Maiming: A Reverse Harem Series (To Tame a Shifter Book 3)

by A. K. Koonce

  They’re both shirtless. Skin against skin. The hard outline beneath Rime’s jeans presses against Chaos’ as their hips meet just right. His takes his time kissing the other side of Chaos’ jaw before raking his teeth over his lower lip so slowly I feel that sensual touch right down to my core.

  I shift beneath the now overly warm sheets. “I should go.”

  Rime’s fingers catch my wrist as he leans closer to his friend.

  “Stay,” Chaos whispers.

  Hooded frost kissed eyes lock onto me until I give a jarring nod. Then he seals his lips to Chaos’.

  And I stay. Like a fucking voyeuring fly on the wall.

  Rime keeps his fingers tightly locked around my wrist while his other hand tips Chaos’ jaw up as he kisses him harder. Their hips rock against one another slowly, their bodies strong and hard and impossible to look away from.

  Lower, Rime trails down. His teeth rake over the trembling pulse of Chaos’ neck. Rime kisses there sweetly until a groan hums through the room. He pauses to brush his mouth over one bare shoulder and then flicks his tongue along the smooth muscle of Chaos’ chest. It’s a slow and torturing exploration of every perfect part of the man beneath him.

  My breath catches as Rime slides his tongue down the hard lines of Chaos’ stomach, making the man’s eyes close as his teeth sink into his lower lip. Pale blue eyes flicker to me, setting me on fire with the lustful look in his gaze. And then his hand slips away from mine and he pulls hard on the waist of Chaos’ jeans. Chaos glances to me with sated gaze before staring down at the ice shifter poised above him. The hard length of his cock makes my thighs shift together. A feeling low in my core tightens into an unbearable form of want.

  The corner of Rime’s lips pull into a smirk as he holds Chaos’ gaze. His tongue is teasing as he flicks it against the tip. The small contact trembles through Chaos, making his muscles tense, his fingers fisting into the sheets.

  Rime tastes him slowly, swirling his tongue against the head and the underside of his cock before fully pressing his lips over the thickness. Rime’s nails dig into Chaos’ hips, bringing him harder and deeper into his mouth with one long stroke.

  Breathless curses rasp into the silence, but the way Chaos settles his palm against the back of Rime’s head is gentle. The way he touches him is unlike the way they fight with one another. It isn’t at all that taunting aggression they always cling to.

  It’s light and patient.

  Unsure and timid.

  Rime grips Chaos’ wrist and shoves his fingers through his blond locks as he pushes his own mouth so far down Chaos’ cock that he takes nearly every hard inch. He urges him to take what he wants as he sucks harder.

  “Fuck,” Chaos rasps before gripping Rime’s hair hard. Chaos’ hips thrust in motion with every move Rime makes, and he fucks his mouth in a carnal way that makes me ache just watching them.

  My fingers drift lightly down my stomach and when I shove my skirt down my thighs and kick it off, I feel the heaviness of their gazes against my flesh. Smooth skin meets my fingertips as I trail down my hipbone. When my touch slips beneath my underwear, a growling groan sounds through the dimly lit room.

  Slickness meets my touch and I try to match their pace, my gaze locked on the throbbing length of Chaos’ cock, the way Rime’s mouth slides faster and faster down the glistening shaft. My head tips back, a shuddering breath slips over my lips, and I push two fingers deep inside.

  “Fuck, Arlow,” Chaos growls before his fingers fist through my hair and his mouth slams against mine.

  Then he stiffens abruptly, groaning roughly against my lips the moment we touch.

  An inch of space slips between us, his fingers loosen in my hair. My fingers hesitate beneath my underwear and I look down to see Rime swallow hard around Chaos’ cock.

  My breathing wavers unsteadily through me. Almost as shaking as Chaos’ against my lips. It only intensifies when Rime lifts his head and pins that cold attention on me.

  “Take your panties off.” The rigid edge of his voice hits my chest hard.

  I sit up against the pillow, and I can’t take my eyes off him as I push my underwear down my thighs. Both men tilt their heads to look down at me, making me shift beneath their gazes.

