Breath of Desire

by Ophelia Bell

  “But I just got here,” she said.

  His brows drew together in confusion. “What?”

  “You said, ‘Never leave.’ I only just got here. And then there was wine and Aurin and, oh… oh fuck, you’re wearing a condom, aren’t you? Please tell me you are!”

  Aurik shook his head minutely and pulled back farther. “No need.”

  “What, you’re fixed?”

  “Was never broken.”

  Dimitri’s amused voice broke in from somewhere behind them. “She’s asking if you’ve been surgically altered to prevent you knocking her up. He hasn’t, Thea, but he can’t get you pregnant.”

  She tilted her head back toward the sound, but only saw the smooth wooden base of the kitchen island. Finally getting her bearings completely, she realized they were on the floor between two of the bar stools. Jesus all that really had just happened. She could still taste Aurin on her tongue, could still feel the woman’s velvet softness against her lips. Her pussy clenched in response to the memory.

  Aurik’s eyes fluttered closed and he groaned. He shifted his hips, sliding out of her a touch, then slowly easing the rest of the way back until he rested on his heels again. His flushed skin and tangled gold locks made him look about as thoroughly fucked as she felt. Holy Christ was he sexy.

  A flutter of cloth materialized from above, one hand towel coming to rest on Aurik’s head. He caught the second deftly.

  “Get cleaned up. Dinner will be ready in a little bit.” Dimitri’s disembodied voice reached her ears again. The sound brought back all the best memories of living with him and Alex, of being in this pleasantly buzzed and disoriented state right after sex and having one or the other of them already thinking of her needs.

  Thea’s stomach rumbled in response to the scent of sautéing onions. She accepted Aurik’s proffered hand and stood, grateful for his supportive arm around her waist. She was still a little spinny from the intensity of her orgasm. She glanced up at Aurik, about to make a comment to that effect, but the words halted in her throat at the troubled expression on his face when he watched Dimitri. After a moment, he tore his eyes away and smiled down at her.

  “We have time for a quick shower. Join me?”

  She nodded and gathered her clothing from the floor, then took his hand and let him lead her up a wrought iron spiral staircase to the loft above.

  “Is something wrong?” she ventured when they were alone in one of the most luxurious bathrooms she’d ever seen. The Twins must be loaded if they could afford all she’d seen so far. It wasn’t even the decor that impressed her the most. While that was nice, the most impressive things were the priceless antiquities that littered every spare surface and corner in the place. Dimitri had struck gold with these two, assuming their relationship was as close as her first impression told her. Let me share them with you, this once. But would once even be enough?

  “It’s complicated,” Aurik murmured, testing the heat, then stepping in and gesturing for her to follow.

  “Ow! Shit!” she yelped when the stream of scalding water hit her skin. He abruptly blocked the flow from her and adjusted the knobs until she gave the nod that the temperature would do. She sank beneath the warm stream, marveling at how comfortable she felt with this near perfect stranger. Like they’d known each other forever already. She remembered feeling the same way about Dimitri the day Alex had introduced her to him, but that may have merely been by virtue of her familiarity with Alex.

  “Trust me, I know complicated. Dimitri explained our relationship… er… former relationship, right?”

  He nodded, stepping under the water when she moved to make room. “I fear I must leave soon, and he isn’t happy about it. Neither of them are.”

  “Leave… Why?”

  He hesitated as though trying to find the words. “Legal reasons is the best way I can explain it.”

  She let that percolate while she soaped up, then turned to watch him from beneath the water while he did the same. He eyed her breasts in an amusing way for a second, but made no move to touch her again. She was a little disappointed, but hungry enough to keep the shower businesslike.

  “Are you screwing your sister?” she asked abruptly.

  Aurik blinked at her, then broke out into a ringing laugh that filled the room. “Sweet Mother, no. She’s fine, yes, but that would be even more pointless than masturbating when we have Dimitri. We don’t enjoy each other that way.”

