The Circle (8 page)

* * * * *

My fingers worried over the hem of my dress. From the leather seat in the limousine, I stared at the source of my torment—so close, yet out of my reach, as Devin sat across from me, his grin never wavering.

“Devin
,” I thought at him. “
Will we be alone…you know…when it happens? Whatever it is.”

His finger traced the edge of the window next to him, his eyes following their path. If he’d heard me, it didn’t show.

“Will I have to greet Malachi?”
My hands clamped onto the upholstery on either side of my knees. I hated that Devin’s master could affect me the way he did and cause a dark titillation capable of making me lose control if I allowed it. Would his touch affect my marks the way Devin’s did?

Stifling a shudder, I leaned forward and begged Devin with my eyes for an answer. My mouth opened, but I closed it again. I wanted to reach for him. My hand even made it a few inches toward his knee before I pulled back. He’d asked me if I trusted him, and I did. I only needed to relax and allow him to take care of me as he promised, to lead me toward a sexual awakening I needed like air.

A new calm eased the tightness across my shoulders and my grip on the seat. I could be patient. I would be patient if he could teach me more, take me deeper into whatever reality he spoke of that waited beyond the climax we would soon share.

Eyes closed, I concentrated on my heart to slow its rapid pace. My thighs, slick with my arousal, slid against one another as I squirmed under the throbbing heat within. The vibrations from the car only made matters worse, tickling my backside and teasing my aching clit.

Something touched my cheek. A tiny scream burst from my lips as my eyes flew open to Devin on the seat beside me.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to startle you. You looked so peaceful it pains me to disturb you.”

After swallowing the giant lump in my throat, I nodded and patted my chest. “Have we arrived?”

“We have.” He slid two fingers over the top of my hand, flipped it over in a gentle motion, and brought my wrist near his lips. His cool breath fanned across my mark, sending a zing over my stiff nipples and across my belly. “You have impressed me tonight, Katharine, and I don’t impress easily.”

My brows knitted together. “Why?”

“I’ve been hard on you, and in the grips of such need and uncertainty, I’m surprised you’re showing such restraint.”

Intense joy bloomed in my center at his approval. Tingles rose to the surface of my skin.

He opened the door, took my hand, and we exited the car. His fingers brushed a stray lock of hair from my cheek and tucked it behind my ear. “Tonight you will understand everything, my love. We will be as one. One mind. One soul. One pleasure beyond anything either of us has ever known. I’ve been waiting so long for you.”

I gasped under his intense stare while it invaded me like a siren’s song. Every part of me screamed out its approval, that I was his and my wait would soon end. Somehow I’d been waiting for him, too, even though I’d never been consciously aware of it.

His mouth sought mine, lips and tongue locked in a moist embrace. I found a tender promise in that kiss. If we would be together, then I would endure any discomfort. I would wait lifetimes if that’s what it took. In that moment, I finally understood addiction in its rawest, most viral form. Beneath the fear my revelation sparked in my gut. Excitement sent tremors through me in rolling waves.

“Come, we mustn’t be late.” When Devin released me, he held out his arm. “Our game has now begun. I am your Dom, and you are mine. Do not speak without permission, and obey me no matter what I ask of you.”

Uncertain if my legs would carry me anywhere, I slipped my shaking hand over the crook of his elbow and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. Would I wake up and regret meeting him one day? Wind up in rehab because I couldn’t function without Devin’s touch? A frantic giggle slipped out before I could catch it as I imagined how the therapy sessions would go: “Yeah, I’m addicted to sex and blood play with an immortal
.”
I’d be committed for sure.

“What’s so amusing?” Devin shot me a glance, his eyes sparkling with it.

I shrugged, my face growing hotter by the second, and I found something interesting on the cement walkway to look at.

He leaned closer as he tugged me toward the front doors. “Not all addictions are bad.”

“Dammit!” My hand slapped over my mouth. He’d been listening to my thoughts.

He whipped me around in front of him and gripped my chin with his fingers. Although the set of his mouth held a warning, his eyes shone with lingering humor. “This is your one warning. Don’t make me flog you before the Circle.” His lips played along my cheek up to my ear until I shivered and squirmed. “But perhaps you might enjoy that.”

Judging by the endorphins flooding me, I thought I just might.

Without meeting my wide eyes, he took us the rest of the way to the building and pulled open the glass door. Devin ushered me in first and followed after. Giant glass chandeliers dangling from the ornate ceiling shone a dim amber hue into the cavernous three-story lobby. Circular staircases ascended on both sides, leading to balconies that extended the length of the white room on the second and third floors.

