Sydney’s eyes widened. “How can you be certain?”
“I am.”
Jayden studied the other man. Miguel met his gaze. Jayden understood. Whatever Miguel had set in motion would either succeed or end in his death. Once again they appeared to have the same approach.
He took Sydney’s hand and kissed her palm. “It will happen.”
She looked between the two of them. For a moment she appeared as if she wanted to ask more questions, but she seemed to understand the futility. Miguel and he would not elaborate.
“Very well. If it’s to be like that I would very much like you to help me forget what I saw tonight.”
They turned to Miguel.
The Spaniard stood very straight, his face impassive. For a minute or two silence hung across the room and no one moved. Finally the mask slipped and pure power radiated from him.
Jayden’s cock hardened. He wanted nothing more than to thrust a hand into his thick black hair and kiss him with everything inside him, but Miguel’s eyes, blazing with hunger and power, made it very clear that he was in charge.
Sydney gripped Jayden’s hand. A quick glance showed him the flush spreading across her cheeks.
Miguel crossed his arms over his chest, highlighting the deep muscles in them and the bulging package between his legs growing bigger. “Undress.”
The sharp order shot through Jayden like lightning. He lifted Sydney’s hand to his lips, never releasing Miguel from his gaze, and kissed her pulse before sucking two fingers into his mouth. She hummed under her breath.
Miguel smirked, understanding Jayden’s delayed response completely. A dark glint appeared in his eyes and the arrogant tilt to his chin made Jayden groan.
“That was a mistake. I was going to go easy tonight, but your rebellion has made that impossible.”
A shiver ran down Jayden’s spine. He pressed Sydney’s palm against his racing heart. After everything that had happened and with everything that could still happen he wanted all Miguel could give him.
Jayden smiled. “Do your worst.”
Miguel’s cock throbbed at Jayden’s challenge. He raised his brow and just looked at the other man.
Jayden smiled, humor and excitement sparkling in his eyes.
Sydney tugged and removed the hand Jayden held pressed against his chest. “All this testosterone is making me wet. What is the plan, oh mighty master?”
He knew she had meant it as a joke, but when the word came over her lips he wanted nothing more than for her to mean it. But that would not be tonight. He tapped his balled fist against his upper thigh.
Her gaze narrowed and she opened herself to their link. He pushed up his barriers. Feeling her in his mind would weaken his control dangerously and after what they’d seen tonight his chances of survival had dropped to impossible. He would not take her into death with him.
“I believe I already gave you an order.”
Sydney continued her efforts and bumped against his mental barricade. He clenched his teeth against the hunger to let her in and held strong. She pressed her lips together and took a step back.
Pain sliced through his heart. He wanted nothing less than to hurt her, but her survival was imperative. That was the only reason he had sent the short message in an old Earth dialect used by an indigenous species centuries before Nasir was even alive. He had taught Nikolai Navajo and knew the other man would recognize the language and the sender. Chances were good he was not too far away and was available for backup.
He would do anything for the woman before him. Anything but endanger her by accepting their connection knowing he would die.
Jayden lifted his hand to her neck and rubbed. Some of the tension drained out of her and Miguel was grateful for the other man’s assistance. “I am not seeing you getting undressed. Do I have to tie you both up and flog you?”
Sydney straightened her shoulders as if shaking off her disappointment and unzipped her jacket. His mouth grew dry when her slender chest with its hard nipples became visible.
She responded to his demand, but his actions had dampened the mood. He felt helpless. He was not an easy man or someone who could change the atmosphere for the better with a few words. Miguel turned to Jayden. The other man understood and nodded. “Love, you’re making it far too easy for him. We really shouldn’t follow his orders. He won’t fit through any of our doors with his ego so big.”
A brief smile curved her lips, but she didn’t stop and unzipped her trousers. “What he does when he has us naked is too good.”
Jayden tapped his lips a few times, pretending to really think it through and nodded. “You’re right. And if he goes overboard the two of us can take him.”
