Love Bites (7 page)

She tilted her chin in regal defiance. “Yes.” Just like that. Flat. Assured. Definite.

“You sure about that?” Percival growled. He grimaced at the sound of his own voice; it sounded low and rough with lust even to his own ears. His cock throbbed like a sore tooth. “As you said, you’d be completely at our mercy.”

Cador grinned, his eyes hungry. “And I assure you, we wouldn’t have any.”

I
would expect nothing less,” Morgana said coolly. “But the collar does need testing. We have to discover whether it will burn out, or somehow harm its wearer.”

Percival glowered. “If you aren’t sure, you don’t need to be wearing it.”

She shrugged, causing arousing movement of her lush, thinly veiled breasts. “Better me testing it than some child.” Not that the girls they Gifted were actually children, but compared to Morgana’s centuries, they might as well be.

“So in other words, by collaring you and stripping you of your powers, we’d be performing a public service.” Cador’s eyes gleamed as his gaze flicked hungrily from the collar to her face, then down again to her nipples. His smile took on the twist that meant he was contemplating doing something sadistic to whatever female who was presently in his sights. Except this time, his target was Morgana.

Percival’s hands curled into fists.

“I don’t think this is a good idea.” Marrok’s deep voice broke into his jealous preoccupation. “How do we know that it won’t do something to you? Strip you of your powers permanently?”

Morgana glowered at him. “I know what I’m doing, Marrok. The collar’s effects are strictly temporary.”

“And you know that how?” Percival demanded, eyeing her suspiciously.

“I’ve worn it. As soon as I removed it, my abilities came back, just as powerful as always.”

“Goddammit, Morgana!” Merlin’s balls, sometimes the woman had no sense at all. “What if the collar had depowered you permanently?”

She shrugged, evidently secure in her own infallibility.
That, or she doesn’t give a fuck.
With Morgana, it could go either way. “Gwen would have reversed the spell. Or Kel. But the point is the collar worked exactly as it was supposed to. It’s perfectly safe.”

“I still don’t like it,” Marrok growled.

Cador grinned. “I do.”

“That’s because you’re a prick.”

“Enough,” Percival growled. His gaze dropped to the collar and lingered there as he shifted restlessly in his seat. Flashes of fantasy licked across his consciousness, hot as a sword in a blacksmith’s flame.
Morgana, mine to do with as I please. To punish and fuck however it suits me.

As she’d been that one night centuries ago, when she’d fed him her blood. He’d never known why she’d run from him. But if he accepted her Oath of Service, she
couldn’t
run. She’d belong to him.

A cooler, saner part of his brain sent up a blast of alarm at the steaming lust that roared through him at that thought.
This is definitely not a good idea.
He needed to talk her out of it. And knowing Morgana, he knew how. He gave her a deliberately nasty smile. “You might want to consider rescinding your Oath, Morgana. If we do this, you’ll be punished for what you did today. And you’re not going to enjoy it.” He let some of his darker fantasies show in his smile. “But
we
will.”

Her gaze flicked down to the thick bulge behind his fly as he sprawled back on the couch. “Yes, I can tell.”

The heat in him took on an angry simmer. “The first thing we’d do is break you of that arrogance. An Oath Servant doesn’t talk to her Masters with such insolence.”

Cador gave her the smile that had been known to make hardcore mortal submissives run screaming from the BDSM clubs the team frequented. “We’ll make you scream in pain—and pleasure. You’ll come again and again as we fuck you in that smart mouth, that tight, creamy pussy.” His voice deepened into a purring rumble. “In that snug, hot arse. You won’t be allowed to deny us any part of your lovely body.”

Percival flashed his own variation on Cador’s evil smile. “We’ll own you for the next year. You’ll beg for mercy—and we won’t give a damn.”

Morgana stared at him. Her beautiful green eyes widened as her lips parted. Percival’s sensitive vampire nose picked up the unmistakable scent of arousal.

In the ticking silence, he realized Marrok and Cador had frozen with the same kind of predatory hunger he felt—and
he
could drive nails with his dick. “Well?” he demanded.

