by Lexi C. Foss
Silence fell, all of us consuming that information in our own ways.
I already suspected most of this, had dreamt of many different instances that just felt too real to be fantasy. Aflora detonating… then nothing.
“You never let her finish,” I realized out loud. “That’s why there’s no end.”
“Not exactly,” he replied. “I… I watched her lose herself… and I saw what it would do to her in the end. All those lives taken and destroyed, by her hand…”
“She destroyed herself afterward,” I said, swallowing thickly. “That’s what you foresaw.” Or perhaps not him, but Zen.
He dipped his chin once, confirming. “Every time.”
“I would never… I could never…” Aflora shook her head, looking between us all. “Don’t ever let me do that.”
“We stopped you tonight,” I reminded her. “Which I’m guessing has never happened before.”
“The catalyst for her eruption changed,” Shade said. “Constantine has always found a way to provoke her, but he’s never used Kols.”
“Because Kolstov always sided with Constantine,” I translated.
“Yes,” Shade replied.
Kolstov shook his head adamantly. “I would never side with him.”
“You have and did,” Shade assured him. “Several times. Zeph, too.”
“Bullshit,” Zephyrus retorted.
Shade sighed. “She severed the bonds. Which took a great deal of power. And the experience changed us all in varying ways.”
“Because severing bonds requires sacrifice,” I said, something my father had to know yet never told me. However, it made sense to me now. “It’s soul magic. Undoing it…”
“Hurts,” Shade finished for me. “It hurts. A lot. Which you already know.”
“I never unraveled our bond.”
“But you built a cage around it and blocked yourselves from feeling it,” he replied. “You know what it takes and what it can do.”
I stared at him for a long moment, slowly understanding his statement. “It changes you,” I said, repeating what he’d already said. “Makes you not recognize who you used to be.”
All these years, I thought it was my father’s training that had altered me on a fundamental level. But that wasn’t it at all.
Closing off our link, ignoring half of my spirit, was what morphed me into a darker person with a desire for vengeance. Experience helped, too, but it went so much deeper than that.
“It’s like killing off half of your soul,” I breathed.
“Exactly,” Shade replied. “And it took me far too long to realize that. But when you alter fate in such a way, you’re burdened with a price.”
“Kolstov,” I said.
“Kolstov,” he agreed, gazing down at the male in question. “However, I wasn’t willing to pay that price. So I bit you and worked with Tadmir to come up with a plan that would save your life. And it worked.”
“Which means we’ve altered another strand of fate,” I murmured, my eyes narrowing. “What path are we on now?”
“One that has yet to be written,” Shade replied, his voice thick with emotion. “One we can never go back from.”
Because it would jeopardize everything we’d just sacrificed for Kolstov.
Another bout of silence fell, the four of us kneeling on the floor around Kolstov’s prone form. I squeezed Aflora’s side, my arm still around her lower back.
She glanced up at me and then at each of her mates, her cerulean gaze alight with renewed power. “What now?” she asked.
“We kill Constantine,” I said without missing a beat.
“We kill Constantine,” Zephyrus and Shade agreed in unison.
All of us looked down at the former Midnight Fae Prince, awaiting his verdict. “We’ll need a plan,” he finally said. “A good one.” Then he glanced around, frowning at the bedroom. “Where the bloody hell are we, anyway?”
Great fucking question, I thought, following his gaze to take in all of Aflora’s earthlike decorations.
“A paradigm,” she whispered. “Shade created it.”
The Death Blood grinned. “That I did, little rose.”
“I can feel your energy all over it,” she admitted, her eyes closing in content. “I can feel all of our energy here.” Her lips curled as more earth sprouted to life around us, her power humming through the air with renewed strength.
Renewed strength underlined in need.
She’d expelled a lot of energy.
Had exchanged so much blood.
And now the Earth Fae in her was craving invigoration of a different sort.
My lips curled. Oh, little star. Do you need something from your mates?
