only temporary, Sar.”

  “I’ll ask Terian for a potion,” I explained. “Lash told me once that there was magic that could make me cougar for Theo. There must be one that can make me a snake, too. Tears keeps reminding me he owes me one.”

  Devlin looked over at me. I’d expected to see jealousy, or perhaps annoyance. But inst
ead, there was intent curiosity. “Have you fantasized about having Lash as a snake?”

  “No,” I said, feeling more and more trepidations. “But I know he’s fantasized about having me that way, and I want to do that with him, for him. Because if I can be with him both ways, I won’t have to let him go to someone else for sex in his other form, like I did Theo.”

  “You’ll have to promise to tell me how it is afterwards,” Devlin said animatedly. “I never thought about becoming an animal, changing form to have sex as one. I might want to try it with you sometime. Maybe as eagles, or coyotes, or bobcats...there are so many possibilities...”

  Great. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or throw my hands up in exasperation. I settled for biting my lip and staying quiet. Maybe he’ll forget he suggested it.

  “That is the last thing I’d ask you,” Devlin said cautiously. “I would want you to swear you wouldn’t become weresnake. Your blood is still not as it was, but I still have hope that in time, it will go back to tasting of summer. When that happens, I want to begin exchanging blood again with you in limited amounts, until you get back to the point where you won’t age.”

  I let out a sigh. Dev’s list was long. Lash had been right, that nothing was ever free with my golden-god of a vampire king. But was any of this so bad? I didn’t want to die, I was going to be absurdly rich, I had two men that loved me (well, one who for certainly did), and I didn’t want to be wereanything, anyway. The only problem was my land, but I’d figure something out with that.

  “Lash will be with us, part of what we are, as Theo would never have been,” Devlin added. “He’s still going to age slowly, Sar, there isn’t any stopping it, but with my blood and Titus’s magic, he’ll last hundreds of years. And he’s maybe twenty, twenty-two now in terms of physical age, so he probably won’t even need to begin taking the potion again for maybe another fifteen years, depending on when he wants to start taking it, how old he wants to look.”

  Devlin ran a fang over my bare shoulder, and I shivered in his arms.

  “Will you do it?” Devlin whispered seductively in my ear. “Only say ‘yes’ to me, and you can have him, Love. I see how much you desire him, how much you’re in love with him. It’s a mirror for what I feel for you. And I give you my word, here and now, that if you but give your promise to me, that so long as we three live, I will do everything in my power to see that no one will ever separate you from him again.”