Ruby’s Pride

by Romy Lockhart

  “You wish to mate with us both at once?” Corwin sounds vaguely disturbed. “How does such a thing even work?”

  Ransom snorts. “Come out into the moonlight with me, Ruby. Leave my brothers to clean the house. They will only bore you with their relentless questions.”

  Tempting, for sure. I shake my head after a moment’s pause. “There’s too much work to be done.”

  “I could make you forget all about the work,” Ransom tells me, trying desperately to tempt me away.

  “I’m sure you could,” I tell him, finding a cobweb covered broom and dropping it with a thud.

  “But there is much to do,” Corwin finishes for me, picking up the broom and tossing it to Ransom.

  Ransom sighs before shaking the cobwebs off outside and coming toward me.

  “Where do you need me to sweep?”

  “I’ll lead the way,” I tell him.

  “I will catch dinner,” Corwin tells us before leaving and closing the door.

  “Of course,” Ransom mutters, shaking his head after his brother.

  “Everything okay?”

  Ransom turns and smiles at me, the confidence in the gesture fading as his brother disappears. It was a show. Swagger to save face. “Thank you.”

  I shrug. “I’m out of here in a couple of days. It’s not like he’ll ever know.”

  His smile dies completely. “You’re right. He’ll never know.”

  My stomach twists up in knots seeing him like this, so much darkness in his eyes.

  “Stay with me tonight,” I ask him, wondering why it feels so important to spend tonight with him. I only have a few days left in this world at most. I should be hanging out with Ax, who knows how to keep a smile on my face. Or Corwin, who could keep me talking all night. Not the sullen brother who’ll probably sulk until he falls asleep.

  “Are you certain?”

  I nod. Hell only knows why.

  He smiles again, his gaze drifting to my lips. “Then let us get these rooms prepared.”

  My stomach does a little flip. Prepared? Now he’s talking my kind of language.

  Chapter 26

  Cleaning sucks ass at the best of times. Dusting and sweeping in a short dress and heels that were really only made for walking around a night club is just the absolute worst. I’m sweating and bone-tired by the time the rooms are clean enough to breathe in without sneezing my face off.

  The double bed wasn’t fixable, so the frame has been taken outside and the mattress set down on the floor. The cleanest sheets we could find were taken outside to be beaten before the bed was made. It actually looks insanely comfy now. I wish there was running water, but at least there was a well close enough by for Corwin to go and to bring us a few pails of water, one of which was to be saved for washing rather than drinking. I use a tiny amount of it to wipe myself down with a piece of my old lady night dress once we’re done. It’s nowhere near the same as a shower, but I do feel less gross after the wipe-down. I used a pair of rusty scissors to make the nightdress sleeveless and knee-length and I feel much better when I put it on for bedtime.

  Corwin caught a few of the rabbit-things and made stew for me on a fire outside after he and his brothers shifted and devoured their own dinners. I declined the offer to learn how to prepare the meat. It was gruesome enough when they walked back inside with little smears of blood on their mouths and hands.

  They washed up before Corwin sorted the stew. It wasn’t quite as good as Ransoms’. Less herbs around here I guess. I can’t complain considering I would be eating nothing but berries if I didn’t have these guys around to cook for me. There was no way in hell I’d be able to skin and cook my own animals. I’d go veggie in a heartbeat if I had to do the messy part.

  “I guess that’s bedtime,” I say with a yawn. I have no idea of the time, but it has to be after midnight. Probably closer to two in the morning. The cleaning alone felt like it took forever.

  “Yes, it is time for bed,” Ax says eagerly.

  Oh, wait. Did I forget to tell him I’d be rooming with Ransom?

  Ransom smiles crookedly. “That it is. Let us retire to bed.”

  Corwin shakes his head as he gets up. “I will be outside, keeping guard.”

  Ransom leans in and blows out the candles on the table. I get up, stumbling around in the dark until he catches my arm and steadies me.

  “Careful, Ruby. We wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself,” Ax says quietly as he takes my other arm.

