by DJ Michaels
“Proctor, is it illegal for a woman to have a mating contract with two men?”
He jerked a little at the change in her tone. “No, my lady.”
“Is there any law that prohibits me from contracting with an Enforcer?” Oh, yeah. Now she was channeling every DA in every Law and Order episode she’d ever seen.
“No, my lady.”
“Is it part of the duties and responsibilities of your office to provide contracts to those wishing to form a legally binding union?”
“Yes, my lady.” She had him on the run and she could see him wilting before her eyes.
“And is it your job, Proctor, to arbitrarily and with no legal standing deny anyone permission to form a contract?”
“No, my lady.”
“Then stop being a pain in my ass, get the contracts ready and let’s make this legal.”
“But, my lady…” He was sweating now and not from fear of her or the Enforcers. It finally dawned on her that he might have bigger worries, in the shape of the Sapphire Council.
She backed down a little, verbally at least. “You have no legal grounds to object, it’s beyond your authority to refuse us. I can only assume your reticence stems from something else.”
Jax came to stand beside her. “Like the Council, perhaps?”
The little man wobbled a bit when his knees sagged. “Den Commander, please. When they find out I lodged the contracts I’ll be finished. I have a family to feed, I can’t—”
“We’ll take care of you and your family if it comes to that,” Jax said. “Chelsea wants to be with Ari and Tarkan and no councilor has the right to take that from her.”
By now the proctor looked like he’d gone through the wringer but he seemed to sense he was fighting the inevitable. Maybe he’d been fighting them for forms sake, maybe he actually thought this was a very bad idea. Either way, the steel seemed to slip from his spine as he nodded to Jax. “Very well, if you swear to take care of my family should the need arise, I will personally process the contract and ensure it is lodged legally and quickly.”
Chelsea felt sorry for the poor man now, which was weird considering not five minutes ago she’d been ready to kick his ass. Now that his decision was made, everything in him seemed to calm. With a quiet dignity he led her to the table and motioned Ari and Tarkan to join them. The other Enforcers crowded closer, milling around the sides of the table.
“This is a standard short-term mating contract,” the proctor began. “The three of you agree to bind yourselves together as a family unit for five years. If a child is born of this triad, all three parents will hold equal rights until the contract terminates, after which the rights will revert to the fathers unless a new contract is negotiated. All parties are to abide by Gemarran law as it pertains to contracted mates. Any abuse of any kind will be grounds for breach of contract.”
He took a breath and looked each one of them in the eye. In that moment Chelsea felt the full weight of his authority and she suddenly realized Ari hadn’t just scooped up some lackey. This guy was important and his testimony would have a great deal of weight if they ended up having a fight on their hands.
“Do you all agree to the terms of this contract?”
“We do.”
The proctor turned and picked up a pen, offering it to Chelsea. He leaned over the table and pointed to a blank space, directing her to “sign here” page after page after page. When she was done she stood by and watched Tarkan and Ari repeat the procedure. Then her men—because they were hers now—came and stood on either side of her. Wrapping their arms around her waist they stood with her as their witnesses sign the raft of documents.
When it was done the Enforcers indulged in a gleeful round of backslapping as the poor proctor shuffled his papers together and stuffed them into his bag. And Chelsea just stood there, feeling like she was watching it all from a distance. She was contracted now, married for all intents and purposes, but she felt kind of cheated. Her ceremony had been the most lackluster, unromantic, pedestrian wedding in the known universe.
Her eyes burned hot, her throat squeezed and a wave of pity snuck up on her and bashed her over the head. Turning her back to the men she squeezed her eyes shut and prayed for the sting to go away. Then she felt a big, warm body move in front of her and strong arms gathered her close. She knew it was Tarkan without even looking.
“What’s wrong, love?”
“This is my wedding.” She sniffed into his chest. “I only ever intend to have one and it was boring and shitful.”
“Ah.”
