“Let’s make this fast. We need to eat at least once today.”
* * * * *
Tira sat at the table half an hour later, nibbling at her third pancake and fourth piece of bacon.
Across from her, Nic had almost finished a half pound of bacon and his tenth pancake. At the stove, Duke had at least six more on the griddle and he’d had just as many as Nic, though Duke had rolled his up like tortillas and stuffed them with bacon which he ate while he cooked.
She loved sitting here, watching them. She’d made a conscious effort to shut off the part of her brain that wanted to analyze and count down every second they spent together today. She concentrated only on feeling happy. Content. Even with desire beating along with her pulse.
Huge wet snowflakes fell outside, but the guys wore gym shorts and no shirts because the house held an almost subtropical heat from the hot air pumped out of the roaring fireplace in the front room. It was so warm she only needed one of Duke’s t-shirts and a pair of Nic’s boxers, rolled over at the waist a few times to make them sit on her hips.
If the guys had had their way, she’d have stayed naked in bed while they catered to her every whim. But she didn’t want to be treated like a queen.
She wanted to spend this day as if it were a normal day, just a day the three of them might share. If things were different.
If she were different.
Her gaze fell on Nic, his beautiful auburn waves sticking out at odd angles. He was smiling at something Duke had said. She had no idea what because she hadn’t really been listening to their conversation so much as listening to their voices. Duke’s low, rough rumble and Nic’s smooth-as-silk, drop-your-panties drawl.
Duke’s voice rubbed against her senses like raw silk while Nic’s brushed like satin.
Both made her wet, hot and horny. Together… Well, she was in a constant state of arousal.
She’d eaten only because they’d insisted and because she wanted to keep her strength up. But she couldn’t eat much because her stomach jumped with excitement.
She wanted them again.
What would they do if she spread herself on the table and ordered them to feast on her?
Heat burned low in her body and between her legs. She knew exactly what they’d do.
Her gaze tripped to Duke, leaning against the counter, watching her with heavy-lidded eyes. The dark lust blazing there made her swallow convulsively.
“Are you finished eating?” Duke walked over to the table and, without waiting for her answer, took her plate. “You’ve been pushing those last few pieces around for a few minutes.”
She nodded, sliding a quick glance at Nic who’d also turned to stare at her. “You’re a very good cook. Did your mom teach you?”
As soon as the words were out, she knew she shouldn’t have said them. Talking about Duke’s mom was a surefire conversation killer. She wanted to say she was sorry, to ignore the question as he stiffened when he turned to put the dishes in the sink. Then he released a heavy sigh as he turned to lean back against the counter again and stare at her.
“Some, yeah,” he said, shocking her into silence. “When we were gone those six months, she taught me how to hunt and how to cook what we caught. After she left, it was something I just kept doing. I enjoy it.”
“Do you miss her?”
Tira didn’t know why she had such a burning urge to talk about Duke’s mom but she couldn’t seem to stop. Nic was an open book. She knew she could ask him anything and he’d give her an answer. Maybe not the answer she wanted to hear but he wouldn’t blow her off.
If Duke didn’t want to answer a question, he simply shut his mouth and nothing would entice him to open it.
But right now, she needed him to give up something of himself.
Answers she knew Nic wanted as well.
Duke barely hesitated. “Of course. I honestly thought I’d never feel worse than I did when my dad died. I thought my heart would stop beating and my lungs would forget how to work, that I’d die from the pain.
“And then I looked at my mom and I knew she was going to leave. She was going to leave me behind and go off somewhere to die.”
Tears formed and began to roll down Tira’s cheeks at the matter-of-fact pain in Duke’s voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nic’s hands clench into fists on the tabletop. Duke let his gaze move to Nic, the muscle in his jaw jumping as his teeth clenched.
“She wanted me to stay. Here. With you.” Tira knew he wasn’t talking about her right now. He was talking about Nic. “She knew about Tira, about what we wanted to have with her. Hell,” he snorted softly, “I think the entire legion knew what we wanted with Tira.”
