Crave

by Serena Simpson

  My hands crept up to my neck. I spent six years with a metal collar around it. HE figured I could cut off a limb to try to escape, but you couldn’t cut off your neck. I fingered the bruised and puckered skin. Neither Noah or Cole mentioned it. They accepted it because it was a part of me.

  I knew what I was doing; I was trying to justify wanting them. I needed an excuse or a good reason when the world told me I was wrong, or that I was a slut. The world likes to pass judgment. I found that out when I went to court. Everyone had an opinion. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t interested in hearing it.

  There was no justification. I wanted this. I went and knocked on the bathroom door.

  “Hey, don’t use up all the hot water.” I heard two grunts followed by sighs of relief. Yeah, I was going to make them mine, after I got a shower.

  They came out with towels wrapped around their waists. Their lips were swollen, and their hair was wet. My tongue came out to lick my bottom lip. Noah was the heavier of the two. His chest was layered with muscle I wanted to touch and lick and… yeah; I wanted all of that.

  Cole was slender, but his body was beautiful. His muscles were leaner, but they were there. His stomach was so tight I could see every muscle in stark relief. Like me, he didn’t eat a lot. I’d be willing to get high licking whipped cream from those abs.

  “I umm need a shower.”

  I went to pass them, but Cole pulled me into his arms. He lowered his head and licked my lips. I opened what else could I do? I waited for the fear, the disgust to overwhelm me. He tasted so good I forgot I was supposed to be afraid. It was one thing to take charge of yourself, but you were always supposed to be afraid of getting into another relationship. Right?

  I couldn’t think my body was tightening with need. Where was this coming from? My heart was pounding. All he was doing was stroking my tongue. Feelings I never had were beginning to wake up.

  It was like the first rush of becoming a teen when your hand snuck between your legs to figure out what the sticky stuff was, and then you stroked. It was just like that. Except he tasted so good. He was overpowering me with his masculine taste.

  He set me back on my feet. I wasn’t aware that he picked me up. I wanted to say something, but nothing came out. I tried to stumble past him, but Noah caught me in his arms. His kiss was tender. It was different from Cole’s. Not better just different. That first blush of desire was becoming a boiling pot. I wanted them both. My nipples were hard, and my pussy was slick with need. I didn’t think my body could do that.

  Noah tasted different. Cole had this deep masculine taste where Noah’s taste was spicy.

  “Go take a shower.” His voice rumbled in my ear before he backed away. I fled to the safety of the bathroom.

  There were a thousand things I wanted to say to myself. Relationships like this didn’t work. They were the stuff of fantasy. That’s what I wanted the fantasy. I wanted the three of us to somehow be together to be locked in each other in a way that none of us would ever be free again. I should have been institutionalized. I see that now. My life was one big fantasy.

  I took the time to think about a husband. Just one. I took the time to pick between Noah and Cole. It had to be Noah; he was the human one. My chest hurt, it wasn’t my imagination. I was getting chest pains thinking about not being with Cole. Then I picked Cole, and the same thing happened when I thought about not being with Noah.

  Then I did the one thing guaranteed to send me to hell. I stopped thinking about what everyone else said was right and wrong for my life. I started by asking myself what I wanted. I was walking the road to recovery, freedom? Hmm, I was beginning to learn who I was. I’d take that any day.

  I got out the shower dried off and wrapped a towel around myself. It was time to see if this was what I wanted, or if it was an incredibly erotic one-night stand.

  I don’t know what I expected to see when I walked out the bathroom, but it wasn’t a naked Noah lying on top of a naked Cole kissing. I stopped in my tracks. Not because I was jealous, but because it was so hot I was waiting to burn to ashes.

  Cole turned to face to me his golden hair lying against his cheek; his sable eyes focused on me. Then he smiled, and I felt it in the pit of my stomach. The intense feeling that soon I was going to lose my hold on sanity. It was that roll in your belly that makes you want to hump the closest hard surface.

