Pack Ruin (The Splintered Bond #3)

31. Dirty Moves

31

Dirty Moves

FLOR

G rigor’s kisses were like dark chocolate. Smooth and addictive with a slightly cold edge, the invisible wind that I’d always felt when he touched me somehow moving through my veins.

“Sure you’re not a vampire?” I muttered as he moved his hands through my hair. It had grown far faster than it normally did since I’d cut it in this house months before, and fell past my shoulders now. He lifted it with one hand and used the backs of his fingers to trace the outline of my ear, ending up at the top, at my tag.

“Why do you still wear this, my queen?” There was no judgment in his tone, only curiosity.

“It’s a good thing I kept it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to get into the dorms.” His eyes narrowed, a predator waiting. “Okay, it’s dumb, but… I’m kind of attached to it. It reminds me of Del.”

He frowned, then smiled gently. “Del? Your true father. The one you loved. He left a mark on your soul.”

“Yeah.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “When I first got this tag, I was little. I cried, and begged Del to take it out. Of course, he wouldn’t. They would’ve killed us both if we’d broken that rule. I told him I didn’t want the other kids to see it and know what it meant. That I was weak.”

“You were never weak, little mate.”

“That’s what Del said, too.” Here, in his home, it was almost like I could hear his voice again, saying the words he’d whispered in the kitchen when I’d come running to him after a group of the older boys at school had taunted me for being unranked trash.“He told me, ‘They want us to be weak, girlie. They want us to believe they can define us. But you know what I see when I look at your tag? A full moon, shining silver. Power that can never be contained.’ When I look in the mirror, I see the way he saw us. Valuable, powerful. Children of the moon, like any of the others, whether we held rank or not.”

“I would have liked your Del very much.”

I snorted. “He’d have kicked your ass from here to the ocean, one leg or not. He was more protective than any dad I knew.”

“That is exactly what I would have liked most about him. I might have allowed him to get a few good hits in.”

I pretended to be offended. “Allowed? Someday I’ll show you what he taught me.”

Grigor’s jaw dropped. “You would… fight me.”

I closed his mouth with two fingers on his chin, then squeezed his face. “Spar, sure. Might even win. I fight dirty.”

His eyes sparked with delight as he wrapped his arms around me, flipping us so I was lying on the sofa with him over me, growling low. “I will hold you to that. I want to see you use everything at your disposal. Especially the dirty moves.”

He was only a few inches taller than me, so our bodies lined up, more or less. Before I could get used to the feeling, his pelvis tilted forward, one of his legs in between mine, and I felt a surge of what had to be magical heat move from his body to mine.

Now it was my turn for a jaw drop. “Grigor. Did you just…” I was going to say, “Make a dirty joke,” but he traced a finger over the seam in my shorts, and my mouth dried up.

“Let me, my queen?”

I blushed so hard I felt a little dizzy, but nodded. I thought he would undo my shorts, but he just settled his hand over my private parts, cupping them. Then he smiled, and I felt another wave of magic, with little vibrations starting up down there.

“No earthquakes,” I squeaked.

He nodded, a dark smile curving his lips. “No screaming.”

I wasn’t sure I could keep that promise, but I bit my lip and nodded.

Luke had given me an orgasm in the storm drain not two hours before, but my body acted like it hadn’t been touched in years, the waves of Grigor’s magic lighting every nerve on fire in seconds.

When Brand touched me, he’d always been focused on my pleasure. Luke had been uncertain and sweet. Grigor wasn’t either of those things. He knew, whether from magic or experience, exactly what to touch, where to press and how hard, to make me reach my peak.

His laugh was wicked as I fell over the edge, expecting him to stop. He shook his head, the dark hair that fell around his face making him look mischievous rather than evil.

“No screaming, little mate,” he reminded me, as he sent a larger wave of magic to my core. It felt almost like he was inside me, like something thick and hot and… getting wider!

“Grigor!” I gasped, the word muffled as he covered my mouth with one hand.

“How much can you take, little one? How much pleasure can you stand?”

Another climax tumbled over me, and I glared up at him when it was waning.“I can take whatever you dish out, old man.”

“Holy shit,” Glen said from the doorway. “This would be even hotter if she was naked, Joaquin.”

“True,” Grigor murmured, moving away from me. “Well then, brother. Come and help.”

Glen’s ocean-blue eyes flew to my face, an unspoken question in them. I rolled my own eyes, pretended like I wasn’t blushing so hard my cheeks might stay this way permanently, and nodded him over.