She knew he didn’t have a clue but she wasn’t in any shape to enlighten him right now. When Ari came over and pressed himself to her back, she could feel them silently communicating between themselves. She wished them luck working this out.
Ari leaned down and nuzzled into her neck. “Don’t cry, pretty girl. Just tell us what you need and we’ll get it done.”
And just like that her pity party broke up. Because she knew he meant it, just like she knew Tarkan would move heaven and earth if she asked it of him. Ari had already kidnapped a city official for her. How hard could a party be?
She slid her arms out from where they were pinned against Tarkan’s body. One arm went to the front to snake around his waist, while the other went behind to hold Ari tight to her back.
“You’re about to get your first lesson in husbandly duties. This one is called, ‘How To Give Your Wife A Wedding To Remember’.”
Chapter Sixteen
Chelsea had to admire the organizational skills of the Enforcers. Jax asked his dragon to arrange transport to take the proctor back to town, Dev asked his dragon to get some food sent up—all without saying a word out loud—and within fifteen minutes the proctor was gone and her wedding party was sitting around the dinner table enjoying a delicious dinner.
The Enforcers were polite and they made every effort to include Chelsea but she was relieved when they left. It had been a hell of day and she felt totally scrambled. She didn’t mind Ari and Tarkan seeing her not at her best but she didn’t know the others well enough to let her guard down.
Her men left her to sit in her dining chair. Tarkan disappeared but Ari cleared the table, happy to work around her in companionable quiet. When he was done Ari came over to her, scooped her into his arms and carried her from the room as if she weighed nothing at all.
He took her into a different bedroom than the one they used earlier. As he lowered her to her feet she felt herself tearing up again but this time in a good way. Every available surface in the room was decorated with candles and flowers—and not the dainty, out of the garden kind of flowers. Entire boughs were scattered about the room, the leaves and flowers on the branches wild and beautiful.
Tarkan waved a vague hand around the room. “Is this what you meant when you asked for flowers?”
“No.” She smiled as she looked around the room. “I meant something normal and conventional.” She spun around, her arms open wide. “But this is beyond any gorgeousness I could ever have imagined.”
“So you like it?” Ari asked.
“Yes, I love it. And you’ll have to thank Benmonth and Annlyss for me.”
He threaded his fingers through hers. “How did you know?”
“These floral offerings are totally dragon-sized. In fact I think there might be several entire trees scattered about the room.”
Tarkan moved in close to her other side, crowding her. “Hey, I did all the arranging and all the candle lighting, don’t I get any credit?”
She squeezed Ari’s hand and leaned into Tarkan. “Yes, you do. You both do.”
“Can we go to bed now?” Tarkan’s voice held a hint of whiny-boy and she allowed her laugh to bubble free.
“Aren’t you tired from this afternoon?” she teased.
“No, I’m invigorated.”
Bloody hell, if her boys got any more energetic she wouldn’t last five days, let alone five years. But what a way to go. She put that thought on m
omentary hold and got down to her last bit of business before the fun started.
“I want to lay out some ground rules.” And with that short announcement all the softness went out of Ari’s body. He didn’t step away but he dropped her hand and she felt every muscle in his body snap to attention. And it was getting old.
She rounded on him. “You have to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” Now he wouldn’t even look at her.
“Bracing yourself for me to announce my departure every time I open my mouth. I’m not going anywhere and you’re going to give yourself an aneurysm for no reason.”
Ari flicked his eyes to Tarkan but she didn’t want to drag him into this. “Don’t look at him, look at me. I’m the one you’re pissing off.”
Ari’s gaze swung back to her but it was cold and withdrawn. “Regrets already, pretty girl?”
“No. No regrets, just frustration.”
Chelsea understood that they didn’t know each other very well yet and it was quite mad to be married to two men she hardly knew, but it felt right to her on that deep, gut level that never steered her wrong. She’d taken a risk coming to Ari and Tarkan and she was going to have to take a bigger, different kind of risk to have the relationship she wanted.
