Charming the Alphas (Hex My Heart, #5)

by Talina Perkins

  Shadows caressed the contours of Zane’s face as he pushed through the double doors. She couldn’t look away. His long hair fell loose around his broad shoulders and brushed against the light stubble along his 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?”

  Lucian 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 grin.

  Marabelle 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 Lucian. “You should see the size of their gathering hall. Our entire pack house could fit in it. Hell, maybe two.”

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

  “I ran into Obsidian. 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.” Marabelle agreed as Lucian helped unload Zane’s bundle of treats of fresh baked rolls, a bottle of wine, fruits and vast amount of cut hams. And oranges. Probably the same ones Lucian had found at some point in his venture out of the rooms. She smiled. He made the citrus fruit taste damn sinful. Maybe later they could play...

  Lucian palmed her hand, guided her over to a plush couch and pulled her down to sit beside him. “What are you thinking about?” Every second that passed, they made this harder. Like a silly schoolgirl, a rush of tears stung the back of her eyes. She couldn’t cry. Wouldn’t cry. She dug her hands into the silk fabric of the couch. Dragons liked the shiny stuff. She got that now. Her breaths were 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.” Marabelle 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—?”

  Lucian 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 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 scarlet eyes, she almost believed everything would turn out just fine. Her breath came faster and her knee started to bounce. Lucian reached out first, but she pulled out of his reach. 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 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. Lucian palmed her hand first and then Zane.

  “Marabelle Lucrecia Winters...” Lucian 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 friend, our witch for life?” they asked in unison.

  Oh my goddesses. Words could make her peak. Her eyes widened. That link Lucian 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. Only there was no coming back a second time. Because 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 SIX

  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.

  Marabelle’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.

  “Marabelle.” Lucian 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 High Council or schemes to uncover. No weird magick books or anything wrong with her. There was 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 he captured her lips with his. 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 pulled from her.

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

  She took a breath and threaded Zane’s long hair through her fingers absentmindedly. “I heard the healer. What she said.” Eyes level with theirs, Marabelle 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.”

  “Know this to be true if nothing else in your entire life, Mara. Our hearts were yours long before tonight. No one is being forced.” She didn’t like the fear she saw in Lucian’s eyes or the thought that she’d put it there.

  Mara wet her lips, and little by little her muscles relaxed into Zane’s strong hold. She tried to swallow, her throat suddenly dry. “Then I do.”

  Lucian 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 and their weight in his hands. With his thumb and forefinger, he pinched her 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.

  “Mmm. I want to hear that sound when we make you peak.” Lucian 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 quaked, then her channel clenched followed by a wave of moisture that spilled between her thighs. They knew how to work her body.

  Lucian growled. “Fuck.” She pressed a finger beneath his chin and leveled their gazes. Lucian sniffed the air and flashed a knowing grin. “She’s already growing wet for us, Zane. You want us to make you come over and over again, don’t you, baby?” 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 Lucian. Using one hand he popped the button of her jeans and Lucian 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. Lucian 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 folds pressed against Lucian’s 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 Lucian’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.

  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 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 Lucian suckle her breasts.

  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. Who charmed whom?

  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 Lucian 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.

  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. “Kiss me, show me how much you want me.” She dropped the 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 asked, 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 Lucian’s lap. A delicious pop and cool air whisked over her nipples to make them harden more. Wrapped around him, her bare pussy settled along Zane pulsing cock. 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.

  Liquid spilled from her channel and coated his length. Instinct had her hips sashaying. With every move the engorged head slipped over her clit. Her heart quickened and she repeated the movement, desperate for another jolt of electricity. Entranced by their magick. 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 with a cry of need. His hand slipped from her hair and pinned her hips in place. “Naughty witch.” She arched a brow and cocked a grin.

  Busted.

  Zane wrapped his hands around her calves and Lucian slipped an arm around her waist. “Open for him, baby.”

  She did as he requested. Both men settled her over Lucian’s lap, which was now deliciously on full display for her to enjoy. And by the goddesses, did she ever. Chiseled abs pressed against her back and she nestled deeper into his embrace, Lucian’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. Sapphire specks dusted across his devil-red irises. “What does it mean? Your eyes?” Coiled need wound tighter in the pit of her stomach as he grinned with a knowledge that spoke volumes in response, but he didn’t move to answer.

