Fabric of Fate

by N. J. Waters

  Abrah’s cock stirred. He willed it to behave, but it wasn’t listening. It had been so long since he’d had a woman beneath his hands. A year ago at the festival he’d spent several memorable nights with an older widow woman. He and Heroc had tried to entice her to marry one of them but she’d chosen someone else from her home village. It was no wonder his body was reacting to the nearness of this woman.

  Her eyelids had drifted closed and her breathing was shallow. She still wasn’t safe from the effects of the cold yet. Abrah stood and lifted her out of the dirty water.

  Heroc watched his brother carefully set the woman down beside the tub. Her slick skin gleamed in the candlelight. She was slender, almost too much so. He frowned, wondering if she’d been ill or if her village had fallen on hard times. That happened sometimes but he couldn’t imagine any man letting his woman go hungry.

  He grabbed a drying cloth and ran it over her limbs as Abrah steadied her. His cock was as hard as a spike, pushing against the leather placket of his pants, but he ignored the discomfort as best he could. All that mattered was making sure she was safe and warm. Thankfully, other than a few minor scrapes and bruises, she didn’t seem to be hurt.

  The bath had helped bring up her body temperature but it wasn’t enough. She was shivering slightly but there was no doubt she was still chilled to her core.

  Heroc vigorously rubbed her legs and arms, trying to get the blood circulating through her limbs. He did his best to ignore the smooth skin of her legs, the curve of her hip, the dip of her waist. But it was impossible to miss the thrust of her breasts and the way her nipples were puckered against the cold. She may be slender but her breasts were full and firm.

  He swallowed a groan as every muscle in his body tightened and his cock flexed. The hair on her head was starting to curl. It matched the shorter, curly hair that covered her mound.

  “Enough.” Abrah’s voice was strained and Heroc knew his brother was holding his passion in check by a thread.

  Heroc tossed aside the cloth and followed his brother into the bedroom, watching intently as Abrah carried her to the bed. Carn padded behind them, taking up his usual place in front of the hearth.

  He’d taken the time to turn back the covers after he’d stoked the fire. The room was warm but not warm enough. “We need to use body heat.” Abrah nodded and placed the woman in the middle of the mattress.

  Heroc stared at her, devouring her oval face, full lips and high cheekbones. She looked very familiar. His hands stilled on the laces of his pants.

  “Abrah.” His brother continued to strip off his damp clothing, but raised his eyebrow in question. “I recognize this woman.” Heroc wasn’t sure his brother would believe him or not, but he couldn’t hold in the truth. “From a dream.”

  “I recognize her too.” Abrah yanked his tunic over his head and dropped it on the floor.

  Heroc’s heart began to race. Was it possible they’d shared the same dream? With the woman currently lying in Abrah’s bed? In the dream she’d said the tapestry had brought her. Had that happened in truth? He certainly wasn’t dreaming now, but then again, his dream had felt incredibly real too. Heroc didn’t know what the truth was and didn’t care. All that mattered was getting her warm and saving her life.

  He kicked off his boots and whisked away his pants. His tunic followed and he crawled into bed beside her. Abrah climbed in on the other side and pulled the thick furs over all of them.

  Heroc rested his hand on her flat stomach. Her skin was still chilly to the touch and so he began to stroke up and down her torso and over her thigh, willing his warmth into her body. She had to live. Heroc would not entertain any other outcome.

  Audrey knew she had to be dreaming. There simply was no other explanation for what was happening to her. A giant dog and two men had found her, brought her to a stone castle and popped her into the bathtub after stripping her naked. She should have been appalled by what was happening but she was too miserable to care.

  Her entire body ached and she was beginning to think she’d never be warm again. Ice seemed to encase her bones, chilling her to the very core of her being.

  The mattress dipped and one of the men climbed in beside her. The light flickered in the room and she frowned. Why did this place seem familiar? The mattress dipped again and the other man joined them in the bed. She knew she should be outraged. She was naked after all. But she was cold and they were so very warm. Their large bodies radiated heat. She wanted to snuggle next to them and soak it all in.

