by A. K. Koonce
I roll the blade in my hand, the dim lighting streaking across the glittering shine of it. Ryder’s strong legs shift awkwardly and he puts his hand over his crotch.
“Fucking be careful next time.”
“Next time I what?” I take a step closer to him, leaning down until I’m eye level. “You don’t have to worry. I’ll never be that close to your dick ever again.” My skirt drifts across his dirty boots as I saunter past him without looking back.
It’s then that I see how terrible the four of us are together. One of us might kill the other before we ever reach our destination.
Chapter Nine
The Middle
Soft moans drift through the house like a mortifying, orgasmic ghost haunting my thoughts.
“Stay the night,” my aunt pleads. “I worry about you, especially at night. Leave in the morning.” She holds out two keys in her palm for us.
She’s trying to get me to stay; not just for the night, but forever. I could never stay here. I left for a reason. Deep down inside I’m terrified of staying here. I know if I stay I’d be too proud to find a man to depend on. I’d try to make my own way in life. I’d turn out just like Ivory. She’s a role model to me. The only one I have really. But she has no idea what love is. In her mind, sex and love are one and the same.
Though I’ll never admit it, I want love. I want the fairytale.
I want more from life.
I shake my head at her just as Ryder takes the keys from her hand.
“Thanks. I think we all need some sleep.” He doesn’t look at me. He hasn’t once since our little episode on the porch.
A beaming smile is all she gives me as I pass.
“It’s the last two doors on the right. Goodnight, Kara.” Her words have a hint of amusement in them that have me doubting every step I take.
The sounds of pleasure vibrate though the walls, sending a nervous energy clawing through me. Ryder holds out his hand and Darrio scoops up one of the small silver keys. He makes his way to the top of the stairs first and goes to the last door on the right. The key slides in with ease and he swings it open quickly.
The three of us are just behind Darrio when he walks inside and shuts the door behind him with a deliberate clicking sound.
A locking sound.
“Guess it’s just the three of us.” Daxdyn winks at me, and I repay the playful look with a glare that makes the smirk on his face quickly disappear.
My clothes sit on a small table between the two bedrooms. They’re neatly folded and appear to be freshly washed.
Ryder opens our door as I gather up my clothes. We walk inside to find the real meaning behind my aunts taunting words.
One. Fucking. Bed.
There’s only one bed set delicately against the far wall.
“I call ‘not it’ for middle,” Ryder says so quickly I barely grasp the meaning.
“What?” Then it hits me.
“Not it,” Daxdyn and I both chime at once.
We stare at one another in a childish stand-off.
“Why would I sleep in the middle?” He smirks down at me. His smile makes my stomach knot peculiarly. But, in this moment, I also want to rip that smile right off his sneering face.
“And why the hell would I take the middle?”
“Well,” he says as if he’s prepared to make an epic presentation of an argument.
He tilts his head back and forth his hands gesturing from Ryder to himself to me. He doesn’t say a word as if I’ll just fill in the blanks with his ridiculous game of charades.
“Because I’m a girl?”
“Exactly.”
“No.”
“No?” he repeats as if it’s a question.
“That is an invalid argument. I’m going to need you to do better.”
He looks to the ceiling as if he’s really trying.
“I’ll rock, paper, scissors you for it.” His eyes hold mischief in them as if he’s already won. As if I’m already pressed between the two beautiful men.
Ryder stands near the bathroom, his arms folded across his wide chest as he watches the two of us squabble over the middle.
“Fine.”
“Or, if you wanted, you could always go ask Darrio to share his bed.”
I would bet my life that there’s only one bed in that room as well. And that bed would be even smaller with Darrio and his overbearing anger.
“I’ll take my chances here.”
His smile flashes larger. “I think you two are too much alike.”
The words crash into me hard.
I’m nothing like Darrio.
“Stop stalling,” I say sharply.
