by Amy Sumida
The other men nodded and murmured in agreement. They'd all experienced the same thing.
“The Tablet had to break you.” I stroked the scales at Arach's temples as I glanced at the other men. “It had to crush your minds and crack open your hearts to force me out.”
“When my heart healed and the screaming echoed into silence, I was even more crushed.” Re kissed my cheek.
Arach let me go so I could turn into Re's embrace, and the Sun God pulled me in tightly against his golden chest. His whole body trembled as he let out a shaky breath.
“Everything I had said and everything I had felt became clear. I saw it all truly,” Re whispered brokenly. “All those desolate thoughts. All the unjust anger. For a brief moment, I thought I had lost you forever. But then I felt your love, La-la. Your forgiveness,” he said the last word on a sob. A tear slid down his cheek and onto mine.
“Your love; so bright and strong and certain,” Odin added as he lifted my hand and kissed it gallantly. “After we rejected you and abused you, you surged back to us without reservation and healed our pain. Took us back into your heart. We don't deserve you, Vervain.”
“That's not true.” I nuzzled Re's cheek before going to Odin. “You did the same for me. You fought for me even while I pushed you away then you welcomed me back with open arms. And when the Tablet of Destinies stole your love from me, you kept fighting. It had to constantly wear you down to keep us apart. That's a testament to your love and that kind of devotion deserves far more than I could ever give you.”
“Vervain,” Odin groaned as he swept me up then carried me to bed.
He laid me down carefully then angled onto the mattress beside me. I stroked the angle of his strong jaw as I stared up into those magnificent eyes.
“You are my home,” I whispered then laid my hand over his heart. “This right here is where I feel safe.” I reached out to the other men as they slid onto the bed with us. “Here, with all of you, is where I become me. If my love is bright and strong and certain, it's because all of you make it so.”
The men closed in around me but there wasn't a wild dive for my body as I'd expected. They just leaned in and started touching me gently. Tender strokes on my arms, stomach, and legs. Lips pressed on sensitive flesh. Cheeks rubbing against me and lungs breathing me in. Odin leaned over and kissed me as I ran my hand up into his hair. I sighed into our kiss, enjoying the feeling of warm, male hands sliding over me; massaging my breasts and lightly tickling my inner thighs.
Odin moved out of our kiss, setting his mouth to my throat and working his way down to a breast. I opened my eyes to find a buffet of male flesh before me; bulging biceps, muscular chests, taut stomachs, and sculpted thighs. Brilliant eyes in multiple colors glowed as they watched me, and lips lowered to my flesh with ardent tenderness. My hands ached to touch them all at once, I moved them from man to man. Kirill and Odin took my fluttering fingers and kissed them before setting them firmly down to either side of me, extending my arms out a little so they could nestle closer.
“Relax, Vervain,” Odin said. “Close your eyes and just be with us.”
“The hell I will,” I growled as I looked over the divine beauty of my lovers. “I'm not missing a second of this.”
The men chuckled as they closed in like wolves around a kill, nudging in to find a place to feast among the pack. They bit and licked and rubbed then changed places, moving so often that it became hard for me to tell who was doing what. I laid back and let them consume me, shivering as I was pulled down into an erotic undertow. Pleasure crested in so many places at once; mouths sucking at my breasts and sex, tongues licking at my belly and thighs, and hands roaming everywhere. Someone started pumping a finger into me but it wasn't enough.
“Give me more!” I growled. “I need one of you inside me now!”
It was all the encouragement they needed. I was lifted by several hands, bodies sliding around me sensuously and the aroused scent of my men blending into a musk that made me lightheaded. Azrael moved beneath me and then I was flipped over and lowered so that I sat astride his lean hips. I rubbed myself along his hard length then slipped him inside with a moan. I came with that first entry, the release clawing up my throat to echo through the room. Hands steadied me through the aftershocks but as soon they were over, I started moving over Azrael again, driving myself back up that cliff. I wanted another leap over that rapturous edge, and I wanted it now!
Kirill's hands went to my face and turned me toward him. He was kneeling beside me, and I kissed him lingeringly, moaning through the delight of his tongue stroking mine as Azrael set his hands to my hips and directed me down on himself. Then I was licking my way down Kirill's hard chest to something even harder below. I slipped the warm length of him into my mouth, and Kirill shouted in raw pleasure. Behind me, someone took advantage of my bent position to move between my thighs. Hands spread my cheeks and rubbed a cool gel onto my other entrance. Nerve-endings came alive to sizzle through me with the prodding of a plum-shaped tip. I breathed in the concentrated scent of Kirill—lion musk and man—and cried out around his flesh as I was speared slowly.
Impaled on two pieces of perfect manhood and sliding my mouth over a third, I was in bliss. Sensations bombarded me from all directions. Mouths and hands still roamed my body as I was pumped between Azrael and—from the feel of his hands and cock—Re. I slipped away from Kirill and moved to my right to find Trevor waiting for me, already up on his knees with his erection in hand. I slipped my lips around that thick piece of flesh just as Re picked up the pace and shoved me forward.
