by Cara Adams
“Oh, I remember that feeling. I used to be so jealous of kids living farther north who would get time out of school when it snowed, until I found out they had to make up the days at the end of the school year,” said Ion.
Evan laughed. The sun was already shining, the weather forecast was for a perfect day, and he was more than ready to enjoy their mini-vacation. Then he saw Anastasia walking toward them. His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth, which he knew was hanging wide open. He was almost positive his eyes were crossing, and it was no secret his dick was trying to drill its way out of his jeans. She was wearing almost nothing. Her belly button was exposed, as were most of her ribs. And her legs… He forced his mouth closed and looked from her bare feet with red painted toenails, encased in clear sandals, up her equally bare legs, and up and up to cutoff jeans that almost left her ass cheeks on display. Her breasts were in a blue and white top that covered little more than her nipples and tied around her neck in a bow. Other than that she wasn’t wearing anything at all.
“Did you forget I said to wear walking shoes?” Ion’s voice sounded forced and husky. Evan didn’t look at the front of his friend’s jeans but he knew what he’d see if he did. He also knew why Ion’s voice sounded like that. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to talk at all though, so Ion was actually doing well.
She gave them the cheekiest smile and pulled a backpack off her back. “Boots, socks, jeans, and a sweater,” she said, walking across to Ion’s white SUV and sliding in the backseat.
Evan shook his head to try to unscramble his brain and climbed into the passenger seat. “I bought us half a dozen bottles of water,” he managed to say.
Ion drove out of the outer courtyard and across the narrow one-lane bridge over the moat. “I’m sorry for the early start, Anastasia, but I wanted us well clear of the castle before the tourists started to arrive and before Lev or Sergei should be out and about expecting us—well, Kiril and Magnus maybe—to do something.”
“That’s fine. I was able to have an extra hour’s sleep-in so that was a bonus anyway.”
Evan hurried to allay what he thought might be underlying some of Ion’s comments. “Only Kady knows we won’t be in today. I waited until everyone else had left last night and told her. I said I didn’t want the others to know because I didn’t want them worrying or thinking they needed to come earlier than usual.”
“Yes, and Kady said she’d wondered if something was going on, because we’d built up a bit of a back supply of food. She said she’d thought maybe we were preparing for an unexpected banquet or something like that,” added Anastasia.
They talked about the castle for a while, and Evan relaxed back in his seat. Ion’s SUV was a comfortable ride and there was no traffic this early in the morning. It wasn’t like in the city where everyone would be going to work and it’d be rush hour. Here in the mountains rush hour was the fifteen minutes before eight each morning and after five at night.
When they turned the opposite direction from the nearest big town, Anastasia asked, “Where are we going, Ion? I’d sort of thought we’d be walking through a park or something.”
“Do you often wear those clothes in a public park?” asked Evan, not sure whether he was thrilled or horrified.
“It depends on the park. This is my sunbathing outfit. It’s what Tatiana wore in Vienna the day they collected a message for the Alpha.”
“I can see why no one was looking at Alex getting away on the motorcycle if Tatiana was standing there dressed like you are.” Although Evan’s imagination was not on Tatiana, it was on Anastasia’s delightful body.
“We’re going along some proper hiking trails, so you’ll need your boots, but if you don’t mind the possibility of your legs getting scratched on bushes, the rest is likely okay.”
“I’ll put my jeans on. I can always take them off again. But it’s nice to relax in the sunshine now, though.”
She was right. The sun poured in through the car windows, and they were bathed in delicious warmth. Evan leaned his head back in his seat and for the next hour they talked among themselves, laughing often, telling stories from their lives, little snippets that gave him a real appreciation of these two people he cared so much about.
Evan was surprised when they left the highway and bumped along a dusty track, until he saw the view. They looked over a huge lake and he knew where he was. This was a flood-prone river which had been dammed, and the reservoir would be several miles ahead of them, as yet.
