Chapter 12

Zazie

I lay there in bed between the two men as we all gasped for air like we’d run a race. And by “men”, I did realize that they might have been some sort of dragon creatures wearing people suits. Their claws, now gone from view, had been there, and they weren’t normal, and I should have been more upset about it than I now was.

But I felt calm. More than post-orgasm calm, too—I felt like happy jelly. I was warm, naked, comfortable, and now beginning to think that maybe this wasn’t going to be too bad.

Were they still blackmailing me? Probably. I still wore ancient gems on my fingers, and there was still a gem-filled bathtub about twenty paces away, a fact that made me almost giddy. But honestly, even when my ass was getting fucked, it still beat the pants off of being in a prison cell.

I was sore, leaking thick, sticky cum that I should be worrying about. I wasn’t on birth control—I might have given my fair share of hand jobs in my day, but I certainly hadn’t expected to have sex today. I hadn’t had sex in four years. I hadn’t wanted sex in four years.

I wanted sex now, and that was saying something, because I had just had sexual pleasure like I hadn’t previously been cognizant of.

Yeah, I could do with a few more orgasms.

And these guys were pretty attractive. Thinking of my brother’s reaction to me being with two super handsome men was making me smile to myself. He’d thought I was going to die alone. Au contraire, Dr. Smartypants. I guess you don’t know everything!

Caspian made a sort of laugh and pet the side of my body, seeming to be actually playing with the shape of my curves. He finally pulled me against him until I was using one of his arms as a pillow and I was curled up against his naked body. He still had a semi.

Excellent. I wasn’t done today. I had years to make up for.

Could I have been experiencing this this whole time if my grandma hadn’t died? I didn’t really want to think about it. The thought made me sad and empty when I realized how much time I’d lost.

“How are you feeling?” Caspian asked me as he pulled some hair off my face.

I was feeling amazing, but I was looking for the right words. I didn’t want their heads to get too big, which would undoubtedly happen if I let them know to what extent my mind was just blown.

“I feel good,” I understated. After a moment, I added thoughtfully, “So how much would you judge me if I actually got in that bath with the gems in it?”

Because I had to admit, the gem tub had been in the back of my mind since Caspian had mentioned it in the car. At first, I thought he was just lying. But no, he was just explaining the best thing I’d ever seen.

Murtagh laughed, and it was an amazing sound. It was so dusky and masculine and deep. He had me grinning wide. “Go ahead and get in, baby. Caspian and I will join you in a second. See how many different types of gems you can spot, hm?” he told me, giving me a few playful swats on my naked ass until I was giggling. I got to my feet and scurried into the bathroom.

I looked at the tub. It sparkled.

Oh, my life had suddenly gotten so good. Why had I fought this? Sex? Gems? Handsome men who understood how amazing gems were? Yeah, they didn’t seem to be interested in letting me leave, but I would cross that problem when it was a problem.

For now, I honestly didn’t want to leave. As I buried myself into the smooth, heavy, rounded gems, I just wanted to stay here forever.

Nothing felt as good as this! I could feel the gems. I felt heat, electricity, brilliance, life… I felt so whole here. So calm.

I listened to them grumble to each other just outside the bathroom, where the door was still swung wide open.

I could see them in a reflection of the mirror, looking gorgeous, muscular, and naked.

“Good job buying her love,” Murtagh grumbled aloud, and my ears perked up as I shifted my head, eavesdropping.

“Thank you,” Caspian replied crisply. He did not sound apologetic or ashamed.

Murtagh made a snorting noise. “That wasn’t a compliment, Caspian. Pick up a dating manual for two seconds and you’ll find that we can’t keep doing this. We have to actually base our relationship on trust and?—”

Caspian groaned, “You’re such a killjoy, Murtagh! It’s been centuries since I bothered spoiling a woman. Let me have some fun with it. Besides, none of my past mistresses were ever very intrigued with my gem collection.”

“Because you wanted your mistresses to smell inedible,” Murtagh reminded. “It’s hard to have a good soul if they’re obsessed with wealth.”

I raised an eyebrow.

Did they eat people? Or maybe they didn’t, but the word ‘inedible’ in this sentence did worry me in a way I wasn’t in the mood for. Worry was out-of-place in the gem bath.

“I know, it’s really tough being me! It’s difficult finding whores with a heart of gold. I don’t care what the movies say.” He pulled himself up to standing. “And now I don’t have to! I’ll just keep this one! Imagine how easy life will be now, Murtagh!” He sounded like he was stretching, his voice straining but in a comfortable sort of way.

I heard them walk towards the bathroom.

“I’m just saying, we’re going to have to learn some more tricks with this one, because I do want a real relationship with my mate. My mother seemed very happy with my fathers, and that’s what I want for Zazie.”

“I’ll leave it to you to try to blaze that trail, then,” Caspian grumbled in reply. “Because my mother didn’t have too much regard for my fathers. They still fornicated like rabbits, anyway. ARGH!”

They’d come through the door and saw me staring at them, and in just a second, they both jumped back and pressed themselves against the wall with their claws back out. In fact, they were clawing up the wall behind them, looking like they were being threatened.

As the seconds passed, they didn’t calm. Whatever they saw when they looked at me—and they were looking directly at me—had them literally gasping in terror. I had never seen such round, open eyes in my life.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, looking behind me. I didn’t see anything. I had expected a tarantula to be sitting right next to my shoulder. Alas, there wasn’t any.

Wait, no. I was actually glad there hadn’t been a spider. But I was more confused than ever.

“What are you guys—” I looked towards a mirror to my lefthand side.

I saw it.

I saw me.

When I looked into the mirror, my eyes were white. There was no iris, no pupil, just glittery, sparkling white.

I screamed, wondering if that was me in the mirror, or some sort of creature. It couldn’t be me! It couldn’t be!

I launched myself from the bathtub, falling onto the floor as I pulled myself out. I looked into another mirror in the bathroom, and then another. They were everywhere, showing the same thing. Showing me, and those white, white eyes. Those inhuman eyes.

Eventually Murtagh came to me and put his arms around me, but he looked scared, too, like I had turned into a monster.

And I couldn’t stop screaming.