Twice Mated

by Penelope Wylde

  “Easy, baby girl. You’re still weak and growing weaker. The healer said you’d have a hard time tuning them out at first.”

  “Who?”

  “Our new friends.” He nodded toward the outer hall she assumed led to where their hosts were located.

  “Here, drink this.”

  “The dragons? Is that who I hear?” She thought that had been part of the crazy warped dreams she had after swigging back ancient magic. He nodded.

  “Where were you? Hell, where are we?”

  “Dragon’s lair.”

  “Got that.” She angled her head and shot him a pointed look. “I mean where?” Dancing sky lights and stars didn’t exactly give her locations on a map.

  “Beyond the rainbow and this side of the Big Apple is my best bet.” He shrugged with a small laugh. “At last check, there’s no cell reception, and I didn’t spot a landline anywhere along my route to the mess hall.”

  Grayson held up a crystal glass. “Now drink this. It’ll help.”

  He placed the glass to her lips and tipped it back while he steadied her with his other hand. Cool water quenched the back of her throat and she took several more gulps.

  “Goddesses yes! That was like sex in a tall glass. Hades on fire...” She pressed a hand to her mouth to hide a smile and half a groan from the pain. “I didn’t realize how thirsty I was. Thank you.” She sagged against him, groaning.

  A creak of wood from across the room brought their gazes around. “I’d like to think we’re better than a simple glass of cold water.” Zane strolled across the threshold, performing a delicate balancing act of what looked like a week’s worth of food. He threw her a hurt look and feigned a bruised ego from the small smile that played at the corner of his lips. The telltale sign always gave him away, but that little secret was hers to keep.

  “Thought you got lost.” Grayson tucked her back into his front with an arm wound around her shoulders.

  It felt right. Safe. And honestly, she didn’t want to break the contact either, but it was time for answers. Now that Zane had returned, she could get down to digging for what they knew.

  Shadows caressed the contours of Zane’s face as he pushed through the double doors. She couldn’t look away. His hair brushed against the light stubble along his chiseled jaw in a way that made her fingers itch to reach out and comb a hand through it.

  “Good. You’re awake. Give me a hand?”

  Grayson gave her a squeeze that broke up her thoughts. “Go to him, baby.”

  She smiled and strode across the room, arms extended. Before he released his loot, he came in for a kiss. Her moan echoed his. Leaning in, he whispered against her lips, “I missed you, baby,” then pulled away, flashing a slow heart-melting grin.

  Zane gave all appearances of being jovial and easy-going, but his eyes gave away the worry.

  Harlow let her fingers skim across his as she helped him. “What did you do—raid the entire kitchen?”

  “Almost. Didn’t know what your stomach would hold down so I brought a little of everything.” Zane looked over at Grayson. “You should see the size of their gathering hall. Our entire pack house could fit in it. Hell, maybe double.”

  Amused, Harlow showed Zane to a low table by the fire.

  “I ran into Xierrah. Something took him away and said he’d be back later.” Zane looked between them both with the news.

  “There’s enough to feed an army here.” Harlow agreed as Grayson helped unload Zane’s bundle of treats of freshly baked rolls, a bottle of wine, fruits and vast amount of cut hams. And oranges.

  Grayson slid his palm under hers and guided her over to a plush couch, pulling her down to sit beside him. “What are you thinking about?” he asked, softly. She knew he could use the tentative connection between them, but she gathered he rather hear it from her lips.

  Every second that passed, they made the apology she needed to say harder because her guilt grew thicker in her throat. A rush of tears stung the back of her eyes. She couldn’t cry. Wouldn’t cry. She dug her hands into the soft velvety fabric of the couch. Her breaths ragged and as erratic as her thoughts. Damn, when did it get so hot?

  “I, uh...” she let out a big puff of air and dived in before she lost her nerve. “I’m sorry about tonight. I shouldn’t have put you guys in so much danger. A true mate would never have done that.” Harlow let her gaze move over anything and everything in the room except them. If she looked at them, the hurt she felt coursing through their connection would snap her resolve like a twig and she’d beg for their forgiveness. No, she had to protect them.

