15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Mari's head hurt more than she could ever remember. The pain was white-hot and sharp behind her eyes, and a dull thud at the back of her head. More than anything, she didn't want to open her eyes.

Voices surrounded her, though she couldn't understand anything they said. They might have been shouting or whispering. She honestly couldn't tell.

Someone held her. Someone strong. She was so desperately cold, even though the arms around her were warm. She just wanted to sleep for a thousand years.

Someone brushed back her hair and kissed her forehead—whispered words into her skin. The familiar touch felt safe, like home.

She blinked her eyes slowly open. Cisco loomed over her, his wings spread out wide around them as if forming a bulwark over her to protect her from the world.

"There you are," Cisco said softly. "How do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by something big." She groaned when her own voice was too loud. "And maybe ran a marathon after," she whispered.

Cisco frowned. "I'm afraid we need to move. We're too exposed here."

She stifled a whimper and stretched one arm around his neck. "Do what you need to do."

He lowered his wings enough that he could see over them, and then began to move. Each step was a jolt that made her head ache, but she did her best not to make a sound. In what felt much too long but was probably only about a minute, they were against the side of a concrete building that rose above them.

Memory came back when the sharp smell of fireworks stung her nose. She tried to look up over Cisco's wings, but it was hopeless if he didn't cooperate. At least the gunfire seemed to have stopped. "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone but you is fine." Cisco looked down at her. "Fighting is basically over aside from a few holdouts inside."

"What happened to me?"

"Vincent's pet shadow witch choked you out," Cisco growled. "Rio was just about to take him down but you collapsed."

So, that was why the wards had felt strange. A shadow witch was almost as far from what Mari did as was possible. They worked in the intellectual rather than the corporeal realm; magic of the head rather than of the body. "He got away?"

"Yeah, along with Vincent and his bodyguards. Most of what's left here now are people who were fighters from the top floor of the club. As soon as they realized what happened they started to surrender."

"The submissives?"

"I haven't heard yet. They're still clearing the building."

"I'm okay. We can go inside."

Cisco examined her skeptically, and then seemed to take her at her word. Though he didn't put her down, he dropped his wings a bit and moved toward the door.

Dancer appeared in front of them with a flash of brimstone. "Was just coming to get you, boss. We found the submissives. Rio is checking to make sure everyone is accounted for," he said with a sharp-toothed smile. "They were being loaded onto a truck. Looks like we arrived just in time."

"Good work. Everyone okay?"

"Yeah, the folks inside didn't put up much of a fight once they realized that Vincent and his crew were gone."

"You and Dash are in charge of questioning them. Make sure we know if they were forced to fight and what kind of incentives were used so we know if anyone else might be in danger."

Dancer nodded briefly and then disappeared again with a pop.

Cisco kept moving through the rolling door of the building.

After a dozen or so more paces, Rio came to intercept them. He pressed a kiss into the side of her head and inhaled. "Are you okay, querida?"

"Yes, everyone can stop fussing."

"Not a chance," Rio said as he gestured that he could take her. Cisco passed her off to Rio with a parting kiss.

"I can also walk," she said matter-of-factly, though their care of her made her feel cherished.

Rio scoffed. "Also no." He nuzzled the side of her face. "I need some cuddle time to soothe the cat."

Mari laughed, starting to feel better finally now that both of them were in sight and safe. "Well, if it's for my gato then by all means."

He resettled her against his chest with a smug smile and started to purr. "Everyone is accounted for except Luis and the hellhounds from the top floor. Nobody remembers when they saw Luis last, so it could be that he got away somehow."

Cisco looked thoughtful. "Any of them know where Vincent was heading?"

Rio shook his head. "They didn't know where he was taking them, just that they were headed out of town tonight."

Mari looked across the large garage to where the people who had been held by Vincent were gathered. A few huddled together where Karma was talking with them and the rest were spread out and seated on the floor with their hands behind their backs under the guards' watchful gazes. "These are all people from the top floor of the club?"

"Yeah, we all started out as Basilio's guards and over time they split us up to better keep control of us." Rio glanced over the people on the floor. "These guys hadn't even heard that Basilio was dead. Vincent kept them locked down tight."

"Dancer and Dasher are in charge of questioning them since they have almost as good noses for lies as you do," Cisco said.

Rio nodded. "That seems reasonable. Some of them might want to come work for us, but I wouldn't blame them if they didn't."

"Me either." Mari rested her head against Rio's shoulder, feeling tired again. "But we should take care of them either way. We owe them that much."

"Good point." Cisco rubbed the stubble on his chin. "I'll have them brought to the club once they're cleared. I'll call Esmé and let her know there are some folks on the way." He pulled out his phone and turned away from them.

"That was a nice thing you did for them." Rio nuzzled the top of her head. "You feel like you're running on empty. Do you want me to bring you back the car?"

