by Lacey Thorn
They are strong, but when the triad is completed, when you are all together as one, some of your magic will enhance theirs.
Her mother’s words again. Yes, things were about to change for everyone. The three of them were only the beginning. She had to remember that. It wasn’t just about her. The fate of their entire land rested within her hands now and would until she reached the castle.
“I’m ready,” she said.
She didn’t have the choice not to be.
Chapter Four
“It is a shame that your first foray out of the temple is cloaked in darkness,” Thedan said. “There is much beauty to see.”
She inhaled deeply, taking in the myriad scents, from flowers, trees, plants, animals and everything the earth around them could hold and nurture. “I will see it soon and it will be all the better for having you beside me when I do.”
Theron stopped and turned to face her. He cupped her face and lowered his until their lips brushed softly together. “You humble us,” he whispered.
She turned to Thedan to see if he would kiss her as well but he just grinned and grabbed her hand, tugging her back to walking.
“When I first kiss you it will be no soft peck but a deep exploration that leaves us both fighting for air,” he promised.
His words brought a tingle to her blood, a flutter in her womb.
“So tell me about yourselves,” she said, seeking to break the sexual spell that threatened to consume her. If his words had such an effect then how would she not burn alive when at last he touched her?
“We are natives,” Thedan said.
She interrupted with a giggle. “That I know. I knew the moment I saw you. I was taught the story of the native as a child. Cursed to walk in shadow, never calling one place home because of love.”
“I would say more out of vengeance than love,” Thedan murmured.
“Ahhh, but you see from within, while I have the advantage of looking from without,” she said. “Your princess defied tradition in deference to true love and she was cast out because of it. Then when she sought to mend fences with forgiveness her mate was killed instead of welcomed. Killed when he was the one who brought his dying wife home to make peace. So with her last breath she weaved the spell. When she died her sword would leave her flesh and go to her daughter. This would be the sword that ruled the land and all would bow before it. It would pass through her bloodline, from daughter to daughter, for all time. But she tempered the curse by allowing for a way to break it. A daughter will be born from the bloodline of the younger sister. She will meet and fall in love with a warrior, royal in his own right. Only if her people can accept their love and rejoice in it will the curse be broken.”
“Ahhh, but then she didn’t have the whole story when she cast her curse,” Theron said. “She did not yet know that t’was not her family but that of the native she had been betrothed to that killed her mate. By the time she knew it was too late to change it. Her dying words to her sister were that blood would find a way, and the magic within would be strong. She touched her sister’s cloak and whispered a spell. Told her sister to remember the words.”
“Blood magic, the strongest of all forms of magic,” Serenity replied.
“Yes,” Theron and Thedan agreed in unison.
“So you walk in shadow,” she said. “I saw that for myself when you seemed to appear and disappear at will.”
“Watch,” Thedan said, dropping her hand.
He reached back and grabbed the hood of his cloak. When he pulled it up over his head he disappeared from her sight. When he appeared again the hood was off.
“Your cloak?” she asked, reaching out to finger the material. It looked like any other cloak, not so dissimilar from the one she wore.
“The magic is woven within the cloak,” Theron answered.
“The spell,” she realised.
“The spell,” Theron agreed. “It is woven into all of our cloaks and has been since the gift was given to us.”
“That is fantastic.” She grinned.
“So you are the seer,” she said to Theron. “And you are a rogue?” she asked Thedan.
“We are both rogues,” Thedan answered, then lifted his left arm and turned it so that she could see the mark on the inside of his wrist. She turned and viewed the same on the arm that Theron held out.
“You are royal guards,” she said breathlessly, acknowledging that she knew what the mark meant. Then another thought clicked into place. “And yet you are here with me.”
“We did not break our sworn oath,” Thedan told her, shaking his head.
“I didn’t mean…” She caught the twinkle in his eyes and blew out a relieved breath.
“There are three sworn guards for our princess,” Theron said. “The two of us and her sister, Rory. We left them at the castle together so we could come here, to find you.”
“Rory.” She sighed out the name of one of the four people she longed to meet. She sighed when she saw them both looking at her. “There is so much to tell you, so much that you need to know. I just don’t know where to begin.”
“Perhaps we should see what secrets are shared across the bond we form,” Theron said.
She nodded. She knew that when they formed a true triad, with all of them joined, magic would be shared and with that magic thoughts, feelings, emotions. Her magic would be the catalyst to theirs and once they merged? Well, there would be no secrets left to any of them and no need for them either.
“We’re here,” Thedan whispered.
Theron spoke words as he stood in front of them. With a wave of his hands a ripple appeared in the air. Tugging her hand, Thedan stepped through it with her and Theron followed. She glanced back but the ripple was gone.
“What was that?” she asked.
“We have entered a cesta or safe place,” Theron said. “We have several of them that we use as we travel. They are places protected by deep magic that allow us to rest without interruption.”
“No one can find us here?”
“Only another native.” Theron turned to her and slowly pushed her hood back off her face to reveal her golden hair. “None are close to here.” His voice was a seductive promise. “We will not be interrupted.”
