by R. E. Butler
“Dear family, I hope the carrier finds you as well as I am. I am living safely and happily in the Medes Realm. Although only a few months have passed here for me, I know that years have passed for you. I will not be able to make the journey to the Mortal Realm for many more years, but I’ve been given permission to send you updates by carrier. It should arrive every two years and will fly directly to Elizabeth, as she is a Wiccan and it can communicate with her.
“I have found my mates in two males named Perseus and Ekho. The white-haired wizard was defeated and the danger to my life is over. Circumstances prevent me from returning to the Mortal Realm to live and I will be staying in the Medes Realm with my mates. Although it pains me to know that time passes so quickly in the Mortal Realm, I will not be able to visit until ten years have passed for you.
“Know that I love you all and am sad to be missing so much of your lives. Send a message back with the carrier. He must return to this realm within two of your hours. I love you. I miss you. Daeton.”
The hour was up quickly and they hurried back to Barnabas’ home. Just outside, Elabb and Barnabas stood, Elabb holding a wooden cage with a large white and gray spotted bird. It reminded her of a seagull. Perseus rolled up her note and tied it with a scrap of leather which Elabb slid into a small pouch tied to the bird’s leg.
Elabb spoke words in a language she didn’t recognize, and the bird cocked it’s head as if it were listening. It squawked once and then Elabb opened the top of the cage and the bird took flight. It flew upward and then arced gracefully toward the waterfall, where it disappeared from view.
Ekho hummed in his throat and she turned to ask how soon the bird would return, when Elabb said, “There he is.”
She blinked in surprise as the bird flew straight for the cage, flapped its wings to slow down, and slipped right inside. “It’s already been and come back?” she asked in surprise.
“Oh, yes, Daeton,” Barnabas said with a smile. “It was in your former realm for two hours, but time is different here, as you’re aware.”
She was still amazed at how different things were between the realms, but thrilled to see the pouch on the bird’s leg was stuffed full.
Elabb opened the pouch and pulled out a thick roll of papers, which he handed to her. The bird squawked and chattered at Elabb and he said, “Neis said to tell you that your sister is very lovely and powerful and your family is happy you are safe.”
“Neis?” she asked. Elabb nodded. She looked at the bird and said, “Thank you, Neis.”
He cawed once and settled down as Elabb set the lid back on the cage and said goodbye to them. They thanked Barnabas again, and walked back to the house. She opened the tightly rolled papers as they sat down at the table in the house.
Her parents’ note told her how much they missed her and wished that they could see her sooner. They were happy and healthy, and things were good in the den. Her brothers Lynk and Tavian had married a healing nymph named Shaylee and were still living in the den. Griegs had come home, having been captured and forced to fight by some very unsavory characters. He had a mate now, a vampire named Sabrina. And her twin brothers Ash and Axe and their wife, Elizabeth, had one-year-old twins named Setimika and Bodaway, and were living in a home above ground on the den’s property. They’d included pictures and her eyes teared up again as she looked at her family. They looked so happy. Life was moving on for them, the same way it was moving on for her. She was glad they knew she was safe now and that she had a way to contact them from time to time, but she still missed them. The ache in her heart had eased some, knowing they were safe and that they now knew what was going on with her, but sending messages every two months wasn’t the same as waking up in her bed in the den and seeing her mom and dad and spending time with her family. Now she had two new sisters-in-law she hadn’t known about, and twin nephews! Her mind boggled at the thought of all that she was missing.
Ekho growled angrily and stood up from the table, his chair crashing to the floor behind him. She looked up at him startled, and his eyes flashed. “It’s my fucking fault, Daeton.”
“What?” She brushed at the tears on her cheeks.
“Me.” He raked his fingers through the short, golden fur on his cheeks. “My differences mean you can’t go home. You’re miserable and it’s because of me.”
“You’re not the only one, Ekho,” Perseus said. “I couldn’t survive in my human form forever, either, and just one mistake in the Mortal Realm and then people would know that Centaurs are real and our people would be in trouble. I’m as much to blame as you.”
