14. Valentina

14

VALENTINA

S ix months later

T he only thing to ease the ache of leaving Alé and Pietro was work. I threw myself into it the moment I got back to Hearth HQ, planning a dozen other trips to the most successful havens in our system. I compiled over fifteen notebooks’ worth of notes from those trips, and comm’d my mates every week to tell them what I’ve been learning and working on.

Like always, Pietro forces brightness into his voice and a smile to his lips, but our bond is dark and quiet. Six portals are too far for me to be able to feel him. If we lived in the human world, it wouldn’t be a problem. But six portals plus six ward systems are enough to obliterate it.

It’s nearly midnight, and my office is pitch-black save for a solo light on at my desk. I add color to the last illustrated mockup of the new haven. The new haven was announced four months ago, and Evenia uncharacteristically let the Azuroan monsters vote on the name, as many of them will be moving to the new location.

They picked Tesoro, the Italian word for treasure.

I love it. And I hope they’ll love what I’ve planned. I traveled to Azuro last week to speak with the leadership council there and present my final plans. Their signoff is the last step I need before presenting it to Evenia tomorrow for the last approval. Of course, she’s given a half dozen approvals along the way. Tomorrow is mostly for show. Typically, it’s a public meeting, and anyone can come, but I asked Evenia if we could meet privately.

I’m going to simultaneously present my detailed plan for a Grand Portal Station, much like the humans’ Grand Central Station. I haven’t spoken a word of this plan to anyone, but I’ve been working overtime doing research, cost analysis and location planning. I’m ready for this presentation. It has to work; she has to agree, because I can’t keep living without my mates like this. Not to mention the benefit to monsterkind.

It’s early evening in Ever, so I pick up my comm disk and call them. They don’t answer; they’re probably busy.

But two hours later, they’re still not answering. Worry fills me, so I pack up my things and head home, determined to call them again.

Scurrying down the streets with my plans in a long tube carrier and my bag slung over my back, I push through the snow until I get to my apartment. My chest is full of pressure, and I wish for the millionth time I could ease some of that with my bond.

As I enter my building, I flatten my ears to my head to avoid hearing every conversation in the place. It’s a pro and con of being a vampire. But, inadvertently, I pick up voices I’d know anywhere.

Could it be?

I examine my bond only to feel a sensual tug.

In a moment, I fly up the stairs to my apartment on the top level. The front door is propped open. Bursting through, I look for them. Pietro stands at the stove wearing one of my frilly aprons as he stirs a boiling pot, and Alé comes out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel, his black hair wet and dripping water down his powerful neck.

My mouth drops open, but I zip it. Tears fill my eyes. “You’re here. You’re both here. I was just calling you…”

Alé drops the towel, revealing his nude frame. Like always, his beauty shocks me into silence. Jagged, linear tattoos trail down his neck and cover his chest, a singular line diving all the way into the thick hair around the base of his bobbing cock.

“I need to worship you.” I set my tube and bag down on a side table by the door.

“We couldn’t wait to see you,” Pietro rumbles, removing the apron and hanging it on a hook on the wall. “We took a few days off to be here while you make your presentation. We wanted it to be a surprise.”

The first blood tear trails down my cheek as I gesture him close. Pulling them together, I press my cheek to Alé’s chest and bring my left palm to Pietro’s heart. Instantly, nerves and sadness dissipate. I can do anything with them by my side. Anything at all.

Sighing happily, I consider just how late it is, and yet Pietro seems determined to feed me. I smile and lift my head from Alé’s chest, jerking it toward the stove. “You’re cooking, so let’s eat. After that, would you like to go out on the town for a bit? Or would you rather stay in?”

Pietro bends down and nuzzles my neck. “I wouldn’t mind showing you off at a club for a while. It’s been years since we went to one.”

Alé’s hands slide up my back to rest between my shoulder blades. “What do you think?” I question.

His plump lips pull into a smirk. “Can I fuck you while you’re tied up?”

“Anytime,” I murmur. “We can play however you like.”

“Dinner first,” Pietro commands, gripping my throat and running his thumb over my lower lip. “We must take care of you first, amore.”

“Of course.” I kick my shoes off and stride across my sparse apartment, grabbing plates to set the table.

