by Abby Blake
“He’s not kidding, kitten. He will spank your ass.”
“Is that so?” she asked, trying to hide how breathless that threat made her feel.
“One…” She watched both him and Declan closely, waiting for the smiles that would tell her this was all a joke.
“Two…” Her hand hovered over her stomach, her embarrassment warring with her need. But indecision cost her dearly.
“Three!” She shrieked as Brandon lunged for her, holding her still as Declan tickled her mercilessly. Every inch of her was oversensitized, and she writhed between them, laughing breathlessly as she tried to force out the words that would make them stop.
Finally, they took pity on her and stopped touching all of her ticklish spots, but she somehow found herself facedown over Brandon’s knee. The hands caressing her ass warmed the skin, the caress gentle and quite relaxing.
The first hard smack had her rearing up from the unexpected pain.
“Shhh, baby girl. We’ll take care of you, I promise.”
She wanted to believe him, but the second smack brought tears to her eyes, and the third left her gasping, fighting to hold back the sob that threatened to escape. The feeling of a warm tongue against her abused flesh gave her a moment of reprieve, but it was the finger that pressed into her ass that had her fighting against their hold.
Fuck. That was the strangest sensation. She tightened her muscles against the invasion, instinctively trying to clench her butt cheeks together. “Breathe out, kitten,” Declan whispered as the finger in her ass wiggled ever so slightly. She tried to do as he asked, taking several deep breaths and letting them out slowly. She made an effort to consciously relax her tensed muscles.
“Good girl,” Brandon said as he stroked her back and neck in a soothing, hypnotic motion. “Now push out. Push against Declan’s finger.”
She did as he asked, relaxing the muscles and pushing out against the finger in her ass. Suddenly everything changed. The slow glide of the finger into and out of her ass was no longer painful, no longer a burning sting, but rather a heated stroking of nerve endings already alight with excitement. She groaned, rocking against the invasion, needing more, unable to control her instinctive reactions. She felt a cold drizzle of lube a moment before a second finger pushed into her ass. This time she felt no pain, just need. She whimpered as other fingers pushed into her pussy, plunging and withdrawing in counterpoint, spiraling her arousal so much higher.
“Please,” she whispered, having no idea what she was begging for, but willing to beg for it anyway.
“Shhh, baby girl, almost there.” She cried out as both hands moved away, leaving her empty, bereft, aching. But a moment later she felt Declan’s cock press against her ass. “Push out, baby girl,” Brandon instructed.
Again, she did what he asked, pushing back against the thick rod as Declan worked his cock into her ass. Everything tingled, her body poised on the brink of something incredible. Lightning bolts of pleasure zipped up and down her spine, her hands clenching and unclenching as Declan pushed all the way in and held still.
“Well done, baby girl,” Brandon said quietly, his hand still caressing her spine in long sweeping motions. Declan gripped her hips, holding her steady as he pulled his cock slowly from her ass and slid back in just as unhurriedly. Violet wanted to writhe, needed to move, but they held her in place, as Declan slowly fucked her ass.
“You’re beautiful, kitten. You feel incredible wrapped around my cock.” Declan groaned as he pulled out once more, but this time he slid back in faster, took her just a little bit harder, withdrew again and slammed back in. Holding her hips tight, he started fucking her in earnest, dragging his hard cock out, then stuffing her full once more.
She was shaking, ready to orgasm, poised on the precipice when Declan pulled out completely. She tried to move, the words, “What the fuck?” escaping her mouth before Brandon pushed her head lower, her ass higher and spanked her fast. The blows over and over and over did nothing to cool her need. She screamed as he adjusted her, mashing her swollen clit against the coarse hairs of his thighs. “Come, now!” he ordered, and oh fucking hell, she did.
Every single cell in her body exploded in movement, every muscle shook in reaction, every nerve ending lit up like a Roman candle, a high-pitched, keening noise escaped her mouth, and her pussy flooded with her juices.
