by Jodi Redford
“I need a taste.”
He didn’t require an elaboration of Braeden’s husky request. Easing from Vanessa’s pussy, he knelt, his knees bracketing her hips. Braeden leaned forward and sucked the swollen knob of Rand’s dick into his mouth. A delirious moan rolled from Vanessa. Rand smoothed a hand over her breast, his thumb and forefinger giving her nipple a light pinch that made her breath stutter. He fumbled for the larger plug and the tube of lubricant. Relinquishing Rand’s cock, Braeden slipped the vibrator from Vanessa and tossed it aside before splaying his palms on her inner thighs, spreading her wide for the insertion of the lubricated plug. She flinched slightly when the plug’s bulbous tip nudged into her opening.
“Relax, sweetest. We’re almost there.” Rand circled her clit with his thumb and coaxed the plug past the resistant band of muscle. “Good girl.” He powered on the device and she clutched Braeden’s shoulder in a death grip. Desperate to lose himself to the intoxicating pleasure of her body, Rand repositioned himself and grasped her hips, plunging inside her in one firm thrust. She cried out, the tight clasp of her pussy fitting him like a glove.
Rand closed his eyes, letting the carnal bliss of their joining wash over him for a moment before tucking her legs around his waist and gathering her into his arms. She clung to him, hugging him close as Braeden moved in behind her and kissed the nape of her neck. Her gasps muffled against Rand’s shoulder, she shivered and trembled. He cradled her to him, his heart thudding rapidly with a chaos of emotions. Lust. Love. They wove together into an inseparable thread. He watched Braeden caressing Vanessa’s back, the same emotions playing out on his face.
They’d opened their hearts to Vanessa. There would be no turning back from this pivotal moment. Brae’s hands slid around to cup her breasts and she leaned back, offering her mouth to him in a lush kiss. The sight of their tongues tangling sent a fierce bullet of need through Rand and he pumped his cock deeper into Vanessa’s slick channel, wringing a groan from her. Her hands dug into his biceps. “Oh God.”
“Tell us what you want, sweet Nessie, and we’ll give it to you.”
She licked her lips, her breaths labored. “I—I want…”
Rand slowed his thrusts until he was barely moving, allowing him to feel each of the tiny muscles in her pussy gripping him tight. The exquisite sensation made it damn difficult to concentrate. “We need to hear you say it, sweetest.”
“Together. I want the three of us together. F-for sex.”
He gave a growl of victory. Though she’d felt it necessary to tag sex onto the end of her statement for clarification’s sake, she’d soon see that she needed more from this union than just their cocks. While Braeden snagged the lube, Rand reached behind Vanessa and worked the plug from her ass. A moment later, the head of Brae’s cock bumped Rand’s knuckles and he helped guide his lover inside Vanessa’s rear passage. She shuddered, her gaze locking with his.
He ducked and brushed his lips over hers. “We’re going to make this good for you.” And convince you to never leave us. With that silent promise suspended between them, he gradually withdrew from her before pumping inside again in a languid glide. The snugness of her sheath made his and Brae’s cocks ride against each other, the friction mind-blowing.
Braeden’s eyes became hooded, his jaw going slack. Rand powered up his strokes. “You feel me, don’t you? And it’s making you hot, knowing I’m fucking you both.”
A whimper broke from Vanessa, her pussy clenching. Apparently Braeden noticed the telltale sign of her looming orgasm too because he pressed a sliding kiss along the slope of her neck, his hand insinuating between her and Rand’s groins. His thumb rubbed over her clit. “You gonna come for us, baby? Milk our cocks at the same time?”
She replied with a strangled cry, her pussy performing the marvelous trick Braeden had just suggested. Her body shook and they both held her through the tempest of her climax until she slumped weakly against Rand’s chest. He smoothed her sweat-dampened hair off her face and kissed her forehead. A sense of tranquility and fulfillment locked in place inside him. This woman was the missing piece he and Braeden had been searching for since practically the beginning of time. Now that they’d found her, everything would be okay.