“You went after her.” Nic’s voice held revelation. “She didn’t take you. You followed her.”
Duke nodded. “Took me a few days to find her because she didn’t want to be found. And when I did…” He shrugged.
“The scar…” Tira bit her lip. The words had slipped out before she could catch them back.
Duke nodded, his gaze darting back to hers. “She didn’t do it intentionally. I snuck up on her and she scratched me pretty good before she realized who I was.” He lifted a hand to rub at his right temple, where the scar started. “I couldn’t shift to heal it, though. She would’ve run and I wouldn’t have been able to catch her. She kept running but I wouldn’t give up. Finally, I think I just ran her down. It took me three months to convince her to shift into her skin to talk to me. Another three to get her to come back to the den. By that time, she said she was too ashamed to show her face.”
Duke’s gaze went back to Nic. “I told her I wasn’t coming back without her. She told me she couldn’t stay. We compromised.”
“She came back for five days.” Nic shook his head, his eyes wide. “That was the compromise?”
Duke nodded. “I’d hoped your mom and dad could convince her to stay longer. But when she was there, I knew it’d never work. She couldn’t stay. I understood that. So did your parents.”
Nic shook his head. “I don’t understand. We were her family. You were her son. You needed her.”
Duke was shaking his head. “Don’t lay that on her. Hell, I didn’t even lay that on her. I was twenty years old. I was a man. I was taking my legion post and…”
He paused and ran a hand through his hair then pushed it away from his face.
“And I was supposed to be there,” Tira said.
Duke and Nic both looked at her.
“Yeah.” Duke nodded as a muscle ticked in his cheek. “You were supposed to be there.”
Tears threatened again but she bit them back. No more tears. “I’m sorry.”
Duke shook his head again. “This isn’t about blame, babe. I don’t blame you for anything.”
She rose from her seat and walked over to him, lifting her hands to cup his whisker-roughened cheeks. “But if I had been stronger—”
Duke bent and kissed her, effectively cutting her off.
He grabbed her hips, his desire hitting her with the force of a hurricane. She tasted his heated longing as he slid his tongue into her mouth and engaged hers. He didn’t hold back but he didn’t do anything other than kiss her.
And when she finally went weak in the knees, his lips curved in a smile she felt against her own.
“I’m gonna clean up the kitchen and go for a run.” Duke nodded at Nic. “Why don’t you two go find something to do. I’m sure it won’t be hard.”
Nic didn’t move, just watched Duke, his eyes narrowing. “Where are you going?”
“To stretch my legs. I won’t be gone more than half an hour.”
Tira saw indecision in Nic’s eyes and it took her a second to realize he wanted to go with Duke. He wanted to run too. Then his gaze sliced back to hers. But he didn’t want to leave her.
“I love the snow,” she said. “Just give me a few minutes to dress.”
Chapter Nine
Nic shook snow from his fur on the porch before he headed
into the house.
Duke had already shifted and headed for the shower, brushing a brief kiss across Tira’s lips as she unwrapped herself from the layers of clothing she’d dressed in to play outside.
While he and Duke had stretched their legs in the field, she’d rolled a snowman. The thing was lopsided and only about three feet tall but she’d enjoyed it.
Now her cheeks were bright pink, her eyes sparkled and Nic’s heart hurt like someone had reached into his chest and pulverized the damn thing.
Gods damn it, this was how their lives were supposed to be. Not just one fucking day.
The anger and frustration he’d tried so hard to lock down started to leak past his guard, raising his blood pressure. He wanted to growl but he didn’t want to scare Tira.
If he was in his skin with the ability to speak, he’d be shooting off his mouth. Probably better to keep the pelt for a while.