When I tore my gaze away from the spectacle before me, it dawned on me that we were alone. I glanced at Devin. By the twitching of his jaw, I thought maybe it surprised him, too.

A set of double doors swung open on the far side of the room. A black cloaked figure emerged and glided toward us, his robe billowing out behind.

I squeezed Devin’s hand, and he tugged me close to his body, wrapping a protective arm around my shoulders. His bicep flexed and hardened to stone where it pressed against my back. My breath quickened as the immortal drew closer.

“Sovereign.” Devin offered a subtle nod of his head before focusing on me. “Offer him your wrist, Katharine.”

Shit. I hesitated a moment before turning my left wrist up to Malachi and clenching my teeth. I told myself to think of drowning kittens and wrinkled old men. I chanted the mantra several times, but my anticipation of getting caught up in an orgasmic dance grew anyway.

Malachi moved to stand in front of me. His flaming gaze locked onto mine. At my squirming, Malachi chuckled and brushed his fingers over my mark.

I whimpered and shifted when his mouth replaced his hand, kissing and licking along the black imprint of my bond with Devin. Sparkling fire traveled deep into my body. Pressure grew between my thighs, one I wanted and didn’t at the same time—not from him.

As a cry launched from my throat, Devin yanked me backwards and away from Malachi’s touch.

“You didn’t tell me the marks ran so deep, Brother.” A primal hunger shadowed Malachi’s stare as he took me in from top to bottom.

Devin shot words from his mouth like bullets. “Where are our brethren?”

Pale hands emerged from the sleeves of Malachi’s cloak and pushed the hood from his head. Shining black hair slid forward on his face, along with the jewel-laden braids. “They have prepared the chamber and await you and your mate, of course.”

Devin’s arm clamped tighter around me, and a growl rumbled past his lips. “But we agreed I would have Katharine al—”

“Would you truly deny your people an ascent such as this? Do not keep us waiting.” Malachi’s lip turned up in a snarl, emphasizing his descended fangs. He pointed to a door on my right. “Prepare yourselves for your final bonding.” He turned and strode back the way he came.

Chapter Nine

Strangled for air, I turned to Devin. “What just happened?”

“Silence!” He grabbed my wrist and led me to the door so fast I had to jog to keep up. My heels clicked like gunshots off the tile, echoing back from the high ceiling.

Once inside the room, Devin slammed the door shut behind us and flicked on a light. The large white space held a bed with a red silk duvet. On top, lay one shiny black robe and one white.

He paced along the end of the bed to the far wall before returning to the place where we’d entered.

I shook my hands out, in need of some way to relieve the tension knotting my muscles.

Devin roared and kicked the wooden door. I screamed as it splintered into a thousand shards and exploded outward. He heaved out a breath and came to me, eyes filled with shadow. “Forgive me.” His arms gathered me to his chest.

My body remained stiff against his. Would he hurt me?

His hands slid along my cheeks and centered my face with his. “I would never, never hurt you in anger, Katharine. I just—I wanted us to have this night together, alone, and now…” Eyes clamped shut, his forehead settled against mine.

I swallowed around the sudden dryness in my throat. “And now, what?”

Devin stepped back, a nerve twitching in his left temple. All expression evaporated and left him unreadable. “We will complete the bond within the Circle. Once we have begun our ascent—” He scrubbed a hand across his mouth and averted his gaze. “—Malachi believes the two of us can take you higher than I can alone.”

My feet carried me backwards until I bumped into the bed. Wobbling on knees about to fold, I lowered myself down to the mattress. “What are you saying?”

“Don’t be naïve, Katharine.” His palm thrust up. “You know very well what I’m saying.”

“But—I don’t want to be with him.” My tone held more insolence than I’d intended, but I couldn’t help it. The primal, curious part of me wanted the experience, to be with two men at once, but the moral code I’d grown up with caused a knot in my stomach. I hated that I wanted someone other than my boyfriend.

Devin appeared before me, his lips pressed into a thin line as if in the grips of some excruciating pain. “You have no choice—we have no choice.”

I shook my head and folded my arms together. “This is going too far, too fast.”

“I know.” He reached for me, but his hand dropped before making contact with my cheek. “For years I’ve watched you from a distance, thinking it would be enough for me. I told myself you were better off ignorant of my world, of what we could become as a bonded pair.”

The block of ice forming in my chest melted a little. I glanced at him, at the sorrow darkening his eyes. “What changed? Why did you bring me here?”

