I fight to keep my mouth in a straight line as I cast a solemn glance at Poe. “Don’t cats hate water?”
He stares at me for a long moment before snorting. A grin curves his lips as he throws his shirt at my face. I dodge it easily as Bryn’s laugh fills the room.
Even though she’s fully disrobed before either of us, Bryn doesn’t get into the tub. Maybe it should feel weird when I pull off my boxer-briefs to reveal a semi in full view of another dude, but all I feel is a flush of pleasure at Bryn’s gaze on me. She motions for Poe and me to get into the tub first, and we each take one rounded end. I bend my legs, both wanting to make room for Bryn and not wanting to play footsies with the shifter.
Bryn presses a button, and jets begin shooting streams of water in all directions as she climbs into the center of the tub. She takes her time pulling her long, blonde hair into a messy knot on top of her head, securing it with an elastic band. Those glossy tresses are the exact shade of the silky curls at the apex of her thighs, and I find my gaze drawn to that spot. Was it really last night when I explored the tightness hidden there? In some ways, it feels like the whole thing happened years ago—but in others, it’s so fresh and visceral I can almost feel her pussy clamping down around my cock as we both hit our climax.
Just thinking about our time together is enough to get me from semi-hard to rock solid, and I’m thankful to the bubbling water for obscuring that fact from Bryn and Poe. Well, from Poe, anyway. Not that I think he’d notice. At the moment, he’s got eyes only for Bryn as his gaze grazes each of her curves in a way filled with longing.
Her hair secured, Bryn allows her arms to drop to her sides as she studies the tub. “This looked bigger from out there.”
I know what she means. Now that Poe and I occupy each end, there isn’t much room left for her. “I can get out,” I say, already planning how to hide my boner as I climb over the side.
“No, stay,” she insists. “I’ll come sit by you.”
Before I can react, she’s on the move. I want to object without rejecting her, but the words won’t formulate in my head. Before I can do anything, Bryn has her back to me and is straddling my thighs, resting on her knees. My dick nestles in the crack of her ass, but if she notices it, she doesn’t let on.
“See?” She pats my right hand as it grips the rim of the tub. “Now we all fit.”
Poe scrutinizes the scene unfolding before him. He catches my eye. “I’m more than a little surprised you stuck around. Figured you would’ve taken off around the same time I did.”
His resolute expression outside Elowen’s cabin flashes through my mind. Although he and I hadn’t talked extensively about it, we spoke briefly the night we returned to the cabin from the Temple of Theurgy. We both knew we were on borrowed time and would have to get back to our regular lives sooner rather than later.
“I did—later that day.” Admitting it cuts me deeply. I knew Bryn was vulnerable after Poe’s departure and Mona’s unexpected appearance, but I convinced myself that Taj and Calder could take care of her. In coming back, I’ve realized what a selfish move it was on my part.
Bryn squeezes my hand, and the simple gesture assuages a measure of my guilt. “Then he came back when he overheard something about Lillian and euphorium. He was going to leave again, so I offered to bind him. Then he’d have a year where he could do whatever he wanted.”
A shiver courses through me, despite the warmth of the water. I still can’t get over the simple beauty of her offer—and the fact that she never attached any strings. Unlike everyone else in my life, Bryn doesn’t want to control me; she wants me to live as I choose. It’s a debt I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to repay.
Poe’s eyebrows bunch. “But you aren’t bound. Your hair’s not silver.”
Bryn giggles, her body vibrating against mine. My cock twitches between her cheeks. “I tried to cast the spell, but his hair only flashed silver for a second. I thought I’d messed up, but Calder tried to, and it didn’t work at all.”
Poe shakes his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Bryn shrugs, rocking her hips ever so slightly backward to provide the barest hint of friction against my shaft. I grip the rim of the rub tighter to keep from grabbing onto her hips and directing her motion. I doubt she did it on purpose. It isn’t like she’d be trying to get me off here and now while carrying on a conversation with Poe.
Would she?
