by Vivian Wood
In any other situation, she’d have been in Kieran’s bed a week ago, the first night they met.
Instead, he watched from afar, trying to figure out how the hell to fix this situation. As much as he wanted to just sweep Sera off her feet and pleasure her until she lost her breath, there was Kellan to contend with. All week, for every small victory Kieran scored, Kellan was right beside him, neck and neck.
In truth, despite their internal competition, they were also courting Sera, in a way. Trying to learn about her, about her family, her dreams and hopes for the future. About what colors she liked, where she preferred to eat, which Mardi Gras parades she always watched and which she skipped because they were too wild or overcrowded.
The more Kieran found out, the more fascinated he was with her. Aside from being beautiful, aside from being a young doctor, Sera had a lot of interests. She loved children, and volunteered at a childhood vaccination clinic that served the underprivileged community in New Orleans. She liked to walk in City Park on nice days, to feed the fat ducks that floated down the winding little bayous and streams there. She went jogging when we was stressed, or sometimes watched lots and lots of television. Netflix and Gray’s Anatomy were new words in Kieran’s vocabulary, thanks to Sera, though he hadn’t quite figured either of them out yet.
He and Kellan were going to have to stay on their toes to keep up with quick-thinking Sera and her easy smiles.
In the name of getting to know them both better, Sera had suggested a few activities. Going to the park, checking out the Backstreet Cultural Museum to learn about Mardi Gras Indians, eating out at a wide variety of restaurants. Every step of the way, Kieran and Kellan seemed to be in lockstep, Sera wedged between them.
The night before, they’d strolled through the Gray Market together, each brother showering Sera with little tokens and flowers until she protested the expense of it. Mostly, Kieran intended to introduce Sera around, have her meet some of the people who helped the Guardians in various capacities. She seemed limited in her Kith connections, so of course he wanted to remedy that; he would make her life perfect in every single way, if he could.
The trouble came in introducing her. Everyone they met looked between the three of them, eyes widening a little, and then just rushed through introductions without questioning the situation. Sera had seemed a little embarrassed and disheartened, which frustrated Kieran to no end.
“The trouble is, she’s not just pretty,” Kellan said absently, cocking his head as he watched her. “The woman is smart, and nice, and funny. Damn her.”
Kieran grunted, but he agreed. Serafina Khouri was gorgeous and charming on a number of levels, and keeping himself in check around her was proving exceptionally difficult. Not punching Kellan’s teeth in was also a constant struggle, especially when he found his brother staring at Sera with a downright explicit expression on his face.
“It’s funny, you know. All our lives, we’ve only had each other. And now… we’re each standing in the way of the other’s happiness. If you didn’t exist, or I didn’t exist… Happy mateship, burgeoning family. None of the lies or melodrama from our life at the Summer Court. It would be…” he paused, searching for the right word.
“Idyllic,” Kellan finished for him.
Kieran arched a brow.
“I loathe you when you finish my sentences,” he informed his brother.
Kellan gave an amused snort, but just turned to stare at Sera again.
“Something has to break,” Kellan said after a minute. “I can’t stand this anymore. And Sera seems frozen, terrified. She might be attracted to us both, but she can never get close enough to love one of us like this.”
“Love,” Kieran repeated absently. “There’s the crux, I suppose.”
“Every time one of us snarls or snaps at the other, she fades a little more, I think.”
“And your solution is… what?” Kieran challenged.
“A truce. Let her choose one of us based on our true selves, not because one of us bullies the other more effectively.”
Kieran frowned, thinking. He could follow his brother’s thinking, but he had to wonder. When it came down to their true selves, how different were they really? Two halves of a whole, and they’d known it from their first breath. If they could barely differentiate themselves, how could they expect Sera to make that kind of choice?
Still, a truce would be the best thing for Sera. A little charm and fun to balance out the tension of the last week… yeah, letting off a little steam was probably just the ticket.
“Shake on it?” he said, thrusting a hand out.
