Claiming Carina

by Khloe Wren

  Hart couldn't help his response. He purred and nuzzled into her hands.

  She smiled wide, and he preened as he saw the twinkle in her eye. He'd made her happy. She moved a hand lower on his snout, near his mouth, and he couldn't resist the chance for a taste. He pushed his tongue out and swiped at her palm. Her eyes flew wide with shock. "Your tongue. It vibrates?"

  He pressed his tongue into her palm again as he started purring louder, increasing the vibrations.

  ****

  Carina burst out laughing as her hand and arm began to vibrate from Hart's tongue. The three dragons had her feeling so relaxed and calm. Movement caught her eye, and she watched as Denver moved over to the blanket. He lay down, curling his body around the edge of the rug. He then looked up at her expectantly. Damn. These animals might not be able to speak, but they had no trouble communicating with their eyes and body language. As if he drew her in on strings, she pulled away from Hart and moved over to Denver. She stroked her palm down the side of his big beautiful scaly face and felt the same jolt of awareness flow through her body as she had when she'd first touched Hart. She slowly sank to her knees and turned. Carefully, she leaned against his side, near his front leg. As she settled against his warm scales she watched as Phelan and Hart slowly crept toward her. They both lay down with their heads on the blanket near her. She raised her hands to stroke both their snouts. She felt the now familiar sparks fly up her arm as she touched Phelan for the first time. She noticed his eyes briefly close, like he was feeling the same thing as she was.

  "You three are so gorgeous. Just being near you makes me feel relaxed and calm. I—I haven't been able to relax in over ten months. To take a deep breath without feeling pain inside."

  She felt a tear leave her eye, and all three dragons pressed their heads against her. Denver partly covered her with his wing, embracing her shoulder and upper body as Phelan and Hart nuzzled their noses against her legs. She felt so safe, surrounded by these three gentle giants. Her mouth started to move, words pouring out without her consent. She spilled the entire story of that horrible day, more details than she'd even told her friends. She wanted to stop. She didn't want these men to know her weakness, her shame. But she had no control. Her system needed to purge the event so she could move on and heal.

  "They wouldn't stop. I begged. Pleaded for them to stop hurting me but they didn't care. They told me to shut up and take it because I'd asked for it. It was my fault, for walking past, leading them on. I was just walking home from university. I didn't even notice them until it was too late."

  She turned into Denver and cried against his leathery chest. She felt him cocoon her with his wing as the weight of the others' heads nuzzled into her legs again. She couldn't stop the tears. They came from a never ending spring inside her. She'd been battling to survive ever since the attack. She felt one dragon's weight leave her before a bright light flashed, Denver lifted his wing, and suddenly she was being held in Hart's gentle embrace. She stiffened for a moment as she waited for the fear and repulsion to sink in, but it never did. She inhaled his fresh masculine scent and looked up into his gentle green eyes.

  He ran his knuckles gently down her cheek. "It's going to be all right, Carina. Lean on us. We can help you heal."

  As she looked deep into his eyes, she felt so lost. Her tears kept coming, dripping off her chin.

  "They hurt me. So much pain. I begged them to kill me."

  She buried her face against his shoulder and shook with the ferocity of her sobbing. She didn't want to see his pity or his anger at her words.

  "Shhh, baby doll. No more pain, it's all over now. And we'll protect you and make sure you never get hurt like that ever again."

  With her face pressed against Hart's skin she didn't see the flash, but a second set of hands began massaging her shoulders and soothing her. She raised her head when she felt it darken to see Denver had lowered his head to her and wrapped his wing over all of them, embracing them all.

  "But I don't think I can heal. I'm too broken. You are all virile men, and you need a woman who can—” She blew out a breath. "A woman who can do things. Things I can't anymore."

  Phelan gently laid a kiss on her shoulder. She flinched away on reflex and wept harder as she felt the loss of his touch and realized she truly was damaged beyond repair.

