Chapter Five
The next evening, Dmitri cornered Marc in the library. Marc
wasn’t used to answering to anyone in his own territory—except perhaps his
closest and oldest friends—and Dmitri fit that description on both counts.
Still, it rankled to have his shortcomings pointed out by another, and Marc
suspected Dmitri had sought him out for that reason.
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” Dmitri said, taking a seat in one of
the leather wing chairs that sat before a wide fireplace.
“So soon?” Marc closed the book he’d been perusing and set
it back on the shelf before taking the seat opposite Dmitri before the fire. “I
thought you’d be here for a few more weeks at least.”
“So did I, but I just received word that the new owner has
taken possession of the house above ground. I want to figure out just who she
is and why she was interested in buying the place in the first place. It’s no
show place, that’s for certain.” Dmitri regarded Marc steadily. “But the
question is, do you need me to stay?”
“If you’re referring to what you interrupted last night, I
assure you that I can handle the situation.”
“It didn’t look like it to me, if you’ll pardon my saying
so.”
Marc bristled. “I don’t care what it looked like. Kelly is
in no danger from me. You should go home and look to your own house. And let me
know if I can be of any assistance. You know I’m always here to help if you
need it.”
“That’s much appreciated, Marc. And the same goes. Atticus
mentioned something about an upstart named Gibson who might issue a challenge?”
The statement was phrased as a question, and Marc was glad
to let the subject of Kelly and his lack of control the night before drop, to
indulge in talk of the minor vampire who plagued him. Normally, Marc wouldn’t
have aired the dirty laundry of his territory, but this was Dmitri after all.
They’d been friends long enough. They could discuss anything. Well, almost.
“Leonard Gibson is a foul creature, and I regret the day I
gave him leave to live in my territory. I should have known he’d be trouble
from the moment he came crawling in, seeking my blessing to build a lair
nearby.”
“Then why did you let him?” Dmitri’s tone wasn’t judgmental,
but Marc had been asking himself the same question for a long time and he
didn’t like the answer.
“I guess I’d become too complacent. The sad truth is, I
didn’t care one way or the other at the time. I realize I should have vetted
Gibson thoroughly before granting him a foothold in my territory, but hindsight
does me no good now.”
“So the question becomes, what are you going to do about
him?” Dmitri had a way of cutting to the heart of a matter.
“I believe he’ll challenge me sooner or later. I don’t trust
him to fight fair, but after last night… Well, I doubt myself and my control,
Dmitri. Frankly, I’m sick of being Master, but Atticus has flatly refused the
job, as did Ian, and they’re the only two I’d trust with such power of those
under my jurisdiction.”
“Then you must kill this Gibson before he gets the chance to
kill you.”
Marc’s resolve hardened. “I will.” His hands tightened on
the arms of the leather-covered wing chair. “As I said, I expect the challenge
soon. When it comes, I’ll be ready.”
“I hope so, my friend. If you need me, all you have to do is
call. I will gladly stand second for you.”
Marc was touched by the offer. It wasn’t something to be
taken lightly. A commitment to act as his second in a formal challenge was a
very large responsibility. Essentially, Dmitri had just offered to put his life
on the line for Marc—something they’d done a few times over the many years
they’d been friends, but not recently. It was good to know the bonds of Brotherhood
were still strong between them.
“So now we come back to the matter of Kelly.”
“I’d rather we didn’t. She’s driving me crazy, but I can’t
have her. End of story.”
“Perhaps not.” Dmitri shot him a glance that spoke of
mischief. Marc remembered that look. It had prefaced some wild times in the
past and always spelled trouble and pleasure in roughly equal measures.
“What did you have in mind?”
“Well, if you can’t have her in the flesh, maybe you could
have her in another way.”
“Such as?”
Dmitri’s grin turned downright devilish. “Are you up for a
little dreamwalking?”
