by Maya Banks
“You are one of us,” the tiger said, startling Damiano. “Why do you fight us so?”
“Our brother,” the eagle cried.
“No,” Damiano whispered. “I’m just a man.”
The tiger tossed his head. “You are flesh, but your spirit cannot be confined to your human form. Free yourself as you have freed me.”
Damiano shook his head. Sweat beaded his forehead as he struggled with invisible bonds.
“Damiano. Damiano! Wake up.”
He heard Marcus’s voice from a distance. He stared back at the assembled animals. One by one, they disappeared until only the eagle and the tiger remained. Then the eagle took flight, circled once overheard and disappeared into the clouds.
Embrace us.
Damiano’s eyes flew open as his body jerked to awareness. Marcus knelt over him, his brow creased with concern.
“Are you all right? Do you need another injection?”
“No,” he croaked.
Slowly he sat up with Marcus’s assistance.
“What happened, D?”
Damiano shook his head. The images so vivid before now blurred into a mass of confusion.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “God, I don’t know.”
Marcus put his hand on Damiano’s shoulder and squeezed. “You’re going to be okay. We’re going to beat this. You have to believe that.”
He looked up into Marcus’s eyes, and for the first time let all the doubts and fears flood him. Before he’d kept a positive attitude, more for Ty than for himself. But she wasn’t here. He was alone, and there was no reason to keep living a lie.
“I’m not okay, Marcus. I’ll never be okay. What are we trying to do here? How is any of this going to change what I’ve become? Am I looking at spending the rest of my life anticipating the next time someone sticks a needle in my arm? Will I have to forever separate myself from the people I love for fear that I might kill them?”
Marcus blew out his breath and let his hand fall from Damiano’s shoulder. “You can beat this, D. I believe that, and you have to believe it or you’re going to lose. That’s all I can offer you. Tyana believes in you and so do your brothers. Don’t let them down by giving up. Don’t let yourself down.”
Damiano reached for Marcus’s hand and grasped it tightly. “I don’t know that I’ve ever thanked you for everything you’ve done for me and Ty.”
“Falcon saved me,” he said simply. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to repay that debt.”
Damiano shook his head. “You’re family now. There are no debts among family.”
A sound outside the small room had Marcus turning his head. He got awkwardly to his feet and extended a hand down to Damiano. “That’ll be Nali. Come, and I’ll introduce you.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Her stomach growled, and she remembered breakfast had been forgotten. And now it was well past lunch as well. Katie got out of bed and hurriedly dressed. When she stuck her head into the living room, she found it empty.
Distant noise from the kitchen told her where they were, and she headed in that direction. She rounded the corner and found both men in the process of making lunch.
“Hey, there she is,” Braden said when he looked up. “We wondered if you’d slipped into a coma.”
She grinned and leaned against the cabinets close to the stove.
Ian walked over to her and pressed inward, crowding her with his big body. He bent to kiss her. “You okay?” he asked, his eyes bright with concern.
She reached up to touch his face, her fingers trailing down the slight stubble at his jaw. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been better.”
“I’m glad,” he said simply.
“Have a seat,” Braden called. “I’m about to dish it up.”
Ian kissed her quickly again before backing away so she could go to the table. Braden’s gaze followed her as she slid into her seat, and she smiled up at him, allowing the full force of her contentment to shine through. A dimpled grin was her reward as he ambled over, skillet in hand to scoop out her omelet onto her plate.
Not to be outdone by his older brother, evidently, he cupped her chin with his free hand and gave her a lingering kiss. She savored it, his taste and the heated feel of his lips over hers. It was a possessive kiss, one meant to remind her of his ownership of her body.
As much as she should have balked at such a notion, she couldn’t help but enjoy a delicious shiver.
“You’re ours, Katie,” he murmured as he released her mouth. “Whatever you’re thinking or feeling, you remember that fact.”
A flutter started deep in her stomach. She loved that they were so possessive, and she loved it even more that they didn’t treat her like a piece of glass. Sex with them had been volatile. Edgy and rough. They’d treated her like an equal.
Braden returned to the stove while Katie dug into her food. Moments later, both men joined her with their own plates.
“How is your wound?” Ian asked between bites.
Both were looking at her like they’d prefer to have her for lunch. Her cheeks went warm, and a flush worked over her body at the blatant sensuality in their stares.
“It’s fine,” she said. It was a lie. It ached like a bitch, but there was no way in hell she was telling them that. Not when the promise of more really scorching sex reflected in their emerald stares.
“I’ll have a look at it after you finish eating,” Ian said in a tone that suggested he’d be looking at a whole lot more.
She slid the last bite over her tongue, letting the tines linger at the tip. The bitch of it was, she could really get used to being taken care of by these two men. As much as Gabe had taught her never to rely on anyone but herself, surrendering her wellbeing to Ian and Braden was so potently tempting that she’d begun to fantasize about it in her waking hours.
And that sort of fanciful mess was what had gotten her into trouble with Paulo and Ricardo. Because at the heart of her abrasive, bitch-on-wheels attitude was a woman who wanted to be loved and cared for. Apparently she was like every other woman out there, and quite frankly, it pissed her off that she couldn’t be smarter than that.
