by Vi Voxley
He could feel her smile, the full pink lips curling when he pulled her closer, running his hands over the small of her back. The lust burned in his blood, nigh impossible to deny, yet Harbor didn't push.
Cole was less subtle with his desires. The other commander turned Riley to face him as soon as his hands fell from her body as though they were in an odd dance of sorts. Harbor watched as he kissed their fated, pushing his hands into her soft hair until Riley was squirming under his touch. The annoyance Harbor felt at Cole not doing what he'd promised and leaving her the choice to pick her own pace was nothing compared to the excitement in his heart.
Perhaps it wasn't that bad to be paired with Cole. The other warlord could always be trusted to make all the decisions he wouldn't and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Watching Riley shudder was definitely worth it.
When the pair finally broke for air, the world held its breath, at least that's how it felt to Harbor.
Riley was watching them with a regretful look, the smile still playing on her lips.
"I'll sleep alone tonight," she said, answering the question in his mind. "We shouldn't rush things. For now."
Her eyes wandered over them appreciatively and Harbor felt his cock stir at the sight of the dark passion there.
"I can't promise I won't take my words back soon," Riley concluded, a bit breathlessly.
She gave them one last look and disappeared into her room, next to Mya's. Harbor was ripped out of his thoughts by Cole, stepping past him and reaching out his hand.
He caught him by the shoulder before Cole could enter Riley's bedroom.
"What part of that sounded like an invitation to you?" Harbor demanded in a furious hiss.
"What part of it didn't?" Cole shot back, his green eyes burning. "Tell me you don't want her."
Harbor gave him a hard look. The desire was very much there and Cole must have known it better than anyone because he was a victim to the same passion.
"Let her be," Harbor ordered firmly. "We lost her once. I will not lose her again simply because you can't control yourself."
Cole pulled himself free, a challenge in his eyes. Harbor waited with bated breath to see if they were actually going to come to blows right outside of Riley's room.
Then Cole turned and walked away. Harbor stayed only for a moment more to listen if everything was alright, a habit he wasn't able to shake. The lives of his two precious jewels were too great to risk.
Just as he was about to leave, Harbor heard a movement in Riley's room and the door slid open to reveal her standing there, a small smile on her lips.
"I appreciate that," she said, looking at him in a way that made Harbor consider his stance again. "I think you're right, even if I am a little disappointed."
Harbor cocked his head to the side, baring his teeth in a feral grin.
"A word out of your mouth and you won't sleep a second this night," he promised.
The temptation flared so brightly in Riley's eyes that she shivered, biting her lip. Her hand holding the door open was tight around the frame.
"Sleep," she said at last, grinning. "I think you were right, Harbor. I don't want to lose the two of you either. I – I simply don't know that if you came in, that I would have had the strength to kick you out, that's all."
"That is a terrible thing to say to your fated," Harbor replied with a growl.
Riley chuckled softly.
"If it's any comfort, I don't think I'll sleep much anyway," she said, rising up on her toes and giving him another quick kiss before shutting the door again.
With her footsteps fading away, Harbor groaned in exasperation. That hadn't gone the way he had wanted it to, even if he found the idea of a female teasing him like that surprisingly exciting.
Everything was better when you had to fight for it, all Gargon warriors knew that.
19
Riley
Riley fell on the bed, letting out a long sigh, a quiet hopeless laughter following it.
I need a cold shower. Gods.
Eavesdropping wasn't nice, of course. Then again, the commanders had done the same to her when she was telling Mya her story – which she was very proud of. Mya had listened so bravely even when her eyes were fluttering shut, desperate to hear the end before sleep claimed her.
It was for Riley to know and for her daughter to find out that the story could go on forever if they chose it. As long as it captured Mya's attention, Riley was perfectly fine with coming up with bigger and better monsters to her delight.
What she'd heard the warlords discussing was a completely fair argument. Riley had to bite her lip not to think too much of how much she wanted the commanders to come back. Even still, even then. That was a woman's heart for you.
She knew waiting was the right thing. Harbor agreed it was. And even Cole agreed if the fact he decided to let Harbor win that one was anything to go by.
That didn't stop her from listening carefully to any footsteps out in the hallways. She assumed she'd hear a warlord in full armor coming but there was nothing.
This is better, she told herself. I need to get used to a few things first before I can even think of taking our relationship back to where we left it.
That wasn't nearly as easy as it sounded.
Gargon men were gorgeous, there was no denying that. And Harbor and Cole were something else entirely. They were made for her as much as Riley understood anything about the bonds. The three of them were born to make each other happy – with the possible exception of the two warlords themselves.
It was hard to resist someone tailor-made for you. The more Riley thought about it, now that she actually had a free moment to consider it all, the more obvious it was. If there was a model of what she thought the perfect man looked like, Harbor and Cole would have fit the profile to the very last detail.
The fact that they looked nothing alike was not as contradictory as it sounded either. Contradictions balanced one another out. Being so very different, her fateds covered both sides of the mountain.
