She took a fortifying breath and aimed for the doorway. Luckily, the spacious chamber on the other side was vacant. Relaxing a bit, she hurried across the smooth floor toward the bedroom. A quick freshening up was in order after a night of resting her head on a horse’s back. Cleanliness would hardly transform her into a goddess, but three years of living in the woods with only a muddy creek for washing gave her a great appreciation for clear water and clean clothes.
With her hair woven into a long braid and the barn dust rinsed off her face and hands, she returned to the room with the pool. Once again, her hosts sat in the matching chairs, their appetites clearly unaffected by her presence, or lack of it. Each man held a plate piled high with some sort of egg-vegetable casserole and thick slabs of brown bread, and they hadn’t bothered to wait for her before digging into the meal.
Bad manners are a turnoff. Let them annihilate this infernal attraction themselves.
Tanner gestured for her sit. “I hope you don’t mind that we started without you. An hour of hard training takes a lot out of a man.”
An apology?
She suppressed the urge to sigh.
Reaching for the mug on the table, she settled on the couch. The wisps of steam teased her nose, and she sifted through her mind to try to place the distinctive aroma. An image of her mother brewing a bundle of roots in a pot of water sprang forward. The memory dissipated as quickly as it came, and Sarah traced the outline of the cloth sack in her pocket with her fingers.
What would’ve happened if you hadn’t died, Mother?
John set down his fork and then picked up his cup of coffee. “Sassafras. It’s all we had on hand for tea.”
“It’s fine. Thank you.” She sipped the fragrant drink and then traded the mug for her plate. Perhaps if she ate, the insistent itch to ravage her captors would subside.
How did he know I wondered about the tea?
Her fork was halfway to her mouth when Tanner spoke again. “Were you warm enough last night?”
Was he concerned for her comfort? Or was he about to scold her? “Yes.”
She waited for him to tell her she should’ve slept in the bed they’d given her, but he simply smiled. “Good.”
He and John had to know she’d spent the night outside. Why weren’t they raising a fuss about it? Why did they have to confuse her?
Make me hate you!
The silence through the rest of the meal nearly drove Sarah crazy. In her three hundred fifty years, no man had ever been able to resist advising her on what was best for her. How many times had she had to plant the thought that how she ran her life was her own business?
Far too many to recall. Why aren’t these men bossy?
John leaned back in his chair, draining his coffee cup. Then he clunked it on his empty dish. “Would you like more tea, Sarah?”
Intense attraction warred with burgeoning irritation. At her wit’s end, she slammed her mug down on the table and stood. Every thread of self-control had finally snapped. “Stop being so damn polite! And give me back my powers. I don’t need you to protect me.”
An indescribable mix of emotions raged through her veins, making her muscles tremble and her blood heat. Some unknown monster had taken up residence inside her. All those feelings couldn’t be hers—she’d learned not to feel anymore in 1692. Anger, passion, and love had destroyed her life. She couldn’t go back.
Spots danced in front of her eyes, and her pulse thumped in her head. Her legs seemed to melt under her as everything blurred.
Please make it stop.
John bolted upright, stumbling past the table to catch Sarah before she fell.
Her pale skin had flushed with her rising temper, and her eyes had glazed over like she had a high fever before they’d closed. The effects of her fertility cycle must have happened too fast. Coupled with her attempts to smother any outward show of her sexual interest or fears, the hormones driving her to mate had to be campaigning against her deep sense of denial. Her history was locked in a fierce battle with her destiny.
Lifting her into his arms, he jogged to the pool and lowered her to the stone floor. “She’s burning up, Tanner. Help me get her undressed and into the water.”
Tanner knelt beside her, tugging on her long skirt. “We should’ve told her about last night. She might’ve—”
“No second-guessing. Let’s cool her down and see if we can keep her calm.” Slipping the sweater off her shoulders, John worked to remove the sleeves. Her top came off easier, even if her naked breasts threatened to break his concentration.
He waited for Tanner to finish peeling the woolen hose from her calves, trying to rein his cock’s reaction. Acting like a horny mate was not appropriate for the situation.
Tanner finally tossed the tights aside as he kicked off his boots and shed all but his boxers. Dropping into the chilly water, he shuddered and then held out his arms. “Lift her into the pool. I’ll make sure she doesn’t go all the way under.”
Despite the urgency to lower her temperature, John hesitated. To pick her up, he’d have to touch her. Not that he minded having his hands on her bare skin, but to do so without her permission went against his nature. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the option of asking her since she’d passed out.
He tucked a palm under her bottom and an arm beneath her upper back. Her tits jutted out as he eased her legs into the pool. She slid along Tanner’s chest until her body aligned with his. Rather than envying his partner, John stripped off his clothes to join Tanner and Sarah.
Goose bumps rose on his skin when he glided into the chest-deep puddle, and his muscles tensed at the twenty-degree change. He cradled her head against his shoulder, trying to ignore the fit of his erection in the cleft of her ass. Dipping his hand in the water, he held his icy fingers to her cheek. Every brush of cold wetness made the bright blush fade from her face, gradually returning it to her usual alabaster tone.
