Page 23 of Victory for Vampires

His plump lips pull into a smirk. “Can I fuck you while you’re tied up?”

“Anytime,” I murmur. “We can play however you like.”

“Dinner first,” Pietro commands, gripping my throat and running his thumb over my lower lip. “We must take care of you first, amore.”

“Of course.” I kick my shoes off and stride across my sparse apartment, grabbing plates to set the table.

Alé disappears into the bedroom, and Pietro returns to the stove, stirring a saucepan of red sauce, peppers and sausage.

“Smells divine.” I wrap my arms around him from behind. His heart thumps steadily under my fingertips. I scent him as he continues cooking. I don’t even move, so thankful he’s here, until Alé rejoins us with black jeans slung low on his hips. He comes behind me, pulling me from Pietro until my back hits Alé’s front.

Bending down, he bites gently along my neck down to my back, pulling my shirt down off my shoulder. Moaning softly, he bites and sucks at my skin, running a hand up between my breasts. “Missed you,” he murmurs into my skin. “Six months was terrible, amore.”

“I know,” I manage, letting my head fall to one side as my bond with Pietro tenses, flush with need and pleasure. “Six months felt like a century.”

Pietro turns, eyes flashing as he watches Alé nip his way back down my neck and along my skin. “We cannot do the distance anymore, my love. Whatever Alé and I have to give up, we are prepared to do it. We need you.”

“No,” I growl. “I won’t let you give up your dreams. Iwillconvince Evenia to approve the Grand Portal Station plans.”

“It’s not that we don’t have faith in you,” Alé whispers against my neck. “It’s that we are planners, and our backup plan is to come here no matter what.”

“I hate that plan.” I pull Pietro close. “I need things to work out for all of us.”

“They will,” Pietro says quietly. “If anyone can pull this off, it’s you.”

“I need your bite,” Alé moans, moving to the other side of my neck. “Now, Valentina. Please.”

I’ve never heard his voice so ragged and raw, so desperate. My bond with Pietro tenses and flexes. He wants this too.

And so do I. I’ve wanted it for centuries.

I turn in Alé’s arms. His eyes are hooded, expression somber when he brings his scarlet gaze to mine.

I reach up and run my fingers along his strong jawline. “I’m ready, mate. Where do you want to be?”

“Right here, right now,” he demands roughly, bringing one hand to my hair and gripping it tightly. He looks to his right. “Be with me?”

Pietro joins us, sliding a hand around Alé’s waist. He moves his other hand to the back of my neck as nerves flare through me.

I’m going to bite Alé—finally. A vampiric claiming bite is an ancient bit of evolutionary magic from a time when vampires were hunted. So many lost their mates that we developed the ability to bond any being to us through a bite filled with venom and intention. I’ve bitten Alé a trillion times, but never with the intent to bind his soul to mine and Pietro’s. Pietro could bite Alé and do the same thing. But, somehow, we always knew it would be me who did it.

Baring my fangs, I lean down and lick a path over Alé’s heart. It’s beating so fast, like a wounded sparrow trapped behind his bones, aching to be released.

“Alé,” I look up at him, “I love you.”

As he opens his mouth to respond, I strike, sinking my fangs deep into the chest muscle over his heart. He gasps,fingers tightening in my hair as Pietro stands quietly with us, safeguarding us.

I pour centuries of love into the bite, claiming him with every bit of my soul as I fill his heart with my venom. I don’t drink him—no, this is about giving. I fill him as his hips begin to rock against mine, his soft grunts becoming full-on pants until they rise and he comes with a guttural roar.

Something bright snaps and twists between us.

Our bond. The one we’ve wanted for centuries.

It spins and braids itself along the gleaming tension Pietro and I share until I can’t tell where either bond starts or ends. Alé’s head falls back against the wall, his throat bobbing as I release the bite and stare in awe at him. His feelings are exactly what I always thought they’d be—joyful adoration, cheerful confidence, and a deep, undying loyalty to Pietro and me.

It surprises me when Pietro leans into Alé and sinks his fangs into our mate’s throat. He drinks deeply, groaning with need as Alé whines and holds me closer. Through the bond, their pleasure and desire are tangible. I love that they’ve become more physical in the last six months or so. I never thought they’d want that, but it’s beautiful to see their love blossom and deepen in this way.

Alé comes again from the bliss of Pietro’s fangs, and I watch, because they’re mine now, irrevocably. As Pietro releases the bite and pulls away, resolve fills me.

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