by Kim Loraine
The three of us collapse together in a heap of sweaty, sated, love with Gwen between us, but Brooks and I reaching for each other as surely as we reach for her.
Chapter Sixteen
Gwen
I wake to the sound of Helena banging on the front door and shouting, “It’s time for you three to wrap up the orgy. We’ve got plenty on at the moment, and your loveliest needs to wait.”
Lance wraps me tighter in his arms and won’t let go. “Send the wicked witch away.”
I can’t stop my giggle. “She’s not wicked.”
“If she’s trying to steal you out of this bed, she’s absolutely wretched.”
My stomach growls and my bladder protests. “Either way, I have to get up. I have…needs to take care of.”
Brooks yawns and stretches before turning his focus to me. “Did we not sate your needs?”
Fighting an eye roll, I scoot out from their holds and hop off the bed. I’m sore…everywhere. “Oh, you definitely saw to my needs. But if I don’t get to the loo right now, I’m going to pee myself.”
The two of them laugh and I rush to the toilet to relieve myself. When I’m done, I walk into the living room wrapped in a soft gray robe. Helena is sitting on the couch, nursing a mug of tea while Brooks and Lance both seem to be enjoying plates of what looks like traditional American breakfasts. Platters of bacon, eggs, and pancakes, cover our table. It smells divine.
“What’s all this?” I ask my sister.
She shrugs. “Ruby. I never thought we’d have an American coven member. But I have to say, she’s only been with us a few days and her cooking is my favorite part about her.”
“How is she doing…after everything with Gabriel?” I think back to the vision I had, her and Gabriel together but apart. An impossible choice they had to make. I’d thought it was all part of the sleeping curse, my vision and subsequent conversation with the archangel Michael. But now that I’m here, with Ruby, I understand it was very real.
“She’s sad.” Helena shakes her head. “Fuck that, sad isn’t the right word. She’s shattered. Imagine finding your soul mate and having to force him to leave you for the greater good.”
I grab an empty plate and begin to pile it high with food. Popping a piece of bacon in my mouth, I let out a nearly carnal moan when the taste hits my tongue.
“I never thought I’d be jealous of bacon,” Brooks murmurs.
“Please,” Helena says. “Spare me.”
I spear a slice of pancake and eat it with an over-exaggerated groan of pleasure. “So good.”
Brooks squirms in his seat, but doesn’t comment.
“So, Hel, explain what you needed that absolutely couldn’t wait.”
“Tamiel has been called away by Michael.” She keeps her gaze trained on the table rather than me. “It seems…the second seal is opening.”
Apprehension curls in my gut. “We have everything we need to close the first one.”
“Except its location,” Lance interjects. “I’d have done my duty the moment we found the seal.”
“Exactly. We need to do a locator spell.”
“And now that we have Ruby…” I begin, trailing off because the rest doesn’t need to be said. We are strong enough.
She nods and takes my hand in a rare gesture of affection. “Tonight the moon will be full. We can use our magic and find the seal. We will stop Lucifer from ending the world.” Her free palm rests on the swell of her belly and my heart aches for all of us. “There’s too much at stake.”
I squeeze her hand and offer a reassuring smile. “We will win this. I’ve seen it.”
Then my vision goes cloudy as a premonition hits me. It’s the same as the one I had during my sleeping curse. Brooks dead on the grass, my hands covered in his blood, but now Lance is beside him, holding his hand. My knight looks up at me and the color leaves his face as he’s hit with a spell from somewhere behind me. He collapses, mortally wounded by magic. I can feel that the seal was closed, that the world is saved, but I…I am alone.
I scream.
“Gwen,” Brooks’ voice fills my ears. “Fuck, Gwen.” I’m still trapped in the haze of the vision, but I feel his warmth surround me, breathe in his familiar soothing scent, and my heart breaks for everything I’m going to lose.
“Breathe, my love. We’re here. We have you.” Lance’s soft words add to my despair and bring me closer to lucidity. His hands rub my back and although I’m through the last of the waking nightmare, I shake and sob against Brooks’ chest.