She closed the distance between her and Ari. “Do you know what the key to keeping me is?” she asked. He shook his head, so she took that as her cue to continue. “It’s trust. We trust each other to care, to protect, to have each other’s backs. I trust you and Tarkan to be my soft place to fall, to treat the feelings I have for you as a gift and to never take me for granted.” Placing her hand on his chest, she tucked herself in close. “That trust has to have an anchor point. You have to let me in for the affection and respect I have for to grow into something more. You think you’re protecting yourself by shutting me out but what you’re really doing is making sure I can’t love you even though I want to.”
She wrapped her arms around him—or as much of him as she could reach—and went for broke. “Be my anchor, Ari. Be my haven. Let me be safe in the knowledge that you and Tarkan are the two people in this world I can trust no matter what.”
Ari’s arms moved and for one horrible moment she though he was going to push her away but instead he grasped her hips. “What about what I want? What about what I need from you?”
She lifted her head and looked into those extraordinary purple eyes. “You only have to ask.”
“I want a Life-term Contract.” The words burst out of him and the look of shock on his face made Chelsea think that wasn’t what he meant to ask for at all. She was ready for it though. She’d considered what Tarkan had told her about Ari and she’d thought about ways she could alleviate his fears. And those thoughts and ideas had become set in stone the minute the proctor announced she’d forgo any rights to her child if she left. To hell with that. She wasn’t leaving her husbands and she would never, ever leave her children.
Sliding her arms around Ari’s waist she pressed her body close. “I think a life-term contract is a great idea. In fact, if you’d bothered to discuss it with me before you kidnapped the proctor I would have suggested that very thing.” Which was not entirely true but it didn’t hurt to let him squirm a bit. “We can go into town tomorrow and amend the documents before they are officially registered. How does that sound?”
Ari just stared at her, not saying a word as his hands convulsively flexed on her hips. Tarkan came up behind her, pressing his warm strength against her back as he slid his hands up Ari’s arms to grip his biceps. “I think it sounds perfect.”
Ari nodded, lifting a hand to cup Chelsea’s face. She felt him tremble and she hoped it was from the relief of her assurances not the fear she would leave.
“You would commit yourself to us for life?” he asked. “You will stay with us, no matter what?”
The too-afraid-to-hope expression on his face almost broke her heart. “I will stay with you, when things are good and when things are bad. I’ll stay with you when you make me happy and when you piss me off so bad I’ll want to castrate you. I’m here for the duration, honey, good and bad, thick and thin, up and down.”
The hand on her cheek slid around to cup the back of her head. Ari fisted her hair, tilted her head back and covered her mouth with his, pushing his tongue past the seam of her lips. Tarkan pressed hard against her back, running his hands over her and Ari while she sank into the kiss of a lifetime.
She could feel everything in the thrust of his tongue, every slide and lick was a promise, every nip a demand. Ari put his entire soul into that kiss and she could do nothing but open her heart and catch him.
In many ways Tarkan had been hers before he even touched her but Ari had made her wait, made her fight, and because of that his capitulation was humbling and utterly glorious.
He sucked and licked his way to his ear. “My turn to undress you, pretty girl.”
She reached up to stroke his long, silky hair. “Whenever you’re ready, my love.”
Tarkan’s heart nearly broke at the look in Ari’s eyes. All of a sudden he was that thirteen-year-old boy again, trying to come to terms with the fact that between one breath and the next his whole world had changed. But this time it changed for the better and Tarkan knew the exactly moment Ari finally realized Chelsea would stay. That they would be a family.
He watched as Ari stripped Chelsea, savoring every handspan of skin he exposed, kissing her as if she’d break, biting her hard enough to leave a mark. Tarkan shucked his clothes in record time and then moved behind Ari to undress him while he concentrated on Chelsea. When they were all naked Tarkan leaned in, sandwiching his den-mate between them as he kissed their woman. She was sweet and open and he wanted nothing more than to drown in her.