No cruel fate would dare deny them a happy ever after.
Chapter Seven
“Oh yeah. I’ve definitely died and gone to heaven.” Vanessa snuggled between Rand and Braeden on the bed, luxuriating in the solid wall of muscles and warm, musky skin surrounding her. A sexy, masculine chuckle feathered over her neck before Braeden nibbled her earlobe. Despite the fact she’d had more orgasms in the last twelve hours than she’d had all year, her nipples immediately beaded in response. A groan tumbled past her lips. “You’re insatiable.”
“Sorry, darlin’. You bring out the hungry beast in me.”
“And me.” His palm cupping her hip, Rand nuzzled her collarbone.
She sighed. “Sad to say, but I was talking about myself.”
Rumbles of laughter broke from Rand and Braeden. Unable to resist, she joined in with a giggle. “I’m probably going to regret admitting that to you two horny bastards, aren’t I?”
Braeden nipped at her shoulder. “Count on it, baby.”
“Mm, I concur.” Rand followed up his statement by combing his fingers through the curls covering her mound.
She tried to escape their lascivious onslaught, but the dirty rotten sons-of-bitches pinned her between them, hindering her attempt. Gasping, she managed to wiggle an arm free of their tangled limbs. “Whoa. Hold it, would you?” Her laugh bordered on a groan when Rand and Braeden each fondled one of her breasts. “I wasn’t referring to that! I need to use the bathroom.”
Their grins equally sinful, they released her and she scrambled from the bed. Once inside the bathroom, she took care of the necessary business of emptying her full bladder before crossing to the sink. She splashed cold water on her face and winced at the image reflecting back at her in the mirror. She looked like she’d just spent three hours screwing her brains out. Probably because I did. It occurred to her that she should feel like a big, dirty slut, but not even a trickle of guilt dampened the warm glow of satisfaction that permeated every cell in her body. She’d have plenty of time tomorrow to let her conscience berate her for sleeping with the fugitives she was supposed to be bringing in. For now, she planned to indulge in every fantasy she could think of with Rand and Braeden—and enjoy each wicked second of it.
As if they’d read her thoughts, the two naughty pookas in question sauntered into the bathroom. She gave them a mock glare in the mirror. “Just because I’ve let you guys defile me beyond decency doesn’t mean you can bust in here while I’m tinkling.”
“You’re not tinkling. You’re standing in front of the sink,” Braeden pointed out rather unhelpfully. He and Rand stepped forward and crowded her on either side before herding her toward the pool.
Putting up token resistance, she allowed them to lead her down the steps into the swirling water. “Is this your way of telling me I’m stinky?”
“No, you smell good enough to eat.” Rand buried his nose in her hair before coaxing her deeper into the water. “Brae and I talked it over though, and we’ve decided its way past time to induct you into the pleasures of pool sex.”
“Oh really.”
Braeden reached for her hand, his devilish smile too delicious for words. “We’re only thinking of you, darlin’.”
Snorting, she followed him toward the edge of the pool, where a cache of sea sponges and luscious scented soaps waited. Rand joined them, and soon she found herself the lucky recipient of the most thorough scrubbing of all time. In between attending to her, Rand and Braeden also lathered up each other. Seeing those big, soapy hands trailing all over each other’s hard, muscular bodies fired her desire to a fever pitch. Picking up one of the sponges, she rinsed the suds from Rand’s chest, fascinated by how the rivulets of champagne-colored water seemed to make his tattoos sparkle.
Unable to resist, she traced the design with her fingertip, earning his shiver. “They really are beautiful. Is there a meaning behind the symbols?”
“They’re clan marks.” Rand’s fingers closed over hers. “This one is Braeden’s.” He drew their hands higher until they rested on the upper portion of the tattoo that covered his shoulder. “And this one is mine.”
Braeden’s palm skated over the tanned, velvety skin stretched over Rand’s pectoral. “He made sure to leave plenty of room here for your mark, darlin’.”
She blinked at him. “But I don’t belong to any clan.”
