Chapter 23

23

“Why did Adam abduct you?” Santanos asks Darcy as we’re lounging in the parlor of a mansion that I think might belong to Fox.

The butler called him Master Fox when we arrived and told him that the chef would be providing food in the tea room in an hour, but until then the parlor had some refreshments and snacks. I don’t know if that means Fox owns this place or not, but it’s nice here. The atmosphere feels more relaxing than other places I’ve been, and it’s a mansion, so you’d expect the opposite, you know?

The parlor is red, by the way, with lots of Victorian brocade, a fainting couch, and crystal decanters on top of shiny tables that smell like lemon oil. Not that I’m putting my nose on the furniture; it just all looks like it smells like old timey furniture polish. I like the theme; it feels apropos somehow.

Darcy presses his lips into a thin line and takes my hand.

My heart. This man connecting with me to share his emotional burdens is everything. I’m so proud of him, but my dumb little heart loves the shit out of it too.

He takes a sip from his cocktail and replies, “Lilith’s hierarchy of heirs put Adam at the bottom after Loggi. He thought that if he killed all Lilith’s sons he would inherit her title and all her property. He wasn’t wrong.”

Does he mean…?

“Did you know about that when we talked about it before?” I ask, because I probably would have insisted he let me cut the tattoo and brand off before if he’d mentioned it. His body, his choice, but I wouldn’t have let it wait if I’d known.

Darcy shakes his head, going a little pale. Poor guy, I bet that was a terrifying thing to find out when you thought you were free from the person who enslaved you.

I look around the room at all the men in here who willingly and happily kill people, and I reach for the knife that Darcy keeps on his hip, tapping it politely to make sure Darcy knows I’m about to take it out.

Darcy glances at me, but gives me a nod, returning his attention to Santanos, who’s asking, “What does that have to do with you?”

I hold up the knife since I know this is going to be hard for Darcy to say. He scoots closer, until we’re plastered to each other, so I wrap an arm around his shoulders, asking without words if he needs me to explain. He nods, so I answer Santanos’s question. “Lilith branded Darcy, and he broke the bond that brand created between them, but I’m guessing when Adam inherited from Lilith, he also inherited Darcy and a new bond formed?”

Santanos draws in a sharp breath. “That explains why I can feel you like I feel Edovard.”

Darcy sneers in disgust. “Blood bonds are my specialty, but the one keeping me enslaved isn’t one I can do more than temporarily break, it seems. I can break the bond between us, but it takes weeks, but when you die, your heir will inherit the magic, and I will have to break the bond again.”

“You should do that,” Edovard says, worry in his voice. “Santanos doesn’t want that for you.”

Santanos smiles, patting Edovard’s chest. He’s sitting in his lap, so it’s not much of a reach. “I don’t want Darcy enslaved to me,” he says, lying with his full chest.

“That is the most untrue thing you’ve ever said to my face,” Darcy responds, but I stand up and offer Santanos the knife.

“You might want him, but I think we all know Edovard wouldn’t let you do that. The universal force of Evil won’t let you enslave the Avatar of Neutrality, either.” I’m pretty sure that the universal forces just want balance, and enslaving Darcy isn’t going to get that done.

Santanos takes the knife with a nod. “I’m aware that the right thing to do is free Darcy from enslavement to my family.”

When I turn, Darcy has already taken his pants off, and he goes commando, so his dick is swinging free. Every person in the room is looking at it, except Santanos, who is focused on the tattoo and brand on the back of Darcy’s leg.

I kneel, and Darcy puts his leg up on my knee, putting me face to dick with him. “After this I should give you a blowie,” I tell him, staring at his trouser snake for a moment before I push Darcy’s leg off again. “You need to turn around and put your foot up backwards.”

Darcy grins. “You can blow me anytime, Peach,” he declares, putting his leg up the right way this time.

