Stumbling after Lance, I rubbed my arms, shuddering continuously. The cold burned its marks into every exposed part of my skin.
Lance muttered, “We need a fire, or we’re not going to survive the night.”
My teeth were clacketing in morse code, preventing me from stringing two words together.
Kiernan put his arm around me and guided me toward the tower where Bleddyn waited. “Jaysus. This is cold enough to freeze my balls off.”
Lance was already inside the round structure. He balanced a fireball on his palm to light our way.
“Don’t want you to twist an ankle,” he said, his voice gruff with exhaustion.
The tower was about fifteen feet across. The fireball’s glow bounced off weathered stones without windows. The entrance was no more than a hole smashed into the wall. I touched the edges—they weren’t broken by hammers but melted as if exposed to enormous heat. Julian brought up our rear. His eyes were alert, darting every which way.
Bleddyn waited until we were all inside the tower. “It is not safe to relax. We must take turns standing guard.”
My knees shook as another shiver crawled from my arms down my back. Lance stepped next to me and held the fireball as closely as I could tolerate it. I sighed gratefully as my skin absorbed the heat. Lance’s magic dispelled the freezing air, but he wouldn’t be able to keep it up all night.
“Can we make a fire?”
I could barely see Bleddyn’s outline on the other side of the tower. “You will find no fuel. After a magical war long ago, nothing grows inside the fortress.”
Lance whispered, “We’ll have to share body heat.”
A shiver of a different kind ran through my tummy.
Bleddyn’s next words extinguished the rising temperature in my core. “I would not choose to the night here. But what is waiting outside is much worse than any lingering magic.”
My heart pounded and my eyes widened. How bad were these things? It was pitch dark. The rustling beyond the ruin’s perimeter paused, then picked up again. The sound was ominous, like old bones brushing together.
Lance pulled off his jacket and slipped it over my shoulders. “You’re shaking.”
Bleddyn sat on the ground next to us, his arms tightly wrapped around his torso. “I will take the first watch.”
When I woke up, Lance had pulled me against his chest from behind. Kiernan’s side was pressed against me, and Julian was visible as a dark lump, sleeping by himself. I wasn’t cold anymore, reveling in the body heat and familiar scents of my men.
An unexpected glow ignited below my solar plexus. The Soul Weave. Still half asleep, I rubbed my stomach. Lance’s hand covered mine and held it tight against my tummy.
“You’re feeling okay?” he breathed into my ear.
I moved my head back, rubbing my cheek against his lips, wordlessly begging for his touch. Like rich-brown molasses, the sensation in my center slid downward until it reached my pussy.
A groan escaped me, and I pushed my hips back against Lance. He huffed in surprise, but got with the plan straight away. His hand on my belly slipped into my panties.
“How are you so wet, sweetheart?” His voice sounded breathless, as if he were already struggling with his self-control.
I spread my legs as much as I could. His fingers dragged through my soaked folds, concentrating on my clit, brushing over it in light circles. My breathing grew faster, and I writhed under his touch.
Still asleep, Kiernan rolled toward us, letting go of Julian. His eyes were closed, but his lids were twitching. He’d wake up soon.
“Kiernan,” I whispered, torn between waking him and not attracting Bleddyn’s attention. The Fae’s silhouette was outlined by the moonlight outside. Inside the tower, we were enveloped in a cocoon of darkness and wanton desire.
My nipples were aching for stimulation, but I couldn’t reach them the way Lance held me tight.
“I gotcha, acushla.”
Kiernan was getting in on the act. He lifted my top and pushed my bra down until my breasts spilled into the cold night air. Then a warm tongue flicked playfully over one nipple. Again and again, he teased while I bit my lip to stifle my groans.
I bowed my back, begging him to latch on. He showed mercy and enveloped the tip of my breast with his mouth. The long-drawn sucks destroyed me.
Combined with Lance’s continuous ministrations, my orgasm was building. It reached a point where I was a plaything to my two men, trembling at the edge, unable to topple over. Lance never sped up, and Kiernan continued his leisurely stimulation, while my orgasm hung above me, just out of reach.