Kellan shook it, a glimmer of amusement in his green eyes. Neither of them gave in to the temptation to grip the other’s hand until it hurt, and Kieran was proud of them both for a brief moment.
“How about we go get a drink at Cure?” he suggested.
“You read my mind,” Kellan said. “She’ll like it.”
Kieran nodded, wondering at the slow shift in his twin and in himself. She’ll like it had never been a reason either of them did anything, ever. He blew out a breath.
“You go tell her, huh?” he offered.
Kellan didn’t hesitate, just flashed Kieran a smirk and headed toward Sera.
If nothing else, this evening would certainly prove interesting. Could Kieran and Kellan keep their rivalry and jealousy at bay for even a single night?
Call it an experiment.
8
Chapter Eight
“Do me a favor?” Kieran asked Sera, leaning in close to keep his words private.
The bar they’d chosen was a hip Uptown place, all dark walls, gleaming bottles and posh young customers. It was booming tonight. When Sera mentioned wanting to find a place to sit, the brothers had been forced to intimidate a whole flock of twenty-something guys in button-ups to get this tiny corner booth. She’d gotten her wish, and now she was pressed tightly between Kieran and Kellan as she sipped her elegant-looking champagne cocktail.
“What’s that?” Sera said, her ruby-tinged lips curling up into a smile.
“Only ever wear that dress,” he suggested, reaching down to tug the thigh-length hem. The white silk cocktail dress set off her skin and revealed her fantastic legs and cleavage to full advantage. “Or… well, wearing nothing at all would also be acceptable.”
He winked at her, and had to smother a laugh. He could almost hear Kellan’s eye roll. Kellan had done well enough tonight, engaging Sera about books and classic films. Kieran flirted with her, and talked to her about bands they both liked.
Then there were the cocktails… with each drink, the lines between Kieran and Kellan and even Sera seemed to blur a little more. It felt… relaxing? Satisfying? Whatever it was, Kieran wasn’t about to interrupt with questions.
As the night grew later and the champagne and whiskey flowed, the bar’s lights seemed to dim more and more until their booth began to feel more than cozy. Private, almost. Kieran could see Kellan’s hand resting on Sera’s knee, just as Kieran had thrown his arm over her shoulder. Intimate, daring.
Sera was explaining a situation she had to deal with at work, a coworker who blatantly sexually harassed her and then didn’t take her rejection very well.
“He’s just… it’s like he’s brainwashed all the nurses, just because he’s good looking,” Sera said, downing the last drops in her champagne flute and grimacing. “It’s so frustrating. Sorry to complain about my job, but it’s driving me nuts.”
“Do you want us to kill him?” Kieran asked, only half joking.
Sera sputtered and blotted at her lips with a napkin, eyes widening.
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” she said, but his comment did the trick.
“It made you smile though, thinking of his death,” Kieran pointed out with no little humor.
“I was laughing at your offer, not his death!” Sera protested. “That’s awful.”
She pulled a face, as if she wasn’t entirely certain of her words.
Kieran and Kellan both laughed and Kieran signaled the waitress for another round as they all sank back in the booth with a collective sigh.
“Can I ask you both a question?” Sera asked, nibbling her lower lip.
“Of course,” Kellan replied. Kieran merely crossed his arms and waited.
“Why aren’t either of you mated?” she asked, looking between them.
They both stumbled for a moment over that one, grins faltering.
“It’s complicated,” Kellan said. “With the fated mates stuff. Plus we both travel so much, it’s not like either of us was seeking…”
He trailed off, perhaps realizing that his statement wasn’t going anywhere particularly lighthearted.
“So you believe in the fated mates thing, then,” Sera said, bobbing her head thoughtfully. “What about you, Kieran?”
Kieran sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, formulating his response.
“I do as well. Rather, I believe in it fully now that I’ve met you. Before, I more used it as a reason not to get close to women,” he admitted with a shrug. “A lot of unmated Kith are notoriously promiscuous… Using the excuse of some unknown future mate is a good way to justify that.”
