Chapter 3

After Cisco was gone, Rio stood in the doorway, not saying anything for a heartachingly long time, still staring off in the direction his gargoyle had gone.

"You can come in," Mari said as gently as she could. Even so, he started when she spoke.

He moved like someone who wasn't sure what to do with all his limbs, crossing toward the bed where she lay wrapped in the truly ridiculous number of blankets Cisco had bundled around her. Rio looked down at his hands briefly and then back up at her for an instant before glancing away again. "Cisco said I could sleep in here?"

The concerned look on his face tore her heart into a million pieces. She wondered how many pieces his was torn into to make him wear an expression like that. "You can."

"You're sure it's alright?" He was so nervous his deep brown eyes had shifted to golden as they darted around the room. He probably wasn't even aware of the change.

At first, she thought he was worried about what Cisco might do, but she quickly realized Cisco wasn't who Rio was worried about hurting him. "Rio, look at me." She waited for the eternity it took him to meet her gaze. "I would never punish you for doing something I told you to do. Never."

All of the breath rushed out of him in a shaking sigh. "Gracias, princesa."

Mari didn't tell him not to call her that for the millionth time. She knew by now it would never work. "There's no clothes allowed in my bed though." She saw the quick calculation in his expression when he glanced over her quickly, and it made her smile when the tension in his body increased.

Rio started unbuttoning his shirt without taking his eyes from her. Mari didn't let herself look away from the scars on his chest, no matter how much it hurt. He'd been an easy outlet for her father's wrath, because hurting him hurt Cisco so much. She honestly had no idea how either of them had survived this long. They should have been broken by what her father had done to them, but they had hung on just long enough. She only hoped she could help put them back together again before they shattered.

He folded his shirt with great care, resting it on the table she indicated near the closet when he was done. His belt came next, and she shivered under the blankets at the rasping sound of it sliding out of the loops. All of his clothes were treated with the same immense respect and arranged perfectly on the table. When he was done, he stood while she inspected him.

Rio was a glorious specimen of a man, chiseled and honed to perfection in every detail, except for the scars. They faintly marked the golden-brown skin of his chest and thighs. It wasn't easy to scar a shifter so extensively without killing them, but her father had managed with cruel patience and silver.

His black hair curled carelessly, a little too long to be properly styled but somehow looking exactly the right kind of messy. A day or two of stubble roughened his jaw and made him look even more vulnerable.

"Come here, beautiful," she murmured as she untucked the blankets from around her body.

He moved gracefully, crawling over the bed with so much care she might have been made of the finest porcelain that would break at the slightest jostle. Mari opened her arms and made room for him, and the shocked look on his face made her heart break all over again.

Hesitantly, and oh so slowly, he arranged himself against her naked body, his head resting awkwardly on her shoulder. She took her time closing the blankets around the both of them, not reacting when he froze against her or felt like he was on the verge of dashing away.

At first, he was tense and stiff, but over the next couple of minutes, he eased, letting his arm drape around her and his body rest against hers. She couldn't blame him for his reluctance, considering what her father had done.

Mari leaned down to kiss the top of his head, tightening her arms around him. "You're always welcome here."

He nuzzled his face into her skin as if he couldn't believe she was real, breathing harshly for a few minutes until he calmed. She had some idea what the contact meant to him, because she had also been starved for affection for far too long, living in her father's house, but she knew that, as a shifter, he felt it even more keenly than she did.

Cisco strolled in a while later, not saying a word as he glanced over the two of them cuddled tightly together in the center of the gargantuan bed. He didn't give any indication that he knew that the two of them had been crying together in quiet solemnity only moments before, though it must have been obvious from the state of them. He disrobed in silence, tossing his clothes over the top of a chair carelessly. The bed dipped when he knelt at the foot and crawled toward them, pulling aside the blankets when he reached them without asking for permission.

Rio gasped when Cisco's hand touched his bare thigh in a soft caress. Cisco leaned to kiss the sharp edge of Rio's hip bone, his expression reverent. Cisco worshiped the planes of Rio's long, lean body with his mouth, slowly making his way up over first his stomach, then his chest, and then his neck. Rio was shuddering when Cisco finally kissed him on the mouth.