They hiked two of the trails and ate in a tiny village restaurant where the food was exquisite. When they got back into the car Evan remembered something he’d wanted to know for a while. “Anastasia, you said you knew how to deep throat a man but hadn’t actually done it. How did you learn?”
“Oh, that’s a funny story. One of my friends at school, her boyfriend only agreed to dance with her at the Graduation Ball if she promised to deep throat him afterward. She bought a dildo and we all learned how to do it together. Then, on the night of the ball, her parents organized for them to travel to and from it in a stretched limousine, so she never got to do it.”
They were all laughing at the poor boy’s disappointment as Ion drove them along another dusty narrow road to the foot of a hill. When they arrived, Evan just stared at him, wondering what this stop was for. There was no walking trail, and no special vista to look at.
Ion pointed to the hill. “Anastasia wanted to roll down a hill. There’s a hill.”
Evan laughed. “He’s got you there,” he said.
“Oh, this is going to be fun,” she said, jumping out of the car.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Evan followed her up the hill. At the top, she lay with her body across the width of the hill and started rolling. Ion had stayed at the foot of the hill and Evan watched as she rolled smoothly down, laughing all the way. Suddenly he remembered the sheer delight of doing this as a child, so lay down and copied her. It was bumpier than he remembered, but the wind in his hair, and the sheer exuberance of being out of control was a complete adrenaline surge and he loved it. Anastasia went down the hill several more times, until she was giddy and staggering with laughter. Evan knew right then and there that he could never give this woman up. Crazy, zany, fun, determined, a superior work colleague, and sexy as hell in bed. He loved her. She was his. No one else would ever make him happy.
* * * *
Ion pulled a rug out of the trunk of his SUV and set it on the grass. This was part of a public park, and right beside a track, so by no means private. But it was an unkempt track that certainly didn’t look like it got much traffic passing by on it. He half suspected it was only used by people who worked around here, and they shouldn’t be coming home from work for an hour or more yet. Besides, he wasn’t planning sex, just kissing and touching.
When he’d been planning the day, he’d realized that kissing didn’t really play much part in BDSM scenes. Well, not in any of his scenes, anyway. And touching was usually for a special purpose, not the generalized, experimental touching people falling in love tended to do. So this was to be a more or less G-rated time of kissing and touching.
Anastasia dropped to the rug beside him, still laughing. “Oh, thank you, Ion. That was so much fun. I haven’t done that in so many years. It was amazing.”
“I agree. It was awesome,” said Evan.
“Although not exactly normal. You said we needed time to be like normal people,” said Ion, deliberately teasing them both.
“So normal people sit on picnic rugs?” Anastasia’s voice rose at the end as if she’d asked a question.
“Yes, indeed. And they kiss.” He bent his lips to hers, and pressed the softest, sweetest, most innocent kiss he could manage to her lips. He looked up and nodded to Evan.
Evan lay down beside her and ran a finger over her ear, teasing the outer rim, then stroking the lobe. Finally he licked her ear then kissed a line along her jaw, before sitting up again.
“My turn.” Anastasia bounce
d up and turned to look at Ion. His dick was already hard and hurting, but his dick wasn’t going to get anything today. Today was about building friendship. She stepped up closer to him and then kneeled between his legs.
“Normal men always want to touch their girlfriend.” She pulled her sweater off revealing the tiny halter top, then sat astride his knee, placed one of his hands on her breast, and kissed him. If there was one thing her kiss was not, it was innocent. Her tongue drove inside his mouth, her ass pressed down on his dick and she wiggled so close to him he had to clutch her breast or risk her breaking his wrist. Well that’s what he told himself, anyway, as he pushed the tiny scrap of fabric aside and cupped her warm globe then tweaked her nipple. Regretfully, he pulled the top over her skin again and lifted her off his knee. Shit his dick hurt. “Normal,” he said, trying hard to breathe.
Before he knew what she was doing, she unlaced her boots and pulled them off, then slid her jeans down her legs. Her long, bare legs. She ran across to the SUV, climbed on the hood, and spread her legs wide apart. “Evan, come and collect your kiss.”
