by Raven Storm
Four
“I want to see the beach first.”
Benedict banked sharply at my words, and we flew to the west side of the island, landing on the black sand beach as the waves gently washed in around us. I took Benedict’s injured hand in mine, running my lips over the various cuts and bruises. His eyes closed in bliss, his body relaxing against mine.
“The others are—”
I put a finger to his lips, and he sucked it into his mouth. Fire burned through my veins, quickly consuming all rational thought. I met his eyes, panting.
“Bite me.”
I straddled his lap, wanting him to heal himself but knew he would need a bit of encouragement—I would have to call to his instincts. I nuzzled into his neck, offering my throat as I ran my fingers through his hair. He drew back, his heart pounding against mine.
“Absolutely not. I will not drain you the moment you return to me—”
I snorted inelegantly.
“You will not drain me. I am perfectly healthy, and you are not. If you don’t want me, I’m going to find Kieran. Otherwise, bite me.”
I stood and took off into the air, Benedict hot on my heels like I knew he would be. I let out a playful screech as we flew together, whirling around each other as we spun and dove, neither trying too hard to catch the other. We went high enough to see the entire island, small trails of green creeping through the cracked magma to show where the earth witch had gone, her loyal drakens behind her. I dove down to the black sand beach, misjudging my landing as I hit the ground in a bundle of claws and fangs. I rolled and landed flat on my back, covered in black, gritty sand. Benedict landed elegantly in front of me, folding his wings in neatly as he crossed him arms“Don’t say anything,” I spat, wiping sand out of my mouth. His eyes gleamed with need.
“I won’t.”
The next moment he was on top of me, the waves washing over us like a gentle blanket as he claimed my body right there in the sand. It was the first time he’d been slow with me, taking his time to savor every inch of my body as the crashing waves covered my cries. Before Benedict had always been desperate to find release, driven to the edge. Perhaps in a way, he still was. But here, amongst the dunes and the water, I think he realized I wasn’t going anywhere—that I chose him.
My wings were splayed out behind me, my back ridges flattened against the ground. I went to tuck them in protectively, but he put a gentle hand on them, silently asking me to keep them out. He eyes roved over the purpled, black edges, and I wondered if he lamented that after today my wings would take on the colors of my other mates. Benedict must have read the worry on my face.
“I don’t regret anything that brought me to today.”
In one smooth movement he flipped me over on my stomach, spreading my wings out between his hands. He lowered his face to the sensitive skin in between my wings and licked a path from the base of the wing joint all the way to the tips. I was glad my face was buried in the sand to muffle the deep, guttural sound of need that welled from my throat. I knew draken wings were sensitive, but this was another level of torture. I felt him against my bottom, hard and raging even as he took his time to ensure he’d touched every scale and crevice on my wings. Then his hand was on my neck, picking me up and pulling me up so I was on my knees, my elbows propped in the sand. A shadow fell over me as he flared his own wings, the sun casting a purple sheen over us as it glinted off his scales. He groaned at how easily he slid into me, his hands pausing at my waist to grip my hips and push me further down onto him.
“I wanted…to go slow…” He grit out, the tension in his muscles belying how much he strained to keep his instincts in check. Instincts which scream at him to claim me, to push me down into the sand and—
“I didn’t choose you because of your manners.” I remarked coyly, and I only heard him chuckle darkly before he let go. My hands and face bit into the sand as he rammed straight into him, a cry of shock leaving my lips. I gathered my weight on my elbows and pushed back into him, and the growl he released only made me wetter. His fingers tangled in my hair and yanked back, arching my body as his thrusts picked up in intensity.
It would be easy to let him continue…to let him finish, and just revel in the intensity. I didn’t do that. I snarled and hooked my calves around his and tucked my wings into my back. I pushed off the sand with my arms, using the momentum and flipping us over. He hit the ground hard, an ‘oomph’ leaving his mouth as he shifted into his human form to avoid damaging his wings. I flared mine higher as I straddled his lap, a look of smug victory stretched across my face. Benedict gawked at me for a moment before laughing; a deep, booming sound that made the entire world seem just a bit brighter.