Santanos stares at the brand and tattoo for longer than necessary. He’s got the same hesitation that Darcy had when he put the knife to his own skin. I don’t know if it’s magical or not, but it feels like it might be, so I point to Edovard, who blinks at me. “I think your partner might need a little help, Pupper.”

Edovard turns his eyes on Santanos, then on Darcy, and he grimaces. “There’s a problem, but I don’t want to watch him cut off some of Darcy’s skin,” he admits as he reaches for Santanos’ wrist.

“It’s ok, sweetie, you don’t have to look, but I’m having trouble getting myself to lift the knife to his calf. If you could just put it in the right place, you can shut your eyes and I’ll do the rest.”

Edovard helps Santanos lift the knife, and he places it under the tattoo on the back of Darcy’s leg, then the adorable bodybuilder squeezes his eyes shut. Santanos takes a deep breath and slices through the skin under Darcy’s brand, shaving off the tattoos and brand. He gets half of it with one swipe, and he gets the other half with a second swipe.

Darcy, silent as a dormouse while being skinned, bleeds all over us both, but with a few chanted words sung under his breath, his skin begins to repair. It’s angry and pink, like brand new baby skin, but it’s also free from tattoos and branding, so that’s a win.

As soon as the skin finishes regrowing, I help Darcy put his leg back on the ground, and then I pull him straight into my lap, because even though he’s used to the pain of the knife in his skin because of how often he cuts himself, it’s got to have hurt to have a whole chunk of it cut off.

The chunk in question ignites with Hell fire as soon as Darcy’s seated on my bloody leg. He watches it burn, then wraps his arms around my shoulders and presses his face into my hair. I hold him steady as he recovers from that ordeal.

For a beat the people in the room are silent, but then a voice I’ve never heard says, “That was hard to watch, but I’m glad it’s over. Hurk.”

I look around for the person talking, and all eyes are on Romily, who’s smiling like a maniac. “Oh hey, it looks like Grandma Bone showed Tag how to do the voice thing.”

“Is that what you sound like?” Bellamy questions, completely aghast—he’s totally a drama queen.

“What voice thing?” Gregory demands grumpily.

Romily’s laughter is pure joy, and it completely breaks the solemnity of the atmosphere after Darcy’s ordeal. “Grandma Bone had a spell integrated into her realm that allowed me to ‘talk’ like this.”

“The spell is integrated into the realm? How?” Santanos asks, genuinely curious.

“Do I look like a magic expert? It’s just part of the rules of the realm. It makes it so that a mute boy like me can talk when I’m in that realm,” Romily explains. “This is exactly how I sounded in her realm, too. It’s weird that I sound midwestern, right? I thought I would at least have the same accent as my parents, but it turns out I sound like a newscaster.” His tone becomes that of a TV reporter. “In today’s news, Darcy Hellspinner has been promoted to first cousin for his bravery in the face of being skinned alive.”

I chuckle, laughing with everyone else in the room and turning to kiss Darcy’s Adam’s apple.

Darcy blows out a breath and hops off my leg, grabbing his pants and pulling them back on as I stand. “I never even agreed to be in your weird little family.”

Fox grunts at that and levels him with a blank, yet somehow deadpan, stare. “You killed Bacchus.”

Darcy straightens his shoulders, standing to his full height. He’s still the shortest person in the room, but somehow his ego makes him feel twelve feet tall. “I would’ve done that for anyone.”

I hold out my hand to Darcy again, offering him the support he needs to acknowledge the truth to his new family. “You did it for yourself, and you deserved to have that notch in your belt, but you love being part of this family, and they deserve to know that.” I look at Fox after saying that. “You mind if I blow my guy here? He deserves a reward.”

“Here?” Bellamy protests.

“I meant, this guy here,” I laugh, shaking my head at the guy who would probably like to join me if I was the sharing type.

I’m not, but Bellamy is hot, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him down and dirty. Actually, I could probably say that about every person in this room.

Fox stares at me blankly for a moment, then stands, pulling Romily along with him. “I’ll show you the guest room.”