Her sadness eased away in the midst of their pain. In all the time they had been together, neither of them had ever really expressed how they felt about their differences. They’d apologized before about not being able to take her home to the Mortal Realm to live with her family, but this blame game wasn’t helpful to any of them.
She held her hand out to Ekho and he came around the table to drop to the floor on his knees, putting his head in her lap. She stroked her fingers through his long, blond hair, and said, “This realm is the only place we can all live together. The Centaur city in Canada won’t allow anyone but Centaurs and their mates to live there, and neither of you can live with my parents and their den; there are just too many things that could go wrong. And you both seem to think you’re the only unique one around here. My fur is silver. In my world, unique means valuable, and valuable can mean danger. Here in Cholas is the only place I want to be, because I’m with you two.”
She looked at Perseus and he frowned. “I never thought about how valuable you would be in the Mortal Realm. Unique in the Medes Realm is normal.”
Ekho straightened enough to hug her, pressing his cheek against her chest. “I’m sorry, honey kitten. We’re quite a trio, aren’t we?”
She kissed the top of his head and smiled. “Don’t be sorry. You shouldn’t hide your feelings from me, it will just make things worse.” She tipped his face up until she was looking at him fully. She let her eyes roam over him slowly, drinking in the details. His kitty-cat green eyes were bright and beautiful. His nose was slightly flattened and gave him a truly leonine look. The long, dark blond hair on his head was thick and full and fell past his shoulders. Slight fangs peeked from his parted lips. Soft fur covered his cheeks and the sides of his neck, down to his shoulders and arms. The center of the front of his body was hair free and covered with toned, golden flesh, and his sides and legs were covered with more short, soft fur. His tail flicked behind him and made her smile.
“You are so handsome, alley cat.” She kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose, and the corners of his mouth, before drawing him closer and kissing him fully. A purr rumbled in his chest and her body tightened immediately, flooding with heat.
Ekho tugged her against his body and stood, holding her close as he turned and moved quickly to their bedroom. She smiled at Perseus as he followed, his blue eyes darkening.
The house was empty except for them, and Daeton could think of nothing she wanted to do more than be with her husbands. Ekho set her on her feet and slipped his fingers under the straps of her gown. It was a simple cotton gown that the women in the herd wore, soft and not binding, like a dress out of the pages of a Greek myth.
He curled his fingers around the straps and lifted them off her shoulders, letting the soft fabric fall down her arms to leave her bare from the waist up. Perseus cupped her face with his big hands while Ekho undid the braided belt around her waist.
“You’re so beautiful, sweet wife.” Perseus whispered against her lips before kissing her.
“And very lucky,” she answered as the rest of her gown slithered to the floor. She touched both of their vests and began to undo the wooden buttons that held them closed as they gazed down at her bare body with unbridled lust.
They were similar in some ways, tall and well-muscled. But where Ekho’s skin was lightly tanned and covered partly with fur, Perseus’s skin was darker, his hair jet black and his f
ace ultra-masculine.
Ekho’s warm hands cupped her hips and she moved backward to the bed while Perseus kissed her. The back of her knees hit the edge of the bed and she giggled into Perseus’s mouth as Ekho lifted her onto the bed and she found herself on her knees.
“You’re both wearing too many clothes.” She said, reaching for the belts on their trousers.
“So anxious to see your husbands naked, honey kitten?” Ekho asked, his voice slipping to a purr at the end.
“You know it,” she said, smiling.
They dropped their trousers to the floor at almost the same time and then she was on her back on the bed, Ekho hungrily kissing her as Perseus licked his way down her stomach. Perseus pushed her thighs apart and settled between them. Her stomach flipped at the anticipation that filled her.
She felt Perseus’s warm breath skirt the apex of her thighs and she arched back, separating from Ekho’s drugging kiss as Perseus spread the lips of her sex and licked her clit.
Ekho’s palm cupped her cheek and she blinked, focusing on him. “Stay with me, honey kitten. I want to watch you fall apart.”
She moaned as Perseus scooped his hands under her hips and lifted her lower body to his mouth, his tongue pushing into her pussy as he devoured her. She felt the rough scrape of his stubble as his tongue delved into her again and again.