Lance moved my face toward him and invaded my mouth with his greedy tongue. He owned me, pushing into me the way I wanted him to do between my legs. Then, without warning, Lance flicked the sensitive nerve bundle between my legs, and Kiernan pinched my nipple. The sudden pain above and below did it. I moaned loudly as my clit pulsed and my pussy contracted.
Lance slapped his hand over my mouth. “Shhh. We don’t want Bleddyn to hear.”
I nodded while shivers still ran through my core. I felt so safe with my men, it seemed weird to think we were in a dangerous, alien world. I floated in an ocean of endorphins, my thoughts ping-ponging from song fragments to images.
Lance throwing his head back, his mouth a perfect “O.” Kiernan and Julian, punching each other’s shoulder playfully. Macha curling around me, holding me tight, purring his delight into my ear.
Macha. Where was he? Was he okay? My heart rate increased as I imagined him being taken down by trigger-happy agents in the compound. I gasped, dropping from the height of my afterglow to hoping my lovers wouldn’t notice me sobbing.
26
“Why are you crying? Did we hurt you?” Kiernan’s concern as he wiped the tears from my cheeks broke me wide open.
“We left him behind. Oh my God, what if he’s injured because of us?”
Kiernan grabbed on to me while Lance held me tightly. Together, they rocked me until I was calmer.
Yesterday had been so crazy, I hadn’t had time to think of anything else but run, survive, shelter. I sank into myself, looking for the Soul Weave. Macha’s tie was there, but it felt incomplete. Not dead. Never that.
I considered the possibility for the briefest moment and then pushed it away. I would have known if something bad had happened to him. No, the bond was still there, but it was inactive, resting. It probably didn’t work if Macha was in the human world, and we were in Faerie.
“We’ll get him back. I promise.”
Nobody could promise that, but I nodded at Lance’s words, taking solace in my men’s warmth and support. Soon, the strokes of their hands changed from soothing to arousing.
We didn’t have to speak tonight. Each of us needed comfort in different ways, but we were all united in our desire and love for each other.
Lance rolled onto his back, pulling me on top of him. We kissed, our tongues tangling against each other. Somewhere, I’d lost my shirt and bra, and my nipples rubbed against his naked chest. His thumb brushed across the sensitive nub while my breathing deepened against his lips.
Kiernan kneeled between Lance’s legs and guided my feet out of my underpants. The cold night air caressed my soaked core and conjured goosebumps on my back and ass.
A hot mouth breathed on my pussy, and I mewled against Lance’s lips. Every lick of Kiernan’s tongue shot bolts of heat into my core until I didn’t feel the cold anymore. Two fingers pushed into my tight entrance, and my walls clamped down around them. The spasm made my eyes roll into my head.
I made so much noise, I expected Julian to join us, but then Kiernan pulled his fingers back, and slowly, torturously, inched them back in. Lance tweaked my nipple, and my clit trembled in preparation for another orgasm.
Kiernan removed his hand, leaving me empty, and allowing the cold air access to my body. My hips lifted, begging for him to fill me. Two firm hands grabbed my ass, raised me a little higher, and then he fed his cock
into my hole.
All thoughts of Julian fled my overheated mind.
Kiernan was so big, his erection so hot, I trembled uncontrollably. He stopped his slide, shaking with the effort. “Talk to me, Amber. You’re so tight. Do you want me to stop?”
“No,” I gasped. “Please. Fuck me.”
That was all the permission he needed. With a grunt, he pushed himself into me until he was fully seated. Punching breathy gasps out of me, he buried himself again and again.
Lance had to let go of my breast, but I didn’t mind. Kiernan shoved my body up Lance’s chest with each thrust, and my nipples scraped deliciously through his body hair.
I squeezed my eyes shut and hid my head against Lance’s shoulder while he held me. His erect cock leaked onto my belly, making the slide smoother and more exciting. His heart thundered against my ribcage, and I knew he struggled to restrain himself and let his friend have his turn.