Glen took Grigor’s place and had my shorts off and on the floor in seconds. He pulled my thighs apart, looking like he was trying to memorize my pussy for a final exam. Grigor just watched from behind, standing with his arms crossed, the muscles on his arms and chest taut.

“What?” I snapped, as he circled behind the sofa. He lifted my arms and pulled my shirt off, distracting me from Glen’s inspection.

“You’re just so incredibly beautiful,” Glen explained, then leaned forward and pressed a kiss to my inner thigh.

“And dirty,” I protested, twisting. “I haven’t had a bath in?—”

“Sponge bath,” Glen announced, grabbing a clean rag and pouring some water on it. He gave my parts a cursory wipe down, followed by a more thorough cleaning with his tongue.

“Glen!” I giggled at the way his stubble tickled my thighs. I would have said something else, but Grigor had leaned over the back of the sofa, and his lips were on mine, upside down. I closed my eyes, luxuriating in the feeling of mouths and tongues, and pleasure building again, the waves of vibrations traveling from where Grigor was kissing me, to my nipples, then lower, circling my core on the inside the same way Glen’s tongue did on the surface.

How many times was Grigor planning to make me orgasm?

A voice answered in my mind. You said you could take whatever I dish out. Are you giving up?

Not even close.

Grigor’s carefree laughter felt like watching a beautiful sunrise after a storm. After I came again, Glen’s tongue teasing me to a long, lazy climax, I asked, “Grigor? Do you want to…”

Glen backed away, but Grigor shook his head once. “I cannot. I told you that when we come together, the earth will move. I am afraid I would not be able to hold back my reaction. It is best for our first joining to take place in a less perilous situation.”

Oh yeah. We were literally surrounded by enemies. Probably not the best time to trigger an earthquake with the epicenter in Del’s shack.

I sighed in disappointment, but Grigor surprised me. “However, your young mate might have a suggestion.”

He hadn’t even finished the thought before Glen had pulled me forward, lifting me up. He sat on the sofa and settled me on his lap facing him, his cock curving up between our bare stomachs. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“What am I gonna do with you, Glenda?” I teased, kissing him before I slid up and notched the tip of his cock at my opening. “It’s a good thing I love fucking you so much.”

“So good,” Glen groaned as I lowered myself down over him, the stretch of his cock making me ache in all the best ways. I rose up and down a few times before Glen took over, gripping my hips and driving me down on him, filling me more on every thrust.

“So… good,” I managed to say.

“Not good enough if you can still talk,” he snarled.

Grigor circled the sofa so that he was at my back once more. He made a soft sound, drawing Glen’s attention. I’m not sure what passed between them, but in seconds, Glen was turning me so that my back was to his chest, then positioned us so he was inside me again, seated to the base. I was so full, I ached. I needed more.

Grigor moved to kneel in front of me, as low as he could, then leaned forward. “What a vision. May I taste you?”

I nodded, shocked, as he dropped his face and took my clit into his mouth, sucking gently, his tongue moving. His face was only inches away from where Glen was buried inside me, and his tongue was practically vibrating.

I shivered at the intensity of the sensations. Glen groaned again. “Don’t move, Flor, I’m begging you. It’s going to make me… I don’t want to come until you?—”

The idea of Grigor tormenting Glen by simply licking me had my core tightening, my back arching, and my walls clamping around Glen’s cock.

“ Fuuuuck, ” he gasped as he flooded me with his warmth.Grigor gave me one last swipe with this tongue, then leaned back.

“That was… amazing,” I moaned once I could finally talk.

“Was?” Grigor’s brow creased, but the mischievous look had returned. “You cannot think we are done?”

Beneath me, Glen whimpered.

I bit my lip. “Bring it on, old man.”

“He’s evil, Flor. He’s evil, and he’s killed us both.” Glen groaned. He lay beneath me on the sofa—a sofa that would need to be burned after tonight—with one hand over his face, and the other arm around my waist.

I grinned stupidly. Of course I did. I’d been fucked stupid for over an hour. It was probably four a.m., we were stuck in this house for another day, and I hadn’t slept a wink. If a curious pack member came knocking, if any Enforcers came to investigate the place, I was dead. I was too exhausted to stand. Fighting was out of the question.

But if I had to die, at least I’d die with a smile on my face and a pleasant ache in my lady parts.

“This evil man needs to go,” Grigor chirped from across the room. Well, as much as a serial killer wearing all black would chirp. He had on his own trousers, but had put on a black t-shirt of Del’s that fit him perfectly. He looked refreshed as fuck.

“You sucked all my energy out, didn’t you?” I accused softly, since Glen had now fallen asleep and was snoring lightly.

