Rideten, Present TimeThey were swept into the house on a tide of women, voices overlapping in a craze that gave Rhett an instant headache. He managed to determine that those within the house were refugees of a sort, hiding from the Van Helsings and their cuffs. Part of him wanted to snarl at them that whilst the witches had been baking bread and burning incense, others were out there dying, but he managed to keep his temper in check.Stella quickly took control and began issuing instructions and orders. Rhett eased back out the way that they’d come and slipped onto the porch. There, overlooking the pretty garden, he took one of the prettily cushioned wicker chairs, propped his feet up on the bright patchwork of an ottoman, and lit a smoke.The door opened and Phillip stepped out, smoothing his hair back from his face as he scanned around him, spotting Rhett.“Fuck,” Rhett muttered. He should have followed the porch around the house and found a hidey hole.“There you are,” Phillip cro
Havermouth, Present TimeHarry had done a lot of things in their time as vampire. They had travelled widely and lived decadently.They enjoyed beautiful things and considered themselves to be one of them. They had always taken care of themselves and revelled in the admiration of others. Consequently, they had been a muse for several successful, and sometimes unsuccessful, artists, and got a thrill when they visited art galleries and found their own image staring back down at them, although they knew that if Talen and Sigrid ever learnt of it, they would chastise them for their carelessness.There had been times of hardship. One thing that humans excelled in was war, and occasionally they had become caught up in the conflict. They knew how to survive, and how to make the best of a situation.They had never farmed however, and it was an eye-opening experience.Jules’ day revolved around the farm. He rose with the dawn and the morning was filled with feeding and caring for the animals, m
Havermouth, Present TimeSamuel stood under the spray of the shower, letting the warmth of the water ease muscles that ached after the workout from chopping wood. First, he had struggled to carry the werewolf August, and now he was sore after performing a menial task. He had been spending too much time meditating, he reprimanded himself, and too little engaged in physical activity. Even a vampire’s strength needed accentuation through physical fitness.He stroked his hand over his stomach frowning. Had he put on weight?He would fly to the Edison farm, he decided. The exercise would be good for him, and it wasn’t as if he needed to hide his wings now that supernaturals were exposed to humans and the Havermouth population had come to accept and work with them.He carried his shirt and jacket in his hands when he left the house and stretched out his wings to their full extension. Being at the top of a hill made lift-off easier, and he quickly gained height, circling over Sigrid’s farm b
Havermouth, Present TimeJules groaned as Harry stroked their hands over him. Being bound by the leather at wrist and throat, the collar preventing him from looking down and anticipating Harry’s next move, the cold stone against his palms and the soles of his feet, and the breeze through the still open exterior doors of the stables pricking against the water that clung to his skin, Jules was lost in sensation, drugged by desire.He had never fucked before until Harry, he thought. He’d had sex, and made love, but there had never been anything like this. Harry made Jules realize that he had always treated sex like takeaway food – he grabbed it when he was hungry, filled his stomach, and moved on. For Harry, it was a full degustation meal with paired wine. Each detail was carefully crafted, curated for pleasure, and savored for the experience.The stable in which he stood was an example of his mate through and through. Jules knew every item in the room, as he knew everything on his land.
Rideten, Present TimeOnce the problem was explained by Stella, the refugee witches had no issue with volunteering to donate blood to Aislen’s mates. Talen insisted on doing it properly, choosing the front drawing room and arranging for tea and cake to be served. Aislen leaned against the doorframe and watched as he explained to the three hybrids about angles, pressure, and instinct.“You can sense their magic,” Stella observed, joining her in the door and keeping her voice low so as not to distract the lesson taking place. “Even from out here, there is something about a hungry vampire that soothes the soul. It is a release of oxytocin similar to that a mother gets as she feeds her baby.”“A little more sensuous than that,” Aislen observed dryly as Cameron’s witch volunteer’s cheeks flushed and her eyes lost focus, her body relaxing in the chair, surrendering herself to Aislen’s red-haired mate.“It depends on the individual, I suspect, and how attractive they find the vampire,” Stell
Havermouth, Present TimeSamuel gazed out over the endless stretch of snow. The fine drift of flakes misted the sky, blurring the point at which land and air met. In the distance, smoke rising from amongst the white was the only hint that a village was buried there, the walls and rooves of their houses lost beneath the fresh snowfall. The humans of the region had survived far worse, so he was not concerned for them. They knew well how to huddle together during the frost filled months of winter.When the snows melted, they would emerge with a new generation well on the way.The chamber behind him echoed with many voices raised in argument. The meeting had been in progress for many hours and had lost his interest as they rehashed the same points over and over again.“The bloodlines are under attack,” Ember’s voice rang out, silencing the argument. “There is simply no debating it. Already four lines are in danger. Ishiekiel and Salamen have brought the survivors into their own caves in o