  “Oh…” Thea trailed off, confused. “What legal reason could you possibly have for leaving him, then? I saw the way you looked at each other, so I know you’re together. I’m not a stranger to precisely that kind of arrangement and there was nothing that could take either of those brothers away from me.” She caught herself too late. In a quieter tone she amended, “Well, almost nothing.”

  “My life is different. I have… obligations. Neither of my choices are easy, particularly because both preclude my being with him.”

  “You do know gay marriage is a thing now, right? Not everywhere in the world yet, but it’s definitely legal in this country. Nobody’s going to care who you love.”

  “I wish it were that easy, but I don’t have a choice.”

  “So you’re just giving up and leaving when Dimitri still loves you? That’s a fucking shitty choice. You’ll break his heart.” She grabbed a towel and dried off, then proceeded to glare at him while putting her dress back on. She grimaced at her panties, which were still damp.

  “Let me,” Aurik said softly, reaching out for the bit of lace. “I’ll put them in the wash with our clothes, you can pick them up tomorrow.”

  Thea gaped at the comment, completely flummoxed by it. By Aurik in general. By far the best single-partner sex she’d had in her life, which she was damn certain he would agree with, and here he was insinuating that they wouldn’t be spending the night together.

  “Fine with me,” she said, shutting the door in his face before heading back downstairs.

  Dimitri’s bright smile at her reappearance faded quickly when he caught sight of her expression.

  “Thea?”

  “I need a drink or three, and then you’re going to explain what the fuck that jerk up there thinks he’s doing.” Pissed didn’t begin to describe how she felt. Confused was part of it, of course. She hated men who only told half-truths. And where did he get off with a comment like “Never Leave” if that’s precisely what he was planning on doing? Forget that he’d said it in the heat of passion, she had felt that need of his deep down.

  To his credit, Dimitri didn’t waste time before pouring her more wine. At least he still knew her that well. Aurik might have an excuse since they’d just met. And then had earth-shattering, universe-tilting, black-hole inducing sex. The alcohol calmed her after a few minutes and she got lost in watching Dimitri and Aurin cook. They shared a couple somber looks that weren’t lost on Thea, though, along with one sad glance on Aurin’s part to the upper floor when she heard her brother start to come back down.

  “Dimitri…” Thea began in an impatient tone. She wanted it out before Aurik was back in the room.

  Dimitri shook his head. “We’ll talk when I take you back to the hotel, alright? Besides, the research data arrived while you were in the shower. I’d like to go over it after dinner.”

  That news let her relax. If nothing else she could finally get to work on her real reason for coming all this way.

  Except for the rest of the evening, her mind kept replaying those moments with either of the twins, spinning endlessly over the way Aurik had made love to her, then slamming to a halt again at his confession.

  ***

  Aurik lingered under the shower until the stream of water grew ice-cold. He was still, acutely attuned to Thea’s words coming up clearly from below. Her voice was as mesmerizing as her scent, drawing him back down to her.

  He should have told her the truth. All of it, but believed she was still in Dimitri’s domain so Dimitri was the one responsible for imparting the nec
essary knowledge to her. Aurik wondered if Dimitri had any intention of doing it. Their secret was sacred and unless one of them had a good enough reason, they couldn’t share it without consulting with the others first.

  Part of Aurik hoped Dimitri would tell her. Another part of him dreaded it.

  He had to prepare for the worst. He had already resigned himself to giving in to the Council’s decree. None of the potential mates Dimitri had gathered had borne any fruit. Aurik felt nothing for them.

  But Thea. She wasn’t on that list. She belonged to Dimitri as far as Aurik was concerned. It didn’t matter that he’d tasted her Nirvana already—she wasn’t marked by him. She belonged to another. That she was a human who had given herself to him didn’t matter. He still saw her as belonging to his friend in spite of her lack of magical link.

  She was Dimitri’s. The kiss she had shared with Dimitri had conveyed that much. Dimitri still loved her. Aurin seemed smitten with her, too. Aurik had worried for months about what he would leave behind. A hole for them to fill. But Thea could fill it. That day had told him as much. She was the perfect replacement. She commanded the energy even better than Dimitri, whether she knew it or not. She’d feed Aurin’s magic and Aurin could use that infusion to fulfill every wish of their mates.