Mari watched them with a soft smile, her fingers gliding through Rio's long, black hair. Cisco kissed him like he meant it, with lips and teeth and tongue until Rio was moaning into his mouth, arching up from the bed to get just a fraction of an inch closer. Mari gripped the hair at the base of Rio's skull, holding him still as Cisco's fervor intensified. Cisco held his jaw with one hand, so Rio was effectively immobilized between them.

With his other hand, Cisco reached between them, gripping Rio's cock. Cisco began to fondle him roughly, not letting up on his bruising kiss for even a moment as he drank in the sounds of pleasure and surrender that bubbled from Rio's throat. Watching Cisco handle him so expertly was the hottest thing Mari had ever seen in her life. Realizing that Cisco hadn't said a single word to either one of them just made it hotter. Her magic strained at the confines of her skin, and she let it spiral out gradually, wrapping the three of them in the warmth of it.

After several minutes of ceaseless attention, when Rio was vibrating with need, Cisco finally broke the kiss. Rio started babbling immediately, begging Cisco to kiss him again, to let him come, to fuck him senseless, anything to make the aching stop. Cisco smiled at him beatifically, his gaze brushing gently over Rio's mouth before sliding back up to his eyes. Cisco held him pinned and kept working him with rough strokes while staring into his eyes for a moment that seemed to stretch forever.

Rio cried out in a wordless plea that seemed to tear him asunder, and Cisco finally relented with a single syllable. "Come."

Rio tensed between them, every fiber of muscle in his body knotting at once. The sound that erupted from him was a cry of such anguished relief that it brought tears to Mari's eyes. Cisco continued stroking, even when it was obvious that Rio was spent by the swiftly cooling, sticky mess that covered all three of them. He kept at it until Rio finally relaxed in Mari's arms, every drop of pleasure wrung from him. She let the tendrils of her power curl around him, assuring him that he was safe.

Without a word, Cisco rose from the bed and headed into the bathroom, coming back shortly with a warm, damp washcloth, which he used to clean them up before tossing it back onto the tiled floor. He bundled the blankets around the two of them again and settled heavily behind Rio, wrapping the both of them tightly in his arms with one wing blanketing them. "You're safe," Cisco murmured into the back of Rio's neck, his eyes locked on Mari's. "I'll never let anyone hurt you again."

Rio's breath hitched, and he sighed long and low.

When Mari woke, she had no idea what time it was or how much time had passed. Cisco's big arm draped over her waist, holding her against him. Rio was gone, and she hadn't even heard him leave.

She'd never felt so alive and so well-rested. Her magic slumbered inside of her, languid and sated for the first time in her life. She stretched, starting with her toes, enjoying the warm pull of the muscles along her body as she proceeded upwards. She knew the moment her movement woke Cisco because he curled his arm to pull her more firmly against him, pressing his hard cock into the meat of her ass.

He kissed the side of her neck and then whispered into her ear, "I have a meeting soon, so I'm just going to rub this on your gorgeous ass for a minute to tease you and then assure you that I'm going to take you again very hard later."

Her body responded to him at once, hips angling back to accept everything that was on offer, nipples tightening to hard peaks that ached, magic unfurling to reach for him. She murmured as she ground against him, hoping to entice him. He chuckled into her neck and rocked her ass back against his cock a half dozen times.

"Maybe on the table in the break room," he pondered, rubbing his face into the base of her neck. "I'll pull down your panties and take you face down."

She gasped when he tugged her against him harder. "I'd like that."

"I'm sure you would." He kissed the back of her neck. "Wear something from the closet in here. And don't forget the frilly panties."

He reached around to fondle her clit until she squealed, and then got out of bed.

She watched him dress because she couldn't get enough of looking at him, no matter if he was wearing clothes or not. Part of her still couldn't believe he was hers. He put on dark navy slacks with a lighter blue button down, shrugging his wings carefully into the holes made for the purpose. She admired his strong forearms when he rolled his sleeves up.

