Ch. 40: Jack's Reflection

September 20 | Night

The house on Ashivant Lane was no longer the way it had been. Stately, it remained. Seemingly frozen in time, certainly. Yet, gone was the darkness that had permeated the structure for generations, and as we returned home after seeing off the twins, it seemed to have lost a smidge of light, too.

Mal stepped into the foyer and kicked away her heels. She looked glum, although she made an attempt at looking hopeful. "It's just the three of us, I guess."

"Give or take scores of staff." Sunny's yellow-green eyes twinkled. To prove his point, the groundskeeper clomped through the hall toward the French doors to the night garden. He held a handful of plastic bags and a trowel, paying us no mind. "See what I mean?" the angel chuckled.

Mal dropped her sullenness to giggle as he clutched her waist just above the flared hips for a deeper exploration of her rosy mouth."You have to understand, there's a strong urge to nurture within me," she sighed pleasantly. "I'm trying to get used to being without the girls, is all."

"Young women, darling. They were beyond ready to let go of the apron strings, and I bet you'll discover that you like taking off the apron now and again, too."

"So, what do you beautiful people think we should do with all this free time and space?" I asked, smiling. Sunny unfastened his belt with a matching grin. His expression seemed to ask if we were on the same wavelength. I gestured with my eyes up the stairs.

We had endured way more ups and downs in the courtship phase than most. Learning to juggle the wants and desires of multiple lovers was a sight more complicated than being a couple. Additionally, we were Supernaturals living between disparate worlds. Yet, somehow we were making it work.

"It's getting serious between us, isn't it?" Mal tucked her tongue behind her teeth as she pinched my t-shirt to drag me to the balustrade. I nodded in response, Sunny on my heels. "Well, I guess there's no time like the present to tell you guys that I'm not the marrying kind."

"Neither am I," Sunny grinned. As a high rank archangel, having the freedom to move around was his calling card.

"I'm not the mothering kind, either."

"You just said you're a nurturer," I pointed out.

She peered over her shoulder at me somewhat introspectively. "I can't have children, Jack."

I paused on the second landing, and the angel stepped up beside me. Was that the reason for Mal's somberness the closer the three of us got? I smiled and shook my head. "World's full of kids, Malice. You want some? We'll adopt. Or foster. We can even get a surrogate. We've got options, sweetheart."

She stared at me a beat as she rubbed her elbow. Tossing her hair, she found a glimmer of a half-smile. "You mean, you're willing to share this big, empty, sad old house with me and a gaggle of kids?"

"No, not the 'big, empty, sad' one," said Sunny. "We'll make it the happiness-filled manor house it was intended to be, and you'll make a wonderful parent, Mal, when you're ready. Either way, you're wholly amazing with or without the gaggle."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," I agreed. "Now, what do you say we go play house while we can, before we start filling up these spare rooms?"

I took them to the bedroom, undressed, kneeled on the floor by the bed with my feet beneath the frame and arched my neck to stare up at Mal in all her glory. Naked and wondrous, her hair spilled over bare shoulders. Golden skin caught the light and fired it back. Eyes paprika with flames, met mine, and the eye contact spiced the heated air between us with desire.

Sunny paced the length of the room behind her. Glimpses of his perfection as he took off his clothes made the length of my shaft harden. Gone was the man who had held himself back. He stroked his own nipple and hissed in a breath. I wanted to be the teeth and tongue of his fingertips. I wanted to taste, bite.

She put a knee on the mattress to one side of my face, then the other. Her sex dripped. Humming deep in my chest, I reached up to squeeze her buttocks, drawing her to my face. The thatch of wine dark hair between her legs lit up with the smell of yearning. I buried my nose in the aroma. Inhaling, exhaling, I tasted her musk in the back of my throat.

Aside from the au naturelle scent, fragrant perfume wafted from her skin–jasmine, neroli, orange blossoms, bergamot. Sweat, breath, sex. The werewolf in me marveled at the complexity.

When my lips parted, I parted her lower ones. I found the pearl nestled above her entrance and suckled. The jelly bean like erogenous zone swelled slightly in my mouth. I listened to her draw in oxygen as she held herself still, a doe by the waters, still. Her stillness beckoned to the wolf in me. I devoured. Teeth first, I nipped as gently as possible and felt her squirm with pleasure. The whine that swirled from within her made me touch myself. I flicked the nub of her clit. Slow, then quick. Agonizing.

My head lolled against the pile of covers. On hands and knees on the bed, she undulated against me. I could no longer see what Sunny was doing, but pressed a thick digit into the recess of her ass, and she cried out. I hesitated, but she pushed her derriere backward to take more of it. The illicit in and out probe added to the madness my tongue inspired. Slow, then quick. She panted my name.