She chuckled as she pulled her shirt over her head.
The knots in Miguel’s stomach unknotted. Jayden and he complemented each other. For a second he imagined a life with the two of them. It was a beautiful dream, one he wished would come true but knew would never do so. The pain was too harsh. He shoved it into a deep corner of his soul.
Sydney, naked and breathtakingly beautiful, walked up to him, cupped his face and kissed him. It was a soft kiss, one that filled his soul while at the same time driving his need to the brink.
Too many emotions chased through his mind and his body. He had one last night and he would make the most of it. He grasped her neck and stroked her chin as he took over the kiss and launched them both straight into the fire.
She moaned and clenched her hands in his hair. He slowly pulled back. His thumb never stopped moving and he soaked in the softness of her skin. With a gentle nudge he pushed her back. “Lie down on the bed.” He instructed the bed to slightly raise her back and her hips.
Her eyes widened and her breathing grew deeper as she took her position.
He turned to Jayden, the other man’s face filled with laughter and a need so burning it nearly devoured him. He was naked as well and stroked up and down his hard dick, circling his fingers around it just under its head.
Miguel strode up to him. Jayden stood straighter but didn’t stop teasing himself. Miguel wrapped his hand around Jayden’s and tightened his grip. Jayden hissed, but leaned into the touch. Miguel leaned forward and sank his teeth—sans fangs—into Jayden’s muscular chest.
Jayden bellowed and cupped the back of Miguel’s head, holding him close.
Miguel shook off Jayden’s hand and released him. “Tonight you will be my ride and you’re riding Sydney.”
Sydney’s low moan rolled through the room.
Jayden smiled at her, but his face was flushed and sweat gleamed on the muscular body. “You enjoying the show?”
She laughed. “I’ve said it before, you take this on the road you’ll have sold-out shows.”
Miguel nudged Jayden to the bed. The other man followed his demand and climbed onto it. Sydney opened her arms. He settled between her legs, pushing them wide enough to accommodate his shoulders, and began to feast on her. Her hands sank into his hair and her pleasure grew vocal.
Miguel studied the two of them, savoring the fire racing through his body, the need rising higher and higher. He picked up the bottle of lubricant while stroking his cock with his other hand.
He settled between Jayden’s legs. The other man stilled for moment and turned his head until their gazes met. Sydney’s juices covered the lower half of his face. Miguel kissed him. Jayden and Sydney’s combined taste exploded through his senses.
He released the other man. “Tonight you will be mine.”
Jayden’s hazel eyes blazed with fire. He cupped Miguel’s cheek and caressed it with his thumb.
Miguel stilled, uncertain where this was going. For some reason his heart ached.
Jayden leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against his lips before turning back to Sydney.
Miguel struggled to figure out what the gentle exchange meant, wanted it to signify more.
Jayden changed position and thrust deep into Sydney. She groaned. Jayden pulled out and lunged back in.
&
nbsp; Miguel enjoyed the scents and sounds around him. His grasp tightened around his cock. With one final stroke he pulled his control together again. He moved behind Jayden and gave him a gentle nudge. The other man growled but fell in line and held still as Miguel prepared him for what was to come.
Jayden’s groans and growls were music to Miguel’s ears. Sydney dug her nails into Jayden’s back and whimpered when he didn’t move. “Guys, why in Jade’s name are we pausing?”
Jayden chuckled, those vibrations making everyone shiver. “Unless you want me unable to walk you need to give him a moment.”
The flush on her face deepened, but her eyes focused and she tried to look around Jayden. He accommodated her and lifted an arm. Miguel looked into her eyes, so similar to the sun-filled ocean he wasn’t sure he would ever find his way back out. His lifemate was the most beautiful woman in the galaxy, no doubt about that.
Miguel finished his ministrations and added lube to his cock. He put the little bottle to one side, knelt behind Jayden and thrust deep. His plunge pushed Jayden deep into Sydney. They both moaned.