But when he felt a firm, masculine hand wrap around his cock he jerked back in surprise. He looked at Ari who quirked a brow in query. “No?”
Was he kidding? “Yes. Of course yes.” Tarkan turned a little, placing his hand over Ari’s and giving it a squeeze. “You just surprised me, that’s all.” Understatement of the millennia. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine Ari would ever try to seduce him. And yes, he was aroused enough that a firm grip on his cock constituted a seduction.
Ari gave him several long, firm strokes. “Is that all right? Does it feel good?”
Tarkan’s breath wheezed. “Yes.”
Then Ari turned to Chelsea. “What about you, pretty girl? Do you mind if Tarkan and I play together too?”
Eyes wide, her breath came out in little puffs. Her nipples were tight and her entire body broke out into flesh-bumps. She looked at Ari’s hand wrapped around Tarkan’s weeping cock and the air became so charged all the hair on his head prickled.
“I think you two look beautiful together,” she said. “And it makes perfect sense to me that we all get to touch each other, in whatever combination we choose.”
Ari let go of his cock and Tarkan almost sagged in relief, he was so close to blowing a couple of more strokes would have finished him off. Then Ari turned, pressed his huge, hot, hard body against Tarkan and took his mouth.
The desire and need that clawed through Tarkan’s insides was like nothing he’d ever experienced. The feel of muscle to muscle, being held hard and tight by a body of equal size and strength to his own was an experience beyond his imagination. Hip to hip, cock to cock, chest to chest, mouth to mouth.
Fisting Ari’s hair, Tarkan kissed him back with a raw ferocity he’d never show a woman and Ari met him stroke for stroke. The kiss was endless, fleeting, loving and carnal. Surrounded by Ari’s heat, his scent, his body, Tarkan had no idea how long they’d been locked together before they finally pulled their mouths apart.
Ari stared at him in wonder. “Fuck.”
Tarkan was dizzy enough to understand everything encapsulated in that one expletive. “Yep.”
“That wasn’t at all what I expected.”
“Me either.”
Chelsea came a little closer
, hovering just on the edge of their embrace. “What did you expect?”
Keeping Tarkan pulled tight against his body, Ari turned to look at her. “I don’t know. I thought it might be pleasant or comforting or something. I didn’t expect it to be so wild. I didn’t expect to have to fight the urge to throw him on the floor and fuck him.”
Tarkan’s gut clenched and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. And not from fear. “Maybe we can save that for another day.”
Ari turned to him and grinned. “Really? Because the thought of fucking you while you fuck Chelsea and all three of us coming together makes me hotter than dragon fire.”
Tarkan’s eyes popped as he turned to Chelsea. “What have you done to him?”
She laughed. “Not me, us. You and I, my darling, have created a monster.”
“Well this monster is hungry,” Ari said. “Get up on the bed. Both of you.”
Chapter Seventeen
Tarkan climbed up on the bed with Chelsea and took her in his arms, kissing her, stroking her hair, trying to show her whatever happened between him and Ari would in no way diminish what they felt for her. He whispered against her skin, telling her how beautiful she was, how happy he and Ari were to have her as their mate. How desperate he was to get inside her.
She rubbed against him, pressing her nipples and core against the hard lines of his body. Soft and sweet she might be but when need rode her hard she had no problem making demands. And he loved that about her.
He felt Ari’s hand at his hip, pulling them apart and rolling Chelsea onto her back. Tarkan slid his arm behind her head and used his free hand to pluck and twist her hard, pink nipples. Then he watched as Ari spread her wide and fastened his mouth on her core. Chelsea moaned and writhed, reaching down to clutch at Ari’s shoulders, begging him to keep going. He worked hard and long before he finally let her come. They were hot, sweaty and panting, and Tarkan held Chelsea tight as she convulsed under Ari’s tongue. She surrendered utterly to her orgasm, free and beautiful in her moment of absolute abandon, trusting him and Ari to give her what she needed and to keep her safe.