  Our mates? Do you mean to mate her before you abandon her? No, Aurik didn’t, but Aurin should. And that meant divulging their secret first.

  It was always the first step after establishing a connection. He and his sister had been taught it this way, at least. Taught to learn the distinct difference between a potential source of energy for one night, and a long-term mate. The taste was very different. Thea was a perfect mate, as Dimitri had been. So she would be a perfect replacement for Aurik. Aurin could mark Thea without any backlash. But was Thea ready?

  The scowl on Thea’s face made him cringe inwardly when he went down to join them for dinner. Dimitri was being solicitous of her mood in that special way he had that calmed and distracted so expertly. Soon, Thea relaxed, buzzed from the wine, happy from Dimitri’s attention, and pointedly ignoring Aurik.

  The shift in attention away from him made it clear his decision was right. Thea fit that role so perfectly, the way Aurin and Dimitri’s steady banter seemed to hinge on Thea’s responses. They talked mostly about the Twins’ collection of ancient artifacts passed down from their parents.

  “Your family must have been collecting for generations to have such an impressive variety. I’ve always loved wondering what the stories were behind pieces like these,” Thea said as they wandered away from the dinner table. Aurin and Dimitri followed while Aurik stayed behind to clean up.

  A strange calm came over him while her words continued, pondering the history of each piece she admired. She was amazingly astute in her speculation about each piece, too, judging the age and circumstances around them to an impressive degree of accuracy. So impressive it even worried him a little that she’d suss out their secrets without even having to be told. That deep understanding would make it easier for her, and the idea calmed him further as he pondered what his life would be like afterward. It was as good a time as any to begin cutting ties. Perhaps he should go already, if he could convince Dimitri sooner was better, now that Thea had arrived. And Aurik’s leaving would mean he could leave Dimitri marked, which would be preferable to nullifying it and staying, shifting his mark to a stranger he didn’t love.

  Soon Aurik went back to them, feeling Dimitri’s pull with a glance filled with love and sadness. This was a tether Aurik would have to break. Perhaps he should nullify the mark, after all, even though the thought of it left a cold pit in his stomach.

  The fascination of the data Erika had sent them managed to distract him from the feelings. The tiny piece of technology containing all of Camille’s research fit perfectly into the USB slot of Dimitri’s laptop. Of the many things Aurik would miss once exiled to the Monastery, technology might be near the top of the list. Magic without the need for any effort expended on his part. He tried not to think of the other things he would miss. But perhaps he could find peace at the Monastery, too.

  Needing a bit of that peace sooner than that, he excused himself and headed toward the roof.

  “Where are you going, Brother?” Aurin’s lilting voice filled his head.

  “I need some time to think away from distractions.”

  “Please think about what you’re doing. There must be another way.”

  “I won’t give him up to take another mate. I’d rather have no one and know he is at least happy with you and her.”

  She didn’t say more, but he could sense her displeasure as though it were a prickly presence in his mind.

  He shifted in the shadows of the roof and took flight, stretching his wings as wide as they would go, soaring high to catch the thermal eddies above the city. He could taste the faint trails of magic he and Aurin left behind each time they flew, subtle markers to signify to other dragons who passed through that this territory was under the protection of a pair of Court dragons.

  He caught the fainter trail of the courier who had delivered the data while he and Thea were showering. The pale coldness of the dragon’s essence told him it had been a Blue, but not one with a large reserve of power. The trail stopped at their building so the dragon had probably remained in human form and gone into the city for the evening to replenish his energy.

  Aurik flew for hours, hoping to exhaust himself enough that he could have a dreamless sleep, and hoping Thea would be gone when he returned so he wouldn’t have to endure her disappointed glances. He began to distract himself by flying slightly lower, breathing an extra cloak of obscuring magic around himself, and skimming along above the streets, low enough to catch the ebb and flow of sustaining magic that existed as a web around the city, connecting all the living creatures to each other, particularly the humans. He enjoyed catching the pull of lust that was so prevalent, finding the threads that tugged hardest, catching a little taste of each one and enjoying the different impressions he got of the interaction transpiring between the individuals involved. If humans only knew how vibrant those threads were. How strong and undeniable the connections. He wondered if there would be so much despair.

