by J. L. Weil
The three stumbled in, haphazardly throwing on clothes. With unbuttoned pants and shirtless, we stared at each other, absorbing the first sight of one another. My eyes volleyed between them, heart stuttering, and suddenly Kieran was rushing across the floor, making his way to me.
Strong arms lifted me off my feet, his scent of pine and earth engulfing me. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice hoarse and quiet against my neck. “So very sorry.”
Seeing him like this broke my heart into pieces. She had done that. Tianna was the only one to blame. I pulled back to meet his gaze, laying my hands on his shoulders.
“It’s not your fault.” I meant every word, and even managed to keep the wobble out of my voice, but Kieran wouldn’t forgive himself as easily.
His usually sparkling emerald eyes were shadowed with guilt and remorse. “It is. I never should have left you. Not even for a second.”
“She was determined to have me. If it wasn’t then, it would have been another time.” I had to help him see that, but I wasn’t sure anything I said would make a difference.
Like Jase, Kieran noticed the mark on my cheek, and as he put me down on my feet, his gaze surveyed the rest of me. Issik and Zade came to stand shoulder-to-shoulder beside Kieran. They all shared identical expressions of murderous rage.
Kieran’s jaw clenched tightly. “I wish I could undo it. I wish I could have spared your suffering, to have stood in your stead.”
“I’m fine. I’m home. That’s all that matters.” My gaze shifted to the others. It was evident they were itching to get their hands on me.
“My turn.” Zade butted in between us and swooped me into his arms, spinning us once in a circle. “Glad to have you back, Little Gem.” He pressed his hot lips to mine in a quick kiss.
I smiled, my first real smile in days.
“Don’t be an Olivia hog,” Issik mumbled, plucking me from Zade’s arms and securing me into his. Flutters of cold cascaded from his body, matching the radiance of ice swirling in his eyes.
Passed from descendant to descendant, they each took another turn squeezing me and I suppressed winces and groans my injuries caused. All of us needing to believe this was real. I was home, where I belonged.
As the adrenaline of my escape finally left me, the dealings of the long night began to wear on me, exhaustion slamming into my body. A set of doorways stood behind me, leading into a pair of dim stairwells, and my eyes lingered on the passageway.
Somewhere up those flights of stairs was a bed, calling my name.
Zade barked orders to his staff and a flurry of women buzzed about the castle. Issik kept me tucked against his side, a hand at the small of my back, as if he needed the contact as much as I did. It wasn’t long before most of my body weight was leaning into him. If he moved an inch, I’d tumble over like a log. Kieran was propped against the furthest wall from me, and I knew he had done so deliberately, giving me space I didn’t want or need.
I thought I was doing a good job of hiding how serious my injuries were, but I was only deluding myself.
“She needs rest,” Jase announced, eyeing me with concern. “And we need to attend to her wounds.”
My ears had perked up at the mention of rest, and before I could protest, Issik scooped an arm under my legs, lifting me off my feet. A good thing, I wouldn’t have been able to climb the infinite stairs. I had enough trouble maneuvering castles with a clear head. Imagining tackling that ascent with a pain muddled brain, and Jell-O legs that made me dizzy.
Zade slid his hands into his pockets. “I had one of the rooms made up for you in hopes...” his voice trailed off with sadness.
“It’s okay. I’m fine,” I lied, trying to reassure them, my fingers loosely secured around Issik’s neck. He hadn’t needed to finish his sentence. We had all hoped and prayed I would be back right where I was—home.
Kieran refused to look at me, his eyes focused intently on the floor. Zade’s stare dipped to my right cheek. How long would they look at me and see the abuse I’d suffered? Would any lingering scars only ever remind them of my capture? I didn’t want Tianna to come between us, not here, not now. I had escaped. Her evil wouldn’t follow me home into the kingdoms of the Veil.
A flicker of fire ignited in his cinnamon eyes, making them more red than russet.
“Zade,” Jase called his name in a low warning.