Her muscles tensed along her back as she clenched her thighs beneath the dress, her pulse a beacon begging to be bitten. Zephyrus noticed it as well, his green eyes roaming over her with the knowledge of a man well versed in reading female anatomy.
I glanced at Shade, noting his smirk.
We all sensed it. Even Kolstov was reacting to it, albeit a little slower than the rest.
This was a safe place. I could feel it in the infrastructure of the paradigm. But I added a touch of my magic to it, bolstering the walls and adding a few trigger warnings, just in case.
Because I had a feeling we were about to be preoccupied for a while.
Well, at least Aflora would be. I might just stand by and watch her work. I didn’t want our first time to be with an audience.
That said, if she kept radiating all that sexual energy, I might be inclined to change my mind.
What’s wrong, Aflora? I hummed into her mind, well aware of what bothered her. But she hadn’t answered my question, which really was more like an offer.
If she wanted to play, we’d all oblige.
It’d been an intense day. We could all use the relief, and sex would provide that.
I… I feel… She trailed off, biting her bottom lip.
Needy? I suggested, leaning in to nibble her neck. Hot?
Yes, she moaned into my mind. But I don’t… I…
I smiled. For someone so incredibly fierce, I found it rather amusing that she could revert so quickly to her shy and delicate side. Or perhaps she didn’t yet understand that her body required nourishment to help replenish her reserves. She’d expelled so much today, more than she likely ever had before. And now her spirit required supplemental nutrients from her mates.
Technically, some blood would help.
But I preferred her body’s suggestion instead.
“Aflora?” Kolstov breathed, his pupils dilating as her sensual energy rolled over him. He, too, would be craving life after being so close to death.
All of us were.
A hum stirred among us, one simmering with desire and yearning—a yearning only our heart could appease. Our Aflora.
Kolstov breathed her name again, reaching for her as she opened her eyes.
“Kols,” she whimpered, her instincts taking over as she practically collapsed on top of him. Her body molded to his, her mouth claiming his.
My blood heated in response, her power a seductive pull that left me useless to stop her.
Bow to the queen, her essence whispered.
And so I bowed, my soul hers to command.
VITALITY SURROUNDED ME, my earth essence humming all around us.
We’d created life.
Renewed a destroyed soul.
Stirred energy into a being who deserved so much more.
Fire flourished through my veins, my powers all mingling together in a culminating moment of rightness, with Kols at the heart of it all.
I kissed him as though my life depended on his, because it did. I’d tied us all together, rooted my soul in each of my mate’s beings, ensuring we were forever connected.
A circle of life in its truest form.
We might not have planned for this to happen. We might not even really like each other. But it didn’t matter. We belonged to each other now
, and would for eternity.
“Bite me again,” I whispered, begging Kols to finish our connection. I’d felt his mating bond snap into place with Zeph, and I wanted to experience the same. I needed to belong to Kols just as much as he belonged to me. “Please, Kols. Please bite me again.”
He lifted his hand, his fingers threading through my hair as he secured his grip. Then he pulled my throat to his mouth, his incisors piercing my skin on a delicious wave of ecstasy I felt all the way to my toes.
Somehow, we were all still dressed.
A miracle, considering the inferno heating my skin.
I wanted to be naked.
To mate my men.
To experience lust in its primal form.
Unzip me, I begged Zeph. Unzip my dress. Please.
His amusement touched my thoughts. I do love it when you beg, pixie flower.
But rather than force me to repeat myself, his fingers went to my spine, drawing the fabric down to expose my bare back.
The dress had been too tight to wear anything comfortably beneath, a fact I was now very pleased about. Because it meant I had nothing else to remove.
Except the zipper ended near the base of my spine, leaving me far more clothed than I wanted. Off. Get it off me. Please, Zeph.
I chose him because I knew he required control.
The others would do whatever I asked.
But Zeph would do what he preferred.
Fortunately, he agreed with me being naked, because he ripped the gown the rest of the way, then tugged on the straps, breaking them with ease.
