Serpent's Bite_A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy Read online

  When I opened my eyes, Aiden was in front of me, grinning and shaking his head. “No,” he said, producing a scarf. “Like this.”

  “I need to see what I’m doing,” I said, my voice weak.

  “This isn’t about us, it’s about you. All you need to do is relax.”

  Aiden wrapped the scarf around my eyes, tying it tightly around the back of my head, killing my ability to see entirely. Liam then withdrew, leaving me standing with my back against a wall and alone just long enough that, when one of them touched me again, I had no idea who it was. Lips came and found mine, while delicate fingers worked at the buttons on my jeans. Those same hands then slowly pulled my jeans down, while another set tugged the t-shirt I was wearing up and over my head.

  Someone took my hand and led me carefully across the room, helping me to settle on the edge of the bed. One man undid the clasp of my bra, and I shrugged out of it willingly. I was about to scoot up, when one man wrapped a hand around my waist to keep me in place, while the other man pulled my wrists above my head, crossed them, and began tying them with another soft piece of fabric.

  My heart was pounding now, each beat an explosion inside of my chest. I was blind, wearing only my panties, and now my hands had been tied as well. But it didn’t stop there. A shifting of weight on the bed caused it to sink behind me, and soon someone was kissing my bare shoulders again, only this time his hands were coming up around my ribs, climbing the crest of my breasts, and gently squeezing them together.

  Fingers pinched my nipples, causing me to bite my lip and sigh again. When the man sitting behind me withdrew his hands, I wanted to protest, but I didn’t get a chance.

  “Ready?” Aiden asked.

  “Ready for what?” I asked.

  A hot, oily substance fell upon my chest and dribbled onto and between my breasts, causing me to whimper. The hands were back soon after, rubbing the oil into my skin, making it slick and even more sensitive than it had been a moment ago. I pressed my back against the chest of the man behind me while he took control of my oiled chest, squeezing, and pinching at just the right times.

  I couldn’t remember the last time I had been this turned on. It was like something out of a dream, only there was no way in hell I was waking up this time; not when one of the men was starting to peel my panties off.

  I let my legs slowly spread and felt hot oil fall upon each of my thighs. Hands then gently worked the oil into my legs, one at a time, above and beneath the thigh, going close to the shin, then close to my abdomen, getting closer, and closer, to my tingling, wet center with every push. I was so worked up, I would have begged one of them to touch me where I wanted to be touched, but I didn’t have to do that.

  A euphoric cry spilled out of my mouth as a warm set of lips answered my silent plea, diving into me, kissing me, licking me. Moments passed with one man kissing me and working my breasts and another using his lips and tongue in a way that would soon bring me to orgasm, and the moment that it came was the moment I lost track of myself and the world around me.

  The weight distribution on the bed shifted again, only this time I became aware of a naked body positioning itself carefully between my legs. I waited, on baited breath, for that first moment of contact, and when it came, I bit my lip to stifle the noise I was about to make. I arched my back as, slowly, the two of us found a comfortable rhythm, but something was happening to distract me from the experience.

  I couldn’t see with my own eyes, the darkness in front of me was total, except for the balls of energy slowly entering the edges of my perceptions. One of the orbs was larger than the other, more prominent, vibrant—closer. I knew, somehow, that this was Aiden, and that it was he who was inside me, pushing and pulling, guiding the rhythms of our bodies, and the closer he came to orgasm, the more vibrant the light became, until suddenly it began to spill around me, filling me with a warm, refreshing feeling—one that I had never known before I became a succubus, but was as natural as breathing.

  One instant blurred into the next, and one light, Aiden’s, became Liam’s. I had gotten on my knees and turned around, and then Liam was behind me, his hand around my waist, thrusting at a rapid pace, his light pulsing and throbbing brightly, his energy enveloping me, filling me, sustaining me and more than just sustaining me. Aiden turned my face up to his and kissed me deeply.

  “How close are you?” he asked.

  “Close,” I whimpered.

  “We’re ready for you… here for you, begging for you to come for us.”

  I shoved my face into the bed and screamed into the mattress as my climax happened, an orgasm powerful enough to send me into a dizzying, euphoric state. But it was more than just the orgasm that had put me up there. I had never taken more than my fill from someone before, and when I took energy from Liam after having taken it from Aiden, I found myself reaching a kind of climax normal people can only dream about.

  Only, I wasn’t dreaming; I was here, in bed with two men, and entirely satisfied.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Maybe it was the thought of Leo, still incapacitated and immobile, or maybe it was that my body was buzzing thanks to Liam and Aiden, freeing me to make decisions encouraged by reason instead of impulsivity, but I decided to stay at the Alexandria after all. Going with them sounded like fun, especially if there was a possibility that the three of us would have a repeat performance of what had just happened, but staying made more sense. Leo needed me, as did Dante, and he was staying too.

  Still, just because I was staying for them didn’t mean I needed to be around them all the time, so after Liam and Aiden left to catch their flights, I headed to the Alchemy lab in search of Tom. The more I thought about him, the more I understood what it was I wanted from him, and it wasn’t another boyfriend.