  Lethargy filled her, surrounded her, until she floated in a bubble, distanced from her surroundings while still somehow a part of it. The sensation was strange, yet oddly comforting, as though she were removed from all feeling and emotion. She was safe here. Nothing could touch her.

  She frowned as one of the men rested his hand on her stomach. It felt heavy and real. But this couldn’t be. This wasn’t her bedroom and she’d certainly never had two handsome, naked men in her bed. She’d certainly remember if such an event had ever taken place.

  Somehow these men weren’t strangers, or at least she didn’t think they were. They were familiar, like she knew them from somewhere, but where?

  Although it wasn’t easy to keep her eyes open, she studied them in the dim light emanating from the crackling fire. They both were very large men with broad shoulders and huge biceps. They wore their black hair long, but one of them had a single skinny braid on either side of his face. The shape of their faces were so similar she knew they had to be related—brothers or cousins.

  The one with his hand on her stomach had a slightly crooked nose and, when he smiled at her, recognition hit like a sledgehammer in the gut. He was the man from her dream. They both were from her dream.

  “Heroc,” she whispered. That was the name the other man had called him by last night in her dream. They were brothers. She remembered that as well.

  Audrey turned her head to find the other male, the one with the two skinny braids, watching her. She licked her dry lips. “You’re Abrah.”

  He inclined his head. “And you are?”

  “Audrey. Audrey Brennan.” She didn’t understand what was going on. Why was she dreaming about these men again? Maybe it was a dream, but everything about the moment seemed so real.

  “Audrey Brennan.” The male satisfaction in his voice frightened her. She remembered all too well what happened at the end of her last dream. He’d gotten angry with her.

  She scooted closer to Heroc and Abrah frowned. Heroc lowered his head and murmured against her hair. “You are safe. No one will harm you here.”

  “Where am I? How did I get here?”

  She shivered again and Abrah’s scowl deepened. “Enough talk. We need to get you warm.”

  He shifted until he was pressing up against her side. With Heroc on her other side there was nowhere for her to go. Where moments ago she’d been chilled to her core, now her body was generating vast amounts of heat. Or maybe she was simply drawing their warmth into her.

  “I don’t understand.” And she didn’t. She had to be dreaming, except this didn’t feel like a dream. She pressed her hand against Abrah’s chest and his heart thudded against her palm. His chest was slick with perspiration and she could see the beginnings of bristles on his jaw. She touched it and felt the prickles against her fingers. “I don’t understand,” she repeated. She wanted to say something else, something intelligent, to ask one of the million questions forming in her mind, but her brain simply refused to work.

  “All you need to know is that you are safe.” Heroc circled his hand over her abdomen, generating heat in her chest and pelvic region that had nothing to do with mere warmth and everything to do with sexual arousal.

  Audrey shifted her legs restlessly against the soft sheet beneath her. This wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be in bed with two men she barely knew. But she’d been in bed with them in her dream last night. And if this was another dream, was there really anything wrong with her being aroused by the
two virile men?

  Her mind whirled, trying to sort out reality from fiction. She rubbed her forehead. She’d been on the phone with Gwen. She remembered that. Then she’d gone to her bedroom. The tapestry was on the end of the bed and she’d picked it up. Hadn’t she?

  “The tapestry,” she began.

  Abrah leaned close and pressed his lips against hers, effectively silencing her. The soft caress echoed throughout her body. “Don’t worry about the tapestry. Don’t worry about anything. Let us pleasure you.” He kissed her cheeks, her nose and down the length of her jaw.

  “Let us touch you.” Heroc shifted his hand so he was cupping one of her breasts. The nipple puckered as he circled the nub with his thumb. His lips were soft against her shoulder. “Let us please you.”