“It makes sense when you consider the fact that I’m Silas’ magical anchor,” Bryn says. “Just like I’m a focus for Taj and Calder. And you.”
She shifts again, and my eyes flutter closed as a wave of pleasure shoots through me.
“And I want to talk about that,” she continues, her voice not giving away for a moment that her ass is beginning to rock a gentle rhythm against my hips. “With me anchoring your magic, you should both be able to do things you couldn’t before. Poe, you’ll be able to keep a hold of yourself when you shift. But for as much energy as you take, you have to give back.”
Poe nods. “And by ‘give back,’ you mean…”
“ ‘Mutual physical contact.’ That’s what it said in the book Kari and I found at the Temple. It’s like a feedback loop. My magic anchors yours so you can access it more easily and do more with it, and in return, your magic ensures my body has enough energy to keep working. It turns out focusing someone else’s magic is really taxing to my system.”
I lean my head back and close my eyes, enjoying the mutual physical contact taking place beneath the churning waters. My earlier squeamishness about the three of us sharing the tub is forgotten.
“So,” Poe says, his voice barely carrying over the sound of the jets, “it’s sex, then. With all of us.”
Bryn stills on my lap, and my head jerks upward. Poe’s expression is unreadable. I don’t recall him having an issue with sex back at the temple, but maybe he expected things to go down differently than they have. At the time, I suppose there was an outside chance she would drop Calder and Taj—if indeed they woke up—and choose Poe over the two of them. But now, not only is it clear those guys aren’t going anywhere, but I’m part of the package. I wouldn’t blame him if it’s all too much.
“It doesn’t have to be,” Bryn says in a soft but matter-of-fact way that sends pride surging through me. I can’t imagine her sounding so sure when we first met. She was still at the whim of whatever life threw at her. But now, she’s taking charge of her own life, and the transformation couldn’t be sexier. “When you were hurt at the elders’ mansion, just touching Calder and Taj and Silas was enough to give me the energy I needed to help you heal. And if that’s all you want, then that’s what this will look like for us. But, to be clear, I want more than that. I want you, Poe. Every part of you.”
Her words should twist like a knife in my gut, but instead they fill me with warmth, as if she spoke them to me instead of him. In a flash, I understand how this unconventional arrangement will work. Until this moment, I didn’t really understand how Calder and Taj have been so accepting of each other—or me. But it isn’t about any one of us. If this is going to work, it has to be about all of us. We’re bound together as a unit. Bryn’s feelings for Poe aren’t a threat to how she feels about me—or either of the other guys. It’s an extension of the bond we all share.
Time seems to slow and I realize I’m anticipating what Poe will say as much as Bryn surely is. If all this is too much for him, he might walk away from it all.
After what feels like an eternity, he tilts his head, his gaze locked on Bryn’s face. “What part do you want first?”
Bryn pushes herself up onto her knees and shimmies along the tub’s length, using the sides to keep her balance. When she’s close enough, she leans forward and presses a long, deep kiss to his mouth. My balls clench at the sight, but not out of jealousy. It’s hot as hell watching her claim him so fully. Although I was the last of us to officially join our little group, Poe’s return makes our unit complete.
She pulls back, and a whimper of disappointment escapes Poe’s lips. But Bryn simply pats the tiled edge surrounding the tub. “Sit here.”
He blinks like he’s not sure he understood her. “Sit there?”
She lifts a shoulder. “You asked what part of you I wanted first. Sit here so I can have it.”
As if in a trance, Poe slowly rises from the water, his eyes not leaving Bryn’s face the whole time. By the time he’s perched on the edge of the basin, his erection is directly at her eye level. She braces her hands on his thighs before dipping forward and taking his head in her mouth.
“Fuck me,” Poe mutters as Bryn takes in his length inch by inch.
Maybe it should be weird watching my girlfriend go down on a guy who could barely stand to be in the same room with me just weeks ago, but somehow it’s the most natural thing in the world. As natural as my fingers curling around my own cock and rubbing it in a rhythm that matches Bryn’s.