  “Fuck, Low.” Chaos’ voice is barely a whisper that fans against my neck. His big palm pushes against my shirt, raising the hem until his fingertips skim above my navel.

  Rime’s hand teases the inside of my thigh. He takes his time trailing up my body until his fingers push up and then down my folds. Air catches in my lungs.

  “You’re fucking dripping.” His chest rises and falls and still he takes his time teasing my sex. He circles my clit until my lashes flutter and then he sinks down low once more just to come up and do it all over again. “Do you like watching us? You like Chaos’ cock against my lips?”

  A pitiful sound of agreement hums through me. His gaze narrows with that cruel look of amusement against his mouth.

  “No, My Tamer. Tell me. Tell me you like watching me suck his cock.”

  Chaos drags his teeth over the sensitive skin beneath my ear at the same time Rime presses hard against my clit.

  A crying sound shakes out of me as I start to nod stiffly.

  “Yes, yes I like it. Please—” I don’t even know how to beg for what I want but I’m begging nonetheless.

  And Rime has pity on me.

  His hands leave me just long enough to shove his jeans down his hips. The carving lines veering down his torso direct my attention to the hard length of him and my throat goes dry as he leans over me. His tip teases and presses against me but never slides in like I really want.

  We hold each other’s gazes for a moment: his taunting, mine lustful.

  I don’t know what it is, but Rime was wrong; he is perfect. He’s so fucking perfect it’s hard to look at him and not be transfixed by every detail, every angle, every beautiful cut line of his body.

  And when I look into his frost kissed eyes, I know the inside—deep, deep inside—matches his exterior. If you have the patience to wait for him to show you what’s beneath the surface, he’s perfect.

  The demanding sound of his tormenting voice doesn’t reflect the affectionate way he’s looking at me right now.

  Not even when he speaks once again.

  “Are you going to be thinking of me and Chaos, while I’m fucking your pussy?”

  He sinks in hard, his lips ghosting over mine, his question hanging in the air as I gasp against his words.

  I nod to him. He smiles as his hips grind against my slickness.

  “Good.”

  I’m so wet and strung tight that the moment he kisses me I come against his shaft. He groans, deepening the kisses, his arms caging me securely. He takes his time thrusting long and slow strokes that drag against every part of my sex before sinking in hard once more.

  We’re wound together even as Chaos’ teeth rake over my jaw line. I pull back just slightly. Rime turns and Chaos’ lips barely brush his before their tongues slide against one another. It’s a quick, flicking kiss that I feel deep within my sex. When Rime’s mouth claims mine again my fingers grip his hair hard, my teeth sinking into his lower lip as my hips pound harder against his.

  A growl rumbles through his chest, his dick slamming into me hard enough to take my breath away. Chaos’ lips meet my neck, nipping and teasing as his cock grows hard again, pressing against the side of my hip. Rime keeps his arms in place on either side of my head but a big palm skims along my hip, wandering down, down, down. Chaos’ fingers slide over my clit, slipping down to feel the way Rime’s cock thrusts harder and harder into my pussy. A low groan hums against my throat and then pressure hard and fast circles over my clit as his hand works between hips. Waves of pent up energy crash through me, and when my sex clenches around Rime’s shaft a second time, his arms flex rigidly around me, his body stilling with tension locking into every muscle.

  Chaos’ fingers slide slowly and sweetly agai
nst my wetness one more time before he pulls back, his head resting against my shoulder. The three of us lie like that, tangled together, sated but exhausted.

  Rime’s dick pulses as he breathes me in, his gaze shifting over my eyes. I wish I knew what he was thinking right now.

  His lips press slowly to mine and then I don’t have to wonder any more.

  “I love you,” he whispers on a weak breath. The commanding tone in his voice isn’t there. Raw emotion is bared to me and I just stare up at him for a long moment.

  When my lips part to speak, he kisses me again. He silences my response with deflecting affection.

  “Don’t say it.” He cuts me off once more. “Let me fuck you and let me make you feel good. But don’t say it,” he whispers.