Marc wanted to deny the temptation, but he knew he wasn’t
strong enough. A Master, he had many gifts both physical and psychic but
dreamwalking was something Dmitri had perfected to an art over the years. He’d
always been fascinated by dreams and slept lighter than any other of their
Brotherhood. During the hours of daylight he often amused himself by
insinuating himself into mortal dreams, if he could find anyone asleep during
the day. Marc knew he found it amusing but Marc also suspected it was a way he
could still see the sun—in other people’s dreams.
Dmitri had taken Marc along on his dream adventures before.
Invariably, he coaxed his mortal dreamers into reliving some vacation on a
sunny beach or even a simple Saturday afternoon ballgame in the park. Marc
couldn’t say he hadn’t enjoyed those phantasmical forays into the mortal,
sunlit world. Those memories were precious to him to this day.
“You propose invading Kelly’s dreams?”
“Come now, it wouldn’t be an invasion so much as a coaxing.
I saw the way she looked at you. She’s attracted, even if she doesn’t want to
be. I think she could really let go if she believed it was only a dream.”
“You’d be there too?”
“But of course, my friend. I’m better at this than you are
and we
have
shared women before.”
“Kelly’s different.” Marc forced the words through his
teeth. He didn’t want to show any vulnerability where the mortal woman was
concerned, but Dmitri knew him too well. No doubt he’d already seen how deeply
involved Marc’s emotions were with the little human.
“She is. Very different. She is a friend of our kind and a
good woman. Not at all like the girls we used to bed.” Dmitri moved closer, his
voice coaxing. “I like her too, Marc. It will be no hardship to bring her
pleasure, even if it’s just a dream. She’ll enjoy it and she’ll have no idea
that we’ll truly be sharing space on the dreamplane. We’ll treat her well,
Marc. Just like old times. No—
better
than old times.”
Marc thought about it. The idea was all too tempting. He’d
shared women with both Atticus and Dmitri in the old days. They’d enjoyed
finding new ways to pleasure their prey while they drank from them both
physically and psychically. They’d been inventive back in their early years as blood
brothers.
But they hadn’t done anything like that in a long time.
Atticus was mated now and would never join in their revelries again. Dmitri was
a Master in his own right and they didn’t often see each other anymore. This
was a rare opportunity to do something both forbidden and entirely appealing.
Dmitri could walk in Kelly’s dreams easily and Marc could make love to her
without her ever knowing it was at least partly real.
He could even bring her a sexual experience she would likely
never pursue in the waking world. Loathe as he was to admit it, he’d seen the
way her eyes followed Dmitri. She was intrigued by him and Marc bet she
wouldn’t be averse to bedding him if she thought it was just a dream.
“All right. I’m in.” Marc’s bold statement made Dmitri
smile. “When do we do it?”
“No time like the present. I’ll catch her when she slips
into the deepest part of sleep then bring you in. You remember how?”
“Of course. We used to do this often enough. I’ll be waiting
for your signal.”
Dmitri held out his hand for a deal making shake. “Just like
old times,
mon frere
?”
“
Oui.
Only better. I think Kelly will surprise us
both once we get inside her dreams.”
After dawn, Kelly took a breather. All the vampires had gone
downstairs for the day and she was left alone in the big house. Surprisingly,
she felt lonely when Lissa and the men weren’t around.
She had a cup of tea out on the deck as the sun burned off
the morning fog, taking time to settle her troubled thoughts. Marc LaTour was
on her mind, as usual of late. The man was so frustrating, so handsome, so
damned sexy! She had a real problem handling him. She wasn’t physically afraid
of him. She doubted he’d ever hurt a woman deliberately. But she was afraid for
her heart.
He was immortal and she knew the chances of her being the
One for him, like Lissa was the One for Atticus were next to nil. That kind of
thing only happened in fairy tales. So anything between them could only lead to
tragedy. She’d be wiser to stay as far away from Marc as possible, but her traitorous
heart wouldn’t let her.
