The Magic of Revenge (Emerald Lakes, #3)

by Britt Andrews

"Faris, you know we can come back to get more whenever. We don't need to buy all of these today," I tried explaining, but he just looked at me like I told him I was going to shit on Napoleon. "That's nonsense. Why would we do that when we can just get them now and not have to worry that next time they'll run out? That makes no sense. You're supposed to be smart." He shook his head in disappointment. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I got your back. If you're ever wondering if something makes sense or not, just come to me. That's what friends are for.

"I want to get pierced," Faris told him and Tom grinned. "Ah, a blank canvas. Any ink hiding under there?" Tom asked, letting his eyes trail down Faris' lean frame. My forehead tickled as annoyance flashed through me. Do not sprout horns in this tattoo shop. "Nope, nothing. I'm a virgin," Faris confessed and Tom and I both coughed in surprise at his statement. I mean, I knew he was a virgin, but this Tom didn't have any business knowing that.

"You want that for oral sex?" I whispered. "Well, I'm already a virgin. I want to blow her mind. And yours, if I'm being honest," Faris whispered back and then left me standing frozen like an asshole. My heart was racing and I was pretty positive I was the one blushing now. He wants to... my cock... in his mouth? Bloody fucking sun rays, my cock swelled at the thought even if my brain wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"It's still pretty new, but Bram's my best friend." And he slipped his hand into mine and squeezed. Aww, he thinks I'm his best friend? My heart really liked that, if the way it was skipping beats was any indication.

"Great choice. Alright, gonna need you to hold still. Take a few deep breaths, that's it. On three—one, two..." "Son of a crusty ballsack!" Faris screamed and Tom chuckled.

it was a file on Annie," I said, holding my breath for his reaction. Khol's eyes darkened and his horns shot out instantly. Oh yeah, he was pissed.

Bram's face flashed on the screen with the name "Knotted Boi" and I quickly answered, hoping to the gods my dad hadn't seen that. Fucking Kai.

"You're where?" My voice was shriller than I intended, but holy moon maidens, those two at a tattoo parlor? Fuck.

"Oh my gods, you got your nose pierced? By the sun, that's hot as hell." I fanned myself and he smiled a megawatt grin that made my thighs clench. Now is not the time, you greedy, greedy vajingle. Then Faris stuck his tongue out at me and I saw the barbell in his tongue and my greedy, greedy vajingle turned into a full-blown drooling beast. Oh, that's not the best visual. But also not wrong...

"Killing is alwayth a bad thing. Unleth the one you're killing ith bad. Then it'th kind of like... really fucking gooooood," he groaned as he said it and I knew he meant it. Little blood mage.

Faris poked his thumb on his fang and a bubble of bright red blood swelled instantly. Bram opened his mouth, likely to reject his offer, but Faris slipped his thumb right into his mouth. My eyes widened as I watched Bram stiffen and then he closed his lips and... Dear gods in the star speckled galaxy, he moaned. "Tha’th a good demon," Faris whispered, patting Bram's head with his free hand.

My eyes darted between the two of them and if I thought my vagina had been drowned before? These two were going to cause a damn tsunami between my thighs. My inner witch fist pumped the air wildly and twerked her big booty for all it was worth.

"Were you just... twerking? Is that the term?" Bram's eyes danced with laughter. Gods damn. My inner witch took over my outer witch. "I believe she was theithing. I don't know if I can heal that, but I'm going to try," Faris shoved his still bleeding thumb into my mouth and Bram roared with laughter. I wasn’t seizing! Fuckers.

Allowing someone to love you means you need to accept everything that comes with that. I'm going to worry, I'm going to be sad when you're sad, and I'm going to celebrate your wins, because they're my wins by default. Whatever we do, we do it together,

My heart fluttered watching her eat. Damn, I'm a creep. Everything about her was appealing to me. Hell, I’d probably even find her farts cute.

That is Cam's downfall. His need to punish himself for things that aren't his fault. And Sloane? Does Sloane seem like a man who has his shit together?"