  “Why—”

  “Just don’t. Not to me.” Once more his mouth brushes over mine, and then he pulls back until there’s too much space between us.

  Chaos hesitates as his attention passes between us. His palm pushes over my stomach and I’m still stunned and staring at the man above me. My heart hurts more with each passing second because I don’t know how to change the thoughts in his head.

  The ones that make him think he’s not good enough to love.

  My hand pulls at his from where he kneels between my legs and all I can do is curl into Chaos’ arms, pulling Rime down against me. Their warmth surrounds me. The hard beating of our hearts fills the span of silence that stretches on.

  I can’t sleep and all I find myself doing is staring out with an empty gaze as I think hard about these beautiful broken men.

  I won’t say it. I know what it’s like to be terrified of that four letter word.

  So, I won’t say it to him.

  But I won’t allow him to think he’s less than completely amazing either.

  “You’re enough, Rime. You’re strong and loyal and so fucking fierce.” My voice cracks against the honesty of those words. “You’re not kind. Not like Chaos. He’s sweet and gentle and gives freely. He’s good all the way through. He’s the purest person I’ve ever met.” Chaos’ lips brush over my hair, and I keep talking even as his hold tightens on me. “And just like me, you’re not like that. Not even close. And I hope you know that it’s okay. Because everything you are is enough.”

  I turn until I’m flat on my back between the two men. Their arms tangle around one another over my stomach. My hand dips low, slipping my fingers between Chaos’ while my other hand rises. My palm skims against the hard angle of Rime’s jaw. His gaze does that dance between my eyes, trying to see what’s inside.

  “You are enough,” I whisper on a shaking breath. His lips chase that breath until he’s kissing me softly. It’s the sweetest kiss that ends too soon.

  “You’re enough too, My Tamer.”

  Emotion spreads through my chest as I realize we replaced love with functionality. We’ve carefully avoided me saying it. I won’t tell him I love him. I might not tell either of them that I love them. Maybe ever.

  But they already know.

  Twelve

  Insufferable Demands

  Sometime in the middle of the night, a scream lashes. The strong muscle that surrounds me stiffens. Kain shoves hard from where he was draped across my stomach, and a chilling cold settles in the moment he leaps from the bed. Rime and Chaos are stalking after him and the three of them storm through the dark house in nothing. I’m stumbling from the bed after a moment’s hesitation. My bare feet meet the cold flooring and, in a rush, I grab the coat off the hook before stepping out the open front door. I button it all the way up, covering myself in a disorderly hurry.

  “Go back inside,” Kain barks at me.

  Sinister’s palm slips around my hip pulling me back against his chest. “He’s right, something dark is here. I can feel it.”

  “Then I need to be out there.” Nerves strum through me as I watch the three shifters cautiously walk into the eerily quiet night. The muscles in their backs are strung, and I feel that tension all through me.

  “No, you need to stay the fuck inside.” The rarely heard serious tone against his lips makes me realize how worried he is.

  I peer back at Myla who stands near the kitchen table as she wraps a heavy blanket around herself.

  She looks delicate. Our boys are out there protecting us.

  But who is protecting them?

  My body lurches forward and I slip out of Sinister’s grip in an instant. And he lets me. I should have known he would.

  “I’ll be careful. Stay with Myla.” I rush down the steps, the frozen, frost-chilled ground tingling through my skin the moment my feet touch it.

  Sinister’s tattooed hand pushes through his dark locks with a look of defeat sagging his shoulders. “Fuck, Arrie.”

  I race off in the direction the men went. Other shifters have started coming out into the dusty street now. A few of the men glance at me. The second in command trails out of his house across the street near Helen’s house and Aggie sneaks out his front door with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders.

  “What’s happening?” I hiss the moment she’s near enough.

  My gait slows, and as we near the forest the crowd starts to thicken. She and I wander farther, my shoulder brushing hers with each small step we take.

  “Something bad. I’m not sure.” Her white gaze drifts back and forth.

  I stop dead in my tracks and I stare down at the elderly mage blankly.