  There was something wrong with that, something she remembered from her last dream. She had a very strong memory of two hard cocks pressed against her sides, but neither of them had come. She glanced from one to the other and, while Heroc gave her a reassuring smile, Abrah stared at her, no smile, no expression at all showing in his green eyes.

  Abrah cupped her jaw in his hand and rubbed his thumb over her lower lip. “Decide.”

  Her tongue flicked out to touch the end of his finger as it grazed her mouth. His pupils contracted and his heart sped up. He wasn’t as unaffected as he’d like her to believe.

  This was a dream, she reminded herself. It wasn’t as though she was committing to a long-term relationship with one of them.

  If this was real she certainly wouldn’t be in bed with both of them, although she had to admit, as fantasies went, this was an excellent one. What woman didn’t fantasize about having two handsome hunks in bed, attending to her every need?

  She was free to indulge her every whim. And why wouldn’t she. The first part of this dream had been a complete nightmare. The memory of the storm sent a shiver down her spine. That experience had been terrifying. She was due for something good.

  She looked at Heroc and then back to Abrah. They both waited, but she could feel the tension vibrating from both of them.

  Audrey took a deep breath and took the plunge. “Yes.”

  Chapter Five

  Abrah didn’t want to think about Audrey mentioning the tapestry and the implications surrounding it, but he was not one to back away from the truth, no matter how distasteful it was. His dream last night had been real, a precursor to her arrival.

  If the legend of the tapestry stayed true, and there was no reason to believe otherwise, they had only three days to convince Audrey to stay with them. Then the tapestry would appear and she could go back home if she chose.

  She would go back home. Abrah didn’t delude himself to think otherwise. Why would she want to stay in their world? The cold season did not exactly show Javara at its best. The frigid, rainy weather would most likely prevent them from taking her outside the keep. They weren’t rich men by any means. Oh, they kept themselves and their people fed and warm, but there weren’t funds for anything frivolous. Other tapestry brides had gone to much larger castles and keeps, ones with more wealth.

  All they could offer Audrey was themselves, a roof over her head and a full belly. Not much for such a prize. She was so beautiful she could have any man she wanted. Why would she stay here?

  But he would try. For Heroc’s sake.

  And he was lying to himself. He desperately wanted her to stay. If he closed his eyes he could still picture her lying in the dirt, wet and cold and exhausted, struggling to crawl one more step. Such courage, such bravery was to be admired.

  From his dream, he knew she was a beautiful woman, generous with her passion, holding nothing back. He wanted to know everything there was to know about her.

  Deep in his soul, Audrey was quickly becoming an overwhelming need. A piece of him would leave with her when she returned to her home and he wasn’t sure he’d ever recover from the loss. He’d found her. They’d found her in the storm and brought her home and she belonged to them.

  Time was already slipping away and the tapestry would soon be returning for her. Abrah knew she did not believe this was real, not yet at any rate, knew he should not take advantage of her confused state. But he knew he would. There simply was not enough time to waste.

  He gave in to his growing frustration and sexual hunger and kissed her. Not the gentle touch he’d given her earlier. No, this was a kiss of claiming. He was the conqueror and she was his prize.

  He tasted her sweet lips before slipping his tongue inside the warm cavern of her mouth. He groaned when her tongue touched his, tentatively at first and then bolder. Her hand slipped up his chest, then his neck, chaining him to her. He could have told her there was nothing that could make him leave her, but that would have meant breaking the kiss, which he wasn’t ready to do. Not yet.

  He ran his fingers over her delicate features, learning them, committing them to memory. Already her face was so very familiar to him—her soft skin, perfect nose and full lips. Her thick hair was drying into thick, silky curls. He twined one around his finger, loving the way the fine hair wrapped around it, clinging to his skin.

  He wanted everything from her. He wanted to hear her scream his name as she came, to feel her cunt clasp his cock in her hot, wet heat, to have her beg him to take her.

  Determination flooded him. He was a fighter and he’d fought many battles in his lifetime. He’d won many and lost some, but he’d never been a quitter. He had three days and he planned to make the most of them. Even if she left, he would know he had done everything in his power to make her stay. He would also have enough memories to last him a lifetime.

