Page 8 of Eternally Owned

“Begin anywhere. We have all the time in the world,” Aleron said, a small smile on his lush moth, exposing the tips of his fangs.

She smiled. “All right then. What is Hex short for? Or is it?”

Hex and Aleron laughed.

“This is your first question?” Hex asked, grinning, his eyes sparkling. “Not ‘What is it like to be a vampire, or how old are we, or what does blood taste like?’ Very well, then. It’s a nickname, one given to me by Aleron the same night we met. My full name was, unfortunately, Hector Luis Severiano Zacaraís de los Reyes. Part of my Spanish heritage, which I have great respect for, but you can see the need for a nickname.”

“That is a mouthful.”

“So are you, lovely Nissa.”

“You’re making her self-conscious,” Hex said, casting a look at Aleron. “Don’t blush, pretty girl.” He swept her hair back from her cheek. “Go on, ask us more.”

“Well, how did you two meet? How long have you been… together? I mean… is it all right for me to ask such a thing? Or is that too personal?”

Hex nodded. “Anything, as I said. And we vampires have a different sensibility for what might be considered too personal. You’ll get used to that.”

Aleron lifted his hand, stroking a long finger down Hex’s arm as it rested on her waist. “I will tell you our story. It is not a long one, in terms of the existence of our kind. We met in Paris, at the Midnight Playground club there. Hex came into the dungeon. I like a little of the rough play now and then. I love the chains, the floggers—it reminds me of times past in the France I knew as a young man, in some perverse way. I was with a woman that night, but I sensed him the moment he entered the room—I couldsmellhim, smell his desire. For me. For the roughness he saw there. I was pulled completely out of the scene I was involved in because I knew instantly he was for me.” His blue gaze flicked to Hex and a smallfrisson of energy passed between them. “You understand these things about us, Nissa? That we know these things, that we feel it? That it is some unidentifiable thing, like a sixth sense. Even we do not understand it completely—we only know it exists.”

“Yes. Just as I knew I belonged with you two tonight. I don’t understand it—of course I don’t—but I felt so certain. No, more than certain. I felt right. Compelled to be with you. I still do.”

“Yes, that’s it exactly. That night, nearly ten years ago, I knew Hex was to be mine. I handed the woman, as lovely and eager as she was, over to a friend and went to him. It had been a long time since I’d offered the Turning Kiss to anyone, but to him, I gave it that very first night. We have been together ever since.”

Hex reached over Nissa’s shoulder, smiling, and laid a hand on Aleron’s shoulder. She felt the current sparking between them—mental, sexual. Emotional. She hadn’t expected that, somehow, the emotional connection the vampires might have with each other, and it was as powerful as everything else about them.

“There are often others, but only for a night, and no more.” Hex picked up where Aleron had left off. “We’ve always had each other, but ultimately, it’s just the two of us.”

“Until now, perhaps.” Aleron’s tone was low, his French accent suddenly quite thick.

“What do you mean?”

They couldn’t be talking about her. Could they? Her pulse hammered in her veins, a current of need and hope and the fear that she’d misunderstood—as well as the fear that she had understood exactly what they meant, and what it might mean for her.

“You are meant for us, Nissa,” Aleron went on, “whether for a week or a century remains to be seen. But you are here now for a reason, and you will be with us for more than this one night. Unless you choose otherwise.”

She was shaking her head, but Hex stilled her, cupping her cheek in his palm.

“Think carefully, Nissa. We will take your blood tonight. And even with those who do this only once, a bond is created. You know already that your admittance to the club is representative of your desire to do these things. But anything further, givingyourselfover to us in any more permanent manner, that we have to hear from your lovely lips.”

“I can hardly think at all, I’ll admit that to you,” she told them. “But I am absolutely certain of this—of my desire to be here with you both. To accept the Seeking Kiss. To be more to you than this one night.” She was shaking again with need so strong, she could barely manage to hold still, to keep her hands at her sides. “I will tell you this too, because I feel I must… I have always enjoyed sex, but everything is different with you. It’s…more. Your power is immense—especially yours, Aleron—and I can feel it as if it’s a low vibration in my bones. Power, and this intense, driving attraction… I don’t think I could pull away if my life depended on it. And yet, Iknowyou aren’t trying to compel me in the way people speak of in fairy tales. It’s simply who—or what—you are. And no matter what I’ve been told by my sponsor, I didn’t expect this. But I want it, yes. I want you, both of you.”

She turned her head to Hex, then to Aleron, and found them both smiling at her. Then Aleron pulled her in and kissed her.

His lips were harder than Hex’s beneath the velvet-soft surface. As her hands came up to rest on his stone-smooth shoulders, she found the rest of him to be the same, and wondered how ancient he was. But in moments she was lost in the wet heat of his mouth, his snaking tongue, his hands in her hair. And God, the touch of his lips on hers, the strange hardness that was also unbelievable softness—she couldn’t begin to describe it to herself, but it was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. It was as if she’d discovered some new sort of sensuality, and her body was responding like mad. She felt almost as if she could come again simply from the vampire’s kiss.

Together, they pulled her down, laying her on the bed with Aleron’s hand at the back of her neck. Hex slid over her, incredibly strong, sinuous muscle gliding over her breasts, her stomach, between her thighs, and she was soaking wet once more, her legs parting, opening herself to him.

Please… touch me. Kiss me.

Aleron’s tongue pushed deeper, sliding, sliding, exploring her mouth. He tasted of wine, though he hadn’t drunk any. Hex’s lips were on her skin, his tongue flicking at her nipple. She gasped into Aleron’s mouth, and his hands came around to hold her face, keeping her still as Hex sucked her hard nipple into his mouth.

Pleasure raced over her skin, into her system, an electric arc that threatened to burn her alive. Hex’s mouth at her breast, sucking, licking, making her pussy pulse with hunger. He pushed her breasts together, his tongue gliding over one peaked nipple, and then the other, his fingers kneading her flesh. Her hips arched, wanting to feel his body, and found his strong thigh between hers. She pressed upward, wrapping one leg around his, until her sex met the hard muscle of his thigh. She was slick against him, her flesh slipping against his, and growing wetter and wetter every moment.

Aleron kissed her harder, his mouth responding to her driving hunger, his hands firm on her cheeks. She was overcome, one sensation melding into the next. And when Hex slid lower, his head moving between her thighs, his silky hair tickling the skin there, she cried out against Aleron’s lips.

“Spread for him, our beautiful Nissa,” he whispered to her.

She did, letting her legs fall open, and Hex pushed them wider, then settled between them. Her sex quivered deep inside in anticipation. And then she felt his warm breath against her swollen pussy lips.

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