  “That’s why I think it’s better we—?”

  Grayson spoke over her from her left. “You think we’ll stand by and let you get hurt? Or worse? Don’t even think about it. A few spells and balls of nasty whatever they are aren’t enough to scare us away. Nothing is. We’re grown men and can handle ourselves in a fight.”

  Goddesses, if they didn’t look like chocolate to a PMSing woman. She could lick every part of their bodies and still want more. That’s enforcers for you. Thinking everything comes down to brute strength. She almost rolled her eyes.

  “What we can’t handle is you in danger.” Zane settled on her right, elbows braced on his knees and gaze locked on her. “Baby girl, sooner or later you can tell us about what happened tonight. But right now, I think we have more pressing issues at hand.”

  The way they surrounded her, infused her with their strength and pegged her with those baby blue eyes, she almost believed everything would turn out just fine. Her breath came faster and her knee started to bounce. Grayson reached out first, but she slowly reclaimed her hand.

  If he touched her, she’d jump both of them. Not one piece of clothing would keep her from fucking her men until none of them had a drop left to give. That thought had her cheeks flushing.

  Both men eased off the sofa, took a knee and briefly glanced at each other as if agreeing on some kind of secret. Grayson palmed her hand first and then Zane, not letting her pull from them this time.

  “Harlow Lucrecia Winters...” Grayson started, his tone soft yet firm. Oh, he invoked the power of her full name. Now there was no way out.

  Zane carried on from there, “Will you be our mate for now and forever? Will you carry our mark and be our lover?”

  Yes. Yes. Take me now. I don’t care how or where.

  “Our best friend, our wicked little witch for life?” they asked in unison.

  Oh my goddesses. Words could make her peak. Her eyes widened. That link Grayson had talked about zinged to life and jolted her straight in the heart with an amazing amount of love. She swallowed several times and still she couldn’t find the words to answer how much she wanted to say yes.

  She’d died twice tonight. First time because of magic. And the second because of the love she felt for her men, only there was no coming back from this. When love took over you never wanted to come back from the brink of happiness. You wanted to fall in, let it take you away. Far, far away where nothing evil could ever taint the pureness of something so special.

  She smiled and opened her mouth to answer and that’s when her heart lurched against her chest and the world turned crimson.

  Chapter Seven

  She slowly let her eyes drift closed. For an inexplicable moment, she ceased to exist. An empty void where nothing survived swallowed her as if she stepped out of her body and nothing felt the same. Smell, touch, even words held no real meaning.

  Inside, she felt everything. Possessive, passionate need. Love and denial. Anger. They all mixed and collided together in a furious ball of energy until her true vision saw nothing but a sea of angry red.

  Harlow’s chest heaved, but she couldn’t pull in the sweet air her lungs begged for.

  Fingers tightened around her. Everything gradually came back into focus.

  “Harlow.” Grayson held her hand, but Zane didn’t wait. In one swoop he had her in his arms and pinned against this chest in a warm embrace.

>   Nose to nose, he held her gaze. “If we don’t do this now, we could lose you and that would kill us both.”

  “No, wait,” she pleaded.

  “Baby girl, we can’t. You have to see that.”

  That wasn’t what she meant. Looking between both men, her words rushed out. “I don’t want either of you to do something you’ll regret. What if something happens to me?”

  “We meant every word we said. There’s no doubt on our part.” The unasked question hung in the air between them. Cupping her face, she stilled and allowed Zane to feel the warmth of their connection and the love she had for them. Slowly she leaned in and with every inch she closed everything turned trivial. There were no dragons, no Silver Circle or schemes to uncover. No weird magic books or anything wrong with her. There were just her and her men.

  Slowly. Deliberately. Zane dissolved the inch of space left until not even air could fit between them.

  Hades on fire, if he didn’t hurry she’d combust.