Shallow breaths slowed. Her body seemed to relax, and she blinked at him. The feverish glaze was gone.
John let out a relieved sigh. “How are you feeling, Sarah?”
She furrowed her brow, as if thinking. “Better. My heart was racing, and I… The water feels wonderful.”
Grasping him around the neck, she kissed him. Her lips were soft and warm, and she traced the seam of his mouth with her tongue, demanding entrance. He opened to her but made no move to deepen the kiss. She craved control, and he had no problem submitting to her lead. His biggest disappointment would be if she regretted taking this step.
She slipped inside, stroking her tongue along his. Each stroke became a little more aggressive, her mating hormones seemingly guiding her farther into desire. She squirmed against him, and he rocked forward to press deeper into the inviting crevice of her shapely backside, damning his decision not to remove his boxer shorts. Every arching movement she made pushed his underwear lower on his hips. Was she rubbing her nipples on Tanner’s chest and grinding her pussy into his dick?
With a gasp, she broke the kiss. “No matter what I say, don’t stop. I want to fuck you both. I need you both.”
Although her voice didn’t carry the same desperation as yesterday, John hated to think she’d lost control already. Having sex with him and Tanner should be a conscious choice, not one directed by lust alone. Her commitment required her to choose them of her own free will, and simply fucking each other’s brains out didn’t equal committed mates—something his clan’s future depended on.
“Don’t you want me?” The hurt in her eyes was John’s undoing. She couldn’t possibly be fully under the power of her hormones to ask that question.
Tanner snorted. “You have no idea how much I want you. Tell us exactly how you want us.”
Giving her no chance to doubt him, John shucked his shorts and pulled her ass tight to his groin. “Does that feel like I don’t want you?”
She groaned. “That’s where I want you, John. Tanner in the front and you in the back, surrounding me and filling me.”
Jerking his head toward the edge of the pool, Tanner walked backward toward the shallow end. “We’re going to need lube.”
John kept pace with Tanner, holding Sarah between them. A faint whisper skittered through his mind, and a jar of aloe and a towel appeared just beyond the water’s edge.
As he stepped out of the pool, Tanner lay down on the towel and guided her over him, lining up the vee of her thighs with his erect penis. He reached up to cradle her tits. “I’m all yours.”
Water dripped from the ends of her braid to run down her spine and into the valley of her nicely rounded butt. Her ass cheeks spread wide as she lowered herself onto him, revealing her pink rosette. She rose for a moment and then sank lower. Her high-pitched cry echoed through the chamber.
John’s balls contracted at the sight of his mate’s tight hole. He’d waited so long to claim her. He removed the lid from the jar, scooped a generous glob of aloe, and rubbed it over her puckered entrance. When she didn’t flinch or pull away, he pressed a finger to her slippery anus, taking his time to loosen the taut ring of muscles blocking his way inside.
After several gentle massages with the tip of his finger, she welcomed him in to his first knuckle. A little more pressure took him to his second knuckle. He carefully moved in and out, working more of the lube into her ass.
As he added another finger, she moaned and thrust against him, forcing him deep into her snug tunnel. “Now. I’m ready.”
John withdrew his fingers, coating himself with the remaining aloe. “You’ll tell me if you want me to stop? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Yes, I promise. I need you inside me too.”
Her husky tone convinced him she was ready, and he lined up his cock with her hole. The head slipped in with little effort, making him jump from a quick jolt of pleasure. She sucked him an inch deeper with the rhythmic squeezing of her contracting muscles. His dick throbbed with the pressure.
“You’re okay, Sarah?” The question took concentration, and half of it was already focused on not ramming himself inside her to the hilt.
“Yes.” She arched backward, sending him balls deep into her pulsing body. “Oh, yes.”
“Goddess, have mercy!” A shudder ripped through him as he tightened his grip on her hips. The primal need to mate had never been this strong.
Tanner grunted and pulled her forward for a rough kiss. “I hope you’re close to coming, because I’m about to explode. Ride me hard, Sarah.”
Skimming his fingers along the contours of her waist and ribs, John leaned down to nip at her neck. “Hard and fast.”
She rocked forward and back several times in a smooth motion, her tempo teasing him into a frenzy. The even strokes proved she had much more control over him than he had over her. She slowed as she pushed up from her near-horizontal position over Tanner, laying her shoulder blades flush against John’s chest.
He licked the spot he’d bitten, and she pumped downward. His balls pulled up, readying to send his cum shooting inside her. Every muscle twitched in anticipation of fully claiming her as his mate. She had only to leap first, and he would blindly follow.
She rose to her knees and then slammed into him again. This time, she spasmed around him, her joyful cry sending him flying. A roar scraped its way up his throat, even as Tanner’s yell joined his.
Light flickered behind his eyes as he drowned in the rush of his orgasm. The relief of her completion of the next step in the prophecy nearly overshadowed the physical pleasure of fucking her. Linking his mind with Tanner’s, they searched for a door or window into Sarah’s thoughts. The hunt yielded a narrow fissure.
Their whispered message seeped through the fracture.
Chapter 10
You’re now a part of us, Sarah. And we welcome you.