So he sat on the floor in front of the fire and let the warmth soak into his fur. The snow melted, most of it dripping into the rug on the hearth but some had worked through his fur and onto his skin, making him shiver. With a full-body shimmy, he shed the water from his coat, hearing it sizzle and pop as it hit the flames.
Behind him, Tira gasped. He turned to find her wiping her face.
“You’re supposed to do that outside,” she said, laughter apparent in her voice. “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”
He grinned at her, knowing it was an odd sight on a wolf and knowing she’d love it. And shook again.
Her return smile was exactly what he’d wanted to see.
“You think you’re cute, don’t you?”
She obviously did, if her expression was anything to go by. Now down to her undies and a t-shirt, the rest of her wet clothes on a pile on the floor, she walked over to the fire with him.
Lowering herself onto the floor, she sat cross-legged on the plush carpet in front of the hearth. Her hair shone with red highlights from the flames as she used her discarded sweatshirt to wipe the water from his pelt.
His eyes closed as she rubbed his fur then sank her fingers into it. As she began to pet him, his entire body went boneless and he sank onto the floor in front of her, stretching out on his side so she could pet more of him.
She laughed, a throaty murmur that made him growl deep in his chest.
“I swear I heard his IQ drop a hundred points.” Duke walked out of the bathroom, rubbing his hair with a towel, wearing only a pair of gym shorts. “You’re such a man whore, asshole. Have a little dignity.”
The sneer in Duke’s voice made Nic want to give him the finger. Since that wasn’t physically possible at the moment, Nic ignored him. Duke was only busting on him, which actually felt pretty damn good. They’d all been under so much stress lately, no one had had much cause for ribbing or laughter.
Falling onto the couch behind Tira, Duke let his eyes close as his head rested on the cushion, only to open them when Tira scooted back until he spread his legs far enough for her to sit between them.
As she continued to pet him, Nic saw Duke’s hand rise to brush against Tira’s hair.
Now this is how it’s supposed to be.
The thought wouldn’t leave him alone. It kept rattling around his head. But on its heels was, It wouldn’t be like this always.
He and Duke were sicarii. They did wet work for the lucani king. They kept the secrets of their people by force and with bloodshed when necessary.
They were damn good at their jobs but their lives were in constant danger and Tira wouldn’t be able to help but see that with her Goddess Gift of praenuntio.
If she hadn’t seen his death eight years ago… If the three of them had set up house together, bucking all the rules of Tira’s boschetta at the time… If he had gone ahead with his plan to go to college and get a degree in whatever the hell he’d planned to get a degree in…
Duke could be dead because Nic wouldn’t have had his back all these years. Kaine, too, because she was more like Nic than he cared to admit.
Nic had no fear of dying. He only had a fear of not living enough before he did.
But Kaine… She didn’t seem to care whether she lived or died and that was somehow worse.
This woman who was stealing eteri for whatever reason… She had men willing to kill for her. She’d already taken Tira once. There was no doubt in his mind that the same woman who’d kidnapped Tira was behind the eteri kidnapping as well.
The woman had plans. She wanted to use the eteri for something the Etruscans really weren’t going to like, something that could expose them.
His people had kept their secrets for so long. And so much depended on keeping them forever.
Duke had been right when he’d told Nic their skills were needed here, with their people. To keep not only his parents and the legion safe but also the rest of the Etruscans.
The legion couldn’t afford to stand apart any longer. The Enu and the Fata needed to pull together. The Etruscan races had kept to themselves for too long. They needed to pool their power.
Didn’t the rest of the Etruscans see what was happening?
Or would they look away again, as they had a few centuries ago when the Mal had enslaved a group of lucani, forcing them to become beasts who killed for their masters?
Lucani could hold a grudge a very long time. Some still blamed the other Enu and the Fata for their failure to intervene.
They couldn’t afford that grudge any longer.
Vaffanculo, this shit made his head hurt.
Only Tira’s gentle petting made it better.
He stretched out his neck, wanting her to scratch… Ah, right there under his chin.
