Page 56 of The Brothers Bane

The shadows shift almost imperceptibly, coiling and sliding over Alcides’ shoulders and down his arms. Alcides seems to relax, and when the shadows propel him toward me, he comes.

He climbs between my legs again, sitting back on his heels and looking down at me with a hungry gaze. His cock juts up from his hips, hard and stiff as a mast.

I bend my knees and spread myself open, cup my breasts and pinch my nipples.

“Ready her for us,” he says to the darkness.

The shadows grow heavier, sliding over my skin, coiling down my arms and across my torso. I arch when they graze my breasts, growing rougher just as they coast across my nipples and back again. I find my arms lifted above my head and my wrists pressed together while more shadows slide down my belly, stroking through my core.

But I’m not the only one the shadows touch. It’s tricky to see, the movement is so subtle, but there’s a hint of magic where Erebus makes contact with the world around him, and if I focus, I can just see where he touches me, and where he touches Alcides.

Alcides’ mouth falls open when the shadows trail down his chest the same way they did mine, then curl around the base of his cock.

At the same time, the sensation teasing down my middle reaches the apex of my thighs and slows, splitting as it coaxes its way down either side of my clitoris, sliding through my wetness and back up. The shadows spread me open and something more substantial pushes inside me. I gasp and arch, only to be met with more teasing over my breasts.

My gaze fixes on Alcides, who is enduring similar sensual torture. His arms are behind his back, dark tendrils clutching his elbows, restraining him while thicker ones grasp his cock, stroking him until he groans.

I’m mesmerized by the way his body tenses with his need, the nearly invisible stimuli arousing him more and more. His gaze tracks over me, clearly as enthralled watching my undoing as I am watching his. Even with Erebus slowly fucking me with a tendril of shadow, I ache for Alcides to fill me.

As if sensing our breaking point, Erebus releases us. Alcides and I spring together like magnets of opposing polarities. I’m up and on him and his mouth is on mine, his arms around me, hauling me up even as I wrap my legs around his waist.

I sink down on his cock with a cry of such exquisite pleasure to finally have him inside me. Erebus all but fades back into the darkness while we fuck, but remnants of him remain, coasting over my skin like a gentle breeze, leaving the lightest of kisses along my throat and down my spine.

It only lets me forget my decision for a moment before it returns to my mind, but it heightens my desperation to hold onto Alcides a little longer, to draw out this pleasure. But all too soon we’re reaching the end together, our shared orgasms gripping us both.

Alcides lays me down on the bed before slipping out of me and curling his big body around me. He nuzzles my neck, his goatee tickling. After a moment of silence while we catch our breath, he says, “You need to go. I can feel it in our bond. Something is pulling you away.”

I close my eyes tightly, careful to choose my words and hoping he’ll believe me, especially if what I say is not a lie.

“I owe Typhon more of my time after today. He shared more than I deserved to hear.”

Alcides makes a disconcerted noise. “He shared no more than he wished. You have more than earned our trust. If anything, we owe you for your simple existence.”

“You give me too much credit.”

“I give you all that I am, Nemea. My whole heart is yours, and I will be here when you return.”

I turn in his arms and kiss him, long and slow, as if it’s farewell.

And it just might be.

24

Vesh

The blue glow of monitors casts shadows across the security booth, each screen a portal into another corner of the Pandemonium. My gaze is sharp as I survey the meticulous web of surveillance, searching for any weakness. It’s tricky, because I set up the very security I intend to breach, but I don’t want any fabricated flaw to be too obvious that one of the human staff can spot an issue.

“Can we cycle through the west wing now?” I keep my voice even, devoid of the urgency that’s coiling in my gut. The technician jumps at my words, his fingers fumbling before obeying.

The second guard is a statue of tension, trying too hard to look absorbed in his task. If he only knew the chaos that could be unleashed with a snap of my fingers... but that would be counterproductive.

The cameras flip obediently from one view to another, displayed on the larger screen in the center of the grid. My gaze isn’t on that screen, but on the smaller one just above it. The most important camera in the entire resort.

I’ve already made the necessary adjustments to those cameras nearest the vault, particularly the one aimed at the door itself, creating just enough blind spots to slip through undetected. But it’s not enough to set it and forget it; I have to make sure nothing’s been tampered with since.

“We’re good here,” I finally say, breaking the silence that has stretched too thin. Both guards exhale in relief as I turn on my heel and stride out, heading toward the elevators.

As I ascend to the penthouse suite, I can’t help but let my mind wander to Nemea. Her absence is like a thorn in my side, a constant prickling reminder of uncertainty in what should be a flawless plan. Her absence shouldn’t matter so much to this task, but it’s thrown a wrench in the works that I didn’t anticipate, what with Erebus defecting and Cerberus losing focus to the point I never know whether he’s heard my commands, never mind which of his three infernal brains are in control.

---