I knew these guys weren’t the type to get uncomfortable about sex things. Bellamy, yeah, but the rest of the family seems to be of a mind to acknowledge and enjoy their sexuality.

Speaking of, it’s surprising how many same sex pairs there are in this family. I’m not against finding your tribe, but usually there’s more diversity in found families, right? “Where are the lesbians and aces in this family?”

Romily answers with a happy little dance in his step. “My sugar daddy and her wife are currently on vacation because they’ve just been promoted to citizens after Bellamy took over being the Avatar of Good from Annette, and I haven’t had the chance to add any ace people to my family yet.”

“We can keep an eye out to add diversity, but you’ve got a big family already.” Eight that I’ve met so far, not including me, and I’ve heard of the four dads and now his sugar daddy and her wife, so that’s twelve. That’s a nice number. Thirteen if you include me.

“Altogether we’re sitting pretty at fifteen. You’ll meet my bestie Akile and his brother Ace. Lol. We’ve added an Ace, but that’s not his sexual descriptor. It’s his interim name. He hasn’t figured out what his forever name is yet.”

“You can work on that after you figure out what to call yourselves when you change your names,” I suggest.

Romily turns wide eyes on me. “I should probably prioritize it since he’s looking for a forever name now, and I don’t need to change mine for at least another ten years.”

Fox stops in front of a door and pushes it open for us. “I’ll have the butler bring up lunch for you in about an hour.”

I reach out and squeeze Romily’s wrist. “You’re a good friend. Helping Ace find his true name is a great priority,” I tell him, then I smile at Fox, who doesn’t seem like the touchy type. “Thank you for this. Taking a break from this rollercoaster of a day is going to be helpful.”

Fox nods once, then pulls Romily down the hall to a different door. They look like they also need a break.

I lead Darcy into the room, closing the door behind us, and take in a modern ocean theme complete with lighthouse artwork and oceanic murals on the walls. The bed is covered in a duvet with anchors on it and the pillows have various ships. “It’s definitely a guest room,” I comment, pulling my shirt over my head.

Darcy’s smile grows on his face as I toss the bloody shirt aside. “The decor does scream ‘themed hotel,’ doesn’t it?”

I reach for his black metal band shirt and pull it over his head, leaving him with just his silver chains decorating his chest. “Don’t want to talk about the decor right now,” I confess, pushing him toward the cuck-chair. “Sit down and let me suck you.”

Darcy shoves his pants down, tossing them away, and sits on the armchair facing the bed, legs spread wide. “You know I ain’t gon’ say no to yer mouth on me.”

I love the look of him there like a king on his throne, but I rip my eyes off him to go looking through the drawers—oh, no need. There’s a bottle of lube on the nightstand, ready to go, along with a bowl full of loose condoms.

I grab the lube and set it on the floor next to the chair as I get my pants mostly off. I leave them hanging around my prosthetic and get on my knees between his slender little legs, adjusting my metal foot manually to a comfortable angle. “How about I get you nice ‘n hard, and then you fuck me until I see stars?” I offer, pumping some lube onto my hand so I can work myself open while I suck on him.

“Such a lovely idea, Peach,” he grins.

It’s true. “My ideas usually are.”

Darcy gasps softly as I swallow his dick, pressing my fingers into my ass. I prefer to clean things out a bit before sex, but I’m not going to deny myself his cock when I’m this horny. Darcy blows out that breath he caught, grabbing my hair. “How’s this?”

I nod, tonguing his cock as I breach myself with two fingers. Stretching myself out to loosen the muscle is pretty easy and feels nice. Better is Darcy’s cock in my mouth, though. It’s still a monster, and as it hardens in my mouth, I can fit less of it in, but fuck, I love the taste of him. Yes, it’s skin, and yes it’s the skin we keep hidden, but it’s the best, and I love it.

Cocks are my favorite, and this one is a goddamn miracle.