The witch angled her chin up in a gesture he knew far too well, a glitter of defiant determination in her eyes. “I’ve offered you my Oath, gentleman. The only question is, are you going to take me on?” She curled a lip. “Unless you’re afraid you’re not up to the task. . . .”

That, of course, aroused an entirely predictable reaction from Cador. He lounged back on the couch in a sprawl that called blatant attention to his massive erection. “Oh, darling, I can assure you, I’m definitely up to the task of putting you in your place.” One hand cupped his balls as his grin took on a carnivorous edge.

“We need to discuss this,” Marrok said, a muscle rolling in his broad jaw. “Give us a minute, Morgana.”

“Of course.” She angled her head in a courteous little nod, then turned with a roll of lush hips and sauntered out. A gesture had the door closing behind her, propelled by a rolling wave of golden sparks.

“Oh, God, that arse . . .” Cador moaned. “I can’t wait to flog it a nice rosy pink before I give it a grinding fuck. You know Morgana le Fay has never let anybody touch her anal cherry. I’ll bet it’s tight as a miser’s purse.”

“I’m sure it is,” Percival growled, shooting him a glance of narrow-eyed warning. “I’m also sure you’re not going to be the first to claim it.”

Marrok shot off the couch and began to pace. “Which is exactly why accepting her Oath is such a piss-poor idea. You two are going to end up fighting over that bloody witch like two stallions with one mare. No bit of pussy is worth wrecking the team.”

Stung, Percival stared at his friend. “Of course we’re not going to wreck the team. We’ve shared women before, and it’s never been a problem.”

Marrok met his gaze with a level stare. “Those women were bed-sport. You always cared for their needs as a dom’s duty demands, but they weren’t more to you than that.” He shrugged. “True, you weren’t any more than that to the women, either. But still.”

Percival curled a lip. “Are you suggesting I’m in love with Morgana le Fay?”

Cador snorted and stretched his long legs out, propping them on the coffee table’s granite top. “Yeah, right. Because he has such a weakness for flaming bitches.”

“As to that,” Percival growled, “I believe we can break her of that particular character defect.”

“Clamps on her nipples would probably be highly effective.” Cador grinned and licked his lips.

Marrok stared at him, then scrubbed a hand over his face with a groan, his massive shoulders slumping. “I’m wasting my fucking breath. You’ve already made up your minds.” He glanced at Cador. “Both of you. I’m outvoted.”

“Christ, Marrok, are you kidding?” Cador demanded. “Think of all those little zaps every time we went out with her the past few years. Think of the way she always insisted on leading missions, though Percival has more field experience.” His lip curled. “Personally, I think the bitch witch just gets off on giving us orders and watching us jump.”

Marrok smiled reluctantly. “I wouldn’t put it past her.”

“Now we have a chance to put a collar on her and get a little of our own back.” Cador’s mouth curled into a dark smile. “And I, for one, am looking forward to it.”

God, so was Percival. Maybe too much. His cock ached with the stark need to do everything Cador had mentioned. Flog that delicious arse, fuck it.

Fuck
her
.

Unfortunately, Marrok had a point. He didn’t like the idea of Cador touching her, sadistic bastard that he was. His friend would hurt her. Carefully, with precise self-control, but he’d still hurt her. And he’d like it.

Never mind that Percival would do the same thing. He still hated the idea of either of his friends touching that ridiculously lush, tempting body. Hearing her breathy moans. Fencing with her as she used that sarcastic, biting wit. Making her bend that stiff neck to their dominance.

Holding her in the aftermath, listening to her breathe, to the deep thump of her slowing heartbeat . . .

Oh, hell. Hell, no. Not Morgana le Fay.
Despite her carefully camouflaged compassion, the witch was manipulative, arrogant, and generally in desperate need of several painful lessons in humility.

This would be nothing more than sex and revenge. He wouldn’t let it be anything else. Especially not anything that would damage his relationship with the two men he’d fight and die for. His brothers in all but blood.

Yeah, he’d collar her. He’d get her out of his system by fucking her in every way he’d ever dreamed of in his darkest, most frustrated fantasies. He’d do everything he’d ever jerked off thinking about, no matter how humiliating it would be to her.