While Kiernan fucked deeper and faster, Lance whispered, “Can you feel how hard I am for you? I can’t wait to bury myself in you. I’ll fuck you so good you’ll come again.”
There was no way Bleddyn didn’t know what we were up to. But his silhouette never moved, not even when a second orgasm washed through me, and I wailed loud enough for Lance to gag me with his hand.
Kiernan kissed my shoulder blades and sat upright, taking his weight off me. I was exhausted, lying like a rag doll on top of Lance, who continued to stroke my arms and my back.
“Tell us when you had enough, okay? We’ll stop.”
I nodded, but I didn’t want to stop. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? We might never get the chance to be together like this again.
Lance’s hands were massaging my cheeks. His thumbs slipped through the mess Kiernan had left, catching on my secret furl.
No condom. Dammit. If I got pregnant tonight, I wouldn’t even know who the father was. The thought didn’t linger. I should be freaked out, but I wasn’t. I was okay with it.
I must have been hallucinating, but an image popped into my mind, unbidden but exciting. I saw a little boy with brown skin, blond hair, gray eyes, and luscious lips. And then he disappeared when Kiernan pushed a finger into my ass.
“Would you like us to fill both your holes?” he asked. His voice was quiet, but intense. Lance stopped breathing as he waited for my answer.
Suddenly shy, I whispered, “Maybe?”
Lance chuckled. He grabbed my hips and pulled me hard against his huge erection. “We’ll make sure you’ll love it. Right, Hennessy?”
“Oh God, yes.” Kiernan grunted and withdrew his finger. His cock nudged at my back entrance without penetrating me. “Another time, when we got lube. It wouldn’t be much fun without.”
The smooth head of his erection slipped lower and pushed through my drenched folds into my body. I keened at the sensation, clenching my internal muscles around the intrusion.
Kiernan set a quick pace, fucking me hard and deep. Every time he drove into me, my clit rubbed against Lance’s erect cock. Lance held my hips, his head thrown back, guiding it against where it felt good for both of us.
My Irish lover didn’t last long. His corded forearms next to my head and his agonized breathing in my ear, he surged to completion. Two more thrusts, and he stilled, spilling hot and sticky inside of me. I rocked backward, forcing him as deeply as possible.
Laughing, he collapsed on top of me. “I need more practice. That was pathetically quick.”
Lance gave him a few seconds, then pushed him. “Get your fat ass off us. You’re squashing Amber.”
Kiernan had barely moved out of the way when Lance tilted my hips and impaled me with one swift stroke.
“Oh my God. I wasn’t sure I’d last long enough.”
His voice was already wrecked, and his erection pulsed as he held me in position while I fought to adjust to his girth. Then he kissed me again, taking control of my body.
His tongue slid in and out of my mouth as forcefully as his cock fucked into my pussy. Every time he pushed in, he rubbed against my clit. I was helpless under the onslaught, spiraling higher and higher.
Kiernan’s slippery finger invaded my ass again, and my whole lower body convulsed. I came on a scream, lightning sparks dancing on my men’s skin. I didn’t have the energy to make them come again like I’d done before, but they felt the electric shocks.
Lance and Kiernan’s bodies writhed next to and under me. Vaguely, I thought I heard Julian keen, but then my orgasm tore through me, obliterating every conscious thought.
I was barely aware of hands cleaning me up and tugging me in. Then I was gone, my body exhausted, but satisfied.
I dreamed of Sharon. When I woke up, it was still night, but morning couldn’t be far off. I felt sticky and my muscles ached. I knew I wouldn’t go back to sleep. So instead, I tried to make sense of the events of the previous day.
After we’d discovered the nixie, we’d had no choice but to run. Because finding her confirmed the FBMA had lied to us all along. We’d thought she was safe with her family in Canada. Instead, she’d been tortured at a secret lab. Which meant that the FBMA was in cahoots with the traffickers.
I’d really thought Callahan was our friend. Or maybe he’d been just as fooled as we’d been. Either way, it didn’t matter. From now on, I could only trust myself. And maybe my lovers. God, how I hoped I could trust them fully. They were here, after all.
