by BE Kelly
“Jesus, Eden,” he grumbled. “You can’t think things like that.”
“Well, if you’d stay out of my head, you wouldn’t have to see what I’m thinking about,” she defended. “How does it work, exactly? I mean, I get that you are both with the woman—but, at the same time?”
“You really want to talk about this now?” he asked.
“I do,” she agreed.
“Fine,” he growled. “Yes, we are both with the same woman, at the same time. As for how it works, I’ll let you use your imagination for that, but judging by the pictures running through your pretty, little head, you’ve got the gist of it.”
“Are you and Duff together?” she asked.
“Eww,” he almost shouted. Eden giggled and covered his mouth with her hand.
“Everyone is still asleep, Anson. You have to be quiet. If I get caught with a boy in my room, I’ll get kicked out of the dorm,” she whispered.
“I highly doubt that Eden. You’re a Graystone. Hell, your ancestors built this building. I’m betting that the rules don’t apply to you,” Anson said.
“Well, I don’t want to find out,” she said.
“So, you and Duff aren’t together when you share women,” she asked again. She knew that he was hoping to distract her and get her talking about something other than the topic of threesomes, but it was all she could think about now since he brought it up.
“He’s my brother, Eden. Would you have sex with your brother or sister?” he asked.
“I’m an only child,” she breathed.
“Well, I can promise you that no normal person, or shifter, would want to have sex with their sibling. We share the woman and that’s where it ends,” Anson said.
“Why not just get your own woman?” she asked. “Why share in the first place?”
Anson shrugged, “At first, it was Duff’s way of breaking me out of my shell. I was a very shy kid and we both have the same taste in women. It was just easier to share. Plus, women seemed to dig the whole, ‘two for one’ thing that we were offering them. We made them feel special and in return, I was able to build my confidence.”
“Duff doesn’t seem to suffer from confidence issues,” she teased.
“You noticed that, huh?” he asked. A smile played with the corner of his mouth.
“I did,” she agreed.
“Yeah, well, as I said, I was the one with confidence issues,” Anson whispered. “Duff was always the charming one—you know, the one girls flocked to.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Eden said. “You seem pretty charming yourself.” He could read her every thought and he knew that if he leaned in right now, she’d allow him to kiss her, but would that be for the best? Duff would be pissed if he moved in on Eden without him. On their walk home last night, Duff read him the riot act for pretending that he didn’t want Eden Graystone. He sometimes forgot that Duff could read his every thought and saying that he didn’t want Eden didn’t exactly translate to his overly active brain. All he could think about doing was kissing her and his brother knew it. Lying to Duff wasn’t going to be something he could do but keeping his feelings from Eden was possible. The question was—did he want to? The honest answer was no.
He leaned into her space and brushed his knuckles down her soft cheek. Anson liked that she didn’t wear much make-up. She honestly didn’t need it. Eden was a cross between sexy as fuck, with her curvy hips and ass, and cute as a button with her dimples and freckles that speckled her nose and cheeks. Yeah—she was his walking wet dream and kissing her right now wasn’t something he’d be able to stop himself from doing.
He could hear her heart beating and her breath hitch. She wanted to kiss him too, he didn’t need to be a mind reader to see that. “Tell me to stop now, Eden,” he breathed. His lips were so close to hers that he could feel her hot breath on his skin.
“Why do you want me to tell you to stop, Anson?” she questioned. “Do you want to kiss me?” she asked.
“More than I’ve ever wanted anything,” he admitted. “But this is a bad idea,” he whispered. “Our families don’t like each other and my brother—”
“What about Duff?” she asked.
“I promised I wouldn’t do anything with you, without him,” Anson breathed.
“Wait—what?” she asked.
“Duff wants you too, Eden. We both do,” Anson said.
She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck. Pulling him down to seal her lips over his. She was taking what he was afraid to give her and God, it was hot. Everything about their kiss turned him on and for just a minute, he wanted to give her everything he had just seen in her thoughts.
He felt his brother on the other side of her dorm room door before he even knocked. “Shit,” he breathed.
“I take it from your reaction that it’s your brother,” she said. “Did you use your Jedi mind powers to call him here?” she asked. Anson laughed and got up from her bed to let his brother in. Knowing Duff, he wouldn’t be ignored, and waking up Eden’s entire dorm wouldn’t end well for any of them.
Anson pulled the door open and smiled at his brother. “I thought we agreed to wait until she was ready for what we want with her. I thought you promised not to go after her on your own, and then you go and kiss her, Anson?” Duff asked.
He reached out into the hallway and grabbed a handful of his brother’s jacket, pulling him into the room. “You’re going to wake up the whole dorm, asshole,” Anson whispered. He shut the door behind his brother and they stood in the middle of the room, mimicking each other’s stance, arms crossed over their massive chests.
“Oh good,” Eden said. “A pissing match. You two do this often?” she asked.
“Do what?” Duff asked.
“Act like five-year-olds,” she said.
“We are not acting like five-year-olds,” Duff insisted.
