by Fiona Starr
“Marco. Please… I want you to stay.”
“Are you sure?”
I pull him to me and draw his mouth to mine, kissing him with everything I have. “Is that clear enough for you?”
Marco’s green eyes hold mine as he seems to ask the same question over and over again. “Joely?”
I grab the front of his tee shirt and wrap my hand in the fabric so I can pull him down on top of me.
Our mouths move together with that same strange familiarity I felt with Angus, even with our first kiss. My body reacts to his touch as if he’s done this a thousand times before.
I let my hands run over his wide chest, feeling his firm muscles as I try to wrap my arms around him, but he’s so big I can barely reach as far as his shoulder blades.
He tugs at the back of his shirt, pulling it over his head, making his hair stand up in the back in a way that I find stupidly endearing.
I throw off the covers and try to maneuver out of my gown. There’s no way. I get up on my knees and turn around so he can see the row of tiny buttons. I pull my hair over my shoulder and smile back at him. “Get me out of this thing.”
Marco kisses a line down my back as he peels away the fabric of my gown, his lips soft against my skin. He slides the dress over my hips and helps me climb out of it, holding my hand as he pushes the pile of icy blue fabric to the floor.
I slide my panties down and then I unclasp my bra and then I turn around on my knees so I am facing him.
His hands are at his sides. “Joely, I…”
“Shhh.” I reach for his jeans and undo the button, and then the zipper. “No talking.”
He nods quickly and takes off his jeans and his underwear and we just take each other in.
There’s something tentative about everything he does and I am not sure if that means he’s nervous or what. So I decide to lead the way.
I run my hands over his belly and down through the dark hair surrounding his cock. He’s hard and when I take hold of him he lets out his breath and seems to relax just a little. I tilt my head up and draw his mouth to mine, urging him on with every part of my body.
Then it’s like a green light turns on because his hands move and he’s cupping my breasts, caressing my sides, and exploring the curve of my ass. He lays on my pillow and I smile down at him, enjoying the fact that he’s here. After all the terrible things that this day has brought, the fact that he found me and brought me home is everything. It’s enough to put the rest of the world outside my door so I can worship this glorious man in my bed.
But it seems Marco has other plans. He sits up and urges me down onto the pillow and then he kisses my mouth, plunging deep with his tongue. I breathe in and the heady scent of rainy autumn leaves fills my head and sends a flash of heat all the way down to my core.
Marco traces the line of my jaw, my neck, and my collarbone with his mouth, taking a little extra time to kiss the center of my chest and the black raven mark that lives there now. He devours my breasts, kneading one while he sucks the other, squeezing my nipples so hard it makes me whimper. Then he continues down, down, over my belly and between my legs where he teases my clit with the very tip of his tongue.
“My god,” I breathe as I spread myself wide for him.
Marco explores my opening with his lips and his tongue and then he takes my clit and clamps down on me, his hands holding my ass, keeping his mouth firmly in place.
The edges of my orgasm tingle in my core as I push him away so I can turn around and take his cock with my mouth. I need him inside me, and I want to show him as much pleasure as he’s giving me. We lie down facing each other, our mouths tasting and stroking, devouring each other as we sail off into the sky.
His cock is velvety hot in my mouth. He begins to push against my strokes as he sucks harder on my pussy. I let myself sink into him, forcing my body to ease open for his mouth as I take him with mine. We writhe together, finding a gentle rhythm as we claim our prize.
Our moans signal that we’re close. When my orgasm hits its like a rocket has gone off in my belly. I buck against him and try to hold on as the ripples undulate through me. I grab his length, slick from my mouth, and hold the base while I suck him. My hands move in time with my mouth, and it only takes another few strokes before the burst of his rainy fall magic fills my mouth and he settles beside me.
I love the feel of Marco next to me. His huge arms and his broad chest hold me and make me feel protected.
“I wasn’t sure you wanted this,” he says.
I run my finger over one of his many tattoos, curious to know the story behind each one, but not wanting to change the subject. “What do you mean? I thought it was pretty obvious the last time we talked about this.”
I feel him nod. “I know. I guess… I think I worried you would change your mind.”
“Wait.” I recall the way he held back earlier and suddenly I’m not sure where this is going. “Have you changed your mind? I mean, you didn’t seem all that into it when we started…”
“No,” he says quickly. “No. Not at all. It just…”
I get up on my elbow so I can see his face. “Marco, what’s wrong?” I look into his eyes and will him to open up.
His eyebrows shoot up. “Nothing’s wrong. Nothing at all. This is so perfect. You are so perfect Joely.” He runs his hand over my hip and then stops. “I don’t deserve you. I don’t deserve any of this.”
The pain in his voice tells me that he’s just confessed something. Something deep and heavy, that weighs on him.
I touch his cheek and kiss his lips as tenderly as I can. “Marco, it’s you that I want here with me. I want Angus, too. You know that. But you also have to know that the thing that pulls me to your brother is the same thing that pulls me to you. It’s the strongest thing I’ve ever known. How can you say you don’t deserve something that feels this right?”