Sera arched a brow.
“How honest of you,” she said, her tone easy. None of the sarcasm or judgment he would have expected with a less mature woman. Sera, despite her youth, lacked the entitlement and harshness Kieran had encountered with some of her peers. It was even more impressive considering that she had to be ambitious and driven to get her M.D., yet she’d lost none of her compassion or kindness.
Kieran couldn’t help himself as Sera gazed up at him, that sweetness shining in her eyes. He leaned down and brushed his lips against hers, ever so gently. Her soft intake of breath said she was surprised, and when he brushed his thumb against her wrist he could feel her heartbeat thrumming like a rabbit’s.
Color rose in her cheeks and she pulled back, glancing at Kellan. For a moment, Kieran’s heart squeezed painfully when he saw the raw want in her eyes, the hunger and desire for his twin.
Then Sera spoke, and rocked his entire world.
“What if… what if I want both of you?” she asked, her voice so quiet that Kieran almost lost it in the pounding beat of the music. She ducked her head a little, as if ashamed of her own appetite.
Kellan glanced up at Kieran for the barest moment, a look full of a hundred tiny thoughts. Kieran only nodded, knowing what Kellan was thinking.
Sera wouldn’t be the first woman they’d shared in this way, at the same time…
Kieran pulled Sera onto his lap even as Kellan surged forward, kissing her deeply, digging his fingers into her hair. Sera went rigid against Kieran for the briefest second, then surrendered with a moan. Kieran pulled her hair back and teased her earlobe with his lips, chuckling when one of her hands clutched at his knee, nails digging into his skin through his jeans.
Yes, sweet little Sera was already quite perfect. Like she was made for this, made for both of them.
If only that were possible…
A knot of tension tightened in Kieran’s chest, but he forced the sensation away. He was touching Sera, tasting the salty-sweet skin of her neck as he kissed and nipped at her, drawing soft sighs from her lips. Her delectable ass pressed into his lap, teasing his already-hard cock. His hand wandered up to cup her full breast through her shirt and bra, all worries forgotten.
When his clever fingers found her nipple, giving it a soft pinch, Sera broke the kiss with Kellan and threw her head back with a soft cry. Kieran glanced at Kellan, arching a brow. His twin took over fondling her breasts, kissing the top of both creamy mounds where they spilled over the tight neckline of her dress.
As Kellan took her lips again in a fierce kiss, Kieran adjusted the tablecloth to make sure she was completely hidden from the view of any onlookers and then began to edge the hem of her dress up, up, up her bare thighs. She tensed a little when he slid his fingers down the inside of her thigh, seeking, pushing aside the silky front of her panties. He brushed her slit with two fingertips, finding and circling her clit, and she gave a shaky moan.
“Think what we would do to you if we were in the privacy of the bedroom,” Kieran whispered in her ear. She shivered against him, her hands coming up to dig into the fine silvering hair at the nape of Kellan’s neck. “You’re so hot, so sensitive. What would you feel if I used my lips here?”
He gave her clit a soft pinch and she trembled, arching against Kieran to thrust her breasts harder against Kellan’s hands, rocking her hips softly against Kieran’s hand. All her inhibitions abandoned; she was wild and wanting. Her excitement made Kieran burn, he knew she ached just as he did now.
“Would you like it if one of us was inside you while the other sucks on your nipples? What if one of us takes you here,” he said, sliding his fingers lower to tease her slick entrance, “and the other takes your mouth? Would you like that, sweet Sera? I think you would.”
The second his fingertips found her clit again Sera exploded, her whole body shaking. Kellan swallowed her cries and kissed her desperately. Kieran massaged her thighs for a moment before he righted her garments. Sera broke from her kiss with Kellan, turning and kissing Kieran. Their tongues met, giving Kieran a quick glimpse of her sweet taste as Kellan ran his hands up and down her arms, soothing and comforting, letting her know she was well cared-for.
