“Pity,” said Rauth.
The alpha healed quickly as shifters so often did, and eventually Freya brought his children to see him. The reunion brought new tears of joy to Gwynne; she watched her mate embrace them in a way that he never had, allowing himself to weep when Lilliana told him how she loved him.
But it was the day of their return to 1349 and Dundurn that Gwynne was anticipating and dreading. What would happen between her mates? What was to become of their life together?
Their arrival brought them to the courtyard, Rauth carrying a cane that the hospital had provided.
As he limped into the castle, Lachlan came bursting out of a room where he’d been strategizing with Cynric about the role the wolves and flyers would play in future peace-keeping efforts.
Gwynne’s stomach, which had been doing internal flips, calmed itself when she saw his face: of course Lachlan was happy to see his cousin. Rauth stood still as the other alpha flung his thick arms around him in an enormous bear hug.
“I’m so glad to see you,” said Lachlan, squeezing Rauth’s shoulders and smiling from ear to ear. “Walking, even.”
“Barely,” said Rauth, who let out a slightly bitter laugh. “But alive. And preparing to settle in for a bit of a holiday.”
“Rauth, I know what you said about leadership—but you need to know that it was never my intention to take away your role. You are a great military mind and I can’t begin to pretend that I’m…”
“Lachlan,” said Rauth. “If you wish for me to advise, I will. But I think my fighting days are over. Let’s you and I enjoy our lives here, in this place. Our children. And,” he said, turning towards the cwen, “Our Gwynne.”
* * *
That night when the children were tucked into bed, Gwynne found herself once again in her chamber, wondering if she would see either of her mates before morning. It had been so long since the three of them had been together, and for a time she’d thought it would never happen again.
Of course, Rauth was tired and Lachlan had other things on his mind. Why on earth would they come spend the night with her?
She changed into a nightgown of linen and lace and looked at herself in her old mirror. Her face, she thought, had a maturity about it that she’d not seen before. She was a mother now, a warrior. A Queen. The innocence of youth seemed to have been replaced with knowledge and strength.
She wondered for a moment if her men saw the same change. Perhaps they no longer recognized her as the rosy-cheeked young thing she’d once been, but rather as a hardened woman whose body had been through a good deal.
Maybe she was no longer desirable.
It was an hour or so later, when she found herself reading by the light of a candle, that a note slid under her door.
She rose to pick it up, leaving her book behind.
“Come to the Ritual Chamber,” it read.
Gwynne took the candle holder off her nightstand and opened the door, puzzled. She hadn’t been in that chamber since the first time the Ritual was to take place, and it seemed an odd place to visit on this night.
She made her way down hallways, lit with beautiful candles hung along the walls, seemingly deliberately guiding her towards the chamber.
When she arrived, she found the door ajar and pushed it open.
Inside, a trail of petals of various flowers lay scattered on the floor, leading to the enormous bed whose head was decorated in vines covered in beautiful, exotic-looking blossoms.
“We thought it was time to do this properly,” said a deep voice from the darkened opposite end of the room.
Rauth stepped forward into the dim light, even as Gwynne heard the door close behind her. She turned to see Lachlan, his back set against the wood, shirtless, muscles defined by the glow of the candles.
“Take off your nightgown,” he commanded, his voice authoritative. This side of him had always managed to arouse Gwynne; inside Lachlan was a man as commandeering as Rauth, but he seldom came out. She loved when he issued her orders; the depth of his voice, the barely-concealed lust.
She could not refuse, of course, and so, standing by the bed, she pulled the white garment over her head. Her full breasts gleamed white in the candlelight.
“A more beautiful creature there never was,” said Rauth, making his way over. He’d left his cane behind, which meant that his stride was uneven but nevertheless filled with determination.
He cupped Gwynne’s right breast in his hand and stared at the pink nipple which beckoned his fingers and mouth. Under his gaze, its texture changed, hardening into a tight pebble which begged to be sucked.
“Lachlan,” said Rauth, “She has two of these. I think we need to tend them before we go any further.”
Gwynne stood in wait as Lachlan approached.
“It wouldn’t be right to tease her nipples before we’ve dealt with her mouth,” he said, turning to Rauth. He leaned in to kiss her as her lips met his with an eagerness that could only come from one who’d feared loss. For her, the sensation was one of pure euphoria; she had both of them back, and for good. Never again would Rauth threaten to leave. His demons were conquered.
Lachlan kissed his way down her chin towards her neck as she thrust her head upwards, while Rauth slid his fingertips around her nipples, hardening them into deep pink points. He laid a soft kiss on each before sliding downward, peppering her soft white belly with kisses.
As his face neared the trimmed hair leading to her mound, he felt Gwynne inhale sharply in anticipation. This was a signal to tease her further, and he did, pulling her thighs apart and stroking their soft insides with his palms and allowing his hands to move up, brushing delicately across her wet flesh for only a split second at a time.
By now, Lachlan was feasting on her breasts, his lips pursed around her right nipple before offering themselves to her left. Gwynne’s fingers entwined themselves in his hair, willing him to continue.
