Promised in Blood (Broken Bloodlines Book 2)
Promised in Blood: Chapter 15

Ophelia’s heart races so fast, I’m sure it’s going to pound straight through her ribcage.

I lean back against the headboard and pull her with me so her back is on my chest and her legs are outstretched between my spread thighs. Resting my chin on the top of her head, I band my arms around her waist and press my hand over her heart. Its quick yet steady rhythm thumps against my palm. “Relax, Cupcake. We’ve got this.”

She sucks in a deep breath that has her juicy tits shuddering against my palm, and I screw my eyes closed and concentrate on anything but the feel of her soft body. I can’t fuck this up for her. I’ve tuned out Axl and Malachi having sex hundreds of times before. This is a breeze. It’s tuning her out that’s going to be my undoing.

“I c-can’t, Xavier. It feels …” She sucks in another raspy breath. “So good. Please!” She drops her thighs open and grabs at my hand, trying to pull it away from her chest and no doubt shove it between her legs. And fuck me, I want to let her. I want to slip my hand inside her drenched panties and drive my fingers into her tight little cunt.

My cock twitches against her back, and she mewls like a wild alley cat.

Malachi turns his head, his green eyes searching my face as he chews on his lip. “You think we should stop?”

“Not a fucking chance.” Axl grits out the words as he thrusts his hips, driving his cock into Malachi and making the latter’s eyes roll back in his head.

Malachi and Ophelia groan at the same time.

I hiss out a breath. “Just slow down for a second, Axl. Let her take a few beats.” I leave out the fact that I’m having as much trouble tuning them out as she is right now. Her presence magnifies everything. Every touch, every taste. Every single moment of ecstasy is amplified a thousand times over because of her.

I spread out my fingers so my hand covers almost her entire chest and pull her back to me. “Take a breath, Cupcake.” She nods and sucks in a lungful of air. It does nothing to calm her racing heart, but it gives me a moment to clear my head.

Her skin burns, sizzling with pent-up sexual energy. “Why is this happening?” she whimpers. “What’s wrong with me?”

I kiss the top of her head and inhale her scent, then wish I hadn’t. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re on the edge because you have four vampires obsessed with you. We feed on you every day. We share our blood, and that’s a powerful fucking aphrodisiac. And we’re constantly touching you or thinking about you. We’re permanently hard for you, and you’re feeling all of that with us. All four of us wanting you all the time.” I press another kiss against her hair. “And all that energy has nowhere to go because, until you get your powers under control, we can’t let you come. Your orgasm might well bring about the end of days, and we can’t have that.”

She gives me a soft little laugh.

I press my lips to her ear. “You remember what I taught you about the doors?”

“Y-yes.”

Thinking of people like rooms with doors was one of the techniques that worked best for me when I first learned to shut people out, and it seems to work well for Ophelia too. “That’s my good girl. Now replace the ones that are for Malachi and Axl. You gave them a color, right?”

“Yes. B-brown for Axl and green for Kai.”

I remember. Blue for me and black for the professor. The color of our eyes, she said. I take another breath, and my pulse slows a little more. Axl and Malachi remain unmoving beside us, giving us the space I need to get our horny elementai’s raging hormones under control.

“So replace their doors and close them.”

She nods, inhaling deeply, and I match my breathing with hers, murmuring words of encouragement in her ear. I’ve already learned that she focuses better with that than with silence.

“I’ve found them,” she whispers, her eyes tightly closed. “They’re wide open. Full of bright light.”

She’s already so good at this. My clever little cupcake. “Pull them tight until not a sliver of light is showing. Not even a crack beneath the door.”

“But they’re so heavy,” she whines.

I flash my brothers a warning glare.

Axl shakes his head. “We’re not resisting her.”

Malachi shoots her a sympathetic look. “It’s the bond. It’s because of how strong it is.”

“You’re the most powerful person in this room, Cupcake. Now close the damn doors.”

She presses her lips together, her pretty face screwed up with concentration. “I … They’re closing, Xavier.”

The delight in her voice has me grinning like a goofball. “Keep going. All the way, Ophelia.”

She nods, a smile on her face now. “They’re closed.”

Pride grows warm in my chest. “Good girl. I knew you could.” I hug her tighter, resting my lips on top of her head, and she sighs, her soft body melting into mine.

I nod to Axl and Malachi, letting them know it’s safe to resume their fucking.

Axl grunts with satisfaction, and judging by the loud groan that comes from Malachi’s mouth, he’s sinking back inside him. I can almost feel Kai’s tight ass and taste his salty skin. My mouth waters.