She looked him up and down and smiled, “All you needed was to stomp your foot and you’d look exactly like a petulant child. Your brother was playing with one of your toys and you’re angry and want it back. Well,” she said, crossing the room to where they both stood. She put herself in the middle of them and placed her small hands on each of their chests. “I’m not something that either of you can play with and I’m not going to be the center of your little tiffs.”
“Little tiff?” Anson asked.
“Sure—you know, a spat,” she said. “I won’t have you two arguing over me like this. I kissed Anson. He didn’t kiss me. Honestly, he was taking too long to decide if he wanted to kiss me, and I got sick of waiting. So, I kissed him.”
“Oh—he wanted to kiss you, Princess. He wanted it so badly that his need woke me from a dead sleep. He wanted to kiss you but he was also worried about our family's feud and the fact that he made me a promise,” Duff chided, shooting his brother another angry look.
She faced Duff and Anson smiled. Eden was going to be a handful and if she was going to do what she was thinking, she was going to knock Duff for a loop and Anson was going to enjoy watching it happen. Eden looked back at Anson and smiled.
“Oh shut up,” she said. She knew that he was in her mind, reading her every thought.
He held up his hands as if in defense, “Hey—I didn’t say a word,” he insisted. She seemed satisfied and turned back to face Duff.
“You’re jealous that I kissed him, aren’t you?” she asked. Duff looked her over and hummed his agreement. “Well, that’s easy to fix,” she said. Eden pulled Duff down to kiss him and when he wrapped his arms around Eden’s waist and lifted her against his body, Anson framed her back, trapping them between the two of them. She was just where they wanted her—stuck in the middle of them both and Anson wasn’t sure how or why she felt so right there, but she did. Eden Graystone wasn’t supposed to be theirs but she was and Anson was sure there wasn’t anything the three of them would be able to do to change that fact.
Duff
He was asleep and dreaming about Eden when he felt the need from Anson rad
iating off of him. He woke to find his brother’s bed empty and as soon as Duff connected to him, he knew that Anson was with Eden, and he was up to no good.
On their walk home last night, Anson promised that he wouldn’t go after Eden on his own. Duff was just happy to hear that his brother was at least considering pursuing the sexy witch. He was so busy denying that he wanted her that Duff wasn’t sure Anson would ever come around.
Duff decided that sitting around their empty apartment, waiting for his brother to come back from his little visit with Eden, wasn’t something he was willing to do. He needed to haul ass over to Graystone hall before his brother did exactly what he wanted and made Eden his. If Anson did that, Duff wouldn’t have any claim to her and that wasn’t something he was willing to chance. He wanted her and even though his brother saw her first, as he liked to point out, there was no way that either one of them would be willing to walk away from her. They made a pact a long time ago that they would never let a woman come between them. If they couldn’t agree to share her, and they both wanted her, they’d walk away. But for some reason, walking away from Eden didn’t seem like a possibility for either of them.
As soon as Eden wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened their kiss, he felt about ready to lose his mind. He could feel that Anson was on edge too and he had a feeling it had everything to do with the little witch sandwiched between their two big bodies. She broke their kiss, leaving them both panting and he lowered her back down his body. Eden was so little compared to the two of them. They were both six-three and if he was guessing, she looked to only be about five-four. Standing between the two of them, she seemed so petite.
“There, that’s better,” she whispered.
Duff smiled down at her, “Well, I won’t lie,” he breathed. “I feel better.” Eden and Anson both laughed and the three of them stood in the middle of her dorm room with her in between them. He could get used to the way she couldn’t seem to stop touching them. Duff also wouldn’t argue with her if she wanted to kiss him again, but he didn’t want to push.
“We have a breakfast date,” he reminded.
“Yes,” she said. “Would you mind if we put the research on hold until this afternoon? Anson has promised to take me into town to pick up some stuff for my room and some clothes. I also need to pick-up my books for my classes,” she said.
“Tell me you’re not one of those students who starts studying before class even starts,” Duff said.
“Guilty,” she admitted. “But in my defense, I took a year off and feel that I have a lot to prove. I don’t want to mess this up because if I do, my father won’t ever let me hear the end of it.”
“Your mom isn’t coming?” Duff asked.
“I don’t know,” she breathed. “Honestly, I have no idea. She flakes out a lot and I don’t want to depend on her showing up here with my stuff. Plus, I could use some new things and my father did send me more money than I’ll need for the whole year. I think I should treat myself,” she said.
“I’m sorry that you can’t count on your mom, but I’d love to help my brother hold your bags while you shop your way through town,” he offered. He actually couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do than spend his day with Eden and Anson.
“Do you think the dining hall is open yet?” she asked. “I’m starving.” Duff checked his cell and found that it was after seven in the morning.
“Yep—they just opened up,” Duff said.
“I just have to pull my hair back and then I can be ready,” she said. Anson smiled over her and Duff chuckled. “What am I missing?” she asked.
“My brother’s dirty mind thinking of all the evil things he wants to do to you with your hair pulled back,” Duff said.