She sighed heavily as she went back inside, cleaned what
little mess she’d left in the kitchen and headed upstairs to her bedroom. She’d
catch a few hours sleep now, then get up in the afternoon to handle whatever
business of the Maxwell Winery had to be handled during the day. By nightfall,
she’d be back with her friends and once more in danger of the temptation Marc
posed with each breath of his sexy body and every flash of his cunning eyes.
The combination of muscular male perfection and undeniable wit was her
downfall.
Kelly made sure the house was secure, then went upstairs.
She changed into her nightgown, and lay down on the plush mattress. Her room
here was almost bigger than her entire apartment had been back in the city, and
it was certainly decorated with much more style, not to mention very expensive
furniture. It was gorgeous and she loved the large, fluffy bed with its down
stuffing and silk comforter.
Each of the guest rooms and suites had a color theme. This
one was pale lilac and it was fast becoming one of her favorite colors. The
attached bath was huge and decorated in a complementary pale baby blue color.
She could get used to living like this, if only Marc would go back to his own
house.
If he weren’t always underfoot, her life would be so much
simpler. She was living and working with one of her best friends and Lissa’s
husband was utterly devoted to his new wife. It was a pleasure to watch them
together and see the love Lissa had found. Kelly wanted that. She wanted a man
to look at her the way Atticus looked at Lissa, but doubted she’d ever be so
blessed.
Kelly drifted into sleep thinking about her friends and
their love, clinging to the longing for a love of her own. Maybe that’s why the
first face that met her in her dreams was Marc’s. He was everything she wanted
in a man, but he wasn’t for her. Immortal and impossible, it could never work
between them.
“About time you got here.” Marc met her with a lopsided
smile. “We’ve been waiting for hours.”
“We?”
Marc moved aside, and she saw Dmitri there, leaning against
a pillar in the weird dreamscape. They were in a forested glade, in the
sunlight. This had to be a dream. Neither of the men could take the sun.
Woods were all around them, sparkling with life. Four pillars
in the Greek style surrounded a giant platform bed hung with billowing white
silk curtains. It was like something out of an old Disney film, only with much
naughtier overtones.
Dmitri moved forward to stand beside Marc. “Do you like the
décor?” He waved a casual hand toward the trees with a polite arch of one
eyebrow.
“It’s beautiful. It reminds me of a movie I saw once, but
without the
were
wolves.” She laughed, liking the ambient sound of the
forest around her.
“You want a
were
wolf?” Marc looked scandalized.
“Not a problem.” Dmitri waved one hand and a howl sounded
through the forest, sending a shiver down her spine.
A moment later, a giant timber wolf stepped into the
clearing. Kelly was frozen in place, though her first instinct was to rush over
to Marc and cling to him for protection. The wolf began to change and from one
moment to the next the wolf was gone and in his place was a man. A very
muscular, very handsome, very naked man.
“Who’s he?” Marc’s low-voiced question was directed at
Dmitri, but Kelly heard him.
“The Alpha of the wolf pack that lives near me. He’s
actually not a bad guy, once you get to know him, but he’s not really here.
He’s just decoration.”
“Are you saying
were
wolves really exist?” Kelly
turned to Marc, seeking answers.
“Ah,
ma cherie
, you did not know?” Marc stepped up to
her and touched her face, stroking her skin with gentle fingers as his gaze
captured hers. “There are
were
wolves,
were
cats,
were
hawks.
All sorts of predator spirits sharing souls with men and women all over this
globe.”
“This is too weird.”
“You don’t like him?” Dmitri asked, reclaiming her
attention. “No problem.” He waved again and the naked wolfman disappeared.
Chapter Six
“How did you do that? Did you just do that?” She looked from
where the wolfman had been to Dmitri and back, but Dmitri only raised that
aristocratic eyebrow of his and said something to Marc in French that was too
rapid for her to follow.
A moment later, Marc’s hands wrapped around her waist from
behind and his lips touched the side of her neck. Shivers raced like lightning
down her spine at his sudden, surprising, utterly devastating movements. He was
warm against her back, his hands spanning her waist with open palms to cover as
much skin as possible and suddenly she realized her plain cotton nightgown had
turned into something much more sinful.
