* * *
I findsome mistletoe with Reznik and Yaelyn, but I manage to find some Christmas cheer, too. Still, it's a relief when the party winds down. I can tell Yaelyn was getting overstimulated by the sheer amount of emotion in the room.
We’re quiet as we walk back to the truck, hand in hand. Darkness settles between us, engulfing me, stealing me away from them. The world around me stops, everything from Reznik to Yaelyn to the shadows in the streets frozen in time.
I bang at the darkness, desperate to get back to my demonkin, but it doesn’t give. I’m stuck and they’re frozen. Panic rises inside me, but I push it down, preparing for an unknown threat. Wishing I had snagged my steel stiletto off the hall table as we headed out, despite Reznik’s reproachful“Lucy, for hell’s sake, you can’t have that around the little ones.”
And then I hear a voice that sends fear coiling in my gut. So much for not panicking. I swallow, composing myself before I face the villain of my nightmares.
“Times almost up, Lucille.” Khadyr Blackmore steps out of the shadows into the small cage of darkness, looming over me. I stare up into his dark eyes defiantly and realize... they truly are dark. If he has irises at all, they're just as black as his pupils.
"What do you even want the useless stone for? You know I could boost fae diamonds for you." I try to play if off nonchalantly, hoping he won't see beyond my bravado.
"I have my plans, little light."
I startle. Fuck, does he know? His smile is a cruel thing, a twist of his lips that sends dread pooling into my gut.
"You have nine days. If you even consider reneging on your end of our contract, imagine what I'll do to you, and know that the reality will be so much worse. Know that whatever I do to you, I'll do it to your demonkin tenfold. You're a bright girl. I trust you'll make the right decision."
The darkness is sucked away from me, and I stumble as the world starts moving again. Yaelyn catches me around the waist with his tail.
"Love, what's wrong?"
I don't try to lie. I don't speak at all. I throw myself into his arms and steal a kiss, and then another, and another until he finally winds his arms around me, and my shaking subsides.
"Lucy?" Rez asks, coming to close me in against Yaelyn. Between their two hard, hot bodies, I find some small amount of peace. But not enough.
My impossible choice still lies before me, more impossible than before.
Because Khadyr knows my greatest weakness now.
"Take me home," I beg, because the loft used to be my home as much as my magpie's nest studio, filled to the brim with all things sharp, shiny, and glittery. Because it may be the last night I get to pass in their arms. "Please, I need you."
* * *
Yaelyn can see my turmoil,but when I launch myself at him the moment we step back into the loft, he doesn't protest. He kisses me, slow and sweet, sweeping his tongue against mine in a way that banishes the dark thoughts to the edges of my mind, those dark corners where wickedness grows.I knew I’d never get always and forever with my demonkin, but I thought I’d have more time.
"No games tonight," the incubus whispers against the shell of my ear because he knows, he understands that what I need is to connect with them, body, heart, and soul.
"No games," I agree, letting out a breathy sigh when Reznik comes up behind me. I wish I had his strength, but all I can do is steal it for the night, be strong as I love them, be stronger as I leave them. He hooks the tip of a claw into the zipper on my coat and drags it down until he can strip me of it. Then Yaelyn's on his knees, carefully undoing the laces on my snow boots. They undress me slowly, their hands roving over my body to banish the chill in the apartment, Yaelyn's hands on my thighs as he drags my panties down, his tail around my waist, Reznik's hands finding my breasts when my bra drops to the floor.
"Want you both," I plead.
"You'll have us, Spark. However you want us." He lifts me up and I wrap my legs around the taper of his hips. His clawed hands are tight on my sore ass. It's enough to turn the flame of desire inside me into a blaze and I moan, tipping my head back. His mouth descends onto my neck, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses along the column of my throat until I'm mewling and grinding against him. He carries me into the bedroom and sets me down on the bed carefully, gazing at me in wonder, oil-slick eyes soft.
Yaelyn comes up beside him, a faint smile on his full lips. "You'll need my seed if you want to take Rez. It's been too long and you're so tight." It's so like how I first took the demon's thick length inside me, Yaelyn's incubus seed easing the way, relaxing my channel until I could take Rez without pain.
"I trust you," I whisper, my voice hoarse. An incubus' seed can do so much more than help the receiver relax; it gives control of the receiver's body over to the incubus, allowing them total mastery of their lover's body. We've had fun with it before, but tonight I don't want fun. I want the ease to have them both, but I'll submit to whatever Yaelyn desires if it means I get to be with them.
"No games," he reminds me, slipping out of his clothes and joining me on the bed. "I just want to see you in ecstasy as Rez makes love to you." He captures my lips in a kiss I feel all the way down in my soul, pure sweetness. Love.
Reznik joins us on the bed, fitting himself in behind me. He strokes my hair, murmurs soft praise, lips moving against my skin.
Yaelyn draws a finger through my folds, groaning when he feels how wet for them I already am. He rubs my clit in slow circles, and I try to push his hand away, needing to feel him inside me, but he captures my lips in a kiss. He presses his forehead to mine, kisses the tip of my nose. "Let me worship you, Mischief."
I come apart in their arms, Yaelyn drawing every ounce of pleasure possible from me. It’s too much, yet not enough, as I try to capture every sensation, burn every second of this into my memories. Yaelyn rolls onto his back, pulling me with him. I grind down against his hard length, needing to feel him inside me, and he doesn't make me wait. Not this time.
He guides himself to my opening, eyes on mine as he pushes up into me.
