by Sam Hall
“Fuck, you guys are hot,” I blurted out.
I wasn’t a moron, I could string a sentence together, and despite the many poems celebrating Brandon’s abs or Aaron’s massive biceps I’d devised while drowsing in our lovely post-coital afterglow, that was the best I could come up with. Great.
They seemed to like it just fine though. Brandon stripped off a little slower now that he was conscious of his audience, and when he looked up at the two of us, there was something I hadn’t really seen before—a kind of smugness. He knew we were looking. He took our stares and the slow stroke of Aaron’s hand on his cock as his due and…fuuuuck.
Why is a cocky attitude so sexy? It’s at least one third acknowledged arsehole behaviour by the wearer, but god fucking damn, I wanted him wearing that look every bloody day. Or not, because I only had about five spare pairs of knickers and between him, Slade, and Jack, they might just spontaneously combust.
“C’mon, Jules,” Brandon said. “We’ve shown you ours.”
Before, I was going to strip off, welcoming an opportunity for a wash, but now I froze. They had seen me in every position naked, inspected every inch of my body, yet I felt a weird shyness.
Just strip off and stop overthinking, I told myself.
Brandon and Aaron looked at each other and shook their heads, moving closer, one set of hands going to my shirt, the other my jeans.
“You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” Aaron said, and the brush of his fingers against mine sent waves of reassuring lust. The way he felt about me punched me in the guts as he moved my hands aside and removed my top. “I feel like my heart is being ripped out of my chest pretty much every time I look at you, Jules. Don’t be shy with us. It’s seriously not needed,”
I nodded, because I knew this. I was just falling back on my old pre-Sanctuary days’ bullshit. I didn’t really get why they wanted me, but I knew loud and clear that they did. I stepped down with them, one holding each of my hands as I clambered over the slippery rocks into the water. Aaron sat down and pulled me onto his lap, using his hands to send perfect temperature water over my skin. Brandon settled down beside us, tangling his legs with Aaron’s and then pulling me back, so I lay across the two of them with my arms floating out on my sides.
“God, this is nice,” I said, shutting my eyes against the evening sun. “Why do I feel like Godzilla or the abominable snowman will come stomping out of the bushes at any minute?”
As I lay there, staring up at the sky and watching weird birds fly far overhead, I could feel it, the need to touch them. I could feel both of their erections pressing into me, and my nipples were poking above the waterline, pulled tight by their presence and the cool air. For a moment, I just enjoyed the sensation of water lapping at my skin, the feel of the guys' hands as they pushed water to spill over me. I grabbed the closest one, linking our fingers before rolling over to kiss Brandon.
“No, Jules,” he said with a smile.
“No? You can’t be serious. I can’t kiss my own mates?”
“It won’t end with kissing,” he said, and I watched his breath come a little faster while his hips twitched underneath me, as if to contradict what he was saying. “We’ll have the public celebration, and then…” His finger ran down my sternum. “We’ll have the more private one in our tent.”
“We’re waiting?” Aaron said, looking across at his mate, the gaze lasting longer than it needed to as Brandon stared the other man down. There was nothing hostile in that stare, rather those cool grey depths promised a world of pleasure, and I just wanted to dive right in. Aaron too, by the look of it. I heard the low groan, then saw the shift of his hand down to his groin, where he got a stroke or two in before Brandon’s shot out and stopped him.
“Think about it. We keep Jules simmering away all evening.” Brandon flicked me a look, his eyes following the rivulets of water that streamed down my body as I rose up. His hand went to my waist, and he steadied me. “Make her sit through this whole celebration with a wet little secret between her legs, her clit throbbing.”
“I’ll be fucking rigid all night from the smell of her,” Aaron growled.
That drew Brandon’s gaze away as he peered into the water, looking for evidence of that and smiling when he saw it.
“And I’ll be right there with you. But just think about it. What will it feel like when we finally stroke that clit and lick her pussy, all creamy from waiting?”
Aaron’s eyes darkened, a subtle shudder going through his body before he shot me a rueful look.
