They recovered faster than all the lycans save Romulus. I felt them, their magical presence, converge on me. Brom reached me first, taking my hand in his and bringing it to his lips a moment before Merlin slipped his hand around my waist and burying his face in my hair. Romulus's palm rested between my shoulder blades, grounding me as I drifted in the eddies of their emotions.
"Welcome home," Brom said as he lowered my hand. Merlin pressed a kiss to me before pulling away, the reluctance in his touch and gaze twin to mine within my heart.
"Miss me?" My voice was watery even as my throat tightened.
"I'm trying to think of a clever remark," Merlin began, "but I'm just too damned happy you're back."
My heart leapt into my throat, and I was happier than words could describe. This is why I couldn't have stayed in Tír na nÓg. I couldn't have gone my entire life without their love, without them beside me.
"Lass," Romulus reminded me gently of the crowd, and I finally looked at the lycans around us.
Brom and Merlin shifted to my sides as I looked to Genevieve. Pride shone brightly from her eyes and I felt my grin spread wide under my mask at her approval. Romulus's father quivered beside her, fear and anger warring on his face as he glared at his son behind me.
"I will not threaten you," I spoke out. "I am not cruel or blind with my power. It is a burden placed on me by fate, the stars, the syndicates—whomever it is easier to believe for you. I have made the pilgrimage to Tír na nÓg, and I have met Siannch Aoife. I've faced the creator of my powers."
Hushed silence met my words and I made a point to meet as many gazes as I could while I spoke.
"Our society is sick. Power and wealth are concentrated in only a few. They fear the fire because to be cleansed to them means to be made powerless. My purpose, though, is to make the powerless powerful. To restore the balance that has kept our world safe. To tip the scales back to something more just."
"Will you take up the mantle of leadership, then?" A woman with raven black hair asked, her sharp eyes flickering between the four of us. She straightened with a clear shudder as if trying to cast off the memory of my power.
"I don't know," I answered honestly with a hapless shrug. "I do not know if it is my destiny to lead this new order. Hell, I don't know if it's what I want." She stared at me, her head cocked as if testing the sincerity of my words. "I was powerless for years under Madam Jupiter's control. She hid me from the world, unable to kill me outright else lose access to my estate. I don't want anyone to feel the way I did for years. The way I know those in this society must feel."
"How do we know you won't be worse?" Another lycan asked having shifted back into human form, indifferent to his nudity.
"You don't," I said. "All I can promise is a new order. I cannot promise if that new order will be better or worse. It is up to us all to make a better world. Where creatures of all kinds are welcome in this city, in our world. I can only offer the promise of change. No, not a promise. The inevitable change." I hardened my voice, willing them to understand the gravity of this. "I will be victorious against Madam Jupiter, even if she is to send all her loyal warlocks against me. She is a candle compared to my starlight. Yes, brighter and easier to touch, but with a breath—can be extinguished. I am a maelstrom, my powers stretch across galaxies."
"Let us vote," Romulus's father cried out, his jowls shaking as he raised a fist. "I am the leader of this syndicate, and as such, heed my words. Madam Jupiter upholds the beliefs that make our syndicates great. She will make us great again. This pup"—he sneered the word and Romulus growled behind me—"will be defeated and run off with her tail between her legs. Do not make the wrong decision and put your faith in pretty words and flashy powers."
I forced back my grin at my lovers’ responses. Brom’s lips curled into his cruel sneer, Merlin squared his shoulders, his magic coiling around him, and Romulus growled low indeed. They didn’t move though and I was reminded of the respect they held for me and their belief in me. They knew I was strong enough to face this sad lycan, but willing to handle him if I asked.
But I would not be like Jupiter.
“I would not wish anyone to stand beside me who did not out of their own free will,” I said directly to Tiarnán. I spread my arms wide in a submissive gesture. “I will not fault any who choose to support my godmother, but the day of reckoning will come and when it does I will not stay my hand. Do not make your decision with haste,” I cautioned. “Where you decide to stand has consequences far into the future.”
