First Comes Blood by Lilith Vincent

15

Chiara

Iopen my eyes in the darkness, not knowing how I know, but certain there’s someone in my room. No, in my bed. I keep as still as I can, straining for the sound of someone breathing, or the feel of the bed dipping under the weight of a heavy body.

Cassius? Panic floods through me—no, it must be Lorenzo, here to murder me because I had the audacity to be kidnapped by him.

As carefully as I can, I lift my head and peer around.

A voice speaks behind me, deep and familiar. “You’re awake.”

I roll over. It’s Vinicius, his head propped on his hand. He’s under the blankets in my bed, his shoulders are bare and he seems to be wearing nothing but a smile. “I heard Cassius left you hanging earlier. I thought you might need a cuddle.”

“Are you naked?”

He glances down at himself, and then back up at me. “Why don’t you find out?”

“Get out!” Predictably, he keeps smiling and doesn’t move. “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?”

“I told you. I thought you might need a hug after what happened earlier. Cassius can be…distant.”

Downright callous, more like. “How did you know about that?”

“We’re in a group chat.”

I stare at him, baffled by the image of these three bloodthirsty men chatting away via text. Do they share mafia memes? “Cassius just blurted out everything we did together? You guys are messed up.”

“You don’t need to feel embarrassed.”

“A group of guys discussing getting me off? Sure, nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Cassius told you a little about the arrangement the four of us—the three of us, sorry—have considered. We’re not a group of guys. We’re three extremely close men who are trying something out for the first time to see if it will make sense for us, and for you. We talked about you in the most respectful terms.”

“You were all respectfully discussing my pussy?”

He fights a grin. “Cassius had nothing but the best things to say about your pussy.”

I reach out and shove his chest, my face flaming. “Oh, shut up.”

Vinicius covers my hand with his and pulls me closer. “Come here. Everyone always says I give the best cuddles.”

“You’re extremely naked.”

“It’s just skin. I don’t bite.”

“It’s not just—you don’t—I’ve never been—”

“Chiara, I know. Come here.” He pulls me into his arms, but the blanket is bunched between us so I’m not actually touching him.

“Those two men are closer to me than brothers, Chiara. No one understands me like they do.” For once there’s not a trace of teasing in his voice. I wonder if this is the first time that Vinicius has spoken the absolute truth to me.

He wraps his arms around me and speaks softly in the darkness. “We know that we’re severely lacking in whatever makes a good partner. Kindness. Understanding—”

“Sanity?”

He laughs softly. “Each of us have a little piece of what a woman might grow to love. Between us, maybe we’re one decent boyfriend.”

Cassius and Vinicius? Possibly. Lorenzo? He’s got nothing that I or any sane woman could want, and Cassius and Vinicius are in la-la land if they think this dynamic is ever going to work. It would be hard enough to get off the ground if they were the loveliest and most considerate men on the planet and not a bunch of murderous kidnappers.

“What about jealousy?”

“Among the three of us? There’d be nothing to be jealous about because you’d belong to all of us. Is that nice?” he whispers in my ear as he pulls me further into his arms.

He plants a kiss on my throat, and another on my jaw. Warmth washes over me. That does feel nice, actually. He turns my face up to his and presses his mouth to mine in a slow kiss, as sweet and delicious as chocolate. Then as burning hot as fiery peppers.

In the back of my mind, I remember that Vinicius is just as dangerous as the others even though he doesn’t act like it. In fact, I seem to remember that he can be even more dangerous because he knows how to break down all your defenses with that silver tongue of his.

But it’s been a rough week and I crave the comfort of his touch. And god, how comforting he is with his hands rubbing circles on my back and his tongue just flicking at my lips. When he draws me closer I push my hands beneath the blanket so I can stroke his bare chest. Such warm, silky skin over hard muscles.

Vinicius eases me onto my back and our bare legs tangle together. I’m wearing an oversized T-shirt and underwear, making it easy for him to stroke my waist and squeeze my hips. My eyes open wide in the dark as his fingers loop into my underwear and start to drag them down.

Wait, wasn’t this about cuddling? “You tricky bastard.”

He wriggles down the bed a little and kisses my bare midriff. “Me, kitten? I just want to make you feel good. I’ll stop if you want.”

Want.

I’ve been learning a lot about want lately, but there’s still so much that I don’t understand. Why my pussy gets wet the instant these men touch me, for one thing. I can feel my own slipperiness now, just waiting to be discovered by Vinicius. He eases my underwear down my hips and legs until I’m naked from the waist down.