  A brighter thread than the others appeared, the shimmering filament of it like a dazzling line of fire. He followed it, curious if there could be others like Thea and Dimitri in this city. The thread didn’t seem to have a strong connection, however, the end of it trailing in the air as though caught in a strong breeze. The loose end of it tickled, causing a quiver of energy to race over his scales.

  He followed it to its origin—the high balcony of a hotel not far from his home. The doors were open, the summer breeze catching the drapes and causing them to billow into the dark room. The thread grew even brighter, seeming to fan out into a knotted mesh as it reached its source. He reached the balcony and shifted silently, watching the shadows of the interior and listening, curious about the person who alone could have a thread of energy that reached so far.

  Her scent hit him a second later and he went rigid. Thea’s lovely jasmine aroma lingered in the doorway, evidence that she had stood on this balcony not more than an hour ago. It was no wonder he’d been drawn to her. Thea’s pull was the strongest he’d experienced, but he’d first felt it while she was in a state of high arousal.

  Aurik listened from the shadows outside her doors, but could only hear her deep, steady breathing. He shouldn’t intrude on her sleep, but the draw of her was too strong. He took a step past the threshold, paused, and walked into the room. Thea appeared peaceful as she slept, but the web of magic around her tingled against his skin, arousing him. He wondered if she were dreaming, and if so, of what?

  She had kicked the downy covers off in her sleep, her creamy skin caught the light that filtered in from her open balcony doors. She slept nude, which somehow surprised him. As uninhibited as she had been earlier that night, she struck him as more practical and a little reserved. His palm itched
with the urge to touch her and his groin throbbed with arousal. He could wake her with a breath, use his magic to seduce her. But the euphoria his breath induced would be an artificial emotion. And if he ever made love to her again, it would be to experience the dual pull of her and Dimitri together so he could drown himself in the depths of the magic they produced.

  He turned to leave, but stopped short at the sound of a soft sigh from behind him. Thea had shifted and rolled onto her back. Her eyes were still closed, her face turned away from him, but her body seemed more awake. The pull of the magic grew stronger, the web of it flickering around him as her hands moved. Aurik stood mesmerized in place, unable to take his eyes off her while she touched herself.

  His palms ached even more at the sight of her hands clutching both her breasts, tugging at her tight nipples until she sighed again at the pleasure. Her thighs rubbed together, then parted. Her fertile aroma reached him with the force of a bolt.

  Aurik inhaled sharply, the scent of her rocking him back.

  Thea abruptly opened her eyes wide and sat up. “Who’s there?” Her words hit his ears as he launched himself through the balcony doors and shifted in mid-air, cloaking himself with magic in the process.

  Chapter 6

  Thea stared out into the darkness beyond her balcony, confused as hell. She clenched her eyes shut and opened them again. The disorienting pleasure of her dream still lingered, making her think the sense of being watched had to have been part of the dream, too. And she had been watched in the dream. Aurik’s honey-tinted gaze had been all over her while Dimitri and Aurin shared her. Dimitri had been fucking her from behind while Aurin attended her from the front, reciprocating what Thea had done to her earlier that day. Only the Twins’ eyes had begun to glow partway through. Aurin’s gaze grew brighter when Dimitri removed his cock and let Aurin slip an impossibly long and agile tongue deep into Thea’s pussy.

  She had the sense that they were preparing her for Aurik. Working her up so that her climax was even more powerful once he took her. The dream had faded when she was on the precipice and she’d begun touching herself to chase it, easily imagining Aurik taking over, replacing his sister’s acrobatic tongue with his own, thicker, stronger and more insistent one. She longed to have him like this, and to have Dimitri once again after all this time. She had always loved for him to take her from behind with Alex inside her from the front, but there was something wholly exotic about Aurik that compelled her even more than Dimitri or his brother had. As though Aurik’s mere touch could set her off.