“Aaron,” I whimpered, moving closer to the big man. He watched me straddle his legs with rapt attention. “Don’t make me wait.”
My hands went up, and I flicked my hair back over my shoulders as I forced my spine to arch slightly, pushing my breasts up into his face. His eyes followed their every movement, and his tongue slid out to swipe across his bottom lip.
“I’m aching,” I said, my voice half caught up in the rustle of a breeze in the leaves. “Touch me, please.”
“Jules…” Brandon growled, but I shuffled forward, so close I could feel Aaron’s breath on my skin.
His nostrils flared, the hazel in his eyes now just a thin ring about the huge pupils. I noticed his hands twitching, watched the war within him with a smile. Sick of my antics, Brandon surged out of the water, hands going around my wrists and tugging me back, prompting a proprietorial growl from Aaron.
“You’re the queen, always.” His voice was a low buzz against my ear. “You tug all of us along, panting in your wake. But sometimes, just sometimes, it’s nice to relinquish that power and let someone else take over.”
I paused, considering what he said, and let my body soften against his. He took this for compliance, shifting to hold both wrists with one hand so he could run the other up the damp plain of my abdomen.
“I want your clit throbbing through everything that goes on tonight. I want you rinsed and clean, so your scent washes over every man in camp, every single one of them aching to get inside you. The food will taste like dust when all they’ll want to do is bury their face in you. One after another, licking and sucking you until you can’t come anymore. But they won’t. You’ll be ours, and everyone else will have to return to their tent and lie on their sleeping bags, and spend a restless night stroking their rigid cocks as they hear the sounds we pull from you.”
“How do you fucking do this?” I rasped, and I noticed that Aaron was just as caught up in the silken siren song of Brandon’s voice as I was. “How do you make me want to relinquish a guaranteed orgasm—”
“Just the one?” Aaron asked, his smile a dead ringer for Brandon’s cocky one.
“How do you make me want to give up on guaranteed multiple orgasms now and later, for just some later?”
“Deliberately or not, I’ve been controlling things for much of my life. After a while, given the right circumstances, it makes me really fucking hard.”
I blew out a breath, unable to believe I was about to do this.
“Do we give this little control freak what he wants?” I said to Aaron.
His smile was bright, curiously innocent and open, despite what we were discussing. He tugged me to him, kissing me lightly and resisting all attempts on my part to deepen it. Then he pulled away and nodded, looking like he’d just been given the greatest gift in the world.
“Ugh, fine!” I said.
“Just imagine what it’ll be like later tonight,” Aaron purred.
“I don’t want to imagine. I’m gonna think of nuns and dead kittens all night.”
“Don’t worry, darlin’” Brandon said, hands sliding up my ribs. “We’ll keep your mind on the task at hand.”
10
At that, I dove away from the guys and into the main body of the creek. The current was sluggish, so it was safe. The boys followed me, trying to put their plan into action and keep teasing me, but I slipped free of their arms without effort, so things pretty much devolved into the usual pool hijinks
of splashing and dunking. We emerged a little chilled and pruney as the sun was well and truly starting to set.
“Your stuff is in the tent over there,” Aaron said as he stood by me on the riverbank, shielding me from the view of the other guys milling around camp. “Wear something easy to remove.”
My eyes dropped down to his hard cock.
“Brandon’s gone to help with the cooking. We could—”
“Figure I’m the weakest link, did ya?” He moved closer to me, and I could smell the fresh male scent of him. He cupped my chin and then kissed me, slow and sweet. “He’s our mate, and nothing makes him happier than playing these games, so let’s play.”
“He won’t know,” I said, my feet shifting. I could feel him, smell him, and it was weird to not just reach out and take one of my mates. I had become spoiled in a frighteningly short period of time.
“In this camp? Everyone’s gonna know when we take you, Jules. Now off you go. Wear something light, if you have it. I want that damn scent of yours in everyone’s nose, making their mouths water for something else altogether.”
