by Honor James
She moved slightly and licked her lips. “The claw and bite marks,” she whispered finally when she had enough saliva to once more form words. “And why do you cover this?” She took his hand in hers and touched the marking round his wrist gently. “It’s my name. How unusual. Did you have it tattooed when you met me?”
Slipping in behind her, he let her play with the marks around his wrist. “Some of the claw and bite marks are from my childhood, training and such. Others are from all-out fights I got into both on my side of the Veil, during the war, and the one on my shin, from a fucking poodle about six weeks ago. We cover our mating marks because they are private for us and to not run off our mates. It came with my puberty, announcing the woman I would one day meet and mate with.”
“That’s interesting.” It really was. She traced the lines of his marking and smiled. “I was already a scared rabbit, but I’m over that now.” She looked up at him and kissed the underside of his chin. “Do you both have the same marks? Is that why you have both been friends as long as you have? Because you both knew that one day you would be mated to the same woman?”
“When Danel and I first met, we weren’t marked so we had no clue. It was later that we found out we were destined for the same woman in our lives. He hit puberty before I did and, as is typical in our realms, he covered the mark to protect the sanctity of it. We didn’t see one another for a few years, but when we did run into one another again we got our friendship back up and running. It was still a few more years before we happened to be in the same inn, one room we had to share with two twin beds I should mention, that we saw the marks we each had. After a horrible night of slumber, we sat over breakfast chatting.”
Byrne shifted slightly and pulled her in closer to him, resting his cheek to her hair. “We stayed in touch, but we were on separate paths for a while until we came to a mutual decision to join up when the Veil fell and ensure that the humans couldn’t come into our realm to harm those we loved. Then we joined up with the AEDA and the rest is history as you know.”
“Well, I am happy for you that you have had a friendship like that. I’m also grateful to whatever deity put me in your paths because you have helped me where no one else ever could. I know how odd that sounds but there it is. I don’t think that I would have survived had it not been for the two of you.” She wouldn’t have had a reason to go on and knew it.
“We didn’t do much of anything except pretty much haunt the morgue non-stop in the hope you’d stop ignoring us. We were a hell of a lot like stalkers now that I say that out loud. How on earth did you put up with us practically under your feet all the time?” he asked with a groan.
“Actually I liked it. A lot. It made me feel safe.” She admitted to him. “In fact after we have bonded, I still would really like for you to both continue to, what did you call it again, oh yes…” She paused and grinned. “Stalk me.”
Groaning he gave her a squeeze. “You are bad, so bad,” he murmured. Pressing a kiss to her cheek Byrne let out a breath and wiggled his wrist from her grip. Wrapping his other arm around her, he nuzzled at her throat. “How are you doing? And by that I mean with me being in here with you while we’re both naked.”
“Actually I’m doing better than I expected,” she admitted to him. “Keep in mind I have been through months and months of daily therapy and, like I said, just having the two of you close has helped more than you can possibly know. I’m good. Very good actually.”
“Good,” he said with a sigh of relief she was sure. Pressing a kiss to her neck, he nuzzled at the skin gently. “You will keep going to therapy though, won’t you? I only ask to ensure that you have all that you need to make and keep you happy. I don’t think you need it, but it likely is for the best especially with us starting our lives as mates.”
“Yes, I plan on keeping up with therapy. Maybe one day I will ask the two of you to come with me, but yes, I think that I need it.” Counseling was a very good thing. It had brought Briar back when all she had wanted to do was just die.
“No pressure on that one,” he muttered. “I hate therapists. They all make me want to shoot them. And I do mean all. There hasn’t been a single one that hasn’t brought that urge out in me. Mainly because they always ask “How does that make you feel?” I know how it makes me feel and they never like my answers, it’s beyond irritating.”
“Yeah, she’s never asked me that question. She’s from your side of the Veil actually. I didn’t know it until I had been seeing her for several weeks. Now I’m glad because a human therapist simply wouldn’t get it.” She shrugged. “That’s okay though, I have her and I have the two of you. Life couldn’t be better.”
“I’m glad you have someone that you can speak with about things you might not feel comfortable bringing up with us. Like, stuff about us.” He chuckled. “If the day comes you wish us to go with you to a session, I will go. But forewarn her that I’m not big on therapists of any sort. They do piss me off.”
“I will ensure that she knows that, but I don’t think that I will be ready for that for a while. Not yet. Right now I just want to have the two of you in my life and have my meetings with her as just something else. Eventually I will want to have you two come with me, however.” She rubbed her cheek to his chest and sighed. “Where is Danel?” she asked with a frown.
Lifting his head, she watched him tilt it slightly and frown. “Still on the phone. From what I’m picking up, it sounds like someone forgot to do something or file something, so he’s in a hissy. Uh-oh.” He winced. “Someone is going to have one hell of a pissed-off Ahnjel in their face tomorrow,” he muttered softly to her.
“I take it that’s a bad thing?” So far her men had been nothing but kind, gentle, and easy with her, so to think of Danel as being mean or in someone’s face was a little strange for her. “I think that I have a great deal to learn about you and Danel both, don’t I?”