“Don’t you know that sex should never be analyzed, only enjoyed?” Braden drawled.
She jerked her gaze to him to find him watching her, analyzing her. Then she smiled ruefully. “Busted.”
“I love an honest woman,” he said with a grin.
“I don’t like an overly analytical one,” Ian said in amusement. “Kind of takes the fun out of really good sex.”
“Make you a deal. You don’t analyze me and I won’t analyze sex,” she said evenly.
“Deal,” Braden said. “I think we should shake on it in the bedroom.”
She stood and pushed back her plate. Resting her palms on the table, she leaned forward, letting her gaze slide suggestively over the two men. “Last one there is a rotten egg.”
She turned away, even as the scrape of chair legs over the wood floor echoed across the room. With a laugh, she bolted into a run only to be overtaken in two steps.
Oh, she loved it that they weren’t all careful and cautious with her. Ian yanked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. She looked up to see Braden following, his hands unfastening his jeans with every step.
She landed on the bed with a thump, her back meeting the still-tangled covers from earlier. Both men loomed over her in various degrees of undress.
“How rough do you want it?” Ian rasped as he pulled at his shirt.
“As rough as you can make it.”
Braden crawled onto the bed, his erection heavy and swaying between his legs as he made his way up her body. “We like it rough, Katie. Not some fake, half-ass crap. Be damn sure you know what you’re in for.”
“Haven’t we had this conversation already?” she asked in exasperation.
In response, he yanked her pants down, mounted her and stroked deep. Her breath caught in her throat. She tried to move her legs, but her pant
s were bunched around her ankles. God, she was full, stretched so tight around him that every nerve ending in her pussy pulsed and vibrated around his thick cock.
Ian pulled at her pants and underwear, tossing them aside as her legs came free. Braden tugged at her shirt, impatient as her breasts bobbed into view. Still embedded deep, he lowered his head and nipped sharply at the puckered tips of her breasts.
Then he reared back, nearly sliding free before ramming forward again. She groaned, part in pain, part in delicious ecstasy.
“Hurt?” he asked with a grin.
“Yes,” she whimpered.
“Good,” he said as he captured her mouth.
Then he wrenched free and climbed upward, positioning his knees on either side of her breasts. His cock touched her chin, and he reached behind her head to grasp her hair.
His fingers tightened painfully as he yanked her forward to meet his thrust. “Suck me,” he said. “Open that pretty mouth and take me deep.”
Just as he thrust, hitting the soft tissues at the back of her throat, her legs were spread wide again and Ian mounted her. Both men rode her body, rocking back and forth, their cocks penetrating with ease.
They weren’t easy. They weren’t gentle. They took. She didn’t offer her surrender, they demanded it.
Braden’s fingers relaxed and gentled in her hair as he leaned forward and held himself for a long moment. She opened, accepting, trusting that he wouldn’t stay too long, cutting off her air supply.
“Open wide,” he said in a strained voice. “Just open and let me fuck your mouth, baby. I want all of it.”
She tilted her head back as much as his grip would allow and relaxed, letting him take control. He arched over her, positioning himself above so that he had leverage and power.
And then he started fucking her without mercy. Relentless. Ian paused, deep in her pussy, and she knew he watched as Braden brutally fucked her mouth.
Her body hummed in response to the erotic position, her underneath him, so submissive, so powerless. Her breasts swelled and her pussy tightened around Ian’s cock. She wanted him to move so badly. She’d come with the slightest touch. But he held still as Braden owned her mouth.
Then his hand came down and he slipped free of her lips. “Keep it open,” he rasped. He jerked frantically at his cock, the tip bouncing off her tongue.
Hot liquid surged, splattering across her lips. Then he sank deep as more come, hot and salty, flooded her mouth. He arched his hips, fucking her with ease as he forced his creamy release past her tongue and into her throat.
“Oh, fuck yeah,” he breathed. “Taste it. Take it all.”
As he slowed, he continued long, slow strokes, dragging his cock over her tongue. “Lick it,” he whispered. “Clean it off me, baby.”
She sucked at his length, tasting the tangy drops as she licked them from his skin. She took him all, his balls resting softly against her chin as he held himself there for a long moment. Then he withdrew and rolled away, leaving her panting for breath—and want. She was so close and she needed release.
She found herself staring back at Ian who was still lodged in her pussy. His eyes glittered with savage intensity, enough that she realized whatever Braden had just done to her was going to pale in comparison.
“Be sure this is what you want,” he said in a voice that sent shivers cascading over her entire body. Before, Braden had always been the one she feared while Ian was the one she drew comfort from, the one more likely to take care of her and worry over hurting her.
She swallowed nervously, but she was excited. God, she was so excited. She was going to orgasm just from the thought of what he’d do.
He pulled out of her and got off the bed to stand at the foot. He studied her with hard eyes. Goose bumps puckered and spilled over her. She swallowed again.
“Come here,” he ordered.
Without thought, she obeyed, coming to her knees and crawling to the end of the bed.