I growled, because of the command in his voice, because of the way those dark hazel eyes flicked from my eyes to my mouth, because I knew I’d do as he said. He grinned when I stepped back, then I turned and dove for my tent.
“Oh, hello.”
Jack and Hawk looked up from their bedroll where they lay nakedly resplendent in each other’s arms and looking smugly drowsy from no doubt an awesome fuck, if the close atmosphere in the tent was anything to go by.
“Hey,” I said as I located my bag, dropping my dirty clothes on one side before starting to pull out clean ones. Something light, something light. I hadn’t exactly brought a summer dress along, since I figured that wouldn’t be needed. I had some thin sleep shorts, but I’d be freezing by the time night fell if I wore them. I shrugged and drew out a long sleeve shirt and jeans. Not what they wanted, but it’d have to do. I shoved the shorts in my back pocket, which got some raised eyebrows.
“Someone’s sleeping out tonight,” Jack said in a singsong voice. “You gonna climb Mount Aaron in honour of your mating? If you wanna broaden your horizons first, we’re happy to help.” Hawk rolled away from Jack, got to his knees, and shuffled over, that big beautiful body drawing my eyes down, down… “Chuckles here wants to—”
I knew what he wanted. I could see it as clear as day, and I wanted it too.
“Shut up, Jack,” Hawk snapped, shooting the words over his shoulder.
“But you—”
“If you ever want me to do that thing with my tongue again, you will shut the fuck up. You’re my mate now, you need to start listening to me.” Jack fell back on the bedroll, arms crossed, but that ever-present smirk was still there. “Jules, we talked, and I just wanted to say…”
I watched Hawk struggle to get the words out as Jack lay there, fairly twitching with the need to interfere, so I reached out and placed a hand on the man’s forearm. I didn’t know if being pack gave us the same bond as my mates had with me, or if he could feel anything down it, but I tried to send warm reassurance to him.
Hawk looked up, his shoulders squaring, a big breath hissing out between his lips. “I want some time, just me and you, Jules. I wanna see where this could go. I need to know if there could be more between us.”
“Looking for another mate so soon?” I joked, but I saw that was a mistake as soon as the words were out.
I thought it a gentle one, but the way his face closed down said otherwise. So I crawled over and wrapped my arms around him, waiting for him to do the same. I felt the faint quiver in his limbs when he finally reciprocated. For a minute, I rested my head on his shoulder, smelled the scent of campfires and pine forests, and just felt him. It was subtle, but I could feel it, the rapidly shifting snarl inside him as he processed what was happening.
Hawk and I were very similar, I realised, in that we both often went into a secret internal emotion spiral when triggered by our pack members. People struggled to understand those intense reactions, assuming it meant some sort of impairment, but it wasn’t. You had to be bloody strong to be hit hard by emotional stimuli and keep on putting yourself out there. I tipped my head up, his lips crushed down on mine, and it all fell away.
When we pulled apart, I just stared into his eyes. That shy smile was back on his face, and I was glad.
“I’m happy you asked, Hawk. I’ll always want you and want to spend time with you. Whether you want it with the two of you,” I saw Jack’s eyes light up at that, “or just you. Any combination, I’m there. I can’t tonight though. I’ve made a commitment to Brandon and Aaron, and I’ll need to work around that, but otherwise, yes. Tell me when and where you want me.”
“All the time…” Hawk rumbled, kissing me again. I again questioned the wisdom of Kelly’s workplace advice when I came here. Being Tirian obviously came with a raging sex drive. How did they get anything done? “So, tomorrow sometime?”
“You got it. Now, I think we’ve got dinner on soon, so clothes, or I’ll be doing some stuff by the campfire that may or may not raise the soldiers’ morale.”
I wondered about Jack as I followed my own directions. He seemed awfully glad to have his lover back in his arms. Everything between me and him was centred around Hawk, and he wasn’t asking me for one-on-one time. Should I initiate that as pack leader? See where things were with us when Hawk wasn’t in the picture? I made a mental note to myself to do that at some time that didn’t feel tacked on to what had just happened with Hawk. I watched the two of them kiss, feeling that bloody painful throb in my loins as I did. Working out where we all stood should be done sooner rather than later.