He shook his head. “Being near you makes me feel centuries younger.”

Centuries. He kept using that word, a little too casually, if you asked me. I wanted to get some answers—how had he ended up living this long, when the oldest shifter ever had only made it to a hundred and twenty? What had he done all that time?

Did he still miss his dead mate?

Had he had a lot of lovers in all those centuries?

But I felt like I could sleep for a week, and if he answered wrong, I’d have to get up, find a knife, and stab him, or something.

“You rest, little queen. I’m going to weave a small spell around this place.”

“A spell?” I mustered the strength to sit up. Glen let out a snort, then rolled over, still asleep. “What kind of spell?”

“It’s one my mother taught me. A look-away. Very simple, though it would usually require a full coven to weave a solid one around an entire structure.” I almost called him on his bragging, but then realized he was probably only stating a fact.

“I wish we could shower,” I mused aloud.

Grigor ran a hand over his chin in thought. “I could include a silencing spell. It should muffle the sounds of the pipes. And of your young mate’s unfortunate snoring. Wait a half hour before you use the water.”

I nodded. “Aren’t you tired? Won’t all that magic take a lot of energy?”

“A fair amount.” He winked. “I find myself much rejuvenated, though. Sleep. I will remain outside, watching. No one will enter while I stand guard.”

He slipped out the door, and I wandered into the bathroom, finding a toothbrush and using the bottled water to brush my teeth. Once I’d done as much as I could to get clean without running water, I lay next to Luke on the bed and crashed.

I dreamed of Finnick and Brand. Not sex dreams, though. Clearly, I was too exhausted for that to seem fun. But in the first dream, Finnick was in a cell somewhere, with…

“Trevor Blackside.” Finnick spat out the name like it was poison. His hands were slick with blood, and he held a scalpel in the bloodiest one. “You disappoint me. I thought you Southerners were tough. Chased a girl in the Hunt for years, night after night, didn’t you? Tormented all the unranked shifters at your hellhole of a pack, and I assumed you’d be this big, bad Enforcer. But look at you. Begging, covered with piss and blood. If you’d been born into Eastern, you’d have been culled years ago.”

A shape—it was almost unrecognizable as a man—quivered on the wall opposite Finnick. “Please… no more.”

I hadn’t recognized Trevor, but I knew that voice. It had taunted me about my mother’s death, and threatened me in graphic detail for years about what he wanted to do to me after he caught me in the Hunt.

I wanted him to die slowly, and as painfully as possible.

But as Finnick stepped closer to him, I saw something in his eyes that disturbed me more than any of the wounds on Trevor’s body. The brilliant green of them had dulled to a flat gray, and I had a feeling that his soul was changing. Like whatever it was that made him Finnick was fading. He was as filled with shame and self-loathing as I’d been when I’d killed the young wolf.

Killed with silver.

I heard Brand’s voice in my mind. “Finn seems hard and cold, but he is the gentlest of us all. The most broken. Help him, little flower.”

I thought my reply. “This isn’t a dream.”

“It is not,” Brand’s voice said before he drifted away. “It is the nightmare his parents created. Only you can help him wake up.”

I didn’t know how to help Finnick, but I knew I didn’t want him to torture Trevor any longer. Not if it was hurting him.

But even if this wasn’t a dream, even if it was some kind of vision, I couldn’t do anything, change anything.I let out a frustrated scream.

Finnick’s head shot up, and his eyes darted around the blood-spattered room. His lips formed my name. “Flor?”

Could he hear me? I felt the vision fading, like I was being pulled away. Suddenly, I knew what he needed to do.

“Drop the blade,” I whispered to myself. “Claws and teeth.”

My eyes opened before I could see if he’d heard me. “Flor, you were crying out in your sleep.” Luke’s voice had me sitting up in the bed. Del’s bed.

I had on one of Del’s t-shirts, and a pair of boxers. Luke was holding a cup in his hand. “Coffee?” I scrambled out of the bed and took the warm mug. “How?”

I blew on the liquid and sipped carefully, taking in Luke’s appearance. He was standing straight, and even though his arms seemed a little less muscular than before, and his beard a lot scruffier, his eyes were bright.

“You look rested,” I said after a moment. “How long did we sleep?”

“Most of the day,” he replied, holding out a hand. I took it, loving the feel of his skin under mine. He had on the shirt and pants I’d laid out for him. “Glen’s made us a late lunch.”

“He cooked? I could eat a gator. I guess Grigor got the look-away spell going?”