A silk gown flowed to the ground from just under her
breasts. It was open at the front, flaring away from the middle of her chest,
leaving her skin bare except for a tiny g-string barely covering the spot
between her legs that was becoming wetter by the second. Marc’s hands roamed
lower, teasing the elastic band at the top of her panties, covering her tummy
and making little sparks of excitement burst inside. She melted back against
him.
“What’s going on? Marc?”
“
Ssh
,
ma petite
. Let us take care of you.” His
hand dipped lower, beneath the g-string and into the damp curls at the apex of
her thighs. Her hips lifted, inviting him deeper. “Good girl,” he breathed at
her ear. “I can feel how much you want me. Almost as much as I want you.”
“You were right, Marc, she is a beauty.” Dmitri stood in
front of her and watched all with those stirring dark eyes of his.
He stepped forward, just inches away from her, and lifted
one hand to her shoulder. His touch was warm and knowing as he stroked one
finger under the spaghetti strap of the gown.
“Her skin is as fine as silk,” he commented to Marc.
“And as warm as sin,” Marc agreed from behind her.
The way they talked about her made her feel hotter. It
didn’t make sense to her. She’d never enjoyed being talked about as if she was
an object, and she’d never been in an intimate situation with more than one man
in the room. Both things were making her squirm now though, and not in anger,
fear or humiliation. No, her reaction was far from any of that. If she was
honest, she’d admit she actually kind of liked it.
“We’re going to make you feel so good,” Dmitri purred as he
lowered the strap he’d been fingering to slide down her shoulder.
Marc sank behind her, repositioning his hands to smooth down
her legs. But the skirt of the gown was in the way. A tug and a loud rip made
her gasp as he tore the skirt off, leaving her clad only in the skimpy top and
the tiny g-string.
His palms shaped the globes of her ass, dipping between to
search out the thin strip of elastic that was the back of her panties. She felt
another tug and then two more at either hip and the g-string was no more.
Marc’s fangs scraped along the fleshy part of her ass while
Dmitri’s hands made short work of what was left of her top. She looked into
Dmitri’s eyes as he snapped the spaghetti straps as if they were straw, and he
stilled.
“You are beautiful,
ma petite
, but I suspect you want
the Frenchman,
n’est-ce pas
?” He leaned in with a heart stopping smile
and placed a gentle, chaste kiss on her lips.
Dmitri stepped away as Marc rose behind her, licking his way
up her spine. She shivered as he stepped away, taking her by the hand and
leading her a few steps to the edge of the pillared bed.
He spun her out as if they were waltzing, then drew her back
in to him so that they were face to face, chest to chest. Both men wore dark
pants and dark silk shirts. As she faced Marc, she wanted the shirt gone. She
didn’t want anything between her skin and his.
She tugged at the silk of his shirt, and a second later it
was gone. It had disappeared like magic. She looked up to meet Marc’s laughing
eyes.
“It is a dream, after all,
mon amour
. Whatever you
wish, you shall have.”
The reminder that this was only a dream made her bold. She
rose up on tiptoe.
“I want you, Marc.” She reached up and kissed him this time,
mating her lips to his as her breasts rubbed against his muscular chest. It was
heaven. Better than she’d ever expected. But it wasn’t enough.
And try as she might to control Marc, even in her dream, he
seemed to dominate. His tongue dueled with hers in the most delicious way as
his hands roamed her bare body. His pants had disappeared as easily as his
shirt and she felt the evidence of his arousal against her skin. He was bigger
than she’d imagined and very, very hard.
She liked that.
Marc drew away from the kiss with seeming reluctance, only
to look down at her with fire in his eyes. He molded her bare breasts with his
hands, coaxing the hard tips to even tighter arousal as he whispered love words
in his native language. She wasn’t sure exactly what he said, but it sounded
divine.