"And don't play with yourself. You can play with Rio though." He leaned down to kiss her before he left. "Mouths only."

She grumbled in frustration, knowing that would never satisfy her enough after what she'd had the night before.

Apparently, Cisco knew it, too, because he winked. "I want you nice and worked up later."

She looked through the closet after he left. The clothes were all new, freshly laundered and pressed, and very different from the kinds of things her father had insisted she wear. Her image had always been very important to her father, and he had dressed her like a fashionable businesswoman, with high collars and skirts that fell below the knee.

The new clothes were brightly colored silky fabrics with plunging necklines and hems that stopped at mid-thigh or higher. It was like someone had delved into her imagination and asked what she would want to wear if she could wear anything and had just bought it all.

Mari chose a blue skirt that flared out slightly around her hips and barely covered an inch of her thigh past her ass and a thin white tank that was so sheer she knew everyone would see her nipples through it. The array of underwear was frilly to the point of ridiculousness and all snowy white. She chose a pair with ruffles across the ass she thought would drive Cisco wild.

Everything fit her perfectly, and she finished the look with some sky-high espadrille wedges with delicate white lace-up straps that climbed her calves. She didn't know who had done the shopping, but they had done an admirable job with the sizing.

She did her makeup and checked her hair, which was honestly better than it had any right to be after the night before. Her brown curls were gently tousled but with a bit of careful fluffing weren't in need of a complete redo yet. Checking herself over in the full-length mirror once more, she felt a flutter of nerves.

She smoothed her skirt over the generous curve of her hips, and took a breath to calm herself. She was pleased with the outfit, but this was a giant step outside her comfort zone. She was showing more skin than she ever had before and she had a brief battle with the gremlins of self-doubt that sometimes plagued her.

Was it too much? Too showy? Should she grab a cover-up? She tossed her head. That was her father's voice. She recognized it immediately and squashed the impulse to make herself smaller. She looked great. She deserved this. And she didn't have to worry about what he thought anymore.

Mari strolled out of the pool house with her head high and saw Rio leaning against a concrete dividing wall a few strides away.

He gave her a quick once-over with appreciation in his gaze. "You look stunning."

She hooked her arm through his and dragged him along toward the kitchen. "Who did the shopping? Was it you?"

"Nah, that was all Cisco. Dress up is his kink, not mine."

She laughed. "What's yours then?"

Rio opened the door for her, and she passed inside. Cisco stood a short way down the hall at the far end of the kitchen, meeting with a handful of people. She shivered when he took her in with a slow glance.

Chuckling, Rio leaned down to whisper to her, "Him, I guess."

She grinned up at him. "You think we could dress him up?"

Rio bit his lip slightly. "Not a chance." He reached up under her skirt and pinched her ass. His eyes twinkled, and he lowered his voice again. "Though if you beg prettily enough, you never know." He pulled out her chair for her and then scooted her into the table when she sat.

Giselle brought them both coffee and asked what they wanted for breakfast. She carefully avoided looking at Mari too closely but didn't seem upset at the sudden transformation. If anything, the house witch seemed easier today, more relaxed, much like Mari herself.

After a quick consultation, they decided on pancakes because that seemed properly indulgent. They settled into a pleasant conversation while they waited for Giselle to work her magic. Rio sat with his hand on her exposed thigh. She enjoyed his casual affection more than she wanted to admit out loud.

Everyone had always maintained a careful distance from her. It had been such a normal part of her life that she's never realized she was so starved for touch.

Mari rested her hand over his, squeezing his fingers. "Thank you for helping to make all of this easier."

He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles before returning his hand to her thigh. "I live to serve, princesa." There was an unspoken warmth to his eyes as he looked at her.

While they were eating, some of the guards drifted in to pick up food. Giselle always had their favorites on hand, ready for them to take to their posts with a smile and a word of encouragement as she bounced from task to task with ease. After grabbing their food, all of the guards paused next to Mari. Some of them bowed, some of them dropped to one knee with a hand over their heart, and some of them murmured their condolences, but none of them looked saddened by what had happened.

