by J. L. Madore
The way she responds to my touch is magical.
It’s a gift.
I meet her gaze and the amusement dancing in her eyes makes my cheeks flush hot. “Apologies. My staring is making you uncomfortable, isn’t it?”
“Not at all, sweet prince. This is your night. You get to ogle and touch and explore as much as you like. What’s at the top of your wish list right now?”
To mount you and mate you. I blush. I can’t say that.
She chuckles and brushes the heat of my cheek. “Whatever came to your mind, my answer is yes.”
My erection pulses between us and I take the hint. As I roll over her, she opens her knees to make space for me in the cradle of her hips.
I meet her eyes. “Am I hurting you?”
“Just use your hands or elbows on the mattress to take some of your weight off me.
“Apologies.” I shift my weight as quickly as I can and raise onto my elbows. “I want to be good at this. I want you to value me in your bed. I want—”
She presses her fingers over my lips and smiles. “Don’t overthink it. Sex is largely about sensation. If you’re all up in your head, you’ll lose your drive. I promise I’ll let you know if something isn’t working. You can do the same. Now, didn’t you say you want inside me?”
I swallow, less sure of myself than ever.
She undulates her hips and pulls me closer to claim my lips. The heat of her hands running the length of my spine brings me back to focus. She urges me higher and the heat of her entrance meets my swollen tip. Her moist folds are hot and wet against my flesh.
“Sweet powers, that feels good.”
She bites my lip and my wolf prowls forward. I meld our mouths, taking possession, our lips moving as one, our tong—
Calli groans beneath me and I freeze.
I’ve pushed inside her. I break our kiss and my body shudders with bombarding sensations, the heat of her core, the grip of her inner muscles, the moist glide when I move even the slightest bit.
“Breathe, Wolf.”
Breathe, right. I draw a deep breath and commit this moment to memory. Not that I think I’ll ever forget it but—
Calli reclaims my mouth and her hips start to move.
“I think my heart might burst,” I gasp, understanding that the motion of her hips is her body urging me to take the lead. I do. After a few strokes, I adjust to the sweet depths of her. After a few more, I increase the speed and strength of our joined in and out motion. The penetration, the stretch, and squeeze, the wet friction…
Magic igniting inside Calli triggers my empathic gift.
It courses between us, swirling from Calli into me and back again. It’s our mating bond. It’s tightening. The connection that links us is stronger. Where before it was rope, it’s now a steel cable. The two of us bound in an unbreakable link.
Yes. Her phoenix calls to my wolf as fire licks over my skin. It’s hot but doesn’t burn. It’s a sexy welcome from her wildling side, a forging of two mates.
My breath hitches and the pressure building in my sac burns hotter. I want to mark her but I don’t want this to end. Not tonight. Not ever. At this moment I don’t know how I’ll ever survive if I’m not inside her.
“Oh, gawd,” Calli gasps, writhing beneath me. “Harder. I need more of you, all of you.”
A low growl vibrates from my wolf. It’s a primal sound and I understand what she meant by sex being largely sensation. I allow my wolf to ascend more and his aggression and possession embolden me.
I thrust harder and faster, fully penetrating her. Where I worried about hurting her, giving hard thrusts brings both of us even more pleasure. Her knees come up and I hook them around my elbows, pinning her open. Holding power over her pleasure like this feeds the wildness in me. It’s empowering to hold her so tightly, to have her trust me with her body.
I’m no longer making love to Calli, this is more—much more. And as crass as it sounds, hammering into her blows my expectations of sex with her to bits. We’re dripping in sweat, our skin slicked together, our chests heaving for air.
Calli cries out and her release explodes across my empathic connection. Everything in her tightens and clenches, squeezing. It’s total surrender. It’s chaos. It shatters my mind and my understanding of everything I thought I knew.
Now it’s me who’s losing control. I throw my head back and shudder, coming inside her so violently, I wonder how mates survive this much pleasure.