A warm presence at her back startled her until she
remembered Dmitri had been in her dream too. His hands ghosted down her waist,
one in front, one behind as Marc’s head dipped to nuzzle her breasts. Dmitri’s
fingers invaded her in front and in back, one sliding along her folds and
dipping slightly within, the other riding the crack of her ass, tickling and
teasing.
“She is wet for us, Marc.” Dmitri’s voice rumbled over her
senses.
His faint accent was sexy and coupled with Marc’s mouth
warming her nipples, the forbidden naughtiness of having two men touch her at
once turned her on as she’d never been before. She’d heard things. She’d even
read a few novels where the female lead was treated to this kind of kink, but
she’d never dared pursue such a thing for herself. She never would. But this
was a dream and everyone knew all bets were off in dreams. You could do
anything in a dream. It was the mind’s way of working things out and
experiencing things it never would in real life.
This dream was her way of working out the fact that she
found Marc practically irresistible in real life. She could never have him for
real, so the dream was her compensation. She’d thought Dmitri was pretty hot,
too, though she hadn’t had the same instant attraction to him. But he was close
friends with Marc, and she had read those books… That had to be why he was in
her dream too.
All thoughts of justification fled when Dmitri’s fingers
pushed deep inside her—both front and back. She’d never felt anything like
that
before. She squealed as he took her by surprise, and Marc’s head rose from her
breasts to favor her with a knowing grin.
“Like that? You can have that with us tonight. We’ll give
you everything you want,
ma petite
. I’ll fill your pussy while my old
friend takes your ass. Would you like that?” His gaze dared her. “I know we
would enjoy it.”
Slowly, she nodded. She wanted to give him everything. And
she wanted more of this glorious feeling.
“
Bon
. On the bed, Kelly.” His order made her jump as
Dmitri’s fingers retreated.
She hesitated, and Marc pushed her gently backward, onto the
bed. He followed her down, coming over her the way she’d been imagining for
weeks. She’d thought more and more about how it would feel to be covered by his
hard body, overwhelmed by his strength and it was even better than she’d
imagined.
When she was flat on her back, Marc held her there, letting
her feel the way he fit over her, giving her just a bit of his weight as he
held her gaze. There was something in his eyes that made her tremble, but it
wasn’t in fear.
“You are mine, Kelly. Do you hear? Mine.”
She nodded, unable to speak as his head lowered. He kissed
her as if it were the first time, beginning with a gentle possession that
turned into a sensuous demand. He shifted his legs to one side while his mouth
thoroughly ravished hers. His hands went to her breasts, tugging and toying,
and driving her higher. Then more hands began blazing a trail of heat and
seduction up her legs, one at a time.
Dmitri. She’d almost forgotten about him. She jumped and
Marc broke the drugging kiss, looking down her bare body. He only grinned when
Dmitri looked up and winked at her. They were working in tandem.
“Have you done this before?” she squeaked out.
Dmitri paused. “Not in a very long time,” he finally
admitted.
“We’ve shared women before,
ma petite
, but that was
long ago. No woman has stirred either of us to this in a very long time.” He
leaned in to kiss the swell of her breast. “You are special, Kelly.”
Their confession had the opposite effect of what she would
have predicted. The thought of the deviltry they’d gotten up to in the past
with other women made her hotter.
“You like that, don’t you, little one? The fact that you
inspire two Masters to a course they have not taken in decades?” Dmitri asked.
He was watching her when she looked down to her feet and met his gaze.
She couldn’t deny it. For the first time in her life she
felt powerful and feminine. Marc wanted her. And more than that, Dmitri did
too. She got the feeling they wanted
her
specifically, not just any
female body. To her knowledge no man had ever wanted her like that. Most of the
men she’d dated—and there hadn’t been all that many of them—left her with the
impression that they just wanted a girlfriend, and any woman would do.
None had been so focused on her as these two men. Vampires.
They were vampires and she had to remember that.