  “It’s pitch dark in here now,” I tell them, not quite believing that they’re so sure-footed as they lead me out to the hall. “How can you two...”

  “We are able to see in the dark,” Ransom reveals. “You do not seem to have that same skill.”

  “Oh it’s a skill, is it?” I let them lead me up the stairs, but I pull and push enough to force them to take it slowly.

  Ax chuckles. “We should use this to our advantage, brother.”

  “That is the best idea you’ve had in ages,” Ransom says. I can just imagine the grin on his face.

  They lead me into the room and onto the bed, where we collapse in a heap. It’s a little less dark in here, the moon shining through the window nearby. The guys move so they’re close to me without crushing me, Ax at my back and Ransom in front of me.

  “So,” Ransom says, his fingers moving along my jaw-line. “Is this a good enough alternative to what you were craving so badly earlier tonight?”

  Ax’s hand drags the skirt of my nightdress up slowly, while Ransom gazes intently into my eyes. Oh. They planned it like this? My breath hitches as I realize they must have talked about it when I was out of the room before.

  “We are happy to share, my bitch,” Ax murmurs at my ear, moving a little and grinding his now obvious erection against my back.

  Oh fuck yes. I smile as I reach down and take Ransom’s shaft in hand. “Happy birthday to me.”

  Ransom shifts his gaze to his brother and nods. Ax parts my legs, pulling the left up a little and over his. I’m fully exposed now to Ransom while his brother strokes the tip of his cock against my wet and ready slit.

  “Take her, Ax. Take our mate.”

  Ax thrusts inside, making me gasp. My hand is still on Ransom’s shaft, and I feel it when his cock throbs in my palm. He’s as excited as I am.

  He pulls on the front of my nightdress, tearing the material to expose my breasts. Ax grasps my hip and grinds his cock slowly into me as Ransom lowers his head to my chest, licking and sucking on my nipples while I stroke his throbbing erection. It feels so good, so right.

  Ransom moves his head back from my breast to lock gazes with me. His eyes are wild and his touch urgent when he presses his lips to mine. He kisses me like a guy who just got out of jail yesterday and I love every second of it.

  Then he pulls back, smiling. “Is this what you wanted, Ruby?”

  “Mmm,” is all I can manage by way of an answer.

  “Was there more?” He keeps his eyes on mine, his stare intent.

  Ax pounds into me a little harder and I groan at the increased feeling.

  “More?” I ask breathlessly.

  Ransom nods. “To having us both at once.”

  “Oh,” I say, as it dawns on me that only one of them is inside me right now. Is it really a sandwich when half the bread is barely touching the meat? I stroke Ransom’s cock slowly, considering our options. “I never really got the chance to thank you for licking me out the other day.”

  Ransom’s eyebrows rise. “Thank me?”

  “You know, by returning the favor.”

  His lips pull into a grin, just as Ax’s breath warms my ear.

  “And where is my thanks for doing the same? You enjoyed my tonguing enough to scream for me.”

  His playful smile when I glance at him makes my heart do a little flip. I see it in his eyes when my gaze glows golden. It’s a brief moment, but it’s enough to heat up his stare. “I’ll thank you for that later, Blondie.”

  Ransom cle
ars his throat. I blink before tearing my gaze away from Ax.

  “Maybe three’s a crowd,” Ransom murmurs.

  I pull him back as he begins to get up. My late birthday present isn’t getting away so easily.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” I drag his face in close enough to kiss, keeping grip of his hair and making sure he feels the passion in the embrace as well as I did when he kissed me.

  He gazes at me intently when our lips part. I know what he’s looking for now and I know willing my eyes to glow isn’t going to make it happen. I’m not sure what’s missing here, but I can’t stand to see him simmer in his misery like this.

  “When humans mate, we mark our lovers,” I tell him.

  He tries to smile. “Yes, I heard you tell that to Win.”

  Of course he did. He perved on us the whole time I was popping his twin’s cherry. “Well, I don’t have lipstick this time, so we’re going to have to try something else.”