“What did you see?” Helena asks.
I turn my face away from the safety of Brooks and take a shuddering breath. “The end.”
Lancelot
“She shouldn’t be out there. It’s too damn cold.” Brooks stands at the window watching Gwen pace back and forth in the garden. She’s only in a pair of jeans with knee high leather boots and a soft sweater. She should be near frozen.
“She’s stubborn. She always has been.”
“But this is ridiculous.” He reaches for the door handle but I stop him by grabbing his wrist.
I shake my head. “You know she’s fine. Look at her, she’s melting the surrounding snow. Her magic is strong enough that she’s keeping herself warm. She needs space. Whatever she saw rattled her. We can’t fix it.”
Brooks takes a long breath, but releases the door. “Fine. I just…I failed her once before as a husband. I don’t like to think I’m doing it again.”
Impulsively, I reach out and grab the nape of his neck, pulling him close and pressing our foreheads together. “You are not failing either of us.”
His arms wrap around me in a tight embrace and I reciprocate. There’s no passion behind it. Only a love I can feel radiating from him. “I’m afraid of what she saw. I’m afraid I’ll lose you both again.”
I tighten my arms around him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
After a few moments together, he releases me and returns to his post at the window. I take a seat at the table and make room for my sword. Gwen thought of everything when she created this home for us. A small drawer in the table houses everything I need to care for the blade. Oil and a rag, even a fine stone cube to buff out imperfections and scratches from use.
I place the sword on a long cloth and begin the process. Brooks sits across from me, watching as I take my time and clean the blade.
“I haven’t seen you like this in far too long,” he says.
I nod, but don’t look up from what I’m doing. “I’ve neglected this blade. Particularly after fighting Nimue. It needs to be kept at the ready.”
“It’s been an age since I had to clean a blade.”
I chuckle. “An enchanted sword has spoiled you, my king.”
He sucks in a sharp breath and I stop what I’m doing to look at him. “You haven’t called me that in this life.”
“Haven’t I?”
Shaking his head, he frowns. “I don’t know if I like it or not. You aren’t subservient to me.”
“I am loyal. I was never subservient. You never made me feel that way.”
We fall silent, the only sound in the room the slight swish of cloth over steel. After the blade is cleaned and polished, I return it to the sheath the Lady gave me. It vanishes, but I feel its magic around me.
Brooks’ gaze is heavy on me, causing my chest to tighten. “Before the coven does their spell, we need to do something.”
“Do we?”
He nods. “We need to break my handfasting bond with Gwen.”
Shock rolls through me. “What? Why would you do that?”
“If we’re going to be joined by magic, it needs to be we three who are bound. Not two.”
“How do you think she’s going to feel about you wanting to break the bond?”
He shrugs. “She’s got this notion in her head that she has to be married to me because of a vision.”
“Her visions are very important to her. She says they’ve never been wrong…well, not never. There have been a few that
have gotten the better of her.” I think back to the original reason we separated. That damned vision of me with the Lady Elaine.
“Then we break it without her knowledge.”
I shake my head. “No. I’ll not break her trust. Without trust, we have nothing.”
He sighs and drags a hand through his hair. “Fine. When she comes inside, we’ll discuss it like adults. I’ll tell her my reasoning, and we’ll do what needs to be done.”
The man acts like she’s going to be receptive. I know Gwen. She doesn’t do anything without purpose. Especially magic.
“Well, now’s your chance,” I say, as the doorknob turns and she steps inside.
Her eyes are haunted, tired, and all I want to do is carry her to bed so she can sleep away whatever demons are claiming her thoughts. Instead, she locks gazes with me for an instant before flicking her focus to the floor. Then she makes her way to the kitchen, brushing past me and flinching at the contact of our bodies.
