by Ophelia Bell
She stood on the wide porch, naked in the morning light and flexed her wings again for the fourth day in a row after having them restored. She tested the muscles that had seared with pain when Ked found her. They still ached from disuse, but not from injury. The urge to shift and fly to truly test them was like a deep itch in her soul—to commune again with the wind for the first time in decades would do so much to improve her mood, but she didn’t dare shift until after the baby was born.
Her mind wandered to the pair of dragons who had succeeded in making her whole again. Ked’s brothers, Gavra and Aodh, had healed her completely during the long flight that brought her and Marcus to the safety of the monastery. She had been resigned to being flightless after Sayid had ruthlessly, brutally, taken that from her. The pair deserved her thanks.
And she needed them, too. She had managed to avoid dwelling on that fact for the last few days, content to stay in bed and make love to her mates over and over until virtually every muscle in her body ached pleasantly. Yet her mind still returned to Ked’s explanation that their baby needed the magic of all three brothers thanks to Marcus’s physiology having been altered by the blood of all three dragons.
It hurt her to think of Gavra and Aodh, however, because when she saw the pair in their human forms, they reminded her acutely of Naaz and Sterlyn, who were still trapped under the command of that tyrant. There had to be a way to save them.
“Good morning, angel,” Marcus said, slipping up behind her and brushing his fingertips over the top of her naked hip.
Evie furled her wings and let them fade back into her body, then shrugged back into her lightweight robe, tying it at the waist. She leaned against Marcus and sighed when he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin, placing a soft kiss at her temple.
“There has to be a way to help them,” Evie said. “If he could spirit us away like that, surely he can take the rest out, too.”
Ked’s deep voice carried from inside the room. “Easier said than done.”
Evie and Marcus both turned to watch him stride out toward them, his eyes so filled with devotion for them both, Evie’s chest grew warm.
“How so?” Evie asked.
“I only went in to rescue one person. Fate tricked me into taking the two of you, and I’m glad she did. She won’t be so accommodating next time. The likelihood of finding the exact two people I want to rescue in the same room together is virtually nonexistent now. Nikhil won’t be foolish enough to let that happen again.”
Evie gazed up into his eyes when he came to the railing and bent to kiss her softly.
When he pulled back, Evie said, “So just rescue Zamirah and Neela. If they’re safe, Naaz and Sterlyn have no reason to stay and work for that bastard.”
“Trust me, we’re working on a strategy to help everyone.” He cast a meaningful glance at Marcus.
Marcus tightened his embrace around her and nodded. “We need to make sure Sterlyn and Naaz are aware of the situation, without alerting Sayid to the plan. It’s tricky for Elites to co-conspire because the second we link minds, somehow Sayid becomes aware of us. Now that I know it’s Belah’s blood that powers him, that ability is clearer and hopefully she’ll be able to help us understand it. But in the meantime, I can contact them in person. It’s safe for us to speak face-to-face, and hopefully with Ked in attendance, we can keep their thoughts cloaked from Sayid and allow them to help us implement the plan from the inside.”
Evie looked between the two men, hope rising up within her like a strong wind holding her aloft. “So, what are you waiting for? Why are you still standing here talking about it?”
“We have more immediate priorities,” Ked said. “Namely, you.”
“We can’t start preparations until we know the baby is going to be all right,” Marcus said. “And we won’t actually begin the mission until after the baby is born. We can’t leave you alone for an extended period until then.”
Evie’s hands drifted down to her midsection. Having a dragon hybrid child growing inside her was going to be interesting. The cravings she knew about, after talking with Belah, whose own pregnancy was barely beginning to show. Ked’s other two sisters shared their own wisdom of motherhood with her as well, and Evie had left the conversation dumbfounded to realize that the six of them were, in fact, the progenitors of the entire race. This was only her first real pregnancy—though her heart still ached for the two she’d lost. Ked’s sisters had all borne six children each, with human mates, thousands of years earlier. Ked and his brothers had also fathered eighteen children between them.
She gazed up at Ked with that awareness still fresh in her mind, simply taking in his strong features. This man—her One—was the oldest black dragon in the world, all other Shadows having descended from him. And the child growing inside her was as much his as Marcus’s. What nature the child would take remained to be seen. The higher races had never interbred before.
Her pregnancy was barely a week old, but the cravings had begun. They came upon her in dreams at first, only the night before, and she’d awoken with a deep desire to taste both Ked’s and Marcus’s essence at once—to have their flavors flooding over her tongue. She didn’t pause to articulate it, but woke them with her mouth, sucking hungrily on their cocks, back and forth until they roused and made her pause long enough to tell them what she needed. They’d happily acquiesced, stroking themselves to completion while Evie sucked the heads of their cocks together until that hot, salty flood slid down her throat.
This morning, she was slightly ashamed to admit the fresh craving. It came upon so strongly when she hazarded a thought about Ked’s brothers that her entire body trembled with it. She tried to brush it off, and pulled away from Marcus, heading inside, through the bedroom and out into the living area where their breakfast had been laid out for them already. She didn’t have the presence of mind to marvel yet again at the efficiency of the monks who served the dragons. Even the sight and aroma of what she was sure was a delicious meal didn’t appeal to her.