Then he slips between my thighs and plants a kiss on my clit.

“Have you got another one in there for me?” His voice is dripping with heat and desire. Another orgasm.

Laying there and panting is all the answer he needs. I’m going to escape. Meanwhile, I have to be what Cassius calls good. Letting Cassius and Vinicius make me come is a hardship I’ll bear while I seek a route out of here.

I let my knees fall open, push my fingers into Vinicius’ thick, golden hair and stare at what’s happening. Vinicius, between my thighs, licking me. So this is what his devious mouth can do. His tongue homes in on my clit, and those mischievous eyes of his glance up to see what he’s doing to me.

Wonderful things. Vinicius is all delicious heat and pleasure.

“Who are you?” I gasp, watching him lick me and feeling the hot sensations roll through me. I ride each wave higher and higher.

“Who do you think I am?” His words vibrate against my clit.

“A con man. Someone who steals by telling lies.”

Vinicius sucks my clit. “Among other things. I don’t like to box myself in.”

“Why do you do what you do?”

He takes his time answering, massaging me with his tongue until I’m crying out. “For money. Power. Because I can.”

My hips lift up from the bed involuntarily and I moan. He seems to know my clit better than I do. “But why trickery?”

“Baby,” he murmurs. “Baby, baby, baby.” He laps at me with every word. “Because it’s so delicious to get what I want with just my...” another lick. “Tongue.”

Oh, fuck me, what a tongue.

I’m breathing hard, my chest lifting and falling as everything down there begins to coalesce into something devastating and wonderful. “Vinicius, you—”

But he’s too busy licking me to ask what I’m trying to say. He wraps his hands tighter around my thighs, pressing me open as my pelvis rocks back and forth. My head tosses side to side on the pillow. I need a little more. Just a little more.

“Please, Vinicius.”

But he’s not giving me more. His tongue is just lapping against me, the lightest of licks. He’s deaf to my cries, holding back what I need in favor of drawing out my pleasure until it’s almost agony.

Finally, Vinicius laughs softly and ups the pressure of his tongue. My orgasm slams into me and my back arches up off the bed, head thrown back, mouth open wide in a strangled scream.

I feel Vinicius move up the bed toward me, still between my thighs. Something hot and blunt bumps against my pussy. My body is limp and heavy but I drag my eyes open and look down. I’ve never properly seen a man’s cock before. I barely got a look at Salvatore’s before he was shoving it into my mouth.

I stare at the swollen head of his cock as he grasps the base in his fist and slides the tip through my wet folds. With his heavy, muscular body between my knees, I can’t close my legs.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything, kitten.” But his sharp eyes are glinting. The head of him briefly presses into me and then the pressure is gone again. It’s not enough for him to be inside me but a little more pressure and he’d start to penetrate me.

This doesn’t feel like nothing. This feels very...vulnerable.

When I look up, Vinicius’ beautiful eyes are foxlike. “Don’t worry. I’m just imagining what it will be like.”

“What it will be like?”

His mouth tilts in a heated smile.

Fucking me.

“Okay, but you should probably imagine it with your mind, not with your dick.”

He pulses his hips forward and his cocks slides up through my pussy and against my clit. “People do this all the time when they’re not going to have sex.”

My eyes narrow. “That seems unlikely.”

“It’s true. Am I hurting you, my pretty little virgin?”

“Well, no…”

“You can take the whole tip of my cock and it won’t change anything about you and it won’t hurt. Watch.”

He pulls back until he’s right there at my entrance and with a small amount of pressure I feel myself give and stretch around him.

“Vinicius—!” I press my palms against his chest and pant with desire and alarm. The tingling, slippery heat between my legs makes me want to grasp his hips and beg him to slam into me.

His eyes are gleaming and he leans down to lick my lip with his tongue. “See, that doesn’t hurt at all, does it?”

“You’re tricking me into something. I know you are.”

“Your hymen is actually quite far in. I can go even further.”

I inhale sharply as he slips deeper into me and I stretch wider. The stretch starts to burn. “This really doesn’t feel like we’re not having sex anymore.”

His deep voice is hypnotic. “If we were having sex, I’d be thrusting deep, over and over.”

His hips begin to work against me in a slow rhythm. I watch, wide-eyed, as another quarter inch of his cock disappears inside me. “Yep, you’ve tricked me. Oh fuck, oh god—”

There’s a sound from the doorway. Cassius has opened the door and is standing there, stark naked. His curls are rumpled like he was asleep and we’ve woken him up.