Serenity nodded again. She slid her gaze over to Thedan who was already setting up a shelter for them. She felt nerves in her belly and inhaled deeply. Theron used his hands to untie her cloak and she met his stare when it slid from her shoulders. She watched his eyes flare as he took in the white fitted robes that suited one who resided in the temple of the goddess.
“You are beautiful,” he whispered, trailing his hand down her cheek then cupping it and drawing her closer to him.
His lips were just as soft this time when they met hers. He pressed them to hers once, twice, three times before drawing back. He leaned in again but it was no delicate touch now. Instead he used his teeth to give her bottom lip a nip that had her gasping and sucking the lip in.
“Let me do that,” he murmured and followed words with action.
He slipped his tongue out, tracing along the place where he’d nipped her. She held her breath as she felt him slowly wrap his lips around her bottom lip and suck softly on it. She gave a low moan and opened her mouth for him. He probed his tongue into her mouth and rubbed lightly along hers.
It was magic, that touch. Someone moaned and she was pretty sure it was her. She felt her hands clench on his shoulders before sliding them up and wrapping them around the base of his neck. She clung—there was no better word for it—as he deepened the kiss. She was touching her tongue to his now, following into his mouth and doing a little exploring of her own.
When they finally drew apart she realised her tongue wasn’t the only thing she’d been rubbing against him. She was plastered to his body like wet cloth. One hard thigh was cradled between hers and she was mortified to realise she’d been grinding her sex into him. She was so hot and wet and he had to have felt that for himself. She moved back and s
tepped right into Thedan.
“My turn,” he said and twirled her around.
He took her mouth just as he’d promised. No gentle teasing her into opening for him but a forceful thrust of his tongue that invaded and conquered. And had them breaking apart, fighting for air.
Theron had moved closer behind her and he nibbled over the material on the top of her shoulder and up along her neck to her earlobe. Thedan reached for the row of fastenings that started at her breasts and ended at the tops of her thighs. He rubbed his knuckles along her cleavage as he took the first one between his fingers and her nipples tightened and strained forward.
Theron whispered her name and she automatically turned her head to glance over her shoulder at him. His lips took hers again, soft and slow and deep. Her body relaxed back into his, enjoying the way he stroked her tongue with his, leading it into his mouth and then sucking on it. She moaned and he devoured, taking her under the seductive power of his kiss again and again. He left her only long enough for them both to gasp for air before coming back for more.
He slid his hands back up to her shoulders and when he glided them down again he took her robe with them. He pulled slightly away and held her mesmerised in his inky stare as he slid the material down and off to pool in a puddle of white at her feet. Theron brought his lips back and traced his tongue in a pattern over her naked shoulder.
She felt another set of hands at her ankles and glanced at her feet to see Thedan had followed the fall of the material to her feet and was now making his way back up. He ran his hands along her bare skin. His fingers were rough, the callused hands of a fighter, and they brought tingles everywhere he touched. Tingles that had her nipples tightening further and an ache building between her thighs.
Theron used his tongue, lips and teeth to taste along her shoulder and neck while Thedan held her gaze and ran his hands up the outsides of her legs as he rose to stand once more in front of her. He brushed his fingers over her hips, the indent of her waist and finally stilled when they reached the sides of her breasts. He let his thumbs caress the skin there and dropped his gaze to rest on her tightened nipples. He brought his stare back up to hers and held her captive as he moved his hands to cup her breasts. She gasped when he brushed his thumbs over her nipples, making them impossibly harder.
Her gasp of pleasure was swallowed by Theron’s kiss. Hot and consuming, replacing the tingles with a burning heat. Her hands jerked forward, clenching in Thedan’s hair as he wrapped his lips around one of her nipples and sucked hard on it. Fire, that was what she felt. Each pull of her flesh seemed to tweak an invisible cord that connected to her womb and sent a fiery wash of heat into her feminine core. She could feel herself getting wet, feel her pussy clenching and releasing around nothing.
Theron’s hands replaced Thedan’s mouth and he took her nipples between his fingers, pinching and tugging on them. Thedan forged a path with his lips and tongue down her belly, stopping briefly to trace into her belly button before moving lower. He shifted his hands to her thighs and gently urged her legs open. Before she could think or make a move to close them he was there.
His lips pressed into her cunt briefly then he slipped his tongue out to dip inside and taste her. She was panting for breath now. Theron continued playing with her breasts while he using his lips to worship her neck and mouth, any part of her he could reach. She felt Thedan part her with his hands and then he used his lips to surround her clitoris. He just held it there in the heat of his mouth for a moment as if he were savouring the feel of her.
Then he brushed his tongue against her. Once, twice then in rapid succession, making her clench her fingers tighter in his hair. With one hand, he managed to hold her open to him while allowing the other to find her opening. With one finger, he rimmed her there, just dipping inside, teasing them both with what was to come. He tormented her with the flick of his tongue, the rub of his fingertip. Flick, rub. Flick, rub. It had her ready to explode with the building sensations.
And then she screamed. His tongue stopped and his lips surrounded her clit and sucked her in. Her pussy rippled and then parted as he thrust his finger inside. She clenched around him, trying to keep him there while he moved the digit in and out. She could feel this tightening inside her and it was as if she was going to be pulled apart by it.