She lifted a carafe of juice and the liquid sloshed in her shaky attempt to pour herself a glass.
Ked’s hand caught hers deftly and he took the carafe and glass away from her, pouring it for her.
“What do you need today, Evie. We are at your service—all you have to do is ask.”
He ignored her reach for the glass of juice, instead putting the rim to her lips and tipping it up for her to drink.
She closed her eyes and swallowed, grateful for his help, but ashamed at the way the craving took over so completely. When he set the glass down, he took her hands and led her to a chair, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap. Marcus pulled another chair close and sat across from Ked, leaning his elbows on his knees and looking at her with a furrowed brow.
“Is it the baby?” he asked. “Do you need us to whip ‘em out like last night?”
Evie chuckled. “No, but I can’t promise that’ll be the last time we do that. Sorry.”
Marcus frowned, and Evie caught a glimpse of the distinct press of his erection inside his drawstring trousers.
“Well, you know where to find my dick. What’s mine is yours, anytime you need. And his, of course.” He eyed Ked with a wicked half-smile and a glint in his eyes.
“That I do,” she said, almost wishing she had the same craving as the night before, but the need burning inside her now couldn’t be denied. She turned to face Ked. “No, it isn’t you two the baby needs today. I think it’s time we had that talk with your brothers.”
Ked’s dark eyebrows rose. “Indeed? This is good news. I was worried you found the idea too distasteful to follow through with so soon.”
“Distasteful isn’t the word I would use,” Evie said. “It’s just that I was close to the pair of Elites who were made from their blood. Being near them fills me with regret that we left Naaz and Sterlyn behind. But I can’t deny t
his need now. Please take me to them.”
Ked closed his eyes and his face became a placid mask, his eyes moving beneath his lids like he searched for something in the darkness behind those dark lashes.
“They’ll meet us in the bath house,” he said when he opened his eyes again.
“I’m starting to feel like the turul are the filthiest of the higher races. We don’t spend nearly as much time in the water as the rest of you seem to.”
Ked laughed. “I can guarantee you that dragons are far filthier. I’ll let my brothers show you exactly how filthy we can be.”
He urged her off his lap and she threaded her fingers through his with one hand and Marcus’s with the other. The tingling burn of her mark sent little jolts of anticipatory pleasure between her thighs.
“Did you tell them why I need them?” she asked. They walked barefoot up the worn flagstone path that led through the lush vegetation of the mountain. The bathhouse rested up the hill from the luxurious bungalow she’d begun calling home for the last few weeks since her rescue.
“They know everything,” Ked said. “They’re as eager as you are to help ensure the child thrives.”
The scent of the aromatic steam from the bath house reached Evie before the building itself came into sight. Inside, two of the oldest immortals would be waiting to make love to her. Turul custom might have made her hesitate if it weren’t for the fact that going against turul custom to begin with had brought her to this place. She had not one, but two true mates as a result, and carried a child conceived of four fathers, though Ked and Marcus could claim greater credit.
The burn of her mark transformed into a solid, heavy ache between her thighs and wetness pooled and slid down, coating her skin around her core. She paused just inside the doorway, letting her eyes adjust to the shadows within the space.
On the far side of the pool they waited for her, one red, one white, tendrils of steam from the pool rising in a cloud around their feet. They were clad in the same style of loose clothing that Marcus and Ked wore, only in colors that matched their nature.
Gavra’s red hair flowed in a loose, wavy mane over his shoulders, while Aodh’s long, sleek hair was pulled back into a white ponytail at the back of his head. Their features betrayed their relationship. The same strong jaw and square chin graced their faces that she found mesmerizing whenever she looked at Ked, though their eyes were different enough to be disconcerting. It wasn’t merely the color that stood apart, but the shape. Aodh’s eyes slanted ever so slightly at the corners, while Gavra’s were more deep-set and watchful.
“They’re ready for you,” Ked whispered in Evie’s ear.
She released the tight hold she had on their hands and took a deep breath. Tugging at the tie to her robe, she opened it and let it fall to her feet, then took a step forward, keeping her eyes on the pair of men on the other side of the pool.
Without a word back to the men she left behind her, she strode forward. Gavra and Aodh’s postures changed with her movement, becoming more alert and each taking a slow step closer to the edge of the pool. Now that they were in her sight, a steady, insistent pull began deep in her belly, urging her toward them. The need confused her when she tried to resist it, but soon discovered that giving in made her want it all the more.
She took slow steps down into the hot, fragrant water, never letting her gaze fall away from the pair of them. In unison, they also stepped into the water at their end, their clothing fading away in a second as though it had simply dissolved from the heat. Both glorious bodies sank slowly into the water and she drank them in from head to toe, lingering at their hips where their erections bobbed with each step they took.
The water came up to her breastbone at the deepest point, just covering the tops of her breasts. When she reached the center, she waited and they reached her a moment later.
“I never got a chance to thank you for restoring my wings,” she said.
Aodh smiled and dipped his head. “Sharing this honor with us is more than thanks enough, sister. How may we please you?”