“Clean me,” he said. “Taste yourself and lick me clean.”
She allowed him to cup her head and guide himself into her mouth. Her taste exploded on her tongue, creamy and slightly sweet. Not as tangy as Braden had tasted.
For a moment she sucked and licked as he thrust forcefully into her throat. Then he pulled away and gripped her shoulders.
“Turn around,” he ordered.
She complied, her knees shaking as they dug into the mattress. He gathered her hands in his and tugged until they were behind her back, resting just above her ass. Then he pulled upward, linking his fingers with hers just as he rammed into her pussy, forcing her forward.
Braden was there to catch her. He placed his body in front of hers, blocking her so that she didn’t fall to the mattress. He was semi-hard, and he wasted no time fitting himself to her mouth again.
Fucked from both ends. Two huge cocks dove deep into her body, stretching her mouth and her pussy. Ian held her arms tightly behind her as his hips slapped against her ass. He yanked out of her, his body quivering as he sucked in deep breaths. “I want her ass,” he demanded over her head to Braden.
Braden slipped from her mouth and got off the bed. In the distance, she heard the crackle of wrappers. Braden crawled back onto the bed, lying flat on his back.
“Ride me, Katie.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She climbed over Braden’s legs and eagerly sheathed herself on his latex-covered cock. They both groaned as she sank down. It was too much. He was too big. God, he felt good.
Firm hands gripped her hips then slid over her ass, impatiently spreading the globes. Ian’s huge dick prodded her back entrance, and she gasped as he tucked himself against her. There was no lubrication this time. Her body tightened in anticipation even as she braced herself for the pain. Oh God, the imminent pleasure.
She started shuddering as the first waves of her orgasm rolled over her, and he hadn’t even gotten inside yet.
“Slow down, baby,” Ian murmured in her ear. “Make it last.”
She took several steadying breaths as she fought the breaking wave. Her body heaved, and Braden stilled for a moment as he let her come down slightly.
Then Ian’s hand twisted tightly in her hair, and without warning, he thrust past the tight ring of her anus, seating himself deep in her bowels.
She screamed as her body bowed forward, and the orgasm she’d so desperately fought exploded with the force of an atomic bomb. Braden surged. Both men were buried so deep in the most sensitive parts of her body.
She sobbed desperately, begging them to stop, not to stop, to move, to fuck her, to hurt her. She writhed uncontrollably, her body on fire as they slammed in unison.
Braden reached up and twisted her nipples, plucking the stiff tips with enough pressure to cause a wave of pain and exquisite, numbing pleasure to throb through her veins.
Instead of subsiding, instead of the orgasm breaking sharp and gradually lessening, the men drove her higher. The sensation of both their cocks, rubbing against the thin separation between her pussy and anus, stroking and fucking with no mercy, merely sent her higher, the pleasure sharper, the pain wonderfully excruciating.
Her only regret was that they both wore condoms, and she wanted to feel their release, wanted their come deep and hot in her body.
As if reading her mind, Ian pulled out, and suddenly come splattered her back and ass. He’d torn off the condom and come on her body.
With a moan, she looked down at Braden. “You too,” she whispered. “All over me. Please.”
Braden surged up, holding her against him. They slid from the bed until her feet hit the floor.
“On your knees,” he ordered.
She fell to her knees as he yanked at the condom and tossed it across the room. No sooner was it off than he grabbed clumsily at her jaw, squeezing it in his hand and then plunging deep into her mouth with his dick.
For several long seconds, he thrust fiercely and then he pulled out. The first rope of come landed across her
cheek. She closed her eyes as more coated her breasts and then her lips.
The tip brushed over her mouth, pushing incessantly until she opened and he slid back in. He thrust forward, rocking up on his heels, burying himself and then stilling as the last of his release quivered over her tongue.
She knelt there, sucking in air through flared nostrils. Come coated her front and back. She felt exotic, beautiful and desirable. She felt powerful in a way she’d never experienced. Not even with Paulo in the early days. Utterly feminine. Wanted.
As Braden eased from her mouth, she turned her gaze upward. Ian moved into view, his heavy cock dangling. She reached out to touch him and then Braden, cupping them both in her palms. Ian moved forward, giving her easier access, and she had both men in front of her.
Gently she stroked, loving the softness over the turgid steel of their shafts. Her fingers traveled up to fondle their balls. She loved the supple give, the silky, pliable pouch that responded to her every touch.
“We want to taste you now,” Braden said in a husky voice. “Every inch.”
She took her hands from their cocks and slowly cupped her palms over the wetness that streaked her body.
Their eyes followed her every movement. Their dicks came to life at the erotic sight of her rubbing their thick cream into her skin.
She cupped her breasts and circled her nipples then coated the tips until they shone.
Ian groaned and lifted her up.
“Shower?” she asked innocently. “As much as I want you to lick every part of me, I doubt you’re interested in tasting your come.”
Braden laughed. “You got that right, sister. It’s fun to play with, but I draw the line at consumption.”
“Who gets to bathe me? I feel rather weak. I’m not sure I can stand in the shower.”