And I heard him. The rapid breathing, the slick-wet sound of masturbation. Sunny's tenor voice stirred the scarlet bedroom with notes of anticipation. Being a werewolf loaned me the strength to raise Mal's body by the hips. High enough to watch Sunny. She took the reprieve as an opportunity to finger herself. I loved it. I loved her, him. I didn't know where to stare: At the exquisite angel playing voyeur while tugging his veiny cock? The beautiful woman riding her own hand above me?

Down below, my erection speared the air and dribbled the silvery evidence of my arousal. I brought Mal back to my lips, rocking her pelvis. "Give it to me," I whispered. Sunny crossed the room and pushed his dick to my hungry orifice. I sucked him, too. From him to her, my mouth played tag until he pushed the writhing djinn to the pillows and entered her from behind.

"Hell, yes," I breathed, finally rising from the floor.

It was my turn to be the watcher. Sunny's shyness was out the window. He clutched Mal's shoulder with one hand and her lower back with the other as he drilled into her. With the exertion, the sinuous curve of his back glistened with sweat. He grunted with bliss, fucking her. Muttering expletives, I licked a rivulet of perspiration from the crease of his ass to the middle of his shoulderblades, and he quivered. My name was an aria in his mouth. I loved the sound of it.

I reached between Sunny's legs to caress his testicles as Mal's creamy wetness spilled down his erection. Their commingling juices soaked my hand. Sunny turned his head and kissed me fiercely. I groaned encouragement. Unable to get enough, I pressed my cock to the back of his thighs and counted down from one hundred.

How long could I last, experiencing her by proxy through him, before the ache made me plunder one of them? Ninety-five, ninety-four, ninety-three–my thumb glided up and down my shaft, holding the rod steady as he rolled his hips and drove in and out of her–ninety, eighty-nine. I gasped with need.

Meanwhile, Mal cried out so loudly that I wondered what the servants thought. I chuckled as she planted her face in the sheets to muffle her bliss. I could still hear it, I could feel it. In the way she reached back to tangle her hands in Sunny's hair, arching her back to receive more of him. The position exposed her breasts to me. I took advantage of the view and sucked her pert nipples to redness.

"Are you ready? Do you want it?" Sunny moaned.

She nodded eagerly. In the sopping violence of their bodies colliding, the build-up was unmistakable. They were both ready. I plugged into him the moment she came. Her explosive undoing filled the dusky bedroom with sounds of rapture. Gasping, he fell on top of her quaking figure, and he grinded his manhood into her climaxing body. He held her winding hips. I held his.

"Yes, come!" I coaxed, pushing inside.

With strangling hugs, biting kisses, and straining collisions, the gay sex was a chaotic fight to the zenith. It was a passionate wrestling match. We repositioned as Mal wriggled from beneath him. She stretched her sated frame on a mountain of pillows and languidly watched Sunny and I make love. Tendrils of hair curled around her glowy face, her chest rose and fell as she regained her breath, and she looked sweet and peaceful. I knew she was biding her time for the next round.

My eyes rolled skyward, and my mouth hung agape as I rode Sunny from behind. He flipped me onto my back. His powerful crimson wings spread. Then it was him riding me, his angelic bearing undisguised. He glided up and down on the rolling carousel of my thrusting hips, his hands on my chest. Then his hand around my throat. Divine Touch shot rockets of pleasure through me. We were flying. Flying.

I was in love with them. Madly. Never had I imagined I would meet anyone who matched me this way. Each of us had escaped bondage to find freedom in one another's arms. Each had lost much and gained more.

I had reentered society as a broken man. It had taken the intractable love of an angel and the daring allure of a djinn to help me put myself back together. Sunny had sacrificed his life to achieve the height of his aspirations while Mal had discovered that she could show herself the same compassion that she showed others. My lovers and I weren't perfect. Hell, we were no better than flawed. Yet, we loved with the understanding that life was about transformation.

Mys had brought up a valid question on the tarmac, however. Was our bad luck with the vampire finally over? Subconscious fears about where Darcy had gone would perhaps keep us vigilant for some time. On the other hand, if the warcry called us to the battlefield, we would pick up our weapons gladly. The best part about it was that we were no longer alone in life.

I had my parents. They were finally satisfied that my career was on the right track. I trusted Zyr's warm-hearted welcome into the Ravani-fold. Haley was becoming a stronger witch by the day, as was her sister, no doubt. Kato was working behind the scenes with the secret services. I was glad to know the kid wasn't homeless. Mal, Sunny, and I had acquired new skills over the course of this wild dark summer. So, we were equipped for trouble, if it came.

I allowed myself to imagine a future in which we were no longer running, hiding, fighting. After all, if enemies could become friends and shadows cast light, anything was possible, especially in a world where there were no coincidences. How does one survive a city like ours?

Go and wake your luck.

FIN

{Insert: }

Dedicated to Sky, Lisa-Helena, and Kelly

Special thanks to Mary for always being the contrast that makes life interesting and Basco for keeping my wandering, creative mind from floating off.