Miguel retreated and thrust deep again. Jayden tried to move, but Miguel grasped a handful of hair. “I am flying this ship.” He nipped Jayden’s cheek and earlobe. “I’m using you to make love to Sydney, so just hold still and enjoy.”
Jayden laughed, a little breathless. “I’ve never been this kind of tool. Not sure I can just take it.”
Miguel bit down hard on his earlobe. “Learn.”
Jayden hissed and arched his back. And allowed Miguel to be in charge.
Miguel increased the speed of his thrusts, his cock rock hard, his balls drawn up so high he wondered if they would fall off any point. Jayden clasped him so tightly he didn’t want it to be over. But each lunge brought them closer and closer to the edge.
He studied Sydney over Jayden’s shoulder. Her face was deeply flushed. Sweat dotted her face and chest and her smart blue eyes grew more and more unfocused. Jayden captured one of her nipples with his mouth and sucked. She screamed as she came.
Her pleasure annihilated any barricades he had in his mind. For a second the link between them was vibrant. He felt the sensations pulsing through her body, the way Jayden’s cock hardened and lengthened before exploding deep inside her.
Whatever control he once owned evaporated. He came long and hard, emptying himself into Jayden. He continued to move, gently, slowly, until he could no longer do so. He gritted his teeth as he pulled out of Jayden and slumped beside them, careful not to flatten Sydney.
Jayden barely managed to not just drop on her and fell to the other side of her. Her pussy still gripped his cock, massaging it with her pulsing walls, extending the pleasure racing through him.
Miguel’s eyes flew open. He should not feel that. Those were Jayden’s emotions, his private thoughts. How in Jade’s name did he know the other man had just thought that? The pleasure had torn through the barrier he had put between himself and Sydney, but his shields should hold against any attempted invasion. He slowly turned his head and looked at Jayden.
There it was. The connection between the two of them shimmered in black and greens, never staying the same, constantly changing.
Now he understood his initial response to Jayden, the way he had always rubbed him slightly the wrong way. It had been their bond getting their attention.
It took a moment but then the other man stilled. His hand, stroking Sydney’s stomach, balled into a fist.
Their eyes met.
What the fuck?
Jayden’s surprise and excitement echoed through Miguel when the other man spoke to him mind to mind. That is one way to say it.
How are you doing this?
Miguel only raised a brow and waited for Jayden to process what had happened.
He jerked into a sitting position and gaped at their link.
Sydney sat up and frowned at both connections. “Would anyone like to explain to me what is going on?” Her voice was tense and flat. She pulled the sheet close and used it to cover herself.
Miguel groaned and rolled up. “Give us a minute. We should clean up before we figure this out.” He wasn’t ready to face either of them quite yet.
And they knew. In his current state he could not hide his emotions, the barriers he usually used to protect his core blasted to smithereens by their shared pleasure. So instead he went to the washroom and cleaned up.
The other two followed him, Sydney still wearing the sheet.
Miguel rested his hand on the shower wall before him, stuck his head under the pounding water and tried to forget everything.
How in Jade’s name did he end up like this? He knew of only one man currently alive who had two lifemates—Nikolai Ranweth. How Miguel ended up with two totally and utterly escaped him.
He realized the other two were waiting for the shower and pulled himself together. As soon as he stepped out of the shower Sydney slipped by him and pulled the door closed after her, leaving Jayden to stand there with his brows raised.
What did we do? He looked at Miguel.
She can feel our connection, but I don’t know what kind of conclusions she has drawn. She has slammed the door in my face.
Jayden nodded and waited patiently, giving Sydney her space.
Miguel strode back into the bedroom and instructed the bed to change the sheets. Everything was clean within seconds. He pulled on a pair of trousers. With a quiet sigh he sank onto the bed and leaned against the headboard. This could have tactical advantages.
You want to accept our lifemate bond because it will give us a tactical advantage? Jayden’s disbelief colored every word.