Tilly stopped next to her for a long, drawn-out moment, standing silent with a thoughtful expression, the dark blue feathers on her arms ruffling slightly with irritation. Finally, she shrugged and said, "I'm happy the bastard is dead, though I'm sorry if it brings you pain."

They had been friends once, when they were both tweens—until her father had seen how close they were becoming and sensed the threat. No one but he could show Mari affection without risking Basilio's wrath. He'd taken the young harpy out into the courtyard and beat her until she shrieked every whispered secret the girls had shared, then kept beating her until everyone in the household understood what it meant to be someone Mari confided in.

Since that day, no one but Cisco had dared to get close to her, and even then, they were careful not to let their budding friendship show, even when it grew into something else, something wilder and more complicated.

"Thank you, Til." She hadn't let herself really dwell on her father's death in the hours since, but she supposed at some point she'd feel grief over it. But that would come later, after the harm he had done had healed a bit.

Tilly smiled her slightly crooked smile and took her leave to head to her post. Mari wasn't sure they could get back to where they had been once, but she hoped so.

As Mari and Rio were finishing their pancakes, Giselle came over one last time to refill their coffees. "I've been trying to figure out what to say to you, Mari. And as usual, I think the truth is probably the best. I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm not sorry he's dead." She turned away without adding anything else, greeting a hellhound who came in looking for a snack.

Mari didn't know how to respond, so she just let herself say nothing. After all, what was there that she could say? He'd been a bastard every day of his long life, but it had only gotten worse in recent years. She herself had wished him dead more times than she could easily count.

They took their second cups of coffee to her father's office, walking near where Cisco stood, listening to someone give a report about some shipments. His gaze followed her, his expression giving nothing away.

They were talking about shipping logistics and making sure everything people expected of her father's vast network of businesses and investments kept working exactly as all of his partners expected. If nothing changed, they would have nothing to complain about, and business could just continue as usual.

Rio held the office door for her as she went inside. Did she really want to know what was in the shipments they were discussing? After a moment, she decided not. Her father had been involved in a lot of unsavory businesses.

She tried not to think about Cisco and how he had made her feel the night before as she sat behind her father's desk, but when her ass hit the chair because her skirt rode up, she failed utterly in her task. Then, when she shifted her weight to try to settle, the soreness between her legs pulsed, and she remembered exactly why she ached there. She spent entirely too long trying to restore her breathing to normal. When she met Rio's eyes, he grinned as if he knew exactly why she was squirming in her chair.

Mari shook herself to restore some focus, then turned her attention to her father's altar. She reached for the remains of her father's wards and wove them back into her magic. When the necklace had fallen from her neck, the connection to the wards had weakened, so the first thing she had to do was shore that up.

Eventually, she was going to need actual training. Her father had never wanted her to know what to do with her power, but she'd read everything she could find on the subject, and when witches were as powerful as she was, instinct could get you a long way.

She spent about an hour creeping along the wards and trying to figure out how they worked before pausing to take a stretch break. The magical network was centered on the compound and spread web-like over the entire city, forming a protective barrier she didn't quite understand. She only knew that her father had been obsessed with the wards, and had kept her a prisoner in order to power them. Her father was—had been—an incubus, and his magic was different enough from hers that looking at it too long gave her a headache so it was difficult to figure out much on her own.

She felt Rio's eyes on her and grinned when she caught him looking at her tits through the much too thin tank. "See something you like?"

He showed her a flirty smile. "You know I do."

"Cisco said I could play with you."

One dark eyebrow rose. "Did he now?"

Mari nodded. "Mouths only."

At that, Rio laughed. "That would only torture the both of us."

"I'm fairly sure that was his intention."

Rio grunted in agreement. "He is every inch a sadist."

She shivered as desire rose through her body. "But all of those delicious inches."

"Indeed." Rio chuckled. He gestured with his phone. "You need a distraction?"