“Your family.” Braeden chuckled. “Surely you’ve got one of those. We can always do a little research and find out if your people have an ancestral crest.”
The pain she thought she’d buried so well caught her unawares, the dull ache of it seeping into her heart. She swallowed, her throat and chest unbearably heavy. Old insecurities rose to the forefront, whispering a jumbled, discordant chorus of hateful words that cut her to the bone.
Freak. That’s all you’ll ever be. A little, good-for-nothing freak.
Desperate to hide from the taunting specter inside her head, she stumbled back a step. Rand’s fingers squeezed hers tight, refusing to grant her the escape she longed for.
“Nessie.” The soft command in Rand’s voice managed to edge past her panic and she stared up at him, instantly becoming ensnared in his dark, compelling gaze. “What are you afraid of, sweetest?”
“N-nothing.”
Rand’s expression made it clear that she didn’t have him fooled. “You were ready to bolt. This is the second time today any mention of your family has upset you.”
She sent him a glare, this one completely genuine. “I told you that I have no family.”
Frown lines pinched the center of Braeden’s brow. “But that makes no sense. How could you not have one?”
The pain she’d kept locked away broke from its bonds and tumbled free in all its gut-wrenching, ugly glory. “Because some of us are too much of a freak show to deserve a family who won’t abandon us the first chance they get. Some of us are destined to be alone our entire lives.” Shaking, she met Rand and Braeden’s compassionate gazes. Shit, she’d said too much.
Rand tugged her toward him. Left with little choice, she slumped into his arms. Though she made a valiant effort to regain a semblance of composure, Rand and Braeden’s comforting hugs and kisses proved her undoing and she cried against Rand’s chest.
“That’s right, sweetest, let it all out.”
Apparently his words were a carte blanche invitation to her psyche, because everything came spilling out in a rush. Every last sordid, pathetic memory. “I—I don’t recall much about my real parents. They left me in a women’s restroom at a state hospital in California when I was three.” She read the disbelief and anger riding Braeden and Rand’s features and tried for a dismissive shrug. “I guess there could have been worse places to drop me than a loony bin. Regardless, that should have been a warning of what my future had in store. I probably could have saved myself a shitload of trouble if I’d been smart enough to ignore the Otherworlders in the beginning. Because once they knew I could see them, interact with them, nothing would convince them to leave me be. The worst was a goblin named Fred. That dickhead would follow me from foster home to foster home, creating all kinds of hell for me and the families that took me in. For a while, everyone thought maybe I was haunted by an evil poltergeist. Eventually I became known as the cursed child, and it became near impossible for the state to place me with a family.”
His eyes filled with a wealth of sadness, Rand brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. The soothing gesture eased a fraction of the ache in her chest and she took a shuddering breath. “You’d think that’d be the hardest part of it, never having a place I belonged. But it wasn’t. Miraculously, the state found a couple who were willing to take me in. For two months I lived this amazing fantasy, believing I’d finally found a family who could love me despite the insanity that followed me.”
Braeden stroked her cheek. “What happened?”
“The Robertsons didn’t love me at all. They’d heard the rumors of the poltergeist theory and decided it meant I possessed some latent psychic ability. I should have caught on to things sooner, but I wanted them to love me. More than anything. Two months in, they started asking me if I had special numbers for them.”
Rand frowned. “Numbers?”
“The lottery. They thought I could help them win one of the jackpots. When it became clear that wasn’t going to happen…” You really are nothing but a useless little freak. She struggled to shove the cruel, phantom voice from her mind. “They sent me back, too, just like all the others did.”
“Aw, darlin’.”
The suffocating weight of Braeden and Rand’s sympathetic stares left her uncomfortably exposed. She dragged her fingers through the steaming water to hide her sudden need to fidget. “I stayed in the state-run system until I was sixteen. That’s when the Veil Alliance League tracked me down and recruited me. I figured what the hell, might as well make my curse work for me, right? Pay might not be the greatest, but the techno gadgets make me look cool and badass.”
