“Good,” Jax said, then as Sami left his head, he realized he’d begun to gently pet Thaniel’s hair.
***
TIERNEY CAME AWAKE slowly and heat began to fill her as she savored the two males snuggled up against her. Gods, she loved them both so much. Unable to resist, she gently ran her fingers over Thaniel’s hair. He’d captured her heart and burrowed his way deep inside, right alongside Jax.
And as if he heard her thoughts, Jax’s eyes opened. The love shining in the brilliant-blue depths of his eyes as he stared at her made her want to sing and cry—it filled her so full. “I love you so much,” she said.
Jax smiled at her. “I love you too.”
Then they turned their gaze on Thaniel as his eyes fluttered open.
“Hi.”
***
THANIEL, SANDWICHED in between Tierney’s and Jax’s arms, felt happy and worried at the same time. This was it. He didn’t know what would happen from here, but this was his dream come true. If he died now, he’d die happy. He couldn’t have imagined a better first time and though he knew they only did what they had to save him from Elianna, he was grateful.
“Thank you,” he whispered. Just the thought of what would have happened if he’d actually mated the she-leopard sent fear skating through him.
“Shh,” they whispered as if they felt his horror and they probably did. It was strange, but that thought no longer bothered him at all. They caressed him and it was the most soothing feeling in the world. Their touch felt heavenly and his eyes slid closed as he wished they could stay like this forever.
“You don’t have to thank us, we love you, Thaniel,” Tierney said, leaning up over him. She ran her fingers over his shoulder, pausing when she saw the dark rosettes still there. A smile lit her face. “Looks like your leopard marked you.”
Thaniel looked at his arms and surprise lit his face. “Oh, wow.”
“Yeah, wow.” Then Tierney continued to trail her fingers across his smooth chest and back up to his hair. Thaniel lay back and without realizing, he started to purr. Then startled, he stared up at them and the smiles on their faces, the love he saw, humbled him. Could it really be true? Could they really care about him like that? Like he wanted? If only it could last. …
“I was pretty sure you didn’t want to mate Elianna. Did I do the right thing taking you from her?” Tierney asked and he could hear the worry lacing her voice.
“We,” Jax added, staring at her. “We took him from her.”
Tierney swallowed deeply, nodded, and they gazed down at him.
“Do you even have to ask?” Thaniel asked, surprised. Didn’t they realize how he felt about them? Horror shuddered through him. “I can never thank you enough for saving me from her. I couldn’t resist her, and my beast—” He shuddered. “He was determined to have her and if she, if I—” He couldn’t even say it, it was too awful to contemplate. To be under the clutches of the one who thoughtlessly bit him, turned him into a monster? “I’d rather die than be mated to her,” he whispered.
Jax lay back down, his head mere inches from Thaniel. “We couldn’t let that happen to you.”
Thaniel blinked and turned to stare at Jax, then, before he knew what he was doing, he closed the space between them and pressed his lips to Jax’s.
Surprise and a quick flash of something that Thaniel didn’t understand filled Jax’s eyes, then it was gone like his lips were. Thaniel sucked in a breath, stunned. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that, I—” His hand went to his own lips, but Jax just nodded.
“It’s all right,” Jax said, but Thaniel cut him off.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, horrified at what he’d done.
Jax leaned up on an elbow and Tierney laid her hand on his shoulder, in a soothing gesture, but he shook his head. “No, I’m fine,” he told her, then looked at Thaniel. “You have nothing to be sorry for, I’m just—” Jax sighed and ran his hand through his hair in disgust.
“You don’t have to explain, I misunderstood,” Thaniel said, but Jax just shook his head.
“No, you didn’t.” With a deep swallow, Jax looked at Tierney then turned his gaze back on Thaniel. “I—something happened when I was a kid, and, it was bad. You did nothing wrong. It just took me by surprise. But I do love you, Thaniel. I just don’t know if I will ever get over it enough to be comfortable with too much.” Jax stared at him intently.
Realizing his friend was waiting for him to say he understood, Thaniel tentatively reached out and took Jax’s hand in his. “It’s okay.”