  Finally, his mouth descended on her and the second his lips captured her lips she moaned. Warm, tender and with just enough lust to send her libido into overdrive. With every pulse of her heart her clit throbbed with a need he fueled within her.

  Harlow lowered her eyes and fell into the moment. “Give yourself to us.” Zane broke their kiss and looked into her eyes, every emotion on full display for her to see.

  Her whole world shattered around her.

  She took a breath and threaded Zane’s long hair through her fingers. “I heard the healer. What she said.” Eyes level with theirs, Harlow looked between them both as she confided her fears. “I don’t want either of you to mate with me because you feel you have to.”

  Zane brushed the back of his knuckles down her cheek, bringing her to his lips. He pressed a kiss to each finger. “Know this to be true if nothing else in your entire life, our sweet Harlow. Our hearts were yours long before tonight.”

  “No one is being forced.” She didn’t like the fear she heard in Grayson’s voice or the thought that she’d put it there.

  She wet her lips, and little by little her muscles relaxed into Zane’s strong hold as he and Grayson rose from their knees and moved in beside her. She tried to swallow; her throat suddenly dry with the enormity of the moment.

  “Then I do.”

  Grayson leaned back and pulled her with him to recline into the heavily padded couch. Straddling him, her lips a whisper away from his, she had little room for retreat. Zane moved up behind them, slid his hands beneath her sweater and didn’t stop until he had her breasts bared beneath her sweater and their full weight in his hands. With his thumb and forefinger, he pinched her hard, eager nipples and tugged, forcing her back to arch. A sudden bolt of energy flourished out from her center, eliciting a deep moan. Stunned from the sensation, she fell back into his arms, trusting he would support her.

  “Always. I’ll always catch you.”

  She moaned a sultry little sound she’d never heard from herself.

  “Mmm. I want to hear that sound when we make you come.” Grayson slipped a hand beneath her sweater too and stroked a thumb along the sensitive skin beneath her breast and Zane’s hands. The caress created a domino effect. First her pussy clenched, then her channel clenched followed by a wave of hot liquid that spilled between her thighs. They knew how to work her body.

  Grayson growled. “Fuck, you look beautiful. Flushed and ready to be claimed.” She pressed a finger beneath his chin and leveled their gazes. Grayson sniffed the air and flashed a knowing grin. A wild, primitive flash of emotion she couldn’t define sat deep in his eyes.

  They strummed such an instant carnal desire inside her she almost felt embarrassed.

  “She’s already growing wet for us, Zane. You want us to make you come over and over again, don’t you, baby?”

  Zane’s chest rumbled with his teasing words against her back. She nodded, not trusting her voice not to crack and give away just how overwhelmed they made her feel.

  “Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

  She shuddered as Zane drew out his husky promise next to her ear. Goddesses, they were her undoing.

  “Take it off, Zane. Unwrap our beautiful mate.”

  In one tug Zane freed her of the heavy cotton and her bra. Warm air closed around her. They made sure of it with their preternatural heat that ran a few degrees hotter than hers. With her back pressed to his front, Zane lifted her off Grayson. Using one hand he popped the button of her jeans and Grayson finished it by stripping her.

  “Hurry, take them off.” She flicked her legs free of their confinement one by one and slid a finger beneath the strap of her panties. Grayson slid them off and tossed them to the side on the growing pile of clothes.

  She didn’t know about the toothy grin, but her wolf eyed the length of her legs and for a split second, she felt like the girl with the red cape, and the words all the more to eat you with flashed in her mind.

  Her bare pussy lips pressed against Grayson’s hard, pulsating cock tucked behind the zipper of his jeans. She gave a dip of her hips. “You’re not going to make me wait, are you?”

  Now, who groaned? The hiss of a zipper brought her head around. Leaning forward with her hands on Grayson’s shoulders, she watched Zane make quick work of ridding himself of his clothing. Off came the jeans and his long-sleeved button-down to reveal a man that made her wet and horny.