“He did. He’s watching the house, but so far no one has come anywhere close. The compound is teeming with activity, though it’s hard to hear. The spell, I guess.”

“It’s weird to have someone who can do magic around, isn’t it?” I asked as he pulled out a chair for me at the table. Glen grinned at us both, carrying over a plate with an odd collection of food on it: pieces of cold Spam, some crackers, a small pile of canned mandarin oranges, and a vanilla pudding cup.

“I wouldn’t call my meal prep skills magical, but you’re welcome,” he said, dropping a kiss on my head. “Your Del’s food-hiding skills were pretty spectacular, though. He had cans in just about every place no one would ever think to look.”

I grabbed my fork, nodding. “Yeah, he was the one who taught me about camouflage, and hiding in plain sight. As long as nobody could smell something interesting, he always said they probably wouldn’t look too hard.”

“You smell pretty interesting, mate. You might consider a shower when you’re done eating— ow! ” I’d pinched his butt as he passed me, and he whirled around with a pained grimace. “I was only teasing. You smell fantastic.”

The scent of his lie had us all crinkling our noses. That and… “Is the silver still in the house?”

Glen answered. “Joaquin took it out. He said it made the spell harder, so he took it off and buried it somewhere just before dawn.” He yawned. “Wake me when it’s dark, Luke.”

Luke nodded, grabbing some food for himself. I sipped the coffee, then dug into the food. When I thought about this being Del’s provisions, it made my throat tighten up, but I was getting used to being in his space.

“Why does Glen call Grigor Joaquin ?”

Luke smiled down at his plate. “I think it’s easier for Glen to have a magic-wielding wolf named Joaquin around than to grapple with the reality that he’s bonded to Grigor Dimitrivich.”

“Bonded,” I repeated, fascinated. “You said he was inside you. And I can feel… I felt it, when you were being pulled away. He did something to save you. Are y’all really…”

He swallowed, nodding.

“How did that happen?”

Luke stared down at the table for a long moment, then answered like he was tiptoeing around a sleeping porcupine. “I didn’t do well after you left. The pain was worse than I’d expected. It was only a week before I wasn’t able to stand for more than a few moments. I had some things with your scent on them, and they helped. I snuck back into your old dorm room, and… Well, my wolf went a little crazy there. Brand had warned me not to shift, and it took a full day to get control and shift back. By the time I was back in skin, Torran was there, and had me confined to my room for observation.”

He ate a few bites, then set down his fork. “I thought I would die. I wanted to. Not because I didn’t want to live, but because it felt like I was losing my mind. I think… someone was there, Flor. It felt like my mind was being flayed, like someone was reading all my memories, asking me questions, and all I could do was try to keep them out. Keep you safe.”

“Questions about what?”

He swallowed hard. “About you.”

I had to remind myself to breathe. Me? Why would anyone want to know about me? Unless someone knew who I was. What I was.

Luke let out a breath. “So I let go. I gave up.”

“But your wolf didn’t, did he?”

“He tried. But Grigor wouldn’t let him go. He grabbed him—by the tail? It felt like that. By the tail hairs of my wolf’s spirit, and hauled us back from…” His eyes closed for a moment. “That’s when he braided our souls together. It’s not a mate bond, but it’s something like that. Every bit as permanent. I’m stronger now, even if I have a ways to go to be worthy.”

“Worthy?”

“Of his gift. Of you. Of Glen’s sacrifice.”

I blinked. “Glen?”

“Grigor was all that was keeping me alive. But Torran kept coming into the room, cutting me with silver, trying to get me to die faster, and by the time Glen arrived, both of us were on the verge of dying. Glen gave Grigor permission to tie us all together. He gave us the strength to hold on for you. If Torran had come back…” He went quiet, and I realized I was growling.

“Sorry.” I had no idea what this Torran looked like, but if anyone pointed me in his direction, everyone was going to find out what he looked like without skin.

Luke’s lips twitched. “Don’t be. You have a cute growl.”

“Cute?” I stood, pretending to be offended. “I’m fierce and fearsome.”

“You’re five feet tall and wearing an undershirt,” he replied. “But Glen was right. You do smell a bit fearsome.”

He ducked away from me as I lunged. “Go play with Glen then.” Sticking my nose up in the air, I stomped to the bathroom. “Couple of princesses with sensitive noses.” I tried to act offended, but it was hard when I could smell myself.

I took the world’s longest shower, crying just a little as Del’s soap brought back memories of the painful past. And to my surprise, I ended up smiling as I thought of the two worthy males who were waiting outside the door for me, and the future we might have. I just needed all my males together, and safe.

And my damned steak knife back.