Damn, that felt good.
He wished he had all night to lie here and let her pet him.
But then he wouldn’t be able to kiss her, to caress her, to thrust inside her warm, willing body until he came.
As if she’d read his mind, her hands faltered then dug into his fur. Opening his eyes, he saw Duke had tilted her head back to kiss her, his lips fused with hers.
Duke kissed her like he couldn’t get enough of her. Couldn’t live without her.
Like he wouldn’t be able to breathe if she wasn’t in his arms.
Nic knew the feeling.
Sliding out from under her hands, Nic walked a few feet away and started his change. He forced himself to speed through the process, to recall his pelt until he knelt on the floor in his skin, the magic energy seeping back into the earth through his hands on the wooden floor and through that, back into the ground.
Standing silently, he watched Duke and Tira kiss, noted the almost desperate scent of Duke’s desire. The guy couldn’t seem to get close enough to her.
Nic knew that feeling too.
His jaw clenched and he almost decided to leave, to let them have this time alone.
But as he watched them, he realized while Tira had one hand curled around Duke’s neck, her other stretched out on the floor.
Reaching for him.
He took the two steps that closed the gap between them, his gaze following the fall of Tira’s golden hair down Duke’s leg. The ends nearly reached the band of her underwear where he caught the pale flash of her belly in the gap between her underwear and the hem of her t-shirt. Lifting his gaze to her breasts, he saw her tight nipples poking through the thin cotton of her shirt.
Dropping to his knees, he put his hands on her shins, letting his heat soak into her, enjoying the smoothness of her skin against his palms.
She’d sighed into Duke’s mouth when Nic had touched her and she reached for him with her free hand. He let their fingers entwine as he ran his other hand up her leg to her thigh.
He stroked her silky skin as he drew her hand to his mouth and slipped her fingers between his lips. He nibbled on her fingertips, felt her body squirm restlessly beneath his. Her hand tightened in Duke’s hair but Duke kept kissing her, his mouth working over hers with a deliberate sensuality.
Strok
ing his hand higher, Nic’s fingers brushed against the edge of her underwear. He felt the heat of her arousal, scented it in the air. It made the small hairs on the back of his neck stand up and his already-hard cock throb.
Releasing her hand, he used both of his to grip the tiny straps on the sides of her panties to draw them down. With a moan, she lifted her ass off the floor so he could pull them down her legs and out of his way.
When he had her bare, he let himself look his fill. He’d never seen a more enticing sight. The hair on her mound was just slightly darker than the hair on her head and she kept it trimmed short. She either waxed or shaved because her sex lips were bare. And glistening with moisture.
He heard the rough sound of her breathing as Duke let her catch her breath for a second as he drew her shirt over her head before he covered her mouth again. Duke’s one hand threaded through her hair again as the other drifted lower, to her breasts. He cupped one, his thumb and forefinger tweaking the tight peak, making her arch her back.
And making her thighs clench together.
“That’s not going to work, sweetheart,” Nic murmured. “Come on, babe. Up you go.”
As if Duke had read his mind, he lifted her off the floor and settled her in front of him on the couch. Widening his legs, Duke allowed Nic to spread Tira’s. On the edge of the couch, she was in the perfect position for Nic to put his mouth on her sex.
With his hand on the inside of her thighs holding her open, he bent close, breathing in her scent. His heart pounded like a bass drum, lust and love and desire tangled in a ball in his stomach, making him burn.
Above him, he heard Tira gasp and in his peripheral vision, Nic saw Duke’s hands cup her breasts while his mouth fastened to the sensitive skin beneath her left ear.
Her scent intensified, drawing him closer, closer…until he opened his mouth and settled it over her sex.
His tongue swiped through the juices seeping from her body, drawing her taste into his mouth, making his desire flare red hot. He’d thought to take this slow and easy. Not devour her. But all rational thought departed when she reached for him, sinking her hands into his hair and tugging him even closer.
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