by Layla Heart
“I’ll make sure to split my time evenly along gender lines. Every even day I spend with the guys, and every odd day with you. What do you think of that?” Her hand comes up, wrapping around my back and she pulls me closer against her, spooning me, her front to my back.
I let out a laugh, folding my arm over hers, weaving our fingers together. “I like the sound of that, but I’m afraid the guys would revolt.”
Litha hums, tightening her arm around me a little. “You’ve got a point. I guess that I could come up with a different schedule, then. We don’t have enough people for everyone to have a dedicated day of the week...” She’s quiet for a few moments, and then laughs. “How about, I spend two hours with each of you, every night? And then move to the next one?”
I snort, just because the idea is so silly. “That would require ten hours of sleep every night, and a lot of moving around.”
“Ten hours sounds heavenly right about now.” She let out a long breath. “After everything, even ten days straight of sleep doesn’t sound like it would be enough to feel awake again.”
I push up, turning, so I can look at her. I have no idea why Bane threw out this couch, as it’s a great size for two people to snuggle up on, but that’s beside the point right now, just an advantage, and a reason to make sure it stays here when we move in. I reach out, sliding my fingers over her cheek, pushing her dark locks behind her ear, letting me look at her properly. She looks tired, and sad, even as she’s smiling at me.
“What?” A smile tugs on her lips.
I slowly shake my head, my heart beating quicker. “Nothing. Just appreciating the view.”
She smirks, her eyes sparking. “The view appreciates the appreciation.” Then she also reaches up, sliding her fingers in my hair. “I love the colour of your hair, and how soft it is. It sounds silly, but... It just looks like fire, when the light hits it like this.”
My body heats up, my face aflame, as I nervously lick my lips. “Just as long as you don’t set fire to it.” My voice has gone all hoarse.
“I’d never.” She’s almost whispering, her fingers sliding deeper into my hair, slowly pulling me to her, and then her lips are on mine. She’s hot and soft and so good against me.
I wrap my arm around her, pulling our bodies together, soft against soft, warm against warm, our hair tangling together under us, red and deep brown, fire and more fire, merging, mixing. I slide my leg between hers, trying to get even closer to her, to feel more of her. Needing her.
Her kisses are soft, then hard, then hot, then slow, then burning and long. She’s making my head spin, just with her kisses, taking my breath away.
When she finally breaks the kiss, our breathing is hard, my lips all tender and I can still feel the stings of her little bites, sending electricity down my body, pooling between my legs. Fucking hell. I want her. I want her so badly, but I’m too scared to ask, too nervous that this is all she’ll ever want from me, just kisses, some touches, and nothing more.
She slides her hand down my side, under my shirt and puts her hand to my bare skin, her fingers teasing me with small circles, a wave of lust crashing through me. “Are you okay with this? To do this?” She’s meeting my eyes steadily, like she’s really waiting for my answer.
I nod, licking my lips again, because my breath won’t slow down and my lips feel like they’re too empty without hers on mine.
“Good.” She smiles. “Because it’s been a long time since I saw your sexy undies, or even didn’t see them anymore.”
Laughter bubbles up and I shake my head. “That was the first night. I couldn’t help it, my hair was stuck in my shirt.” The first time we’d met I was standing in the middle of our room, my shirt over my head, my bra in plain view, and I couldn’t get any further because a button had been caught in my hair. She had to untangle my hair before I could fully undress, her first impression of me one definitely one that’s hard to forget.
Litha slowly pushes my shirt up, her eyes darkening with lust. “I still suspect you did it on purpose.” Her fingers are so hot on my skin, making me rub my legs together, or more, rubbing me against her leg, since we’re still tangled together.
“It wasn’t planned, but I don’t regret it.” I lean up as she pulls my shirt off, leaving me in jeans and my bra. Luckily, there are no buttons in this shirt that can get caught on anything.
“I don’t either.” She throws the shirt behind the couch, and then pushes me on my back, her fingers playing over my shoulder, slowly trailing down. “Hmm, I hadn’t seen these before. Freckles. Cute.” Then she hooks her finger under the strap of my bra and slides it down my shoulder, trailing her finger along the inner edge until she reaches the cup and pulling it aside, freeing one of my breasts.
I watch as she licks her lips, just staring at me, and then leans closer, giving soft kisses on my breast, closer and closer until she reaches my nipple, which she gives a rough lick with her whole tongue, before looking up at me, smirking.
“You’re so beautiful, your skin so pale. Makes me want to mark you.”
I squirm, my body much too hot, the pressure between my legs too much. “Go ahead.” Anything she’ll do to me, when she has that look in her eyes, I’ll welcome.
That look of adoration, of surprise, of magic, like she can barely believe something this good is happening, I’ll welcome it any time, because that’s exactly how I’m feeling too.
I’m not sure if it’s just my body, but this room feels a lot hotter than it did a couple of minutes ago, like someone has turned up the heat to a hundred, and the only way to lower the heat again is to ride this out, until the end.
The end in her wondrous embrace.
