I want him to touch me.
On a personal note, it was impossible to imagine that Forrest would ever…claim me…so intimately…with Abel doing the same.
I want them both to touch me, even if they hate each other.
My cheeks flared hot as my imagination briefly went to me pinned between both of them, my bare skin close to theirs, their hands touching me everywhere…
Niko stopped whatever he was saying about the du Barien parties and said, “A gold piece for your thoughts, madam.”
“Oh—nothing.”
“Nothing? Have you not missed us at all?”
His voice, low and soft and slightly rough, didn’t fail to stir something in me. “Of course I missed you.”
“Who do you want first tonight?”
“First? Who said I wanted anyone, much less a first and a second?”
He laughed, seeing right through me. “All right, Phoebe. Tell us what you want.”
I felt like I should resist, but I didn’t really want to. Niko knew, much more than Forrest, that I must have been fated to be the priestess for a reason. Now I had faces and names for all my guardians. The quintet was complete, all four of my sigils stirred to life, even if one of us refused to admit it.
I was ready.
A powerful sense of desire was slowly building inside me, a force of nature I was helpless to resist. I wanted them all, wanted to know what it was like to lose myself in them. Even my love for Forrest couldn’t hold me back; I couldn’t protect his feelings for long. He would have to learn that I was not marked for him alone.
Still, I did love him. He was the only one who truly had my heart at this point. I knew he wasn’t ready to share me with Niko. And I would be lying not to say I missed him the most, that he was the one I imagined comforting me when I was scared and alone.
Forrest, I thought. I want Forrest first. But then…gods, my body wants more of Niko. Plus, Niko was going to have me no matter what. I just knew it. And when I thought of that, I only wanted him more.
And then there was Gilbert. It was easy to put him last because he had Rin. But Gilbert was the one who always really took his time to relax me and make me feel pleasurable from head to toe, and after all I’d been through, that sounded wonderful too. Plus, he was definitely the best friend out of my guardians and I hated to always leave him last. Especially since I wasn’t sure if he’d have Rin for long.
Maybe time away had been good for me. When I found out I was the priestess I was so overwhelmed. We had a book that told us what we needed to do as priestess and guardians, but not how to handle it as human beings (or…whatever some of them were). I had just gone along with whatever was happening.
Now I realized that attitude could open me up to becoming a pawn. Like Himika.
I needed to take a little more control of this situation. They weren’t all necessarily compatible with each other, but they all had the same link to me. I couldn’t let Forrest be the boss just because he was the first one to know he was a guardian, or Niko just because he was—well, bossy. It would only get worse when Abel arrived.
These men had so much power over me. The book even warned me…she must guard against being dominated by her shadow guardians.., Niko and Abel.
But I needed to remember I had the same power over them. And they had to accept that. The only way the Grand Quintet would ever work was if I took charge.
“I want to spend time with each of you,” I said. “I’ve missed all of you equally. Surprise me.”
I saw Niko smile.
As usual, I had finished eating before anyone else, so I stood up. Wretch flew up onto my shoulder. I avoided looking at Forrest, because damn it, he still had that effect on me. “I’ll be waiting in the bedroom.”
Chapter Seven
Phoebe
I didn’t really have a bedroom of my own, as far as I knew. I’d only spent one night in Niko’s house and he had put me in his own bed, so I returned there now. It was huge and surrounded in heavy curtains and I flopped onto it and thought, Mine. Yes. This will be the bed I claim for my own as my consorts visit me at my order…
Mm, that was a nice thought. Ordering them around a bit. I knew they would be hard to control, but that was part of the fun.
I found a little rose water in a bottle in the bedroom and touched some to my wrists and neck, and helped myself to one of the chocolates on the table by the window, and then I stripped off my boots and settled onto the bed.
I relished the sense of power. I knew how much they all would have missed me, how much they would hunger for me now. I imagined them fighting over me. Maybe I was high on escaping from danger or something. I was thinking about the night ahead, wondering who would come first and what they would do to me. Not a bad thought.
The sun went down completely. I heard Forrest raising his voice about something out there and it didn’t sound like a gallant duel for my favor.
Oh, for the love—
Just as I was about to walk outside, Niko’s servant Polaris opened the door. She was a Silver Scribe imported from overseas; that is to say, an artificial girl with a girl’s face but hands that were just a metallic skeleton. Her eyes were always glassy and she always seemed to be around. Niko told me her main purpose was just to observe and record.
She was holding a box. “The Master said to change into this. They will be here soon.”
“What are they yelling about?”
“Commander Abel.”
Sorry I asked. I opened the box.
“He ordered it for you,” she said, speaking in a more quiet voice. “It is a little bit like an ancient priestess costume, he said, for you to be ready for your guardians.”
It looked like a golden necklace or choker with two tiny loops on the sides where two very long silk scarves were sewn onto it. There were two gold clips; maybe for my hair. And a pair of very insubstantial panties. The fabric, what little of it there was, was sheer, and they tied on the sides with ribbons so they could be taken off without even shimmying them off the legs. Finally, there were some sandals that laced up the legs. It was basically a box of scarves and ribbons more so than clothes.