He’d bring her to her knees—and make her suck his cock while she was down there. He’d even share her with his brothers and watch while they fucked her. He’d ignore his instinctive possessiveness, force himself to endure it just as he’d learned to endure the pain of sword wounds in order to win battles in Arthur’s service.

“Are we agreed then?” he demanded.

“No,” Marrok growled. “But that point is basically . . .” Suddenly he stiffened, and his eyes narrowed. “You know,” he said slowly, “I have no problem believing Arthur would order Morgana to offer Percival her Oath. What I have trouble with is that he’d tell her to offer it to all three of us.”

“Oh, come on, Marrok . . .” Cador began.

“No,
you
come on. Stop thinking with your dick and consider the implications. How much stress would sharing her put on the team?”

Cador opened his mouth, only to immediately close it again. “You’re right,” he admitted reluctantly, grimacing as if at the taste of something foul. “We’d be fighting over who got to fuck her, how, when, and where.”

Marrok nodded grimly. “Exactly. Would Arthur do that to us?”

“No.” Cador shot Percival a speculative glance. “But I could easily see him ordering Morgana to offer
Percival
her Oath.”

Fury swirled through Percival, and he curled his hands into fists. “And I could see Morgana disobeying his exact orders out of a desire to play us against each other.” He rose from the couch, aware of Cador doing the same. “Morgana?”

She entered with that lazy, seductive stride, her expression politely enquiring. If she felt any anxiety over the outcome of their discussion, it didn’t show—but then, she’d always been a damned good actress. “Yes?”

He stalked toward her and stopped, aware of Cador and Marrok moving up behind him to watch. “Did Arthur tell you to offer your Oath to all three of us, or just to me?”

Her gaze flickered, but she angled her chin upward. She knew better than to lie outright to a vampire who could smell deception. “To you alone.”

He ground his teeth. “Why did you disobey him?”

She shrugged gracefully. “He didn’t tell me
not
to offer it to the three of you.”

“Did you intend to destroy the team?”

Her eyes widened, and panic flashed across her face. “No! I wouldn’t do that . . .”

“Wouldn’t you?” Percival stared at her with narrow eyes. “What do you think would happen if the three of us disagreed about which of us is to fuck you, or whose orders you should obey?”

She hesitated, only to sigh. “All right, I can see how that could cause friction. But it wasn’t my intention to create it deliberately.”

“I’m sure that would have been a huge comfort if the team cracked wide open because you were
fucking playing games
.”

Morgana angled her chin upward in a familiar gesture of defiance. “You would have done what you always do, Percival. You’d have led, and they’d have followed.”

“Maybe,” Percival growled. “But when you throw sex in the mix, things get complicated.”

Marrok huffed. “That’s the damned truth.”

Cador rocked back on his heels and gave Morgana a flat, cold stare. “I have no interest in accepting your Oath. Not when it’s so obvious you can’t be trusted.”

Marrok bared his teeth in a snarl. “Neither do I.”

“I, however, will happily accept your Oath.” Percival smiled. He knew it wasn’t a pretty smile by any means. “By the time I get done with you, it’s safe to say you won’t dare lie to me again, whether by implication or otherwise.” He lifted a blond brow. “Unless you’d care to rescind your offer, of course.”

She swallowed. “But if I rescind it, Arthur will reassign me.”

He shrugged. “Probably.”

Morgana raised her chin, an edge of defiance in her gaze. “Then, no, I will not rescind it.”

Suddenly Marrok spoke up. “I would like a moment with you, Morgana.”

Percival frowned. He recognized the hard jut of his friend’s jaw. “Marrok . . .”

“I think she needs my input before she makes a final decision.”

She hesitated, giving the big knight a long look before she nodded slowly. “All right.” Turning, she led him into the next room.

“What the hell was that about?” Percival growled.

“No idea.” Cador said. “But I’m sure it’s something he thinks she needs to hear.”

Percival glowered.
I swear to God, if ’Rok talks her out of this, I’ll kill him.

*   *   *

M
organa followed Marrok’s massive back down the corridor. When he turned to face her, her stomach tightened at the cold lack of expression in his eyes. It wasn’t the sort of look she was used to getting from the big knight, who was usually such a warm, friendly man.