Riley sighed.
I should write this all down. That's what I ought to do. Maybe I'll really start a diary and publish it like that.
It only took her a moment to realize that she couldn't do that. Diaries were too personal while Riley wanted her books to have a general appeal, a sense of being able to relate, and her story was so fantastic she hardly believed it herself.
Keeping a diary for her own sake wasn't a bad idea, though. It would help her focus, concentrate – and it would be great source material if the book did ever happen.
Happy with that, Riley jotted down her emotions of the day. There were already some there – she hadn't lied to the commanders when they had walked in.
She tried to be brutally honest. Right then, Riley's inner world was completely chaotic. She wrote it all down.
The growing affection she had for her fated, the first happy memories with Mya. Her fears, too, the feeling of being incomplete and out of place. The desire to keep fighting and the pain of learning to live again.
After a while, Riley put down the tablet and sighed.
It didn't help. Nothing took her mind off her fateds and their amazing, strong arms around her. Riley whimpered just from thinking of them. For a second, the desire was so powerful that she considered going after the commanders herself.
There was no doubt in her heart they wouldn't turn her away if she showed up on their doorstep, half-naked, begging for them to take her.
Her hand slipped between her legs and Riley moaned. The heat building inside her spiked like she was hit by lightning and instead of killing her, the energy was released into her veins. Pushing her panties down to her knees, Riley settled herself against the pillows, closed her eyes and let her imagination run wild.
Her pussy was already wet and ready, more for the commanders than for her own hand, but Riley resolved herself to make do. If she squeezed her eyes shut very tightly, she could almost imagine her fateds were there, touching her a
s she did, letting their hands roam all over her body before reaching her pussy again.
Riley slipped two fingers into herself, slowly and teasingly at first. As she worked them in and out again, her other hand was circling her clit, sending waves of pleasure through her entire body. She writhed on the sheets, trying to get the best angle and hit all the sensitive spots within her.
Her active mind responded. In her daydream, Riley was no longer alone. Harbor and Cole stood next to her bed, stark naked in all their glory, huge rock-hard cocks ready to take her to heaven and back. The grins on their faces promised her she wouldn't be able to walk for a week.
Riley cried out, moving her fingers faster, scissoring and spreading her pussy, needing them inside her more than she'd ever needed anything. The visions obeyed happily.
Riley had them kiss her deeply, groping her breasts that she mimicked, their hands teasing her open much she like was doing herself.
It was a poor replacement, she knew that. The commanders were huge in every sense of the word, their fingers would have been so much bigger inside her wet pussy. Riley moaned, remembering how they had taken her on the flagship, their cocks splitting her open like they were molding her after their thick members.
She picked up the pace again, looking from one vision to the other, gasping when the pleasure built, her orgasm approaching with a force that scared her a little. It had never been so easy to bring herself to climax so quickly but the commanders managed to do that even when they weren't present.
"Yes," Riley moaned, feeling herself tumble over the line where she could have still stopped.
The elusive realm of total and utter pleasure welcomed her into its folds. She cried out louder, her hips arching off the bed, meeting the thrusts of her hand while she rubbed her clit furiously. Images started to flash before her eyes as every desire she had started to bleed into her conscious mind.
Riley's long moan was broken when she imagined her fateds taking her rough and fast, the strong hands that would have never hurt her if she didn’t ask for it spanking her ass red, urging her on.
She saw herself being taken by Harbor, the commander pounding into her with force that threw her nearly onto Cole's lap. Her lips were wrapped around Cole's cock, the warlord's hands fisted into her hair, holding her head in place as he thrust into her mouth. Riley could almost feel the strain on her mouth as she struggled to take it all.
She wanted it so badly she trembled from the desire, her pussy throbbing around her fingers as she climbed to the peak of her pleasure.
She wanted everything, not just in the sense of trying out all the things she had never dared or never had the chance to do, or never felt comfortable with. More than that, Riley ached to have her fateds with her in their entire being, in their very essence. She wanted to be one with them like the bonds were supposed to be.
To gag on Cole's cock even if it hurt, to take Harbor to the hilt even if her body fought not to break down in pieces under his fearsome thrusts. She wanted to lick every muscle, bury her face against their firm flesh, be held down by their amazing strength.
That last thought finally pushed her over the edge. The images shifted again and now Riley was tied down, completely and utterly helpless before the two commanders. Their eyes were filled with dark, dangerous passion, but she wasn't afraid.
She imagined them teasing her until she was begging, promising to do everything they wanted if they let her cum. Rutting against their hands for the slightest of touches, crying out when they spanked her, telling her to spread her legs wide for their thick cocks. She saw herself reaching for kisses that she didn't get, biting a pillow as they pummeled into her, rocking the bed so hard the walls broke.
Riley's mouth opened wide when she cried out, breathless gasps filling the room as she rubbed her clit, her fingers working furiously as she went speeding over the edge of pleasure.