  ****

  Phelan pulled back from Carina when she flinched away from his kiss. He closed his eyes tight as pain assailed him. His poor Desired. She'd been so hurt. Her injuries ran deep, all the way to her heart and soul. Her words about having begged her attackers to kill her sliced his heart into pieces. He wanted to go hunt down the bastards responsible. To hurt a female was unthinkable, but to hurt her like they had, it was one of the most horrendous crimes possible.

  Phelan, she didn't mean to reject you. I think she's upset now because she flinched. You didn't see her face like I did. The flinch was reflex. As soon as you withdrew from her she looked in pain and started crying hard again.

  Phelan nodded at Hart's statement. He had hoped it was just reflex, not true rejection. Phelan gently laid his hands back on her shoulders where he continued to massage her. He felt the tension flow from her body, and slowly her sobs lessened as her body slackened. He brushed the hair back from her face to see she'd passed out with exhaustion from her crying. Hart cuddled her in closer to him and kissed the top of her head before he rested his cheek on her hair.

  "How about we take her back to our room and tuck her into bed? Poor female is exhausted."

  "Yeah, sounds good, Phelan. Let’s get moving."

  Phelan watched as Hart easily stood with Carina curled in his arms. Carina nuzzled her head into Hart's chest as the movement jostled her, then settled back down to sleep as they all walked back to the castle.

  ****

  Denver opened the door and let Hart pass with Carina. Phelan strode into the room right behind them.

  "How do we do this? I don't want to leave her here alone. What if she has a nightmare?"

  "I'm not sure, Denver. I'm pretty sure waking up to three men in her bed is going to freak her out." Phelan spoke while rubbing his chin.

  "Well, how about two of us stay as dragons? We'll sleep on the floor. The remaining one of us stays human and sleeps in the bed with her. How does that sound?"

  Hart was ever the logical one. Denver grinned at his brothers as they both raised an eyebrow in his direction.

  "I'm eldest and am pulling rank. I'm in that bed with our Desired tonight."

  Denver chuckled at his brothers' whining and moaning, but they didn't challenge him. As eldest brother he had final say, and he didn't often pull rank, but to be the first one of them to spend an entire night sleeping beside their Desired was most definitely worth it. Even if they didn't end up having sex.

  He moved closer to the bed and turned the sheets down before Hart settled Carina on the sheets. All three of them began removing her outer clothing, leaving her in her undergarments. Denver wasn't sure how Carina would cope with never being able to wear these under-things again. Their women hadn’t had such things. He guessed if she wanted, or the others wanted, they could arrange to have them made. He hoped she'd like not wearing any. Denver pulled away and headed to the walk-in closet, adjusting his erection in his pants as he walked. He returned with a loose fitting shirt. He slipped it over her head with his brothers' help, and they got her settled into the bed. They all pulled back when she was comfortably sleeping against the plush pillows.

  "Glad we decided to keep that wardrobe filled and this room cleaned all these years."

  "It was fun to see who would win the arm wrestle each week to see who would have to clean it," Phelan said before chuckling.

  Denver chuckled, too. All three of them hated any domestic chores. The cleaning crews that came through and cleaned the entire castle refused to do the master bedrooms. With no females they didn't see the point. So the three brothers had started having weekly arm wrestling matches to see who would clean it.


  "Well, guess we'll all settle in. May I suggest you two flash out in the hallway so she doesn't wake up?"

  "Good idea, Denver."

  He watched as they left the room before he turned his attention back to the bed and the most beautiful female he'd ever seen. His heart clenched at how vulnerable she looked lying there in the cream colored shirt lying in their big bed. He closed his eyes as pain assaulted him at what had been done to her. His poor Desired. He took a deep breath, stripped out of his pants, and slid under the covers. He heard his brothers reenter the room, and out the corner of his eye he saw them both settle around the base of the bed, instinctively lying between their Desired and the door to protect her should the need arise. He reached out toward Carina and stroked her cheek with his knuckles. Her skin was so soft and the most gorgeous caramel color. She smiled and nuzzled into the pillow, so he withdrew his hand and just watched her sleep as he didn't want to wake her.