  I dropped the towel. I would be shy and modest tomorrow. Tonight, I needed to touch them. I walked over and stopped at the edge of the bed. I could see my ribs, I was still too thin. My small wrists were a testament to how much I didn’t eat. How could they want me? My fingers went around my neck while I thought of the marks on my back.

  Cole pushed at Noah, and he sat back and fingered the scar on his chest that almost took his life. This was my first good look at it. I gasped when I realized how much of a miracle it was that he was still alive. Cole got up and stood, then he turned around. My hand went over my mouth to keep me from crying out. He had been whipped; I knew it wasn’t with a belt. I knew those scars.

  “The decision to live when death is preferable isn’t an easy one, but it was the right one for us.” He told me.

  I let my finger travel over his back caressing the skin that didn’t heal easily. It was raised and although healed it carried an angry edge to hit. My hand fell, and he turned back to face me. I took a step backward and then another.

  I took a deep breath that shook within me, then I turned. I heard both Cole and Noah suck in deep breaths. I knew what they saw. The whip marks that would always be ugly, the branding that made me an object, a commodity and not a person. The worse was the tramp stamp in the small of my back. If only that’s what it was. If I had gone to a tattoo parlor and asked for it.

  No, HE had taken a branding iron used on cows and placed it there. I watched as he heated it up in an opened fire, he started in a metal trash can in the basement. Then he branded me with the word slut. I can still smell my skin burning and hear the howl of pain that came from me before I passed out.

  There was a gentle kiss on my back then I felt a tongue tracing the words easing a pain that was only a phantom but hurt as much as it did when it happened. It was Cole because Noah was standing in front of me with his finger tracing my lips.

  “You’re beautiful to us Leta.” Noah’s warm minty breath fanned my lips.

  “But I’m a slut.” My voice trembled, but I meant every word. That was how I was conditioned to think of myself. My purpose was for someone to impregnate me, but I wasn’t good enough to carry to full term.

  “No, you’re not.” That was Cole. His hand was traveling over my ass kneading the globes like they were precious. “You’re our mate. When you’re ready, you will become one with us.”

  Before I could reply Noah took my mouth in a sensuous kiss. I never thought people kissed like this. It was sweet and heady at the same time. I felt like I was wrapped in silk but drowning in honey. A moan was ripped out my body. I wanted to protest to tell them that sex wasn’t like this. Where was the pain, the dread, the fear?

  My body tensed waiting for it. I wanted to mate with them, but I knew it would hurt. I was willing to hurt for them. I felt Cole stand behind me. He placed soft kisses and little nips on my neck and shoulders. I waited for him to tear at my skin to mark me, but he didn’t. Those little kisses and nips made my body sensitive until I shuddered.

  “You taste so good,” Noah told me. “I want a deeper taste.”

  My eyes widened as his fingers walked down the front of my body.

  “Let us love you,” Cole whispered in my ear.

  My head went back cradled against his chest. My whispered yes was all he needed before he picked me up and laid me in the center of the bed. I was trembling but not from fear. The hope that they weren’t going to hurt me took hold of my heart and wouldn’t let go. Cole kissed one side of my mouth and Noah the other. Soon our tongues were mingling, and we were breathing each other’s air. How was it possible?

 
Don’t know, don’t care. I had one hand tangled in Cole’s golden hair, and the other tangled in Noah’s brown hair. I could die now and be content. I could have, then Cole kissed down to my jawline while Noah kissed my pulse point. All thoughts of dying fled. I held my breath as their fingers started to trace over my chest.

  “Breathe,” Noah said with a little laugh.

  I was glad he could laugh while I was dying with need and want. I felt the slow progress of their hands as they worked towards my small breasts. Before I was captured, I wanted them to be bigger. Once I found out how much pain my breasts could experience in the wrong hands, I wished they weren’t there.