Evan stared at him, as if waiting for him to forbid it, but there was no way Ion could say no to Evan when his own hand had just been on her nipple. Evan took the few paces across to the car and pulled her to the edge of the hood, and into his arms.
Ion hadn’t thought his cock could get any harder but it did when he saw Anastasia’s hand unzip Evan’s jeans. Apparently, normal girlfriends stroked their boyfriend’s cock, too, in Anastasia’s world.
“Fuck me.”
“What?”
Ion was pretty sure Evan knew what she wanted and wanted it as much as he did.
“Normal people fuck in their cars.”
“In their car’s backseat maybe. Not on the hood,” objected Ion.
“Fine then.” Anastasia slid of the hood and opened the back door. Once again Evan turned to Ion and seemed to be asking permission.
“This isn’t the dungeon. Go right ahead.”
Ion collected the rug, shook it out and folded it to put back in the trunk, then picked up Anastasia’s boots, sweater, and jeans, and took them all over to the SUV. He put everything in the trunk and tried not to notice the car rocking. Well, that was normal for people, too, he supposed. What was that sign kids in college used to have on the back of their car? If the truck is rocking, don’t come knocking.
He grinned. Okay, normal, but not quite how he’d planned it. He looked all around the area. It was totally silent and peaceful. Quiet, beautiful, scenic. The grass was green, the sky blue, and already there was the faintest hint of color in some of the leaves. Soon it would be the end of summer, then the end of the tourist season. He needed to have planned out exactly what he’d do regarding the three of them by then.
Anastasia slid out of the SUV and into his arms. She wiggled hard against him and he held her to him, just loving her, thanking her for sharing herself with them both.
“I’d still like to be fucked on the hood of your car. I’ve never done that before,” she said softly.
Evan laughed. “If you get arrested I’ll put up the bail for you,” he promised.
Once again Anastasia climbed onto the hood of his SUV, this time without her shorts. She pulled him closer to her, unzipped his jeans, then leaned right forward and sucked his cock into her mouth. How could she bend her body that flat? He was pretty sure he couldn’t. Ion gasped and grabbed her head. With that one touch his dick had sprung right back to life again, startling him with how much he wanted her, even out in public like this. No matter how often she said it was normal, he wasn’t buying that story. But when it came to fucking her, well, he simply couldn’t resist. She was so alight with joy and happiness, so incredibly sexy and willing, he had to have her.
As soon as she lifted her mouth off his dick, he tugged her closer to his legs and pulled her onto his cock. She rested her ass on the hood and locked her ankles behind his back, then ran her hands up under his shirt and over his bare back.
He gripped her ass and withdrew, then slid into her. She was very wet, tight, and burning hot. She’d planned this from the very beginning, he realized now, wearing those tiny little bits of fabric and letting both men see her body almost bare like this.
“You never intended anyone but Evan and me to see you in those clothes, did you?” he asked slamming into her, withdrawing, then fucking her deep and hard again.
“It worked, though, didn’t it?” she said, with the naughtiest look in her sparkling gray eyes.
Her fingernails were dug into his back and she moved with him, riding his cock every bit as hard as he rode her.
“Right now you’re getting off on the danger, the risk of being seen,” he added, leaning down to bite lightly on her shoulder.
“I’m getting off on your cock,” she replied, twisting her hips hard as he pressed as deep into her pussy as he could reach.
He gripped her ass tighter and used every bit of strength in his thigh muscles to slam up into her. He slid one thumb into her ass, then took possession of her lips, his tongue driving into her mouth, mirroring his cock in her cunt. Right then she melted against him, her cunt pouring hot cream over his cock and her body leaning against his as she panted with release.
Her pussy gripped his cock and rippled around him as he pulled out one last time, before slamming into her again. His cum jetted out of his dick into her channel as he stroked a few more times, his hands on her body gentle now, his kisses as soft and sweet as he could manage. She was so beautiful, so entrancing, everything he’d ever wanted in a woman and much more.
