Tangled Innocence (6 page)

Jace and Dante took turns kissing her as her dragon filled
her, and soon he was inside to the hilt, his body straining above her. She knew
he was holding back so as to not hurt her, and she was thankful.

He was big, and she’d never done this before, so of course
it hurt, but she also had been horseback riding and using a vibrator long
enough that it wasn’t as painful as it could have been.

Thank. God.

When her inner walls finally relaxed around the girth of
him, she moved her hips, wanting him to join her.

“Please, Dante. Please, my dragon.”

He kissed her then, slowly, and pulled out of her. She
winced at the feeling, almost telling him to stop, but then he slid back in,
and she moaned at the sensation.

“Do that again,” she panted.

“Anything you want, my sprite,” he whispered, the soft growl
in his voice going right to her pussy.

He pumped into her slowly while Jace rolled her nipples
between his fingers. They were both touching her, both showing her that she was
the center for them. Jace’s hand slid down her stomach to her clit, then he
smiled.

“Come for me,” he whispered, and she did. Hard.

She clamped around Dante’s cock, and he shouted her name as
he followed right behind her. She felt his seed fill her and a slow burn across
her chest. A bond, yes, it had to be a bond, snapped into place, and she
rejoiced in the feel of her dragon—the fire and warmth that came from Dante, a
swirl of sensation that told her she was home.

Still panting, Dante pulled out, and Jace slid between her
legs, entering her in one thrust. There was no pain this time, only intense
need. She matched him, movement for movement, high on what she’d done with
Dante and the connection she felt with her bear. She wanted it with Jace too,
craved it.

The craving was something new…something that wasn’t what she
was used to, but she took it and everything her men gave her.

“I can’t wait,” Dante said from behind Jace, and she looked
up at him and noticed how close to the other man he was. “Are you ready?”

Jace grinned at her then looked over his shoulder. “Always,
dragon. Always.”

Dante grinned right back, gripped Jace’s hips, then thrust.

Jace moaned, and Nadie froze, and her bear did as well.
“Thank God you used lube, Dante. You’re fucking huge.”

Apparently they’d been busy, and she hadn’t noticed. She’d have
to pay better attention next time. This was something she didn’t want to miss
again.

She was spent, but she wanted to be part of what Jace and
Dante were sharing, as well as what she and Jace were sharing. Dante would
move, then Jace would follow, thrusting into her. She wrapped her legs around
as much of Dante and Jace as she could, then put on hand on each man, needing
the connection.

They moved as one, and she lost herself to it. Her body
rose, the wave of heat crashing into her as she came, yet again. Jace yelled
her name then Dante’s, coming with her. Dante must have done the same because
as he screamed their names, the final bond slid into place.

The fire that came from Dante blended with the raw, earthy
energy and spice of Jace. She felt the soft and light feel of her own energy
mixing. The three threads wove together, the bond cementing, yet still fragile.

It tasted of home, of peace…of promise.

She closed her eyes, the intensity of what she was feeling
too much.

“Open, open your eyes, love,” Jace whispered. The warm glow
of their bodies radiated within the room, their mating bond firmly in the place
that would be the foundation of what was to come. It was as if she could see
the future with them in that one moment, the essence of something much bigger
than herself.

Tears slid down her cheeks at the beauty of it. She opened
her mouth to speak but couldn’t catch her breath. Both men were moving then,
one on each side of her as she let out a soundless scream. Her body glowed
brighter, and she shook from side to side. In her mind, she knew that this was
what happened when one of the lightning-struck became their supernatural, but
that didn’t make it any better.

It was like a thousand knives sliding over her, washing away
the happiness and hope she’d felt when she’d bonded with her two mates.

A new hunger came from deep within her belly that she knew
would never be sated.

She didn’t pass out, not like the other women who had
changed before her, but she looked down at herself, not knowing what she’d
become, only that she had no idea if she’d ever be able to control it. Dark
black leaves had been inked into her skin on her sides and hips. She felt the
burn on her spine and shoulders and knew they were there too. Within the leaves
were crimson-red roses, each dripping in blood, but not hers. It was only ink,
but it had branded her like no other.