Violet closed her eyes as waves of sensation continued to roll from head to toe and back again, the incredible feeling unexpectedly heightened by her stinging bottom. She moaned quietly as warm lassitude flooded every vein and quietly stole her ability to think.
She didn’t even realize she was crying until Declan pressed a wet washcloth against her face and soothed the heated skin. “It’s okay, baby girl,” Brandon said quietly as he lifted her up and cradled her against his chest. He rocked her gently as she composed herself.
“Did we hurt you?” Declan asked as he sat beside them. Hell, she must really look like a mess if they were asking that.
“No,” she said urgently. “I’ve never felt anything so incredible.” Hell, if the orgasm had been any stronger, she probably would have passed out. Fuck, she wasn’t even sure that she hadn’t.
Brandon made a sound full of male arrogance, and Declan shook his head, breathed out a sort of laugh, and frowned at his brother.
“I told him you’d enjoy it,” Brandon said with more than a little bit of pride, “but big brother never listens.”
“Come here, kitten,” Declan said as he reached for her. “I need to hold you.”
She leaned up, pressed a kiss to Brandon’s lips, and crawled onto Declan’s lap. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Of course.” She lifted her mouth to his, kissing him hard. “More than all right.”
Declan held her for a while, rocking silently as she listened to the soothing beat of his heart. She was almost asleep when he moved. “Brandon is going to have a shower with you and then hold you while you take a nap.” She opened her mouth to protest—she was certain neither of them had actually climaxed—but Declan placed two fingers on her lips. “No arguments. It’s been a busy couple of days. Get some rest. I’ll be back in a few hours with some lunch.”
Brandon pulled her back into his arms as they listened to Declan have a quick shower. Niggling doubts burrowed through her mind as he quickly dragged on his clothes and left the room. She heard the elevator doors close, and then the apartment was quiet once more.
“What just happened?” she asked Brandon, hoping the man would have some explanation for his brother’s unexpected behavior.
“He’ll be okay. He just needs some time.”
“Why?”
Brandon shrugged. “Come on, baby girl. Shower and then sleep.”
She was so distracted by worries over Declan’s behavior that she didn’t even realize she was following their bossy orders until she was lying in bed, wrapped in Brandon’s arms, and almost asleep.
Chapter Eight
An hour later, Declan was still cursing his own impatience. For fuck’s sake, they’d barely gotten their mate in the door and, despite his best intentions, he’d let his need to take her override his good judgment. Not only had they dominated her, but they’d spanked her, and he’d fucked her ass. Shit, her reactions had proven that he was her first, but even that hadn’t tempered his need.
The only thing he hadn’t done was claim her as his mate, and considering that his bear half was damn near salivating at the thought of fucking his mate again and again and again, he’d been damn lucky that hadn’t happened, too.
They hadn’t even told her she was a bear herself, yet. Fuck, what if she didn’t want them? What if she decided that three men were too many? What if she wanted to have a normal life with a normal human? How would she react when she learned she’d only be able to have cubs with other bear-shifters?
He stomped through the reception area on his way to his office. The members of his s
taff were wise enough to give him a wide berth, obviously sensing his dark mood, and that just made him more annoyed. Somehow he managed to slam the door closed, even though he’d consciously made the decision not to, and glanced at the wall where he’d put his fist through it three months earlier.
This was all Jayden’s fault. If he’d only agreed to tell Violet what had happened to her earlier, they wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. He grabbed the phone, dialed his brother’s home number, and drummed his fingers against the desk as he waited for his call to be answered.
“Hello,” a drowsy voice finally said. Surprised that he’d woken the man, Declan glanced at the clock and finally remembered that his brother didn’t have a nine-to-five schedule. Guilt niggled at the edges of his anger, but he thrust it away, determined to find someone to blame for his own behavior.
“When are you coming home?”
