I stopped myself from saying “who cares” when a light turned on in my head, and I remembered how her body glowed during and after sex, after she’d consumed my magic and her sin magic. I raised my hand to volunteer as tribute when Reginald looked at me, answering the question that was working its way to the forefront of my mind.
“She needs all of you,” he said, like it pained him to do so, blatantly ignoring Fame's question.
My eyes bugged out, and Fame's face pinched in concern, forgetting his question. “Surely, she can’t handle all of our pow—”
Reginald's head tipped backwards as he laughed, but it was a cruel, mocking sound that made my back ratchet up. “She can most definitely handle all of you. I wouldn't worry about that.”
I didn't know if it was the surety in his voice or just that War had enough talking, but he stomped his way over to her door, mumbling about how he refused to be a bad mate to his little goddess.
I looked between Fame and D before I settled on Reginald and nodded my thanks, then I turned and followed War.
It didn't take long to hear two more sets of feet behind me, and I smirked.
You better be ready for your mates, Hellcat. We are coming to save the day and ease your troubles like good little mates.
Chapter 30
Iwasinworseshape than I thought. After the boys left, and I figured out everything with Cass, and took off my pants, I was dead beat tired. I left on my camie and panties as I laid down, thinking I just needed some time to recoup. Recharge my batteries. Take a nap. I laid down and closed my eyes, sighing into the cloud-soft pillows and the silky sheets. Then, about ten minutes later, pain bloomed in my stomach.
I felt tired and exhausted and completely drained. I moved and rolled around, trying to get comfortable, but nothing worked and the pain just kept getting worse. It was like I had Freddie Kruger inside of me rearranging my anatomy.
I started to think that maybe it wasn’t just my body but had more to do with my magic, so I tried to call it up and found that there was nothing there. I started to freak out.
I had never been without power, ever. I always made sure that I had a little in reserve, but I guess between trying to fight off the guys’ power, which had been useless, and doing the major architectural work on the house, it had left me drained.
I saw my father do work on the house all the time, but now I wondered if it was something you grew to understand. This first time, I’d just opened the floodgates and let the house take whatever magic it needed. I was now thinking the house had been a greedy little shit and had taken more than it had needed.
I was currently staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out how to get more power quickly. I could try to fight someone, maybe even War, but that would take up more energy than my body had right now. I could try to pull some pride from Reginald, but I always hated feeding off him. It felt like overstepping a boundary, and I didn't want to do that. Which left me with the one option I was trying my hardest not to use. Lust.
I had four able-bodied mates in the other rooms, but I would rather face death from starvation than go out there and ask for their help. I didn't care if the anger I felt before was starting to wane the more I hung out with them; I was still pissed enough to let myself wallow in bed with this pain.
A few times I had to remind myself that they were just sexy men, nothing more, but as I thought about each of them, I knew it wasn't true. I’d felt this instant connection when I’d met each of them, and that was just compounded with the amazing sex we’d had. Even with Death and all of his attitude, we had shared an earth-shattering kiss that curled my toes and made me think of flying.
That’s what made them capturing me and forcing me to come down here all the more painful. I was hoping they would eventually stop or figure it was too much trouble for the payout, and then maybe… Date me. I knew it was a long shot, but I was hoping I could convince them.
The one day with each of them rocked my world so much that it slightly shifted my previous thinking. It made me think that maybe that's why I could never find a demon who checked all my boxes and kept me on my toes. Maybe it was because there were four Other beings who could make me light up like a supernova when I was with them.
I knew it wasn't realistic to stay mad at them forever. We were mates now, and there was no backing out of that. We were all stuck together for the rest of time, no matter what we did, so I needed to get over my hurt… But maybe not right now. I could try again tomorrow and see how I felt. What was the rush anyway?
Pain sliced its way through my stomach, causing me to clench my hands so hard they could break. After the pain wave was over, I took a bunch of quick, shallow breaths to brace myself for the next round. Maybe begging for sex at this point wasn't a bad idea. Pride be damned.
I heard my door click open, then War thundered, “Little goddess! Why didn't you say you needed power? I have tons to give you! I would never leave my mate wanting!”
I winced at the volume, but the snicker that left me eased the pain a little. The big lug was my favorite at the moment. How could you stay mad at a guy who was that persistent?
My heart screamed out,Yes! Come over here and give it to Mama, good and fast, but instead, I heard myself mutter, “I don't know what you're talking about.” As I lay there like a fucking invalid. Cue facepalm.
Con slipped around War and sat softly on my bed next to me as he chuckled. “Oh, Lils, it's not good to lie to your mates. That's a big no no.” He trailed his finger down my arm, and I felt just a wisp of the lust he was feeling. I let out a small whimper at the touch, and his face darkened.
War sat on the other side of the bed, making it dip low with his weight. I gazed forward and saw Fame at the foot of my bed, using his inspector's eyes to check me out. It was more of a clinical gaze, but I could tell when he decided on something, then he made his way to sit at the edge of my bed too.
Death remained leaning on the wall, body language saying he couldn’t give a flying fuck what his brothers were up to, but his eyes gave him away. Instead of his eyes being a dull, dim blue, like he was obviously aiming for, they were vibrant and lit up with interest, flicking between me and his brothers like he didn't want to miss anything.
Con started to caress his fingers up and down my thighs, creating a trail of need wherever he touched. Fame quickly slapped his hand away, and I almost yelled at him, but I bit my lip, copper hitting my tongue from how hard I clamped down.
“We would like to help you, Lillian. We would like to be good mates and help you power up, so you are not in pain, but we first need to have your permission.”
He looked at his brothers, doing an eye talking thing that was always so annoying when you didn't know the language. Then he brought his attention back to me. This time, his body was humming with excitement, but as always, he was in complete control.
