by Lynn Burke
“Just all right?” Jon chuckled and grasped my chin, turning my head toward him. Rather than jealousy burning in his crystal blue eyes, a whole lot of lust about floored me. “Admit it. The man is hot as fuck.”
“The man is hot as fuck,” I echoed, my voice a mere whisper.
Jon captured my mouth with a ferocity I hadn’t felt from him since we’d first started fooling around. His tongue swept into my mouth, laying claim to what already belonged to him. I hadn’t admitted jack shit to him—I’d only echoed his words out of surprise at the factual tone he’d used.
Jon thought Elijah was hot as fuck.
I moaned against his mouth, lifting my arms to wrap my fingers in his unbound hair. Damp strands stuck to my fingers, and I held tighter as he slid one hand down over my front to cup me through my leggings.
“You’re soaked,” he said against my lips.
Murmuring my agreement, I rubbed against his hand, seeking the release I’d wanted upon waking.
The thought Elijah might climb the stairs behind us and catch us in a lust-crazed embrace, only made me hotter.
“Touch me, Jon,” I whispered, pulling on his hair.
He slipped his hand beneath my leggings and groaned as the music from the cavern below shut off. “No panties.”
Freshly shaven, my body didn’t hinder his fingertips as they glided down over my pelvis. My swollen clit throbbed, and I gasped as he grazed over the nub. He thrust two fingers deep inside me, and I sagged against him. “More…”
Jon pulled his fingers out and plunged deep, his thumb finding my clit and rubbing.
That doom, that edge of euphoria crashed into me like a tidal wave, and I bit my lower lip to keep from crying out. A deep moan rose, but Jon captured my lips again, swallowing what was left of my release.
Feet shuffled up the stairs, and Jon slipped his hand from my leggings. Panting and trembling, I held onto the island and slid onto a stool as Elijah’s large frame filled the doorway. He glanced at my heated face then at Jon, who smiled at me and sucked on his two fingers.
Holy fuck.
I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.
Chapter Seven
Elijah
The scent of Dakota’s cum nearly buckled my knees. My mouth flooded with drool, and my darker side roared, tensing every muscle in my body. I wanted to lay her on the table, devour every inch of her pussy, lap up every trace of her cum that Jon had enticed from her body—because that’s exactly what he’d done. Sucking his fingers like that… My dragon growled, and I had a hard time keeping it contained.
“Want to help me with dinner?” I asked Dakota, forcing my tone to level and nonchalant since her face flamed as she glanced between Jon and me.
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat and let go of the counter. “Sure.”
Jaw clenched, I focused on gathering the things for dinner. “Marinara and angel hair?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder at Jon.
He leaned back against the island, arms crossed and a smile dimpling his cheeks. “Anything homemade sounds fucking heavenly to me.”
I found myself grinning at his lack of refinement, but reminded myself he came from a different era than I had gotten to experience while his age. I enjoyed his blatant honesty, his not mincing words, or rather, adding curses to get his point across.
Dakota calmed down enough to chop some onion, and I preheated a sauté pan with olive oil.
“Want to grab a bottle of red from the wine cellar?” I asked Jon, wanting Dakota all to myself for a few moments.
“Sure,” he said, straightening.
“Downstairs, end of the hallway—stairs and another door on the right.”
“Got it.”
He strode up behind Dakota, pushed her pile of hair to the side, planted a kiss on her neck, and smiled at me. “Be right back.”
His attempt at showing me he was the alpha tickled me. I chuckled inwardly, but a grin escaped as the door shut behind him.
“Sybil, music on,” I said, my smile widening as 2Cellos’s rendition of the Game of Thrones theme song began.
“Don’t you get lonely up here?” Dakota asked, her voice breathless and hasty as though uncomfortable being alone with me.
“A bit at times,” I admitted while pulling a few cans of organic diced tomatoes from the pantry closet. “I keep busy, though.”
“With?”
“Work. Reading.”
“TV?”
I shrugged and set to opening the cans. “I keep up to date with the news and weather, but find TV shows these days to be mostly nonsense.”