Carefully, I disengaged from Lance’s octopus arms and got to my feet. It was still icy, but the residual heat from my lovers’ bodies would stay with me for a while.
I was the only one awake within the round tower. The rustling outside had stopped at some stage during the night. Already, the sky wasn’t as pitch-black as it had been. The shapes of my boyfriends were visible, but there was no sign of Bleddyn.
He’d warned us to stay inside as long as it was night. But daybreak was close, and maybe I could find some firewood beyond the walls. I climbed through the entrance hole into the ruins proper.
I called out Bleddyn’s name quietly so I wouldn’t wake the others. There was no response. In the brightening morning light, the ruins towered above me. They reached at least five floors up. A platform ran along the entire inside of the defensive walls. Grass and moss covered parts of the structure that had collapsed inwards under the onslaught.
What could have caused that much damage? In modern terms, it looked like the wall had gotten hit by an air-to-ground missile. The destruction was so high up, I couldn’t imagine what projectile had pushed the rocks into the yard. I ran my hand over one of the boulders. The edges were smooth, like the entrance to our tower. The rock had melted under enormous heat. Whoever had done this, had been very powerful.
The morning was progressing. And instead of heating up, it seemed to get even colder. I rubbed my arms and hurried up to find some trees. One grew just outside the ruins. It was twisted and damaged, its crown broken off. I stood still and barely dared to breathe, watching out for any movement.
There was nobody out there. It was quiet as a grave. No insects swarmed, no grass soughed. I approached the tree, looking for fallen branches. Soon, I had an armful of firewood. It was dry and would burn beautifully. I was about to turn back when I heard a voice.
“Help. Please. Is there anybody out there? I need help.”
I stopped and listened. Could it be Bleddyn calling me? The voice had been too soft to recognize. “Bleddyn? Is that you?”
Then I waited. The silence of the early morning pushed against my eardrums until I wasn’t sure I’d heard anything. Maybe it had been my imagination. God knew it had been working overtime lately.
That’s when I heard it again. This time, it sounded more desperate.
27
The voice was plaintive and weak, and definitely not Bleddyn’s. “Please, somebody help me. There are horrible things out here.”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Whoever was out there was hurt.
I dropped the firewood,
but not before throwing a longing gaze at where my companions were fast asleep. They were exhausted and needed the rest. And the guy out there was only a short distance away. I’d get him and be back in less than five minutes.
I wasn’t a dummy, though. I pulled my magic to my fingertips, ready to deploy if needed. Then I waited another couple of seconds, listening intently. It was dead quiet—no rustling. The injured man had stopped crying for help.
I hope I’m not too late. On second thought, maybe I was a dummy, going by myself. But I couldn’t leave somebody out there if I could save him.
Mind made up, I dashed along the narrow path we’d cut last night through the tall grass. There was no point employing the rune magic. I didn’t know exactly where the guy was, and I could have easily overshot his location.
When I was about halfway, I listened. The world was getting ready to greet a new day. The gray light was brightening, and there was the familiar buzzing of early insects. No sounds that didn’t belong, no rusting, nothing untoward. The mountains in the distance were tipped with rim lighting, like in a professional photograph. It was tranquil and beautiful.
I should have asked Bleddyn if the Red Caps were only dangerous in the dark. But why else would he have rushed us to the shelter before nightfall?
In a stage whisper, I called out, “Hey, where are you?”
A pitiful groan sounded from my right. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest, and I flinched so hard, I stumbled back.
The person I’d been looking for was next to me. In the gloomy dawn light, confused by the unfamiliar landscape, I’d overestimated the distance. If I hadn’t stopped where I did, I’d have passed him by.
On the ground in front of me cowered an old man with a long beard and bright eyes. I crouched down next to him. “Where are you hurt?”
The old-timer winced, pointing at his foot. “Oh, thank the Goddess you came. I think I broke my ankle.”
I reached for his foot. “Can I take a look?”
He smiled, showing brown teeth. “Sure, be my guest. But we need to get moving. They hunted me all night.”
Second Chance Doom: a paranormal romance adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 5) Page 12