  “You always know.” Even when she doesn’t tell me, she always knows what’s in our future.

  “Something’s off. Something dark is blotting out my sight. This isn’t in our plans.” Her lips purse and fear trickles slowly in.

  My sight hasn’t worked since I met Kreedence all those years ago. I knew then that it was ruined because something more powerful was suppressing it.

  I just assumed it was my ex.

  What if it wasn’t?

  When the crowd parts and we find ourselves at the front of the dozens of men, a body lies at our feet. The pretty young woman is crumpled in a disfiguring way. Her arms and legs are splayed out in a jagged appearance of broken bones. Not a drop of blood is in sight. But the vacant emptiness of her gaze looks up at me.

  It’s her. Brylee’s friend, Natalie.

  My stomach turns, my gaze never leaving Natalie’s face even as Kain and Lord Carlin begin whispering as they kneel at her side.

  “Don’t let her mother see her like this,” Kain says quietly. Lord Carlin nods.

  Kain looks up to Chaos and the shifter strides away with intent without a spoken word ever passing between them.

  “What could have done this?” someone whispers in a shaking breath.

  “Something dark and deadly,” another voice answers.

  “Ocknala,” a man growls out.

  Agatha stiffens at my side the moment she hears the name of her fictional spirit that she created just to get some cookies and gin and maybe a little privacy.

  For once, it’s not me who fucked up this time.

  “Let us not accuse our spirits.” Agatha’s frail hands come up at her sides as if to appease the dozens of angry and protective shifters. Her male friend, the second in command, comes to her the moment she speaks, his broad shoulders spanning out behind her small body. It’s a protective stance, and I am not the only one who notices it. He looks hard at the men surrounding Agatha, and I wonder if he knows about Ocknala and the spirit’s lack of actual existence. The defensive stance the older man holds makes me think he does know.

  “You said yourself it was an aggressive essence,” someone in the back reminds her.

  She nods continuously to the unseen shifter, her brows lifting as if to say ‘well fuck me and my antics.’

  “It is a dangerous thing to falsely accuse a spirit. Perhaps you should investigate this young woman’s death. The girl’s death deserves more than just angry allegations.”

  “She’s right,” Kain says as he stands. Rime looks to his friend and then they both loo
k to me, seeing me for the first time. “I want men standing watch through the night. This wasn’t an animal attack. And whatever it was that came to the edge of village could have just been passing through.” A few murmurs of relief skim through the crowd, but they quiet the moment Kain speaks again. “Or it could return.”

  Rime slips away from Kain, and I lean into him the moment he comes to me. His arms wrap around me, warming all the way through from the way his chest aligns with mine. I hadn’t even realized how cold I was until now.

  “Yes, Skovence look into the girl’s recent actions for any indication on what she was doing out here in the middle of the night.” Lord Carlin instructs Agatha’s male friend. Long gray hair shifts against his jaw as Skovence nods to his alpha, but he never leaves Agatha.

  A few more men are instructed to remain out tonight, searching the area and to stay on guard until sunrise.

  Kain slips his big hand into mine and pulls me away from the murmurs, the crowd, and the vacant look of the dead girl who’s still staring wide eyed at me.

  “I told you to stay inside.” Kain pulls me along and Rime matches our quick pace, but that careless look holds in his smooth features.

  “You actually thought she’d listen to you. That’s cute,” Rime glances to Kain and the simple mocking comment pisses the shifter off even more.

  “I used to think bad things happened to you at random, Arlow, but now I know.” Kain shakes his head as he leads me toward his mother’s house. “Now I know that you fucking immerse yourself into the bad. You dive right fucking in, head first, flail around a little bit, and somehow still come out unscathed on the other fucking side, looking for the next damn drowning contest.”

  How dare he say something so outrageous.

  My cold feet pad quickly across the floorboards, past the curious expression of Sinister and Myla and I stomp away until I’m pacing in the middle of the living room.

  “I wasn’t searching for the bad, you egotistical alpha asshole.”

  “Is that military code for something?” Sinister smirks at me, but his sarcasm does nothing to dissolve the tension in the room.