“Because of her wish,” Bryn finished.
Ali nodded and sat back, feeling sick to his stomach. Frigg had allowed him to watch, while in his demon form he’d murdered the man, the baronet’s chest weighted and a hand smothering his mouth and nose. He’d left that night, never again to stand in Frigg’s presence because his own weaknesses had condemned him as an accomplice to the evil deed.
“He’s arriving today,” Ethan said.
“He will know I recognized the description Radha gave. Likely, he won’t present himself at the front door.”
“How do we fight him?” Bryn asked.
“We need a lure to get him to come to us,” Ethan said. He glanced at Bryn and frowned. “Can you lure him? Make it impossible for him to refuse to appear?”
“With a special boost, yes,” she said, and gave him a small smile.
Ethan rolled his eyes. “You’re talking about the Harvest Moon.”
“Which occurs tonight. We dance, and then we trap him. The Goddess will bless the weapons we need.”
“What weapons can kill him?” Ethan said, looking at Ali.
“Beheading, dismemberment…”
Aoife wrinkled her nose. “I vote for the first.”
“Bloodthirsty, aren’t you?” Renner teased.
“He’s as bad as the demons who hunted us. He can’t join with Radha. He can’t live among us.”
So, even the part-elf witch was enjoined to kill Frigg.
“If he knows that I’m choosing a mate tonight,” Radha said, squeezing his hand, “he’ll have to show up to interrupt the ritual.”
Nikon cleared his throat. “I will be your champion.”
“I enabled his evil,” Khan said. “I should face him.”
“Since he’s tricky, in ways we might find difficult to overcome alone,” Bryn said, “we will all face him.”
Ali didn’t like the sound of that. By Ethan’s darkening expression, neither did he.
Ethan glanced at the flames ringing their table. “How long do we have before it burns out?”
“Long enough,” Bryn said, nodding at the candle. “Let’s set our plan.”
Chapter 8
Just after dark, the witches led the demons through the forest to the large clearing where the sacred oak stood. Khan and Nikon followed just behind the women. Then came all the other demons.
Despite a distinct chill in the air, the women were nude. And despite the fact Ethan had commissioned a crew to build a perfectly fine road that went from the village to Vindlér headquarters, the women preferred to walk barefoot through the forest, marsh all around them.
Some of the demons followed their example, nude and barefoot. Both he and Nikon did, because one of them was taking Radha for his mate this Harvest Moon. Although he wished with everything he had that she’d choose him, Khan knew the better choice was Nikon. Nikon would never betray her. He’d protect her until the last breath left his body. Khan would fight for her, but he couldn’t promise her the one thing she needed from a mate. Fidelity. It just wasn’t his nature. If caught by a human with a sad smile or a chain, he’d give them whatever they asked.
Never had he hated his lineage more.
The women watched, apparently content to be nude and admired, as demons stuck torches in the ground around the tree and lit them.
Khan’s gaze clung to Radha. With her wild, brown curls spilling around her shoulders, and her doe-like eyes looking beyond the circle to the forest beyond, he knew she worried about the vanir whose presence had not yet been detected.
With a sigh, Radha forced a smile and turned toward the oak. This was her night to wake its spirit.
Lifting her hand, she knocked three times against the old tree’s bark.
“Waken, spirit of the oak.
Stand guard while we revel.
Defend our secrets from evil.”
The torch flames flared outward. The ground beneath their feet shifted then settled.
The women spaced themselves equidistance around the oak and inside the torchlit ring. Their guardians stood farther out, but near enough to provide protection…and to watch.
All the women’s expressions lost tension as they stared up at the sky and began to move around the tree, dancing to some unheard tune, their bodies gracefully bending and swaying, their arms raised high.
Khan followed Radha’s movements as she closed her eyes and scooped at moonlight, acting as though she was bathing herself in light. When she’d bathed her entire body, she cupped her breasts and offered them as if to some unseen lover.