Jace’s hand hovered over her hip, and she met his gaze. His
face was awash in awe, but he didn’t look scared. She turned to Dante, who
licked his lips then cupped her jaw.

“What am I?” she asked, her voice hoarse from screaming.

Dante bent and kissed her softly. “You are our mate.”

The bond flared between the three of them, and she relaxed
somewhat, remembering what they’d just done and how her future would be forever
changed.

She nodded but wasn’t satisfied. “What am I?” she asked
again.

“You, Nadie, are a succubus.”

He’d put it off for far too long, and now Dante would have
to follow the summons from the Conclave. Though he’d never been summoned
before, he knew the outcome for ignoring the thick cream envelope and what it
contained any longer.

Death.

With a sigh, he slipped from the bed after he untangled
himself from Nadie’s embrace. She’d slept between him and Jace throughout the
night, exhausted not only from their lovemaking, but from the bond itself.

Not to mention she’d found her dominant paranormal gene.

A succubus.

Who would have thought Nadie Morgan would become a succubus?

In retrospect, it did make sense somewhat since she’d been
weaker than any of the other women when she’d found her true half. While Lily,
Jamie, and Becca had all had some tremors and weakness as their bodies tried to
find equilibrium, Nadie’s was worse by far.

Her inner succubus had been draining her energy in order to
feed since Nadie hadn’t been able to feed it the normal way. Dante wasn’t so
sure that she would have made it without the energy of two mates, losing her
virginity and finding her bond at the same time. Succubi needed the life force
of their partner and would drain them to death if they needed it.

Since Nadie was now bonded to them, though, the feeding
seemed to work like a conduit and flow back to him and Jace as well, much like
Balin and his need for souls as a demon. Nadie would take in their energy to
feed her beast and then, because of the bond they shared, would flow it back to
them individually.

They would have to find a balance and teach her, like the
others had been taught, what she needed to know about her new powers. Dante
shook his head. Of all things she could have turned into, though, that one had
not been on his list.

The benefits for him and Jace…well, he wouldn’t be so
lecherous to think about those right now. He’d just wait until he could talk
them over with Nadie. He’d always known he’d have to teach her what lay in her
future. In their core group, Ambrose, the warrior angel mated to Jamie, was
eons old, but Dante was even older. It was their unspoken job to ensure the
women and younger male paranormals knew what they were getting into. He’d seen and
met every type of paranormal known to man, even the djinn before Jamie had
turned into one herself, and succubi were some of the rarest.

He couldn’t wait to see her come into her own, to see Jace
do the same within their bond. He’d been alone so long…he didn’t know how to be
anything else other than who he was. That would change though, and he knew that
he’d never be able to let them go now.

Their bonds would take time to form fully and strengthen the
fragility they held now. When they were all ready, all at the point where they
would be functioning as a unit at peace, he would be able to see Nadie bloom
into a warrior far greater than he. It wouldn’t be like what others thought
when they thought of succubi. They weren’t sexual leaches, but warriors who fed
differently than others and were stronger fighters than many paranormals. She
would have the ability to use the self-confidence she’d hidden for so long.

He’d seen too much in his time, yet he couldn’t wait to see
what would happen next.

He tended to live in the present; however, unlike some
paranormals, he didn’t try to think about how long he’d been alive and what
he’d seen. He’d been there during the rise and fall of countless civilizations
and watched the humans become who they were now almost at the beginning of the
humans’ existence. He’d seen them when they’d forgotten the other realms around
them and thought themselves the only types of creatures in the world worth
being. Though there were dragons far older than him, those tended to live
within the dragon realm far away from the humans.