“If you knew what I’ve done you wouldn’t say that.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t understand. The thing that brought you to us… this prophecy, and all the rest? None of it would have ever happened if it weren’t for me.”
Now I’m confused. “What do you mean? Isn’t it a good thing that we met?”
“Yeah. No. I mean… This goes back to the start, all the way back to the day we were kidnapped by Underwood and his vampire clan. It was my fault that we got caught.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” I say.
“No. It’s literally my fault. I gave away our position. I should have known better. I should have listened to Van, but I got scared. I ran, and…”
I kiss him to stop him from talking. “Marco, I’m sorry for what you have been through. I can’t imagine the things you’ve endured, and how your life changed that day Underwood took you. But I can tell you that none of that makes you undeserving of love.”
We wake in each other’s arms to the sound of a text on Marco’s phone. He fishes it out of the pile of clothes on the floor and squints at the screen. “Angus is awake. I should go.” He leans over and kisses me, holding my chin in his hand. “Come home with me. You belong with us.”
I place my hand over his and smile at how sweet his face looks with his hair all over the place. “You go ahead. There’s something I need to do first.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
JOELY
I pull my Lexus into the driveway of my family home and come to a stop in front of the main entrance. I can’t let another moment go by without clearing the air. I need to know. I look up at the dormer window of my bedroom and feel awash with memories.
This isn’t my family. I was given to them in order to prevent a madman’s crazy fears from coming true. How does something like that happen without anyone knowing or saying anything?
I’ve gone around and around with these questions for hours now, and it’s time for some answers. I step out of my car and march to the front door, forcing myself to show a level of force that I don’t really feel. I ne
ed to be strong. I have to find out what’s going on, and why.
Inside, the house is dark and quiet.
“Mom?” My voice echoes through the foyer and up the stairs.
When nobody responds, I head into the kitchen and then back around through the sitting room, the parlor, and then the library, where I find my mother sitting on a sofa next to the fireplace.
“Mom? Can you talk?” I step inside and move toward the couch. “Mom? Will you say something, please?”
“She’s had a bit of a shock, I’m afraid.” My father stands at the bar, filling two glasses with whisky.
“Dad? Where have you been?” The question comes out before I can stop it. I don’t know where he has been for this whole month, but I do know that he went to Porter Allbright and told him about me. Did he know that he would try to kill me as a result?
“What’s going on? I met Porter Allbright last night, and he…”
“I don’t know who you are.” My mother’s voice is flat and lifeless.
“What did you say, Mom?”
She turns and looks at me like she’s never seen me before. “I don’t know who you are.”
“What are you talking about? It’s me, Joelle. Your daughter.”
She scoffs and looks over her shoulder at my dad. He hands her a glass and she gulps it down in one swig.
My dad sits down in the chair next to the sofa and waves at the other chair for me to take a seat.
I don’t understand what’s going on but I do know that I don’t want to be here right now. I want to be with Angus and Marco, and yeah, I even want to be with Van. But I can’t go forward without knowing what’s going on with my family. I decide to just lay it all out there.
“I know I’m adopted. I kind of figured it out when I realized that Ancient Magic is an inherited thing, passed down by birth. People started commenting when they realized Eliza and Kate weren’t in the Society with me, and—”
My mother fixes me with her gaze, and I realize that her eyes are bloodshot and puffy from crying. “You were not adopted.”
“What? Of course I was. I have to be. Porter Allbright told me that he…”
“What did he tell you, Joelle? Because I find it hard to believe that anyone would admit to the things those men have done.” She glares up at my father.
I feel a ball of dread coiling inside me. “If I’m not adopted, then what are you talking about?”
“Do you want to tell her, or shall I, darling?” My mother’s words come out like daggers aiming right for him.
“Dad?” My father stares in his glass and gulps his drink and then walks over to get another refill.
I get to my feet, my hands balled into fists. “Will someone please just tell me!” I shout.
My mother places her glass on the side table and then lays her hands flat on her knees. It’s like she’s working hard to maintain her composure and the whole thing scares the shit out of me.
She blinks for a long second and then clears her throat. “Your father arranged with another man to swap you with another child on the day you both were born. I wasn’t aware, and apparently, neither was the other woman. I came home from the hospital with my new baby girl, and never knew you were not mine.”
I drop onto the couch and let the words sink in. Switched at birth? On purpose?
I feel like I should cry or freak out or start ranting like a mad woman, but I really don’t know what to feel. I feel nothing. I feel like I am made of stone. I am numb.
“I don’t know what to say. Mom—”
She cuts me off with her sharp tone. “I’m not your mother.”
I look up at her and realize she’s disgusted by me. “I don’t know who you are, Joely. But you don’t belong to me.”
I don’t remember leaving the house or starting the car or driving away.
I spend the three hour drive trying to figure out what to do. I realize I don’t even know what happened with Porter Allbright. After Marco found me I think I was so desperate to get away that I blocked him out of my mind.