“Eat me,” she moaned, her voice strained with the pleasure of the moment. “Eat my pussy and my tits until I come.”
She stood before them, statuesque, magnificent, as each man continued to pleasure her. For Gwynne it was as though for the first time; a flood of chemicals confused her mind as each erogenous zone was treated with gentleness and aggression. For a moment she would feel a nipple, so sensitive, being stroked by the tip of a tongue. And then a finger sliding over her clit, spreading her own juices on her flesh.
Rauth slipped two fingers inside her and then out again before reaching up, coating her left nipple in her wetness so that Lachlan could taste her. He thrust her thighs further apart, kneeling so that he could shove his face between them, his tongue inside her now, taking her with its firmness, tense, solid, eager.
And then it came out and softened, gliding over her lips as his fingers re-entered her; three this time as his pinky stroked her other delicate opening.
It was all too much to take; Gwynne gave in and allowed her body to give itself over to the orgasm that washed over her in a violent wave, her whole form thrusting itself forward and back again as though she’d been struck by a blow. Rauth held her hips, Lachlan her shoulders, as they continued to feast on her flesh until every pulse had subsided.
But she was not finished; after all, the Ritual was not complete until she’d taken both men inside her and given them the same pleasure.
* * *
Dragon Queen 23
The bed was luxurious, large, and so inviting, and Gwynne wanted to savour this moment. It was all beginning again; the feelings she’d experienced when she’d first met the two men. Lachlan’s pure beauty and Rauth’s gritty maleness; the muscular bodies, the stubble-coated chins.
But at the core of it all was a love deeper than anything her younger self had ever known. Rauth had finally broken free of the demons that had inhabited him for so long, as though his wolf had gone dormant. It was still in there, she knew. But it had learned its rightful place within his soul; as a leader who listened and who heard, who cared and adm
itted love and weakness, and in so doing found his own strength.
“I want you both,” Gwynne said, turning to her two mates who stood on either side of her, her scent on their mouths.
It was Rauth who laid down on the bed, inviting Gwynne to remove his linen trousers which were straining to keep their seams together, his thickness attempting to pry them open.
She reached for him, tearing quickly at the laces. Yes, she would savour him, but this damned clothing was a hindrance.
The trousers came away easily and she threw them onto the floor. Rauth wanted to laugh. So many times he’d stared at her nude body, hunger written all over his face. Now it was she who appeared to be starving, and his cock was the meal, apparently.
Gwynne leaned forwards, Lachlan standing behind her, his left hand cupping the roundness of her hip as his right undid his own pants and let them drop. He leaned into her, his length pressing against her white flesh as she let out an inadvertent moan.
As Rauth watched, his lover took his swollen shaft in her hand and caressed him. The cock was such delicate, soft skin, made for stroking. And how he loved to be stroked.
She looked up into his face as her hand massaged him, delighting in his changing expressions as he hardened under her touch. She was torturing him, she knew; teasing like this, and so she let her tongue come out from hiding and stroke him briefly. After all, how many times had he tormented her with kisses to her upper thighs, delaying his feast in order to make her ache for him?
“Please,” he moaned at last. “Please take it in your mouth. Suck it.”
“Like this?” she asked, wrapping her full lips around him, her hand grasping the base and squeezing gently.
“Yes, just like that,” he murmured, his hand in her hair. “That’s perfect.”
Lachlan, meanwhile, had now placed both hands on her hips and was teasing her sweet, wet lips with his swollen tip. Wordlessly Gwynne parted her legs, inviting him inside.
A moment later he felt enveloped in a warm layer of thick silk, coating each inch of his body in softness as his nerve endings seemed to purr with delight. This woman—how perfect she was. How fortunate all of them were now, to be beginning this new life.
He watched the back of her head as she pleasured his cousin, whose leg was still coated in layers of bandages, Rauth’s hands tangled in her dark hair. Lachlan’s arousal only increased with the knowledge of how Gwynne was enjoying the task, and how Rauth was revelling in her mouth; its softness, the swollen pink lips surrounding him as her others were surrounding his own shaft.
For now, their déors were dormant, at peace, with no need to rise up. He was fully human, a man with passions and needs.
After a few moments Gwynne stood, pulling gently away from Lachlan, her hand still stroking Rauth, and said simply, “Both.”
They knew exactly what she wanted, and Rauth took her hands and led her on her knees over him, until she eased down onto his shaft, her eyes locked on his own.
He winced with pleasure as her pussy engulfed him in its tight wetness, taking in his entire length.
Lachlan then moved behind her, his strong legs bent, supporting him as he licked his fingers and toyed with her tender opening, wetting it, preparing it for what was to come.
It was Rauth who benefited then from the pleasure that was filling her with ecstasy as she squeezed in anticipation, coaxing his length to swell even more inside her. He felt that he might burst, but the idea of their common arousal ending allowed him to wait, to remain inside her and to calm his raging internal sea. His cock would have its moment—it had only to wait a little while longer.
“Now,” Gwynne growled softly. “I want you, Lachlan. You and Rauth both. Inside me, now.”