"Yeah, if everything is okay here that would be great."

"Mmhmm," he murmured into her hair. "Just relax. I've got you."

She closed her eyes and snuggled down against him, her trust in him absolute.

* * *

A pulse of heat between her legs jolted Mari awake the next morning. Without even opening her eyes, she knew it was Rio. No one else had a tongue like that.

Following the night Dohal had visited her, they'd had a conversation about waking each other with intimate acts because it had seemed prudent. Cisco was a no on all counts. Rio was an enthusiastic yes to everything. Mari hadn't been sure so she had agreed to oral only. Until now, no one had taken her up on it, but she was not at all surprised that Rio was the first. He always woke up horny, no matter what they'd gotten up to the night before.

As arousal wound its way through her body, she was really pleased with the choice she'd made. She sighed pleasantly and looked down to where Rio had made himself comfortable between her thighs. He held her open with his thumb and forefinger and slowly lapped at her clit with the most satisfied feline grin she had ever seen.

"Well, good morning to you, too," she said with a throaty laugh.

In response he purred against her, which made her cunt tingle in an extremely distracting way.

"Are you taking requests?" she asked a while later, when she was buzzing all over with pleasure and he didn't seem to be showing any signs of tiring or escalating.

Without pausing, he chirped in a way that she took to mean it depends what you ask for .

"Hold me down and make me scream." Mari raised her hands to curl her fingers around the headboard rail.

A twinkle of mischief lit his eyes as he adjusted his grip, spreading her thighs wide with both his hands. He sucked her clit into his mouth and pulled hard, flicking her piercing with his tongue at the same time. And in moments, she was panting for breath.

She couldn't move at all the way Rio held her, though her hips wanted to lift into the sinful heat of his mouth. His fingers dented her skin where he held her open. When she was perilously close to coming, he eased back and flicked her clit gently. Much too gently. She whined in irritation, but didn't move.

Once her breathing returned to normal, he started over again, but this time he bit down, tugging her piercing between his teeth. He kept on that way for a while, alternating softer kisses and firmer bites with luxurious laps of his tongue at random so that she never knew what to expect.

Soon she was constantly on edge but couldn't come because he knew every quiver of her body intimately. Her magic soared so high that she worried she might shatter the windows when the dam finally broke.

"Please, Rio," she begged.

He hummed against her clit, making her whole body vibrate.

"I'll do anything," she panted. "Give you anything." She moaned when he bit down, not quite hard enough for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Just please make me come."

In answer, he licked her with agonizing slowness. Once. Twice. Three times. And then tugged on her piercing with his teeth, but much too gently. When she groaned with frustration, he chuckled.

Her magic was a tumbling inferno inside her, wild and wanton. It fed on her desire and there was so much to consume. She was a bottomless well. A cavern. An abyss.

"Please," Mari whined when he started licking again. "I'm so close." He gave her clit a dirty kiss that made her whimper. "I want to come all over your face."

Those seemed to be the words he was waiting for because he dove in with a renewed fervor, slurping her clit into his mouth and using his tongue as a weapon of war. Her hips jerked hard, but he held her firmly still. She teetered on that glorious edge for several heart-stopping seconds, not sure if he would push her over or not. Then without warning, he drove her relentlessly over the edge with hard direct pressure.

The climax moved through her like an avalanche, bowling over everything in its path. Her voice broke on the scream that ripped from her throat. The release of magic shook the windows in their casements, but didn't crack them.

Rio used his lips to draw the orgasm out, murmuring his approval against her as her clit pulsed in his mouth. It went on long enough that she couldn't do anything but groan each time her body clenched.

When her body finally came to a shuddering halt, he placed one more chaste kiss against her clit and then lifted his head to rest his chin on her mons. He grinned like the cat that had gotten the cream. "Good morning."

She laughed until he started to prowl up her body with a feral gleam in his eyes. Her thighs fell open at his slightest nudge, because she could deny him nothing, and then he sunk into her with a long and satisfied sigh. He gave her a slow and thorough fucking, staring into her eyes the entire time, making her feel cherished.

When she shattered around him the next time, she cried out his name. The pool house rattled around them as her magic cascaded into him with an intent she didn't understand, mending the scars on his chest and thighs, soothing the pain that lingered in his skin that had been sliced into him by her father over years of abuse.

He let out a sob. They would spend the rest of their lives healing his emotional scars together, with patience and compassion, but she had healed the physical reminder of them in a moment of pleasure shared between them.

Rio rode her through her climax all the way down again, adoration and wonder softening his expression. She quaked under him, completely wrung out.

She felt the instant that the cat took over. He tangled his fingers in her hair and tugged her head back, baring her throat and snarling against her skin. Then he fucked into her languid body with furious abandon. She moaned each time he bottomed out, unable to do anything but accept the feral claiming of the animal inside him.