  He broke the kiss and glanced at Heroc. His brother was busy sucking and licking Audrey’s breasts. He knew his brother well and knew their thoughts would be similar. Only Heroc would have more hope than him. Such was his brother’s nature.

  Maybe between the two of them there was a chance she might stay. Slim, yes, but it existed.

  Audrey was breathless when Abrah ended his passionate kiss. She’d been kissed many times before in her life, but never anything like this. This was the kind of kiss you read about in romance novels, filled with unspoken emotion and unrequited passion.

  There was so much to consider, but thought was impossible with Heroc licking her distended nipple. He captured the nub between his teeth and gently tugged. Heat flooded her pussy and she arched her pelvis, wanting more.

  She didn’t know herself, not here, not now. Yes, she’d enjoyed sex over the years within the confines of her committed relationships, but this was something far out of the realm of her experience. This was passion at its deepest and most profound. She was filled with longings she didn’t even know she had. She wanted to be taken by them, swept away on a wave of desire until nothing else mattered.

  The staid businesswoman, the workaholic, the lonely woman didn’t exist in this dream. There was only Audrey the woman and the men she wanted.

  A low growl from her other side startled her. Abrah was watching her from beneath a heavy-lidded gaze, his green eyes filled with heat and passion. She swallowed hard. Could she satisfy such a man?

  Her ex-boyfriend had said more than once that she was cold in bed. Unresponsive. She preferred to think it was simply poor chemistry and his lack of patience but there was no denying she’d lost confidence in herself. There hadn’t been a man in her bed since.

  But this wasn’t real. This was a dream. She could be whatever she wanted, do whatever she wanted. This was her fantasy and it would be perfect.

  The thought gave her confidence enough to run her hands over Abrah’s wide chest. His abs were like steel, heavy muscles covered with taut skin. Oh my, he was the perfect male specimen. If she used him in an ad campaign he’d make the client a bundle. The thought made her smile.

  Heroc tugged on her breast again as if to remind her he was there. As if she could forget. Like his brother, there wasn’t a spare ounce of fat on his body. She brushed his long hair away from his face and he re
leased her breast and smiled at her, flashing his pearly white teeth. She could easily get lost in his smile. It was open and warm. He didn’t want anything from her other than pleasure. He wasn’t trying to use her business contacts or take her job.

  “Touch me.”

  She couldn’t ignore Heroc’s plea and ran her hand over his shoulders and chest. He had a light smattering of chest hair that tapered to a thin line that ran down his stomach and disappeared beneath the covers.

  He was naked beneath the blankets. They all were.

  Suddenly, Audrey wanted to see more. She kicked the blankets away, no longer cold. The struggle in the storm was quickly becoming a dim memory, wiped away by the presence of these two incredible men. If anything she was hot, brought on by the sexual passion simmering inside her and the closeness of the two brothers.

  She almost swallowed her tongue when she got her first good look at Heroc. “Oh my.” She reached out tentatively and touched his cock. It twitched and she jerked her hand away.

  He captured her hand and brought it back to his shaft. “Touch me. Please.” His voice was hoarse with need and she was powerless to resist. She rubbed her thumb over the wide, plum-shaped head, marveling at the soft texture. Liquid seeped from the small slit and she smoothed it over the tip. Heroc groaned, every muscle in his body tensing. A sense of power flooded her. This large, gorgeous, muscular man wanted her touch. The very idea made her pussy spasm.

  Heroc bit the inside of his mouth to keep from coming. Audrey’s touch was soft and gentle, a featherlight brush of his cock head. He struggled to keep his body under his control when all he wanted to do was roll her on to her back and plunge his shaft deep into her hot cunt.

  Instead, he forced himself to remain still as she examined him at her leisure. She ran her fingers up and down his hard length, tracing the pulsing veins that ran from base to tip.