“We’re open books, darling, ask anything you want. And yes, to answer your first question, it is bad when he gets pissy. Those wings that saved our hides when I dove out the window tonight also are out when he’s ramped up to the nth degree of angry. They are weapons for the Ahnjels. The lower feathers are razor sharp, so they are very careful about them.”
“But he would never hurt me.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement of fact. “No matter what, I know in my heart of hearts that he would never hurt me just as you would never hurt me. You both care too much for me to even think of me hurting in any way at all.” However, she did make a note to self not to touch his lower wings.
“Damned straight we won’t ever hurt you,” he said softly.
“People are idiots,” Danel said as he came into the bathroom, a glower on his face. “Why are people such absolute idiots? Really. I left them explicit instructions, and they all seem to have their heads up someone’s ass, and it’s turned them into idiots. Did I mention they are idiots?”
Briar grinned and shook her head. “Get naked and in the tub with us, Danel. Forget about them for a while and just simply be with us?” she asked hopefully. “The water is nice and warm, and I like to think that the company is good. This is our night. Ignore the world, just focus on us?”
He looked at her and seemed to actually focus all of a sudden. An eyebrow went up and he smiled slightly at her. “Except for the hairy beast, I’ll admit the company looks damned fine indeed.” Winking at her when Byrne gave a low growl, halfhearted at best, he tugged his shirt off over his head and kicked off his boots.
Briar watched him with the same rapt fascination that she had watched Byrne with. “Good God, you are both so incredibly handsome. How in the world am I supposed to be good enough for the two of you?” There was her doubt showing itself again, her insecurities rearing their ugly heads.
Byrne’s growl was deeper now, her entire back vibrating, and Danel speared her with a fierce look. “Don’t ever speak down about yourself, Briar. You are beautiful and we are blessed to have you as our mate. We will not let y
ou or any other speak so horribly about you,” Danel said, tossing his band onto the counter and padding to her. “We love you and think you are perfect, but you speak like that and we will come up with a way to punish you until you come to see yourself as we do and as you are.”
Briar looked up at him and felt her cheeks burning. She had never heard anyone speak with such passion when it concerned her. Reaching out her hand, she smiled. “I’m sorry. I’m here now though, I know I belong here with you so that’s what matters, right? We are all in this together?” She wanted to see his markings as well, touch them and see the beauty in them.
“Damn straight, woman.” He was still glaring at her. But he let her pull him into the bathtub, while muttering, and down to sit in front of her. He even let her keep hold of his wrist and turn his arm this way and that. Though he did shoot Byrne a questioning look, to which she felt the large Luhpyne give a shrug.
“Amazing. You have kept these hidden from me for so long.” She looked up at her Ahnjel and asked, “When we are home will you leave the cuffs off? Both of you? I know this sounds weird, but I like seeing my name on you both as it is.” She liked knowing they wore a mark of her just as she would of them.
“If that’s what you’d like, we can do that,” Byrne said. “We usually do pull them off when we change out of our uniforms after work. But we also keep them close in case we need to run out of here quickly. We’re all pretty private about the markings. They are personal after all.”
“I would like that. A great deal. I like that they are private just as the markings that you will both give me will be private.” Because no one damn well better see her breasts, and she wore higher-necked shirts more often than not. It was, after all, very damn cold in the morgue.
“We will keep them as low as we can so that they are private. My bite will heal over and leave just the faintest of marks. The right light will reveal it, but most of the time only a Luhpyne will ever know it’s there,” he told her, giving her a light squeeze.
“Thank you for that,” Briar said with a smile. “It’s not like I wear low shirts anyway. It’s cold as all get-out in the morgue because of the bodies, so I typically don’t ever wear low-cut shirts. Ever.” They both knew that about her though. “The marks will be for us, only us.” And she would prize them with her heart and soul. They would mean the world to her.
“We know that, sweetheart,” Danel said with a smile. He shared another look with Byrne. This one was more like one of their silent conversations before he looked to her again. “We actually had a piece designed that we are going to have tattooed onto each of us once the bond’s completed.”
“Really? Can I see it? Will I be able to get it tattooed into my body? I would like that I think. To be able to have a tattoo that symbolizes all three of us in one,” she whispered with a smile. “I would like that. A great deal. I really and truly do want to do this. When will you let me see what you two designed?”
“When we get out of the tub we’ll show you. And yes, if you wish to also get one, you are more than welcome to. We can do it together and then all limp home afterward to suffer recovery time. It’s not exactly a small piece.” He chuckled. “At least for us. For you, though, I think we would shrink it down a bit, make it a little less heavy in some places so it has a more feminine feel.”
“I think it would have to be shrunk to fit me because of the scarring that I still carry. It would be very hard to put anything anywhere on my back or upper legs.” They had both seen her naked now and truly knew the damage done to her body. She had healed from that, however, and her mind and heart were being healed with every moment she spent with her men.
“We’ll have it customized and fit to wherever you want it to sit. Once you see the design we had made up you can decide where you’d like it and we’ll get it all fixed up just for the spot. It’s easy enough to tweak for an artist I’m sure.” He smiled.