Her body flooded with heat, and she reached down and fisted her hand in Perseus’s hair, making him chuckle against her folds.
Ekho growled softly, kissing her, their tongues tangling together while Perseus feasted on her pussy and drove her toward climax. Perseus lowered her body to the bed as he began to focus on her clit, licking and sucking the bud until her body trembled and her stomach clenched. Fingers slipped into her pussy, moving in and out until they were coated, and then she felt them slide out and down, circling her tightest place.
Her pussy clenched as Perseus’s finger, wet with her slick heat, pushed against her anus and pressed inside. She moaned into Ekho’s mouth, wiggling against Perseus’s invasion. They’d played with anal sex since they’d been home, but they’d never had a true three-way, with both of them inside her at the same time like this. Her heart rate spiked at the thought as anticipation curled through her.
Ekho moved slightly, leaning back and separating from their kiss. He broke a thick leaf from a plant on a shelf over the bed and passed it to Perseus.
Perseus kissed her tight bud and pulled his finger from her body. He cracked the leaf in half and scooped out a thick, clear liquid. His gaze met hers, dark with wicked promises, and she moaned loudly as he pushed two slick fingers inside her. He gave her a brief moment to get used to his fingers before he grinned at her and flicked his tongue against her clit as he twisted and scissored his fingers inside her. Ekho kissed her hard, his fingers rubbing circles around her nipples as he brought them to tingling awareness.
Perseus’s lips closed around her clit as he added a third finger, stretching her even more. He sucked on her bud, his tongue lashing the tip as everything inside her went molten and her climax thundered down on her. She screamed her pleasure, wrenching from Ekho’s mouth.
Ekho’s fingers tangled in her hair and he licked her throat with a purr. “Come ride me, honey kitten.”
He stretched out on his back as Perseus eased his fingers from her. She rolled to her stomach and went onto her hands and knees, climbing up Ekho’s body slowly. She kissed his soft, furred flesh as she moved, admiring the way their bodies were so different. His skin was velvet over steel, warm and firm. Her bear growled in happiness as she reached his cock, the thick, erect length beckoning her. Nuzzling him, she kissed the top and licked the bead of liquid, tasting the sweet and salty flavor of him.
She kissed his navel and then straddled him as she sat up. He caught her hips, his clawed fingers gently digging into her flesh. She reached between her legs and grasped his cock, holding it as she slowly lowered herself onto him. The thick head stretched her for a moment and she closed her eyes, loving the way he filled her completely as she settled on him. She flexed her hips, her toes curling as his cock twitched inside her, and she opened her eyes to look down at her sweet mate.
“I love you,” she said, leaning forward and planting her hands on his chest. His hands caressed her sides as he blinked passion-filled eyes at her.
“I love you, too, honey kitten.”
Perseus moved behind her and she looked over her shoulder, watching as he scooped more clear liquid from the broken leaf and covered his cock with it. His dark blue eyes simmered with heat as he stroked himself and watched her.
“Are you ready for us, sweet bear?” Perseus’s voice was husky and low, and it made everything deep in her belly clench in anticipation.
“Yes,” she sighed as Ekho moved his thumb to her clit and began to rub the sensitive bud.
Perseus pressed the head of his cock to her anus, the slick heat of him making her shiver in anticipation. Grasping her hips, he pressed forward. She groaned and closed her eyes, trying to relax. Ekho began to rub her clit faster and the pleasure that tingled through her with his swift strokes made her forget the burn as Perseus’s cock breached the tight ring of muscles and pushed in. With a deep exhale, she opened her eyes and looked over her shoulder as Perseus’s body met hers, his cock buried deeply in her tightest place.
“I love you, Perseus.” She laid one hand over top of his on her hip, and Ekho captured her other hand and stretched it over his head, lacing their fingers together. She leaned into Ekho and kissed him as he worked her clit.
“I love you, too, Daeton,” Perseus said roughly.
Her skin tingled as her stomach twisted pleasantly at the attention to her clit. Ekho grinned at her, his fangs gleaming.