“Such a pretty little peach, ain’tcha. I fuckin’ love the look of you down there. Yer the most excited when you got my cock in your hungry lil mouth. Love the way you gag yerself for me. Fuckin’ beautiful.”

His praise makes me relax enough to get finger number three in my ass, and that’s as far as I can get without any help. It’s not enough to take his cock, so I hang out, licking and sucking, enjoying this heavenly treat and listening to Darcy’s words of encouragement and praise until his grip on my hair tightens and he pulls my head up.

I blink up at him, a little dazed by the sudden end to my suckfest. “Wha—”

“Lie back, Peach. I’m ready to fuck you open and make you see stars.”

It takes another blink for his words to have any meaning, and then I move, rising to fall onto my back on the bed, letting my legs fall open.

Darcy pushes my legs up, grabs a pump of lube, and covers his cock with it. Instead of pushing his fingers into me like last time, he presses his dick against my entrance. He massages the head against my entrance for fuck knows how long, murmuring to me the entire time things like, “Yer so beautiful,” and “This is the purdiest bud I ever saw,” and “Yer the sweetest lil bottom bitch, ain’tcha.” He keeps up a litany of praise and expectations until the tip of his cock pops right into my hole like my insides are his cock’s forever home.

He groans as he slides in ever so slowly, kissing my calf, licking my skin, and biting me again. The heat of his magic warms me and helps me relax as he gently pumps in and out until he’s fully seated, hips to ass. “Fuck, yer tight, Peach. I can’t say I’ve ever been inside a better ass.”

I huff, laughing at him, breathless from how full he makes me feel. “You’re—older than—dirt—and—my ass isn’t—exceptional.”

He grins, reaching up my body and landing a hand around my neck. “It’s not about the structure, baby, it’s about the person. Yer fuck near perfect, and that makes yer ass better’n any I ever fucked.”

Fuck near perfect?

“That’s quite—the comp—liment.” There is no room for the butterflies that erupt in my stomach, but a swarm of them take flight.

Darcy pulls his monster cock out until just the crown is hanging out inside me. “Elijah, I dunno if anyone ever told ya—” he slams his cock into me, blanking me out for a second before his voice brings me back, “—but yer the easiest man to get along with, and whatever else ya are,” slam “pleasant,” slam “eager,” slam “and sexy” slam “make ya damn near perfect.”

My orgasm blasts through me, sending me shattered to the stratosphere, where the pulse of Darcy’s cock inside me rockets me straight into the void. The world fades and narrows down to just the pleasure receptors in my own body for a few wonderful moments. Rainbow lights, stars going supernova, and my orgasm swirl together, pulsing with the beat of my heart. It feels like I spend an eternity in that blissed out space, but Darcy folding me in half to capture my lips brings me back down.

The way he ravages my mouth pulls me into the trap of renewed lust as his hips grind, and he fucks into me to the rhythm set by the dance of our tongues. I groan when my body contracts again, ready for another orgasm spurred on by the swirl of blood magic Darcy uses to make sex amazing.

Darcy snakes his hand between us, jerking me as he pulls his lips away to give me a chance to breathe again. He saws his cock in and out of me, hitting every over-sensitive nerve I have. The sight of his bloody smile makes me aware of the taste of copper in my mouth, and as I discover my bloody lip, the pain causes my body to jerk again, and another orgasm swells through me, starting at the base of my spine and spreading outward like a flood.

Cum seeps from my cock as I pulse in Darcy’s hand, and then he shoves his dick as far into me as he can, hitting a deep place and making me ache. Something deep inside snaps, then it pops, and immediately the ache disappears, replaced by ecstasy.

A scream erupts from me as I drown in whatever this is. The snapping, popping thing inside me latches onto his cock, and I feel it everywhere all at once as my body becomes one huge rolling orgasm. Pulse after pulse inside me sends me careening through multiple orgasms, stealing the very breath from my lungs.

It’s more than I can take, and as stars burst in my vision, the darkness prevails, sending me into the void of unconsciousness.