He watched moisture fill Jax’s eyes and it surprised him, this need he suddenly had to protect his big, strong, yet vulnerable friend. He’d have never guessed that Jax hid such dark secrets, yet now he realized it had been there all along. He’d just been so wrapped up in seeing what he thought he saw, thinking his friends were going to kick him out, wondering how they could want him, that he’d missed so much.
Tierney bit her lip as she watched them. “Jax?”
Jax nodded but didn’t take his eyes off Thaniel. “I’m fine, really.”
Chapter Sixty-Four
Bonding Love
THANIEL WATCHED THE LOVE pass between Tierney and Jax, then they looked down at him. “So, about the bond,” Tierney said and anguish stabbed Thaniel as he remembered the magic that tried to tie them all together.
She must’ve seen the hurt in his eyes, because she cupped the good side of his face. “I’m sorry, sweetie, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“No, I understand,” he said and they both frowned at him.
“You understand what?” Tierney asked and he was beginning to feel uncomfortable under their gazes. “I get it, you are both mated to each other.”
“So you think he wouldn’t want to bond with you?” Tierney asked and Thaniel felt heat creeping up his face. “Well, yeah, but that’s all right, I get it.”
Tierney gazed at him with tears in her eyes. “No, love, that isn’t it. We want to bond with you, but we’d never do that without talking to you first.”
Thaniel didn’t know what to say. They actually wanted to bond with him? That’s what she had said, but he was too scared to let himself believe that she really meant it.
“Thaniel,” Tierney said, and swallowed. “We just want you happy. We want you to have a chance to find your own mate, and I’m afraid if we bond with you, that will never happen.”
Thaniel blinked at her as he thought about what she said and suddenly he knew, he’d never find anyone he would love more than these two. He just didn’t know how to make them believe him. Filled with both happiness that they wanted him, along with sadness that he’d likely never have them, brought tears to his eyes. “No. You both make me happy, I love you both and I don’t want anyone else.” He felt like he was about to fall off a ledge and they were his only lifeline.
Tierney gazed at him for the longest time, before finally nodding. “If we do this, there won’t be any going back. You will be a part of us. We will be able to feel what you feel, and you will feel what we feel. You will be our mate.”
Thaniel held his breath, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing.
Tierney glanced at Jax and he nodded.
“Can you accept me like this?” Jax asked, and Thaniel couldn’t believe he’d even have to ask.
“I love you, Jax. I love both of you and will take any part of you that you can or want to give,” he said.
Jax looked relieved and Tierney smiled at them. “We are new to all this, so we don’t know how it all works, but I will promise you, that if you ever do find someone you’d rather be with, while it will break our hearts, we will do our best to break the bond and let you go.”
Thaniel sucked in a breath. Was this really happening?
“So, will you be our mate?” Jax asked and more tears welled up in Thaniel’s eyes as they waited for an answer.
Thaniel swallowed and blinked back the urge to cry. “You really want me?” He hated how childlike, ho
w pathetic and desperate, his voice suddenly sounded.
“We do, love,” Tierney said softly and Jax, eyes also glassy, nodded as he squeezed Thaniel’s arm. Thaniel nodded as well, ready to start bawling like a baby.
“Please,” he whispered, sniffling back tears. Someone finally wanted him. Someone he loved with his whole heart and soul, loved him back. Was he dreaming all this?
“Okay,” Tierney said and with so much love shining in her eyes, she reached up to tuck his hair out of the way.
Sudden panic filled him. “No, don’t—” he whispered, terrified that if they saw his scar, they would change their mind.
“Shh, sweetheart, it’s all right,” Tierney said and he held still as she moved his hair out of the way. He squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the disgust on their faces, when he felt a whisper tickle his cheek. Startled, he opened his eyes to find Tierney’s lips gently kissing the mutilated side of his face.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you, but you are beautiful—stunning—to us,” Tierney said as she trailed the sweetest kisses up along the scar and burn on the side of his face.