Sitting my clothes down in a chair, we step a little closer to one another and hold our fists over our other palm. Our fists shake once, twice, three times and …
“Scissors beats paper.” I hold my mock scissors up for him to see that I’ve won.
“How the hell did she beat you?” Ryder asks from his place a few feet away.
My brows pull together. Daxdyn’s mouth falls open as he stares at me as if I’ve just done a form of black magic his fae people have never seen before.
“I’m going to change and when I come out please make sure my side of the bed is spacious enough for me.” I all but stick my tongue out at Daxdyn before sauntering away.
The door clicks closed behind me and I twist the silver lock into place. Their whispers filter into the small bathroom as I push the heavy dress from my body and step back into my worn jeans and vest.
The bathroom is a gleaming white color with dim lighting. I take my time washing my face and hands as I listen to them for a few moments.
“Did you let her win?” Ryder asks in a hushed tone.
He truly sounds astounded that I won the simple game.
“Why would I let her win? You think I want to be pressed against your dick all night?” A smirk touches my lips at the image he’s painting. “I don’t know. I guess I just wasn’t focusing well enough.”
“She distracting you?”
“What? No.” Daxdyn’s dismissal nearly makes me scoff as I lean into the smooth hardwood door.
“Good. We don’t need any distractions. She’s just our guide. We need her. Don’t screw it up.” And on and on Ryder’s lecture goes until I finally swing open the door.
Their words halt the moment I walk through the room. They’ve stripped down to their boxers but I don’t give them a second glance as I slip beneath the cool covers.
The lights flicker off and I feel the mattress dip as one of them climbs into bed. I face the window, watching the white light of the full moon filter into the dark room. Daxdyn’s leg brushes mine as he settles in at my side. Another jostling of the bed tells me Ryder has also joined us.
A smile touches my lips. Never in my life did I think I’d be sharing a bed with two beautiful fae. I guess if I did imagine it, it’d be a little more … dirty? Yes, definitely dirtier.
The bed is the softest thing I’ve slept on in years. It welcomes me, pulls me into it and demands that I sleep soundly.
Moments pass, my eyes closing heavily. The sound of light, content snores fill the room. I’m going to sleep well tonight, I can feel it.
“Trade me places.”
My jaw clenches at the sound of the harsh whisper. My eyes peel slowly open.
Daxdyn is one of those men who are referred to as ‘man-child’, I’m sure of it.
“Go to sleep, Daxdyn.” The whisper is clipped. Closed argument.
He squirms against me, his hard body skimming against my soft curves.
“Ryder’s breath keeps brushing my neck. How am I supposed to sleep like this?”
A smile tilts my lips and finally I roll until we’re face to face.
A subtle hint of a point tips the tops of his ears and I wonder if they all hold that small, telling trait.
It’s unfair how attractive Daxdyn is. The white light kisses his already pale chest, making him appear porcelain and
perfect. His smooth features might never age for all I know.
I physically want to give him everything his shallow heart desires. But I shove that feeling down.
“Just imagine what will be brushing against you tomorrow morning.” I say the words slowly and carefully to him.
Silence passes between us before his eyes widen with horror. I wonder if he’s imagining Ryder’s erection with as much detail as I am.
“Trade me places, please, Kara.” Secretly I love the way he says my name. The hard ‘k’ sound is followed by a breathy tone that makes my thighs clench together.
I bat my lashes as I pretend to consider his plea. Several seconds pass during my consideration.
“No.”
He bites his lower lip slowly and my attention falls to his mouth.
Daxdyn is good at playing with his looks to get his way. But what he says next isn’t a game at all.
“I’m not one for blackmail, but I just want you to know,” his gray eyes bore into me, “I didn’t tell the others.” The seriousness that fills his face sinks into me. Weighing me down with dread.
“Tell them what?”
“That I felt the mark of the Hopeless on the inside of your wrist today.” His steady words take aim, and they obliterate the terrified pounding of my heart into sinking pieces that now lay heavily in the bottom of my stomach.