“I’m going to have a shower,” I say, needing some time to move past the frustration building in my chest. Her dismissive behavior hurts. But I know she’s not shunning me because of something I’ve done or said. Her vision broke her. And that vision was about me, Brooks, and the end of the world.
Brooks
“Gwen, please tell us what’s wrong.” I follow her into the kitchen, the tension rolling off her in waves keeping me a step away.
“No. I don’t want to think about it unless there’s some way I can stop it from happening.”
There are tears shining in her eyes and her hands shake as she fills the kettle in the sink. She shuts off the water and puts the kettle on the stove, turning the heat on with careful effort. My wife is moments away from completely coming apart and I don’t know how to help.
“It’s your vision, isn’t it?”
She nods and wipes away a stray tear. “I…I can’t talk about it. That makes it even more real.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll handle it together. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You can’t stop it.” The defeat in her voice is painful. “None of us can.”
I touch her arm but she jerks it away. Anger burns in my veins. “So this is your solution. To shut us out. Leave us aching for your touch because of something that hasn’t even happened yet.” I grab her by the shoulders and pull her against me. “I’m not letting you do this to us. Whatever will be, you are ours and we are yours. We never know when our last breath will happen. I could die at any moment.” She stiffens in my arms and I know I’ve hit the nail on the bloody head. She’s seen my death. Closing my eyes, I take a shuddering breath as that realization washes over me. “I want to live my life like every breath is my last. And that means loving you fiercely, desperately, and without restraint.”
Her shoulders shake as she lets out all the hurt and fear she’s been badly hiding. “I don’t want to face this.”
“My darling, we have to. If we don’t, there won’t be a future for anyone else.”
She looks up at me. Her eyes searching for something I can’t give her. She wants reassurance, a promise. All I can offer is devotion and love. I’ll love her until the day I die…beyond that even. Her fingers play at the base of my spine, running under my sweater and over my bare skin.
“Make me forget all this. I just want to feel…something other than fear.”
My cock aches and lengthens, pressing against my fly. “Are you sure? Last night was such an intense experience. I didn’t think—” she stops me with her lips on mine. There’s hunger in her kiss. A desperate desire to wash away everything to come. I can give her this.
Her hands are frantic, gripping my belt and tugging it open, mouth devouring mine all the while. When her hand delves into my jeans and she wraps her fingers around my shaft, I groan against her lips. My hips buck and I feel like a virgin about to orgasm from two strokes of her hand.
I unbutton her jeans and shove them down her thighs before wrapping my hands around her waist and lifting her until she’s seated on the counter. Unzipping her boots, I carefully slide them off her feet before removing her jeans completely. Her expression is pained and arousal shines in her eyes. I need her just as much as she needs me.
“Touch me, Brooks,” she moans. “Please…I ache.”
I slide my palm up her inner thigh until I reach her center. She’s slick and ready for me, but I need to work her a little. Tease and torment her until she’s squirming and has forgotten everything other than this moment. I trace her swollen clit, making her cry out and bite her lower lip. Then I sink one finger deep inside her, loving the tight heat, the scent of her need. I move back and forth, adding a second finger to ready her for me. Last night Lancelot got to have her pussy, but today it is mine.
“I’m ready. God, please give me your cock,” she begs.
“Pregnancy has made you wanton,” I tease.
She smirks. “I was always wanton. I just hid it well.” Then my pants drop to the floor and she’s got her hand around my erection again.
“That’s cheating, you know.”
“What, using magic to get you naked?”
I nod.
“Wanton.” She leans in and nibbles my earlobe. “Impatient.” Then her legs wrap around my waist and she pulls me closer. “Hungry.”
I press my crown against her warm, inviting entrance and carefully sink inside her. We both moan and shudder at the sensation. Her heat engulfs me and sends waves of pleasure over me.
“Couldn’t wait for me?” Lancelot’s voice is in my ear, his lips on my skin.
“Fuck, Lance,” I moan. “What are you waiting for?”