Then I started to move, and he went quiet. The cords of muscles on his forearm tightened, but I snarled at him to stay put as I gyrated my hips, looking for the perfect rhythm. He relaxed and laid back, his hands reaching only to steady my waist as I rocked against him.
I quickly found a spot to both our liking, his breaths hitching as I went faster and harder on top of him. His head fell back against the sand, his eyes closed in fierce concentration. I was so close, so near…with a grunt and yell my I collapsed on him, my inner walls spasming as my orgasm ripped through me. Benedict came with a barely an exhale, his hands pinning my hips in place as he rode the cresting wave of his own completion.
We both came back down together, though I frowned when I noticed the flicker of shame in his eyes.
“I don’t deserve your love. I don’t deserve anything.”
His hair hung down over his face, holding himself up with both arms on either side of me.
“Benedict, I—”
“I didn’t believe Bair would betray me, that D'Arcy would—" He broke off, and took a deep breath. “All I could see were threats everywhere. I thought I was going mad. Sometimes I still do.”
He grabbed me and rolled us over, his fingers gently stroking the inner skin of my wings. I closed my eyes, just reveling in the sensation as I straddled his body.
“I thought you weren’t going to talk?” I joked, but softly.
“Please. I need to say this. I treated you horribly, and still you were loyal to my people. You got them ready for battle and fought with them while I sulked like a child. You were a true queen, and Kieran and Ronan never doubted you for a moment—I don’t deserve to be first mate.”
He let go of me, laying on his back in the sand. I flipped onto the sand next to him, both of us staring up at the blue sky.
“Kieran has said the same. Several times, in fact.”
Benedict jerked next to me. I turned onto my elbow, facing him.
“Do you know what I said to him? I told him you were my choice. You don’t get to decide who I want.” I glanced out at the ocean—the sheer vastness and power. Seeing it all laid out before me helped to put my life into perspective in ways I hadn’t anticipated.
“What you may do is spend your life trying to live up to my high expectations.” I kept my voice light and airy, and he grunted in amusement. I held his gaze, my tone suddenly serious.
“All I ask is that every day you make the choice to keep trying. Even on the days where it seems like happiness isn't something you’ll ever see or know yourself. Even on the days you think the world would be better off without you. Promise me.”
His amethyst eyes found mine, and his hand came to stroke my cheek. He nodded once, then stood in one fluid motion.
“Let’s get the level-headed, intelligent mate.”
I laughed and took to the sky after him.
I heard Kieran before I saw him. Benedict and I entered the cave carefully, Benedict going first. A low groan echoed off the stone walls, bringing me back to the battle—to the scores of wounded and dying. When I saw Kieran, I took a deep breath. He was in his draken form but looked like he’d been dragged through hell. Blood trailed from his wrists and ankles where he had fought the iron manacles holding him down, and his beautiful, fire-red scales flaked off his bo
dy in patches. His wings hung limply from his back, and his eyes were empty, bulging grotesquely from a hollowed face. His feral gaze held nothing of the man I loved. I turned back to Benedict.
“How will I—"
“Carefully.”
Benedict had nothing else to say as we approached Kieran slowly and carefully. I could tell the moment Kieran caught my scent. His entire body froze.
“Can you wait outside?” I asked Benedict.
He opened his mouth to argue, and I gestured to Kieran. “He can hardly stand, let alone attack me.” I gestured to Kieran and tried to appeal to Benedict’s sense of decency. “I think he would appreciate privacy while he’s like this.”
The anger drained out of Benedict, and again he showed me that tired, weary face.
“I’ll be outside. Call if you need me.”
He left, and I turned back to Kieran—the first person who had shown me any kindness in my pathetic, miserable existence. The first person who had taken my hand, answered my questions, and showed me that a man’s touch wasn’t always full of pain and scorn. He ceased groaning as I approached, his starved eyes riveted to me. I was reasonably sure he wouldn’t hurt me, but if he did, it could be easily healed. Benedict was right outside.