  Releasing her hold on Lucian’s hands that cupped her breasts, she trailed a finger down the length of her abdomen and watched as Zane bit at his lip. In small circles she continued her tease lower all the while getting closer to the saturated folds of her pussy.

  With a smooth flick of her finger she gathered the pre-cum wetting the tip of Lucian’s cock and smeared the hot liquid down the thick ridge in a slow, deliberate stroke. Hand pressed into the meaty girth, she guided his length between her folds and stroked from tip to base. With him nestled against her clit, she moved. Lucian’s shaft swelled beneath her touch. Ragged breaths rattled against her back and his fingers flexed into the flesh of her hips. She repeated her torture, this time letting the head of his shaft nudge against her sensitized clit. Her own breaths came harder, but her eyes never left Zane’s.

  “Enough. Zane, answer the woman or I’ll fucking come before I’ve entered her.”

  Zane leaned in and captured her lips with his. Before pulling back he gathered her lower lip between his teeth and gave a nip. “Naughty, wicked witch. It’ll be fun tapping into your wild side and giving your delicious ass a good spanking.”

  Her heartbeat ramped up as his gaze gleamed with lust.

  He slipped his thumb over her clit and pressed. She didn’t want to come yet. Not before she had one of them buried to the hilt within her channel. Zane tightened his hold on her other thigh. No hiding that he was just as affected as she was. “The closer we get to fully claiming you...” Zane swirled his thumb and the motion served as lighter fluid to the already blazing fire. She shuddered. So close. Her chest rattled, desperate for air. “...the redder or bluer our eyes will shift until we’ve fully claimed you. Then they’ll be pure blue. A sign of a mated alpha.” His gaze fell to her spread legs. “So wet and ready to fuck. Come for us, beautiful.”

  Lucian pressed his fingers into the tender flesh of her breasts and twirled her nipples, giving the hardened buds a tug.

  She shattered.

  Every cell in her body ignited.

  Her inner walls clenched and her clit swelled with each stoke Zane administered. Heat flushed over her and the ever-present glow of her skin hummed with renewed energy. Her toes curled into the soft cushions and her back arched. With a strong hold Lucian kept her safe as she lost herself in the wondrous pleasure that consumed her.

  Frayed nerves, unbearable pleasure, electrical. Wave after wave of intense spasms rocked her core. Zane gave
a final flick and she fell against Lucian, out of breath.

  “Oh baby, that was just the beginning. So beautiful,” he whispered along the shell of her ear. “Put your hands on his shoulders and raise up just a little for me, baby.” Lucian guided her with both hands on her hips and shifted his legs, which parted her thighs farther and put her on full display. Cool air unfurled through the room, fanned along her exposed skin and coaxed a sigh from her throat.

  Under the influence of their lust, Marabelle let her eyes close.

  “No, baby girl, watch him take you. Watch as his cock slips between your folds, claiming his mate. Sexiest damn thing ever.” Zane’s lusty growl anchored her. He slipped his thumbs between her thighs and parted her aching entrance. Watching Lucian as the tip of his shaft teased more liquid from her core was beyond anything she’d ever felt before. Watching and feeling... goddesses, the combination fueled her libido and sent her rocketing toward her second peak of the night.

  She rocked her hips and earned a growl from Lucian. “Fuck, Mara, hold still, baby. Take it easy. You’re so damn hot.” It was true. She did feel hotter than normal. She’d grown used to the glow but with every second that passed in the company of her wolves it grew in intensity. A multitude of colors swirled just beneath her skin. Golds overlapped with blues and reds until no end or beginning could be found.

  Three magicks, three paths?

  “So fucking hot.” Lucian grunted and let his head fall back against the sofa, sweat already forming along his forehead.

  Zane’s expression darkened. “They can’t have you.”

  “Not before you do?” she soothed.

  “You’re witch and now shifter.” Lucian pressed forward into her drenched core until he was fully seated. Her heart stopped for the briefest of moments and all she could do was fall into the mesmerizing eyes of Zane. “And ours.”

  “And yours,” she agreed. “But what if I’m part dragon now?”