Perseus pulled out of her body slowly and she gasped. Ekho tilted his hips, driving deeper into her body before pulling away as Perseus surged into her. She closed her eyes and focused on the feelings cascading through her. The slight burn eased into a sweet heat as her mates worked in tandem, one filling her as the other slid away, taking turns as they loved her. Ekho’s thumb worked her clit and she felt herself spiral toward another climax.
She screamed as her body locked down on theirs, pleasure pouring over her hot and hard. Perseus and Ekho began to thrust into her wildly as they rode her to their own pleasure. She couldn’t do anything but hold on as her own orgasm twisted and rolled inside her from one great height of pleasure to another. She could feel their cocks thicken and she closed her eyes as they both came, shouting her name. She rested her head on Ekho’s chest, listening to the sound of his racing heart as she came down from the heavens.
Perseus pulled from her body slowly and she hissed at the burn. He kissed her shoulder and left, returning a moment later with a warm, wet cloth. He cleaned her body as Ekho stroked her arms and back gently and kissed her forehead.
Perseus tossed the wet cloth into their clothes hamper and settled onto the bed next to them, resting his hand on the small of her back.
He exhaled and it slipped into a yawn. “We weren’t too rough, sweet bear?”
She looked at him and found him to be even sexier when he was thoroughly worn out from great sex. “I loved every second.”
Ekho chuckled softly and squeezed her hips. “We did, too.”
Perseus leaned over and kissed her, and then she tipped her face up to kiss Ekho. As they basked in the silence of the bedroom, she knew how lucky she was to have them in her life. She was sad to be so far away from her family, but Perseus and Ekho were her family now, too, and she knew she’d never be lonely with two husbands and the Centaurs as her extended family. She was one lucky bear.
Chapter 2
Perseus glanced over to where his wife sat in the shade underneath a large tree and stitched an intricate design onto a vest. She’d been working on it for quite a while, and he was amazed at the beauty of it. Other wives had asked her to embroider things for them when she was done, and he was glad that she had seemed to find he
r niche within the Centaur community. Everyone had a job that benefited not only their own family but also the community as a whole. Some farmed, some created clothing, some created household goods, and then there were those, like himself and his brothers and father, who built things, like the home he was building for his wife and Ekho.
Ekho was very good at woodworking, and had taken to spending most of his days lately in the large building that housed the woodworkers and their supplies. He was building a bed and other furniture for their house. Perseus was glad that Ekho was talented and that their two talents together meant that Daeton would have not only a roof over her head, but also furniture, all crafted by her mates.
“You’re making that face again,” Abrax, Perseus’s brother, said.
“What face?” Perseus lifted the hammer in his hand and struck the iron nail so it embedded deeply into the doorframe, holding the hinge for the front door in place.
“The face that’s all moony and goofy. Whenever you look at your bride you get a ridiculous look on your face.”
Perseus glanced at his brother and then shook his head with a laugh. “You wait until you find your bride, little brother. You’ll look moony, too.”
Abrax made a sound of disbelief, and then laughed. “Probably. But I’m not having any mating dreams, so it’s a moot point.”
Perseus understood the longing that he saw in his brother’s eyes. It was difficult knowing that the only way to find a Centaur’s mate was to wait for the mate-dreams. Some males went decades before they had their dreams, as had happened with Perseus. He was forty-nine, although, due to their slow aging he looked only twenty. The mate-dreams he had shared with Daeton had nearly driven him insane with longing. He’d had no idea where to even start looking for her, but knew that the dreams would eventually lead them to each other. And then one day he’d felt her presence at the market and known the moment their eyes met that she was the one he’d been dreaming about. That moment had been the most significant in his life. He’d gone from being a bachelor with responsibility only to the herd to being a husband in the brief span of a day. Then he’d almost lost her when she was poisoned by a young leoneman male named Bartholomew, but it had brought Ekho into their lives. And then he’d almost lost her again when she was betrayed by the were-bear prince Aedan, who had promised she would be safe within his walls but had instead been the bait in a trap by the white-haired wizard, Urijah, who wanted Daeton’s blood to make himself powerful. Fortunately, the wizard had been killed and Daeton was now safe. But it haunted Perseus that he’d come so close to losing her. He didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her.