“In three days,” Romulus spoke up from behind me. “All who choose to stay within the syndicate and support Eleanora Bevider against Madam Jupiter will gather at the Romulus estate. Those who choose to oppose are removed cleanly from the syndicate with no consequence. But you will no longer have the benefits of the united clans.”
“You speak for me?” His father snarled, and Genevieve cleared her throat. The man side-eyed her as Romulus stepped around us and approached his father.
When a predator stalks its prey through the woods, they gather their entire strength behind a single purpose. Animals who glimpsed their shadowy sought cover, their adrenaline pumping as they hope the predator passes them by. That was how Romulus stalked towards his father. Each step, his boots thumped against the floor, and silent tension once again gripped the room as a new confrontation began.
“I speak for the Connacht clan in the syndicate,” Romulus stated as he crossed his powerful arms. His father looked old, fat, and weak in direct comparison to the pillar of virility Romulus was. “It is time for the young to send the old to their retirement.”
His father sputtered and shoved right up against him, their chests pressed together, but Romulus didn’t sway or step back. He looked down at his father with contempt.
“Is that a challenge, son?” He growled.
Romulus huffed with amusement.
“I was looking to spare you the humiliation of defeat. Do not think you could win in a challenge ring. You’ve gone too long since a real match. It wouldn’t lend well to the family reputation.”
“Keep your dignity, brother,” Genevieve barked out, and the men jumped. “You have known your position was only yours until Romulus decided to take on the mantle of leadership. That day has come for you, and now it is time to step aside.”
He glared at his son, and it pained me to see there was no love lost among the men. He stormed towards the door, stopping to turn his anger upon me. I refused to look away from the hate in his eyes. He spat at my feet; before it had even landed, Brom had the lycan’s throat in his hand and dragged him close.”
“You will not disrespect her,” Brom hissed. No lycans moved to his defense. Their traditions meant their loyalty was now moved to Romulus. And Romulus watched indifferently.
“She has offered safe passage from this room, but I have not,” the vampire continued, his fangs extending. Tiarnán tried to shift, his hands turning into claws. Brom threw him to the floor, the hardwood cracking under the force.
“Go, cur, cower to your bitch before I change my mind.”
“Connor, Rory, please escort my father to his car. Someone needs to inform Madam Jupiter of the change in leadership.”
The two lycans snapped to attention at Romulus’s order, and soon the old leader had left and the new king, already shouldering the responsibilities of his realm, looked over the crowd.
Discord turned within me. As much as I knew that Romulus had always been intended to rule the syndicate, I didn’t want to be the source of anguish between father and son, and while I knew there was no true love between them, it still gave me pause. But I knew he didn’t blame me when he looked at me and all I could see was love. He whispered to his aunt’s ear and he bounded towards me.
“It’s time to take you home,” he said as he stepped close.
He looked to Brom and Merlin, a question in his eyes. Brom answered easily. He looked to me, and let me decide. His voice was quiet as he spoke, “We can go to my
new home in the estate, or we can go to my penthouse. Or even your own estate. The repairs are nearly done.” It didn’t take me more than a moment of decision.
“Take me to your penthouse.”
Chapter 15
Eleanora
Brom’s penthouse was exactly the way I remembered it. Even though our lives had changed so much over the last few weeks for them—days for me, or was it millennia—his home was exactly how it had been. How I needed it to be. It wasn’t new to me like my own home, or Romulus’s, and honestly, haven’t even gone to wherever Merlin lived. He dismissed his place as a small apartment, claiming he never saw the need for anything bigger.
Being with these three men, all massively powerful in their own right, should have intimidated me. The moment I had walked into the room where they had all gathered the first night of the masquerade, I should’ve been terrified. But I wasn’t. It was as if my soul knew these three men were my counterparts. That they completed me and I completed them. And it was like that once again as we walked into Brom’s apartment. A level of comfort and trust that I’d never experienced before. And I knew I would never experience it without them again.