He stepped back and leaned against the wall, and his shoulders wilted like a flower too long without rain. “I’d like to say it was because I found no meaning in your life. You rarely dated or pleasured yourself. Your writing lacked the passion I knew you had in you. You existed without truly living.” Devin shook his head and uttered a disgusted grunt. “If I’m truthful, it’s because I was lonely and wanted to be close to you, and a bond is the only way our laws would permit us to be together.” He pounded the stone wall with his fist.

A tear dripped from my chin before I realized I’d shed it. The truth in his words crashed in on me. I had few friends, none that I cared to go out with. My whole life I felt as if I waited for something—or someone. How long had I been waiting for Devin to unlock the dull prison my life had become? My heart and spirit had recognized him like a long lost lover, so how could it be wrong?

I stood, closed the distance to him, and traced his brow with my fingertips. He sighed, leaned into my touch, and placed his hand over mine.

“You’re right about my life—it had no meaning. I didn’t understand that until I met you.” A sigh whispered from my lips. “Yes, you scare me, and the idea of being with two men at once in front of a crowd petrifies me, but… it also excites me.” My face blazed.

Devin met my gaze and came away from the wall. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Katharine. Within the Circle, watching you enjoy the touch of another would please me.”

A frantic giggle bubbled in my throat. “I think I know that, but this is all new to me. I feel…dirty somehow. And even though something about Malachi turns me on, he also scares the hell out of me.”

Devin kissed my forehead. “I will keep you safe. You are mine to protect.”

I tried to smile, but it didn’t come. My trembling hand sought his and held on tight. “Just don’t leave me alone, okay? As long as I can see you, that you’re not angry with me, I think I can let go of my moral hang-ups.” Warning bells screamed at me. What was I saying? Would I really allow two men to fuck me at the same time when I’d never done more than heavy petting with anyone before?

One glance at my immortal boyfriend, and the answering jolt of belonging and approval rattled my soul. Malachi would be the icing on our lustful cake. “I trust you.”

He nodded, and a smile bowed his lips. “I love you, Katharine.” His mouth pressed a tender kiss to mine. “Now, we must hurry.”

* * * * *

Dressed in nothing but the white silk robe and my silver heels, I waited before a towering set of arched doors, where Devin had left me five minutes earlier. He’d disappeared around the corner after telling me one of his brethren would come for me.

The cool breeze spiraling down the hall puckered my nipples until they showed through the light material. I wrung my hands together, shifted my feet, and willed the terrible rolling in my stomach to cease, though it didn’t listen.

A clank sent my heart into my throat a moment before the doors whispered inward to reveal a dark room pulsing with golden light.

From the strange aura, a shadow emerged, hidden beneath a dark red cloak. “Your Dom calls for you, Katharine.” The male voice held no emotion, yet it crawled along my skin. He offered a pale hand. “Come.”

The wooden poles my legs had become refused to move me forward. What would I find beyond the doors? Would everyone have begun their festivities?

Something gripped my wrist. I yelped and looked down to find my escort’s hand around it.

“Come, or I shall take you over my shoulder.” Within the shadow of his hood, only the white of his teeth revealed his grin. “Perhaps you would prefer that.”

“No!” I held up my free hand palm out. “I’ll come, just let go of me.”

He offered a subtle bow and stood aside, sweeping his arm to usher me into the room.

I swallowed the cotton from my mouth, took a deep breath, and started forward. The instant I crossed the threshold, the downy hairs along my arms and on the back of my neck stood on end. A force similar to static swept over and through me, crackling and popping through my veins. Blood rushed to the surface of my skin as if trying to escape a stalking beast within.

A golden halo pulsed out from the center of the room, warming my front each time it washed over me. My lungs heaved under my efforts to breathe as the broad rays pressed on my chest the way water pressurized my body when I submersed up to my neck.

All of the immortals and their humans formed a large circle around a raised platform positioned in the center of the space. Some bent over, swallowing down a cock and taking another from behind. Moans and sighs mingled with wet slapping sounds. Mouths dropped open, slack with ecstasy, and some of their eyes glowed like embers in a fire. The chain continued on, hands, mouths, pussies or asses giving and receiving in vigorous fashion.

Devin stood on the platform next to a table topped with what appeared to be white velvet upholstery. Black leather belts dangled down in several places along its length. To his left waited a naked Malachi. His thick cock stood at full attention as he stared at me.

I froze in place, both from the intense, yet enticing, scene before me, and the energy that continued to assault my every cell with alternating waves of heat and cold.

What was I doing? Was I insane?
I wanted Devin to push me beyond my limits, but what I witnessed delved into otherworldly places I wasn’t sure I wanted to experience, at least not so soon. Devin had been hinting around something—our ascent he’d called it. Why hadn’t I asked what that meant? Did I not want to know?

