Havermouth, Present TimeCameron came into the bathroom as Heath stepped out of the shower and sighed. “Shit. I was hoping for a quickie in the shower,” he complained upon seeing that Heath was out. “But I had to help get breakfast back to jail.”Heath rubbed a towel through his hair. It was getting a bit shaggy, he noted, and debated whether to cut it or let it grow. He had kept his hair short for the past five years to avoid looking like Charlie, but the length had surpassed any similarity to his father, and he quite liked how it looked on him. In the same vein, his jaw held a glitter of stubble that rasped beneath his fingers as he ran them over it and where he would normally shave it away, he decided to leave it in place. The rougher look went with the scars on his chest and the new piercings through his nipples, after all, he thought ruefully, rubbing his hands over the scar tissue.He was coming to terms with the scars, growing in confidence that they weren’t a detraction from h
Havermouth, Present TimeA delivery van with Boyston Coffee emblazoned on the side was parked in front of the hospital emergency entrance next to two white tradie vans mounted with ladders and various other work orientated paraphernalia.Talen parked alongside them.“I guess there aren’t exactly ambulances using this entrance at the moment,” Aislen observed.“God help anyone who gets injured to the point of needing an operation,” Rhett added. “Do we even have any surgeons or doctors left?”“Dr James might be still running around somewhere,” Aislen grimaced. “But she’ll probably want to nibble the patient a little… But seriously, I think between the witches and the vampires, Havermouth’s residents will probably be well taken care of in an emergency.”“Very true,” Talen nodded with approval. “In Concordia, our vampires took care of almost all human health needs.”“We should probably look for Dr James,” Aislen slid out of the 4WD. “And any other zombies wandering around and cure them.”“
Havermouth, Present Time“Are you enjoying yourself?” Talen arched an eyebrow at Tyler as he entered the hallway and his former blood slave peeled himself away from his mate.Tyler grinned, unrepentant, dragging his finger up Izeikiel’s throat to caress his bottom lip with a leer. “Very much,” he purred leaning into his mate, before stepping back. “How about yourself?” Tyler fell into step with Talen, leaving Izeikiel still leaning against the wall, the vampire weak-kneed as he recovered.“Hmm,” Talen shook his head in amusement. “Not as much as you, apparently.”“Standing guard over a hallway is boring work,” Tyler replied. “You have to make your own entertainment. Next door,” he added as Talen paused by the first. “You’re looking for Meguitte I’m guessing?”“Yes.”“The bald-headed and tattooed vampiress is in with her,” Tyler told him. “She’s really something.”“Ahh,” Talen nodded. “Delwyn.”Tyler fell back as Talen opened the door into the laboratory. Delwyn, Meguitte, Connery and
Havermouth, Present Time“Newly turned hybrids struggle to consume anything other than blood,” Aislen explained to Stella as Talen entered the bathroom. “And cigarettes, in Rhett’s case,” she added. “Hey, Toby!” She exclaimed as he exited the bathroom, his attention on what was behind him and not what was before. As he saw her, his face lit up and he crossed to join them. “How’s Rhett doing?” She asked, grimacing.“Not great,” Toby pulled a sympathetic face. “Talen said that he might be a while as Rhett will need to drink again after vomiting up breakfast. He’s going to take him to the donations area when Rhett stops chucking up. He asked me to accompany you back to the bunker if you did not want to wait?”“Oh,” Aislen worried her bottom lip. Rhett was pretty unwell for Talen to assign Toby to accompany her. She remembered Cameron and nodded. It had taken Cameron a while to recover from his food-experiment.“Okay,” she agreed. She didn’t want to hang around at the hospital whilst Rhet
Havermouth, Present Time“I think I’m dying,” Rhett announced blowing out his breath. “How is it possible that one small espresso causes this much woe?” He felt sweat break out on his forehead and braced a hand against the stall walls as his body arched into another expelling of what it was convinced to be poison.“Well, you did eat rather heavily for breakfast,” Talen reminded him gently. He had braided Rhett’s hair back from his face, handed him a handful of wet paper towels, and now filled the stall doorway with his shoulders as he watched as Rhett flushed away the coffee-scented bloody evidence of his experiment.“Yeah.” The toilet bowl had looked like a murder scene, something that Rhett found quite entertaining now that the worst of his vomiting was over. He hoped. He closed the lid and sat down on it, feeling weak in the aftermath.Talen walked over to wet more paper towel in the sink, bringing it back, and tilted Rhett’s head back with his fingers before gently wiping the towe
Havermouth, Present TimeLyric woke face down in the pillows, her hair sticking to her eyelashes. A ray of light pierced the part in the curtains and shone directly in her face causing halos in her vision when she blinked her eyes open. She rolled over, reaching for Niarthen and found him sitting on the edge of the mattress.“Niarthen?” She shot to seated and reached out to touch his back. His spine was so clear through his skin it frightened her, and his rib bones could be felt beneath the palm of her hand. “Are you okay?”“I am fine, mia persuma inillium,” he turned to look over his shoulder and smiled at her through the luxurious fall of his green-toned hair. “I am sorry to wake you. I am just returning to the water.” He turned fully, and stroked his hand through her hair, cupping her neck and lowering her back onto the pillows, sliding back into the bed with her so that he leaned over her, his eyes dark with intent.Her heartbeat picked up as she lifted her hand to touch his chee
Havermouth, Present TimeAfter his visit with Charlie, Heath needed to calm down. He changed into work out wear and went down to the army bunker to work out using their gear, thinking to sweat it out. He found Rohan already there. They worked out side by side in companionable silence for half an hour before Rohan took a break and retrieved two bottles of water from the glass fronted fridge.“So…” Rohan said as he sat on the weight bench across from Heath. “How’s things?”Heath took a mouthful of water scrutinizing his friend. “What’s up?“About the meeting yesterday… Look, I’m sorry, eh?” Rohan glanced around them, making sure that they were alone and would be unheard. “I didn’t mean to…”“I know,” Heath interrupted. “It’s fine.”“Nah, it’s not,” Rohan shook his head. “I have to be upfront about some things, Heath. When we adopted Julian, we started preparing for the Triquetra’s purpose. I did some things that I shouldn’t have done to raise the money to build our bunker,” he told him
Havermouth, Present Time“No,” Heath eased back off the mattress. “In fact, you’ve come at the perfect time.” He hauled the limp Cameron off the mattress, causing his red-haired mate to grunt in surprise, before turning and setting him down, seated on the foot of the bed.Cameron grinned at Aislen. “Hi. And eww,” he pulled a face at the smears of lube that Heath had left on his skin.“Hi,” she giggled at his disgust, and stepped into the room, pulling off her clothes and discarding them onto the floor. “I think I know where Heath is going with this… Facing you, or away?” She asked Heath as she closed the bedroom door just in case Stella returned. As open-minded and in touch with nature as the witch was, walking in on an Aislen sandwich would be pressing the friendship.“Facing Cameron,” Heath caught her by the waist and left a slick of lube on her as he lifted her to straddle Cameron’s hips.“Mmm,” Cameron caught her arse cheeks in the palms of his hands and lowered his mouth to hers
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