She nodded as though agreeing, and pushed the diced onion off the cutting board into the frying pan. “Garlic?”
“There.” I pointed to the basket I’d gotten the onion from, and she moved across the kitchen as though comfortable in the space.
“Oh!” I turned to find her smiling. “This is from Game of Thrones, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Jon loves that show.”
Tomatoes opened and ready to go, I rifled through my spice drawer. “You’ve known him a long time?”
“We met in seventh grade.”
“And you’ve been together ever since?” I asked, glancing her way once more.
Cheeks tinged pink, she nodded. “The first time I saw him, I felt connected to him. It was like I knew I belonged to him, you know?”
She hadn’t really asked a question, but I nodded anyway.
“And the first time we spoke, I knew he belonged to me.”
My heart ached. I swallowed, forcing another nod. How could I possibly force myself between them? Dragon growling, I went about getting plates and flatware to set the table. “It’s a beautiful thing to find your person.”
I felt her stare, and turned to meet her gaze. “It is. Have you—I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.”
“Go ahead,” I encouraged, turning to fully face her.
“Have you ever fallen in love? Enjoyed the connection with that one person you felt you were meant to be with?”
I hadn’t met my mate until that morning I had walked into their camp, but I nodded anyway.
“It’s like…” She glanced over my shoulder, out the tall, glass windows letting in the beauty of the mountains. “It’s like coming home, like everything lines up in your life, like you recognize that other soul is a part of your future.”
Swallowing, I nodded again.
She went back to her task, crushing the cloves of garlic with the flat of the blade before peeling them. “How long have you been alone?”
Her question hit me like a rushing gust of wind, and I took a few moments to gather myself since answering truthfully about my lonely years would reveal I wasn’t wholly human. “I fancied myself in love once, but they didn’t feel the same.”
“I’m sorry.”
True empathy radiated from her words and the gaze I felt on the side of my face.
“Fate has a way of weeding out what doesn’t belong, and while I grieved for a very long time, I’ve come to realize that person wasn’t for me. Wasn’t my person.” I glanced at Dakota with a small smile.
“I’m still sorry, all the same.” Her whispered words, the empathy in her eyes soothed me in a way no one ever had. My dragon lay dormant within even though one of my mates stood mere feet from me and the scent of her cum still lingered in my nose.
“Thank you.”
Cheeks turning pink once more, she bent back toward her task.
“So your taste in music isn’t all shit,” Jon said from the stairwell, two bottles in hand.
Dakota whispered an admonishment, but I laughed.
“Good fucking show right there,” he said. “Wasn’t sure which wine you’d want, so I just grabbed a couple.” He set two of them on the small island. “I’m not usually a wine guy, but if it’s this old,” he said, glancing at the label of the one still in his hand, “I’ll give it a try.”
“The wine glasses are there,” I
said, taking note of the Penfolds Grange 1951 he’d chosen—and not caring in the least—and pointed to the corner cabinet on the far side of the kitchen. “Corkscrew is here.” I pulled open the drawer at my hips, my eyes on Jon’s backside as he moved to retrieve the glasses. Tight glutes flexed with each step in the shorts I’d been having to watch him move around in since he’d joined me in the gym.
My dragon woke with a vengeance, and I clenched my jaw, fighting the need clawing inside me.
Jon opened the cabinet and reached up toward the top shelf, his t-shirt lifting to reveal a hint of muscled, golden skin. He turned and met my gaze, one of his brows rising. “Corkscrew?”
He knew I stared. Must have. “Here.” I tore my focus off his pretty, lightly freckled face and rummaged in the drawer.
Like a warm, fall breeze, he moved close, his earthen scent flooding my senses and swelling me to full length within a matter of heartbeats. I bit down on my tongue to keep my groan contained.
Our fingers brushed as I handed over the gadget, and his lips parted on a caught breath.
Once tied in my ropes, how long before he leaned into my cane? How long before he begged me for release?