Miguel pressed his lips together. No, I want to accept my lifemates because I love them and know I will spend the rest of my life with them. That is not going to happen. Not unless we take down Nasir. After what we’ve seen today you know how slim our chances are. You know that we stand a better chance if we work together.
You’ve suddenly turned into a total chatty Cathy. Give me a moment to process that I have found my other half and he wants me to say yes so we can take down the Big Bad, not because he is madly in love with me. Talk about boyhood dreams being trampled. Jayden stepped inside the shower.
Miguel rubbed his chest, his heart aching at the hint of longing in Jayden’s voice. That is not what I meant. He sighed and opened the door between Jayden and himself. I have been a little preoccupied with taking down Nasir and saving everyone’s life.
Jayden chuckled. His laughter stroked against Miguel’s skin like a caress.
Jayden walked through his memories of the last few months and days. He respected Miguel and trod with care, staying on the main path and not digging through memories he hadn’t been invited to. Something Miguel held tight deep inside him relaxed.
I agree.
Jayden’s voice inside his mind seemed to spread into every part of his being. Their bond snapped to life, blazing with the colors of the night. Miguel smiled. To what?
To you getting down on your knee and asking me to accept our lifemate bound. Once we have killed Nasir and taken down the trafficking ring, of course. A nice dinner and some music wouldn’t be out of place.
Miguel laughed, the sound rusty and unused. I will think about that.
“What’s so funny?”
Miguel turned to Sydney as she walked into the room. “Nothing. Jayden made a joke.”
“From under the shower?” She wore a bathrobe and had crossed her arms over her chest.
He tuned into her, realizing she was hurt and angry. He wasn’t sure why. But he had a very good idea that he did not want to face her alone. You may want to move your fine behind and help me out here. Sydney is unhappy.
No, Mik, she is fuming.
Miguel cherished the nickname. Why?
We better find out. Jayden stepped into the room. The link between them flared to life. Same as him Jayden had pulled on a pair of trousers but not buttoned them and his chest was uncovered. For a moment Migu
el couldn’t help but savor their link and his beauty.
“So, how many lifemates does a Vampire collect in his or her lifetime?”
Sydney’s question refocused his mind. Miguel rose to his feet, for some reason wishing he had added a shirt. “One lifemate, the other half to his or her soul.”
“Well, then, you must be a very lucky bugger. Two lifemates in one week? Bravo. Now you can pick and choose, and going by the lightshow the two of you are putting on, you have made yours.”
Despite the barricaded door in her mind he felt her pain. He strode over to her and pulled her in his arms. She was stiff and didn’t return the embrace, but he didn’t let go. Sydney, he knocked on the door between their two minds, the one he had forcefully kept shut. Speak mind to mind. It lowers any security risks.
Her hesitation and reluctance were palpable. After a moment she did as he had asked.
If we both allow the link to snap into place and one of us dies, the other will do so as well.
She grew even more tense in his arms at his reminder.
Jayden stepped behind her, his arm wrapping around Miguel and Sydney’s waist. After what we have seen today we know how dangerous it will be to make an attempt on Nasir’s life. We stand a better chance together and being able to speak mind to mind gives us a tactical advantage.
She rested her forehead against Miguel’s chest and some of the tension eased, but she still didn’t return the embrace. So basically you’re telling me that you’re expecting to die tomorrow. Both of you.
Jayden set his chin on her shoulder. We’re not expecting it, but we want to be prepared.
And we want to do everything we can to ensure it doesn’t happen. Miguel rubbed a hand up and down her back.
She seemed to think for a moment. Then the rest of the tension drained out of her and she cuddled close to him. What’s my part of the plan?
You will stay in my office. There’s no way for me to get you out by tomorrow. Nasir wouldn’t believe me selling you. I will leave you weapons and gear. Backup is on the way. If our plan works, the majority of his troops will be taken out, leaving limited resistance behind. The compound will be taken and the security in my office will keep you safe.
Tangled Redemption Page 16
