by Davis, Lia;
That’s when Nick realized Simon’s desperation to claim her. He and Dex had had one another for so long, and while he’d known Simon was lonely, he hadn’t realized how lonesome until now.
Chapter Thirteen
Celia
Celia sat naked in the chair at the table. They wanted her to eat, and she just wanted to come once more. This mating heat was serious magic, crazy stuff. And it didn’t let up just because she’d been given four orgasms. The fourth one forced onto a clit so sensitive she’d almost cried from the brutal swipes of Simon’s tongue… but when she came it’d been just as glorious as the previous three.
She stared at the trio as they ate. Their appetites weren’t lacking. Too bad they wouldn’t let her fill up on them… again. Yeah, she was a glutton for more of them. Having each of them on her tongue, coming down her throat, had been the sexiest experience of her life. Made her feel owned in a way she liked, but wouldn’t have appreciated before today.
“Don’t be a grumpy bear-toy.” From beside her Simon winked at her, and she fought to hide her grin. “I can smell your arousal, love. The base of my Simon dick suctions to the seat, and you can ride it while we watch if you want.”
“No, thanks. The next Simon dick I ride will be the real thing.” At his gulp, she returned his wink with one of her own, satisfied when her remark resulted in a glowing cerulean ring encircling his pale-blue irises.
Nick chuckled.
Dex blew her a kiss and said, “Give him hell, sweetheart.”
“Don’t tease my bear, love.” Simon’s fingers twitched on his fork, and he shifted in his chair.
She knew these men wouldn’t hurt her. There was some weird link between them, and she could sense their emotions. Simon wanted her with a recklessness he strained to regulate. Nick held his lust in check, while Dex wanted to play with her. Knowing this disturbed and calmed her, but through their passions she could also discern how much they cherished her. That meant more than their lust.
Dex moved to a chair on her other side and slid a hand between her slick thighs. Gasping at the sudden shock of longing, she grabbed his wrist, holding his hand in place. He nuzzled just below her ear and whispered, “Eat, sweetheart, and I’ll make you forget the last climax Simon gave you.”
“Fucker.” Simon growled in protest as Dex’s fingers navigated across her delicate lips.
Feeling bold, she spread her thighs, hooking her feet around the chair’s legs. “Make me come first, and then I’ll eat.”
“Nope.” He gave her clit a firm stroke, and she dropped her head back at the surprising heat that spread through her limbs.
“Shit,” she moaned as Dex circled her clitoris. “Y’all are like cotton-candy, can’t get enough.”
“Stop, Dex.” At Nick’s command, her black-haired lumberjack withdrew his touch.
Frustrated by his departure, she was a little placated when she caught the reluctance in Dex’s gaze. Celia jumped to her feet, slamming her hands on the table and leaning over it to glare at Nick.
“Sit down, Celia, and answer my questions or I’ll make good on my previous promise.”
She recalled his last vow. Tying her to a chair and getting her close to coming, only to stop before she came. He’d promised to do it for hours.
No way could she endure that form of torture. And while she could feel how much she meant to them, she also knew Nick had every intention of upholding his promise if pushed.
Celia sat down and crossed her arms over her chest. She shot daggers at him.
Nick returned her frown with amusement shining from his eyes. “I don’t deny you as a form of torment, minx. I want you to make a clearheaded decision about staying with us. We shouldn’t have touched you. That was an error on my part.”
“Nick—”
He held up his hand, cutting her off. “If we’re your cotton-candy, we can’t trust you’ll remain with us because you like us. Sex carries a relationship only so far.”
Nodding, she reminded herself she’d already made this determination herself. Breaking down walls and getting to know one another, that was crucial to this mating business. She could abstain for a week. “You’re right. I’ll behave.”
The glint in Simon’s eyes hinted he wanted to say something sarcastic, but instead he nodded at her arm sleeve. “Whoever did your tat did nice work.”
“Thanks.”
“I own Blackclaw Ink.”
“He’s world renowned,” Dex added. “He’ll get all uppity on you if you’re not careful.”
“You don’t want to argue art with him,” Nick said dryly.
