In Death I Live by Lindsay Becs

DOMONIC

My eyes followZora as she leaves the kitchen on Grey’s back. He’s galloping like a horse while she pretends to throw a lasso. I can’t stop the curve of my lips as I watch them go. My best friend and the girl I love more than anything in this world.

“We’re so fucked,” River mumbles.

Cruz smacks a kiss to his cheek before swatting his ass on his way to clean up from breakfast. I snort a small laugh watching them like this—relaxed and in the open. Happy.

River’s eyes find mine, holding. Waiting. Probably for me to explode in anger and tell him how this isn’t going to work. Throw dominance over everyone. But that’s the last thing I want right now.

Right now, I feel calm. And that’s a feeling I haven’t had in a long fucking time.

“Are we cool?” River asks cautiously.

Looking over to Cruz, I give him a nod with a quick chin lift. “Yeah, man. We’re more than cool. All I want is for you to be happy. For all of us to be fucking happy.”

I can see River instantly relax, the tension flooding out of him as he sits down across from me at the table. “Who knew that when we picked her up that day it would change everything, huh?”

Rubbing my thumb across my lip, I nod. “Yep. She has definitely changed everything. Thawed my ice-cold heart, that’s for damn sure,” I chortle.

“Well, shit. You’ve been smiling and laughing more in the last couple days than I’ve seen in years,” Cruz butts in with his own observations.

Shrugging, I reply, “Guess I needed a sassy little blonde with mesmerizing blue eyes to entrance me.”

My cell beeps, letting me know of an incoming text. I know it’s going to take all the carefree air that we’ve had going on right out the window. With a deep sigh, I open the message from Doc. Everything was sent to Swan. Be safe, Dom.

I look up at River and Cruz. “Everything is in motion. Doc just sent the paternity results to Swan,” I tell them, tossing my phone on the table.

“How long before he comes looking for her you think?” Cruz asks, coming around to sit at the table with River and myself, a cup of coffee in his hand.

I shake my head. “If I had to guess, not long. He doesn’t like to be lied to or made to look like he doesn’t know what’s happening. He’ll want blood.”

River runs a hand down his face. “I can’t wait to burn that fucker down.”

Piercing him with my dark eyes, I say, “Get in line.”

I leave the kitchen to find Grey and Zora. Her giggles fill my ears as I get closer to his bedroom, where I knew I’d find them. She’s so fucking gorgeous, splayed out on his bed, blonde hair fanned out around her while he kisses up her thigh.

I lean against the door frame, watching them together. A smile tugging on my lips has me licking them, wanting to join. Wanting to trail my lips and tongue over every part of her. Make her back arch and hear those little sexy noises and moans she makes.

Her eyes open, her bright blue locking on me. Hooking her finger at me, she smirks, telling me to join them.

Pushing off from my spot, I stalk toward the bed, gripping my hard cock through my shorts to relieve some of the pressure that’s already building.

Grey doesn’t falter from coating her skin with kisses, licks and love bites when I crawl up the bed with them.

I drop my mouth to Zora’s, my tongue pushing inside while my hand goes to her throat. Her head tilts back to give me better access to her as her own hand grips onto my bicep, her nails digging into my skin.

With a growl, I pull back from her. “Stop,” I order Greyson. He reluctantly listens, giving me an annoyed look. “I think we need to do a ceremony.”

“Fuck. Yes,” Grey says, fist-pumping the air.

Grabbing Zora’s hand, I pull her up to sitting. “Come on, angel girl. It’s time we mark you as ours.” Cupping her face in my hand, I run the pad of my thumb over her soft lips before kissing them once more.

Grey follows behind Zora as I lead her back downstairs. Cruz and River look up at us when we enter the kitchen again, both seeming a little confused.

“After this morning’s confessions—” I start, looking down at Zora, who bites her lip with a cute ass grin. “And the fact that the plan is in motion, meaning Swan’s about to flip his fucking lid, it’s time to come to an agreement, and if our girl is up for it, she gets marked.” I swallow, feeling a little bit nervous now. “Today.”

I look to each of the boys, a silent question being asked and an answer is given without words spoken. Then, looking back at our girl, I put the decision in her hands. “Zora, any of us would be over the fucking moon to be marked to you for eternity. But the choice is yours.”

“Can I ask one question first?”

“You can ask anything you want to, baby,” I tell her honestly.

“You said it’s like a mixture of a tattoo and a blood oath…but what is it exactly? How are we marked together?”

“Each of our families has a seal—like a family crest.” I hold up my hand to show her the ring on my finger that bears the mark of the Chadwick family. “That seal, that crest, is burned into your flesh.” Her eyes widen in panic, so I try to calm her. “The man you choose to be tied to, to be marked with, he bleeds for you. You burn for him, and in return, you cut him, making him bleed and scar for you. An X over his heart, letting everyone know that his heart belongs to another.”