Rand and Braeden continued watching her, their sober expressions adding to her overall sense of vulnerability. Desperate to return to the carefree fun of earlier, she scooped up a handful of the water and flicked it at Braeden. He blinked at her through the droplets running down his face, and she bit her lip to keep from giggling at his stunned look. Slowly, a grin crawled in place on his handsome mug and he took a stealthy step forward.
She slid a pleading glance in Rand’s direction and Braeden gave an evil laugh. “He’s not gonna save you, babe.” He lunged at her and she yelped before leaping out of the way. Unfortunately, attempting to maneuver in the waist-deep water was like trying to square dance in Jell-O. Or so she assumed. Regardless, she lost footing and splashed backwards in an undignified sprawl.
So much for looking all badass. She came up for air, sputtering.
“That’s what you get, darlin’.” Hooting in laughter, Braeden reached for her.
“I’ll have you know, I meant to do that.” She wrung out her hair, watching the water plop and ripple on the surface of the pool. “I keep meaning to ask what the deal is with the water in this joint. Why it always looks like it’s pumped from an underground spring of champagne.”
“The explanation lies in the fountain. We could tell you, but it’d be easier to show you.” Rand laced his fingers through hers and led her toward the steps.
She gaped at him. “Um, you mean like right now this minute?”
“Why not?”
Because I was hoping for some pool sex. Not about to admit that out loud and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt how much of a shameless hussy she was, she cleared her throat. “I’m not trekking downstairs buck naked.” Her luck, it’d be the one time the damn staff happened to be moseying about.
Braeden met them at the lounge chair and whipped open one of the waiting towels with a dramatic flourish. “Your wrap, m’ lady.”
She let Braeden and Rand tuck her into the towel before following them to the elevator. “I still don’t know why you can’t just tell me.”
Rand’s arm wrapped around her waist. “Because this is better.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.”
“Are you always this cryptic and mysterious?” she grumbled.
“Only on Fridays.”
Grunting, she remained silent for the short trip down to the lobby. The entrance was deserted, not that she supposed Rand and Braeden gave a donkey’s ass if anyone spied them walking around naked. When it came to public nudity, they seemed happiest to let it all hang out. Literally.
“Come on, darlin’.”
She started to follow Braeden across the tile, but pulled up short when he jumped into the fountain. The sexy blond pooka shot her and Rand an inviting grin over his shoulder. �
�What are you two slowpokes waiting for?”
“Uh, is he nuts?”
“Yes, but not about this.” Rand cupped her elbow and coaxed her forward. “You’ll be glad you saw this, Nessie. I promise.”
The excitement dancing in Rand’s eyes was infectious and she found herself consumed with an overwhelming curiosity to discover whatever waited within the fountain. Nodding, she allowed him to lead her across the lobby.
“Ready?” Giving her hand an encouraging squeeze, Rand helped her step over the fountain’s ledge. They splashed toward Braeden, and the section of the pyramid closest to them shimmered before revealing a doorway bathed in brilliant, orange light. Despite the multitude of odd and wondrous things she’d encountered throughout her life, a sense of awe the likes of which she’d never experienced shivered over her. Almost as if an invisible force drew her, she passed through the doorway and entered a world of such stunning beauty, speech momentarily abandoned her. A wide beach stretched before her, its crystal-fine sands blending seamlessly with the champagne waves lapping in the distance.
Golden sparkles dusted Vanessa’s arms like spilled glitter and she lifted her focus. Millions upon millions of the crystal-like flakes were drifting from an undulating, violet sky. “It’s the veil, isn’t it?” She turned toward Rand and Braeden and noticed how their skin gleamed from the richness of the sparkles, making them glow with an otherworldly light.
No, not otherworld. Their world.
Rand nodded. “It powers the entire hotel. Hence the color of the water.”
It certainly wasn’t the first time she’d seen the veil, but never in such spectacular, undiluted potency. “I’ve heard rumors of portals like this one, but always wondered if they were more myth than anything else.”
“Now you know they’re real. Are you glad we brought you here?”