CHAPTER THREE
Hawk
I read the text from Calli and curse. Join them for the sexual afterparty? No way. My hawk is so wild and out of control, I almost drew my gun and went after Jaxx in the middle of a human bar. Well… I did draw it, but for once, Brant proved himself useful and pushed into a situation when and where he was needed.
I hang my head and breathe in the pungent scent of fir needles. Spreading my wings for a few hours helped but sitting out here on this branch in the middle of nowhere isn’t touching the pull on my soul to return to my female.
Every instinct I possess screams inside me. I need to be at Calli’s side. I need to press inside her and accept my fate as her mate. There’s no way I can hold back the deluge of mating magic if the other four are naked and sexed up.
I touch my lips and shudder. Despite Calli’s kiss still singing on my lips from last night, there’s no way I’m joining the mating frenzy.
I swallow and look down at the party in my pants. “Sorry, big guy. You’re benched for the foreseeable future.”
My phone rings in my hand and I check the ID. My heart lurches into my throat and chokes my breath. “Lukas? What’s wrong? Is Calli all right?”
“She’s fine. They all are.” There’s no waver in his tone. My hawk eases. “The young prince wasn’t ready to face his future. She took him upstairs and retired for the night. I assume she texted you?”
“Did Jaxx and Brant join them?”
“No, they went to town on an errand.”
My dander raises and my hawk ruffles its feathers. “They left her and the prince unprotected? What the fuck is wrong with them? What could be more important—”
“There was an altercation with two drunken humans.”
“What? Why didn’t you call me?”
“I just did.”
I drop from the branch twenty feet off the forest floor. The impact with the forest floor jars my sore knee. “Don’t get flippant. You know what I mean. What if she needed me?”
“I’m sure she does, Barron, just not to defend her from two intoxicated rednecks. She had three other guardians, the bear doctor, and the five of us. All is well.”
I close my eyes and study the full, pearl moon through the web of branches above my head. I’m failing. In my duty as the head of FCO and, at the same time, in my role in the quint. Even if I refuse the mating, or cut the binding, I still want the four of them to be safe and strong and supported.
With that in mind, I see my next move. “Since you have things well in hand, I’m taking point. I’ll head to the palace to prepare for your arrival in the morning. Text me when the others return and settle in for the night.”
“You’re not coming back?”
I ignore the censure in his tone. “Divide and conquer. Call me if anything untoward arises. Otherwise, check-in with me in the morning. And Lukas… take every precaution with them. Keep them safe.”
“Of course, sir. Good night.”
Kotah
It’s close to ten o’clock when a knock sounds on the door to the adjoining hall. The bass thrumming through the walls from the bar almost drowns it out, but with heightened wilding hearing, neither of us miss it.
“Anyone up for some mate company?”
My heart leaps at the sound of Jaxx’s voice. Am I ready? Will I ever be ready? Even if the males remain solely focused on Calli, am I ready for witnesses to my inadequacies?
Calli says I’m a natural, but I do not doubt that both Brant and Jaxx are exceptional lovers. Hawk, too. Oh, sweet merc
y, is Hawk back? Will he be here too?
Calli lifts her head, her arm draped across my navel, her half-masted gaze one of sated bliss. I did that. I put that smile on her lips. “It’s up to you, sweet prince.”
“Yes.” I draw a deep breath and pull the sheet across our lower halves to give Calli a bit of modesty. “Come join us.”
Jaxx is bare-chested, barefooted, and wears only his ripped jeans. His golden skin shifts back and forth over coiled muscles with each step closer. “You good, buddy? This is your night. If you want to call dibs and hunker down for a quiet night, there’s no fault no foul. Just say the word.”
As tempting as that sounds, I shake off the impulse.
“Jaxx is right,” Brant says, taking up the rear. He’s wearing the sweatpants he puts on at night for Calli’s benefit and a tight black t-shirt. “It’s your call, Wolf.”
A pang of need twists in my gut. It isn’t sexual—it’s more. It’s something new to me. It’s a need for a deeper connection with my mates. “As you said, Bear, with five of us, there are lots of possibilities for entertainment, right?”
“True story.”