Zade blinked and nodded in the direction of the tranquility shifter. He took the stairs on the left, a hand shoving into his hair as he took the corner. Issik followed. I studied his face, while my head lay on his shoulder. It was too heavy for me to keep upright, and besides, he made a fabulous pillow—cool and not to firm, his body loosening. My head fit perfectly in the space beside his neck.
Each of the castles had a unique style and Crimson was no different. My half-lidded eyes took in the luxurious fabrics, the rich furnishings, and the gleaming floors. Zade’s home was polished, refined, and loved. A clock chimed somewhere on the first floor, echoing down the corridors until its ringing became a soft whisper in the distance. My perception of floors was dulled by my fatigue. We could have gone up two flights or ten when Zade finally turned down a hall and pushed open a single door.
My room was a dream and fit for a queen
Smoky glass walls lined the space from floor to ceiling, inviting the night inside. Open and airy, exactly what I needed after living in a box. A private bathing chamber with an oval-shaped small pool, and a porcelain marble sink lay behind a rounded glass door.
Issik sat me on the bed with a gentleness that contradicted the Ice Prince’s usual demeanor. “Let’s get you out of these clothes.” His hands gently tugged on the end of the dress, and he indicated for me to lift up my arms.
I obeyed, cringing at the sting of pain that reached me. The material easily went over my head, and staring at it in Issik’s hands, I only had one thought. “Burn it,” I stated with more venom than I intended.
Issik peered down at me with understanding. He flung the dress to Zade, who took care of the rest, lighting up the ratted material in flames. Immense satisfaction flared through my veins at the sight. Zade took the burning dress and tossed into a metal bin used for trash. I did not mind the smell as I watched my past turn into smoke and ash.
Now that I was nearly naked in nothing but my undergarments, all the cuts I had suffered were visible to them. Issik sucked in a breath, his eyes turning a dangerous color of blue as he took in the damage done to my body. “I’m going to kill her,” he promised darkly.
I fought the urge to cover myself up. The sounds of water running filled the adjoining room and the thoughts of a bath chased any bashfulness.
“Let’s get you washed up,” Issik murmured, softening his voice. The muscles on his cheeks were tight and I could tell it took effort to keep his anger restrained. I trudged toward the bathing room, gritting my teeth against the torment in my legs, arms, and back. Basically everywhere.
I beheld the steamy water, breathed in the oils Zade had added to the bath and nearly whimpered. Zade helped me out of the rest of my clothes as Issik kept me balanced and from tumbling into the water. I didn’t have the strength to lift myself in and without saying a word, Issik picked me up and set me inside the round tub.
I hissed through my teeth at the first touch of water to a cut on my calf and blinked back a swell of tears. A chain reaction of pain speared through me as I sunk deeper into the water, but I didn’t stop until I was fully submerged. I clamped down on my lower lip to keep from sobbing and centered my attention on the heat seeping into my muscles.
Zade picked up a cloth and dunked it into the water. He used slow and careful movements, washing the dried blood, dirt, and filth from my skin. “The oil will help speed your healing.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, leaning my head back against the tub and closed my eyes.
I must have fallen asleep because I awoke to Issik gingerly saying my name and the water had lost all of its warmth. “It’s time to get out,�
� he said and lifted me from the tub. I was wrapped into a warm towel and dried off as if I was a fragile glass doll about to break. Issik led me into the bedroom where Zade was rummaging through a drawer.
He pulled out a white T-shirt and slipped the soft material over my head. It smelled clean and faintly of Zade—spicy and citrusy. It became so quiet I could nearly hear my heart beating. Together, they tucked me into bed, firelight from the hearth flickering over their faces. The two dragons lingered near the bed, and I realized they were going to leave at some point soon.
“Will she come for me here?” I blurted out, suddenly. The thought of being alone sent my anxiety skyrocketing. Was there any place where I would be truly safe from the witch?
Issik’s eyes met Zade’s and the two shared a look. “She might try,” Issik replied after a long pause. I appreciated the candor. Lying to me would have been worse.
“But she is cunning. Tianna doesn’t do anything that isn’t carefully crafted. She got your blood. It might be all that she was after,” Zade added, attempting to give me a semblance of peace.