I slowly reached towards his left hand, releasing the manacles around it. He lunged for me, the other chains immediately holding him back. He snarled, flecked of foam flying from his mouth as the other manacle caught him, jerking his body back.
“Stop it,” I hissed, letting my anger surround him. “If you want me to release you, you need to calm down.”
His struggling didn’t subside—not even a little. I cautiously moved forward again, his pupils completely dilated as he watched me, the familiar green color lost to black. I released the manacle on his right hand, then I sliced my wrist open carefully, holding it out to him. His mouth bit deeply into my arm, missing my cut and tearing his own access to the pumped that pumped hotly just underneath my skin. I held in my scream, only letting him take several deep pulls before I yanked my hand away, pulling out of reach of the manacles on his legs. I watched as his pupils shrunk, the green in his eyes becoming more pronounced as the black faded. My arm hurt like hell, blood running freely down my side and to the stone floor. I grit my teeth and bared it.
Kieran’s head tilted, and then he finally saw me. His face transformed, going from wild to shocked in one precious moment. He was still weak, but at least he was aware.
“Wren?” He whispered. I walked into his arms as he reached out to me, even as I kept a hand clamped down on my injured arm. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if I passed out too quickly from blood loss.
“I thought you were dead, Wren! Ronan went mad, even Benedict was out of his mind—” His hands were all over me, trying to cover every inch of my skin at once. He took a deep sniff of my neck his eyes widened in horror at the mess of skin and muscle that was now my left forearm. Before he could protest, I pulled him close, nestling into the hollow between my throat and my collarbone.
“I’m here now.”
I didn’t think he’d ever let me go as he continued to hold me in an unbreakable grip, breathing heavily and with effort. Before I could say another word, he was kissing me—on my neck, my shoulders, the corners of my lips and my cheeks. His large hands spanned the length of my stomach, as if it weren’t food that had starved him all this time, but a lack of me, and he wouldn’t recover until I was devoured.
“This form is more to your liking, I bet,” I joked, giving my wings a twitch. He shook his head vehemently.
“You are perfect, no matter what shape you hold.” Something in my heart caught, and I pushed back tears. Kieran’s love was unconditional, and it left me weak in the knees. I tugged his head to mine and we kissed, our tongues tangling as his hands tugged at the band on my breasts, blood dripping onto both of us.
“You do choose me then?” He whispered against me, his voice cracking with hope and desire. I pressed my body against his in response.
“Of course I do. I told you back in Dark Haven—you were and are at the top of the list.”
He clutched me tighter to him, laughing and sobbing in utter relief.
“You gave me my first gift of protection and offered to teach me. You were the one to answer my questions with a smile instead of sarcasm, and you treated me with kindness when I was terrified out of my mind. I’ll forever love you for that.”
My hand inched lower down his body, and the feel of his scales against mine was pure bliss. My hands wrapped around his length, finding him ready for me. I spread my wings above me, noticing how his eyes traced the painted purpled edges.
“I wonder what color you’ll paint them with.”
He lost his battle with control, pinning me the ground with a determined growl. We kissed again, but it was possessive, dominating, and I let him have me. His teeth grazed my breasts, and I shifted my chest to bring them closer to his mouth. He seized a nipple with his teeth, teasing me with delicious sensations even as I felt his hardness poised at my entrance. His fangs bit down right above my breast, moaning at the taste of my blood at the exact moment he thrust into me.
I screamed in surprise and pleasure, the dual sensations of being fucked while he drank my blood was staggering. He paused for a moment to pinch my other nipple with his hand, finding a gyrating, slow rhythm that had me begging, sobbing his name in the darkness of the cave. His hand drifted lower and lower, the rough scales on his palm leaving a scorching trail in their wake.