She fanned her face with a piece of paper. "I definitely do."

Her phone alerted her to a text message, and she opened it up. Rio had sent her a picture he'd taken the night before when Cisco was carrying her to the pool house. The memory of what had happened after that rose like shimmering heat. This was entirely the wrong kind of distraction. She sighed. "Are you a sadist too?"

"Nah, I just like watching you squirm." He held her gaze with a smile that promised so many sweet and sexy things she almost couldn't stand it.

She did squirm then, despite telling herself that she wasn't going to. "Fuck me," she whispered under her breath.

"Only if Cisco says it's okay." He winked.

Cisco stormed into the office at that very moment, his eyes locked on her as he shut the door behind him with a lot more calmness than was evident in his expression. "Are you trying to fucking kill me with that outfit?"

She tilted her head, trying for as innocent a face as she could manage, which she would bet was not very innocent at all. "You told me to pick something out of the closet."

He growled as he crossed the room toward her. "Mariana." His voice was low and dangerous. "The only thing stopping me from pushing you down on that desk and fucking you exactly as hard as you deserve for teasing me with that skirt is that this house is filled to bursting with civilians."

She wilted with disappointment, dropping her eyes.

Cisco pulled her out of her chair by the back of her neck, angling her head so that she had to look up at him. "I promise you'll get every bit that's coming to you the second they leave." He bent to kiss her hard enough that he scoured her clean, leaving her panting in the aftermath, her power straining for him. He reached down to grab a handful of her ass, pulling her against him. "You look hot as fuck. And it's perfect."

"I'm glad you like it." She grinned. "I like it too."

Cisco nodded. "Good. I didn't think you'd want to keep wearing the stuff he got for you, it never suited you, but I also knew there wouldn't be time for you to actually shop for yourself for a while. I'm glad you like what I picked out." He grumbled his approval as he felt her up and encountered the lacy ruffles of her panties. "Fuck. The rest of the day is going to take forever."

"You could let me take the edge off…" Mari leaned harder against him and wiggled her butt in his hand.

"Nice try, but I intend to make you beg for my dick later." His grin was just this side of cruel. She whimpered as he released her without another word.

Cisco crossed his arms over his chest, his wings flaring slightly. "Esmé wants a meeting this week. Do you feel up for it?"

Mari suddenly felt cold nerves grip her, banishing the desire in a rush. Esmé was probably the only other witch in Las Vegas who could run the wards her father had built around the city. She was the most powerful sex witch the world had ever seen. Mari had always suspected that if someone could bring down her father, it would be Esmé. "Of course," she said with a confidence she didn't really feel.

Cisco eyed her with a frown but didn't say anything else to her before he turned to look at Rio. "Make sure everybody sees her. Let them take pictures if she says it's okay. If anyone touches her but you, they lose a hand."

Rio's nod was sharp. "Will do."

Cisco ran a hand through his hair and then left the room without looking back at her.

The rest of the morning crawled by while she did the most important task she had in front of her: trying to figure out how the network of wards worked. She knew that if she couldn't figure it out, they were all dead, but she also knew that all of this had been created with her mother's power and fortified later with hers. She could puzzle it out. She just needed time they probably didn't have.

Through it all she couldn't stop thinking about what Cisco had said, that he'd make her beg. She knew that was a foregone conclusion. She was ready to beg for him the second he'd stepped away from her.

Rio took her for a walk around the grounds in the afternoon. She made sure to smile and talk to everyone who looked her way. As exhausting as it was, she knew it was nearly as important as the magic. The girl she had been under her father's reign had to be exterminated. Nothing of her could remain.

The new Mariana had to be carefree and confident. She had to blossom rather than wilt with her father gone. Everyone had to see how much he had stifled her, how much he had smothered her, how much better it was now that he was gone.

She let anyone who asked take pictures with her. She smiled and flirted and did all of the things expected of her. Inside, she was deeply grateful that Cisco had said that no one could touch her, because that would have been too much. Rio steadied her with a hand on her back exactly when she needed it to keep her going through it all.