As Jax lightly caressed the scars on his forearms at the same time, a hole inside his soul began to knit back together. Silent tears fell as they slowly made love to him. He had died and gone to heaven, for surely no one here could ever love him like this. They kissed, touched, and showed him how deeply they loved him.
Since he was four years old, he’d longed for someone, anyone, to hold him and tell him it would all be okay and now—now he’d finally found it.
His leopard began to purr, but before long, he was once again crying out for release as they awoke his body to the wonders they had to offer. Gentle loving hands touched him everywhere, and he almost came when Tierney lowered her head and wrapped her sweet lips around his throbbing cock. In fact, he did come a little as she sucked on him.
Thaniel gripped the sheets and hung on as they played his body like a violin. Every nerve ending was crying out for more and Jax finally moved to kneel behind Tierney while she sucked Thaniel’s cock in and out of her lush lips. Just the sight nearly sent him over the edge.
She cried out and licked at the head of Thaniel’s cock as Jax entered her and then her sucks began to coincide with Jax’s thrusts. Deeper and faster.
“Oh!” His body felt like molten lava and he was about to explode. Sudden panic filled him. “Tierney, no! I-I’m going to—” He tried to stop her, but she shook her head, and her eyes as they held his, told him she was nowhere near finished with him. Thaniel threw back his head and hissed as pleasure consumed him while his leopard banged around inside, also loving every second of what was happening.
Then unable to keep his eyes off the two in front of him, he lifted his head and watched, amazed at the pleasure on both Jax’s face and Tierney’s as she worked him all the way down her throat.
He’d never seen anything more erotic in his life, and a moment later, his orgasm ripped through him as his leopard let out a wild, exhilarated roar. Tierney swallowed and kept working him as he came in her throat, then he heard Jax let out a yell. Power, like a living entity, began to swirl all around them, tingling and tickling, and when Tierney slipped him out of her mouth, Thaniel was shocked to find he was still hard and aching even more than before.
“How?” he asked.
Tierney smiled, her eyes glittering a deep, dark purple as they began to glow. “Magic.” More power shimmered around them as Jax, also still hard, moved to the side of them.
Thaniel, heart pounding furiously, watched in wonder as Tierney slid up and overtop of him and lowered herself onto his straining cock. “This is it, there’s no turning back,” she warned him.
“Please. Make me yours,” he pleaded, breathless and unable to stop from thrusting into her wet, sweet warmth—it was heaven.
As she rode Thaniel, Tierney took Jax into her mouth, making the big male whimper in ecstasy. The power swirling around was thick and dense as it encompassed them all and began to pull and slide over his skin in a soft caress. The cat inside of him gave a roar and Thaniel felt an intense pressure as a different kind of magic rose up from deep inside of him.
Then the bond took over, driving them on and his life force, his soul, began to mingle and entwine with theirs, and it felt so perfect, so right. Suddenly, he knew without any doubt that he was where he should be.
Wherever these two were—was home, and no matter that they thought he might find a mate of his own someday, he knew he never would. He was meant for them and they for him.
This time, Tierney was prepared for him and held still as the spines in his cock tickled her inner walls.
I wonder why this didn’t happen when he was in my mouth.
Thaniel blushed when he heard Tierney’s thought in his head.
“You heard that?” Tierney’s purple eyes were wide as she stared at him.
Thaniel nodded, and blinked when it hit him that he heard her speaking in his head. “Y-yeah, ah…I didn’t mean to hear it,” he said and Tierney and Jax chuckled.
Tierney lay on top of him, spent and languid and Jax wrapped his arms around the both of them. Then he leaned over and laid a gentle kiss on Thaniel’s lips.
When Jax pulled away, Thaniel stared into his eyes and through the bond, felt and heard what they both felt for him. He was stunned at Jax’s self-doubt, self-hatred and guilt. On top of that, Thaniel caught his male lover’s worry that Thaniel wouldn’t like the kiss.
“I love you,” Thaniel whispered, not breaking contact with Jax’s eyes. Then, Jax leaned down and buried his head in Thaniel’s shoulder.
“I love you both, thank you,” Thaniel said to his two lovers, his mates.
“We love you too, Thaniel,” they said in unison.
