Page 15 of Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You just sent that to the group chat, didn’t you?”

He grinned and came over. “It’s absolute perfection, Raine.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and we both looked at my cupcake. It leaned a little bit to the left and was coated in fluro blue glitter. The swirl was a little uneven, but I bet it tasted good.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think a career as a cake decorator is for you,” he laughed as the fondant heart fell off the side. He was definitely right.

“Maybe I’ll just take care of the front of house?” I suggested, resting my head on his shoulder as I reached out and scooped some frosting onto my finger.

Nico grabbed my hand before I could put my finger in my mouth, instead redirecting it to his own. He wrapped his lips around the base and sucked as he slowly pulled my finger out.

Goddamn. When he grinned, his teeth were blue and I snorted. “I think that might be a good idea, Rainey.”

“And the other thing?” I asked, my heart starting to pound a little in my chest.

Nico looked down at me, his eyes assessing. Then he shrugged. “We are a polycule. We’ll put it to the group.”

Then he picked up my cupcake monstrosity and slammed it into my face.

I gasped, covered in delicious frosting and yellow fondant stars, my eyes wide. “You didnotjust do that.”

I scooped out a handful of frosting and smeared it down his cheek. I squealed as he gave me a fangy grin and turned. “Better run,” he said in a low voice that made my heart race.

That afternoon I learned that I cannot bake and that French meringue frosting tasted better when licked off the abs of an ancient vampire who loved me.

Chapter Eight

Iwas a shitty girlfriend, because while I was having myHarry Potter‘Yer a Succubus, Raine’ moment, I almost forgot that Tex was having his very ownStar Wars‘Luke, I am your father’ Darth Vader moment with an impossibly old Dragon.

At least until said Old Dragon turned up on my doorstep with a bottle of Fireball and several pounds of what smelled like raw meat. When I stared at him blankly, he only looked minorly annoyed, and I sent up a thank you to whatever god decided that I should be the mate of his ‘possibly’ only progeny.

“You invited me over to grill.”

Shit. I had. Like last week before Miranda and the succubus thing and Lucius and taking things to the next level with Nico and, and, and. My life was more hectic than was warranted in a town this size.

“Of course I did!” I said with more enthusiasm than I felt. “Come on in, I was just about to get started on the cooking.”

I sent a quick text to Nico to pick up some stuff to grill. In that moment, I felt the absence of Walker more than anything. It seemed like a weird time, but Walker was my rock. He would have remembered that I’d invited Alexander over, would have been outside grilling already, or would be handing Alexander a beer. As it was, Judge stumbled out of the bedroom, half awake and dressed only in sweats, his hair messy and his lips swollen. He looked like he’d been fucked into oblivion.

When Tex strode out after him, his facade equally as disheveled so there could be no doubt about what they’d been doing inside the bedroom, his face was set to a stubborn angle.

Judge swaggered over to Alexander. He gave a single head nod. “Alexander.”

“Judge.”

With that out of the way, Judge got Alexander a beer out of the fridge and tossed it to him, grabbing another two for him and Tex. He stopped beside me and kissed my head. “I didn’t realize we were having dinner guests,” he murmured against my temple and I kicked him in the shin. He might not have known we were having guests, but he knew Alexander was here before he walked out looking like sex and sin.

Judge was eyeing Alexander, and I wasn’t going to lie, so was I. I was looking for even a hint that he disapproved of Tex’s orientation because I would stomp him into next week. No one hurt Tex’s feelings. He was my mate and I would protect him in the same way he would protect me.

Alexander shrugged and turned to me. “Are we expecting any more of your lovers? The Brit with the shitty attitude perhaps?”

As if he was waiting off screen for his name, X slammed open the door, a huge grin on his face. “Honey, I’m home.” He strode over, wrapped his arms around my shoulders, dipped me backwards and kissed me like we were in a black and white movie. “Mmm, delicious,” he murmured against my lips as he pulled me upright. “Hello Puff. Snakelet.” He nodded his head toward the shifters in the room. Then he looked at Judge. “Evening, Cocksucker.”

“You would be so lucky,” Judge growled. X waggled his eyebrows, eyeing Judge’s half naked body in a manner that could only be called lascivious.

“It looks like perhaps Snakelet was already that lucky.”

Alexander just shook his head, a mixture of disbelief and disgust on his face. “Do you want me to eat him?” he asked me, and I tapped my finger against my lip as I pretended to think about it.

X gave me a wounded look and I laughed. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m kind of fond of him now. Besides, he’d probably like it.”

---