I agree. “I’m good with you guys sharing our bed. I’m just not giving up my spot. I recently suffered heart failure and haven’t recovered enough to move yet.”
The bass of Brant’s laughter reverberates in my chest. “Well, then. It’s good to know our girl christened your manhood with gusto.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. Gusto? Sweet mercy.
My cheeks flush hot and I glance down at Calli. Her eyes are closed. I watch her lying there limp. Her breath saws in and out in soft gusts.
Jaxx follows my gaze and a loving smile washes over his face. He drops his jeans and slides into bed behind her. “She looks well and truly sated, pup. Well, done. Let’s let her sleep. Early to bed it is.”
Brant eyes the bed and shakes his head. “If sleep is the plan, I’ll be next door in the Stud bed.”
Jaxx spoons Calli and covers us with the blanket. “You were just dying to say that, weren’t you?”
Brant laughs and waves over his shoulder. “Hells yeah. Wake me up if anything exciting happens.”
Calli
A shift in the sheets stirs me from my warm cocoon of slumber. I stretch, arc my back, and assess all my fabulously tender girly parts. Being with my wolf last night was a gift. After my disturbing start with sex, I waited years before trusting someone enough to be intimate. I missed the nervous and awkward phase of learning what two inexperienced bodies could do together. I missed the innocent joy of simply marveling at the sensations.
Kotah gave that back to me.
The scent of him fills my mind and when I open my eyes, I find his wide, chocolate gaze glittering inches from mine. There’s a look of raptured amazement on his face. It’s simple and natural and I’m so thankful to have him in my life.
“Good morning,” I say, closing the distance between our mouths. “How are you feeling? Any awkward ‘morning after the night before’ moments we should address?”
He shakes his head, his hair cascading around his bare shoulders, wild and long. “I’m blissfully content.”
“Excellent. Me too.”
Jaxx presses up behind me and kisses my shoulder. “Our boy wore you out last night. When the bear and I came to check-in, you were sawing logs like a buzzsaw.”
I giggle and sink back down to the pillow. “Nice try, puss. I don’t snore.”
His million-dollar smile fills my heart. “We wouldn’t care if you did. Waking up with you is worth any price we have to pay, isn’t it, kid?”
Kotah smile tightens. I sense the sting of something below the surface and it speaks to my new wilding instincts. “Hey,” I say, running a hand down his smooth, bare chest. “What happened there? Are you okay?”
“Yes, of course. Aside from never wanting to leave this bed, what could be wrong?”
It’s true, with his homecoming on the horizon he’s bound to have a few things pressing on his chest, but the discomfort I feel is more immediate. “Okay, rule number one of our mating bed. This is our safe place. We speak our hearts here. There’s no wrong answer and I’ll never question you or judge you on anything we share.
His shy grin tells me he remembers speaking those exact words to me two days ago when he began teaching me to connect with my phoenix.
I tease my fingers over his nipple. “Something hurt you just now, what is it? What do you need?”
He looks like he might balk and fake that he’s good, but then his smile falters. “I’d like a lover’s nickname that isn’t kid or buddy or pup or anything to do with me being younger than all of you. I face my father in a few hours and want my community—and honestly the four of you—to see me as the male I see myself to be.”
“Of course, baby—crap, sorry. I’ll work on that.”
“Shit, Kotah,” Jaxx says, reaching over me to squeeze Kotah’s arm. “I’m sorry, my man. Yeah. That’s reasonable. I never meant—”
“No. I know you didn’t,” he says, sitting up. “I’d simply rather you four address me with an endearment that doesn’t reflect me being too young to understand what the grown-ups are talking about. I fight that stigma every day and it’s exhausting. With you I want to be me—one of the quint.”
My heart aches for Kotah, and I pull him into a full-body hug. I kiss him and it’s soft and sexy. “I’m glad you spoke up. And this quint is blessed to have you. Does it bother you that I call you my sweet prince? Do you want me to stop?”
He arches a brow and blushes. “No. I like the way you say that. And after last night, it’ll remind me of some very fond private moments.”
I bite my lip and just like that, my sex-drive revs and is ready to roll. “You deserve many more of those moments.”