“You’re mine,” I gasped, my hands tangling in his hair. The rough stone at my back meant nothing; in fact, nothing mattered other than claiming this man as a part of me to join what was already there. I could hear Benedict growling in discomfort from the mouth of the cave, no doubt irritated he was forced to listen instead of participating. I grinned wickedly, imagining the day I would have all three of my mates at once.
The thought sent a fresh wave of arousal slamming through the lower half of my body. Kieran withdrew from me, and I jerked at the sudden absence of him. He picked me up and dropped me on my stomach on a large rock, its surface softened with thick moss. I tried to remember to breathe as he spread my bottom and then my legs, thrusting into me again. I threw my head back as he lost all sense of rhythm and control, pounding into me. His fingers squeezed my hips, claws leaving marks and blood behind as he railed me from behind. One hand slid down to my slick folds, teasing and sliding over my sensitive nub. The combination of rough and gentle was my undoing, and I came with a loud cry. He wasn’t far behind me, screaming my name as a ripple of power pulsed through the cave, bouncing off the stone walls and racing out towards the ocean.
Kieran took his time to come down from his high, his hands running gently over the contours of my body as I yawned, fighting the urge to fall asleep on the soft moss. His nose nuzzled into the back of my neck and I nodded, knowing he needed it. I bit back a moan as his teeth dug into the back of my neck, taking a few more mouthfuls of blood. His tongue dragged languidly over the wound, and he helped me up after it healed. I felt dizzy yet energized in a way I couldn’t explain. I shook my head and the dizziness passed. I looked down at my arm. It still hurt but had stopped bleeding. The skin had already started to knit back together, and I knew I would be fine without any more blood.
Kieran gently lifted me up and tugged on my wings, and I spread them wide for him. He stared in reverence as his deep, blood red coloring filled the middle halves of my wing scales, blending in seamlessly to the deep amethyst towards the top, and then turning nearly black at the edges.
“It’s twilight,” he whispered, running his fingers delicately over my scales.
“The promise of today, and the hope for tomorrow.”
I shivered at his careful touch. We moved to the mouth of the cave, where Benedict waited. Kieran struggled to meet his eyes, and I fluffed my wings awkwardly.
“You look better,” Benedict offered to him—an olive branch. Kieran ducked his head, tryi
ng to act nonchalant and failing. His eyes kept flicking to my wings, as if he kept checking to ensure the colors were still there.
“Ronan,” I said resolutely, and they nodded. We took to the skies, following Benedict along the coast as we dodged the crashing waves and the spray of the sea. It was difficult to feel anything other than joy as I soared along the cliffs, the brine of the sea in my lungs. After a short distance, Benedict dove into another group of caves to the left, and we flew in after him. Benedict and Kieran landed gracefully, flaring their wings at the last moment to slow into a landing that left them upright. Not as skilled, I overbalanced and went tumbling until Benedict caught me, unimpressed. I gave him a tentative grin.
“More lessons, I think,” Kieran offered, and I started giggling. Benedict rolled his eyes. His worried glance into the cave sobered all of us quickly.
“Ronan is deep inside. He isn’t chained since he was too weak to fly, or really do much of anything. If you bleed a little onto the stone, he’s sure to come out to you. Don’t take any of his shit and do what you need to do. You have your daggers?”
I nodded, feeling for my trusted blades against my thighs and remembering how Ronan struggled the most with control between all three of my mates. Benedict’s lips thinned.
“Let out a distress call if you need us.”
I took a deep breath, and let the darkness swallow me.
I expected Ronan to find me almost immediately—I even made sure to leave a spotted trail of blood for him to scent. The darkness was all-encompassing, but with my draken eyes I could still make out enough detail to maneuver. My hand felt along the claw marks etched deeply into the stone walls.
“Ronan?” There was a scuffling noise. I went deeper into the cave, until I noticed a large lump up against the far wall. It stood out, shaped differently than the rocks around it. I approached slowly, my heart beating wildly in my chest.
“Ronan.”