  A finger traced the top of my breasts while another traced the valley between them. I felt someone caress the underside of one of my breasts where it connected to my chest. I was panting but still in control. Then a finger flicked over my nipple. Then again, left nipple, right… and so on. My body tensed. Noah and Cole lowered their heads and sucked both nipples into a warm mouth.

  I let out a scream filled with desire as my hips punched up in the air. Was this what sex was supposed to feel like or was it only this way because it was Noah and Cole loving me? I didn’t know, but I didn’t want to give it up. My hands went back to their hair.

  “I love your nipples, your breasts.” Cole pulled on my nipple making it harder.

  I never knew they could draw up in desire and need like this. My hand traveled down their necks to caress their backs. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted to touch myself. I held back not wanting to be what was stamped on my back.

  They kissed down my chest to get to my belly. Hands and hot lips worshiped my body. I hoped they would go past my stomach, but they never did.

  “How do you like to be loved, Leta?” Noah asked me.

  “What?” I tripped over the word.

  “Show us what you like,” Cole demanded as if it was the most natural thing.

  He said it like he knew that sometimes I played with myself. My cheeks got red. I couldn’t, could I?

  “I… I.”

  Cole placed a finger on my lips.

  “Show me my beautiful female.”

  His words crushed my insecurities and breathed new life into me. He didn’t see me as a slut or a whore to be crushed under his foot. But he saw me as a female who was worthy to bear the name and children. Someone who could walk her own path if she wanted to. He knew Leta or was getting to know her, but he wanted to see the female, the woman I hid deep inside of me.

  Cole and Noah sat back on their heels as they watched me. I drew my legs up until my feet were planted on the bed. Then I allowed my legs to fall open. My hand caressed my belly and stopped at the top of my pussy. They were watching me with wonder in their eyes. I finally allowed my hand to creep between my legs. I knew that my cheeks were stained red with my blush.

  My fingers parted the curls as I stroked my slit. My fingers climbed higher until I could touch the bundle of nerves. My breath hitched, a low moan came from me. Noah reached over and took Cole’s dick in his hand. I pressed a little harder seeing that, and my hips jerked.

  “I want to taste you.” Cole’s voice was so deep it invaded my body the way I thought his dick would.

  “Please.” I was begging, but I didn’t care.

  He moved my hand. His finger stroked my slit lightly. I looked down to see that Noah was still stroking Cole’s dick. Cole’s finger came up and pushed lightly on my bundle of nerves.

  “More Cole.” Did he know what I was asking for? Did I know?

  His finger went back down to where my wetness was flowing. I felt him dip it in then bring his wet finger back up. He started to caress me pushing and pulling. My head started to thrash then he lowered his lips and took my bundle of nerves into his mouth. I waited for teeth to bite me. I felt a hot tongue and suction on me.

  “What are you doing to me?” I cried out. I was using my arms to hold my upper body up.

  What I saw stole my breath. Cole was between my legs, and Noah was between his. He was swallowing Cole’s huge dick. Before I could protest Cole stuck a finger in my pussy and twisted it.

  “Shit!” I screamed.

  Then he pulled the finger out and placed it in his own mouth sucking the wetness off. I think my eyes would have rolled out if they were not attached that’s how wide they were.

  “You taste sweet.”

  His head disappeared between my legs, all I could do was feel. His tongue and fingers disappeared inside of me stroking and caressing. Every time I thought I knew what was coming, he did something different. He squeezed my clit; I thought I was going to have an orgasm. Then he backed off. He would take me close to the edge then bring me back down only to bring me up again.

  I was flat on my back now. There was no way I could hold myself up with the way I was shaking.

  “Please Cole, please let me feel it. I want to know what pleasure feels like. Please.”

  I felt several fingers invade me while his tongue was still caressing the outside of my slit. His fingers were making my pussy convulse around him. His other hand went to my clit. My body tightened. There was this pleasure-pain at the base of my spine. When he pinched my clit, my head fell back, and I howled. The pleasure raced up my spine and exploded over my body.