She pulled back and leaned against them both, brushing her tousled hair away from her face.
“Is this what it would be like? All three of us, like this?” she asked, still a little breathless.
“What do you mean, darling?” Kellan asked, dropping a kiss on her head.
“If we are meant to be mates, all three of us. Would it be like this?”
Kieran’s heart locked up, his muscles froze. His gaze snapped to Kellan’s, and he knew his twin was thinking the same thing.
All three of us? Share her, forever?
And then: fuck, no.
“No,” Kellan told her, his voice deceptively soft. Kieran could nearly feel his brother’s anger radiating outward, but Sera’s eyes drifted closed for a moment, and she seemed none the wiser. “You’ll have to choose, Sera.”
Her eyes opened as suddenly as the slamming of a door.
“What if I don’t want to?” she asked, her brow creasing.
Kellan’s expression turned murderous. He picked up the glass tumbler with the remnants of his whisky and shot it back, slamming the glass on the table when finished.
“We all want things we can’t have, darling,” Kellan said. Rising and pulling out his wallet, he tossed a handful of cash on the table. A ridiculous gesture, since Kieran had a tab open at the bar. “I have to go patrol. I’ll see you back at the Manor.”
Kellan leaned down and pressed his lips to Sera’s briefly, his gaze connecting with Kieran’s. He was furious. A heartbeat later he was gone, vanished into the night.
“I don’t understand,” Sera said, her voice plaintive.
Kieran did. All too well, but he had no pretty words to give her.
“Let’s go home,” he suggested, taking her hand. After all, what else was there to say? When it came down to it, facts were facts.
Sera would have to choose.
9
Chapter Nine
Sera sat in an overstuffed chair in what Kieran and Kellan insisted on calling her bedroom, knees tucked up to her chin as she stared out the big bay window. The afternoon sun slanted in, warming her skin, but she longed to be outside. Her mind and body were both restless, and she knew just where to lay the blame.
Kieran and Kellan had swooped in and fawned over her for a week straight, giving her insane amounts of attention, like she was the single most important person in the whole universe. Then there was last night…
Her cheeks burned just thinking about it. Right there in the bar, though she didn’t think anyone saw… The way they’d both touched her, teased her, tasted her… Goosebumps broke out on her
skin just thinking about what Kieran and Kellan had made her feel, made her do…
And then Kellan threw down the gauntlet, telling her to choose. Between two men who charmed and delighted her, who made her heart beat fast, who set her on fire?
Huffing a sigh, she got up and started pulling on her running gear. After a week at the Manor, the sumptuous but impersonal guest bedroom had grown overwhelming. She’d finally made the twins take her to her apartment in MidCity to retrieve some of her more important possessions, like running shoes and extra lab coats for work.
Hell or high water, Sera was going back to work in a couple of days. She was dying of boredom lying around the Manor like a spoiled Victorian lady. Plus, it was a waste of good doctor skills for her to be cooped up here all day! In addition to returning to work, she’d flat-out told Kellan that she was going to start running again, for her mental health more than anything.
Stuck here between the two men, Sera couldn’t think.
Sufficiently dressed, Sera tucked a few bucks in the waistband of her shorts, put in her earbuds, and headed downstairs. She spent a couple minutes stretching in the front yard, then left the Manor’s boundaries at an easy lope. When she passed through the outer barrier of the wards, she felt them slither over her skin and tug at her, as if unwilling to release her.
Creepy.
She shook it off and headed toward the Marigny, thinking to head into the lower part of the French Quarter and people watch as she went. Maybe stop for a special treat, since she’d been stuck indoors all week?
Her thoughts followed her, refusing to be outrun, nipping at her heels with every step.
Choose. Choose. Choose.
What if I don’t want to choose?! she growled at the persistent voice in the back of her head. What if, one time in my life, I just want it all, without sacrificing anything?