Celia elevated her eyebrows, impressed by his prestige and amused by Dex and Nick’s advice.
“I’m not that bad.” Simon shot Dex and Nick the bird.
“You’re a tattoo-diva.” Not to be outdone, Dex presented Simon with the middle finger too.
“Ignore these jerks. Maybe you’ll let me ink you sometime, but if not...” The ink master finished his sentence with an offhand shrug, as if it mattered little to him if she accepted his offer, but she could tell he fretted she’d reject his proposal.
“I’d love that.” She clasped Simon’s hand and gave a little squeeze, honored he’d want to put ink beneath her skin. “I already have a design in mind.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her inner wrist, nodding at her arm covered from shoulder to wrist with a tattoo. “Why the Alice in Wonderland sleeve?”
“Some of the shit I saw was so out of the norm I felt like I’d fallen down the rabbit hole more often than not.” She’d attended church one morning with a friend, and over lunch that same day watched her father blow another man’s brains out. “And my dad forbid me getting it, so I couldn’t resist disappointing him.”
“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, love. I swear you’ll never deal with Daniel’s bullshit again. Not as long as we live.”
Celia looked between the three of them. She didn’t know why, but she believed them even though she had no reason to put her faith in them. Just because she’d given her body to them meant nothing. She’d had more than one nightstand, so her sexual behavior had nothing to do with her level of trust.
Nick set his glass on the table and his napkin beside the tea. “Can you tell we’ve already bonded?”
She frowned, trying to figure out what exactly he meant by his question.
“You can feel us and our emotions, right, love?” Simon caressed her arm. Of them all, she could feel his need for touch. He didn’t quite trust she wasn’t a dream or that she’d accept them. That uncertainty had to account for his hesitancy with his tattoo offer. Simon would have to be shown through her actions that she wanted to be with them. Words wouldn’t be enough.
“Yeah.” She slid out of her chair and onto Simon’s lap. He welcomed her, wrapping his arms around her and petting her. “Can you feel me too?”
“Yes,” Nick answered for them. “So you know we’re all barely caging our bears?”
Before responding to that, she paused to measure what she felt from them. “Yes. Your bears want to rush the mating. Claim me now, force me to submit to the twin flame mark.”
Dex moved to her chair next to her and Simon and laced their fingers together. “We want you to be sure before you mate with us since the connection is for life.”
Celia nodded. “I understand.”
“Eat. I’m fond of your figure the way it is,” Nick’s tone came at her softer this time. “And you burned a lot of calories earlier.”
Celia shot him a sardonic grin. “My full figure makes me sturdier for three bears to fuck me.” She’d never had a problem with her chunkiness, so why’d she criticize it now?
“You’re breakable. I know it. You know it.” Nick kept his gaze locked on her as Dex insisted on feeding her. Giving in, she opened her mouth so her lumberjack could fork eggs into her mouth. He murmured his appreciation as Simon slid a palm up and down her spine. As she chewed, Nick went on. “Tell me how you got into this mess with yo
ur father.”
Where’d she begin? She elected to go with the beginning. “After Momma died, Daddy didn’t have much to do with me. I craved any emotion I could get from him. Even his anger was better than nothing. He sent me to boarding school, and I gave him the big ole fuck you by sneaking out at night and fucking boys at the juvenile detention center down the road, making sure I always got caught. I even made out with a bunch of girls at my school. When none of that bothered him, I stole a girl’s car and crashed it into a tree. He paid off her parents, so I moved on to shoplifting and larceny. Instead of being angry, he was proud and called me a chip off the old block.”
“You’re not like him, Celia.”
She met Nick’s gaze and nodded, but they didn’t know her. Didn’t know the totality of her bad behavior. “I hated his pride more than his disinterest, so I focused on my grades and graduated third in my class. After graduation, I moved to Miami, and that’s where I’ve been living, working as a bartender—I make a mean FlirtyDirty. It’s a signature drink I created for where I work… worked.”
“Make it for me sometime?”