12
She’s so amazingly beautiful. I love how the light falls on her, making her look almost ethereal, which, in comparison to the guys’ hardness, she sometimes feels like anyway, like she’s not from the same world. But that’s what I love about her, this is what I love about her.
I love watching her flush when I say something mischievous, or when I touch her in a way that makes her feel good.
Slowly, I pull the other strap of her bra down too, freeing both her breasts. They’re so soft and inviting me to put my teeth into them, just to try it, to mark her skin just a little bit.
I lean down, opening my mouth and putting my teeth against her skin, pressing, but not really biting. With a gasp, she pushes up against me, her legs tightening around mine, pulling me against her more. I lean back a little, leaving small nibbles along her skin towards her nipple. I can feel the tension rise in her, her nervousness of what I’ll do, will I bite her nipple too? But instead of biting, I take her nipple into my mouth, sucking on it lightly, making it harden more, before letting it pop from between my lips.
When I glance up at her, her eyes are darkened with lust and she’s biting on her lower lip, the red flesh slowly escaping from between her teeth as I watch. Oh, fucking hell. When she looks at me like that, I want to ravage her, make her lose all composure, and watch her fall apart in my arms before coming back even more beautiful.
She reaches up, her hands disappearing under Rune’s way too big shirt, sliding up my back, higher and higher, until she looks at me quizzically. She slides her hands to the front, taking my breasts into her smooth hands, massaging them softly.
No bra. I couldn’t be bothered putting one on earlier, it felt like too much of a hassle, and it’s not like anyone really noticed under this shirt, or probably cared about it.
She runs her thumbs over my nipples, sparks shooting down my body, down to my core, growing the need in me even more.
I lean on one arm, making sure she won’t have to let go of me, and then, with my other hand, I pull off the shirt. Now we’re both naked from the waist up.
Her eyes flash as she grins, then she pushes herself up a little and leaves a small bite mark on one of my breasts, mirroring my mark on her, before looking very satisfied with herself. Fucking hell, I love that, that grin, that satisfaction in he
r gaze, that deep heat.
I slide down next to her, pulling her as close as possible, fitting our bodies against each other and holding her there. Her breasts pressed against mine, soft mounds squished together, soft but also firm. I slide my fingers down her back, slipping my hands into her back pockets and pulling her against me as much as I can. It feels different than being this close to a guy, no hard panes, or a dick pushing into my hip, but curves and bones, angles the same as mine.
Phoenix plays her fingers over my shoulder, up to my neck and then pulls me in, kissing me hard, fast, our bodies trying even more to become one, to reach pleasure, to release this building pressure inside us.
Slowly, as Phoenix is doing everything to make my head spin, I open her jeans, pulling them down a little and then slide my hand inside.
She breaks the kiss with a gasp, her fingers on the back of my neck tensing, and she pushes her hips my way even more.
I circle my finger around her clit and she rocks her hips against my hand to make me move faster, but with each movement of her hips, I slow down more, just to watch her frustration and excitement build at the same time. She’s so amazingly beautiful to watch, makes me way too hot.
“You’re mean,” she whispers, hoarsely. Then she pushes me back a little, before she attacks my jeans, pulling them off and taking my thong with them. She stands up, taking her own clothes off, and then dives back on the couch with me, on top of me. Her hands touching me deliberately but also tenderly, trying to pull as many sensations from me as she can, like I did to her before.
I slide down the couch a little, moving under her, taking one nipple in my mouth, pulling a gasp from her, as I slide my hand between her legs, trying to find her pleasure again. Much easier, without clothes in the way.
Her fingers play down my hips, before she finds my most sensitive place and sparks fly through my body, surprising me. I’m much, much more turned on than I thought, just from playing around with her before.
But there is also an edge of desperation to our movements now, the teasing having taken so long, and the pressure having been building for so long, that we both need, need very deeply.
I circle my finger over her clit, faster and faster, while using my other hand, and my mouth, to explore other parts of her, her breasts, the soft skin over her ribs, her belly, her nipples, all places that get gasps and moans from her.
Then I feel it, the moment she comes so close, the way her body tenses, right before she falls. I move my fingers as fast as possible as I stare up at her, at her face as she comes, her mouth opening on a moan, her eyes closed shut, her deep gasp.
As I watch, it hits me too, my orgasm racing through me, my whole body light, bright, sparking, aflame. The pressure all released at once. My body spasming, and then the warm sated feeling after the high.
Phoenix lets out a light laugh, bright, happy, as I take her in my arms, pulling her as close to me as possible, my body still sparking, and the sensation of having her against me keeping the good feelings going.
This is good, this is right.
I kiss her on her beautiful red hair, nuzzling her a little. I want to tell her things, something big and important in my chest, but I’m not sure if it’s the right time yet, not with everything we’ve just been through, not when everything feels so raw. But in this fuzzy state, the words slip from my lips anyway. “I love you.”
Phoenix pushes closer, her head against my shoulder, her fingers slowly playing over my back. “I love you too.” She kisses my shoulder. “I’ll follow you until the end of the world and back. I’ll follow you wherever you’ll go. Because there isn’t anyone in the world like you.”