“You should get some sleep, Little Warrior. Your body needs it,” Issik encouraged.
The sheets were cool and dry as I slipped in, bone tired, but I was afraid to close my eyes. Zade and Issik were hovering in the doorway as if they too were fearful I would disappear if they took their eyes off me. At that moment, I knew what I wanted, what I needed to allow my mind to relax—if only for an hour or so. Deep, restorative sleep was out of the question for tonight. I was surprised Jase wasn’t here to knock me out as he was so fond of doing.
Two single candles flickered in the darkness and I was thankful for the light it provided in the room, but the shadows that danced on the ceiling made fear dig its claws into my chest. “Wait!” I called out as Zade and Issik were turning to leave. They halted and glanced back at me, eyes willed with expectancy. I gnawed on my lip. “Can you stay? I don’t want to be alone.”
The ice blue and cinnamon of their eyes brightened. “Who do you want to stay?” Zade inquired.
Fools. I wasn’t looking to play favorites. “How do you expect me to pick between you?” I countered.
Issik cleared his throat. “Are you suggesting…?”
I swallowed, unable to believe it was precisely what I was proposing. I wanted them both to stay. My fingers tugged at a loose strand of thread on the bed. “If that’s okay?”
Both their chests heaved in response.
To be frank, I wanted all four of them in the same room, wanted to be reassured they were safe, but I’d settle for two.
They didn’t say anything, didn’t have to weigh the consequences of what I was asking, but instead padded back to the bed and got in with me. The mattress dipped on either side of me at the same time, adjusting to their weight while they got comfortable.
Now I can sleep, I told myself, snuggling deeper into the sheets and closed my eyes.
Wrong!
Five minutes went by. Then ten. I should have been able to drop off into a deep slumber the second my head hit the pillow, considering all that had happened. That was not the case. Sharing a bed with Issik and Zade was causing my brain to malfunction. Not to mention what it was doing to my body. I gave up any pretense of sleep and opened my eyes, looking left and right at the descendants. They both had their eyes closed, but I could tell from their breathing neither of them was asleep.
“Can’t sleep?” Issik’s deep voice sounded in the dark.
Careful not to incite my injuries I was surprised to find they were now reduced to a dull ache. I turned to face him. His eyes were bright, the most mesmerizing color I’d ever seen, like the moon reflecting off sheets of ice. I almost forgot he had asked me a question. “No,” I admitted.
Zade placed his hands behind his head, the movement drawing my gaze. “It will take time, but the memory of what you went through will eventually dull. And years from now, it will seem like nothing but a distant nightmare.”
“I don’t want to forget,” I admitted. “Not until we’ve beaten her.”
The flecks of amber in Zade’s irises simmered. “You let us worry about that.”
I refrained from rolling my eyes. As much as they wanted to shelter me, to protect me, I was a part of this. Without me, the curse would destroy them. Digging myself deeper into the mattress, I tried to get my aching body to relax between the two dragons.
Issik’s cool breath tickled my ear on my right and Zade’s warm breath on my left. It was like being caught in a snowstorm during the dead height of summer. My mind was filled with nothing but Issik and Zade. No Tianna. No torture. No pain. No sadness. No loneliness. Yet, I knew if I closed my eyes, all that horror would come rushing back. I couldn’t sleep. Not yet.
Being surrounded by dragons wasn’t enough. I had dreamed of being home, being with them that I acted without thought. Rolling up onto my elbow, I glanced down into Issik’s handsome face. Oh, how I’d missed the angle of his cheeks, the fullness of his lips so serious. They drew my gaze.
Something in my eyes must have alerted him to my intentions. “Olivia,” Issik warned, but I pressed my finger to his lips and hushed him, a second before my mouth replaced it. He didn’t protest again or resist when my tongue grazed his mouth, silently asking him to open for me. To give in to me. A gush of crisp mint filled my lungs as we shared air, our tongues entangling.
When I pulled away, I was breathless.