His mouth watered, and he started to take a step forward, unable to resist her allure, but Nikon’s large arm blocked him across his chest.
Khan noted that the other male was as aroused as he was. Nikon gave a nod. “It’s not yet time.”
And then the women moved outside the fiery ring. Arms raised, they turned slowly, moonlight filtering over their pale skin, seeming to sink into them, increasing their skin’s pearl-like luster.
Spinning slowly, they danced on tiptoes as they reached toward the starry sky.
As one, they stopped suddenly. Radha raised her chin and stared at him and Nikon.
“Mother, hear my dreams…
So many blessings have you given,
but I ask for one more.
I seek a mate: one who is true, one who is brave.
I ask not for power or for gain, but to save
the many blessings you have already granted.
Protect us with your light and wisdom,
Mother, hear my dreams…”
Radha closed her eyes as did all the women. They stood still as a breeze filtered through the trees, growing in intensity and making branches creak and sway. One by one, the torches blew out.
That was when he felt it. Frigid air blew against his back.
Radha’s eyes opened wide, and she drew a breath that lifted her naked chest. “He’s here,” she whispered.
However, she didn’t look frightened. She moved between him and Nikon, and they turned to sandwich her body between theirs. Heat flowed off her skin into his, and he turned, letting her wrap her arms around him and snuggle against his back to cloak him in more of her moonlight magic. When she turned toward Nikon to give him the same charge, Khan faced him to meet the other man’s gaze above her head. Nikon looked calm. His skin took on the glow, as Khan knew his own had done. They were ready for battle.
When she stiffened between them, Khan passed her the small bottle he held cradled in his hand, then both men stepped away, giving her space. Ice-cold air buffeted them, blowing back her hair. The vanir materialized in front of her. In his human skin. Khan knew what she saw, a handsome blond man with a mesmerer’s intensely dark gaze.
He held his breath, waiting to see whether she would be strong enough to play her part. He and Nikon took a step toward her, but she raised her hand to stop them.
Radha laughed. “I think I can handle this.” To Frigg, she said, her voice taunting, “You were more intimidating the last time I saw you.”
The demon’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth stretched into an approving smile. “You are a dark witch,” he said, his voice a caress as he stepped closer. “We shall deal well together.”
“Not so fast,” she said, pressing her palm against his chest. “I know what delights await me in their arms. Ali fills my every desire. Nikon brings strength and animal magnetism. What would you provide?”
He stretched his neck and rolled his head, transforming into the frightful being as dark as shadow and with teeth that could slice like the sharpest blades. He snaked his arms around her waist then rubbed his hands up and down her back, forcing her chest against his then settling his hands on her ass. When he cupped her bottom and brought her upward, she quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and laughed.
Below her bottom, Frigg’s cock jutted. Khan trembled with rage and fear, afraid the demon would claim her before she had a chance to work her spell.
Radha’s
back arched as she rubbed her breasts against his chest. Her hands moved to his head. The fingers of one hand clenched his hair. The other hand held the bottle above his head, and she slowly tilted it, dripping its contents onto his hair.
The scents of clove, lemon, rosemary, cinnamon, and eucalyptus filled the air.
When his eyes widened, first with confusion and then horror, Radha dumped the rest of the Four Thieves oil on his head.
Frigg tossed her away and began to pull at his hair. “No, no, no!”
The witches began to chant…
“Like plague and hunger,
Chaos welcomes you.
For black deeds and plunder,
Darkness embraces you.
Goddess free this demon from his mortal coil,
So mote it be!”
The wind whirled around them, picking up leaves and dirt. Khan watched as the vanir stared at Radha, hatred in his eyes. When he lunged forward to grab her from the ground, Khan and Nikon bent against the wind and stood in his way. The vanir stretched his claws and swiped at Nikon, who ducked beneath his arm and pushed him back toward the center of the swirling cloud.