Vinicius bares his teeth in annoyance. “What do you want?”

“Get your cock out of her.”

Vinicius smirks, not moving. “It’s just the tip. It doesn’t count.”

My face burns at the sight of Cassius’ thunderous expression. I’m practically having sex with Vinicius and Cassius has walked in. This isn’t normal. These guys are so not normal.

Also, if Lorenzo is right and Vinicius and Cassius only want me here so they can have sex with me, why isn’t Cassius letting him?

I’m so confused. I’m excruciatingly embarrassed as well, and I try to wriggle out from beneath Vinicius but succeed in only working him deeper. The burn in my pussy becomes an ache.

Cassius lifts a finger and points at him. “If you break her, Scava and I will kick your fucking teeth in.”

“I’m not going to. We’re just playing. Aren’t we, kitten?” Vinicius still doesn’t pull out. He seems like he’s enjoying winding Cassius up. “Why don’t you come join us? I bet our bambina is great at giving head.”

Cassius’ expression is stony, but as I watch, his cock is thickening. It’s getting bigger, and bigger. My eyes widen. I thought Vinicius was big enough, but Cassius is a beast.

“Kitten, could you stop staring at another man’s cock when mine is just about inside you?”

“Vinicius,” Cassius growls in warning, taking a step toward us.

“You should feel her. She’s so tight, Cassius. Just an inch more.”

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Or what?”

“We agreed.”

This is news to me. “What did you all agree?”

The two men glare at each other for several more seconds and then Vinicius pulls out and sits up. “Fine. No harm done.”

I grab my underwear and pull it back on. So much for just having a cuddle. I should have guessed it wouldn’t have been just anything with Vinicius.

Cassius steps forward and scoops me into his arms, saying, “You can stay in my room tonight. I don’t trust him not to try this again the second I fall asleep.”

“And we’re supposed to trust you?” Vinicius calls after us as Cassius carries me to his room.

“Of course. Good night.”

Trust Cassius not to have sex with me, he means? What the hell is going on?

I open my mouth to ask Cassius why I’m here if it’s not for sex, but as he puts me down on the mattress his expression is thunderous. Also, his semi-hard dick is right there. There have been two dicks right in my face in the last minute. This is two hundred percent more dick than I’m used to. Suddenly, I’m tongue tied again as Cassius tucks me beneath the bedclothes, gets in the other side and lays down with his back to me.

The silence is deafening.

Excruciating.

“Cassius?”

“Go to sleep.”

“What agreement do you all have?”

He’s silent for a long time. “Let’s not discuss this right now.”

“But it’s about me so I feel I should know. Is it about which of you has sex with me first? That’s a pretty screwy thing to have an agreement about.”

“Bambina, it’s late.”

He’s not even denying it, or defending what they’re doing. I don’t suppose it is defensible, but I still want to know what their agreement entails. Apparently they can touch me, but they can’t fuck me. Until when? Why?

I remember what Lorenzo snarled in my face the other day. The other two’ve had a hard-on for you for the past year. I don’t know why they’re not getting the hell on with it.

I gaze at Cassius’ back, imagining what it would be like to be pinned beneath him like I just was with Vinicius, receiving soft kisses from him as he murmured bambina in that deep, sexy voice of his. Heat darts between my legs. Maybe it wouldn’t be awful if Cassius…

Nope, not thinking about that. I tuck my hands beneath my pillow and go to sleep.

The dream seems to begin the second I close my eyes. A figure shimmers in the darkness, outlined in gold.

Mom, and she’s eating soup dumplings and smiling. I run toward her, but my body feels heavy. When I look down at myself, I see I’m wearing a wedding dress that’s been sewn all over with bullets. I struggle over to her, my legs burning and my lungs heaving, and throw my arms around her.

“Mom, I’ve missed you. Where have you been?”

But there’s something in my hand. Lorenzo’s knife, and as I’ve hugged Mom, I’ve slashed her throat. Her smiling face becomes fixed and her eyes grow glassy. Blood pours down both of us from the gaping wound in her neck.

“Mom!”

I’m jolted awake, sobbing hard and covered in clammy sweat.

Arms come around me in the darkness. Big, strong arms that fold me against a steadily beating heart. I burrow into that sound, my tears damp against his chest.

“Non piangere. Sono qui e non permetterò che ti succeda niente di brutto. Shh.”

Don’t cry. I’m here, and I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Shh.