In fact, most dragons stayed in their own realm. They also
preferred to be in their dragon forms while they worked, played, and did most
things. They might be large and have claws, but they still had the dexterity to
do what they wanted. Everything in their realm was also made to fit them so it
worked out. Though sex was still something they did in their human forms. Some
lines weren’t meant to be crossed. Dragons even gave birth as humans, the same
as all paranormals. If someone higher up in the dragon echelon actually thought
hard about it, it had already been determined which side was more dominant
between genetics and magic, and that would shake their elitist foundation to
the core.

So they didn’t think about it.

What was odd to Dante was other dragons’ distaste for their
human bodies. After all, humans were descendants of dragons and all other
paranormals. Each shifter, fae, brownie, and other paranormal had always had
the ability to shift to their human form.

They just hadn’t always called it that.

It had once been so they could mask themselves from the
others. Yes, they’d also needed magic to hide their signature scents that
revealed who and what they were, but the human form was one that each had so
they could blend easily within
the
others—
the supernaturals themselves. It wasn’t until the actual first
humans had been born, without another form to shift into, that the
supernaturals had to use their human forms to hide from other
humans
.

It was rare for a dragon to want to be in their far weaker
human form for any longer than deemed necessary, but Dante wasn’t like most
dragons.

He liked the feeling of blending with the ones who might be
weaker than him physically but contained within themselves the potential for
something far greater.

They could change, adapt, and evolve.

Dragons were set in their ways. A fact that, to Dante,
seemed detrimental to their very existence, though not many agreed. It was like
that for many paranormals though. They were within their own realms and only a
few types even mingled with humans on a daily basis. The shifters had their
dens within the human realm since they technically didn’t have realms of their
own, but they were so hidden by magic, they were like realms of their own

Each realm had its own government, society, cities, rules,
histories, and everything else that came with ruling over a civilization.

Including war, famine, and peace.

The humans were unaware of what lay around them, something
that Dante didn’t think would change anytime soon. The realms were hidden by
magic and an age-old ability that there was no way humans would be able to find
them.

The only way the humans would find out was if a supernatural
flat-out told them.

Since that had almost happened with an angel on the warpath
only two years ago, maybe Dante should suppress his thoughts on that matter.

“Dante?”

The sound of Jace’s voice jarred him out of his worries, and
he turned to the bear who was shirtless but had put on a pair of Dante’s sleep
pants to walk into the kitchen. He held back a grin. He and Jace might have
similar waist sizes, but the man was at least three inches taller and the
bottom of the pants clearly showed some ankle.

It was kind of odd being the shorter one in a relationship
considering he didn’t find many people his height or taller outside of the
dragon realm. Jace was one big fucking grizzly. His shoulders were broader, and
Dante was pretty sure the man’s arms and thighs were bigger too. Dante might
have once thought himself huge, but then he’d met Jace.

He held back another grin at the thought of just what else
was big on Jace. They would have time to explore each other in more detail
later. Last night had been about Nadie, with her being the center. Dante could
still remember the feeling of her tight pussy around his cock and, later,
Jace’s tight ass squeezing him as well.

He shifted slightly so his now-filling dick wouldn’t tent
his pajama bottoms any more than they probably already were. He’d had only a
taste of both his mates the night before and hadn’t had enough of Jace to sate
even a fraction of his thirst. There would be time for more, and with so many
people in bed, there would be many further tastes, positions, orientations, and
just about anything else to enjoy before anyone was truly sated.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Dante finally said, his voice a
little more gruff than he’d meant it to be. He couldn’t help it, considering
where his mind had wandered off to.

Jace just rolled his eyes and leaned in for a kiss. Dante
sighed into him, savoring the light pressure and softness of his mate’s lips.
They weren’t as soft as Nadie’s—nothing he’d ever felt was—but they were
perfect in his eyes.

He had to hold back a groan. He really needed to get his
mind out of the unicorns and rainbows that was his love life and back into the
darkness he was about to step foot into.

Not that he really wanted to tell Jace that, though the man,
and the woman they’d left in bed, deserved to know.

Since he’d promised Nadie that he wouldn’t keep secrets that
affected them, he had no choice but to tell Jace why he was out of bed and why
he wouldn’t be there when Nadie woke up. He’d needed to leave about five
minutes ago as it was. He was going to get in trouble.