“I wasn’t sure until I tried to press my way into your mind to win our little game. I couldn’t do it. If you really were a simple human, I could have forced my way in to see all your hopes and desires.” I’m breathing hard and I can’t think of a thing to say to get out of this. “Why are you hiding it? You could have told us of all people.”
My knee’s pull up to my chest and my arms wrap around them instinctively. The memories of my father’s death drill through my mind.
“He died.” My voice cracks and I swallow the weak sound down before I speak again. “My father died in the city of Juvar. My markings didn’t come until I was sixteen. The markings came during the king’s funeral.” My voice lowers even more as I speak about the king that I know is Ryder’s father. “Everyone in the kingdom came. For miles and miles, people grieved their one true king. The markings slashed into my body so hard I fell to my knees with pain. I fell right in front of the queen. She was the first to see them and she demanded I be detained.”
The feelings tumble through my chest, building there until I can barely breath. Fae are rare in this world, nonexistent really, and the Hopeless are all but a myth now. His step mother wasn’t about to lose a possible fae.
“My father fought the soldiers off the best he could and I ran. I should have helped him.” The tiny sound of my voice makes me sick.
“Nothing good would have come of you fighting them. They would have locked you away just like they did us.”
“She killed him.” I clench my eyes tightly closed as the image of her knife sinking into his stomach fills my mind. “She killed him because of me.”
A warm hand skims up my arm. Daxdyn brushes his palm back and forth against my flesh. A tingling feeling pushes into me. It’s an unnatural feeling that makes me want to sink into him and let him surround me.
“Is that your magic?”
My damp eyes open to him and he nods.
“I’m better at emotions than the others. Every fae is different. I hold the power of empathy. I can feel and manipulate emotions.”
“Isn’t that awful? Feeling everyone’s emotions?”
“When someone’s sad, it’s a crushing feeling. It jars through me with more energy than I’m ready for. Most of the time, I don’t truly have emotions of my own.” Pity sinks low into my stomach from his words. “But occasionally,” his finger trails down my arm, sending a shiver right through me, “occasionally their emotions sync up with mine. It’s a euphoric feeling. A sensuous feeling.”
A swirling energy begins to flutter at my core.
“And Darrio?”
His eyes close slowly as if it pains him to even think about it.
“Don’t even get me started on Darrio. Rage and magic aren’t a good mix. He’s a fire fae, mostly. He isn’t a bad guy.” A pointed look is all I give him. “He’s just … an unintentional asshole.”
Laughter shakes through me.
An unintentional asshole.
How fitting.
I smile at him and his warm palm skims up my shoulder until his hand is pushing the long blonde strands of hair back from my face. A different feeling begins to sink into my heart and I wonder if it’s my own feeling or if it’s something Daxdyn is gifting to me.
“Come to the Hopeless realm with us, Kara. It’s right by Juvar.” His whispered plea makes my knee’s knock together.
He’s wrong, though. The marking isn’t the same. Similar, but not the same. I’ve studied the markings on my arms for years. They aren’t the same as the mark of the Hopeless.
The mark of the Hopeless is several black, angled lines pointing like an arrow to the wrist.
Mine’s … different. I’m not fae. I’m just scarred.
The only power I hold is my ability to survive. And to piss Darrio Riles off without even trying.
Long ago, this little town, New Haven, was named after its ports along the coast. ‘Haven’ for harbor. But there’s more to it than that, I can feel it. It truly is a haven for me. There’s a safety this village brings me, the likes of which I never felt on the island of Juvar.
My stomach sinks low. I can never return to Juvar. Therefore, I’ll never find the Hopeless realm, even if I am fae like he says.
“Trade me places already,” I tell him, changing the subject swiftly.
For a moment, he only studies me before slowly nodding. His light eyes hold something in them. Something burning. It’s as if he’s dying to say more but he won’t.