I sob harder as the deep, rich timbre of those tender words twine through me. I don’t think Cassius knows that I can speak Italian. He squeezes me tighter in his arms, murmuring words against the top of my head as he kisses me.

“Mia dolce bambina.”

My sweet little girl.

All I’ve wanted for the past year was for someone to hold me while I cry for Mom. “I miss her. I miss her so much,” I sob.

“Lo so,” he murmurs. I know.

It’s pitch dark and I can’t see his face. We could almost be dreaming the same dream. I feel like he understands my grief. Beneath my fingers, deep in his heart, flows the same sadness. Maybe that’s why he wouldn’t let me touch him earlier, because his grief simmers so close to the surface.

Slowly, my sobs subside into shaky breaths and he rocks me gently. He murmurs sleepily and keeps me tight in his arms.

“Cassius…”

“It was just a dream. Go back to sleep.”

Sleep in my kidnapper’s arms. The man who I asked for help and who repaid me with captivity. His warmth surrounds me and lulls me back to drowsiness.

“Why are you doing this?” I whisper.

But his breathing has deepened, and he doesn’t reply.

* * *

I wakeup in an enormous bed and turn to find Cassius. His side of the bed is empty, and disappointment ripples through me. In here, naked and vulnerable, he might have answered my questions. Businesslike Cassius in his crisp white shirts is always so guarded and severe.

I sigh and roll onto my back. What a strange night that was. Vinicius is a troublemaker. And Cassius…

The plan the three of them have is crazy and will never work. Sharing a woman because they feel like they’ll be able to protect her more easily, and so she can feel like she has one whole boyfriend from the broken pieces of the three of them? More like all of them keeping one woman captive and at arm’s length at the same time. Lorenzo hates me. Vinicius is sneaky and mercurial. Cassius has too much baggage and a bad temper.

I gaze at the space in the bed beside me. But maybe he has a sensitive side as well, only it’s withered away like an unused muscle.

I sit up and hear noises coming from the kitchen. I pad out in bare feet and my oversized T-shirt and see Cassius standing at the coffee machine. He glances at me, his eyes flickering over my face before falling to my bare legs.

He doesn’t smile as I walk toward him. In fact, he looks tense and uncomfortable, and turns back to what he’s doing. “Coffee?”

He’s dressed for business in a white shirt and black pants. Everything about him is neat and fresh, from his manicured black beard to his leather shoes. This is the face he likes to present to the world, but I’ve seen him vicious with bloodlust as he dragged Griffin from his car.

I’ve seen him vulnerable, too. Or felt him be vulnerable, at least.

“Yes, please.” I stand close to Cassius while he makes a latte in a mug, but he doesn’t once look at me, even when he passes me my coffee.

“You, um, give nice cuddles,” I whisper into my mug as I take a sip. “And what you said last night was so sweet.”

Cassius slams a button on the machine like it insulted his mother’s ziti. “What?”

“I’m here and I won’t let anything bad happen to you, my sweet little girl,” I repeat. “What you said when I woke up from a bad dream.”

Cassius stares at me, shoulders bunched tight and anger sparking in his eyes. Maybe he was sleep-talking, but I don’t think so. I think he remembers exactly what he said to me.

He just didn’t realize that I could understand him.

“I speak Italian. I took classes all through high school.”

“Congratulations,” he growls.

My eyebrows creep up my forehead. “Do you hate showing me affection that much?”

“I’m busy and don’t have time for your childish moods.”

There’s nothing childish about what I’m saying or how I’m acting. If anyone’s being a child, it’s him. “Is being affectionate to me so horrible to you? I don’t think so. I think you liked it, and that’s scary to you.”

“Is that so?”

Yes, that’s so. I think I’m figuring Cassius out, and he resents it. Too bad because I’m not going to stop.

“That guy from the Geaks, I attempted to have sex with him because he was safe. He didn’t make me feel anything when I was close to him. I hated that I felt things when you touched me. I feel things when you touch me.”

Of all of them, Cassius is the one who I crave most to wrap me in his arms and hold me tight. The morsels of affection he’s given me are not enough, and I sense just how warm and loving he could be if he gave into it.

Either I escape and flee Coldlake for good, or I find some way to exist here safely.

Maybe that way is with Cassius.

Do I want it to be with Cassius?

I put my hand on his chest. “Don’t you? Feel things for me?”

Cassius bats my hand away and steps back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you haven’t got anything better to do, read a fucking book.”

Before I can say another word, he turns away and strides out of the room.