Rideten, Present TimeTalen’s arrival into the kitchen filled the room and transformed it from a feminine space into a masculine one. Aislen felt her heart warm at the sight of him. Stella was right, she thought. All was well and all was as it should be. She had been right to stop the fight and not let it escalate, just as she’d been right to heal Cameron.Talen strolled around the kitchen to stand behind her, resting the palms of his hands on her shoulders, the warmth soothing. “I am glad that you are eating, little demon,” he purred as his thumbs began to knead the tension from her shoulders. “Perhaps when you are done, I can persuade you to rest, as well?”Rest, his lips said, but sex was in his mind. Aislen met Stella’s eyes across the table and saw that the witch was smothering her giggles, her eyes dancing. Aislen bit her lip trying to keep her grin contained.Aislen caught a glimpse of Cameron and Rhett in the kitchen door, and knew that Heath wouldn’t be far away, so she finis
Havermouth, Present TimeLyric decided that the winged man was harmless and discretely withdrew from Ember’s room, pulling the door shut behind her. She was pretty sure from the way the two dragons were gripping onto each other that they weren’t going to want an audience for the next part of their reunion.She headed towards the kitchen to prepare another meal for Niarthen, and had just finished slicing vegetables into a bowl, when the outside sensor light activated, illuminating the front porch, and showing a figure that could only be Harry through the glass. They were carrying Jules in their arms like a groom carrying a bride across the threshold.She debated opening the door for them but realized that both men were wearing nothing but robes, and instead grabbed the salad bowl and ducked into a crouch behind the kitchen counter. It would be very weird and hard to explain if they caught her there, she thought ruefully, but also far less embarrassing for everyone if they passed throug
Rideten, Present Time Aislen was jolted awake when Talen shot out of the bed to the door. She was nicely nuzzled into Heath and Talen had been a warm spot against her back, his sudden moving causing a draught that was quickly filled when Cameron rolled over and snuggled up. She could hear Talen’s voice through the open door, and the reply of other voices on the other side. Cameron’s hand cupped her breast and his cock nudged against her arse. He rocked his hips suggestively, still mostly asleep. Heath tensed. “Fuck.” “- leave in fifteen,” a woman spoke crisply and in a tone that said there would be no compromise. “Victor’s orders.” “No,” Aislen pressed her face into Heath’s ribs. “Nonononono.” “It’s retaliation,” he decided. “For last night.” “It’s mean,” she grumbled. “Cruel.” “No sex?” Cameron sat up. “That’s not fair.” “You had sex last night. Good sex too, from the holes you left in the covers,” Heath pointed out. “It was good sex,” Cameron was smug. He nudged Rhett. “Hey
Havermouth, Present Time Embroidering living human flesh was somewhat harder than Meguitte had anticipated, but the challenge was very absorbing. Midway through the first flower, she realized that she wanted the knots required every stitch to cluster at the center, so she snipped and undid what she had started, much to Bianca’s distress. Meguitte was tempted to stem the witch’s complaints by explaining that it was becoming obvious that the stitches were not causing enough pain to override the wards, and her choices had become doing greater, potentially maiming, harm, or being patient and hoping that a lot of small agony would eventually become enough. The second attempt turned out better, and by the time she had completed the third flower and created a stem to connect the three, she was quite proud of her efforts. The blood kept getting in the way of her design, however, and she paused a moment to suck her fingertips. “I do believe I understand Mercy’s aversion to magical blood,” s
Rideten, Present Time The water was all but cold, but Talen had bathed in worse – recently, in fact, during the troubles in Havermouth. He scrubbed himself with a washcloth, rubbing away the sticky blood. A rhythmic thudding started against the wall behind him, causing him to pause and grin. It sounded like Cameron was putting some force into it, he thought amused and absently reached down to cup his cock, already hard at the thought. He turned off the water, deciding to join them. As he briskly dried himself, his phone began to ring from where he had set it on the vanity. Fatima’s number flashed onto the screen. He raised his eyebrows and answered it. “Fatima.” “Talen,” she was breathless and her voice tense. “They did it. They actually did it. Jules is alive.” Talen almost dropped the phone in surprise. “He is?” “Yes. He’s not quite… He’s very disorientated, but Harry’s looking after him. But he’s alive.” Talen braced his palm against the cold stone of the vanity, relief floodi