  “Something else?” He sounds curious.

  Ax slows his thrusting, and shakes his head when I glance at him. “I am close to losing control. I will go slow until you are ready.”

  It feels nice, better than the hard pounding actually. His cock is big enough to hit the right places even in this less than ideal position, and the slow rocking begins to make everything inside of me tingle in just the right way. I hardly ever came from penetration before I got here, but these guys could make any girl believe in miracles. “Damn, Ax. Now I’m close to losing control.”

  I can practically hear his grin as I turn back to Ransom. “Get your cock up here,” I demand, pointing to my lips when he draws me a questioning look.

  He moves so quickly he practically becomes a blur. I choke back laughter until he’s crouched in front of me. I wriggle around to get a good angle before I tell him what to do. “Get on your knees.”

  He does so, and if I had any questions about how obedient he was capable of being under the right circumstances, they’re pretty much all answered now. He closes his eyes when I run my tongue along the underside of his shaft. He breathes out a shaky sigh as I start to take him into my mouth. I get the tip wet before I move away, finding a good place on his thigh to leave my mark. He jerks back slightly when I start to suck the skin. I glare up at him as he opens his eyes, a question in them when he meets mine. I ignore it, for now. It only takes a few minutes to leave the love-bite. It’s close enough to his crotch to be mostly hidden when he’s walking around with his cock swinging out.

  “Mine,” I tell him, as he gazes down.

  I move back to his shaft and work it with my hand, making him groan. I swirl my tongue over the tip at the same time, tasting the salty bead of liquid that’s waiting for me. He starts to stroke through my hair as I suck and lick the top half of his thick length.

  Ax’s slow grinding is making me incredibly wet, and the tingling inside is building now, my climax close to being reached. I can’t fucking believe this. I’m going to actually come in this position without my clit being touched. The g-spot well and truly exists. Hell and damn!

  Ransom’s breathing becomes heavy just as my orgasm takes hold, sending me moaning onto his cock. The tip hits the back of my throat and I feel him spill into me. I swallow the hot liquid as Ax begins to pound into me harder from behind.

  I’m just pulling back from Ran’s cock and wiping the excess come from my lips when Ax groans loudly and clings onto me tightly as he spills into me, in what my now slightly-less-lust-clouded head realizes is a little less safe than what I just did with his brother.

  A huge part of me shrugs it off, leaving just a little tiny voice echoing that the way these guys screw probably means I’m already pregnant anyway. The amount of come that slides down my thighs when Ax withdraws is insane.

  “Ah Ruby, you are the most incredible mate we could have ever been sent,” Ax says, trying to pull me back down. “I would like for you to do to me what you did to Ransom the next time.”

  “Well, flattery will get you blow jobs,” I tell him. “But I need to use the bathroom now so don’t go anywhere.”

  “I will walk you,” Ransom says, well aware that the hallway is darker than the bedroom, and we did not remember to set up a candle in the bathroom.

  I take his arm and we leave the room.

  I can tell he’s still bothered by the fact that my eyes didn’t glow for him, probably made it worse that they glowed for Ax in front of him. I don’t know what to say to make it better, so I say nothing.

  The toilet is old, but I’ll magic it up to work in the morning. Right now I’m just trying to avoid a UTI situation. I doubt there’s a drug store around here if I wind up afflicted. I run my hand over my stomach. It’s still tight and smooth, of course. I don’t even know how long it would take to show. I never paid much attention to pregnant co-workers or acquaintances. It never seemed like something I’d want any part of. Why would I show an interest in something that wasn’t ever likely to be in the cards for me? Women have a choice. Career or family. They can pretend like that isn’t how it is, but most of the time that’s a lie. Something’s gotta give somewhere. Having it all is the impossible dream.

  I wash the mess from my legs when I’m done with strips I cut from my night-dress and some of the left over water from earlier. I drink some of the drinking water first, and I wish I didn’t have to wait for morning to magic up a toothbrush. Luckily, I’m too tired to give it a second thought.