Floating down from the amazing heights Tanner and John had taken her to, Sarah swore she was hearing voices that weren’t really there. The pleasure they’d given her had done strange things to her mind.
Can you hear us, Sarah? Will you allow us into your thoughts?
She wasn’t imagining the voices? Or was Naga trying to trick her? Could he get past the spell that kept her locked inside the cavern hideaway?
John? Tanner?
Would they answer her?
Arms tightened around her from front and back. The dustings of coarse hair on their chests tickled her breasts and shoulders.
Yes, Sarah. We’re linked now. No more buzzing in your ears. She recognized Tanner’s soothing tone.
“You promise?” The loudness of her own voice surprised her. Had she done something to sever the connection?
John kissed her neck. “Yes, I promise. And you just need to practice more.”
“Open your mind to us. The link will get stronger.” Caressing her cheek, Tanner smiled up at her. “I promise.”
She leaned into his touch, and John seemed to pull away. Don’t go!
I’ll never leave you. He ran his thumb along her jaw as he eased backward. His cock slipped out of her, and she whimpered. I don’t want you to get sore, and I need to clean up. Would you like Tanner to carry you to bed?
Emptiness at his sudden absence stole some of the euphoria as he rose behind her.
Tanner grasped her by the waist and lifted her off him, breaking their intimate contact as well. We have more to tell you. Our bed is the place for that conversation.
“Our” bed? The thought escaped before she could censor herself, and she mentally cringed.
Helping her move to one side of him, Tanner sat up. As he stood, his sculpted form drew her gaze. “You’ll learn to close the door to your thoughts in time—though I hope you’ll never lock us out. We chose that bed for our mate and us. Our greatest wish is that you’ll allow us to share it with you.”
An unfamiliar feeling sent her heart racing. Emotion was so foreign, she couldn’t distinguish the range of feelings.
John stepped past her to round the edge of the pool. Contentment, Sarah. Life is as it should be, for the moment anyway.
A sensation flooded the space in her head where the voices resided, and as she looked at John, the source was obvious. The feeling was a smile—his smile. It warmed her heart and calmed her nerves when she should be panicking at the very idea of allowing a man, or men, to direct her happiness.
Why hadn’t she suffered a meltdown like she had yesterday? What was the difference, besides how far their sexual encounter had progressed? Had she simply needed more than they’d given her during the oral session? Maybe she’d needed the physical connection of intercourse to appease her desire.
Tanner scooped her up off the towel, and she hurried to hold on around his neck as he strode after John. The flexing of his muscles beneath her hands reminded her of his vow to die in protection of her if required. She’d only had her wits and her powers to count on for so much of her life, and now she had two self-proclaimed protectors—two men perfectly built for the job.
In the constant dusk of the bedroom, John tossed the covers away from the pillows and then swaggered toward the bathroom. “I’ll be right back.”
His proud bearing struck a chord, and Sarah searched her memory for the reason.
Laying her on the bed, Tanner chuckled as he separated a fuzzy flannel sheet and one of the blankets from the layers of bedding to cover her. “You can’t blame him for strutting around. A stallion’s ego always gets a boost from mounting his mare.”
Stallion? Mare?
She pictured a door clicking closed in her mind. Neither man needed to know what was going on in her head until she worked through a sudden realization sparked by the analogy.
Except it isn’t an analogy. They’re horse shifters. That’s why the horses were gone this morning.
How could she have missed the correlation before now? The difference between yesterday’s foreplay and this morning’s no-holds-barred sex was a night spent in the tender care of her equine lovers. Had she known John and Tanner were her companions in the stable area, s
he likely would’ve dragged a pile of blankets outside to sleep on the ground. Instead, they’d led her to believe they were merely noble beasts belonging to the masters of the cavern.
Tanner slipped in beside her, stretching and yawning. She half expected him to drape a possessive arm or leg across her, but he folded his hands behind his head and grinned at her. Disappointment tried to elbow its way into her heart. Forcing it away, she let their lie by omission lead her emotions.
Returning from the bathroom, John slid in on the other side and mirrored Tanner’s pose. “I like seeing you in our bed, Sarah.”
She untied the leather string at the end of her braid and then began unweaving the damp strands. “As much as you liked having me sleep in your stable with you last night?”
His lips flattened into a straight line. “You…um…We planned to tell you.”
Halting the unwinding, she flicked her gaze from John to Tanner. “Of course, you did. Actually, I feel a bit stupid for not figuring it out sooner. You’re horse shifters, and you just happen to have a pair of horses in your humble manger? Horses that seemed to understand that I’d freeze if they didn’t share their body heat. You knew I wasn’t about to accept you, so you let me think you were sympathetic creatures willing to listen to my ramblings.”
Tanner frowned. “We were giving you more time to consider what we’d told you about us being your mates. Besides, shifting back to human form to talk to you wouldn’t have been a good idea.”
“Really? Why not?”
John’s cough sounded like he was trying to keep from laughing. “Horses don’t exactly wear clothes.”
He made an excellent point, and she wouldn’t have been ready to deal with them anyway. Still, how did they expect her to trust them if they kept secrets?
Beyond Bewitching Page 8