Dakota stared at us, knife poised in her mincing of the garlic. Even the strong scent of the allium didn’t overpower the combined scents of arousal dousing my kitchen.
Her, hesitant. Him, wary enough I didn’t attempt making a move.
“Sybil—2Cellos, ‘Thunderstruck’,” I said, my voice strained.
Jon’s brow furrowed as the cellists began playing the Metallica song. “Get the fuck out.” He enunciated each word, a grin lighting his eyes.
Smiling, I returned to my task. “That wine is predominantly made with Shiraz but includes a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon. One of Australia’s finest wines.” I didn’t add that the bottle had cost me close to fifty-thousand dollars. I would give my mates everything I owned if it meant they would agree to be mine.
Ears tuned in to their every move, I listened as he pulled the cork and filled three wine glasses while Dakota added the garlic to the pan.
I had watched the two of them making dinner the evening before by their campfire, and I found myself feeling as though my presence didn’t hinder their harmony. Like a well-rehearsed orchestra, we moved where needed, when needed, working together to create our meal.
Onions translucent and garlic perfectly fragrant, I added the remaining ingredients for a marinara I had been making for tens of years.
Awareness of Jon’s presence tingled my skin. “Here.”
I turned, my gaze landing on his crystalline blue eyes. No boundaries, no walls cut him off from me. He peered at me, glass of wine in his outstretched hand as if to say, “I see you. I know you.”
My inner man, my dragon tilted as though the mountain shifted beneath my bare feet. Did he mean it? Truly?
Jon turned away before I found my voice and handed Dakota her glass. He kissed her temple and murmured his love. Grabbing his own glass off the island, he faced us both. “I’ve been trying to come up with some fancy-assed toast for this old vintage, but fuck if I can think of jack shit.”
I bit back my smirk at his lack of refinement as Dakota coughed.
“To new friendships,” she said, her words almost void of tone as she glanced at me.
“To lovers finding their fate,” I added, lifting my glass.
“Hell, I’ll drink to that! To good fucking music, too.” Grinning, Jon tipped his wine back and drank down a few swallows. “Damn.” He peered into the glass as he lowered it. “That’s some good shit.”
I swirled my wine inside the glass and lifted it to my nose, inhaling—and completely missing out on what aromas rose from the red liquid. Jon’s face, pure enjoyment and laid-back attitude, held me captive.
To be so free…
Dragon teeth gnashing, I sipped without really tasting and returned to my task, trying and failing to focus on the conundrum I found myself: How to make my mates stay longer than one night.
Dakota’s lack of control over her body’s response to both of us men delighted me all evening—and created an ache between my thighs I longed to ease between hers. The scent of her arousal wafted through the air more often than not.
While dining, we spoke of mundane things, the wheres and whats of life. They rented a one-room apartment in New York. Jon had just lost his job, but Dakota’s freelance photography job and their savings would see them through for a time. She enjoyed hiking and the outdoors. He enjoyed gaming—something I wasn’t at all familiar with, and Dakota’s bragging of tournaments and titles he’d won revealing her pride—and his embarrassment.
“But what about you?” Dakota asked, placing her fork upside down on her plate and sitting back. “What do you do for work? Fun?”
Jon and I had both finished earlier, but sat relaxed, drinking our wine while Dakota had finished. He lounged in his pushed-back chair, legs spread and hands clasped behind his head, stretching the t-shirt he’d at least donned to dine tight across his defined pectorals and biceps.
Between his open display and Dakota’s lips and tongue while eating, my dragon hissed and spit, fighting to come out and play.
“I hold a few degrees and do a little of everything,” I said, shifting on my chair at the intrusion into my personal life even though I wanted them both in it. Talking about myself wasn’t something I enjoyed doing. Bragging, even more so.
“Degrees? Plural?” Jon asked.
“Chemical Engineering,” I only named one of three, “but my newest love is robotics.”
“What do you build?” Dakota asked, reaching for her wine glass.
“Offensive types—weapons, and those sorts of things.”