Gentle hands touched my shoulders, and I knew it was Merlin. Every part of him was made with a strength earned out of battle and conviction, and yet he touched me with such a gentleness I craved. I reached back and carded my fingers through his dark, choppy locks.
“Let’s get this off you.” I felt a tug at my veil. “I’ve been dying to kiss you.” He had it off of me and then he was turning me in his arms, crushing me to him. This force was exactly what I needed and the feel of his fingers dragging down my back to grab handfuls of my ass made me grind into him, opening my mouth to let him take me.
I clutched at his hair, pulling as our tongues fought for dominance. A sharp lift and a grunt from Merlin and I was in the air, wrapping my legs around his waist. He walked with me in his arms, not to the bedroom, but to the couch in the middle of the open floor plan. The curtains were open, and the light from the city at night sent blinking shadows and neon splashes over the black furniture.
The warlock laid me down, the leather chilly through my shirt, his mouth placing harsh kisses against my throat as if marking me. My stomach flipped at the idea of him marking me, of them all marking me. I turned my head to look for Romulus and Brom. Romulus was by the wall, dimming the overhead lights until all we were left with were the chaotic shadows and spillways of color. Brom was slipping off his jacket as the lights dimmed around him, hiding him in the darkness, watching Merlin mark me with hungry eyes.
I arched into Merlin, crying out in pleasure, and the vampire rumbled. Having Brom watch us made every touch of Merlin’s even more intoxicating. It was as if his hands were with Merlin’s, that they were both touching me, holding me to them.
“You like it when I’m watching you?” Brom stepped closer and into the light, his thumb trailing over his lip. He kept moving until he was at his side bar, pouring himself a drink before sitting in an armchair, his eyes taking in every movement of Merlin’s languorous torture against my neck. “I am more than happy to oblige, little bird. I could think of no better performance than Merlin taking you, your beautiful body arching under him, your breasts pressing against his chest, your legs squeezing tight as your pussy grips his cock until he’s dry.”
“Fuck, Brom,” Merlin groaned against my skin, and he pulled back enough to tug my shirt upwards over my breasts. I could feel his cock, thick and straining at his jeans, and I knew he was getting as aroused as me.
Romulus walked around the couch and sat in the matching armchair, and our audience grew to two. I met his eyes and there was a fire behind them. Where Brom grew darker the more he showed his desire for me, Romulus became an inferno. And Merlin? Well, he was hungry, a man starving for my touch, needing to feel my arms around him, and my lips to kiss.
“Would you care for a drink?” Brom’s casual tone made me burn hot, goose bumps running over me as they watched me. Something about the way they made this feel normal sent me higher, and I wanted to perform for them, to let them watch me whenever they wanted. I was theirs.
“I’ll take my enjoyments directly from Ella’s pussy,” Romulus answered, more for me than the vampire. But Brom’s lips stretched into a salacious smirk, as if he were considering that same thing.
“Go on then, Merlin,” Brom said just before taking a sip of his whiskey. “Make our little bird sing.”
It was as if Merlin had been waiting for his permission. He yanked my shirt upwards, my arms tangling in it as he pulled it over my head. His kisses went from trailing over my neck to the newly exposed skin while I threw the shirt into the darkness and moaned as Merlin’s lips sucked on my nipple through my unlined bra, his hand teasing and pinching my other.
It was amazing, but I wanted something more, something more convicted. I wanted to be reminded that I was theirs. I shimmied my hips, grinding against Merlin’s hardness, his cock teasing my core, nearly distracting me from my purpose.
“Undress me,” I whispered into Merlin’s ear as I reached down to undo his jeans.
“Any time,” he answered and moved back before I could free his cock. His hands went to my pants and I lifted my hips as he wrenched them off of me, his thumbs hooked through my panties and removing them with my pants. One hand found the clasp of my bra, and together we pulled it off before flinging it to join my shirt in the darkness. I reached up and pulled his shirt up over his head, my hands going right back to his waistline and freeing his cock. I pushed his jeans and tight boxer briefs down over his ass.