  He pumped his thick shaft from base to tip forcing out a ribbon of hot come to spill over his hand.

  Everything about him screamed alpha shifter. From the toned abs and thick arms down to the swollen cock on full display. Intoxicating. Her tongue darted out and wet her lips, hungry for a taste of the thick white pre-cum that wet the bulbous tip of his dick.

  Warm silky liquid engulfed one nipple and then the other. Gaze fixed on Zane, she watched his expression soften as he watched Grayson devour her candy-hard nipples.

  “Yes!” she moaned, dragging her fingers through his soft hair. She cried out again when teeth scraped across the sensitive buds. Her entire body arched, in their arms.

  Fingers pressed into the tender flesh of her bare ass and she let her lids slide closed, not wanting to break the spell her men held over her.

  A brief smile played at the corners of her lips but it was short-lived when a cry of surprise tore from her lips. Zane had moved closer while Grayson distracted her. Strong hands eased her forward and a tongue licked the length of her entrance before teeth nipped at the globes of her ass.

  A thick layer of her juices dampened her thighs. “Sweet like candy.”

  Zane buried his fingers into her hair and angled her head to where her lips were presented for the taking. Goddesses, she loved it when they knew what they wanted. Especially when she was the one that held their attention.

  She looked up into his once rich brown eyes and found nothing but pure molten lava peered back at her. Her breath quickened. Ready for whatever he wanted, she opened herself to his seduction.

  “So fucking eager for us, Grayson,” Zane growled, rubbing his pussy juice coated lips across hers.

  “Kiss me, show me how much you want me.” She dropped the breathy challenge between them and loved the mischievous glint that lit his eyes in answer.

  “Baby girl, I’d pull you inside of me and keep you close to my heart always if I could.”

  Her lips parted in anticipation. “Show me...” she commanded softly, her words barely above a whisper.

  With a smile, he did.

  Zane’s hold tightened as he wrapped his other arm around her waist and hoisted her off Grayson’s lap. A delicious pop and cool air whisked over her nipples to make them harden more. He twisted her around and she wrapped around him, her bare pussy settled along Zane’s pulsing cock. She was on fire, burning from the inside until it consumed every cell in her body.

  She gasped from the shock to her senses and he took advantage of her surprise. With one swipe he delved deep into the warm crevice of her mouth, s
troking her tongue with his.

  Liquid spilled from her tight channel and coated his length. Instinct had her hips sashaying. With every move the engorged head slipped through her girl-cum to nudge her clit. Her heart quickened and she repeated the movement, desperate for another jolt of electricity. Entranced by their magic. That’s what she was. Pure and simple. Pulled into their orbit, she might be their sun, but they were her moons.

  Breathy, she broke the kiss and let her head fall back into Grayson’s shoulder with a cry of need. The heat was so intense so consuming. “It burns,” she whimpered.

  His hand slipped from her hair and pinned her hips in place. “Naughty witch.” She arched a brow and cocked a grin, his words making her feel dirty.

  “I need you. Both of you. Now.”

  Zane wrapped his hands around her calves and Grayson slipped an arm around her waist supporting her weight on his lap. “Open for him, baby. Spread those beautiful thighs. Show him our sweet pussy.”

  She did as he commanded in that husky, whiskey-smooth tone of his.

  Both men settled her over Grayson’s lap, which was now deliciously on full display for her to enjoy. And by the goddesses, did she ever. Hard ridged abs pressed against her back and she nestled deeper into his embrace, Grayson’s cock snug between her folds. So achingly close to her entrance yet not close enough. Zane followed her line of sight and slid his hands up the length of her legs until his thumbs settled at the apex of her thighs. Zane lifted his gaze to hers and her heart swelled.

  Ruby specks dusted across his wicked blue irises.

  Releasing her hold on Grayson’s hands that cupped her breasts, she trailed a finger down the length of her abdomen.

  In small circles, she continued her tease lower all the while getting closer to the saturated folds of her pussy.