Driving deep one last time, Rio came with a shout, his muscles tensing. When he collapsed over her a few beats later, he was shaking with the intensity of the moment that they had shared. He nuzzled into the side of her neck as his cock throbbed inside her.

She ran a hand over the unmarked skin of his chest. His hand covered hers as he rose up to glance between them as if uncertain of what he'd find there. "How'd you do that?" he asked, his voice low and filled with wonder.

Mari slid her fingers down over his sternum, worry building. "The magic knew what it wanted and did it. I'm sorry, I—"

He lowered his head to kiss her, his mouth soft and unhurried against hers, sweeping away her doubts. She sighed when he finally pulled away. "Don't apologize. I'm not upset."

A while later Rio carried her to the shower and washed her, smiling when her body reacted to him again even though they'd just spent the entire morning indulging in each other.

He left for a meeting while she was still drying her hair, dropping a kiss onto her upturned mouth before promising to do dirty things to her later.

Mari headed into the kitchen just a bit before noon, sheepishly asking Giselle if she could still have breakfast. Giselle smiled and made her an omelet oozing with cheese and mushrooms. She carried her plate and her coffee into the dining room where the only inhabitant was Nova.

The medusa was pushing her food around her plate in a way that made it obvious she hadn't eaten much. She aimed a weak smile Mari's way and then hid behind her coffee cup. Greta had apparently healed her the rest of the way, because she looked unblemished, although a bit tired.

Mari sat opposite her. "I'm glad to see you're up and around."

"Yeah, it felt like I had spent long enough moping in bed. Only now I have no idea what to do with myself." Nova's brown eyes focused on her plate rather than anywhere else, even though she didn't seem to want it. The copper snakes on her head seemed irritated by something, but it was unclear what.

"Hey, we all deserve some moping time once in a while." Mari speared a home fry on her fork and popped it into her mouth. Once she was done chewing she said, "Is there anything you need that I can help with?"

Nova glanced up at her and shook her head. "Giselle got me some clothes, and you've all been really great. I'll be out of your hair soon."

"Why?" Mari asked. "You're welcome here if you want to stay. This has kind of become an unofficial home for wayward orphans of my father's fucked up shit." She took another bite.

Nova blinked at her and so did a handful of her snakes. "Oh, I just assumed you wanted the place to yourself."

"Nah, there's so much room it just feels weird when it's empty." She smiled as she sipped her coffee. "And I know Cisco would be thrilled if you stayed."

Nova frowned. "Are you sure?" She shrugged and a few of her snakes shivered with unease. "I just figured you wouldn't want me around. Since, you know…"

Mari definitely knew. The first time they had looked into each other's eyes, Cisco had been vigorously fucking Nova over a table. No matter what, this moment where they actually spoke to each other about that experience would have been awkward. But Mari was determined that any strange feelings they had about not be allowed to fester.

Mari set down her mug. "I'm not threatened by you, Nova. Cisco was and is free to do whatever he likes." She grinned. "I just hope he invites me to the party next time."

Nova burst out laughing before she caught herself. Her snakes wriggled with amusement. "Okay, you are not at all what I expected."

"I'm glad to disappoint in that regard." Mari shrugged. "And I hope that means we can maybe work up to being friends."

Nova narrowed her eyes as if appraising Mari for the first time. "I think you're probably a very difficult person not to like."

"Stay and find out," Mari said with a wink, and then tucked into her omelet before it got cold.

"Sure, it's not like I've got anywhere else to go." Nova sighed. "I don't think I'm ready to go back to the club."

Mari nodded slowly as she finished chewing a bite. "Totally understandable. Like I said, we have plenty of room. You can stay here until you figure something out. No rush at all."

"Maybe I can even figure out something to do here," Nova said as she picked up her fork and took a mouthful of her own.

That made Mari want to cheer, but she kept a lid on her enthusiasm to not draw attention. "We're definitely still figuring stuff out, and if you see anywhere you think you might fit, just say so."

"I don't have much experience at anything but…" Nova trailed off with a frown.

Mari jumped in to try and head off that train of thought. "We're all new at this and feeling our way through it. So really, anywhere you think you can be helpful would be great. Rio has some spreadsheets that Willow sent him about the party that are making him absolutely cross-eyed, so if you can help figure that out I'll give you a medal."

"I could probably help with that." Nova began to perk up again. "I'm pretty good with numbers."

"Fantastic. I suck at them. I hereby charge you with all of my number stuff that Willow tries to show me." She chewed happily around her next bite.

Nova giggled. "I mean maybe not all of them. I'm sure a sphinx's spreadsheet is on a whole other level."

Mari gestured with her fork. "Nope, too late. They're yours. I'm done with them forever."

They settled into a pleasant conversation as they finished their breakfasts. Mari positively bounced into the rest of her day afterwards.