When they were relaxing by the pool later, he showed her the social media posts some of the people at the compound had put up so that she could see how great she looked and read the flattering things they said about her. He sat facing her on the lounge, holding his phone for her to read whenever he found a post he wanted to show her.

She played the color matching game she liked on her phone. Her father had never allowed her social media, so she didn't have much of a taste for it. Accounts in her name were managed by a PR firm. Eventually, she'd have to figure out if she wanted to take them back, but that was a worry for a much later date.

It had gotten pretty quiet in the compound around them over the last little while, as the people who only had business dealings with her father, and now Cisco, had come and gone. The staff left fairly early in the day, leaving only the guards at night. As the sky faded to darkness, the multi-hued lights from the Strip became apparent on the horizon.

Rio slid a hand up her leg, not stopping until it was under her skirt, his fingers just shy of the frilly panties. "Cisco wants me to bring you to him."

The thrill that shivered up her spine made goosebumps break out everywhere. "Where?"

"The break room." He teased at the white lace between her legs. "He says he wants you riled up first."

Mari eased her thighs apart to give him better access, feeling her heart kick into overdrive. "How do you plan to accomplish that?"

"Well, I was thinking I'd start with getting my head under that hot little skirt and see how that works."

She scooted her hips forward a little and leaned back, raising one arm over her head. "By all means."

Rio moved slowly, lifting one knee up and out of the way before settling it over his shoulder as he moved into position. He laughed when he caught sight of the panties. "He's so fucking ridiculous."

She giggled. She couldn't help herself. "Every single pair is like that, Rio. All of them."

He peeked back over her skirt. "Not gonna lie, it works for you. Especially under this."

The heat in his eyes did delicious things to her belly. She flexed the leg over his shoulder to get his attention back where it belonged. "You're supposed to be riling."

He shrugged. "You look riled." Without elaborating further, he bit the inside of her thigh gently.

Her hips rose slightly, needing so much more. "You're not wrong. I've been riled since I got up this morning."

"Me too," he murmured into her skin. "I've been remembering how sexy you looked last night all day." He nuzzled higher up her thigh and then bit again with his teeth sharpened, a little harder.

She hissed when the nip spawned a sizzle of pain that went straight to her core. "Did he tell you to torture me too?"

Rio chuckled into her thigh and moved up a fraction of an inch before kissing gently. "As a matter of fact, he did." He used his thumb to stroke her through the ridiculous panties when he bit down again. "‘Deliver her to me wet and wanting' were his exact words."

She lifted her hips up to meet him, but he spread his hand over her pelvis to hold her down. His lips moved up another maddening inch and grew even more gentle. He traced the seam of her sex through the panties with his thumb then pulled the lacy fabric to one side to trace the same slow line with his tongue.

She groaned and quaked under him. His touch was too light, too fleeting. She needed so much more. "Saints, Rio. I'm going to spontaneously combust."

He laughed, the warm air of his breath hitting the most sensitive parts of her and making her shiver. He parted her with his thumb and licked her clit, moaning when he tasted her. When she heard the breathless sound, she knew he was as wrecked as she was, and that almost undid her completely. She felt his desire, warm and wanton, soak into her where he touched her.

He sucked her clit between his lips and pulled delicately. She cried out, reaching for his head and twisting her fingers in his hair, just trying to get him closer to get more pressure, more friction, more anything. He parted his lips slightly and gave her clit the filthiest kiss she'd ever been a party to, twirling his tongue around until she was sure she was inside out. It wasn't anywhere near enough to get her off, but it was more than enough to drive her to fucking distraction. She was panting and shaking under him before too long.

She whimpered when he backed away a fraction of an inch and eased his thumb to her entry, sliding her wetness back and forth between her folds. His gentle touch made her moan.

"There we go. Exactly as requested." He leaned in to give her clit one last fleeting kiss before he straightened her panties. He sat up and sucked his thumb clean, eyes alight with mischief.

She watched him, breathing hard. "I hope he makes you beg too."

He showed her a devastating smile. "He always does."