“What the fuck?” He glared from me to where his hand was now impaled on the table, and Fin bit back a smile. A circle of crimson stained the white linen as his wound bled.
“Don’t touch my bacon,” I said without missing a beat. “I’m starving, and Fin got it for me, not you. I’m sucking you off for that later, by the way,” I told Fin. Then focused on Maddox. In truth, I hadn’t intended to put the knife all the way through his hand, but the blade had been there and I really was hungry.
Without comment, Maddox yanked the blade out of his hand and nodded curtly.
Wait.
That was it?
Just a nod?
“As I was saying, Beautiful, before we were so rudely interrupted by your Grumpilstiltskin.”
I burst out laughing as Maddox favored both of us with a surly look. He really was a grumpilstiltskin. Poor baby. I popped a slice of bacon into my mouth, and the first salty crunch had me moaning all over again.
Gurgling stomach gnawing on my backbone, I scooted forward to snatch up another piece. Fin said something about the food and where he got it, but I barely heard anything. All of my focus lasered onto the food as I took bite after bite. I was torn between eating the bacon or using the muffin to mop up some of the egg yolk. The potatoes were perfectly crispy, and even when my stomach hurt from how much I’d eaten, I didn’t slow until I’d cleared the plate and drained the coffee.
I groaned happily as I sprawled back on the bench. The fire, the hot bath, and now a fully tummy.
I could die happy.
“Fuck,” Maddox exhaled.
“More or less,” Fin murmured in agreement, and I slanted a look at the two boys I’d half-forgotten were there. Oops. “No need to apologize, Beautiful,” Fin assured me. “That was practically a religious experience, watching you eat. And it’s been a long time since I had one of those.”
Maddox gripped his cock and adjusted it until it stretched down against one of his thighs. I trailed my gaze over the thickness appreciatively. Not that I wanted to do much with it at the moment, but he had a very nice piece of equipment. One should always admire these things.
Males liked it.
And so did I.
Fin chuckled. “You know, when I said I couldn’t wait to put my real eyes on you because you were a delight, I had no idea how delightful you really are.”
“Oh, she’s wonderful.” Maddox made it sound far more sarcastic, but I settled for flipping him off.
“You don’t need to compliment me, Fin. I’m totally making good on my promise as soon as I can move. You deserve it after that feast.” My eyes were half-closed, and I wanted to curl up like Maddox’s kitten and go to sleep.
“I’m very patient,” Fin promised me as he smoothed my hair away from my face. “I brought you some clothes, but I think you’re ready to go back to bed.”
“I don’t want to move,” I admitted. The fire felt really good.
Crouching down, Fin tilted my head until I was looking at him. “We can take care of that, but we need you to answer something for us right now.”
“Ugh, no twenty questions, just a little nap, and then I’ll suck you off so hard, you’ll think you came three times.”
The corners of his mouth curved. “I’m sure, but one of us needs to drain you, and after last night, I thought it would only be fair to let you decide which of us it would be.”
Fuck.
“You were serious about that?”
“’Fraid so,” Fin assured me. “It’ll be easier on you now. You won’t be so hungry, and there’s more coffee,” he offered, like a temptation. “After you’re drained, we’ll all feed you again.”
I closed my eyes and dragged an arm up to cover them. “Can’t it wait? You’re totally spoiling my good mood.”
“Kitten,” Maddox growled. “He should have done it first thing this morning as soon as you were up and moving. We need to flush that demon out of you completely. He doesn’t get to have even a piece of you.” His grip on my ankle was hot and possessive.
Pretty much described the dragon in a nutshell. I shifted and slid my other foot toward him, and he caught it then lifted them so he could sit with my legs over his lap.
“You both seem so sure they can control me…”
“It happens,” Fin told me. “We want to make sure it doesn’t.”
“You know that’s why the prince of the city threw me in there, right?” I flicked a glance from Fin to Maddox and then back. “He tried to compel me, and it worked as well as a pair of Jimmy Choos at a square dance.”
Fin frowned. “Not seeing that analogy, but shadow demons are different. And killing your sire is really no trouble at all.”
“Definitely,” Maddox said, stroking my leg. “He should have every bone in his body broken for abandoning you.”
Well, the guy had been running for his life and probably to keep his dick attached. Not that I planned to let him get away with it. Still…
“So if we don’t do this thing right away, what’s the downside?”
“The shadow demon tries to track you,” Fin suggested. “Or call you like he did at the prison.”
I narrowed my eyes. A lot of that escape was still somewhat fuzzy, not that I wanted to admit that. “You tried to compel me, or at least muddled me enough to make me cooperative.”
“I did,” Fin admitted. “We were in something of a time crunch, Beautiful. I will happily let you argue all you want right now.”
“I won’t,” Maddox stated, but he smiled as he continued his lazy stroking of my leg. It was kind of nice, especially since my feet were all toasty tucked up to him.
“But we want you safe,” Fin continued. “Your transition isn’t complete.”
“Wait…it’s not?”
They both shook their heads.
“Baby vamps need a lot of blood in the beginning,” Maddox said. “For us? Hybrids? We need even more. It can’t just be any blood.”
“No,” Fin picked up the thread. “It needs to be powerful blood. Your disdain for those blood bags wasn’t just personal taste. I guarantee you they probably smelled like the weakass shit they were.”
Fin didn’t smell weak, neither did Maddox.
Nor had Dorran for that matter.
And the less you think about him, the better. Fin’s voice slid right through my mind. No less possessive than Maddox, despite the lighter tone. He was still crouched near me, so I stretched out a hand to run up his thigh. “Fine, Maddox can bite me after I take care of you.”
Fair was fair. He had brought me coffee.
“As sinfully delicious as that offer is, Beautiful,” Fin murmured before he kissed me. “You first.” He loosened the tie of the robe, and I would have complained about the chillier air, but he ran his very warm fingers over my skin. “And I remember,” he promised as he began to massage a breast. “You’re sore.”
I really was, but I had begun to care less and less, especially when Maddox began to kiss his way up my leg, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. Their lust, carefully banked all morning, swirled up to surface. The languid satisfaction sprawling through me gave way to a familiar tug of desire that began to coil in my center.