A chuckle sounded behind me before my escort scooped me onto his shoulder. Panic wrapped a tight fist around my throat as he started toward the ring of people fucking.

I pounded against his solid back. “Put me down!” I tried to kick him, but his arm looped around my thighs, pinning me in place. “Devin!”

My captor crouched and, in one powerful bound, leapt us up onto the platform. He pulled me down from his shoulder and steadied me on my feet before bowing to Malachi and disappearing.

Devin extended his hand to me. “Come to me, my Katharine.”

Despite his beautiful face, those full lips begging to be kissed, and the need once again zinging through my pussy, I couldn’t make myself move forward. Malachi remained in my peripheral vision, ever watching. His stare heated my body almost as powerfully as Devin’s.

A tentative step backwards sent my heel over the edge of the platform. I yelped as I fell, but Malachi appeared and gripped my forearm before I hit the floor.

Wearing an infernal grin, he tugged me back to my feet. His thumb stroked my marks, filling me with fire. “Your Dom has given you an order. I suggest you obey him.” Malachi shot a malicious look to Devin. While unspoken communication passed between them, Devin’s lips pressed tight together and his shoulders hunched up.

Pressure built in my abdomen as Malachi guided me to my boyfriend, still caressing the pulsing nerve that ended in my deepest crevice.

“What just happened?”
I thought at Devin.

“Defy me again, and I’ll be forced to punish you.” Devin reached out, snatched my hand, and tugged me against him. His chocolate eyes held a warning that injected ice into my heart.

As the silence stretched on, I got the impression he waited for a response. “Yes, Dom. F-forgive me.”

Something slid beneath the edges of my robe and brushed my collarbone. Heart in a sprint, I grabbed the silk and gripped it as Malachi tried to slide it down my shoulders from behind.

Devin held my chin. “It’s okay, Katharine.” Between the energy pulses from the others and the drunken pleasure of his touch, my fingers released their hold on the fabric, and it disappeared from my body.

A nude woman with white hair appeared behind Devin, tugged him backward, and took his covering in the same manner. My eyes swept over every inch of his exposed playground. Thoughts of what he could do to me with the strength of his muscular chest and defined arms sent my juices flowing. The startling girth of his shaft made my mouth water, and my fingers itched to stroke it.

Devin grasped my hand and led me to the table. “Now we finish this. Are you ready to belong to me mind, body and soul? Are you ready to become part of the Circle?”

His smooth voice broke my trance. No, I wasn’t ready. Oh, God, what was I doing?

A sigh rushed from my lips as his fingers brushed over my tattoos, beginning a renewed throb in my pussy. Need outweighed my fear and doubt. I wanted him like a cool glass of water to soothe my parched existence. A shuddering breath escaped me. “Yes.”

A brilliant smile broke across his face. He held my waist and set me on top of the padded table as he nibbled at my throat. His fingertips caressed the curve of my shoulders and down my back before laying me down on the soft fabric. A tremble born from deep within me rippled to the surface.

Eyes closed, I savored his electric touch, along my stomach, over the tops of my thighs.

Something tightened around my leg. I sat up, thoughts caught in a whirlwind of confusion. A glance down revealed a leather strap securing my thigh to the surface of the table.

With wide eyes, my fingers dove to release it, but Devin whipped both my arms behind my back. “This bite will be intense. I must tie you so you don’t move and risk me tearing your flesh.”

I opened my mouth, but closed it again. “
Is that supposed to comfort me? Where are you going to bite me?”

Devin busied himself securing my other leg while avoiding my stare. My throat ached under the storm of questions begging to be released.

Cool fingers slipped around my throat and pressed me back down. Malachi’s upside-down face appeared above mine. His fingers locked around my wrists and pressed them to the velvet above my head.

A click came from where Devin stood at my feet. He stared at me with need-darkened eyes as he gripped the end of the table and pulled it apart, forcing my legs open with the hinged arms they were attached to. Trailing fingertips along my exposed inner thigh, his breath caught, and he uttered a moan.

The pounding and slapping sounds of sex joined with a hum that resonated in my chest. While playing his lips across my belly, Devin secured another leather strap around my waist and jerked it tight. His fingers never broke contact with my skin as he returned to stand between my splayed legs.

Malachi breathed across my ear as he pressed my hands harder into the cushioned surface. “I can hear your heart racing, Katharine. Use your fear to propel us higher.”

I shook my head with no understanding, my desire pulsing stronger along with the humming and the golden flashes of light encircling the three of us.