It was so easy to compare yourself to others, especially when it came to mental illness. Wondering why you can't be like this person, or that person, but the truth was, everyone has their unhealthy coping mechanisms.

If I could find a way to live inside of her damn body, I would. ‘Dial it down, creep,’ Bagheera chuckled. I'd try, but I'd make no promises.

"I have Risk? Gods, I love Risk." Saige held the game to her chest and smiled. "You want to play Risk, the game of World Domination, with six highly trained mercenaries?" Fish laughed.

“I see you eyeing my goodies, big daddy. These babies are mine.” Faris hugged his snack to his chest. “What are they? The crunching is so damn loud,” Sloane muttered. “These are what feed my soul,” Faris announced, flashing his fangs at Sloane while proudly displaying the cup of EasyMac. Sloane recoiled in disgust.

Bram freed Faris from his entrapment. “Thank you, you’re my hero.” Faris batted his eyes at Bram, and I watched as the big demon blushed. “But you also owe me a new cup of noodles. You can replace this lost cause with a new container from the store. Tomorrow is fine. We have a game to play now. So, truth or dare?” Faris rubbed his hands together, leaving Bram gawking at him like he was an exotic creature at the zoo. Saige grabbed Bram’s hand and led him back to the couch.

I swear her eyes sparkled with mischief as she scanned the room, before landing on Sloane. "Oh great. I should've known," he muttered, but I didn't miss the small grin on his face.

Saige tapped her chin as she studied Sloane, and I saw the moment she made a decision because her face was just so damn expressive. She lit up, glowing with excitement. I loved it. Sloane let out a groan because he knew he was fucked.

"I believe the term is bi-curious. I've never been with a man before. Plus, my cock knots. I'm not sure many men could handle that." "Sweet gods in heaven," Faris whispered and wiggled his ass deeper into the beanbag chair. Saige giggled.

"Guess I won that round," Kai said smugly, grabbing his beer and kicking his feet up on the coffee table. Meanwhile, I sat there blinking like a fucking barn owl. "Fuuuuck. That was deliciously unexpected and I'd like to watch if that ever escalates," Faris announced, and I laughed when I saw he was sitting forward on his beanbag, clearly having really enjoyed the show.

My eyes snagged on Sloane as I brought the bottle down and he gave me a little smirk and a thumbs up. That was weird. He must've seen the confusion on my face over him doing the gesture so he quickly remedied it by turning his hand and giving me the finger. Ah. That's more like it.

"Glistening goddess," Faris whispered, a look of total reverence on his face. The man was fucking mesmerized.

“Did you shave your legs?” Sloane whispered and I flipped him off. Faris’ manic laughter rang out and I cursed. That son of a bitch. Whatever.

My fire mate still had his clothes on, though his pants were undone and I could see his erection—it wasn’t enough. I gave him a look that I was sure had his palm itching with the need to slap my ass. "Something wrong, Kitten?" Sloane taunted. "Yeah, you still have clothes on," I panted as Cam's exploration sped up. "Come here," I moaned. He stilled, looking at me like he was trying to figure out if I really wanted him to. "Kiss me, Sloane. Please," I begged and then he was rising from the floor like a sexy fucking devil climbing out of hell.

"Suck off your demon, Kitten. Show Faris how good your mouth can be when it's not being so damn sassy." Oh sweet moon beams. My mouth opened, to sass him obviously, but he and Bram moved as a team. Sloane guided my face closer at the same time Bram pushed his tip into my mouth. "Fuuuuck, that's like... I don't know, the eighth hottest thing I've ever seen," Kai growled.

"Viper, come here," I said and he moved between my legs, staring at my pussy like it was the answer to all of his questions about life. "What do you want, baby?" "I want to bite you," he told me honestly, his eyes darkening, and his fangs poked out. Fuck, he was hot.

"Fuck, Kai." Cam's groan had me glancing over and nearly orgasming on the spot when I saw Kai on his knees between Cam's thighs, his cock in his hand as his tongue ran up the underside and over every piercing that adorned Cam’s thick length. "Sweet baby frog legs," I squeaked and they both looked at me. The lust burning in all of us was at an all time high.

