I chewed my lower lip. “Even if it will help us win the war?”
He shook his head. “It won’t.”
“You don’t know that. I watched how you took control of Vin’s blood that night in the graveyard.”
“I almost killed him.”
“Exactly.If you almost killed Vin in his monster form, you’re stronger than your brothers have ever let you believe. Thomas Knight saw that you were a powerful tool, enough to consider letting you live in exchange for my loyalty.”
Corry’s jaw dropped. “What?”
“I basically told him to take his bribe and choke on it. The point is, he knows you’re a threat. And maybe there’s a tiny part of him that’s scared of you and wants you for an ally.”
There was a dramatic pause. “Look, Vin is my brother. He’s a total asshat, but he’s still my brother. So it’s not like I’m voting to kick him out of the coven or anything. But he has to pay for what he did.”
“And he will. He’s going to have to watch Sterling impregnate me first. I think that will be painful enough for him.”
“Wait, really? Fuck. I figured you’d reclaim your mark and wear the flap of flesh around your neck as a necklace or something. You know, since you threatened to do that last time. That was super hot, by the way. But forcing him to take a step back in the line to knock you up? Harsh.”
“He understands his fuck up and agrees to my terms and conditions. I don’t want to think about that right now. Can we just hurry up and get to Sterling’s mind.”
The young vampire chuckled, throwing his arm around my shoulder as we continued walking through the dreamscape. “Because that’s a normal sentence…” He plucked at a strand of my hair. “Hey, your hair is fading. You need to dye it again.”
I laughed. “Right. It’s on the to-do list. Somewhere between killing my dad and slaughtering the entire vampire council so I can make my own.”
“Where does kissing me fall on the list?” he asked with a panty-melting wink.
I twisted in his arms, lifting my face to his. “I think I can squeeze that in right about now.”
“Uh-huh, and what about letting me sink my fat cock into you?”
An instant flush of heat swallowed every inch of my skin as I felt his nose glide up the side of my throat. His hot breath added to the swampish warmth devouring me. Even in his dreams, he loved to tease me. “Cor. Sterling’s waiting for us.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “That’s fine. Once he tells us what he needs to, he can join in on the fun.”
That thought almost made my brain break. It wasn’t that I hadn’t imagined myself sandwiched between every combination of my mates, but Sterling and Corry together was just one I couldn’t picture. “Do you think he’d want to?”
“He’s not as prudish as he likes to pretend.” He flung me a wry side-eye. “But judging by the scent leaking from your legs, I don’t have to tell you that.”
Chapter twenty-seven
Blood Magic
Shockingexactlynoone,we found Sterling in the library, pouring over his books. He sat at one of the tables, barely visible behind the mountain of books in front of him. “There you are, Youngbloods. I was beginning to wonder when you were going to show.” He shoved one of the stacks of books to the side, giving us a clear view of him and gestured to two other chairs at the table. “Sit. We have much to discuss.”
Sterling's disposition had shifted since I'd seen him earlier in the night. Of course, that was to be expected. The last I'd seen him, he'd been on top of me, fucking me senseless. Now his quiet but imposing mask had snapped back into place, letting us know there was no time for games. I swapped looks with Corry, who seemed put out by Ster's “straight-to-business” attitude. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed too. I had been hoping for a similar greeting to the one I'd gotten when I'd entered Sterling's mind earlier in the evening, only this time with two mates to take up against the bookshelves. Or maybe spit roast me over this very table.
“Focus, Miss Baxter,” Sterling said with the sternest of expressions carving his marble-smooth features. “I can see your mind wandering.”
“More like scent it, you mean,” Corry said with a shit-eating smirk as he plopped himself down and kicked his legs up on the table, his chair balancing on its two back legs. “She's so fucking close to a heat cycle. Remember what happened last time that happened in the library?”
I flushed at the memory. Sterling stood to his full height, knocking Corry's legs off the table with a swift backhand to his youngest brother's feet. His eyes narrowed in irritation, but I didn't miss the way the crotch of his pants twitched as his cock hardened at the memory. “When you are in my library, you will respect it by keeping your feet away from my books. Especially when you are in my mind, Youngblood. And, of course, I recall what happened. I nearly throttled you for bursting in unannounced.”
I swallowed thickly. “That won't happen again. This is the dream state, so I can probably hold off my heat cycle... I think.” I wasn't sure if I could at all or if I even wanted to. Naw. I definitely didn't want to. I knew just how feral my mates got when I went into heat.
And when I woke up, I would be getting married to Feral. I was kind of being strong-armed into the whole thing. But at the same time, I was excited. Okay, I was terrified. Not because I didn't want to be acknowledged as his mate and wife by his people but because it was a chance for Feral to betray me. Again.
So yeah, just like every blushing bride, I was nervous. Nervous for entirely different reasons than the traditional ones, but still nervous. And I needed one hell of a distraction to take my mind off it. Sterling taking me up against the library shelves had been a great distraction. But throw a Corry Cross in the mix? My thighs clenched as my imagination ran wild. If I did go into heat, Sterling would probably be able to keep a grip over his base urges, but Corry's feral urges would take over. Nowthatwould be a mating hunt.