She rose up from the pillows, shuddering from head to toe in violent spasms that were hot and cold at the same time. The image of being fucked into the very same bed played on repeat in her head as Riley came, crying out the names of her fateds.
It felt like it lasted an eternity and at the same time, was over far too quickly. Slowly, Riley let her body relax and fell back on the bed, breathing heavily. Being clothed was suddenly stifling. With a tired sigh, she got up and undressed, her hands still shaking a little.
Then she climbed back into bed, pulled the sheets over her and rested her head on the damp pillow.
Her last thought was that Cole had been right. It would have been much more fun if they had joined her.
20
Cole
The scream woke him in the middle of the night.
Cole was up from his bed in a matter of seconds and dashed for Riley's room. His heart was drumming in his chest, thinking the worst of the worst. He didn't even know what that was.
Magorra, the League? Some of his enemies come to exact their revenge by taking the ones he loved the most?
He nearly took Riley's door off the frame, barging in, only to find the room to be empty of all physical threats.
Riley was sitting upright on the bed, gasping for air wildly, tears beading in the corners of her eyes. Her hands were clutching the sheets so tightly Cole thought she might rip them right up. Her wide eyes were looking at him, almost pleading.
The realization hit about the same moment when Harbor arrived, right on his heels, stopping at the door just like he had. From the next room, Mya peeked out, scared and crying.
"You go to her," Cole told Harbor who left with one more glance at Riley who was still shivering.
Cole watched Harbor pick Mya up and cradle her in his strong, safe grip.
"It's okay," the other commander said softly. "Mommy just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep, little one, nothing bad is going to happen to you..."
Harbor's voice faded away as he closed the door of Mya's room behind him and Cole walked over to Riley.
All the warnings rang in his head, telling him not to approach without asking, but he banished them all to the underworlds. That was his fated, his heart and she was in distress. Not a force alive could have stopped him from sitting on the bed next to her, pulling her gently into his warm embrace.
Riley cummed freely, throwing herself against him, her slender form shaking as she wept against his shoulder.
"Tell me what it was," Cole told her firmly. "And I will tell you why it can't hurt you, why nothing could."
It took a few moments for Riley to recover enough to answer. Her hands were clutching the black shirt Cole had slept in, tugging at it softly to pull herself even closer.
"I don't think you can do that," she whispered then, chuckling without humor. "It has already happened, both in and out of my dreams."
Yes, I guessed it was that.
"Magorra?" he asked. "Or the explosion?"
"Both," Riley admitted quietly. "It was unreal. The explosion sort of happened in slow motion, coming for me like a wave of fire that was going to burn me alive. Then Magorra appeared from the flames, unscathed, and laughed. He told me the explosion wouldn't kill me. He wouldn't let it. He wants me alive."
In that moment, Cole was glad that she didn't see the look on his face or it would have surely given some of the truth away. He held her gently in his arms, caressing her back and kissing her hair until she stopped shaking in terror.
I wish I didn't have to hide the new raids from you.
"That will never happen," he said seriously. "The entire realm of Gargons would have to fall before I let someone hurt you like that again."
He released Riley, pulling back a little and lifting her chin up with one finger.
Making sure she was devoting her full attention to him, Cole said firmly:
"It is just a bad memory, Riley. A nightmare. Now you are awake and with me. Neither death nor the enemy got you that day. I swear that as long as I have strength left in my body, you won't have to suffer or fear."
The look in his fa
ted's eyes, bright even in the darkness of the room, was breathtaking. Cole watched on in wonder as the horror washed away, replaced by the sort of certainty he'd come to associate with Riley.
It was one of the things he loved most about her. Every time life delivered a blow to her, she bounced back, ready to fight.
"Do all Gargons make big words like that?" she asked teasingly, her lips inches from his.
"Yes," Harbor said from the door, leaning against it. "We mean them too."
Cole wanted to punch him in that moment. The man had an uncanny talent for ruining all the moments he had with Riley.
Only it wasn't ruined. She was still looking at him with loving eyes, visibly calmed down now.
"Will you stay with me for tonight?" she asked. "I don't think I want to be alone after that."
"Of course," Harbor answered for him, making Cole wish the damn ceiling would drop on him and make the man shut up.
Despite wanting that, he didn't say a word as they both climbed into bed with Riley, one on either side of her.
It was odd to think of her as beautiful when she was so sad, but as the nightmare fell into the past, Riley shone again. To lie next to her, it was impossible not to be distracted by those long legs visible under the tight nightshirt she slept in.
Not that the shirt itself was helping the situation. Riley's soft breasts were tempting Cole to throw caution to the wind and simply rip it off her, suck the nipples poking at the fabric and hear her moan.
Riley chuckled and Cole looked up, realizing he'd been caught staring.
"You can't blame me," he said, grinning, before Riley could say anything. "You are irresistible."
The smile on her face said she didn't mind his gaze on her.
"Is there any chance we will be able to sleep together without... well, you guys fucking my brains out?" she asked.
Harbor and Cole groaned as one.