I breathed a sigh of relief, the cooler air a welcome touch to my senses.
Then Zeph drew a palm up the back of my thigh. I knew it was him by the warmth and measured course of his movements, his hand both a caress and a brand against my overheated skin.
Kols released my throat on a groan. “Fuck, it’s weird having you in my head.”
Zeph chuckled as he bent to kiss my shoulder, his touch drifting higher to the growing dampness between my thighs. I sat astride Kols’s hips, placing my center directly over his growing arousal—an arousal Zeph could now feel since he’d slid his hand between us. He knelt behind me, his heat a welcome blanket against my back.
“Kiss him again, pixie flower,” he whispered. “I don’t think he’s had enough of your sweet mouth.”
I shivered at the dominance in his tone, my nipples beading against Kols’s button-down shirt as I kissed him just like Zeph demanded.
My essence coated his tongue, my blood tying us together on the final level that married our souls.
Four mates, I thought, sighing as all their spirits mingled with mine.
I’d somehow bonded them all on the third level as an Elemental Fae as well, missing only one final culminating act. One that would require another Elemental Fae to administer.
Later.
We would do that later.
For now, I needed them to fulfill another need. One I felt rivaled in each of them. Even Zakkai. Although, he’d chosen to shift a few feet away, content to watch Zeph work.
Don’t leave, I said.
I wouldn’t even if I could, star, he replied into my mind. Besides, you’ll need me after your “adequate” experience with them.
I smiled against Kols’s mouth, amused by Zakkai’s teasing. They’re more than adequate.
Mmm, we’ll see.
“Is there any lube in this paradigm?” Zeph asked, his touch sliding from my damp center to my backside and sending a shiver down my spine. I wasn’t sure if he planned to use that on Kols… or on me. It was something we hadn’t done yet. Something I’d never done.
“Yes,” Shade replied. “Nightstand.”
“Grab it,” Zeph demanded.
If your Warrior Blood tries to command me, he’ll quickly learn that the only one I will ever consider kneeling to is you, Zakkai murmured into my mind. So let’s hope he doesn’t think I’ll acquiesce as easily as the others.
He likes control, I replied, arching as Zeph inserted a finger into my ass. “Oh,” I breathed, my lips leaving Kols’s.
“How about we move her to the bed?” Shade suggested. He stood beside it with the bottle in his hand, just like Zeph had requested.
Well, demanded.
I like control, too, Zakkai informed me softly. Think you can handle two alpha males in your life, sweet star?
Pretty sure I’m surrounded by four, I replied as Zeph lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bed.
“Kols. Strip,” he said as he set me on the mattress.
“Make me,” Kols replied, a challenge in his tone that had me squeezing my thighs together. He’d stood up, his regal posture a sight to behold after he’d been so near death. Yet somehow he appeared even more royal now with his ash-tipped hair and bronzed irises.
He resembled a conqueror. Conqueror of Death, I mused, liking the new title.
“You want me to make you?” Zeph arched a dark brow, turning toward Kols as he removed his own jacket, laying it beside me on the bed. “Yeah, I’ll make you,” he decided out loud, walking up to him and grabbing him by the throat. He captured Kols’s mouth in a kiss meant to bruise, making me moan on the bed at the erotic sight.
I loved watching them together. It was so hot. All that battling masculinity and dominance. It had me longing to be in the center, which I sensed was the plan.
But there was also an underlying emotion to Zeph’s movements, his touch harsh yet gentle. Demanding yet reverent.
He’s alive, Zeph whispered to me.
I know.
You brought him back.
We brought him back, I corrected. Now strip him for me. I want to fuck.
Zeph released Kols on a laugh and glanced over his shoulder. “Oh, do say that out loud, Aflora. You know how much I love that mouth.”
“Strip him for me so we can fuck,” I reiterated.
Kols’s burnt irises met mine, his pupils flaring at the statement. “I’m biting you again.”