Theron moved to her side, letting her upper body slide back to rest on his arm and giving his mouth access to more of her. He used his lips to envelop her nipple and sucked deeply, tugging it up towards the roof of his mouth, and with Thedan still doing the same to her clit she climaxed. She cried out, her orgasm ripping through her. Thedan moved his mouth lower and used his tongue to replace the finger thrusting inside her.
She was lost, floating, flying somewhere outside of herself. She could feel their touches gentling, easing her down from the amazing heights she’d reached. Sucks became soft kisses, then even those retreated until only their hands softly brushed over her skin. When she finally found the ability to focus again she was surprised to see that they were inside the shelter. She was resting on her back on the bedding one of them had laid out, probably Thedan when he had been setting it up.
She blinked as they rose to their feet to stand above her, watched while those strong hands that had so recently caressed her flesh now began to remove their clothes. And she knew what their actions meant. It was time to consummate their triad.
Chapter Five
Serenity went up on her elbows, tracking every move that Thedan and Theron made while they disrobed. They were exquisite, with long, sleek muscular lines and golden skin she wanted to run her tongue over. Every delicious, newly revealed inch. She wanted to do all the things they’d just done to her, to them.
Theron caught her gaze at the same time that he removed his last item and she followed the movement of his hand when he reached down to palm his cock and give it a stroke. Unthinking, she rose to her knees before them and moved towards Theron. She licked her lips and at the twin groans leaned in to run her tongue over the weeping tip of his cock. The taste was like none she’d ever known, but heady in the way it heated her blood and sent a craving for more through her.
She ran her tongue over him again and again, loving the way his body tensed almost as much as the way his moan filled the air.
“Take it in your mouth,” Thedan said.
She glanced up to see him watching her as she laved Theron’s cock and was captured by the way Thedan stroked his big hand up and down his shaft.
“Suckle it as we did your nipples.”
She moistened her lips again and rubbed them together before opening wide and taking the head of Theron’s cock inside. She let her tongue trace around where the head merged into the length before going over the top again. She felt the grip of his fingers in her hair and finally did as Thedan had bade her. She sucked on Theron and with his sounds of encouragement, drew a little harder so that her cheeks hollowed a bit as she fed on him.
“Goddess save me,” Theron said then moved his hips and began to thrust his cock slowly, further into her mouth.
His fingers brushed her lips where they gripped his shaft, then he was pulling back so that just the head remained.
He did it several times and she wrapped her hands around the backs of his muscular thighs to hang on. She used her tongue to rub and explore as much of his length as he could feed her. She sucked softly when he first thrust inside, then harder as she fought the retreat of his cock from her mouth. He tugged all the way out and held his cock up, preventing her from lapping on it more.
But there were the tight globes that hung below his cock and she delicately skimmed her tongue out to taste him there. He jerked and gasped for air. She tucked her head so that she leaned against his upper thigh and inhaled the rich musky scent of him that seemed so much stronger now, so much more there. Then she flicked her tongue out to glide over that tasty flesh.
“Serenity,” he moaned, tugging gently at her hair, pulling her away. That couldn’t be right. “Yo
u have to stop,” he gritted out.
She looked up to see his teeth clenched together.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she said, appalled at what she must have been putting him through. And he’d just let her until he could no longer take it.
“It’s not that, Serenity,” he started to say but Thedan interrupted.
“Come hurt me,” he implored her, pressing in so that the mushroomed head of his cock just touched her lips.
He stroked his fingers over her cheek and had her glancing up to meet his gaze. He was so close now and holding his cock out towards her.
She wrapped her fingers around his Staff, slightly above where his were. He was thicker than Theron, though not as long, and she loved the way the head seemed to crown the shaft, not blend in as Theron’s did. Her lips were wet from where he’d pressed his cock to them and she darted her tongue out to taste what he’d left. She glanced up and watched his eyes flare when he watched her.
His cheeks were flushed, the lids of his eyes low, giving him a sleepy look that belied the way he held his body taut as if he was close to unleashing his restraint and taking her. Holding that gaze, she licked over him, loving the way his taste was different from Theron’s. Thedan was spicier, more earthy. And damn her if she didn’t long to mix the two tastes in her mouth.
“Open,” Thedan commanded.
She had no desire to do anything but comply.
She took the head he thrust into her mouth and suckled him deep and hard. This man didn’t seem to want the soft exploration that Theron had allowed. Thedan wanted hot and hard and firm. She tightened her fingers around him as he began to thrust quickly, in and out of her mouth.
Theron moved behind her but she was too consumed with Thedan, his thrusting cock and the rapturous look of pleasure that shone on his face. These were her men and her mother’s words came back into her mind. They will be your guides, your guards, your heart and your soul.
The nip of Theron’s teeth along her buttocks jerked her from her thoughts. Thedan threaded the fingers of one hand through her hair and used it to guide her with him while he lowered to his knees before her, never once removing his cock from her mouth. She automatically put her hands down to brace herself as she took position on her hands and knees between them.