Devin leaned over me, the silky skin of his cock pressing against my leg. Lips and tongue explored my erect nipples, one, then the other, back and forth in a bewildering pattern of soft, wet licks and sucks.

Malachi suckled my earlobe. He gripped my arms with one hand and tickled fingers along my forearms. Delicious fire travelled along my shoulders, joined with the sensations Devin bestowed upon me, and sent my clit aching harder.

The chanting by the immortals synchronized with the light pulses and seemed matched to my frantic heartbeat. Devin descended along my stomach, leaving kisses that tingled even after he’d moved on.

I tried to raise my hips to encourage him lower, but the binding around my waist kept me in place. Grunting my frustration, I tugged at my hands only to have Malachi lock his lips over the place where Devin had bitten me—the origin of the marks and most intense pleasure center other than the one I hoped a tongue would soon find. Malachi’s free hand gripped my breast, pinching my puckered nub between his thumb and finger.

My whimpers came between gasps as Devin nuzzled the crease where my leg met my abdomen, so close to my twitching need, yet not touching. Malachi’s moans and oral manipulation of my skin injected fire along the hot nerves leading through my heated core. Intensity grew like a water balloon about to burst.

Devin’s tongue lashed one long stroke over my slit and stopped.

Groans fell in a continuous wave from my throat as I found no way past the euphoria to the part of my brain that processed speech.

His hands clamped onto my right knee a moment before his fangs pierced my inner thigh.

A scream tore unbidden from my lips. Intense pleasure took me over the razor’s edge of pain. Conflicting sensations dominated every thought and drew my muscles taught.

Mouth clamped around my wound, Devin sucked a few times, came back to my pussy and lavished it with licks and kisses.

Ripples of warmth cascaded from my center to my extremities, the edge of oblivion so close I managed to relax my body in preparation. As I neared the ultimate burst, Devin stood and eyed me like a starving man before a feast. His lips appeared to have a ruby gloss from my blood.

I shook my head. “
Don’t stop. Please! I’ll do anything you want, just don’t stop!”

Malachi released my hands and unfastened the bindings at my waist, while Devin freed my legs. What were they doing? It couldn’t be over already.

“I—I need you, please!”

“Patience, my love.” Devin licked his lips and scooped me off the table into his arms. After a moment of locking me in his gaze, he set me in a nest of soft bedding on the newly cleared floor.

He knelt between my legs while I jittered under his flaming red eyes. Malachi appeared beside him, wielding the same curved blade as the last time I’d been in the Circle. Devin winced as his sovereign raked the edge of the dagger along Devin’s outer thigh.

What would happen? Our blood would mingle as he fucked me, but how would that change us? I already wanted him in a way that frightened me. Would I cease to be myself? I glanced out at the crowd to find Devin hadn’t been the only one enjoying a human delicacy. Blood streaked every pale body.

Before I could allow the fear to ascend from the background, Devin hovered over me, propped up on hands and knees. “Do not fight me, Katharine.”

My voice squeaked out. “What does that mean?”

“We will become one. It can be…bewildering, so I’ve been told.”

I smoothed my hands up his chest and nodded. “I’m ready.”

His cool presence slammed into me with the force of a tsunami as his lips covered mine in a kiss. My mind and spirit plummeted beneath his invasion. The ensuing pressure made me wonder if I’d be forced out of my body to accommodate him. A scream rattled around inside my head, and I struggled to push him out.

“Too much! Please!”

“Let go, Katharine. Embrace me and we shall soar.”

His melodious voice vibrated through my bones and injected me with mirth, a high born from love and desire. Sighs mixed with moans rolled continuously from my throat.

With his hand, he directed his cock to my wet slit and stroked the silky head the full length of my valley. My hips rose to meet him, my pussy aching to swallow him down whole.

“Mercy, you’re so wet.”

I pleaded without words, seeing beyond the smoldering coals his eyes had become into the welcoming soul within. “Don’t make me beg, Dom. Not this time. Please!”

Devin hesitated, his muscles trembling as if his steadfast control neared its breaking point. A growl rumbled in his chest as he pushed against my opening, barely piercing me. The pleasure radiating from his touch overrode the burning pain. Grunting, he thrust in farther, withdrew, and plunged in again.

We cried out in unison as Devin shoved himself fully into me. Our gazes locked together as he began a sensual dance. My hands gripped his ass, the muscles beneath his skin tightening with every thrust. Every part of me relaxed under the power of his touch. Our moans joined the crescendo of humming from the others and resonated through me like a skilled finger stroking a crystal glass. My body sang for him.