Hips slapping my ass, Re grabbed my waist and slipped deeper with each thrust. I moaned over Trevor, holding myself still so Azrael could set his own pace; a primal grind. My mind couldn't focus with the opposite rhythms vibrating through me. Trevor had to take over as well, holding my face as he slid into me. After a few decadent minutes, I moved away and turned back to Kirill, but Viper had taken his place. He didn't need any prompting but immediately threaded his fingers through my hair and began thrusting into my mouth.
We climbed up the rocky cliff of rapture together, gaining momentum before we got anywhere near the top. The slapping of flesh echoed around me along with male moans and rough panting. I came once more, tearing my mouth away from Viper to shout in release, and my clenching body brought Re and Azrael over with me. Re pulled out and moved away to empty himself outside of me, but Az drove deeper and rode out the pleasure with me.
My angel held me through the aftershocks, his body slipping free of mine, and then moved carefully out from beneath me, easing me down onto the mattress as he did. Before I could nestle onto the pillows, Arach moved into place behind me and slid into my sex. He pressed his body over mine as he eased even deeper. His cheek nuzzled the side of my face, the cool, glassy feel of his dragon scales making mine rise response.
The rumbling in Arach's throat vibrated into my ear before he whispered, “I nearly lost you, A Thaisce. That cannot happen again.”
Before I could respond, Arach wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me so that we were kneeling together. His legs spread mine until I was practically sitting in his lap, and he started a powerful thrusting. I wrapped an arm back, around his neck to hold myself steady but it became an impossible task. My body undulated over Arach's, held in place only by the grip he had on my waist. The other men didn't even attempt to join us, they just watched as the Dragon King reclaimed his queen. Arach growled and rumbled as he took me, thrusting faster and faster until he bit my neck and emptied into me. The savage sound of his drinking filled my ears as he filled my body. It sent me into another orgasm, limbs shaking uncontrollably over my husband as I cried out in moaning delight.
“Fucking hell,” Re whispered. “Now, I'm hard again.”
“Wait your damn turn,” Odin snapped as he climbed onto the bed.
Arach lowered me to my knees and turned my face to kiss me deeply before moving aside. I wobbled a bit but as Arach went to sprawl in
a nearby chair, Odin took his place behind me, his thick arms steadying me.
“I've got you, sweetheart,” Odin whispered in my ear.
Odin slipped gently inside that other place, and I moaned as ecstasy rose again. It was all merging into one long orgasm. My body turned liquid and I could barely stay up on my knees. So, Odin laid back and draped me over his chest. His hands went to my breasts as he spread my legs with his knees and kept pumping.
Trevor made a deep growl, and I realized that it wasn't him anymore. The Wolf had risen, and it was he who came to kneel between my thighs. With a savage sound of possession, Wolf shoved his body into mine. I cried out and opened further to him, spreading my legs as wide as I could. Wolf hunched over me and claimed my mouth as he slammed into my sex. His growls vibrated across my tongue.
Odin and Wolf didn't take long to reach a wild rhythm, pushing and pulling me between them. Rolling waves of pleasure coursed through me mercilessly, making me run wet with desire. Wolf started a rapid panting that matched his thrusts then lifted his head and came with an echoing howl.
“Take her,” Odin groaned.
The Wolf took me backward with him so that I slid off Odin. I landed in a sprawl across the Wolf's chest, Odin's broken cry coming just moments later. I breathed in time with Wolf's rising chest, my body trembling uncontrollably as pleasure continued to sing beneath my skin. But it wasn't over yet.
Kirill picked me up and carried me off the bed. I made a whimper of protest, unable to do much else.
“Shh, it's okay,” Kirill murmured gently to me, cradling me against his chest and taking all of my weight. “You don't have to do anything. Just let me love you.”
I sighed and wrapped my arms around Kirill's shoulders as I laid my head on his chest. He lifted my legs around his waist and angled up into me. As soon as he was inside, my lethargy vanished. My eyes popped open as ecstasy drummed into me again, an insistent beat that I couldn't ignore. I locked my ankles around Kirill's waist and rode my lion with abandon. But then I felt a pair of urgent hands on my back, and I looked over my shoulder to find Viper smiling at me.
“Slow down, Kirill,” I panted.
Kirill lowered me onto himself and went still so Viper could ease into me from behind. I swung my right arm out to angle over Viper's shoulders while he lifted my right leg by the knee, bringing it out to the side and up. The position opened me further, and Viper slipped inside easily. The men fell into a tempo together, one sliding in while the other moved out. Pistoned between them like that, I moaned up into yet another crescendo, my whole body tightening with pleasure. My final release came out as a roar, and I didn't care one bit who heard me. As I crumpled into aftershocks, the men came; Viper pulling out to stream over my back, and Kirill emptying inside me. Their deep groans were the perfect end to our reunion.
They lowered me to my feet, and I wobbled between them, my body aching deliciously. Viper and Kirill caught me with smug expressions that I would have protested if they weren't so well-deserved. I tried to head toward the bed, but Kirill scooped me up once more and carried me to the bathroom.