“Declan?” Jayden asked in confusion. “Is everything all right?” He hesitated. “Is Violet all right?” Hearing the near panic in his brother’s voice, Declan finally found his sanity.
“Violet is fine. I’m just…” He ran a hand down his face, trying to choose the right words to explain his phone call. “I’m just anxious to tell her. She needs to know, but I think we should all be here when we break the news to her.”
This time Jayden hesitated long enough for Declan to wonder if they’d been disconnected. “I’ll come home this weekend. I have three days off from the hospital. I just need to get time off at the coffee shop.”
“Fuck the coffee shop,” Declan growled into the phone.
It was a familiar argument. Declan and Brandon were happy to cover their brother’s educational costs—Lord knew they were capable—but Jayden had always insisted on working to help pay his own way. Even though Declan could understand Jayden’s need to have some independence, the guy worked way too hard, and quite frankly, in the current economic climate, was probably taking work away from someone who really needed it.
“Okay,” Jayden said, his quick agreement so shocking that Declan almost fell off his chair.
“Okay?” Declan asked again, just to be certain that he’d heard correctly.
“I was going to talk to you about it, but with Violet now in our lives I want time to spend with her. I want to be able to take a trip home to visit when I have time off from the hospital. I know I said I’d pay my own way, but I’d appreciate your help until I can pay you back.”
“Hell,” Declan said quietly into the phone. “It’s family money, Jay. And it was specifically put aside to pay for your education. You don’t need to pay us back. Just get qualified and come home.”
“Thanks,” Jayden said sincerely. “I’ll book a flight now and e-mail you the details.”
Declan hung up the phone, a strange mix of anger and guilt playing through his mind still. Jayden may be the reason Violet didn’t know she was a bear, but Declan should be adult enough to take responsibility for his own behavior.
He owed Violet an apology.
He stopped by the kitchen to grab the trolley of food he’d ordered, and then headed back to their private apartment.
* * * *
Brandon lay on the bed with Violet curled in his arms. She’d finally fallen asleep. Considering how relaxed and pliant she’d been after the most incredible orgasm he’d ever had the pleasure to witness, it shouldn’t have taken so long.
He glanced at the phone, wondering if he could call and talk to Declan without waking their sleeping mate.
Violet wriggled in her sleep, and he pulled her closer, wrapping himself around her, keeping her warm even though the room wasn’t exactly cold. It was unlikely that he’d be able to talk softly enough to make the call and still hold Violet in his arms, and since he wasn’t about to let the woman go, he realized he wouldn’t get to speak to his brother until the man came back into the room.
Guilt niggled at the back of his brain. Brandon knew he shouldn’t have pushed him. Declan hadn’t known much about Brandon’s previous excursion into the BDSM lifestyle, so he probably hadn’t been prepared for the spanking Brandon had given Violet. She’d taken it beautifully, her reactions pure and sweet and oh, so innocent, but in a most delectable way. Even though Brandon had been prepared to live a vanilla lifestyle with his mate, he’d been overjoyed to realize her submissive streak.
But he still shouldn’t have pulled Declan into a BDSM-type scene before the man had been ready. If Brandon knew his older brother as well as he believed, Declan would have had a slow, loving seduction planned for his mate long before he even met her. Guilt wound through him as Brandon realized that getting what he wanted may have damaged Declan and Violet’s relationship already.
He glanced down at his mate’s puffy eyes and silently cursed a blue streak in his head. He was still coming up with inventive ways to cuss at himself when he heard the elevator doors open. Since he, Declan, and Jayden were the only ones with passkeys to the private apartment, he didn’t bother to get dressed.
“Is she all right?”
“She was a little freaked by the way you left.”
“Sorry,” Declan said as he paced several steps back and forth. “I’m just…it wasn’t the way I planned it, but…holy fuck, when I slid into her ass, I felt like I was home, like I finally found where I belonged.”
Brandon smiled at his brother’s wonder. “I know what you mean. She’s incredible, and I promise you, she enjoyed every moment.”