“Well, I hope you know one because I’m not one. I failed crayons in kindergarten. Seems I wanted to melt them and paint people with them instead of draw with them, and that shit hurts when it’s melted down and put on your bare skin.”
“Uh, right,” Danel said, giving her an odd look. “And we do know one, he was the one that drew it originally for us. When we know where you want it we’ll give him the information and get it all fixed up. He won’t be the one tattooing, but he’s a really good artist, which is why we asked him to help with the design.”
“Okay, so who will be doing the tattooing, us?” she asked quietly. “Is there something that I don’t know about you guys? Well, people from the other side of the Veil that is. Can you only be tattooed by certain people or certain inks?”
“Certain inks yes, certain people not so much. As long as they know their stuff and we trust them, that’s all that matters. We have a tattooist we’ve used in the past who will do the work for us, and for you if you’re comfortable enough with our choice of course. If not, we will find someone you are comfortable with,” Byrne said.
She wiggled slightly so that she was more comfortable and could see Byrne as well. “If the two of you trust him, I will. He’s not a massive man like the two of you, right?” If so, well, she wasn’t so sure she could trust. She trusted her two huge men, but no one else. At all.
“He’s a Spiryte, smaller than the both of us,” he said quietly. Running a hand up and down her arm lightly, he leaned back in the tub. “But he uses the inks that are necessary for those of us from the other side of the Veil to hold tattoos on our skin.”
“Ah, okay. Well, as long as the two of you will be there with me I’m positive that I can do it. I want to do it. I want to get a marking that is for just us. Something that signifies what we all mean to each other.” Briar told the men and reached for the soap. “Now, time to get me clean so that my Luhpyne can stop growling when he smells me.”
“I’ll growl even more once you’re clean.” He grinned at her.
“He wasn’t so much growling as sneering and trying not to sneeze,” Danel said, giving her a grin.
“Not helpful, asshole,” Byrne muttered.
“But honest.” He chuckled.
Briar really loved the way that these two men got along. She loved their witty play-by-play and wanted more of it. She wanted more of them. Period. “I think that I’m really going to love being mated to the two of you aren’t I? I think that it’s going to be a huge great time.” She whispered softly.
“We sure hope so,” Danel said with a grin. “And if not then obviously we’re not doing something right and will need to remedy it swiftly. Besides, our goal is to have you in such a sexual haze that you can’t remember your name even on good days.”
That had her shivering, and not from lack of heat either. “Oh my,” she whispered and then smiled. “I really, really like how that sounds. A lot. I think that we should do that. In fact, I know that we should do that. The thought of the two of you being with me, of being loved between the two of you for the rest of my days actually does all kinds of things to my body.” Things they could see, and smell, and not a single one was fear.
Byrne leaned into her and rubbed his nose to her neck before chuckling. “Uh-huh, she’s definitely liking the idea.” Sitting back, he pointed to the bar of soap. “Scrub, woman, and if you don’t we will and it won’t be nearly as much fun as what we have planned for after you are less smoke scented.”
She shivered and licked her lips. “How about you get my back for me then?” she asked and shifted slightly so that she could move to wash herself. It was tricky, and after a little bit Briar was laughing when she said, “We have got to get a bigger tub and a massive shower so that I can be sure to bathe and shower with you both when I want to.”
“The tub is plenty big enough,” Danel said, holding one of her legs. Mainly because she’d tried to unman him at least twice since she’d started washing. “There are no bigger tubs out there. They just don’t make them large enough for our people to cohabitate at the same time.�
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“Well, then we will have one made. It can’t be that hard, right? Besides, who knows, it might be something that catches on. All of you guys are huge, and to be able to share a bath with your mate and co-mate, well that would be worth it wouldn’t you think? I will do some research later. But that’s later. For now I think you should wash that leg you are holding,” Briar suggested.
Plucking the soap from her hand, Danel hefted it higher, bracing her foot to his shoulder so he could wash her leg very thoroughly. Easing it down into the water, he wiggled his fingers for the other one and gave it the same treatment. Then he tossed the soap bar to Byrne to do her back.
Once they had finished washing her body and with great care, her hair as well, Briar was hot and needy and ready to jump both of them. The damn men were teasing her. They would run their work-worn fingers over her nipples and cause her to moan, or they would brush against her bare mound and clit, only to pull back. “I’m ready to kill the two of you, just so you are aware. If you damn well don’t take me soon I might have to hurt you.”
All they did was chuckle, the deep sounds rubbing over her senses. Danel pulled the plug to start draining the tub before levering himself up and out. Holding out his hands, he helped her up and out. So did Byrne, with a well-placed hand on her ass.
Briar looked back at Byrne with a grin on her face. “Are you an ass man, Byrne?” She couldn’t help but tease him. She felt relaxed, comfortable, and safe, and those three things made her able to finally be herself again. To tease those she loved and cared for. To be able to smile again.
She squeaked when he squeezed her ass. “Ass, legs, breasts.” He grinned. He stood once she was out of the tub and stepped out next to her, accepting a towel that Danel tossed to him. “I’m not all that picky when it comes to your gorgeous self. But I will admit I want to take a bite out of that lush bottom of yours.”