The blankets shift as he lifts himself. He turns until he’s above me, his strong arms caging me in beneath his lithe body. I roll to my back, ready to scoot to the dreaded middle.
Ever so slowly he licks his lips as he lowers his hips between mine. The spark in his eyes captivates me, stealing my breath away as my heart quickens its pace.
I like the way he feels against me. I like the way he’s looking at me. And if I’m being honest, I like Daxdyn.
But, as Ryder said, I’m just their guide. If he was smart, he’d listen to Ryder. If he was smart, he’d run far, far away from me. Nothing good ever follows me, and nothing good could come from our friendship.
His hips settle more, a slow shifting of his body against mine. My eyes close as my lips part. Hard muscle presses against the curve of my breasts as I push myself up. His jaw skims my lips and, ever so quietly, I whisper against his neck, snapping his hopes in half with my words.
“That’s not going to happen, Daxdyn,” I force myself to say.
He breathes out a laugh and he lowers himself, dragging his hard body against me. Gently he places a kiss to my forehead and my eyes close. Then he’s pulling back and, before I know it, he’s resting at my side.
And just like I said I wouldn’t be, I’m pressed comfortably between the two beautiful fae.
Chapter Ten
A Good Day
Morning comes too soon. I feel burdened and free all at once. Strong arms are wrapped around me. It isn’t until my eyes flutter open that I realize they’re both Daxdyn’s and Ryder’s.
My head lies in the crook of Daxdyn’s arm and his hand is tangled into my hair. His other hand rests on my arm, holding me to his smooth chest. Another hand is slipped across my side from behind and it’s pressed flat against my lower abdomen.
A tingling feeling spreads all through me, settling restlessly in my stomach.
And where are my hands?
One is held against my own chest. That one’s the good one; the well-behaved one. The other traitorous and wandering hand lies half beneath the band of Daxdyn’s boxers and half out.
The fingertips of my left hand are dangerously close to the har
d bulge straining against the black material of his underwear.
Heat pools between my legs as I consider skimming my index finger along his length. The covers shift behind me and I realize Thing One isn’t the only cock I’m entirely too close to.
Thing Two snuggles into me and the moment he moves the shifting begins. His hips are pressed so tightly against my lower back my legs actually shake.
I can’t really be judging Thing One and Thing Two though. My own hips are pressed against Daxdyn’s side, my leg thrown over his. I’m wound around him, and Ryder’s wound around me.
It feels … nice.
Carefully, and a little regretfully, I pull my hand from beneath the elastic. I take my time running my fingertips up the etched lines of his fantastic chest. Slowly, I detour back down his smooth body. When his head tips back with a quiet moan I decide I should probably stop pawing all over Daxdyn Riles like he’s my own personal toy.
It takes several minutes, but I carefully unwind our limbs from each other and slip away from the most peaceful sleep I’ve had in five years.
I stare down at them from the foot of the bed and a smile rests against my lips. In my absence, Ryder has shifted closer to Daxdyn. His hand lays on Daxdyn’s smooth stomach the same way it did mine. Daxdyn cradles Ryder’s head with one hand and rests his other palm on Ryder’s upper bicep.
My brows raise wondering just how close the two of them might really get. Instead of allowing them some privacy, I take a seat near the door and get comfortable for the show that is bound to break out at any moment.
I’m just throwing my leg over the side of the chair and slouching down when the door swings open.
A sharp pang jars through my stomach. I didn’t lock the door last night.
They distracted me so much that I never locked the door behind us.
And yet, I slept peacefully.
Darrio’s hard gaze softens as his brows raise. He looks from his friends and then, slowly, his attention pulls to me.
“I was only in the way,” I say, shrugging my shoulders at his incredulous look.
His eyes drop to the hard erections both men are sporting and he takes an intentional step back from them. He stands more in the hall now than in the room itself.