But if Porter Allbright is my father, then that means Sebastian… Jesus. And does that mean that Sebastian has a sister who is actually not related to him just like I am not related to Eliza or Kate?
My entire body heaves as bile rises in my throat. I pull the car off to the shoulder and throw myself out the door and spill the contents of my stomach onto the side of the road.
I don’t yet know what I am going to do about any of this. I don’t think I should show up at the Allbright’s house and explode this bomb on them. What would that accomplish? I have no desire to ruin anyone else’s life the way my family seems to have done to me.
My family…
What a loaded pair of words.
I may not know what I am going to do next but there is one thing I do know for sure. I have no family anymore. I am flying solo as far as anyone named Everstar is concerned. I am one-hundred percent, completely and utterly alone. I try to analyze my feelings around all of this but I’m not sure it’s sunk in completely yet.
My phone chimes with a text from Angus.
Marco’s here. We want you to come home.
A bubble of warmth bursts inside me and spreads across my chest, filling me up until it spills out through my eyes. My men… my lovely, wonderful men. I may not be welcome back in that cold house with those people I thought were my parents, but I don’t need them. I have somewhere to go with people who care about me, but more importantly than anything else right now, I know that my men can be trusted with my heart.
Chapter Twenty-Three
JOELY
I raise my hand to knock on the door. Before I make contact, it swings open and Angus sweeps me into his arm. I press up against his cast as he covers my face with kisses.
“Marco told us what happened. We’re so glad you’re all right.” He kisses my mouth and lingers there for a long moment and I feel myself melt into him.
He pulls away and steps inside so we can close the door. “How was it with your mom? Marco said—”
I lace my fingers through his and tug him toward the stairs. “Is it okay if we don’t talk about any of that right now? I just want to be with you.”
He tugs on my fingers and smiles, and it’s all the reply I need.
Angus leads me up the stairs and instead of heading to his room we turn down the hall toward the back of the house. He taps on a door and pushes it open to reveal a very happy Marco sitting at a desk.
He rushes to the door and wraps me in a huge hug and then kisses me like he hasn’t seen me in a week.
The clash of their scents sends a wave of heat through my body.
“What so funny?” Marco says.
“I just realized that the two of you, you smell like you go together.”
“Like what?” Angus asks with a laugh.
I lean in and take a deep sniff off Angus. “You smell like the outdoors. Like the way laundry smells after it’s been dried in the sun.”
“And you.” I press my face into Marco’s chest. “You smell like the autumn leaves after it rains.”
“That’s a first. I guess it’s good that we go good together, then.” Marco lifts my chin and kisses me.
“Mmm.” I smile up at him and bite my lip. “I was just telling Angus how I wanted to spend some time with him.”
Marco steps back, a look of surprise on his face. “Oh, right. Okay. I’ll just…”
I reach for Marco’s hand and pull him back. “No. What I meant was, Angus and I are going to spend some time together. And I was hoping…” I glance up at Angus and then back at Marco. “Would you be open to joining us?”
Marco’s face lights up and I know that I’ve touched something inside him that needed to be seen. He hooks a finger through the front of my jeans and glances over his shoulder. “My bed is bigger than Angus's.”
Angus laughs. “He’s right.”
“Well?” I ask them with my eyes the thing that I am not sure I can actually come out
and say.
Angus steps into the room and pushes the door closed with his foot. “I’d pick you up if I could, but…” He lifts his cast which goes from his shoulder all the way to his wrist.
“In that case.” Marco scoops me into his arms and turns toward the bed.
I’ve never in my life imagined being with two men at the same time, but with Angus and Marco, it doesn’t even feel like a thing. It feels as safe and as natural as being with them alone, only now they can both know how much I feel for them.
I sit on the bed with Marco behind me, kissing my neck as he works me out of my tee shirt. I let him lift it over my head and when I turn back to Angus, he’s on his knees in front of me. His face is serious and his eyes are locked on mine.
He leans in and touches his forehead to mine. “I love you, Joely.” It comes out as barely a whisper.
I lean back, enjoying the feel of Marco’s hands on my waist as he plants tiny kisses across my shoulders. My eyes are still on Angus.
He shakes his head. “You don’t have to—”
I grab his face and pull him to me, kissing him once before pulling back and staring into his eyes. “I love you, Angus.”
“All right already,” Marco says. “Can we move on past all the mushy stuff?”
“Look who’s getting bossy,” I say, smiling up and begging Marco for a kiss.
I have to help Angus out of his clothes, and as soon as that’s done, we fall into bed, mouths and hands and beating hearts and shared breath. I disappear, joining with my men as they join with me. We become like one being, moving together, sensing the other, chasing the edge of pleasure as it teases us all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
VAN
I pace the floor of my room, cursing my wolf. Because it’s the wolf that’s letting me in on what Joely and Angus and Marco are doing right now on the other side of the house. I can’t hear them, but I can feel them together, the way they connect, the comfort they give one another.