Jaxx nods. “And honestly, dude, when I look at you, I don’t see a young boy or the Prime’s heir. I see an off-the-charts smart guy, with a ripped and rockin’ body, and a pure spirit that will surely point the moral compass of our quint for years to come.”
Kotah’s pupils widen as the two of them get lost in a stare. I glance from Jaxx to Kotah and back again. “Okay, did the sexual energy in this bed ratchet up ten notches, or am I imagining it?”
Jaxx slides a sly smile at me. “And what if it did, kitten? What do you think we should do about it?”
I bite my bottom lip and lean back with my arms behind my head. The position lifts my breasts and both guys get distracted admiring the girls. “Then I think Kotah could use a bit more quint love before he faces the harsh world of the Prime. I think my guys should kiss.”
Jaxx’s chest bounces as he pegs me with a playful look. “Are you turned on by male on male, kitten?”
“It’s a very new interest. Let’s try it out and see.”
Kotah rises to his knees on one side of me and Jaxx mirrors the position on my other side. They’re both gloriously naked and I don’t know if it’s morning wood or my request that has their cocks solid, but… it’s waaay too sexy to care.
Jaxx is the alpha and takes control. His fingers slip into Kotah’s chestnut hair, holding his head in place. Leaning forward, he fuses their mouths and they meet, chest-to-chest, right above me.
Hubba—wow.
My body falls under their seductive spell. My skin tingles, my nipples tighten, and my throat goes dry.
Kotah is omega but isn’t submissive. He grips Jaxx’s ribs, his fingers digging into the golden flesh of my jaguar. There’s so much to take in, flexing abs, bumping cocks, morning-scruff mouths moving as they kiss the hell out of each other.
“So hot.” A rush of heat hits my core. I reach between them with both hands and take possession of those erections. They kick and press into my hold. A wave of dizzy washes over me at the same time my arousal weeps between my legs. “Ohmygawd, sooo hot.”
Jaxx’s purr fills the room. The bastard. He knows what that does to me. An achy tension builds low in my belly. I watch the flex of muscles beneath the
ir chins as their tongues battle for supremacy.
This may have started as a show for me, but it is morphing into full-on male passion. I squeeze my grip, stroking them off. “Gawd, I’m so turned on by you two right now. Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”
I breathe deep, my animal senses bombarded by the spicy mark of mating on my skin, the musk of Jaxx, the earthy scent of Kotah, and… my bear.
I swing my gaze toward the adjoining room.
Brant has turned the upholstered chair near the door to face the bed and is sitting, man-spread and naked. He’s gripping a very impressive erection and stroking himself while taking in the show. His half-masted gaze is heated and possessive. He winks and a fresh wave of moisture dampens me.
Mine, he mouths.
His cock slides through his fist, glistening and proud. He’s beautiful—and massive—the muscles of his arm, pecs, and abs rippling with power.
My breath stops. Need shoots from my mind, straight to my empty core. I need him inside me. I want—
Kotah growls and I remember to stroke the two of them.
The sight of the two of them making out is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. The groping hands. The desperate connection of chests and hips. Biceps bulging with their grip on one another. The growls and groans as their passions leak onto my hand.
I use their pre-cum to slick their cocks and jack them faster. My pussy tightens, my release aching at the edge of my control. “Come on me,” I say, unsure from where the need stems. “Slick me. Mark me, boys.”
Kotah throws his head back and his abs convulse. His hips thrust forward and the muscles in his neck strain so tight I’d swear they might snap. Creamy jets spurt free and fall to warm my breasts and belly.
It’s exactly what I asked for and exactly what I need.
Pleasure shoots from my nipples straight to my core and I topple into an abyss. I release their cocks and arc off the mattress. Pleasure grips me and I’m lost in sensation as my world falls away.
“Dayum.” Jaxx’s purr rips from his heaving chest. He grips Kotah’s shoulder as our wolf takes over stroking him off. Our jaguar doesn’t last. He throws back his head, his release splattering Kotah’s thigh and adding to the mess pooling on my breasts.