But I’m not left on my own for long. After enjoying Poe for several long sucks, she swirls her tongue around his purple ridge before glancing over her shoulder. “Silas. I need you.”
My movements are less than elegant as I get my knees under me and shuffle to the other end of the tub. My dick aches with need as I draw near her, but I hesitate. I’m not entirely sure what she wants me to do. Her attention has returned to Poe’s throbbing member and one of his hands rests gently in the tangle of her hair.
“You heard our girl,” Poe says, his voice tight. “Get the fuck in there already.”
It’s all the invitation I need. Taking hold of Bryn’s hips, I guide my cock between her legs and along her slit, eliciting a muffled moan from her mouth. Adjusting my angle, I plunge into her hole, amazed by the way she feels from this angle. It takes a few thrusts before I find a pattern that works with her own movements against Poe, and when I do it’s like the whole world opens up in front of me. As incredible as my first time with Bryn was, somehow the addition of someone else is fucking transcendent. It’s like we’re tapped into something bigger than any one of us—something both primal and sacred.
Bryn’s heat sheaths me with every plunge inside, and the sensation pushes me closer and closer to the edge of ecstasy. And if Poe’s grunts and Bryn’s hums are any indication, the two of them aren’t too far away either.
When Bryn begins to buck against my hips, I grab hold of hers to keep her pace steady. Her response is to quicken her bobbing up and down Poe’s shaft. He moans, but when he lifts his gaze from watching her handiwork, his eyes lock on mine. An electric current seems to jolt between us, and I’m not so much turned on by staring at another guy when I’m about to lose a nut as I am excited by the prospect of finding my place in this world. My family.
Because although it doesn’t look like any other family I can think of, that’s exactly what our fivesome has become. And now that we’re all together, there’s no place I’d rather be.
With a strangled cry, Poe’s hips begin to jerk wildly. Bryn rubs his shaft while keeping her lips wrapped firmly around his head, taking everything he gives her. The sight is so fucking hot I can’t hold out any longer. My dick pulses as I shoot my own load into Bryn’s pussy. Slipping my hands from her hips, I find her breasts and squeeze her nipples. The pressure sets her over the edge and the smooth walls of her heat clamp down around my length as an incomprehensible cry tumbles from her mouth.
Poe has already slid back into the water by the time I pull out of Bryn and retreat to my own side of the tub to collapse. The jets have long since stopped churning the water, but I don’t care. Bryn snuggles against Poe’s chest.
I’m not sure how much time passes before the door opens and Calder and Taj enter the room. Their gazes sweep over the tub and our positions in it before identical smiles stretch their faces.
My post-orgasm haze is so strong I barely register when Bryn climbs out of the tub. The steady press of Poe’s foot against my shin assures me he’s just as contentedly out-of-it as I am.
It isn’t until that reassuring pressure disappears that I snap back to consciousness. Poe is out of the tub and toweling off, his eyes glued to the bed. It’s immediately clear what has his attention. Taj sits on the edge of the mattress facing the window beyond, a stack of pillows behind him. Clearly visible bobbing over his shoulder is Bryn, who faces the same direction.
The room’s lights are on, and anyone bothering to glance up at the hotel’s higher stories is sure to get an eyeful. Just the thought makes my dick twitch to life.
By the time I’m out of the tub, Poe is already en route to the bed. He settles on the mattress to Taj’s right and aims his mouth for Bryn’s nipple.
As I towel myself off, I can’t help wondering where Calder is in all of this. But my question is answered as soon as I approach the bed. While Bryn pistons herself up and down Taj’s shaft, Calder’s mouth is affixed to her clit. With each downward stroke, he comes dangerously close to Taj’s balls, but neither guy seems too stressed about it.
Poe is making a meal of Bryn’s right tit, and I focus in on her left. But before I can dip my head to take her nipple between my teeth, her hand grips my chin and pulls my face to hers. The kiss picks up in the middle, not wasting time on tentative exploration. Her palm presses against the back of my head, holding me in place as our mouths mesh with fevered intensity.