“Ve get you clean and zen ve need more, Vervain,” Kirill announced.
“I'm going to need a bit of a soak,” I murmured. “Give a girl some time to recover, would ya?”
“No recovery, La-la,” Re announced as he followed us into the bathroom with the other men. “We have a lot to make up for. You'll just have to find a way to endure our amorous attentions.”
I giggled at Re's waggling brows but seeing them all coming toward me with fiery looks in their eyes and hardening shafts rising before them, wiped the smile off my face and made me start shivering all over again. Maybe I didn't need to rest after all.
“Don't worry, Carus,” Azrael said with a devilish grin, “we'll lick you back into fighting shape in no time.”
“And if the licking doesn't work, there's always fire,” Arach added with a wink.
Chapter Forty-Two
By the next morning, the Pride was settled and getting accustomed to living in Re's palace. I woke to the scent of bacon and coffee, the delicious aromas luring my family and me downstairs to find a feast laid out on Re's sideboard. Lions prowled in and out of the kitchen and dismayed servants (the souls of Re's dead worshipers often chose to serve their god in their afterlives) fluttered around anxiously trying to clean up after my boys.
“This looks amazing,” Re declared as he took the seat at the head of the table.
“It's our way of saying thanks for letting us crash here.” Aidan plopped a plate piled high with food in front of Re.
Re sniffed appreciatively. “You're very welcome in my home, Intare.”
One of the servants hurried over to Re and stammered something in Egyptian. Re chuckled and shrugged at the man. The man went on, and Re replied with a pointed look that sent the man scurrying.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“The servants are upset about their kitchen being invaded,” Re said.
“Isn't this better than asking them to cook for all of us?” I countered.
“They like working,” Re explained. “It makes them feel worthy of living in this palace with me.”
“Here we go.” Trevor made a face at Viper.
“It's simply the truth,” Re protested. “Look at how upset they are.” He waved a hand at the servants who scrambled to fix plates for the lions. “They want to be useful.”
“Aw, hell, if they want to cook and clean for us, I'm good with that,” Troy declared and stood back, waiting for one of the servants to hand him a plate.
“Me too,” Wren agreed. “I don't want to deprive anyone of satisfaction.”
“That's what she said,” Aidan snickered.
“Aidan!” I snapped and looked pointedly at the children.
“Oh, they don't know what I'm talking about,” Aidan grumbled.
I continued to glare.
“Sorry, Tima.”
I nodded crisply.
The Lions left the sideboard and took their seats at the new, extended dining table. All of the soul servants breathed sighs of relief and happily went back to filling plates. They reminded me of the Brownies in Faerie; they loved to be useful as well. Then my thoughts wandered to someone else who had helped me.
“I need to visit Sin today and let him know that I'm all right,” I said before I dug into my breakfast.
“Can't you just call him?” Azrael asked.
“I'd have to go into the Human Realm to make that call anyway,” I pointed out. “And I'd rather speak to him in person. Sin looked out for me when I had no one, and I just took off. He deserves a face-to-face.”
“Fair enough,” Trevor conceded. “But I'm going with you.”
“I as well,” Azrael added.
“I don't need all of you to watch over me,” I grumbled.
“You said yourself that your enemies will be looking for you,” Odin reminded me. “You're not going to Earth alone, Vervain.”
“Yeah, okay,” I gave in grudgingly.
We finished breakfast and then Trevor, Azrael, and I traced to Bahrain while the rest of my men took the children outside to play. I brought us out of the Aether right outside Sin's front door. I wasn't sure if his wards would let my men in, and I thought it would be rude to just pop into his place after the way I'd left.
I knocked on the door. “Sin? It's Vervain.”
A shuffling sound came from behind the door.
“Sin? I'm sorry about leaving like that. I came to let you know—”
A thud startled me. Then a muffled grunt made a bolt of fear shoot down my spine.
“Sin?!” I shouted.
“Stand back, Minn Elska.” Trevor moved in front of me and kicked the door down.
Azrael and Trevor ran into the room. I heard snarling and shouts as I followed. When I reached the living room, I saw what all the fuss was about. Marduk was there with a bloody knife in his hand. Sin sat before him, chained to a chair and bleeding from
numerous cuts. He was also gagged. He shouted at me through the fabric and shook his head, his silver eyes wide with warning.
“Sin!” I shouted and ran for him.
“Stay out of this, bitch!” Marduk snarled as he dropped the knife, his hands filling with light as he faced off with my men and me.
“You've broken your vow!” I growled as I slid myself between Sin and Marduk and sank into a fighting stance. “The bargain was that you wouldn't hurt me or anyone I love.”
“You don't love him,” Marduk scoffed as he waved a hand at Sin.
“I love him as a friend,” I said firmly.
“That can't be true either,” Marduk sneered. “If it were, I'd already be suffering from breaking my vow.”
“It is true, and I'm not letting you hurt him.” I held out my hands and they shifted into claws. “Leave now or you won't live to enjoy the territory I gave you.”