Celia nodded at Simon. “Anytime you want it, but it’s got cherry moonshine in it, and it’ll knock you on your ass fast.” She shook her head when Dex presented the fork at her mouth. “I’m full.”
Dex gave her a quick kiss. Warmed by the affection, she smiled at him.
Simon kept them on the moonshine topic. “I’ll pour the FlirtyDirty over your pussy and lick it off.” Having been the recipient of his oral skills just a few minutes ago, she shivered at the offer. “Bears don’t get drunk off liquor, but I’m pretty sure I could get drunk off your cunt.”
“Smooth talker,” she teased, giving him an Eskimo kiss, and through their growing bond she could feel his contentment.
“Go on with your story, Celia,” Nick prodded.
“I was happy in Miami, been there the past eight years without a single word with my dad. It was really nice. Then a little over a week ago, his men showed up at my door and roofied me when I refused to return home.”
“Motherfucker.” Dex slammed his fist on the table, and she flinched in surprise.
“I’ll fucking kill him,” Simon said.
Nick’s frown grew darker.
Celia talked faster. “I woke up as we were landing on Opp’s runway. Daddy’s bodyguard, Rico—”
“We know who the bastard is.” The ice in Nick’s voice left her wondering what exactly he knew about Rico.
“Go on, sweetheart,” Dex patted her knee. “We’ll try to stop interrupting you.”
“When I got to Daddy’s, he gifted me to Carl Stewart.” Three snuffling-growling noises surfaced, and she talked over their obvious displeasure. “Daddy told Carl he didn’t care what he did with me, but he had to marry me and that I was a gift—or rather a promise to his commitment to their joint business ventures.” They remained silent, but Celia could feel the tenseness in Simon’s legs and his arm around her waist. “I objected, put up a verbal fight, but Rico put a halt to my lame-ass attempt at kneeing him in the groin.”
“Did he hurt you?”
She blinked at Dex’s question. “Not this time, not really.”
“He has in the past?”
Ignoring Simon’s question for fear he’d lose his temper, she said, “I played along, pretending I would consent to being Carl’s plaything, anything to buy me some time to get away. See, I’m not always a minx, Nick. Sometimes I can keep my mouth.”
“I know, Celia, but I’m fond of your sassy mouth.” At Nick’s words, insecurity hit her in the face, reminding her they didn’t know her well enough to like her lippy attitude. All they knew was she gave great blowjobs. Thankfully she wasn’t required to speak, and Nick kept talking. “You wanted to be loved by your parent. Every child deserves that and shouldn’t have to ask for it or act out to get it. A parent should always protect their child, not give them to psychopath’s to do God knows what with.”
Celia nodded, and swallowed at the burn in her sinuses. She agreed with him, but he’d been the first to confirm that should be a parent’s role. Her mother had loved her, but her dad had never shown her a stitch of the emotion. “I waited, suffered through a couple of training lessons with Carl and—”
“What type of training lessons?”
She couldn’t meet Dex’s eyes and focused on his chin. “Does it really matter?”
“Yes,” Nick said, his tone hard as steel. “Tell us.”
Licking her lips, she wiggled on Simon’s lap, but made no effort to leave his embrace. She knew he wouldn’t let her go anyway. “The correct way to act in his presence. Always on my knees at his feet, never looking him directly in the eyes, submitting to him in everything, and I was to always call him master.” She’d spent so much time on her knees it was a miracle she didn’t have calluses.
“What else?” Nick couldn’t possibly know there was more.
She called his bluff with a lie. “Nothing.”
“I scent lies, remember?” Simon’s eyes glowed with his inner beast. “My bear loathes lies.”
Shit. She’d forgotten about that. “Sorry.”
Nick added, “I can’t scent them the way Simon does, but that mark lets me know you’re not telling me everything. Spill it, Celia.”
“I should be allowed some secrets.”
Dex went to his feet, his grip on the back of the chair cracking the wood. “What’d he do?”
She grabbed his hands, hoping to settle him a little. “Nothing worth all that.” Celia sighed. “I gave him a hand job”—or two—“but I didn’t hang around for the blowjob tutorial.”