  Before Tom I thought I had met, or at least heard of, every type of supernatural creature there was. But he was a warlock, and an alchemist, and he had been willing to share that previously unlearned information with me freely. I had never really been an academic or into science, but I did like knowing things; knowing things had, after all, helped me survive all these years.

  The hall leading up to the alchemy lab was quiet, save for a slight bubbling sound. I found the alchemy lab door ajar and the light on inside, so I gently pushed inside, making sure to keep my approach as quiet as possible so I wouldn’t disturb whoever was in there. But there wasn’t anyone in the lab, only test tubes and beakers, some bubbling over tongues of fire, others still and silent. The air carried a heavy, metallic scent mixed with a powerful chemical stink that made my nose sting.

  “Tom?” I asked, stepping into the empty room, when a voice—whispered directly into my ear—caused me to jump, with my heart wedged inside of my throat.

  “Who the hell are you?” a man asked.

  I backed against a wall and stared at the man who seemed to have manifested out of thin air. He was my height, and had an intense glare, with dark but piercing eyes in which I could almost see myself reflected. How could he have simultaneously whispered in my ear while also being directly in front of me… without me even seeing him until he spoke?

  “Holy fuck,” I said, trying to still my heart. “How did you do that?”

  The man’s eyebrow arched up, almost menacingly so. “I asked you a question first.”

  “I’m… Lilith.”

  “And just what in the hell are you doing here, Lilith?”

  “That’s another question, so you have to answer mine before I’ll answer another one.”

  He frowned. “I used magic. Now, what the hell are you doing here?”

  “That’s a bullshit answer and you know it.”

  “Maybe, but I’m the gatekeeper here, so you’ll either answer my riddles or you can go back from wherever you came.”

  “You’re American…”

  “That’s very astute of you. What gave it away?”

  “What’s an American doing in a British school?”

  He folded his arms. “I could
ask you the same question, but that’d be a boring question, so I’ll do you one better; I’ll only ask the questions that are important to this immediate situation. How’s that?”

  I shrugged. “Okay.”

  “Are you sure? Because your answers will determine whether or not we can be friends.”

  “I’m sure.”

  This man, whose name I didn’t yet know, took a breath and puffed his chest. “Pop or rock?” he asked.

  “Grunge.”

  “Black or colors?”

  “Black is the only color.”

  “Cher or Whitney?”

  “I’d rather die than choose between them.”

  “CHER OR WHITNEY!”

  His intensity caused me to back up. “Cher,” I said, “Cher, definitely.”

  He extended his hand. “You added your own, third answer, to the first two multiple choice questions, and correctly answered the third. You pass. I’m Kyle.”

  I took it and shook, smiling. “I’m Lil—you already know that.”

  “I do. Don’t say stupid shit, otherwise I’ll reconsider this whole friendship thing.”

  Kyle pushed the alchemy lab door shut and walked over to one of the counters, where a finger of fire was licking the underside of a beaker connected to a system of tubes. I stood by the door, watching him as he strapped a pair of goggles to his eyes and went to work. Anyone else would have called him an asshole for what he had just said and walked off, but his abrasive charm wasn’t exactly unwelcomed.

  Kyle looked over his shoulder. “Don’t just stand there, come over here.”

  I walked across to his counter, noticing two things as I approached; number one, it was getting warmer, and number two, my skin was starting to buzz all over, as if I were stepping through an electric field.

  “You’re an alchemist, too?” I asked.

  “No, I just like to make chemical fires.”

  I leaned in a little more closely. He was grinding a small ball of dirt into his palm with his thumb. In front of him was a small test tube filled with a dull green liquid, which was bubbling and gurgling even though it wasn’t exposed to a flame. I saw that same green reflected in Kyle’s eyes as he worked, diligently mashing the clod of dirt into his hand. When he was satisfied with its shape, or consistency, or whatever it was he needed from it, he dropped the dirt into the test tube, where it sank, uninspiringly, to the bottom, and then just sat there.

  I waited, then I looked at Kyle. “Is… that it?”

  Kyle turned his eyes up at me—lazy, unimpressed, eyes—and scowled. “I don’t know what Hollywood bullshit you were expecting, but this is real alchemy, not Harry Potter.”

  “You’re the second person to have said something like that to me.”

  He straightened up. “Let me guess, the first one was Tom?”

  “How did you know?”

  “He likes to make himself sound impressive by saying stuff like that.”

  “Is that why you say it, too?”

  “I say it because it’s true, and if you have a real interest in alchemy and not just the blond bombshell you were looking for when you came in, you need to learn patience.”

  “Tom?” I asked, blood flushing to my cheeks, “I was looking for him, but it isn’t what you think.”

  “Good, anyway I wouldn’t tell you where he is even if I did know.”

  “What? Why not?”

  “I’m not being a dick or anything, but I’d be doing you both a favor by keeping you away from each other.”

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because, honey, you’re way out of his league and… well…”

  I frowned. “Well what?”

  Kyle arched both eyebrows. “We’re going to play the innocent card, are we?”

  “Innocent about what?”