He kisses my nape and nips at the tender skin where my neck and shoulder meet. I shiver in anticipation of where this is going to go. Gwen sits up and wraps her arms around me. She clings to me as I thrust deeper inside her and I feel Lance’s bare chest press against my back. The sounds of their kisses urge me on as I fuck her.
Lance’s long, hard cock brushes my ass and my eyes roll back in my head at the thought of having him inside me while I fill Gwen. “Fuck me, Lance,” I say.
He breaks his kiss with Gwen and grabs my hips. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
His fingers spread me and I hear his shuddering breaths as he does something I can’t see. Then the slick, blunt head of his cock presses to my opening.
It burns and aches but he moves slowly, Gwen clenching her walls around my hardness and distracting me from Lance’s welcome invasion. “It’s going to feel so good in a minute,” she whispers. “I promise.”
And then it does. Fuck, it feels like everything I’ve been missing when he pulls back and thrusts deeper. His crown hits that special place inside me and I see fucking stars.
“Lead the way,” he whispers, his voice tight. “I’ll follow.”
I move inside Gwen, her whimpers of pleasure making me want to bring her to orgasm before I lose my mind. Lance moves with me and I fight the urge to spill everything I have right here and now.
“Do you remember what you did to me last night?” he asks, nipping my shoulder with his teeth. “I want to make you feel that. Helpless and powerless to stop the wave after wave of euphoria. I thought I’d drown in you.”
He gives a hard thrust, pushing me deeper into our Gwen. She’s watching him, her gaze locked on him with nothing but love and desire. Then he reaches around me and his thumb rubs over her clit and she falls. Her pleasure makes her tremble and quake around me.
“Fill her,” he growls.
And fuck me, I do. I let loose a powerful orgasm as he pounds into me and follows shortly after. We’re all heavy breaths and sighs as we come down. No one lets go or moves to separate.
But finally, Gwen shifts and silently asks for us to move. We ease apart and stare at each other. The final step in our relationship has happened and though it’s unspoken, we’re more connected than ever.
Gwen frowns and cocks her head, her skin breaking out in goosebump
s.
“What is it?” Lance asks.
“Someone is here. Someone who shouldn’t be.”
Chapter Seventeen
Gwen
This is not how I wanted to spend the afterglow of loving my men. I’d hoped for a slow entry back into real life, instead I can feel the danger all around the perimeter of the property. Demons.
With a pulse of power, I clothe us and make sure both of them are armed. The lights flicker as our wards are tested over and over. I can feel the attacks run through me.
“What is happening?” Lance asks, putting himself in front of me as though that will help.
“We’re being called. All of us.”
I rush outside, my hair flying in the sudden wind. It’s more than demons. There’s magic here. Dark and sinister. Brooks grabs my arm and tugs me back, but I spin around to face him with blazing determination.
“No. You don’t get to protect me here. We all go in fighting. I need to see to my sisters, Izzy and the baby. They’re in danger.”
His jaw flexes and a frown furrows his brow, but he nods. They follow behind me as I make my way through the rose arch. The flowers are black and rotting now, stinking of death. Looking down at the ground, I see long veins of black coloring the earth. The snow has melted where the poison spreads.
“Someone is trying to curse our house,” I mutter.
“But who? We killed Nimue. I took down Morgan. Calista is dead. Who else would come after you with magic?” Lance’s questions all make sense, and I dread the only answer I have.
“Vivienne.”
He shakes his head as we enter my sisters’ home. “No. She would never do anything to harm me.”
“I thought the same of Calista. But she cursed me to suffer for eternity.”
“Why would she wait until now? She had us all in her grasp. Why not act then?”
“Maybe she tried. Remember the shower? The steam?”
He frowns. “That wasn’t her. It couldn’t have been.”
Ruby and Helena come into the room where we’re arguing, worry pinching Helena’s features. “Tamiel is gone, I can’t reach him. There are seven demons outside our wards, and some kind of magical force is burrowing under ground. I don’t think our wards can hold much longer, even with Ruby’s power added to our coven.”