“I can help you put it on,” she said.
“Put what on?”
“The clothes in the box.” Of course. She was mechanical. She didn’t understand sarcasm. “Take off the clothes you are wearing now,” she said.
I hesitated.
“The Master said you should wear this,” she said, with calm insistence.
So much for being in charge. I should have known Niko would find a way to put me in my place before he showed up.
And damned if it wasn’t making me more impatient than ever.
Even though Polaris was just a stupid robot, I still tried to remove my current pair of underwear very carefully because I’d already gotten wet with my fantasies and it was embarrassing, especially when she was so blunt. I could just imagine her saying, “What are these excretions, flesh person?” I bunched all my clothes into a pile and tried to dump them somewhere but she calmly but firmly took them and put them in a sack that she took out of the closet. I was standing there awkwardly naked, so I picked up the necklace and fastened it around my neck. Of course, I was still struggling with the clasp at my neck when she walked back over.
“I can do it,” she said, working the clasp easily. Then she took the two scarves and criss-crossed them under and across my breasts, lifting them up a little, and clipped them at my back with one of the gold clips. Then she brought the scarves in front and clipped them just below where the sigil would appear on my pelvis. The wide ends fell across my legs in front, sort of like a loincloth, but the fabric was so soft and fine, I was barely covered at all.
Then, still clinical like only a mechanical object could be, she lifted the panties around my legs and tied the ribbons at my hips.
I was clothed again, but not really. Any of the guys could come in, nudge the scarves aside and see as much of me as they wanted. If Niko wanted me
to be especially turned on by the time he arrived, it was working.
And if they spent the whole night arguing about Abel instead, I was going to kill them.
“The Master speaks about you in a different way than other girls he has had,” Polaris said, as she laced the shoes up my calves with her metal fingers.
“What other girls?”
“Sometimes he has had girls over who live in the city, but I am sure he doesn’t love them at all. I am not sure he’s even excited to see them. But he is excited to see you.”
“Oh.” I tried not to react, considering that she was Niko’s spy. “That’s a weird thing for a robot to say. How do you know he doesn’t love them?”
“When you’re around, his pulse quickens. I’ve never noticed Niko’s pulse quicken for anything before. Well, except moments of danger. But even when he’s in trouble he remains calm compared to other people. He doesn’t have as much control around you as he does with other people.”
“That’s as it should be,” I said, pleased. “I’m his priestess.”
“Yes. You will be with him forever now?”
“That’s how it works.” The way she said ‘forever’ made it sound like a very long time.
“Wait here and he will be here soon,” she said, standing up. She took the bag with my clothes and left. I saw some guards standing in the hall so I hid inside the curtains, because now I wasn’t in a state where I wanted to be seen by strange men.
Which I’m sure is exactly what Niko wanted…
Now I just had to wait and I was even more excited than before.
Finally, the door opened and I was surprised to see Gilbert. He was holding a candle, which he set down on the bedside table. It cast a beautiful soft light on his golden hair.
“Is that argument finally over?” I asked.
He nodded and sat down beside me.
“What was it about?”
“What to do next. Niko has a plan, and that plan is to kidnap Abel and drug him and bring him to the gate whether he likes it or not.”
My eyes widened. “What? And then what? Make him complete the ceremony at knife point?”
“Give him an aphrodisiac. But he probably won’t need it. I didn’t like the plan either, at first. But as Niko said, the magic that binds us is already so strong that none of us will ever know where our feelings begin and the magic ends. Abel hardly has a choice even as it is, so what does it matter if we kidnap him? It’s for the sake of closing the gate. Forrest, on the other hand, still isn’t convinced we should bring Abel at all. The book does say even one guardian is enough. But the book was also written in a different time.”
“No, no, no. I don’t want to force Abel to do anything. We’re supposed to be the good guys! He’ll come willingly if—if we could just have time with him. Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”
“Uh…you left the room. In a slightly dramatic fashion.”
“Oh.” I had already forgotten about that.
He leaned back onto one elbow, looking more amused, and reached out to brush my hair back. “Phoebe…I’m so glad you’re safe and sound.”
“Me too.” I fell into his arms. “It was…hard to be away from you. I think out of everyone, I wished you had been there. You know how to calm me down.”
He looked a little surprised to be singled out. He embraced me, solid and sure. “We won’t let it happen again.”
For a long moment, I just relished the safety of his arms, the tender way he held me. “I’m glad you came to me first,” I whispered. “Gilbert, you’re the only one who— I mean, you’re not just a lover, but also a friend.”
“I’m good at that,” he said, not entirely like he took it as a compliment.
I knew Gilbert was having an increasingly hard time balancing his relationships. Rin didn’t seem jealous until Niko entered the picture, and I pleasured Gilbert instead of the other way around. And I had to admit, it was hot. Deep down, I liked making him mine…and then I felt guilty for liking it so much.