I swallow, not sure how to interpret her words, they feel... heavy, heavier than mine.
“You’re caring, loving. You’ll do anything to help people, even if you have no idea how to, you’ll do anything for them. Even if you barely know them.” Her voice gives away, and I feel her tears on my skin, slowly sliding down, and I tighten my arms around her, my own tears close to the surface.
Everything that has happened in the last three days finally overwhelms me, taking hold of me. My fear, my pain, everything that scared me. My fear of losing all of them. The only way I could survive was to keep going, and now we can stop running, now everything crashes through me at the same time.
Phoenix’ arms tighten around me and her shoulders shake with sobs.
Too much, it’s been too much, and it’s far from over... But for now, we’re here, we’re alive and we can rest for a moment, take a breath, connect to each other.
Of course, the moment I think that, I hear a loud jowling from the door and Phoenix lets out a little laugh.
“Someone is feeling locked out.” She slowly gets up and I watch as she navigates through the mess to the door to let Ember inside. When she turns around, she catches me staring and winks. “Like the view?”
“Very much. Nothing to dislike.” I sit up a little and Ember jumps on the couch with me.
The cat looks at me and then at Phoenix, before looking at the jeans on the floor very intently and Phoenix rolls her eyes, like the cat is actually saying something to her. Then Ember stares at me and the strangest thing in the world happens. ’I knew you were into her, but could you at least have taken her to bed, or something? Something more elegant than this?’
My mouth drops open and I stare between Phoenix and the cat. “Did she just...?” I stare at Phoenix, who’s shrugging awkwardly. “She just spoke in my head. That’s not... That shouldn’t be possible.”
Phoenix looks at Ember, raising her eyebrow. “Told you so. Too soon. Couldn’t you have left us alone for a little while longer? Now she’s going to be freaked out, and I was just comfy.”
With a huff, Ember jumps off the couch. ’Crying isn’t comfy. Also, I like this room, and this house is much bigger than the room in the halls. Take it.’ And she happily walks out to the small balcony, leaving me behind, staring at her.
What the... What just happened?
Phoenix sits down next to me on the couch. “So... Yeah... That’s a witch-familiar thing...” She’s actually looking awkward now.
Right... Because this week hasn’t been totally weird yet... Like we could use another strange thing added on top of everything else... Like my brain hasn’t been totally overloaded enough yet.
We’ve got a talking cat, or something.
13
Ignoring all the lust and everything coming from Litha and Phoenix upstairs wasn’t the easiest task in the world. Those two are hot-hot-hot together. But I felt too weird to even consider wanking off to them, especially when they have no idea that I can feel their emotions and sensations so strongly the whole time.
Kit always knew about this connection, he was much more likely to play it up even, make me join in on the experience. Bane was easier to ignore, and I didn’t even have to worry about Finn, he never brought anyone home. And them jerking off... Well, that tended to be too short to really stretch my self-control much anyway.
But with Litha moving in here... I’m going to have to really train my ability to ignore the others and train my self-control, because I suspect that this will be a regular occurrence. Of course, her moving in here for safety reasons, and just to have her close, makes a lot of sense. But I hadn’t really considered the other effects that her being here would have, like everyone not being able to ignore her and the low-key lust at all times, or the sex that will be happening in the house...
Oops.
Finn knocks on my door. “Can I come in?”
“Sure, nothing interesting happening here anyway.” I laugh as Finn opens the door and looks at me strangely. “Nothing. Don’t worry.” He doesn’t need to know about my weird ‘I’ve been on my own in this room for way too long’ thoughts.
He raises an eyebrow at me and then shakes his head. “Right.” He comes over, sitting down on the chair that Phoenix pulled over a couple of days ago. “How’s your leg?”
I shrug. “Don�
�t feel much, no pain.”
“And...” He looks down at his hands. “The dragon?”
I stop, trying to find a way to explain this emptiness inside me, but I can’t find the words, there is no way to explain how it feels to miss such an integral part of who you are, how to miss a whole other being living inside you.
“I’m sorry.” He puts a vial on the table next to my bed, another vial with the horrid liquid.
“Why do you do it, if you’re so sorry?” The words come out harsher than I mean them to.
“Because we both know this is the only way to stay safe. For all of us to stay safe.” He still doesn’t look at me and a knot forms in my stomach.
“Do you really think it’s that bad? My dragon?”
He sits still for a while, but then slowly nods. “I don’t know if we can get you back if this happens again.”
I lean back, closing my eyes. “They’re all scared of me, of my dragon. Kit’s really scared.”
“Of more than just your dragon... Kit anyway.” He stands up, going over to the window and looking outside. “He’s scared of a lot of things. Some deserved, some less deserved.”
“I know.” Kit’s always been the easiest to scare, the easiest to get overwhelmed, but also, I can feel it in him, I can feel his fears, his pain, especially since they got me back out of my dragon. “Not much I can do about it, not right now.” Kit’s going to need time. Again... Even more time. Like last Monday didn’t even happen, like my confession of love never happened. Like we’re back to last week. Although, this time is much worse, and his fears much greater, all deserved.