“Good,” I replied. “I’ll bite you again, too.” Because imbibing their blood had been oddly invigorating, something I never could have anticipated.
“I’m tasting her first,” Shade said, kneeling on the bed. He’d removed his jacket and tie, leaving him in just his dress shirt and pants, his icy blue eyes filled with intent. “Spread your legs for me, little rose.”
I shivered but did as he asked.
He pressed a kiss to my lips, then shifted to lie on the bed between my thighs. His tongue licked my seam, drawing all the way up to circle my clit.
I groaned in response, my body on fire from that mere touch alone.
Fuck, you’re beautiful, Zakkai whispered into my mind.
I looked for him and found him leaning against the bedpost at the foot of the bed, his arms folded as he admired the view. He still wore his suit jacket—no tie—his silver-blue gaze brimming with lust. I wanted to reach for him, to tug him down to me with a fistful of that long white hair, but Kols’s mouth was suddenly on mine, his palm squeezing my breast.
I thought I lost you, I said through our link, speaking into his mind for the first time. I was broken without you, Kols.
I’m here, he replied. I’m here because of you. Because of Shade. Zeph. Even Zakkai. And I’ve never felt more alive. He deepened our kiss, his tongue whispering a benediction against mine.
Shade’s incisors skimmed my clit, drawing me back to him, and I cried out in response. You’re going to need to learn how to pay attention to all of us, little rose. We’re very demanding mates.
I know, I moaned, reaching down to grab his head while wrapping my other palm around Kols’s neck. You guys are killing me.
Then I heard the cap on the lube pop open. “Here,” Zeph said, handing it to Shade. “Prepare her.”
Do you enjoy anal, sweet star? Zakkai asked. Or is Zeph just fond of it?
I… I like being in the middle, I admitted, bowing off the bed as Shade slid two fingers into my slick channel
. But I’ve not… we’ve not… usually one is in my mouth, and the other, ohhh…
Shade’s lips sealed around my sensitive nub, sucking hard as he drew my wetness backward to my tighter hole. He added lube, working me over with his hands and his mouth as Kols devoured my mouth, his fingers pinching my nipple, then massaging the hurt.
He kissed a path down my neck to my breasts, then took a stiff peak into his mouth while holding my gaze.
It was intensely erotic, especially as I could see Shade behind him with his dark head between my thighs.
Then Zeph was suddenly before me, his lips whispering over mine in the ghost of a smile. He’d lost his shirt, revealing all that sinewy muscle I loved tracing with my tongue. But he had other ideas for my mouth.
I lost myself to his kiss, his dominance all-encompassing and requiring my submission with each sensual stroke of his tongue against mine.
I missed you, pixie flower, he whispered into my mind. I’m never letting anyone take you from me again.
I missed you, too, I replied, releasing Kols to palm Zeph’s cheek and return the ferocity of his kiss. I want you to fuck me.
I intend to, he promised. But Kols is going first.
I-I thought you wanted my ass? Crude terms were Zeph’s favorite, so I always tried to use them when talking to him. I also really wanted to experience having them both inside me. Like, front and back. Not just mouth and front.
His approval radiated through the bond. “You want me in your ass, Aflora?”
“Yes. I want you to fuck me with Kols,” I said out loud, earning me a groan from the man at my breast. “Double penetration,” I added, in case I wasn’t being clear.
“What about Shadow?” Zeph asked. “He’s eating your pussy so well. I think he deserves something in return.”
“I want her mouth,” Shade replied, his words a hum against my sensitive bud. I tightened my grip in his hair, my body clenching in response to his ministrations and his words.
Because all three of them together?
Oh, yes… The fantasy played through my mind, my body tensing in response.
“I’m close,” I moaned, needing Zeph to know. He liked when I asked permission, and it was on the tip of my tongue to do so now. But Zakkai spoke instead.
“We know, star.” He still stood by the foot of the bed, his arms crossed just as they were moments ago. “Can you handle all three of them at once?”