  “Oh please, like I don’t know you have four boyfriends. And by the way, you’re good looking and everything, I guess, but why is it you can get four boyfriends and I can’t even get one? What kind of sick and twisted world is this? And why won’t you share!”

  I stared at him, eyes wide, eyebrows arched. “Wow, you just let it all hang out there, didn’t you?” I asked.

  Kyle’s scowl softened. He had raised his voice toward the end, and his face had taken a turn for the dramatic, but he seemed to take a breath and had succeeded in composing himself. “Yes, well, I don’t believe in beating around the bush.”

  “Feeling better?”

  “I am.”

  I smiled at him. “Good. You aren’t like the other people I’ve met, you know that?”

  “Yes, I do. Everyone else around here is vanilla, I’m pistachio and fucking raspberry. Why do you think I let you hang around here at all? You’re the only other cool person to have walked through the doors of this institution.”

  “If you hate it so much, why don’t you leave?”

  “Same reason you don’t. Anyway, I don’t hate it, I guess, I just get bored. But now you’re here, and that’s changed everything.”

  “Changed everything how?”

  He regarded me curiously. “You must know by now that you’re the talk of the Alexandria; you and those dishy hunks you let follow you around.”

  I rolled my eyes. “They’re not dogs, you know.”

  “You and I are going to be good friends.”

  “Are we?”

  “Sure we are. I’m the only man at the Alexandria whose interactions with you aren’t going to be fueled by a desire to fuck you three ways from Sunday.”

  “That… is actually a really good point.”

  “Those are the only kind I make.”

  “Okay,” I said, “Well, in that case, I’m pretty happy to have met you, Kyle. I’m Lilith.”

  Kyle looked at my hand as if it were some kind of foreign, alien object, then looked up at me again. “What did I tell you about saying stupid shit?” he asked. “I know your name.”

  “Oh,” embarrassment crept in like a rapidly growing weed, “Right, I just thought—”

  “This isn’t going well…”

  “I could leave, you know”

  Kyle sighed, shook his head. “No! I still like having you here. Grab me that beaker over there, will you?”

  I turned around and walked over to the tray where a number of empty beakers sat, smiling at myself. This guy was sassy as hell, but a harmless, and incredibly entertaining. He was right. We would probably become friends, and I felt like I needed that. A friend.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  When I first arrived at the Alexandria, I had found it strange how, despite the building being supposedly full of students and mentors, I hadn’t seen or heard many people walking around its halls. I wasn’t sure why exactly that was. This place didn’t have an active curfew in effect, at least not that I knew of, anyway, and the school was situated close to the heart of London, where there were more pubs and restaurants than you could visit in a month.

  After having had a shower and gotten changed, I decided to take another stroll around the building and look for students to talk to, but had again found no one. The Alexandria was a ghost town, with only vestiges of activity and inhabitation present in the faintest whiff of cologne and perfume as I walked through the Alexandria’s dark halls.

  Finishing in the empty rec room, which was also quiet and dark, though I did notice a couple of empty wine glasses sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa, I had a thought to claim it for my own and watch a little TV. Love Actually was playing. I wasn’t exactly the kind of person who loved romantic comedies, but looking for something else to watch would have required more effort than I wanted to expend, so I let it run and sat watching it.

  I was about a third into the movie when someone walked into the rec room, came around to where I was sitting, and helped himself to a seat. It was Dante. The glow of the TV bathed his face in soft, grey light. For a while he didn’t say anything, he just watched the movie with me. Ten minutes may have passed in all, and then I noticed him turn his head
to look at me, and I looked at him, and I felt my heart start to run; not because he was Dante, but because he had probably been in on the Keeper’s plans to send the guys away, and like hell if he’d tried to stop him.

  “I always pegged you as more of a sleepless in Seattle kind of girl,” Dante said.

  “Wrong.”

  Dante shrugged. “How are you holding up?”

  “How do you think?”

  “You look like you’re doing well to me.”

  “That’s because I never got anywhere in life by crying over spilled milk. What’s done is done, isn’t it?”

  Dante nodded. “I’m sorry that no one told you until the last moment.”

  “Let me guess—that was necessary, right?”

  “It was. The Keeper thought, if you knew ahead of time, you might have tried to stop them from leaving.”

  “I get Vik and Raph being sent away to do whatever it is they need to do but did you really have to send Aidan and Liam back to Germany just to pack up? Any courier service could have done that.”

  “No, Lilith, they couldn’t have, and you know that.”

  “Fine, whatever. I’m still not happy about it.”

  “I know, and I’m not here to try and convince you that this was necessary, or to try and make you understand what’s going on. I came here because I wanted to see you.”

  “Why?”

  “Do I need a reason?”

  “You always have a reason.”

  “Well, this time the reason is just you.”

  “I’m sorry, Dante, but I find that hard to believe.”

  Dante reached across the sofa and touched my hand, and the spark that flowed between us caused me to jerk away from him. I saw the sparkle in his eyes fade and watched him retreat back into himself in the stunned silence that followed our touch. That reaction had sent him reeling, but I hadn’t been able to control it. Contact between us had been more than I could bear; another millisecond of it and I thought I could have burst into flames, that was the way I had felt.