Alé disappears into the bedroom, and Pietro returns to the stove, stirring a saucepan of red sauce, peppers and sausage.

“Smells divine.” I wrap my arms around him from behind. His heart thumps steadily under my fingertips. I scent him as he continues cooking. I don’t even move, so thankful he’s here, until Alé rejoins us with black jeans slung low on his hips. He comes behind me, pulling me from Pietro until my back hits Alé’s front.

Bending down, he bites gently along my neck down to my back, pulling my shirt down off my shoulder. Moaning softly, he bites and sucks at my skin, running a hand up between my breasts. “Missed you,” he murmurs into my skin. “Six months was terrible, amore.”

“I know,” I manage, letting my head fall to one side as my bond with Pietro tenses, flush with need and pleasure. “Six months felt like a century.”

Pietro turns, eyes flashing as he watches Alé nip his way back down my neck and along my skin. “We cannot do the distance anymore, my love. Whatever Alé and I have to give up, we are prepared to do it. We need you.”

“No,” I growl. “I won’t let you give up your dreams. I will convince Evenia to approve the Grand Portal Station plans.”

“It’s not that we don’t have faith in you,” Alé whispers against my neck. “It’s that we are planners, and our backup plan is to come here no matter what.”

“I hate that plan.” I pull Pietro close. “I need things to work out for all of us.”

“They will,” Pietro says quietly. “If anyone can pull this off, it’s you.”

“I need your bite,” Alé moans, moving to the other side of my neck. “Now, Valentina. Please.”

I’ve never heard his voice so ragged and raw, so desperate. My bond with Pietro tenses and flexes. He wants this too.

And so do I. I’ve wanted it for centuries.

I turn in Alé’s arms. His eyes are hooded, expression somber when he brings his scarlet gaze to mine.

I reach up and run my fingers along his strong jawline. “I’m ready, mate. Where do you want to be?”

“Right here, right now,” he demands roughly, bringing one hand to my hair and gripping it tightly. He looks to his right. “Be with me?”

Pietro joins us, sliding a hand around Alé’s waist. He moves his other hand to the back of my neck as nerves flare through me.

I’m going to bite Alé—finally. A vampiric claiming bite is an ancient bit of evolutionary magic from a time when vampires were hunted. So many lost their mates that we developed the ability to bond any being to us through a bite filled with venom and intention. I’ve bitten Alé a trillion times, but never with the intent to bind his soul to mine and Pietro’s. Pietro could bite Alé and do the same thing. But, somehow, we always knew it would be me who did it.

Baring my fangs, I lean down and lick a path over Alé’s heart. It’s beating so fast, like a wounded sparrow trapped behind his bones, aching to be released.

“Alé,” I look up at him, “I love you.”

As he opens his mouth to respond, I strike, sinking my fangs deep into the chest muscle over his heart. He gasps, fingers tightening in my hair as Pietro stands quietly with us, safeguarding us.

I pour centuries of love into the bite, claiming him with every bit of my soul as I fill his heart with my venom. I don’t drink him—no, this is about giving. I fill him as his hips begin to rock against mine, his soft grunts becoming full-on pants until they rise and he comes with a guttural roar.

Something bright snaps and twists between us.

Our bond. The one we’ve wanted for centuries.

It spins and braids itself along the gleaming tension Pietro and I share until I can’t tell where either bond starts or ends. Alé’s head falls back against the wall, his throat bobbing as I release the bite and stare in awe at him. His feelings are exactly what I always thought they’d be—joyful adoration, cheerful confidence, and a deep, undying loyalty to Pietro and me.

It surprises me when Pietro leans into Alé and sinks his fangs into our mate’s throat. He drinks deeply, groaning with need as Alé whines and holds me closer. Through the bond, their pleasure and desire are tangible. I love that they’ve become more physical in the last six months or so. I never thought they’d want that, but it’s beautiful to see their love blossom and deepen in this way.

Alé comes again from the bliss of Pietro’s fangs, and I watch, because they’re mine now, irrevocably. As Pietro releases the bite and pulls away, resolve fills me.

I’ll crush this presentation tomorrow. I have to. Because I can never, ever allow my males to give up a single one of their dreams. Not for me. Not for anything.