She takes in a deep breath, and her shoulders rise and tense. As she exhales, she closes her eyes and seems to relax. Or maybe it’s just her giving over to what she wants, regardless of the pain attached to it.

Her blue eyes open, and instantly I grin. She is determined and strong, and I know she’s decided.

“I want to be marked to all of you.” Her answer knocks us back. Physically, we all stumble a bit, her words, her revelation, taking us all by surprise.

“Zora, are you sure you want that?” Cruz asks. Care and protection are laced in his voice.

She nods. “I do. I want all of you and can’t possibly choose one of you over the others. You are all mine as much as I’m all of yours. It’s all five of us or none of us at all.” Her smile is big and beautiful as she looks at each of us. “I want you all as mine forever. Do you want me?”

River is the first to step up in front of her. Cupping her face in his hands, he tilts his head to the side. “There’s never been a question of whether you were mine. You have been from day one. Hell yes, angel. I’m yours.” He kisses her before stepping back.

Cruz walks to her next, his swagger making everyone either roll their eyes or laugh. “Baby girl, you own me.” Then he looks over at River, who gives him a wink. “Well, you own most of me. That fucker has a part too.” Zora laughs and then grabs his face to kiss him.

She turns around to face Greyson and me, lifting a brow to question us next.

“Yes, Zo-Zo,” Grey begins. “I’d love nothing more than to be marked to you for the rest of my life. You, baby, are everything.” She leaps into his arms, kissing all over his face.

Still in Grey’s arms, she turns her head to look at me. “What about you, Dom? Is my favorite asshole ready to be tied down to one girl?”

“Put her down,” I tell Grey. Zora’s face falls, all the laughter and humor are gone, not knowing what I’m about to do or say. I don’t know why she looks uncertain since this was my idea.

Closing the space between us, I push into her until her back hits the wall. My hand on her throat has her eyes dilating as she stares up at me. With the tip of my tongue, I flick her lip, resting my brow against hers. “Yes, angel girl. I want you. I already have you tattooed on my skin and now…now, I’m going to be seared into yours, and nothing makes me harder than that. I already told you, baby, I fucking love you. You weren’t getting away regardless,” I whisper the last part into her ear and step away.

Her cheeks are flushed red and her eyes darkened. With a slight lift of my lips, I run my thumb over my lip. “So, that clear things up for you, Zora?”

“Yeah,” she says in a breathy whisper.

“Let’s go to the chapel then.”

ZORA

“Chapel?”I ask because I didn’t know there was a damn chapel here. Not that it surprises me that much. There are a lot of rooms and parts of the compound I haven’t been to yet.

River comes up beside me, putting an arm around my shoulders as we begin to walk. “We only use it for ceremonies and official shit.”

“So, this—me—is official shit?” I joke, even though my heart is in my throat.

With a smirk, he shrugs. “Sort of.”

“Ass,” I laugh, throwing his arm off of me, making him chuckle.

My laughter quiets when we stop in front of double wooden doors with a cross carved into it. I swallow, my heart pounding in my chest. I guess there’s no turning back now.

“You ready?” Dom asks before pushing open the door.

“As I’ll ever be.”

He gives me a slight nod before opening the doors. Inside is a small chapel, just as they said. It looks old and haunted. Marble stone and intricately carved wood fill most of the room. An alter at the front has me pausing, praying that I’m not making a huge mistake.

I’m trying to remember to breathe as I stand in the middle of this small chapel that’s inside the very home I’ve been living in for months, watching all four boys light candles along the walls. My breath hitches when they all stand at the front in a line, staring at me when they finish.

“Zora Jacobs,” Dom starts in a serious tone, making my nerves spike more. “We are the Black Swans, the descendants of the houses of Chadwick, Vos, Abbot, and Morgan. We choose you to be marked, this day, to each of us. Do you accept?”

“Yes,” I rasp. Then, I roll my shoulders back, clear my throat and say it again. “Yes, I accept.”

“Please step forward and join us.”

Slowly, I walk down the aisle toward them at the front. My heart is still pounding so hard I hear it in my ears, my body trembling, hands shaking, and yet, I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.

They part, two on each side, making a clear path to the alter that sits front and center on the platform. Dom motions for me to go up to it, so on shaky legs, I walk up the five steps and lie down.

The cold marble makes me shiver as my exposed skin hits it. I didn’t put any clothes back on after Grey took them off. Wearing only my underwear and a lace bralette, I feel naked lying here on a fucking alter in a chapel that’s only lit by candles and torches.

River is the first to step up to the alter with me. He gives me a wink that helps calm me down. Removing his ring, he grips it with what looks like plyers before holding it into the flame that’s lit by my head.

After a torturously long minute, he looks back down at me with the ring glowing red, a sign of how hot it is. “I, River Vos, a Black Swan, mark you, Zora Jacobs, to me for this life and the one that follows us into eternity. Ik, River Vos, een zwarte zwaan markeer je, Zora Jacobs voor mij voor dit leven en voor degene die ons volgt tot in de eeuwigheid.”