  I shook, the very fabric of my being was unwoven only to be remade with colors of brightness. All I could do was hold on as a storm rolled over me taking me with it. I moaned with a pleasure that was foreign to me. I was never able to make myself feel like this.

  Cole’s deep groan of pleasure set me off again. A mini orgasm went through me. I laid there boneless not sure what to do with the new sensations that I was feeling. Cole lay on the bed, and Noah crawled between us.

  “Let me take care of you,” Cole said to him.

  I managed to look down to see he was hard.

  “Help me, Leta.”

  Cole wanted my help. Noah looked at me with hungry eyes. Cole taught me how to give my first-hand job. When Noah came with a yell, I fell back to the bed exhausted. I closed my eyes feeling better than ever before. I smiled as sleep came for me in a rush.

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Cole

  We were sitting at the diner across the street. Noah and Leta didn’t feel like going far for food. Noah had a look of contentment on his face as he mixed his over easy eggs with his home fries. That looked punched me in the gut making me want to take him back to bed.

  Leta’s face was filled with wonder. I kept an eye on her because she was still boneless. We had to catch her several times already. She was cutting into a plate of French toast and sausage. Our waitress told us she wanted whatever we had before we walked in.

  I was scared, but I wouldn’t be sharing the feeling. Everything I wanted was right in front of me, I couldn’t help feeling like it would disappear in a blink of an eye. Then I would be left with nothing.

  “Cole is everything fine?” Leta’s voice was low. It was like she was scared that she would wake up to find it was a dream.

  “It’s all good.”

  “You don’t have to tell us, but don’t lie to us,” Noah said.

  That was the good and the bad part about being mates. Noah could feel my emotions. Every day we got a little closer. It made lying harder, but I didn’t want to lie.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I don’t want to upset. You and Leta are everything I ever wanted, now I’m scared that I’ll lose you.”

  “I feel the same way,” Leta told me. “It feels like we’re on borrowed time. Soon the nightmare will be coming back for me.”

  I had to agree. As much as I wanted this to be the beginning of something good between us, we still had to live through the end of fuckin’ Naresh. I felt his breath on my neck, but I still couldn’t find him. When I woke, they were still asleep. I pulled out my phone and tracked everything we had done including our interaction with the government. There was a piece missing. Maybe a player who should be on the board but wasn’t. If we didn’t figure it o
ut soon, we were all going to lose.

  “I want to visit Ryan today.”

  “Who is Ryan?” Leta asked.

  Noah paid for the meal, and I told Leta, who Ryan was as we crossed the street walking to the car.

  I felt it when I stepped out into the street. I was being watched. Noah rolled his shoulders as if he didn’t feel anything at all. Leta was frozen in fear, her panic-stricken gray eyes searching for mine.

  I got us across the street making sure Noah had Leta before I started my search. Turning around I headed back across the street. I was sure I knew where he was. He wasn’t hiding he made sure I felt him. I headed around the back of the diner before I allowed my wings out. When I landed on a roof, he was behind a shield of smoke kissing a human female.

  “Cole,” he gave me a careless grin. “It’s been too long since last we’ve seen each other.”

  “Fuckin’ Naresh.”

  “Aww when you growl my name that way, it makes me think you want me.”

  He held a female in his arms. Her eyes were blank as he caressed the line of her back. She was his insurance policy. If I tried anything, he would break her neck. Death didn’t mean a lot to him when he was holding someone he thought of as food.

  “What do you want?” I asked him.

  “You’ve been visiting my potential targets. I wanted to visit you. Have you narrowed down your search yet? Do you think you know who will become my next meal?”

  “Scared I’m on to you?”

  “No, pissed that you destroyed my kitchen. Now I’ll have to cook somewhere else.”

  “Try your own fuckin’ planet.”

  “The animals there don’t taste as good as the animals here.”

  “They’re people, not food.”

  “They kill, steal, lie and cheat. They even eat each other. Sounds like food to me.”

  I hated to admit it, but if I came from his world, I would feel the same way.