Rideten, Present Time Aislen grinned. “Is that right, Mr Wolf?” She purred stalking him over to the bed. “If I get it, I get to do whatever I like with it?” Cameron’s lips curled in a smirk. “No. But I will do something you like with it.” “Promises, promises,” she lunged for him, and he sidestepped so that she landed face-down on the mattress, before pinning her there with his body, his hands slowly drawing her hands up and holding them down to either side of her head whilst he nuzzled under the tangled sprawl of her wet curls to nibble along her shoulder and neck as her giggles gave way to soft moans as she closed her eyes and surrendered to his seduction. He nudged her legs apart and her knees onto the edge of the mattress, lifting her hips from the mattress so that he could rub his cock against her cunt in a slow, hot tease whilst his teeth pricked little bloodspots along her neck, his tongue soothing away the little sting each time as it captured the droplets. She could feel t
Havermouth, Present Time Tears streamed down Harry‘s face as they rose to their feet. They ran their hands over the lush hide of the weredragon. It was precisely the colour of Jules’ hair. Harry draped their body over the dragon’s chest, pressing their ear to the hide, celebrating the steady beat and rise and fall of the ribs. Alive. Gloriously alive. And they could feel the tie of their mate bond twining them together. With their eyes closed, Jules was a glow within the darkness. “Oh Jules, Jules, Jules…” They wept the words, stroking and luxuriating in the living creature that surrounded them with its bulk. It did not matter in the slightest that this Jules was not as Jules had been before… Harry’s most fervent wish had been granted and they had their mate back. “I knew it,” they whispered pressing kisses into the fur as they moved along the length of the dragon towards its head. “I knew that you were not gone.” They stroked over the dragon’s snout and pressed a kiss between his n
Havermouth, Present TimeHarry did not know how long they had been tending to Jules in the small cold room. Time had lost any meaning as the room had no natural light. They fed when Fatima brought them blood, or one of the ancients descended the stairs in order to donate. And then they would patiently drip blood into Jules’ slack mouth, watching for a sign that he had swallowed, before unbandaging the ruin of Jules’ hand, examining the wound for signs of healing before coating it again with blood and carefully, tenderly re-wrapping it.Jules was not dead. They were certain of it. Although he did not breathe, did not swallow, and his heart did not beat, Harry was certain that they sensed a spark of life within him, that they would know if the body that they held was nothing but flesh.They had, after all, handled many dead bodies in their long, long life.And the hand wound... It looked better. They could not precisely say how it was so - it was still a mess of bone and meat, and the b
Rideten, Present Time“Oh gawd, so good,” Aislen moaned as she squeezed in between Rhett and Cameron. “I so need to get this blood off my skin. It’s beginning to itch. Tsk, look at you two,” she added taking the washcloth from Rhett’s hand and tugging him down so that she could scrub the blood from his face. “You even have some in your ears. How do you get blood in your ears?”“Beats me,” Rhett’s hands gripped her hips, and his thumbs stroked her skin suggestively. “I have some blood lower down,” he smoldered. “Cameron was just offering to lick it off for me when you came in and gave us a better idea.”“Oh?” Aislen knew precisely what they had in their dirty, dirty minds - basically the same plan with slight variations between the two men. But she wasn’t going to make it easy on them. “Come here,” she scrubbed at Cameron’s face with the cloth. “Good enough,” she decided and handed it to him. “Do me whilst I rinse my hair out.”“Do you, or do you?” Cameron teased as he and Rhett shifte
Rideten, Present TimeSamuel’s wing sails caught the air with a whoomp. The guard heard it, looking up in astonishment a moment before Samuel seized him. In the old days, Samuel thought ruefully as he carried the struggling man up into the air again, he would have just let the man go and let gravity take care of the rest. However stealth was required in the current situation and now that he had the man, he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with him, other than sate his thirst.It had to be something that wouldn’t be noticed immediately, Samuel concluded as he sank his teeth into the struggling guard’s neck. Whatever he did with him needed to have a visual impact, as the Emissary had been clear that part of the reason for the attack was psychological - to show the enemy that they weren’t even safe in their own headquarters.He saw a flash from the corner of his eye as Ember spread her wings, slowing her descent as she targeted another guard - but only slowing enough to prevent her from i
Rideten, Present Time“And here I thought you’d achieved the most outrageously jaw-dropping appearance the last time you walked into my bunker Mr Gale,” Victor observed dryly as he closed the meeting room door behind them. “Look at you,” he added gesturing at the three of them.Heath slid a look at each of his mates. Talen raised his eyebrows. Of them all, their vampire hybrid mate had escaped the massacre with only a few blood splatters in his beard. Seeing Heath’s look, he raised his hands to show that they were as bloody as Heath’s own, which made Heath feel better. He scratched at his jaw feeling blood flake away under his nail.“This is what war looks like,” Aislen replied snidely. “Something you might find unfamiliar from a bunker, Victor, but true nonetheless.”Victor shook his head as he crossed to a cupboard and pulled out a decanter. “Whiskey?” He offered them.“I will,” Talen said.“Not us,” Heath declined regretfully. Whiskey would have gone down well after the night in th