And this was a dream. The idea made her sad, but also gave
her freedom. This was her dream, so she supposed she could have anything she
wanted. She didn’t want to passively accept. If she was going to have this
dream ménage, she wanted to be an active participant.
She sat up, Marc moving to the side to allow her room, but
he didn’t go far.
“I can really have both of you, can’t I?” She looked from
one handsome face to the other.
“That is why we are here,
petite
.” Dmitri agreed
readily.
She felt a smile bloom over her face as her thoughts turned
lascivious. There was no other word for the way they made her feel. Two strong,
naked male bodies, two powerful men with their attention focused solely on her.
It really was a dream come true.
She launched herself into Marc’s arms, nuzzling his ear. She
felt him start in surprise, but the shock didn’t last long.
“Make love to me, Marc. I’ve been waiting for so long.”
“Your wish is my command.” Marc let her push him to his back
on the bed as she came over him.
She didn’t want to wait any longer. She wanted him now. And
Dmitri.
“You too,” she whispered, looking over her shoulder at the
dark-eyed Russian.
Fire leapt in his gaze as he watched her climb over Marc,
straddling his erection. She turned her attention to Marc, showering his face
with kisses as he fondled her breasts.
“I’ve wanted you for so long, Marc.”
She drew back, holding his gaze as she slid down onto him,
driving his cock right up into her with one long, pleasurable glide of her
hips. He felt even better than she’d imagined, but she had to move. She began a
slow, sexy rhythm, climbing higher as her breathing increased.
He wasn’t unaffected. Marc’s pupils dilated, and his breath
came faster. Sweat broke out on his brow and his teeth… She was startled to see
fangs emerge from his mouth. She hadn’t seen him like that since the awful
night she and Lissa had been attacked, and he’d come to their rescue. There was
no fear this time, however. This time, she knew his fangs were stirred by
passion, not anger. She knew they were meant for her this time, and she felt no
fear.
She felt other fangs nibbling along her shoulder, then up to
her neck as Dmitri pushed against her back, asking her without words to lean
forward. Marc’s hands went to her ass, kneading, fondling, stretching.
Dmitri settled behind her and she felt warm oil of some kind
that had appeared out of the nothingness of her dream. It drizzled between her
cheeks as Dmitri’s fingers helped it find its way within her. A few moments
later, his cock followed. It was slippery with the same warm oil, but still it
was a challenge to accept.
Her body eased under his knowing ministrations, and he
claimed her ass as fully as Marc filled her pussy. Having both of them inside
her at once was enthralling. It was utterly fulfilling and incredibly arousing.
It was the naughtiest thing she’d ever done, by far, and it stirred her senses.
Of course, looking down and seeing Marc beneath her was
arousing in itself. His smile when he felt Dmitri slide fully home within her
was only fuel to the fire that already raged within her body. She moaned as the
men began to move in concert as if they’d done this many times before.
And they had. She was sure of it. They’d told her so. But
they’d also said no woman had made them want this in decades. Oddly, that made
her feel special and almost…cherished.
The look in Marc’s eyes only added to that feeling. He was
careful with her. He regulated the thrusts of both Masters, coordinating her
pleasure as her passion rose higher and higher. She’d never felt this way
before with any man, never had such a scintillating dream. Ever.
She cried out as a climax hit her. Blindsided her in fact,
and still the men thrust within her, lifting her higher. As a new, even higher
peak approached, she felt Dmitri pressing against her back, pushing her down.
Marc’s head came up and nestled in her neck as Dmitri nuzzled the other side.
As an even bigger climax approached, she felt both men’s
fangs against her throat, one on each side. They struck simultaneously,
launching her into the greatest pleasure she’d ever known.
The bites didn’t hurt. They stung for a flash and then
carnal heat suffused her being, rocking her world and making her scream. She
felt them come inside her, exploding with warmth and groans of masculine
satisfaction that rumbled against the tender skin of her throat as they
continued to feed.