This day out together had been very special and had shown him so very clearly that he couldn’t live without her. Evan was becoming his best friend. Anastasia held his heart in her wicked little hands. Now, all he had to do was figure out how to make them agree to mate as a triad.
It was only as they were almost back at the castle he realized getting them to agree to mate was only the first step. The next question would be where they’d live. It could take quite a while if they wanted an apartment in the south tower. First it’d have to be renovated for them. Those rooms hadn’t been used in centuries. There was no water or electricity connected to them. But the three of them sleeping in his room would be incredibly crowded.
This was going to take more work to arrange than he’d thought. And that was assuming they both said yes.
Chapter Six
It seemed to Anastasia as if their day trip to the lake had been a thousand years ago, almost in a previous life, but it had really only been a week. They’d had a night in the dungeon together since then, which had been amazing, but they’d also had a very full week with four banquets as well as all the regular customers and the wolves themselves to feed. Some of the wolves cooked for themselves, and most organized their own breakfasts, but many of them simply found it easier to eat whatever was on offer at the castle kitchen than having to drive seven miles into the local town to shop or to bring back takeout. Especially after working from eight in the morning until six at night with only one day off a week.
That was one of the downsides of living in a several-hundred-years-old castle. Neither plumbing nor electricity had been invented then, and the only fully renovated area was the east wing. While the tourists were fascinated by the north tower, which was left in its original condition, actually living there with bare stone walls, a stone floor, and the only means of heating in winter tiny braziers that did little to lift the chill from the room, was not what twenty-first century people, human or wolf, were interested in.
At least Kady had managed perfectly capably when left alone in charge, and Uwe had settled into life in the kitchen very comfortably and was turning out pies every bit as delicious as hers, possibly even better if she was honest. He’d also taken an interest in the other dessert recipes and was helping with them, too, as well as regularly baking their special “medieval” bread.
Now that Kiril and Magnus were able to do most of the vegetable prepar
ation for the daily werewolf stew, and for pottage, that should have meant there was less for her to do. But it hadn’t seemed to work like that. Evan was once again pouring over his fourteenth century recipe book determined to try out some new dishes, and Kady had found some medieval pie crust descriptions she wanted to try.
So it was Anastasia who was on her hands and knees in the storeroom counting bags of potatoes and onions, flour and salt, at nine o’clock in the evening, instead of either getting her ass paddled in the dungeon, or her mind blown in the bedroom, or even just sitting in the kitchen of the priests’ house talking to her friends.
It’d been a long day and her feet were tired and hot, so she’d pulled her shoes off and was padding around in bare feet, which possibly wasn’t following the health regulations, but no food was being prepared so hopefully she wouldn’t get into trouble. She heard a faint noise, and disregarded it, because old buildings often made strange noises as the wood construction expanded or contracted after the heat of the day. Nevertheless, she looked up and out of the storeroom and was in time to see a shadow against the window of Evan’s office.
Anastasia was about to call out to Evan, but then she shut her mouth with a snap. Evan always spoke to her when he entered late at night or first thing in the morning. He never crept around silently. She sat back on her heels thoughtfully. She was barefoot and tired after a long day. No doubt her perceptions and reactions were a little slow. But just assuming, taking a wild and likely inaccurate guess, that this was some person up to no good, she had no way of stopping them. Her cell phone was in Evan’s office, where she left it during the day and just checked it occasionally. Her shoes were there, too. So she couldn’t fight off a bad person nor could she phone for help.
Whoever it was had obviously not noticed her crouched on the storeroom floor, and that was a good thing. All she had to do was sit here and wait and watch as they left. Fortunately, all the knives were safely locked away so no one could easily attack her, either. She almost laughed. It was probably one of the kitchen workers who’d left something behind at the end of their shift and had come back to get it. Everyone who worked here had an ID card that let them into the kitchen.