Faris’ eyes glinted with a sparkle of crazy, and his face glowed as an absolutely evil grin split his mouth. Admittedly, I'd never been so terrified and turned on at the same fucking time.

"I'm gonna come," I whined. "Nobody's even touching you, baby girl," Cam grunted and his eyes rolled back in his head as Kai teased him.

Faris pulled back and my blood dripped from his chin, he looked wicked and feral and I was fucking here for it.

"That whore"—he pointed at Red—"isn't yours!" he screamed, looking utterly possessed. "You're right," I replied and heard a soft whimper from Red. "I'm hers."

Why use fists when I could use fire? Because sometimes you needed to kill a motherfucker with your bare hands. Sometimes you needed to feel the burn of your muscles, the connection of skin on skin, needed to be close enough to see the spray of blood and feel it splatter against your face. Which is exactly what happened when I headbutted Bryce and his nose burst in an epic pop of red.

One. He wasn't leaving here alive. Two. He was never going to put his hands on Red ever again. Three. I'm stronger than this. Four. I'd never let her down. Five. Heat spread out over my side where I was rapidly losing blood. My fingertips felt around for the gaping punctures, but all I found now were three slightly raised bumps. I am a motherfucking dragon and I'm done fucking around.

He'd ripped Bryce's dick off with his bare hands and then choked him with it. The thought should've been horrible, fucked up, twisted. Instead, it made me feel safe, protected... and I'd enjoyed the whole thing much more than I probably should have.

His eyes were glassy and my heart nearly broke at how sad he looked. "I'm sorry," I said, meaning to move away, but his palms landed on my ass, holding me in place. "It's not that. I'm just not used to..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "Not used to feeling loved." Yeah, there went my damn heart. "Let me love you, Sloane." It was both a statement and a question. He stared at me for a beat before nodding once.

He held himself over me, looking down in awe. "I've never—" He blushed and I cupped his cheek as he dropped his gaze, looking away. My thumb brushed along his cheekbone. "Never what?" "Done this before... I've never done this before, Kitten," he admitted. "What? Had sex outside?" I teased, my voice breathy. "I've never made love to someone before," he whispered, and I whimpered as he continued to rock against me, barely pulling out at all, like he couldn't stand to put any distance between us. Moons, this man.

Oh stars, suns, moons, somebody... rescue my vagina because the old gal's just been wrecked.

"Congratulations, Sloaney. You’ve been upgraded from basic peen to a knotty peen."

"You are such a brat. And to think, I made love to you like a proper boyfriend," he tsked and shook his head. "That's probably why my inner brat is acting up, she doesn't know how to act right now." I winked and adjusted myself as well as I could, being pinned beneath him.

"I can't believe my cock just got even bigger," Sloane said under his breath and I rolled my eyes. Men. "Don't worry, I'm sure your ego didn't inflate at all," I teased and then squealed as Sloane rolled us so he was on his back and I was perched on top of him like some kind of perverted parrot.

If words had the ability to physically wound a person, I'd be covered in little cuts from all of the terrible things Laurie had said to me during my life. The backhanded compliments, comments on my body shape, everything I did. This news though, finding out I had a sister? She had another fucking child? Is that who she spent her time with when she was supposed to have been raising me? My mind was exploding, running through a million different scenarios at rapid speed.

Campfire and man. Strong and safe. Mine.

I can't see that woman being maternal toward anything. Hell, she'd probably find some way to hurt a rock's feelings.

Letting people in, allowing them to get close enough to hurt you was difficult, especially if you'd been conditioned to believe that's all people would ever do. But holding yourself back, closing yourself off to the opportunity to build strong relationships, in an effort to spare yourself pain? Well, then you're just hurting yourself.

We're a team, a unit... We're a family now." I smiled at the thought. We really were a family. Sloane grunted and squeezed his eyes shut, almost like he was in pain. "What is it? What's—" Oh. He just came again.