“The fuck did you just say?” I ask quietly.

He smirks at me. “I repeated the same thing but in Dutch, which is the origin of my family name.” Then, his grin falls as he holds his ring just under my collarbone. “It’s okay to scream, angel.” Those are his last words before searing heat and pain radiate through my body.

One by one, each of the boys does the same thing. Each of them saying the same words in English and then repeating them in the language of origin of their own family name. Cruz speaking Welsh after River, followed by Greyson speaking French, and Domonic last, only speaking in English.

By the time all four of them have burned their family crests into my flesh, sealed and marked to them, I’m in so much pain I can’t stop shaking. I thought I was going to pass out, but I haven’t, determined to be stronger than that.

Greyson had a tear fall from his face and land on my cheek as he marked me. His kiss, licking the tear from my skin, was the only comfort any of them offered, solidifying the seriousness of the ceremony. Maybe that was what kept me from passing out; I don’t know.

Dom, the last one, takes my hand in his and then places something cold and soothing over my burned skin. It instantly makes it feel better, causing my eyes to close and allowing me to relax for a moment. He drops his lips to mine, almost not touching. “You are perfect,” he whispers against my lips.

Opening my eyes, tears slide down my temples as I stare up to see all four of them standing over me now. “Are you okay to continue, or do you need time?” River asks.

“I-I’m okay now after whatever magic it is that you put on my chest,” I say, looking to Dom. He nods and helps me to sit up.

River takes my place on the alter, his shirt removed. It’s then that I realize all four of them are shirtless. Dom hands me one of the daggers he had made for me. “This is your mark. The symbol to all others that our hearts are closed to anyone else. The X you place over our hearts is unique to you and us alike and cannot be replaced by another. But be sure it’s deep enough to scar,” he instructs.

I nod, stepping closer to River. He, once again, gives me a wink when I look at his face before looking back to his chest. Leaning forward, I kiss the place I intend to cut. Then, I slice through his skin, making my mark, making him bleed for me. “I, Zora Jacobs, mark you, River Vos, to me for this life and the one that follows us into eternity.”

I feel not only empowered but closer to him. It’s like cutting him open allows his soul to escape its cage and find mine to embrace as we have so many times before. Placing my hand over the bleeding X, I coat my palm in his blood. I lick up my palm, tasting his blood and soul before painting my stomach with it.

Cruz is next, and it’s much the same. Except I don’t want to ruin his tattoos. I’m more precise with how I cut him, not wanting to take away from the art on his body, but rather, add to it. With the opposite hand that I used with River, I do the same thing, coating my palm, tasting his blood before painting my skin with it.

When Grey lies down, I notice his very visible erection. Looking at him, I lift a brow in question. “Blood is a kink of mine, Zo-Zo. And one we haven’t explored together yet.”

I don’t say anything more. Instead, I begin to throb between my legs, and my nipples harden. After kissing his chest, I say my vow, make my cuts. Seeing him bleed and knowing what he just told me, I lean forward and trace my tongue over the cuts. His groan vibrates against my mouth as I drink up his life source.

Before I stand up fully, he grips my head in his hands and brings his lips to mine, tasting his blood on my lips and tongue, moaning into my mouth. He sucks and bites at my lips, and I’m about to fuck him on this weird-ass alter if he doesn’t stop soon.

It’s Dom clearing his throat that has us snapping back to reality and pulling away. With a smile, Grey swipes his thumb against my cheek, probably cleaning blood off of it before standing to join River and Cruz as Dom lies down for his turn.

I stare at his chest, my eyes pinching together as I look at him. “What’s wrong?” he asks.

“I don’t want to ruin her,” I say, talking about the tattoo he has that I watched him get. The one that looks like me.

“You ruined me before I tattooed you on my skin, baby,” he tells me, lacing my fingers with his, bringing them to his lips. It’s one of the sweetest moments he’s ever had with me. “Do what you need to do.”

Like with Cruz, I’m careful and take more time with where and how I cut him. Then, I trace the cuts with my finger before bringing it to my lips, painting my mouth with his blood-like lip gloss before licking the seam of my lips.

Hearing Greyson groan, I turn to look at him, giving him a mischievous smile. I walk to him, kissing him with Dom’s blood on my lips, and let him smear it and then clean it from my mouth and face. “Fuck, I love you,” he growls as he tugs on my bottom lip with his teeth.

We all leave the chapel soon after that to properly clean our wounds. I pause to look in the mirror, seeing each of their seals on my skin. Lining my collarbone are four circles that represent each of their family names: Vos, a fox; Morgan, a wave for the sea; Abbot has a cross and praying hands; and Chadwick, a tower of power for the village it leads.

“They’re beautiful,” I muse, wanting to touch them but knowing that it’ll hurt.

They are the most beautiful pain I’ve ever endured.