Page 24 of Hell to Slay

The two of them made such incredibly sexy sounds. Sounds I could hear all-too-clearly even through the walls… partly because I’d boosted my hearing so I could.

Maybe because I was a glutton for punishment. Maybe because I was worried for Mel’s sake.

But Nico would never hurt Mel. Maybe not even while he was lost to the frenzy — after all, he’d gone into the frenzy out of fear for her safety. Drinking each other’s blood had broken the spell on both of them.

And now… hearing the two of them together was torture. Knowing that the man I loved had fallen for the woman I loved made me feel left out.

I knew in my heart of hearts that this wouldn’t change anything between Mel and me. But would it change things between Nico and me? And did I want it to?

Nico had once told Mel he didn’t want to be last pick, and now I understood completely. Even before any of us had been turned, Nico refused to join a coven. He wouldn’t even consider it when we were together. It was totally out of the question for him.

But he’d done a 180 and come up with the coven idea. And now I understood what had changed — he craved a connection with Mel, even as he tried to hold himself back. We formed our coven under duress, to save us all, but the idea had come from Nico… because he wanted to protect Mel.

Just like he’d gone into a frenzy when Mel’s life hung in the balance. And he’d only come out of it because of her.

It was always about her.

Not me.

I heard the moment Mel sank her fangs into Nico because he let out a roar of uncontrollable pleasure. Regular sex didn’t bring about that kind of pleasure… only the bite could do that.

It was why so many witches out West cozied up to vampires, so they could experience the pleasure of the bite again and again.

Mel let out a high-pitched moan that had my dick tenting my shorts in spite of myself. I paced back and forth, thinking about the worst clients I’d ever had while training as a teleporter, trying to sink this flagpole.

My shift was over, so it was Hudson’s turn, and I had no doubt he was awake after all that noise. Maybe now that Nico and Mel were done, I could fall into the oblivion of sleep and stop thinking of all the evidence that Nico loved Mel and would never love me.

With my boner properly put down, I turned the doorknob. I knew what to expect when I opened the door, and yet somehow I was still taken by surprise by the scene that awaited me.

Mel’s legs wrapped around Nico’s firm ass, and her face was buried in his neck. She raised her head, her fangs red with blood, and it was the sexiest sight I’d ever seen. She looked sated at last, her lids lowered, her mouth curling up in a blissful smile at me.

Nico brushed her hair back from her face in a loving gesture that had my heart breaking all over again. She’d accomplished what I never could, making Nico fall for her.

Nico’s gaze met mine. I could tell he wanted to say something, but I didn’t want to hear it. With the way I felt right now, nothing he said would smooth things between us. It was too late for that. He’d had plenty of chances over the years and even after we became coven-mates. Yet he’d never taken the opportunity.

Instead, he’d used me sexually so he could fuck Mel by proxy because he was too afraid to admit his feelings for her… but he’d fallen for her anyway.

So, I turned away from them and toward the bedroom door. I refused to spoil this moment for Mel. I loved her every bit as much as Nico did, and that meant I put her happiness first, even before my own.

“Jax…” Nico rumbled, but I waved him off as I went toward the bedroom.

I gently rapped on the door, even though I could tell from Hudson’s breathing patterns and the sound of movement that he was awake already.

I heard skin sliding over skin and the sound of Mel’s feet hitting the floor.

“I should let the two of you talk while Hudson goes on watch,” Mel murmured, as though I couldn’t hear her.

What I needed most was to sleep before I said something we all regretted.

I opened the door and called, “Hudson.”

“Be right out.”

Then I turned to face Mel, keeping my gaze glued to her face and doing my best to ignore the well-muscled man right beside her.

“We should all get our rest.”

“Jax…” Nico tried again.

---