  A few hours later, Denver woke to the most divine sensation of Carina's lush bottom wriggling against him. At some point, probably while still asleep, she'd moved over to snuggle in against him. His arm was wrapped around her tummy as he spooned up behind her. He lowered his nose into her hair to inhale her sweet scent. He flicked his gaze around the room and saw Hart watching Carina's face with intense eyes.

  Is she still sleeping, Hart?

  Yep, I'm pretty sure she's dreaming about us—well, with the look on her face, I hope it's us she's dreaming about.

  Denver chuckled back at his brother. Maybe she's just dreaming of me?

  He gave Hart a wink as Hart curled his lip up at him and spoke in his mind. Let’s find out, shall we?

  Hart put his snout onto the bed and began purring, which meant he had plans for Carina that involved his now vibrating tongue. Denver pushed the bed covers off them both, revealing her beauty to all of them. He looked down her lush body. The shirt she wore had ridden up over the smooth caramel skin of her slightly rounded tummy. A small scrap of white material covered the juncture between her thighs, and her long lean legs moved against his as she continued to dream her dream. Denver followed Hart's movements with his gaze.

  Hart inched closer to her core, then pressed his nose against the material covering her and inhaled.

  Hmmm, she's wet.

  Denver stroked his fingers down her side, enjoying the feel of her silky skin beneath his fingertips. He ran his gaze and hand up her leg, pulling it so her leg draped over his. Denver breathed in deeply, shuddering as the scent of her arousal seeped into him. She smelt divine, like summer rain mixed with muskiness. Whoever she was dreaming of, she liked what they were doing.

  Denver nuzzled his nose into her neck and kissed his way up to her ear. When she didn't flinch away but instead arched her head to give him more room, he had never been happier. He gently whispered, "Wake up, sweetness. We're going to make your dream come true."

  He continued to nuzzle and laid light kisses over her jaw and neck as he ran his hand up and down her leg. He watched her eyes flutter open a few times before he moved to slide the material covering her core down her legs. She moved with him, helping him. Once it was gone, he returned to spoon behind her. Denver put her leg back over his as he resumed kissing and nuzzling her neck. Abruptly, she arched her back on a gasp and reached out her hand to grab hold of his arm. A sudden extra loud purr stopped him from worrying something was wrong. He continued his seduction as he twisted his head so he could see what Hart was doing. Hart's eyes glazed over and slid closed as he pushed his pulsating tongue inside their Desired. He heard Carina's breathing escalate, and her nails bit into the skin of his arm. Denver licked up her neck and began to nibble her ear.

  She's so wet and delicious. And she hasn't flinched away from me. She was so dreaming about all of us.

  Denver mentally shook his head at Hart's words.

  Don't stop, either of you. Let's see if we can bring her some pleasure and help her see that not only is she not broken, but perfect for all of us.

  Phelan's words brought a smile to Denver’s face. He was so onboard with bringing their Desired some much needed pleasure.

  Before we get too excited here, should maybe all of us be in human form?

  I don't know, Denver. She's so scared of men. I think a single man and two dragons is a safer bet. She hasn't freaked out yet, but if she does we'll just flash to human and comfort her. Okay, brothers, let’s do this and win our Desired's heart.

  Denver started kissing and laving her neck as he wound his hands around her body to the bottom of her shirt. He slowly peeled it up and over her head. She immediately lowered her arms to cover her breasts that were still encased in her lacy undergarment. She stiffened and tried to close her legs. Hart's head between her thighs prevented her from succeeding, and she looked up at Denver with panic clearly written in her eyes.

  Hart, back away. She's panicking. Stripping the shirt triggered something for her.

  Hart moved his head, and Carina pulled her legs together and up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them and held herself in a tight little ball. She looked up at Denver, and his heart broke at the pain and torment he saw swimming in the depths of her dark eyes.

  "It's okay, Carina. It's me, Denver. Hart and Phelan are here, too. You're safe."