I stepped outside, leaving the guys to sort themselves out, and smelled the delicious scent of roasting meat. I might not know what was cooking, but it smelled great.
“Jules.”
My head whipped around to see Slade weaving his way between the tents. The boys were correct—we were close, and the walls of the tents were thin. Everyone would hear us getting up to mischief tonight. I wasn’t sure how I was going to meet the eyes of Aaron’s men tomorrow morning, which was perhaps why he had me simmering away right now, ready to discard some inhibitions as the need grew.
“Hey,” Slade said, drawing my attention back to him. His nostrils flared when he scented me, his eyes widening slightly, and then he drew me in closer. “Look, about before…”
“Before?” It took me a bit to remember the conversation by the cache. God, that felt like it had happened days not hours ago. That expansive feeling of contentment we’d experienced together pushed out little infractions like hard words. “Oh, you mean at the cache?”
“Yeah, look, love—”
“Jules, you coming?” Aaron stood a little distance away, holding out his hand. “The guys have cooked up a storm, and it looks like it's ready.”
“Um…”
Slade watched me glance from him to Aaron and smiled. “It’s OK, it's his night tonight. Have a feed and a good night. We’ll talk later.”
“Thanks,” I said, bouncing up and kissing him on the cheek.
His arms closed around me automatically, holding me still for a second before letting me go.
“Smells bloody delicious,” Slade said, following the two of us to the campfire.
“There’s certainly something that’s making my mouth water,” Aaron said, his hand squeezing mine.
“So, where’s the beer at? Been a day since I’ve had one, and I mean to remedy that.”
Aaron directed Slade to where the drinks were sitting in a tub full of cool water. They probably needn’t have bothered, the wind was starting to pick up, making me shiver.
“I think I need to go grab a jumper,” I said, turning to return to the tent, but Aaron grabbed me and spun me around.
“I’ll keep you warm, mate,” he said in a low rumble. He drew me closer, sheltering me from the breeze with his body, and wrapped his arms around me, then dropped his m
outh down on mine.
Aaron kissed slowly, thoroughly, patiently nipping and sucking at my lips until they parted, then slid his tongue in. He chuckled when he finally pulled away while I just stood there, dazed but certainly not feeling cold anymore.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered.
Everyone was seated around the campfire, the sun having already set. Most were grabbing food or drinks, but I sat between Brandon and Aaron, centre stage. Some of the guys raised their beers to us and shouted some kind of congratulations, but that wasn’t where my focus was. Instead, it was on two points of my body—one at my nape, where Brandon’s fingers drew circles on my skin, and the other where Aaron’s hand rested on my thigh.
There was something possessive, slightly coercive about Brandon’s caress. Like his fingers were moving lazily right now, but could grip the back of my neck at any point if I decided to make a break for it.
Brandon glanced at me for a second, an eyebrow raised, and then slipped a finger under the collar of my shirt. He held my gaze as it slid slowly south. Not towards anything, not even close to anything significant, yet somehow that small caress had a weight to it. As he continued to stare, his eyes told me long, explicit, filthy stories about what he’d like to be doing to me right now, would do to me right now, in front of everyone to my shame. But it wasn’t just shame, was it? That would make it a horrible thing. Rather it was the war between the pleasure I knew he could pull from my body, the low burning need for it, and the social inhibitions that made me feel like stripping off and riding his face in front of company would be a bad idea.
As if in counterpoint to this subtle caress, there was Aaron. I sat with my back against a tree trunk that had been dragged over to the fire, my knees bent, and his hand resting on my inner thigh. Not the sweet, ‘I’m here and I love you’ touch on your knee thing. Nope, I watched him take a plate and balance it on his lap, eating very competently with one hand as the other snuck up, up, up, until he was just about able to high five my vagina.