Then her hand wraps around my dick, which has gone from interested in these proceedings to fully invested. Her rhythm is uncoordinated as she tugs me off, but it doesn’t matter. With her mouth on mine and the wet sounds of sex and the moans and grunts from the others in the room, getting things perfect doesn’t matter. All I know is every experience with Bryn is somehow more powerful than the last.
She doesn’t break our kiss until an orgasm finally overtakes her. Her head lolls against Taj’s shoulder as the word yes erupts from her mouth again and again. Then his hips begin to jerk beneath her and his hands guide her hips in the rhythm he requires. Bryn’s pull on my cock becomes sporadic, but when Poe pulls back from her nipple and I realize her other hand is at work against his length, the same sense of camaraderie that overtook me earlier jolts through me until I rush headlong over the edge to a second orgasm of my own. I’m just glad I had the foresight to bring my towel with me to the bed as my seed begins spilling onto it.
When the last tremors of pleasure have passed, the five of us collapse onto the bed. It occurs to me that someone should probably shut off the lights, but no one seems to care enough to do it. For my part, as Bryn cuddles onto the mattress beside me, there’s nothing in this world that could convince me to stir from this perfect moment.
Chapter Nineteen
Bryn
When I wake the next morning, my body is still humming with pleasure. Taj’s strong arms circle my waist from behind, while my head is pillowed on Silas’ shoulder. My own arm stretches across Silas’ muscled chest so my hand rests on Poe’s back as he lays face-down, gently snoring into his pillow. I can hear Calder’s even breaths behind me, putting him on Taj’s other side.
I’m not surprised that Calder and Taj are beside each other. The three of us have been sharing a bed for what feels like forever, and I know they’ve gotten used to brushing up against each other in the night—even when they were able to sleep on either side of me. But the fact that Poe and Silas are side-by-side, with Silas’ shoulder on Poe’s elbow, their bare thighs pressed together, fills me with an inexpressible joy. It was no secret these two didn’t like each other when we were all first thrown together. But that’s changed now. Everything has. A cocoon of peace spreads over me, suspending this moment in time. I don’t know the details of my future, but I don’t need to. As long as I have these four amazing men beside me, I’m where I’m supposed to be.
I’m so warm and cozy, there’s nothing I’d like more than to stay like this forever. But my bladder has other plans, so I gently lift Taj’s arm from around my waist. I slip carefully out of bed, doing my best not to wake any of the guys. When
I slide off the edge of the mattress, I can’t help looking back at my men as they continue to snooze. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of waking up this way.
After using the toilet, I briefly consider taking a quick shower. But even though the bathroom door closes, there’s too big a risk I’ll wake everyone, and with everything we’ve been through in the last few days, I want them to be able to sleep as much as possible. Instead, I settle for washing my hands under the smallest, quietest stream of water I can coax from the tap of the sink inconveniently located within the room itself.
As the water and bubbles glide over my hands, I gaze at my reflection in the mirror. With all that’s happened since my escape from Mona’s compound, I haven’t had much time to take in my appearance, and for a moment I hardly recognize myself. The last time I took a few moments to really study my reflection was the night of my escape at the small bed-and-breakfast Silas compelled the proprietor to allow us to stay at. The girl who stares back at me now has the same wild blonde hair—this time, mussed by sex and sleep instead of a frantic escape through the forest. Whereas I recall my cheeks having a hollowness to them, the last few weeks of eating as much as I want whenever I want has filled my face out, making me look older and stronger.
As I turn off the water, a knock on the door makes me yelp in surprise. Poe is on his feet in a flash, his muscles taut and ready for action. Calder bolts upright as Taj swats sleepily at him. Silas groans, “Go away.”
“Who’s that?” Poe’s voice is low, but it carries easily across the room.
“Maybe housekeeping,” Calder offers. “I doubt it’s one of Lillian’s minions come to drag us away. Bad guys don’t usually have the courtesy to knock.”
“You’d be surprised,” Poe mutters darkly.
Shaking my head, I start for the door.
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