My back lay on the mattress once again, as I instinctively turned towards Zade, placing a palm flat on his chest. I held his intense gaze as he looked down at me, resting up on his elbow. He had been watching me kiss Issik, and the knowledge had my own blood heating. I had no idea what I was doing, only that it felt right. Sliding my hand over Zade’s firm muscles, I cradled his neck and pulled him down to me, sealing my tingling icy lips to his searing ones.
A river of fire exploded within me.
This was what I needed, the two of them washing away the stains Tianna left and replacing them with ice and fire.
“Are you sure about this?” Issik asked, giving me a choice as he too leaned over me.
I stopped thinking about the consequences of what I was doing, letting what I needed right now be all that mattered. “Make me forget everything,” I breathed. “I need you both. I need all of you.”
A ravenous hunger passed over Issik’s features. “I’ve thought about having you in my bed since I first saw you, of all the places I wanted to caress you.” He shifted his body behind me, pressing so close that I could feel him everywhere. “Should I start here?” He lifted a finger, idly circling my breast through my shirt, and my breath caught, heart beating hard and fast.
Zade claimed my lips again, deepening the kiss and I hooked my leg over his.
“Or here?” Issik’s fingers inched down my belly, over my hip to curve into the side of my thigh. I arched into his touch, sliding my fingers over Zade’s bronzed chest. His shirt was unbuttoned from his hasty attempt at dressing earlier, but I wasn’t complaining. Heat seeped into my hand, trailing up my arm.
If I had any reservations about being with two guys, they disappeared entirely at the first meeting of lips. Issik’s cool fingers dipped under my shirt to circle my belly button, and I hissed at the combination of ice and warmth flooding through me, destroying my senses. Zade tore his lips from mine and turned his attention to my neck, his teeth scraped my skin and he dragged his tongue along the curve.
Hot. I was so hot. I was melting inside and needed to cool off. Flipping around, I switched positions, facing the Ice Prince.
Lifting my leg, I slid it around his hip in a silent invitation. Then I was on my back, Issik partially pressing me into the mattress with the length of his body. I savored the weight of him as his leg intertwined with mine, and the feel of his skin under my fingers—such power. My hand plunged into his blond hair as his lips crashed into mine, which gave Zade free range to roam other parts of my body.
God, help me.
; Was it possible to die from pleasure alone?
Heaven? Hell? I didn’t know which plane I was teetering towards.
Lifting himself up just enough, Issik peeled off my T-shirt, followed by his shirt so when he lay back down, we were skin to skin. My hips rocked up to meet his. A tingling sensation bloomed inside of me, and I craved more. He seemed to know what I needed without having to say a thing. Using his lips, he rained a path of kisses on each of my breasts at the same time that Zade’s mouth found mine. I was feeling too much, so many glorious sensations. My hips writhed under Issik as he unleashed himself on my body.
Issik slid down between my thighs, his tongue stroking the sensitive points of my inner legs, so close to the center of me that ached with powerful need, and pulsed wildly. Expertly getting rid of the fabric that blocked his path, he slipped a finger inside me, and that part of me tightened around him. I bowed, moving against him anxiously. Zade captured the part moan, part sob of pleasure that escaped me with his mouth. The kiss was wild and branding, each of them marking me theirs. Somewhere in between the kisses, all barriers between the three of us had been shed. My nails found Zade’s shoulders and dug in with need.
“You still okay?” Issik asked, his voice a growl of desire.
My moan was a plea on my lips and I pushed up with my hips, a tingling sensation building inside me. “Now. I need one of you now.”
“We are powerless against you.” Issik was breathing hard as he rolled me on my side, keeping my leg around his hip, and Zade nestled behind me.
“Only you. We’ll take any part of you or of all you, but the choice is yours. Always yours,” Zade whispered into my ear, nipping at the lobe.
Zade held my hips steady, his lips kissing my neck and shoulder, while Issik slid inside of me, his hardness filling me inch by inch. He took his time, allowing my body to adjust to his size. I couldn’t take it anymore—the slow teasing—so my fingers clutched onto his shoulders and I thrust my hips, burying him deep inside me. A rumble tore from his lips and I trembled.