“She’s not ready for all of that, Brother,” Anson insisted. “She’s innocent.” Eden turned a cute shade of pink and ducked her face.
“You really need to stay the hell out of my mind,” she whispered. “My lack of experience is something that I should be able to share with you both in my own time, and not because you’re rooting through my brain, Anson.”
“How much of a lack of experience are we talking, Eden?” Duff asked.
“I told Anson that I only really had one boyfriend in high school and he was just someone that I went to dances with and stuff. We weren’t really serious,” she said.
“Have you ever kissed a boy before us?” Duff asked, wishing he could read her thoughts as his brother could, and spare her the embarrassment of having to answer his questions.
“Yes,” she breathed. “I’ve kissed three other boys.”
“Have you ever made out with a boy?” Anson questioned. Duff knew that his brother knew that answer before Eden turned bright pink and shook her head, her long, dark hair spilling over her shoulder. Duff couldn’t help himself; he reached down and pushed her hair back and framed her face with his hands.
“We’re not asking you all these questions to embarrass you, Baby,” Duff insisted. “We’re just trying to figure out how much time you’ll need.”
“Time that I’ll need?” she questioned.
“Yeah—until you can be ours,” Anson whispered.
“Oh,” Eden murmured. She shivered and Duff was sure it wasn’t because she was cold.
“So, I’m guessing that you’re a virgin,” Duff said. He wasn’t asking her a question, more like making an assessment.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I am. If that’s a deal-breaker—” Duff didn’t let her finish her thought. He covered her mouth with his own, sealing his lips over hers and letting his tongue press against her lips. She gasped and he used that as his in, slipping his tongue into her mouth to find hers. Anson groaned behind Eden and ground his erection into her ass. Her breathy little gasps and sighs had Duff turned inside out with need.
When he finished with her, Duff turned her to face Anson to let him take his turn with her, and he had to admit—watching the two of them in person was hot. He wasn’t jealous of them kissing like he was in his dream earlier. He had high tailed it over to her dorm room, ready to kick his brother’s ass for going against his word and kissing her. But now, watching the two of them together, he seemed to lose all his fight and the jealousy that had him sprinting across campus earlier.
“Not a deal-breaker,” Duff said. Her being a virgin wasn’t something that made him want her less. Hell, he wanted her more since finding out that she had never been with another man, if that was even possible. He and Anson would be the first men to touch her, to claim her, and to make her theirs and that was hot as fuck.
They ate breakfast together and the looks and whispers around the dining hall didn’t seem to faze Eden. She seemed oblivious to the way the other witches and shifters were judging the three of them together but he could tell by the shitty mood his brother was in, Anson was picking up on some of the other student’s rude thoughts.
“Don’t let them bother you, Anson,” Duff whispered across the table when Eden got up to grab something more to drink.
“I wish I could block them all out, but they’re so loud. They’re all thinking it, too,” Anson said.
“Thinking what?” Duff asked.
“That we’re going to kill Eden like we killed Geneva,” Anson whispered.
Duff looked around the crowded dining hall and back to his brother. “I didn’t even know Gen, really,” Duff breathed.
“I know, but it’s what they’re all thinking,” Anson said.
“What’s everyone thinking?” Eden asked, returning to the table. She sat down in her seat and looked between the two of them, waiting for an answer to her question.
Anson sighed, “Everyone’s thinking that we’re together,” he lied. He shot Duff a look and he worried that his brother’s lie was going to cost them both. If Eden knew that Anson flat out lied to her, she’d be pissed but he understood why his brother did it. He couldn’t tell her what everyone was thinking—it was too painful. He lied to spare her feelings and that had to count for something.<
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She smiled at Anson and then looked over at Duff. “Are we together?” she asked.
“I hope so,” Anson quickly agreed.
“Me too,” Duff added.
“Good,” she said. Eden sat forward in her chair and pointed between the two of them. “Well, then, there is one thing you should know about what I can do. You see, I’m not just a witch, I’m also an empath. I pick up on people’s moods, what they’re feeling, if they’re nervous or worried. And here’s what sets me apart from other witches and empaths—I can tell when someone is lying to me.”
“Shit,” Anson murmured under his breath.
“Yeah—that about sums it up. I don’t usually call people on their shit. Not unless I’m truly curious about why they’re lying to me. My mom calls me a ‘human lie detector’. So, how about you try giving me the truth. I won’t ask again. You two want to be with me, I’ll need the truth,” Eden said. The more he got to know her, the more Duff liked her. She was different from other girls on campus. One minute, she was shy and sweet and the next, she was fiery and fierce.
“I really like her,” Duff breathed. “Just tell her, Anson.”
His brother looked torn and Duff felt bad for him. Anson quickly looked around the dining hall once more and back to Eden. “They think that we’re together and that Duff and I will kill you the way we killed Geneva.”
“That girl you found in the woods?” Eden asked.
“Yes,” Anson said. “But we didn’t kill her. I didn’t kill her,” he shouted. Everyone around them seemed to pick up with their conversations and the hum of the crowd filled the once quiet room.