Khan knew what the horse-man intended to do, and he couldn’t allow it, couldn’t rob Radha of her one true mate. He leapt forward, pushed Nikon away, and wrestled with the vanir, even as the wind began to tug at his body. He felt air beneath his feet, and then both of them were rising.
“Khan, let go!” Radha screamed. “Let go!”
He felt hands on his ankles and glanced down to see the satyr climbing his body.
Frigg beat at his temples, but still he didn’t let him go.
As the swirling cloud rose above the trees, Nikon peeled Khan’s arms from Frigg’s body. Frigg reached back, his fist doubled, but he was pulled away, rising rapidly into the sky.
Suddenly, he and Nikon fell, bouncing off, and then crashing through branches until they both landed on their backs beneath the sacred oak.
Khan couldn’t breathe.
“The wind was knocked out of you,” Radha said, bending over him to breathe into his mouth, forcing air into his lungs.
When he gave a loud gasp, sucking in air, she sat back and glanced at both males. “If that wasn’t the stupidest thing ever. Letting yourselves get sucked up into a tornado. How on earth did I come close to chosing two such stupid mates.” She pushed off the ground and began walking away.
He and Nikon came up on their elbows.
“She called us both mates,” Nikon said, giving him a lazy smile.
“That she did.”
They shared a long look, and then began to laugh. She’d made her choice, and not one they’d expected, and perhaps not one she’d even realized she’d made.
Rising, they followed the woman who would be theirs.
Chapter 9
Radha passed her sisters and the other demons, huffing loudly. She was so angry tears burned her eyes. She didn’t care that she stepped on branches and stones. Didn’t care that the air was cold, and that gooseflesh had risen all over her body. She had to get away and not think about how she’d felt when the three demons had been sucked up by the dark winds the Goddess had sent to banish Frigg to Hel.
If they’d waited a second before charging at the vanir, the spell would have worked smoothly, removing him from their orbit. Forever. But noooo! They always had to compete—prove who was the biggest badass. They’d both been ready to sacrifice themselves for her.
Footsteps and curses followed her. She moved more swiftly, her arms swinging as she marched, her fury filling her with so much energy, she felt as though she could have walked all the way to New Orleans and back.
She was not stopping. They could kiss her ass if they thought she’d take either one of them now.
A hand landed on her shoulder, and she pivoted and raised her fist, aiming at a chin—whose, she didn’t care. The blow hurt her knuckles, and she cried out. Nikon muttered something and cradled her fist. Ali moved beside them, and once again, she was sandwiched between two large, very warm bodies. Her nipples prickled.
Dammit. Not now. I will not notice how good they smell, how hot their skin is, or how hard the muscle beneath their hides feels. I won’t be attracted any more. Not to idiots!
But she was only fooling herself. The longer they stood there, their hard cocks trapped against her back and torso, the harder they were to resist.
“You’re both idiots,” she muttered.
“We frightened you,” Nikon said gently.
“You weren’t supposed to go after him. I poured the thieves oil over him, we cast the spell. You were not supposed to be sucked up into the sky with him.”
“He was going after you,” Ali said. “We couldn’t let him take you.”
She huffed a breath then leaned against Nikon’s chest. His hands gripped her forearms while Ali slipped his arms around her waist. Together, they swayed until she grew calm.
Nikon cleared his throat. “We should get you home.”
Radha leaned back her head, letting it rest on Ali’s shoulder while she gazed into Nikon’s eyes. “It’s the Harvest Moon. It’s a time of abundance. And I want abundance.”
Ali’s chest jerked against her back. Nikon’s mouth stretched.
“Would that abundance include lots of dirty sex?” Ali whispered in her ear.
“Yes. Fucking. Real fucking. Not dream-shit.”
He kissed her shoulder. “I take it that you’re okay with our sharing you after the ritual.”
“Well…yeah, sure.”
Nikon slid his knee between her legs and rubbed his thigh against her pussy. “You will have to choose your mate. The one who will claim you and give you a child.”