And as if to obey the command, Lachlan eased into her even as she let out a prolonged gasp. It had been such a long time since she’d taken them both inside. She told herself at first that she’d forgotten the sensation, but no, she could never lose the memory such a thing. This was perfection; the intensity of intimacy, delicacy, violence and kindness at once. This was lust, longing. Satisfaction.
Her hands were flat on the bed on either side of Rauth’s head, and he stared up at her unblinking as he moved his pelvis under her, in and out, her slickness coating him as she became more and more aroused at the sight of his veined length.
Lachlan held onto her hips as he thrust, allowing himself the pleasure of plunging into her as Rauth came out, ensuring that her every nerve was alive with excitement.
Before long a wave began to threaten Gwynne again, beginning in her extremities. Soon it would overtake her without mercy.
“I’m going to come,” she moaned at last as the two thick cocks moved into, now in unison as the men seemed as one, their sole purpose to pleasure their lover. “I’m going to come again, for you both…”
Both men felt her muscles contract around their thick shafts, the reflex causing each cock to lose its composure and to explode inside her at once, waves of scorching heat shooting into her core. Gwynne was filled with a sensation that rose up through her body, seeming to settle for a moment at the back of her head before pulsing towards her fingertips again; numbness and excitement combined.
Lachlan’s fingers dug in so deeply that his nails pierced her flesh slightly as he pulsed, red marks left as a sign of his infiltration. He loosened them at last, freeing her for a moment before wrapping his arms around her waist.
Gwynne leaned down and kissed Rauth gently after a few moments, one hand reaching for Lachlan’s arms as she held both alphas inside of her, imprisoning their perfect bodies within her own.
“I love you,” she said softly, smiling down at one alpha while caressing the other.
“I love you,” said two deep voices, unified for the first time.
* * *
Dragon Queen 24
Epilogue
Rohan and Lilliana would grow quickly into adulthood. Within a few years they’d reached their full heights and had come into a certain sort of maturity that made it clear: they were each born leaders, like their parents.
It was a day when the twins had reached nineteen years of age that they came to their mother. For their entire lives, they’d remained near Dundurn, dealing often with the people of Trekilling and the nearby towns, maintaining a lasting peace with the flyers and the humans. Shifters were becoming a thing of myth, now that a great dragon was no longer terrifying the people of Cornwall, and the residents of Dundurn were taking on the role of peacekeepers, largely keeping their true identities hidden from view.
But now the twins wished to learn about more than their immediate surroundings; to reach out and to experience the universe as their mother had done. They were time travelers as she was, after all.
“We want to go out into the world,” said Lilliana as Gwynne sat and listened. “As you did.”
“We’ve talked it over and we both want to study,” Rohan told her, reinforcing his sister’s words.
“I see,” said Gwynne. “And where would you like to go?”
“Forward in time,” Lilliana said. “To your time, in fact.”
A look of sorrow came across her mother’s face, but it subsided as she spoke again. “Then I won’t stop you,” said Gwynne. “Each of you will, at some point, find yourself eventually involved in a strange life—the life of a shifter—which means rituals, mating and responsibility. But I would never take you away from what you see as your potential. I want you both to be happy.”
“Thank you, mother,” said Rohan. “And we’ll live up to your wishes, we hope.”
“Oh, I know you will,” said Gwynne. “I only hope that you can find lives as extraordinary as mine has been.”
She smiled then and hugged each of her children before sending them on their way. They were to leave in a few days, after saying good-bye to their parents and the rest of the clan.
That night Gwynne told the alphas of their brief conversation. Neither was surprised, but both were slightly saddened by the ne
ws.
“I suspect that we’ll see them again, and soon,” Gwynne told them. “Lily is nearly old enough for the Ritual.”
“That she is,” said Lachlan. “I’m not sure she’s fully realized it yet, though.”
Rauth added, “I only hope that we can find mates worthy of her.”
“Oh, I have a funny feeling that she’ll find her own,” said his Queen. “Or they’ll find her. And if she’s very fortunate, they’ll be something like you two.”
She kissed Rauth and Lachlan on their cheeks as the two men embraced her.
It was going to be a long year.
* * *
The End
But skip ahead for an excerpt from Carina Wilder’s next serial, Seeking Her Mates!
Seeking Her Mates: Book One, Torn: Chapter One
Charing University, London. March 2015
The young woman sat alone on the far side of the lecture room, apparently in a self-imposed isolation from her fellow students. She occasionally jotted down notes, her determined right hand gripping a fountain pen in anticipation of any facts that might come her way. But more often than not her eyes seemed to stray away from the page before her or from the rambling professor at the front of the class, who never seemed entirely successful at capturing her interest.
She hadn’t yet noticed the man who had positioned himself in a corner by the classroom’s broad set of windows—the man who’d been staring at her for some time, assessing her face, her movements, and the one reason that he’d been drawn to this place: to find her.
* * *
He recalled the moment weeks earlier when he’d first become aware of her existence. The revelation had hit him like a blow to the chest, all but knocking him backwards with its undeniable force.
Sought by the Alphas Complete Boxed Set: A Paranormal Romance Serial Page 36