“But I should have been more gentle, more patient. She’s our mate. We should have made it special for her, you know, memorable.”
“You think her first time being spanked to orgasm and having her ass fucked is not going to be memorable?” Brandon quirked an eyebrow, waiting for his brother to deny the obvious.
He didn’t disappoint. “I just mean it should have been…”
Brandon offered some suggestions. “Quieter? Softer? Less incredible.”
“Fuck off, that isn’t what I meant.”
“Yes, it is,” Brandon said, trying to keep his voice low so that he wouldn’t wake the woman sleeping in his arms. “You wanted to give her a romantic, sensual, boring introduction into sex with three bears. Think about who we are. What we are. It was never going to happen.”
It was only now that they were arguing that Brandon was beginning to realize that going with his gut and dominating Violet the way she needed them to was the only way they should have started their relationship.
If they’d begun any other way, it would have been a lie and made getting a satisfying sex life for them all a long journey of misunderstandings and misinformation. All three brothers felt the need to claim their mate, to protect her, to provide for her, and to dominate her sexually, and that wasn’t ever going to change.
And whether she understood it or not, it was what Violet wanted, too.
Of course, judging by the lady’s stubborn streak, dominating her anywhere other than the bedroom would probably get them castrated, but Violet had enjoyed what the three of them had done together, no matter what Declan had convinced himself.
But all the logic in the world wouldn’t change the fact that Declan was freaking out and Violet was hurt by his reaction.
Declan finally stopped pacing and came to stand by the bed, gazing down at the sleeping woman in Brandon’s arms. “I fucked up, didn’t I?” Brandon just gave him a crooked smile. “How do I fix it?”
“By being honest. By telling her what you’re feeling and explaining your earlier reaction.”
Declan looked so horrified anyone would have thought Brandon had suggested something akin to wrapping his dick in barbed wire. Brandon tried unsuccessfully to hide his grin. He’d known his whole life that his older brother didn’t “do” feelings.
“Any other suggestions?” Declan asked through tightly clenched teeth.
“You could lie down, wait for her to wake up, and seduce her the way you’d always planned.”
He nodded, a half smile forming on his face.
“Okay, that sounds like a better idea.”
Declan stepped back to strip off his clothes, and Brandon rolled away slowly, careful not to wake Violet. His cock still throbbed with unspent desire, but, somehow, just knowing that his brother was willing to try and undo the hurt he’d caused their mate was enough to bring his arousal down to a low simmer.
“I’ll just go get some work done,” Brandon said quietly as he dragged on his clothes. Declan nodded as he pulled their woman into his arms and held her close.
* * * *
Violet woke in Declan’s arms. She had no idea how she knew it was him. She had no memory of him taking Brandon’s place, but she knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was Declan who held her.
“Hello, kitten,” he whispered as she rolled to face him.
“Hi,” she said shyly. It seemed so silly. Only an hour or two ago, this man had stuck his cock up her ass. She was pretty sure that took them past the awkward first-date stuff.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “Can I make love to you properly this time?”
Last time wasn’t proper? She fought down a hysterical giggle as she wondered if she’d survive if they got around to actually fucking her properly. The last orgasm had practically fried her brain. Another one like that just might explode it.
He gave her a confused look, so she swallowed her humor and briefly pressed her lips to his. “Yes, my big, growly bear. Please make love to me.”
Declan leaned over her, framing her face with his hands as he pressed their lips together. He kissed her gently, slowly exploring her with his lips and tongue. She sighed into his mouth as his hands moved to caress every inch of her skin, the warm trail left by the touch of his calloused hands heating her blood. She wriggled to get closer, aching for more, aching for him.
He trailed kisses across her face, down her neck, his hand trailing lower as he caressed the sensitive skin on her hip. She smiled as his hand tangled in the curls at the apex of her thighs, his soft groan confirming what she already knew—she was ready for him.