Her shoulders slumped. “But I don’t want to choose.”
“Do you trust me?” Nikon said, holding her gaze.
She nodded, because she did, implicitly.
“Then come back to the oak. The women have prepared your bed. You needn’t choose until the moment comes. I think you will know what to do.”
She wasn’t so sure. She loved both men. In very different ways. Ali kept her on her toes, always wondering about his changing moods, and she thrilled to his intensity. Nikon was…
Good Goddess, why was it she kept thinking about his cock? Binding with a man because he had a glorious cock wasn’t enough of a reason to cleave to him. But there was more to him. More than his large, very muscled frame. More than his horse body. He was a gentle presence, always watchful, always aware of what she needed. With him, she would always find comfort.
They neared the oak, and she was half-disappointed everyone was still there, because if they’d gone home, she could have pushed off this decision until another moon. However, she saw the pretty bower the women had prepared. Soft cushions draped in some of her finest weavings. Rose petals covering the bed, and garlands of other blooms hanging from the poles that stood at one end. How odd that they’d made the bed so open. Usually, the bridal bower resembled a lean-to. A cozy nook for a pair of lovers to enter and make love.
This bed was large enough, open enough, to accommodate all three of them.
Her heart stuttered, and then pounded loudly in her chest and at her temples. She could have both. She knew how.
She came to a halt and pulled on the men’s hands holding hers. They faced her. “I’ve made my choice,” she whispered.
Both men drew in deep breaths. Ali’s expression was shuttered, but his eyes sparkled. Nikon’s features were stiff.
“Nikon,” she said, letting go of his hand. “Go lie on your back on the mattress.”
Nikon’s chest rose, but he looked at Ali.
Ali gave him a nod and a half-smile.
Radha shook her head and tugged on his hand. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Then she led him to the mattress, and they both waited while Nikon rested on his back, his large cock pointing toward the moon. “You can’t come until I say,” she told Nikon, and then straddled his waist. Already arouse
d and wet, she slowly took his cock inside her, hissing as unused muscles eased around him.
Then she glanced back at Ali. “You both have to fit. I wish…that you won’t come until Nikon does.”
Soft laughter sounded all around them as she bent over Nikon and settled her knees on either side of his body, trying to open herself as far as possible because this was going to be one hell of a first fuck.
Locking her gaze with Nikon, she waited as Ali moved behind her. “Are you okay, satyr?” she asked.
He grimaced. “I dreamed of being inside your pussy. Trying not to come…” He gave a sharp shake of his head and gritted his teeth. “I will do as you wish.”
“You’re not the jinn, buddy,” Ali said as he straddled Nikon’s thighs.
He brought two fingers to her mouth, and she sucked on them, wetting them. Then he reached behind her and eased his fingers into her vagina, sliding them atop Nikon’s cock and lifting, making room for the tip of his cock to enter.
“Oh, this isn’t going to work,” she groaned. The pressure was enormous.
Something entered her vision, a tin held out by Bryn. “It’s a salve. It will help ease the pain and increase your arousal.”
“Fuck me,” Nikon cursed.
Not the lease embarrassed that her sister witch had just given them a marital aid—she was that desperate to make this work, Radha leaned on her elbows and glanced back at Ali. “You slick that all over yourself and shove your dick inside. I don’t think Nikon and I are going to last long.”
More laughter sounded, and Radha wondered why they all sounded so very near. Were they curious to see whether the two males would fit? “Perverts! That’s what you all are,” she groused.
She listened as Ali slicked the salve on his cock, and then she felt his fingers enter her again, making room for the tip of his cock to slide inside. When he began pushing the tip into her, she gritted her teeth. Glancing down at Nikon, she noted that he wore the same expression.
She gave him a quick kiss and a scowl. “Just a little longer, satyr,” she said. “You don’t come until I say so.”
Harvest Moon: Beaux Rêve Coven, Book 4 Page 6