Ophelia moans, but her pulse is steady and her skin is no longer blistering with pent-up desire. “You’ll still feel them, but is it easier now?”

She blows a strand of hair from her face. “Yeah.” Her voice is a soft purr, and it bypasses my brain and travels straight to my aching dick, which now twitches against her back.

“Dammit, Kai, your ass is so tight,” Axl growls, and the bed rocks gently as he sinks into him over and over.

“Fuck!” I grit out, watching the two of them and wishing I could bury my cock inside my girl and fuck her right now.

“You can join them if you’d like.” Ophelia’s sweet voice does little to ease the desperate need racing through me. I swallow down the desire to flip her onto her back and fuck her so hard she screams my name, regardless of the consequences.

Instead, I inhale the sweet scent of her shampoo and squeeze her tighter. “I’m staying right here with you.”

“I’ll be okay.” The tremor in her voice is slight, but it’s there. She has a handle on her emotions and her raging hormones now, but I promised I’d be here for her. So that’s exactly what the fuck I’m gonna do. Hold onto my girl for dear life and think about the least sexy thing I can while Axl and Malachi fuck each other senseless.

She wraps her hands around my forearm and presses a tender kiss on my skin, but it’s enough to have my blood pumping harder through my veins. “Thanks, Xavier.”

Oh fuck, give me strength.

You did well. Alexandros’s voice echoes in my head, and if I wasn’t sitting down, I’m sure the surprise would have knocked me on my ass. Or is he talking to Ophelia? That must be it. Not that she gives any indication that she’s heard him. Cupcake is a slut for praise, especially his.

I am talking to you, Xavier, he says, sighing. You have more patience and restraint with Ophelia than you do with yourself.

My throat grows thick with so many different emotions. She needed me.

You did well. The deep timbre of his voice resonates through my entire body, and I close my eyes, basking in the warmth of the connection that’s only for the two of us, if only for this brief moment in time.

He leaves as quickly as he appeared, and I’m left with an ache in my chest. Ophelia surely feels it because she nestles her head into the crook of my shoulder.

“You okay there, Cupcake?”

If she notices the crack in my voice, she doesn’t mention it. But she does turn on my lap and faces Axl and Malachi. They continue fucking like we’re not here, and she places her warm hand on my cheek and looks up at me, her blue eyes sparkling. “I’m way better than okay. Thank you for helping me replace my center.” Then she presses her lips softly against mine.

A smile spreads across my face. I helped her replace her center. Well, she is my fucking center. She makes everything brighter, more vibrant—just better. “I love you, Ophelia Hart.” I murmur the words against her hair because, despite them being truer than any words I’ve ever spoken before, they sound so alien coming from my mouth. In my long life, I have never told a single soul I loved them. Not even Malachi. And definitely not Axl.

She brings her knees up to her chest, curling herself into a ball on my lap and rubbing her cheek against my bare chest. “I love you too, Xavier Adams.”

I scoot down the bed a little with Ophelia still in my arms, cherishing the gentle weight of her on my chest. I watch Malachi and Axl, and although I’ve spent nearly every day of almost the last two centuries with the two of them, the sense of belonging I feel in their presence is so much stronger now than it ever has been before. With the full knowledge that it’s undoubtedly futile, I search for Alexandros with my mind. Why does everything feel different because of her? Stronger?

To my surprise, he answers immediately. Because her bond with me is unique, and therefore her bond with my sireds is too.

But we bonded with her first. And it was like this before you two … Confusion clouds my thoughts. It’s true that our bond grows stronger each day, but this feeling of belonging has been with me from the moment I bit her.

He gives me time to process before he answers. There are bonds. And then there are other kinds of connections. I believe the one that Ophelia and I share is more, and as my blood runs through you, your connection to her is also deeper.

What kind of connection? What can be more than a bond?

“Are you talking to the professor?” Ophelia asks sleepily.

Can she hear us? I ask him. This channel is only supposed to be me and him.

She can hear us talking, but she cannot hear the words. Consider it like her listening through a wall.

I brush a lock of pink hair behind her ear. “Just talking about how incredible you are.”

She laughs softly, and I can’t help but smile, both envying and admiring the trust she places in us by not prying any further.

More than a bond? I ask him again.

It is complicated.

So uncomplicate it for me. Please.

There’s another moment’s pause before he speaks again. I have some business to attend to. Look after Ophelia.

I always do, I say, swallowing down the sting of his rejection.

He’s quiet once more, but I feel him lingering in my consciousness like he wants to say something more.

He doesn’t, of course. He never does.