  Ransom is waiting outside the door to take me back to bed. I fall in between their hard, warm bodies and sleep comes easily. My last thought is not wanting morning to come too quickly. It’s only another step closer to going home, and right now I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.

  Chapter 27

  It’s bright in the room, birds are singing outside and I’m huddled in warm, furry blankets. It’s the most relaxed I’ve been waking up in forever, and that’s only marginally shaken by the realization I have two huge lions sleeping in my bed. It’s a momentary heart-attack, and it doesn’t quite kill me.

  “Damn, guys. Give a girl some warning when you’re going to do that, would you?”

  The barely seem to notice my complaint. Ax is licking his paws with that gigantic tongue of his, and only glances at me briefly. Ransom yawns before setting his head back down on the bed. I start to get up and realize I’m pinned down by the skirt of my dress which is conveniently slightly caught under both of them.

  They definitely did this on purpose. I frown at Ax as I attempt to pull it out. He growls slightly and moves closer so I can’t get any purchase on it.

  “Guys, seriously?” I glower, then realize that isn’t working. So I lie back down and try a different tactic. Ransom is laying with his head close to mine, so I decide to stroke through his mane. He cracks his eyes open before lying down and seeming to enjoy it. The deep rumbling coming from him is the loudest, fiercest purr I’ve ever heard, but that’s definitely what it is. I bite back a snort at the thought of making one of my men purr like a cat.

  “You like that, huh?” I ask, as I scratch around his ears. “Just wait until you see what I have planned for you later.”

  He lifts his head, and before I can even move my hand, he shifts from lion to human. His eager dark-eyes drift to my chest. I glance down and see that the nightdress is pretty much ruined. Which kind of sucks, until I remember it’s morning.

  “What did you have planned for later?” Ransom asks, breaking me from my grin-inducing realization.

  “You’ll just have to wait and see,” I tell him, changing the dress into a cat-suit and practically leaping off of the makeshift bed. I can shower now!

  “Where are you...”

  “Showering,” I call back as I dart across the hall. “No boys allowed.”

  I shut the door and lock it, then magically clean the bathroom and remove my cat-suit. I turn the suit into a big, fluffy towel and get the water to run while I magic up a toothbrush.

  The tapping on the door makes me
roll my eyes. “Occupied!”

  “Perhaps you’d like to share your shower,” Ransom calls out.

  I snort as I use my witchy ways to make the sink work, and to put toothpaste on my brush.

  “No thank you,” I call back. If one thing in life is sacred it’s the time a woman gets to spend alone in the bathroom. I don’t know why guys think it’s so hot to share showers. This isn’t sexy time, it’s cleaning time. And by the state of my reflection in the mirror, I badly need it.

  “Open the door and I’ll convince you why you should let me in.”

  “Nope,” I call back, before I start brushing my teeth.

  “Perhaps you’d prefer two partners to help you get clean,” he calls out. “I’ll get Ax.”

  I roll my eyes at my reflection. It’s actually kind of funny, though. His enthusiasm doesn’t make me want to open the door to rant at him like it would any other guy attempting to turn a no into a yes.

  I must be going soft. I blame the orgasms. I’ve had so many the past few days that my brain is starting to melt.

  I finish brushing my teeth and step under the stream of perfectly heated water. It feels so good I could just stand here all day. I magic up some amazing shampoo once my hair is wet and take my time washing it. Conditioner is next, then shower gel. I feel human again once I’m done, and relaxed enough that I might cave in to any new sexy suggestions from Ransom, or any of the guys.

  I dry off with the towel, brush my hair through and then finish the job with my magic. I look like I just had a blow out at the salon when I’m done. Then my throat closes up a little and I realize I’m really going to miss my magic when I get back home.

  It’s a silly thought, and I shrug it off quickly enough, but the slightly downbeat feeling it leaves me with is going to linger, I can tell. I magically dry the towel then turn it into the cat-suit and slip it on. Might as well use this power to death while I still have it. I only start to wonder where Ransom went once I step out into the hall.