“Nick, Carl’s a dead man.” Simon’s mild tone scared the shit out of her, because she knew what Carl was capable of and she feared for Simon’s life.
Nick surprised her when he said, “We’ll discuss the possibility.”
She gaped at Nick, surprised by his complacency at killing a man. “You’re going to let Simon put himself in danger and try to kill Carl?”
“Minx, Simon can take both Dex and me in hand-to-hand combat. At the same time.” Nick’s disgruntlement came across loud and clear, and she wondered how that didn’t affect his alpha status. Must mean Simon was happy with Nick being alpha. “Without breaking a sweat. It’s a little embarrassing. No human can compete against his strength, much less his skill.”
“But he’s smaller than both of you.”
“My cock’s bigger than theirs.” She rolled her eyes at Simon because the ridiculous comment wasn’t just inappropriate at this moment in the conversation, but because it wasn’t the truth either.
Dex punched Simon on the shoulder. “In the bear world size doesn’t mean jack shit. Simon’s punches feel like concrete slamming into you doing Mach four. And when poked, he’s a feral motherfucker. I’m glad he’s not my enemy.”
“We spar in the gym once a week, but we only let Simon loose on us once a month. We can’t take that brutal shit.” Nick rubbed his jaw like he felt phantom blows from Simon.
Celia looked at the ink master, and he grinned. “I am killing Carl. I don’t give a fuck if Nick agrees or not. He forced you to commit a sexual act, and that marked him for death.”
“Carl’s a psychopath, but I’m not built like him. Every life matters, Simon.”
“Not his.”
When she would’ve argued further, Nick said, “We’ll discuss this later.” The challenge in Simon’s eyes said he’d made up his mind and there wasn’t anything to be discussed. Nick ignored the obvious dispute to his alpha rank. “Finish your story. I want to hear about how the Feds got involved.”
“I stole Daddy’s accounting books and gave them to the Fed that’d been hounding me for the last couple of years to turn evidence against him. They busted in the house, rescued me, and arrested him. A day later, all the books went missing, and the Feds cut me loose. No one would tell me much, so I figured he had a man on the inside since Daddy’s men came for me at the safe house. They bro
ught me back to Daddy’s, and he and Carl both promised me a beating for the betrayal.” A low rumble came from Simon’s chest, but she kept talking. Now that she was at the end, she wanted to get it out and move on. “Before they could make good on that promise, I tied a bunch of sheets together and snuck out my bedroom window and ran for it. I didn’t think it’d really work, and even though I had to drop the last ten feet, I was surprised it worked at all. Kinda cool that something from TV actually worked, huh?” Okay, she was rambling and judging by their stares, none of them were as impressed as she was. She cleared her throat. “Daddy’s goons chased me, and I got away by the skin of my teeth. When I trespassed onto your land, I figured y’all were the lesser of two evils, and I was dead either way.”
“They’re all dead.” Simon stroked his fingers through her hair and through Celia’s connection with him she recognized it as a gesture to soothe him and not her. “The entire fucking lot is dead.”
“You can’t kill them all, Simon.” Their alpha’s tone came across as placating, and maybe Nick was used to talking Simon down.
“Who says?” Why had she dubbed Simon her fuzzy-wuzzy teddy bear? In this moment he frightened her a little. But when he kissed her shoulder, his beard tickling her, she remembered. He was a touchy-feely bear, sweet with her, but his knee-jerk reaction was obviously to kill anything that pissed him off.
“I do.” Nick rubbed his forehead. “Can’t kill them all without drawing attention.”
That was Nick’s sole reason?
“You know I can make them all disappear one-by-one until they’re all gone and no one will ever pin it on us.” He talked like a serial killer or an assassin, not a prominent tattoo artist. Yeah, she’d gone down the rabbit hole again.
“I’m with Nick on this one.” At Simon’s black look, Dex elevated his hands in surrender. “Then again, they’ll be too scared to pin it on us after Simon knocks off Goldilocks’ crew.”
“What happens when I piss you off? Will you want to kill me too?” Had she jumped from one frying pan into another? She really didn’t know their temperament or how they conducted business.