Evie let her urges dictate her actions, reaching out with both hands to each man’s chest, leaving a trail of wetness over their shoulders and up the sides of their necks. They simply stood, patiently accepting her touch and seeming to await her command. She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to come to terms with the fact that two of the most powerful beings on the planet were offering themselves to her for her use.
She slid her hands back down their torsos, beneath the surface of the water, until she reached their hips. Watching their expressions raptly, she took each man’s cock in a hand and stroked them. Aodh’s eyes closed and he emitted a soft sigh. Gavra’s expression heated, his gaze setting her on fire with the lust that blazed within.
“I want you both inside me,” she said without thinking, but knowing without a doubt that was what she needed. As much as she needed the taste of both Ked and Marcus on her tongue the night before, she ached to be filled and stretched to the point of pain by the pair of long, thick cocks she held in her hands. “Right here, right now. Fill me up and let our child have the magic of both your essences at once.”
In one smooth motion, Gavra took action, wrapping his arm around her and sweeping her up so quickly she let out a sharp gasp. With his other hand, he hooked her leg and wrapped it around his waist. She thought for a moment that he would simply shove right into her, but he merely pushed his cock between her thighs so that her slick lips rubbed along the shaft.
His mouth went to her ear, his hot breath making her shiver. “It would be our pleasure. But are you sure you want us both inside your hot little cunt? Aodh would be happy to fill you up elsewhere.” In illustration, he let his fingers stray between the cleft of her ass. The teasing contact against her sensitive, puckered opening made her eyes flutter closed and her core pulsed even warmer. She pushed her hips against him, aching to have deeper contact anywhere.
“Am I allowed a second course of you two?” she asked, breathless. “If so, yes, but first I need this.”
Aodh pressed his chest against her back and brushed his mouth against her other ear. “You’re allowed whatever your heart desires. Our sole purpose today is to please you.”
With her legs wrapped tightly around Gavra, Evie leaned back, letting Aodh support her. Between them, she felt nothing short of cocooned in their wet warmth, and gave herself up completely, trusting that they would do precisely what she needed.
“Don’t go slow,” she said.
Gavra held her higher up with one arm and beneath the water, between her spread legs, the pair of them pressed the tips of their thick cocks to her sopping wet slit. She leaned forward into Gavra and wrapped her arms around his neck, tilting her hips back a little to allow Aodh better access. They pressed together, pushing deeper a little at a time. They had no choice but to take it slow if they wanted to fit, she realized, and was grateful for the care they took.
Her muscles flexed and throbbed in anticipation of their entrance and soon enough, both smooth heads breached the barrier of her body.
“Hold on, doll,” Gavra said into her ear a split second before they thrust deep into her in one swift, synchronous motion.
“By the Winds, yes!” she cried at the delicious press of them both inside her. Aodh’s large hands slid up her sides and he cupped her breasts, teasing and plucking at her nipples until she was nothing more than a wet bundle of sensation.
“So tight,” he practically groaned into her shoulder as he pressed his hips tighter against her.
“So perfect,” Gavra said, raising a hand to her cheek and urging her to look at him.
His red eyes glowed like embers, their heat flickering and mirroring the pulse between her thighs. In those red depths, she saw his essence—the piece of him that had been transferred to her old friend, Naaz, when he’d been made an Elite against his will. This time, with his cock alread
y moving inside her, she wasn’t disconcerted by the resemblance. Gavra’s tenderness and lust were just as potent as Naaz’s had been, and Evie knew she could accept it for what it was. Simply a favor for a brother and a friend to treasure her in a moment of need.
He kissed her then, his tongue teasing at her lips to gain entry. She simply hung there, suspended between them, floating in the water and on wave after wave of ecstasy as they plunged in and out of her. The rhythm lulled her even as the stretching friction of their cocks sent pulses of pleasure all the way through her body.
When she asked, they sped up, the water around them moving out in churning eddies as they moved together. Soon she was nothing more than a deep well for them to take their pleasure from, and to be filled with their desire. Together, the two men climaxed, their semen searing her insides with heat that sent her over the edge in its wake.
Evie sang through it all, and when their shared tremors subsided, she looked at Gavra only to see his eyes closed as though he’d been enjoying the sounds.
“You are a blessing, Evie North,” he said, finally opening his lids, the red irises behind them flashing with pleasure. “My brother is a lucky, lucky dragon.”
“Our baby will be the luckiest one, with uncles like the pair of you,” Evie said.
Aodh released a reluctant sigh when he pulled out of her and they let her sink back into the water. Evie turned to face him and pulled him down to place a soft kiss against his mouth. Their energy had only scratched the surface of the craving.
“I’ve been promised that the pair of you will demonstrate exactly how filthy dragons can be, in spite of all this gratuitous bathing you seem to do.” She dipped her hand into the water and playfully flicked wet droplets into the white-haired dragon’s face.
Aodh grinned at her, then glanced at his brother. “Sounds like a fun challenge. Are you up for it, brother?”
Behind her, Gavra gripped her by the hips and pulled her back against him, pressing his fresh erection against her lower back. His hot breath gusted against her ear, sending a sharp thrill through her body.