Page 18 of Eternally Owned

“Ah, I want you too, my Nissa,” he whispered to her, leaning in to kiss her cheeks, her lips. “Has Aleron explained this all to you? The ritual of the Turning?”

“He’s told me that we are going to the Midnight Playground, that he’s chosen to make a formal event of this because of his love for us both. And that you will both be with me.” Her heart was racing at the thought of being Turned. Of being eternal. Of being with Hex forever. “I don’t need to know any more.”

Hex nodded, then looked over her head to where Aleron stood behind her, his hand still on her shoulder. Hex laid his hand over Aleron’s, and she watched their gazes meet. There was love there. Tenderness. Her own heart swelled with love for them both.

They spent some time readying her then, Hex dressing her himself in the most gorgeous black silk lingerie he’d brought for her, and a short leather dress. Aleron brought her a long trench coat made of the same butter-soft black leather, draping it over her shoulders. It felt like a ritual already, as she stood silently, allowing these two amazingly beautiful creatures to care for her almost as if she were their child. Except that there was nothing child-like about the purely sensual weight of expectancy in the air.

Finally, they were ready, the two men dressed mostly in black leather as she was, Hex in leather trousers and a black T-shirt, Aleron more formal in his billowing white silk shirt. They led her down carpeted stairs, through a long hallway, and out into the night, where a dark, sleekly armored car waited at the curb. The driver was silent as Aleron helped her into the back seat, and though she could see nothing of the driver but the back of his head, she could sense right away that he was a vampire himself.

She sat between Aleron and Hex, her hands in each of theirs as they raced through the dark London streets. She was too filled with anticipation to speak, and they remained quiet on the drive.

They wove through the calm avenues of Highgate with its stately old homes, then through the lesser neighborhoods, passing storefronts in flashes of neon signs and iron bars over the windows, dark, dilapidated apartment buildings, much like the one she lived in herself. She knew she wasn’t going back there. Where she was going remained to be seen, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that she would be with Hex. She turned to him, and he smiled at her, leaning over to brush her lips with his, sending a warm shiver through her, as well as a wave of anxiety. She pulled back to stare into his beautiful face.

“Hex? Is this… Tell me this is the right thing to do. To leave my life behind. To be with you.”

“Ah, Nissa… Thisisright.” His hand went to her cheek, his thumb tracing along her jaw. “This is right because there is something in each of us that responds to the other, like two ends of a magnet. It’s right because you feel it too, even though you’re scared right now. It’s right because we love each other.”

“I do love you, Hex.”

“I know it. I feel it. And I love you.”

He moved in, his lips coming down on hers once more, and the kiss was soft and sweeter than anything she’d felt before. That sense of wanting him was still there, but love shone through, brilliant, dazzling her heart and her mind.

The car came to a stop, and Aleron helped her out. As she stepped onto the curb, a small thrill went through her. The Midnight Playground towered before them, its stone façade as solid as ever, but no longer as mysterious to her. She now knew some of the secrets held behind its gates, knew in some unfathomable way that this place would be a sort of home to her, a refuge. That she was about to become one ofthem.

Heart pounding, she let Aleron and Hex lead her through the gates, then the tall doors and into the club itself, no one stopping to question them. Inside, the club looked the same as before, but everything more brilliant to her, as though touched in a golden light.

“It begins already,” Aleron whispered to her. “Do you feel it? It is as though your body senses the impending change.”

“I feel it, yes. That’s it exactly.”

They took her down a hall, then down a flight of wide, marble stairs she hadn’t seen before, her booted heels clicking on the hard surface. Hex held tightly to her hand, making her feel safe, even as her pulse raced, hot and thready in her veins.

They went through another pair of heavy doors and into a large room. In the center was a high dais of sorts, a pedestal made of carved marble. When Nissa looked closer, she saw figures of gorgeously fashioned angels and demons, and smiled to herself. On the dais was a bed draped in black velvet and strewn with pillows in gold silk.

The room was crowded, and as Nissa looked at each of the ethereally lovely men and women there, she realized they were all vampires, all gleaming, flawless skin and glittering eyes like a hundred jewels in the soft light coming from a low-hanging chandelier made of thousands of small crystals. Music played so softly she could barely hear it, something gentle and trance-like.

She could feel the collective energy in the room, a hundred hearts beating with purpose, with excitement.

Hex turned to her. “They are ready to welcome you, Nissa.”

Her eyes burned with tears. When had she ever belonged anywhere, but to her lost Nana? When had she ever felt the need to? She’d lived her life as she’d had to, never needing anyone, anything. Always taking care of herself. And now, even before her Turning, she felt a powerful sense of community with these strangers. And she understood why Aleron and Hex had wanted this public Turning for her.

Hex leaned in close to her side. “We sensed that loneliness in you, Nissa. We knew this would be good for you.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at Hex, and then at Aleron, who squeezed her hand.

They moved toward the dais, the crowd parting for them. Heads nodded as they passed, smiles with flashes of sharp, white teeth. She could not get over how utterly flawless these people—these vampires—were. And she was about to become one of them.

Aleron and Hex lifted her onto the dais, then both followed. Her pulse was hot, wild in her veins as they slowly undressed her. Then, naked, they laid her down on the bed. She felt no sense of self-consciousness on the small stage before their audience of vampires. She felt nothing but a keen excitement at what was to come, and even more when her two lovers stripped to their beautiful, gleaming skin and came to lay with her, one on each side.

She could feel the buzz of expectancy in the room as Hex and Aleron began to stroke her body. Pleasure raced over her skin at their every touch, fingers and palms skimming over her arms, her sides, her thighs. Then Aleron pulled her into his arms and kissed her, hard, his tongue pushing between her lips, searching her mouth. She wound her arms around his neck as desire rose in her belly, between her damp thighs. His skin against hers was firm, smooth, but cooler than usual, as though he were already separating from her, and she felt sad and exhilarated all at once.

He kissed her harder, his tongue driving deeper, his arms so tight around her she could barely breathe. She was panting into his mouth, exchanging his pure, sweet breath with her own.

Pulling back, he said quietly, “I love you, Nissa, as I would love one of my own. But you are for Hex. I give him to you, and you to him. Do you accept this gift?”

She nodded her head, overcome by desire, by emotion. She saw for one fleeting moment a hint of sadness in Aleron’s brilliant blue eyes, then he smiled to her, lifted her wrist to his lips, and bit into her flesh.

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