“A modern-day Tony Stark?” Jon asked, chuckling.
I couldn’t contain my answering smile. “Something like that.”
“You’re a government agency’s wet dream,” he said, his eyes twinkling—flirting.
I shared in his chuckle, but didn’t answer.
“Fuck.” His gaze narrowed. “You’re government, aren’t you?”
“I’m not, but I’m hoping to close a deal with our military in a few days.”
“Shit.” Jon’s grin returned, one of his eyebrows rising. “Any other governments?”
“One or two,” I said, standing to gather our plates, “but if I tell you anything more, I’ll have to kill you.”
Jon snorted a laugh.
“Let us help,” Dakota said, rising to her feet and sending a waft of her spring-like scent past my nose.
I sighed as contentment swelled in my heart.
“More wine, Mr. Tight Lips?” Jon asked, finally moving from his sexy pose and reaching for the second bottle on the table.
I dipped my head. “Please.”
The new moon had attempted to light the sky, but nothing other than stars dotted the darkness beyond my home’s windows. Mere embers remained of the once crackling fire a couple hours later, and three bottles, empty of wine, sat upon the coffee table in front of us.
Dakota had curled into Jon’s side once we’d finished washing the few dishes. As with earlier, I sat a bit away, angling to face them.
Her hand and cheek lay on his chest, but her attention focused on my face. Jon trailed his fingers though the hair draped over her shoulder, but kept his gaze on me. As one, they stared my way probably unknowing the other did the same.
I explained the sensors behind the lights system, the home automation system I’d created, the natural spring in the deepest parts of the cavern that fed the entire house with fresh water, and the solar panels with enough battery backup to power the entire space for a week. I realized I might have droned on too long in answering Jon’s questions about the house when Dakota’s eyes glazed over and her hand slid down to rest on his thigh, mere inches from the bulge in his shorts.
Still unshowered, both of us men emanated a slight scent of having worked our bodies close to exhaustion in the weight room, but hardly unpleasan
t. Given the chance, I would have gladly licked every inch of Jon’s taut skin clean, lapping up his scent, drawing him so deep into my lungs he filled my soul.
As an alpha, I hadn’t ever wanted to taste a man’s arousal before, but since Jon was my fated mate, I wanted to bring him pleasure. If that meant taking him into my mouth and bringing him release, I would. I hardened at the thought.
And Dakota…
Still, the sweet tanginess of her desire filled my nose with every inhale. Would her folds be swollen and pink? Fragrant as a summer morning, full of life-giving nectar I would scramble to gather?
My saliva glands roused to life at the thought of licking between her thighs. Nibbling on her sensitive flesh. Dragon rumbling in my chest, I realized I needed to escape.
“I believe I shall retire,” I said, standing suddenly. “Feel free to linger as long as you wish.”
My neck hairs stood on end as I strode away, leaving the empty bottles and glasses on the table, something I wouldn’t usually do. Body tingling with the need to taste and claim my fate, I hastened up the stairs and into the hallway intent on the privacy of my bedroom.
Jon’s shuddered sigh brought me up short, just out of sight of the downstairs.
“Yes,” he whispered, and I imagined Dakota’s hand trailing higher, grasping his hard length through his shorts. “Just like that, baby.”
Silence fell for a few seconds, thundering my heartbeat in my ears. No bribe, monetary or physical, outside of my mates, could have torn me from my spot in the middle of the hallway.
“Aw, fuck…” Jon groaned.
Had she pulled him free? Licked the pre-cum from his crown?
Jaw clenched against my own groan, I slipped back the way I’d come until the back of the couch came into view from my high vantage point.
Dakota had leaned over Jon’s lap. I envied him and his hold on her hair as her head bobbed over him. Did she take him deep? Swallow around his thick girth?
Same as earlier, I found my hand grasping at my own length through my shorts while wishing for a clearer view. Hard and aching … same as Jon must be. I longed to plunge deep into Dakota, Jon a mere thin membrane from my shaft. I wanted to rub against him within the clutches of her tight heat.