Page 48 of Pleasantly Undead in Dark River

Lucius bit down around my nipple, sucking my blood through small puncture marks on my areola and I rocketed up against his head.

“She likes that, Old Man. Maybe you should do it again because,” he grunted, “She’s gripping my cock like a vice and I love it.”

He was slamming in and out of me and my orgasm hit me once more. My body was wrung out. I hadn’t had this many orgasms in a night since the Shibari incident. Lucius’ hand cupped my cheek and when he slid his finger past my lips, I sucked it into my mouth, scraping my own fangs over it, until I made a small cut in his skin. When Lucius’ blood hit my veins it was like being hit by a train that you didn’t see coming. So much terrifying power, so addicting. I sucked harder, drawing more blood from his finger, and moaned around it, unwilling to let it go for even a second, even as X came in bruisingly hard slams. Lucky my pussy had that vampire healing, otherwise I’d be walking funny tomorrow.

He collapsed against my body, his head resting on my abdomen, his huge torso pushing my thighs wide. He panted even as he kissed my stomach.

Lucius pulled his finger from my mouth with a pop and kissed me. A tentative but possessive kiss, and when he stood, he was hard as a rock. Instead of insisting that it was his turn, he nodded to X. “I am glad you are okay, Executioner.”

X gave him a thumbs up. “Thanks for saving me, you old psycho.”

Lucius grinned, and I shook my head. Maybe crazy spoke crazy, who knew?

The look Lucius gave me was strangely vulnerable. “Until next time, Raine Baxter.”

And then he was gone. I had to give it to Lucius, he made an impressive exit. X looked along my body, staring into my eyes like he wanted to say something important.

I should have known better.

“Do you think if I had a cup of tea, it would leak out of the holes in my throat?” he joked, and I whacked him, injuries be damned.

I was glad he lived, because I didn’t think I could go through life without him.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Walker and Judge came up frustratingly empty. We took X back to Judge’s apartment, so he didn’t scare the kids with his still healing throat. It was as terrifying as it was awe inspiring. It healed slowly, but I could watch it knit together if I stared for long enough. It would take a couple of days to make a full recovery, but I didn’t think we’d be able to get him to rest that long unless I hopped into bed with him. Even then, he wouldn’t be resting.

Still, I wasn’t ready to leave him yet, so when he climbed into Judge’s bed, I climbed in after him. And when he went to sleep, it was with me wrapped around his back like a limpet. Judge climbed in behind me and we could already hear X’s soft snores. Apparently healing yourself back from the brink of death followed by fucking the ever loving hell out of a girl really sapped your energy.

“You okay, Rainey Day?” Judge murmured into my hair.

I sighed and snuggled into his back. “Yes. I’d feel better if they knew who did this. What if they come after Tex or Brody next? They aren’t as strong as X. As stubborn. I’m not sure even Walker could have survived that level of decapitation.”

Judge hushed me. “It might not have anything to do with you, Darlin’. You might not know this because you seem to only get the charming side of his personality, but X is a fucking asshole with a lot of enemies that would happily mount his head on their wall. You are making kissy face with one of them. He stands to gain a lot with X gone.”

Lucius. My gut said it wasn’t him, and I was going to follow that instinct. “It’s not Lucius.”

Judge made a rude noise. “You don’t know him, Raine. I once watched him dissect a vampire who’d wronged him just to see how he worked. He is certifiable, even by vampire standards.”

I understood that, at least on a fundamental level. But there were layers to Lucius, as there were to all of them. They were men, but they were also predators. Did I really know Lucius’ mind? I was a fool if I thought I did. But the look in his eyes as he watched me come beneath X’s body wasn’t one of jealousy or even possession. So I shook my head. “I don’t think it's him.”

Judge squeezed me closer. “Okay, Rainey Day. I’ll trust your instincts. But there are very few creatures in this world that can get the jump on someone like X, even if he is going soft in his loved up state.”

I snorted. Yeah, like Judge could talk. But instead of saying anything, I let myself doze for a few minutes. I’d have to get up in a moment, give Everly a tour of the cafe and explain what I needed her to do. Maybe I should close the shop for the day, because I was fairly sure that Nico hadn’t had time to bake.

With all these thoughts whirling in my head, I fell into a fitful sleep.

Nico was a good man.Even though we were both exhausted, he’d been up since the middle of the day baking. When I strolled in, the pups were watching a Disney movie on the projector screen in the bookstore part of the cafe, bowls of what Nico called cake scraps in their laps. It was just basically the bits he cut off cakes so they sat nice and flat, mixed with leftover frosting and whatever sprinkles they wanted to add in there. I was glad shifter kids burned energy faster than normal, otherwise they’d look like corgis instead of wolf pups when they shifted. I wandered in, sitting on the edge of the couch. “What are we watching?”

“A movie about a fish shifter who falls in love with a guy she saw once and decides to permanently maim herself so she can stalk him to his house and then gaslight him until he falls in love with her.” Brody said from where he was sitting on the floor.

Enit looked over at him confused. “We’re watchingThe Little Mermaid?”

I giggled and kissed Brody. “Prince Eric was so dreamy,” I teased and he harrumphed.

“But what example are they setting?”

I shook my head. The guy had been someone's guardian for all of three seconds, and already he was worried about Disney setting unrealistic examples for children. It was kind of adorable and kind of weird.

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