I wrapped my hand around his cock, hot and smooth, pumping it as he groaned, dropping his forehead to rest against mine. He didn’t stay still, though, and he leaned down over me, forcing me onto my back, the hand not bracing him cupped my pussy, stroking broadly and discovering exactly how wet this was making me.
His fingers slipped through my slit, coating him, and I watched, panting as he brought them to his lips and tasted me. “You’re so fucking sweet, Ella,” Merlin said, his voice haggard. “I want to taste every part of you.” He ran his hands down over my body, grabbing my hips and starting to turn me. I realized what he wanted and I rolled over until I was on my hands and knees, my blonde hair falling out of my ponytail but I didn’t care. He must have kicked off his pants because Merlin wasted no time in taking my hips in his hands as he settled on his knees.
“Oh fuck,” I cried out, breathless, as Merlin’s mouth pressed against me, his tongue fucking into me as he held me in place. I wanted to squirm, to press my pussy against him, needing more. He pulled away from me as suddenly as he had begun, but then he was shoving two fingers inside me, stroking me.
“They’re watching this, Ella.” Merlin’s voice was soft, his breath warm silk over my skin that felt everything so intensely. I forced my eyes open, not realizing I had even closed them, and looked to Brom and Romulus. Both had their cocks out, stroking themselves as they watched Merlin finger me. I should have felt ashamed at how much I wanted to them to watch, how I tried to spread my legs more, to show them what Merlin was doing to me. What they could be doing to me.
Merlin’s hand came around and tugged at my nipples, rolling them between his fingertips, all while he kept up his relentless strokes, his fingers coaxing me towards orgasm. I moaned as my nipples ached and burned, Merlin’s touch just painful enough to blossom into pleasure.
“Your pussy feels so good,” Merlin leaned down and pressed a kiss against my spine. “And we’re going to fuck you, Ella. We’re going to make up for all that time Romulus had you to himself.” He brought his other hand to my pussy, his finger rubbing it hard as he suddenly crooked his fingers, stroking hard against that sensitive spot inside me. “Now come for us.”
My orgasm broke through me in waves, the epicenter his fingers stroking me, inside and out. I cried out, my head thrown back and my arms nearly buckling. Merlin pulled his hands from me, my pussy left clenching against nothing, a
nd I heard the tear of a wrapper. He grabbed my arms, pulling my wrists behind my back, holding them with one hand, and filling me with his cock.
I pressed back against him, my pussy sensitive where he stretched me, and balanced precariously on my knees. Merlin pressed a hand between my shoulder blades, pressing me down until my face was against the cool leather and my ass up in the air on display for them. I ground against him, eager. He felt so good inside me, but I needed him to move.
I groaned out as the slow slide of his cock stroked me, and I pressed my chest against the couch, my nipples desperate for friction. Merlin thrust in again just as slowly, and I shuddered.
Merlin fucked me slowly, teasing me until I felt my thighs growing wet as they quivered from being so close to the edge of orgasm. One touch to my clit, or tease of my nipples and I’d come hard around his cock. But when he made no move, I tried to pull my hand away from him.
His grip hardened on my wrists, swatting my ass hard enough to sting. “Stop moving. The only one that gets to make you come right now is me.”
I wanted to bite out a sharp retort, but he tilted his hips downwards, sinking into me, his cock stroking the same sensitive flesh as his fingers had found.
Brom had requested Merlin make me sing, and Merlin’s cock fulfilled that request. I looked at Brom, his cock pumping into his fist, and his eyes honed in where Merlin fucked me. Romulus was watching us too, but he was watching my face and our eyes locked just as Merlin stroked inside me again.
My body tightened, as Romulus stroked his cock in time with Merlin’s thrusts, his legs spread wide and his shirt open, teasing me with a strip of his skin leading down to where his pants were open wide. His face was tense, but his lips were parted as he breathed heavily. His eyes roamed over my face, snapping to my lips when his intensity made me bite my bottom lip.
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