Tierney leaned up and smiled at the wonder shining in Thaniel’s eyes when she asked if he could feel their love through the bond.
With a deep swallow, he nodded and his eyes grew glassy. “I can.” And he could, and wow, he’d never in all his dreams, imagined the love he felt from them. It astounded him and made him feel weepy all over again.
“Looks like we are all going to have to work on shields,” Tierney said with a smile. Jax grinned and Thaniel smiled at them, never happier in his life.
Chapter Sixty-Five
Protective
THANIEL WAS ON HIS WAY to the kitchen the next morning, when he paused and raised his head. The scent of Were-cat, and not Elianna, filled his nostrils. He tensed up. Who was here? Whoever it was, was coming through the kitchen from the mudroom. The sound of Lilly squealing right before she shot out of the kitchen with Bastien behind her, startled him.
“I won! I won!” Lilly shouted just as the strange Were-cat also entered the great room from the kitchen.
Having never seen the guy before, Thaniel just reacted. One moment he was human and the next, he was in full leopard form. Lilly, Bastien, and the strange Were-cat all halted mid-stride, eyes wide in shock.
“Whoa, easy buddy,” the strange male said soothingly as Thaniel began to advance on them.
“Thaniel?” Sami’s voice behind him made him pause. “It’s all right, buddy, no one is going to hurt you,” Sami said. “That’s Enyowas, he’s not a threat. He came to help Elianna.” Sami moved to stand right beside him. Thaniel’s leopard watched the strange green-eyed, dark-haired male Were-cat. Then, with a growl of warning, he nudged Lilly, who’d been watching them, away. Once he had her a safe distance from the strange cat, he lay down and the next thing he knew, Lilly was sitting petting him.
***
TIERNEY WALKED into the great room with Jax right beside her to see Sami, Bastien, and a stranger that she figured was Enyowas, all staring toward the fireplace.
Then she realized they were looking at Thaniel who lay on the floor in leopard form. Lilly sat pressed against him, petting him, her face a study in happiness. “I knew you were a kitty-cat,” Lilly said to Thaniel.
“Holy shit,” Jax said, but t
here was pride in his voice and a twinkle in his eyes.
Tierney smiled and they made their way over to their new mate who was staring at them with bright blue eyes.
“He’s protecting Lilly,” Sami said, grinning at them.
“Yeah, no shit,” Jax said while Thaniel continued to stare at them. A moment later, he began to purr.
“Look, Jax. Thaniel’s letting me pet him,” Lilly said, as Jax and Tierney walked over and lowered themselves to the floor as well.
“He is,” Jax said to Lilly, then running his hands through Thaniel’s pelt, he leaned close. “Told you that you would never hurt her,” he said and Thaniel rubbed his head against Jax.
A strangled gasp made them all look up.
“Look, Mommy, I’m petting Thaniel. Told you he was a kitty cat,” Lilly said.
As horror flooded Chloe’s face, Tierney jumped to her feet and hurried over to her. Chloe was shaking as she stared at her daughter.
“Chloe, it’s all right, he won’t hurt her,” she said, taking the woman’s hand into hers. At her words, Chloe blinked and swallowed deeply before tearing her gaze from Thaniel.
Chloe turned her frightened gaze on Tierney. “He … he’s so big.”
Tierney didn’t correct her and say that Thaniel was actually pretty small for a leopard. “Come, he won’t hurt you,” she said instead, and drew the hesitant woman over to the group by the fireplace. “He was protecting Lilly from someone he thought was a threat,” Tierney explained, but she wasn’t sure if Chloe heard her.
“It’s all right,” Jax said and made room for Chloe while Thaniel lowered his head to his paws. Tierney could feel her new mate’s worry that Chloe would be angry, or hate him.
Lowering herself back to the floor, Tierney ran her hands over the leopard and sent him soothing, loving thoughts, happy when his tense body relaxed. Then she indicated that Chloe should pet Thaniel as well. “He won’t hurt you, or Lilly,” Tierney said staring into the other woman’s eyes.
Dracones Boxset Books 1-5 Page 124