Crap.

“You didn’t wake me up,” Jace finally said as he padded over
to the coffee pot. Dante had one of those single cup coffee makers so he never
had to choose what he wanted until he was thirsty. He’d lived long enough that
he’d tried just about every form and way to make coffee. He didn’t mind moving
on to whatever was popular in the moment. Plus, it was easy as hell to have a
cup of coffee when he wanted without having to waste a whole pot.

Now he knew he was ignoring the issue at hand if he was
thinking about coffee and wasting pots of it.

“You have flavored creamer or just milk?” Jace asked, and
before Dante could answer, the bear went to the fridge, got out the
amaretto-flavored creamer he had on hand, and came back for his cup, which was
now done.

It wasn’t lost on him that, though Jace tried to act like a
guest by asking the right questions, he was also right at home.

“I like you here, you know,” Dante finally said.

Jace smiled over his cup, a knowing look in his eyes. “I
like being here.”

“You also act like you own the place. Something I like,
too.”

Jace rolled his eyes again and leaned against the counter.
“I’m used to not living at my place in the den. I’m out more than in these
days, so I can usually find my way around a kitchen if it’s organized.
Sometimes, though, people are idiots and put the plates near the trash can and
the cups near the stove and the seasonings far away from the oven.”

Dante tried to remember if he’d put his things in any form
of order other than how he’d always had them then shrugged. “If something is in
the wrong place for your delicate organizational sensibilities, feel free to
change it. I might get lost, but change is good for me. Don’t want to get set
in my ways.”

Jace took another sip of his coffee then set the cup down on
the counter. He crossed his arms over his chest then leveled a look at Dante.
The bear acted the cheerful man most times, but it was damn hard to hide things
from such an astute being.

Namely Dante’s thoughts.

“We wouldn’t want that. Now you gonna tell me what you’ve
been hiding from me? You’re up way too early for a man who just spent the night
prior wrapped around the sweetest and sexiest woman either of us has ever
had—not to mention the fact you left me there too. You wouldn’t have done that
if something wasn’t on your mind. Something that was heavy enough to leave a
woman alone, one who just happened to have turned into a succubus of all
things.”

Dante let out a breath, knowing a small tendril of smoke
escaped his nostrils. He knew that wouldn’t surprise Jace. The man had seen him
as a dragon before when they’d first met and were discovering each other and
finding out if they could last as a couple before they found their third, but
it didn’t make him feel any better that he was worried enough to blow smoke.

Literally.

“I’ve been summoned.”

“By who? Your council?” Gone was the lazy bear; the Mediator
stood in his place. Jace had been through his own forms of war since he’d been
born and had been god-touched as a Meditator.

It was also because of that role that Jace would know what
the Conclave was and how they differed from the council that each realm
held—another reason Dante wanted to hold back.

He couldn’t though. “No, not by my council.”

Jace frowned. “By another council? Can they really summon
you? You’re a dragon of the Azure House.”

Dante held back an eye roll at the mention of his Royal
House. Yes, he was a prince of the dragons. Technically. No one, however, had
used that title in centuries around him since he didn’t like it. Dragon society
had tiers, named for the color of their scales. Most dragons were settled into
their family Houses. In Dante’s family, since they were all black dragons, they
were from the Obsidian House. Dante was special in that he had been born with
partially blue scales, hence why he was of a different house than his blood
family.

One reason he didn’t speak of them much.

Or ever.

The Azure House was one of two actual Royal Houses, and it
was not based on blood, but by being god-touched. They ruled alongside the
council within the realm.

At least that was what they said they did. Dante had never
been part of it. He’d stayed away or at least far enough away that he didn’t
have to become responsible for a realm that didn’t understand him or care about
what he wanted or desired.

Dante tended to stay away from that, and again, he wasn’t
summoned by the dragons.

No, this was far worse.

“Jace, it wasn’t a council that summoned me. It was the
Conclave.”