  She blinked slowly, and a tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. Without thought Denver leaned in and cupped her cheek with his palm, stroking the tear away with his thumb. She shuddered but didn't pull away. After a moment, she twisted her face into his hand, nuzzling his palm with her nose and cheek. Denver felt himself fall a little more in love with her right then. This female, who had been so hurt, was trying so hard to push past it all. She looked almost animalistic as she continued to nuzzle against his palm. He moved in closer to her and slowly lowered his face into her neck. Pushing her hair away with his nose, he placed gentle reverent kisses to the delicate skin there. She sighed, and he felt her grip on her legs loosen. He continued his feather light kisses until her arms fell away from her legs completely. He moved his mouth over hers and using his other hand to hold her face still, he devoured her mouth until she was whimpering beneath him and her hands had both ended up tangled in his hair. He wriggled forward until he was between her legs. She allowed her thighs to fall open to give him entry between them, and Denver had never felt more honored in his whole life. He pulled back from her delicious mouth so he could speak.

  "You are so beautiful, Carina." He swooped in for another kiss before moving back again. "Will you let me love you, sweetness? Will you grant me that pleasure?"

  He gave her one more kiss before moving further back so he could see her face and give her breathing room. He watched as several emotions flowed over her. She took a deep breath as her lids closed. She opened them and looked directly into his eyes. She cupped his face in her hands. Her gaze dropped to his lips momentarily as she ran her thumb over his lower lip. She licked her lips, and he hissed at the arousal that heated up his body. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she said no… He didn't think a cold shower would fix his current state of arousal—only the female before him could.

  Chapter Three

  Carina held her breath as Denver hissed and his body went tense. She wasn't sure how to answer him. After a moment, when he still hadn't made any move to take her, she went back to caressing his lip with her thumb. Could she let this man love her? No, not love her but make love to her. It was too soon for talk of love. She thought about how her past lovers had been with her. Even before the rape, all her lovers had been selfish and solely focused on their own pleasure. This man, these men, had already given her more pleasure than all her past lovers combined. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She opened them back up to stare into Denver's emerald gaze. Movement to the left of Denver drew her attention, and she watched as Phelan in dragon form curled up on the floor near the bed. He saw her watching and lowered his head onto the bed. She removed one hand from Denver's face to stroke Phelan's scales.
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  "Phelan told me to tell you he'll stay to protect you. That if, for some reason, I don't stop when you want me to, he'll intervene and stop me. He'll make sure you're safe."

  "Phelan told you? How?"

  "We can talk to each other telepathically. In dragon form we can't speak out loud, so telepathy is necessary so we can communicate."

  She felt a puff of warm air on her other side and turned to see Hart's large dragon head next to her. He purred and ran his vibrating tongue up her exposed ribcage, causing her to giggle.

  "Hart will stay and protect you, too. But Carina…" Denver paused to take her face between his hands. "You won't need either of them to stop me. I will never do anything to hurt you. I will only ever give you pleasure."

  Carina felt like she was drowning in the depths of Denver's emerald eyes as he pledged her safety. Mentally stiffening her spine, she moved both hands back to Denver's face and pulled him down to her so she could kiss his soft lips.

  "Make love to me, Denver. Give me good memories to replace the bad."

  "Oh, sweetness, I'm going to give you so many good memories. We're all going to give you so many good memories that there won't be any room left for the bad ones."

  Before she could respond, he took her mouth. His tongue plunged in deep, mimicking what he no doubt intended to do somewhere else soon. He ran an arm around her back and scooted her down the bed so she could lie down. He knelt between her thighs and looked at her breasts.

  "How do you take off this thing?"

  She couldn't help but giggle. "It's a bra. It unclips at the back."

  Denver moved so she could sit up, and as she reached to unclip her bra he settled himself behind her. He slipped the straps down her arms with a tender touch. As her breasts were revealed she heard Denver hiss out a breath. He reached around her to palm each soft mound in his large hands. He lifted each breast, like he was testing their weight.