Emotions flitted across his face, and I could see him wrestle with them and decide not to tackle any of them yet. His hand trailed across the bare skin at my side to the ribbon tied at my hip. “You wore quite an outfit for us. I like it.”
“You think I picked this? Niko gave me this and his weird robot took my normal clothes away!”
He laughed. “That makes sense. But you do like over the top fashion.”
“This isn’t over the top. This is under the top.”
He slid his palm to the sigil on my breastbone and stirred the glow to life. I sighed, all my troubles melting away at the warm caress. I tangled my hands in his hair.
He pressed his forehead to mine, his breath hitching as he shifted the scarves to cup my breasts so they bared my nipples. He looked but didn’t touch, building anticipation inside me. His mouth opened, hesitating. Then he caught the back of my head in one spread hand and slipped his tongue deep into my mouth.
It wasn’t like I had never kissed Gilbert before, but we had never kissed like this. Alone. Like we were the only two people in the world. He tasted so good, and he was so sweet, but he was a little less controlled than before. He pulled my body beneath him and scooted me down the mattress, his weight settling against me as his tongue made a thorough acquaintance of my mouth. It was the longest kiss I’d ever had. I could feel him growing hard against me and I pressed against his erection.
“We’ve never been together like this,” I murmured, running my hands all through his hair.
“No…but—“ He swallowed. “That’s not my job.”
“Not your job? Well, this isn’t the Quintet. This is just us.”
His lips covered mine again, and where the last kiss had been slow, this one was more urgent. My hands explored anything they could, caressing his face. He was clean shaven, and I was more used to touching Forrest like this, with his stubble and sometimes beard. But up close, I could feel the tiny stimulation of hair just beginning to grow again brushing against my soft skin, and his hard shaft through the thin scarves, and I made an urgent noise.
“I want you,” I said. “I want all of you.”
“I told Rin—“
“You’re never going to do this with me?”
“Phoebe.” He shut his eyes, his cock throbbing against me.
“You want me too.” I reached for him, stroking him, and then slipping my hand past his waistband. I was getting too aroused to think straight.
His eyes shot open. I saw panic in them and it snapped a little sense into me, I guess.
“When I got together with Rin, I never knew it would be so complicated,” he said. “He left his home and family. Was it for me? Was it just to escape? Does he stay now because he thinks we can help him rescue Himika? But I’m not sure he knows how to be alone. He would be in danger without us. It’s all so confusing, and through it all, my body wants you, but I promised him I wouldn’t. Just let me bring you pleasure.”
“Do you love him?” I asked.
“I do.”
I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect him to sound so sure.
“What…what does it feel like to fall in love without magic?” I asked. “Why do you love him?”
He paused. “You’ve never fallen in love before this?”
“No.”
I think he was a little sorry for me, or maybe I was just a little sorry for myself.
“I don’t even know how to explain,” he said. “I saw him watching me while I was playing music for the royal families, and we met eyes, and then we talked afterward, and…in some ways, it isn’t that different from meeting you. It feels like magic, even if it isn’t. It doesn’t make sense. It’s like a spark that lights up inside you when you see certain people, and then you follow it to see if there’s a fire. I could tell you that he’s handsome, that he’s a prince, that he’s kind, that he has a sense of honor paired with something that was dying to be set free. I could also tell you he can be a spoiled pain in the ass who doe
sn’t tell me what he’s thinking often enough.”
“Yeah…”
“Meeting him felt like an invitation. I wanted to be the one.”
“You wanted to set him free.”
“Yes.”
“Does he want to give you something too?”
Gilbert paused. “Yes. I think so.”
“What is it?”
“I haven’t told Rin where I came from. But I think he knows, deep down, that I want to be a man of honor and respect too. I didn’t want to be a thief or a whore. Even though he was a prince and we got along so well, I hesitated. I didn’t want him to think I was taking advantage of his position. Men are not really known for their restraint, but—I made him pursue me. Even though I was already so attracted to him… Who wouldn’t be?”
His eyes were getting a little dreamy.
And he was right. I was attracted to Rin too. What girl doesn’t want a prince? None of my guardians came close to being a prince, not even Abel and his mansion.
“I’m sorry.” I tried to pull away from him now, but he held me down under him. “I got caught up. I don’t mean to pressure you. I don’t want to make anyone be with me.”
“No, my lady, no… I can love both of you. Just let me worship you as my priestess, let me keep that boundary. Don’t bring me pleasure again. That’s all I ask.”
But when I did, you damn sure liked it.
And so did I.
I didn’t know how long we could manage this.
Maybe I could talk to Rin about it alone. Maybe we could figure it out… Sometimes I caught him looking at me too.
But gods, I already had four men, why was I even thinking about a fifth one?
Gilbert slipped a hand under the thin fabric and found my swollen clit. It was already so ready to be touched, and yet, no matter how many times these men touched me, the first breach of my most private and sensitive place always felt like the first time. Like a secret stirring inside me. His touch was firm, his fingers pinching and stroking, no inch of me left unexplored. I groaned and twisted beneath him.
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