by Renee George
But he would have died to protect Siobhan. Why had she been so different from those before her?
It didn’t matter now. She was dead. And soon, Romy would be dead. And Sol, as a werewolf, would live a long time—but he too would die, leaving Lucien behind to face an immortal life without them. If he allowed himself their love, he would eventually shatter at the loss.
The woods thickened as he made his way to the lake. The call of the water deepened his guilt, his sadness. One last time, he promised himself. He’d visit this place, his favorite spot in Fortunate, one last time before leaving behind the best things to ever happen to him. The bittersweet memories of the night the three of them had shared might be his only warmth in an otherwise cold existence.
The bark of the various trees felt both smooth and rough as his fingertips, unbidden, reached out to each one he passed. His bare toes crunched grass and leaves and twigs and rocks as if he were trying to memorize the shape and texture of each. These woods had been a haven, a safe place. The lake, a living essence, had accepted him without hesitation. He remembered Romy’s dive into his waters. She’d swum with such confidence! If he hadn’t been so afraid, he might have dove in with her. Her naked body would have been his to fully explore and coax to pleasure.
But he was afraid. Fifty years of crippling fear. Was being alone, avoiding pain, worth not feeling such fear, especially when being with Sol and Romy had given him back a piece of his soul? A piece he’d thought he’d never get back again?
Without realizing it, he’d started running, his feet dancing over the obstacles instead of stopping for them.
He wanted his life back. He wanted a life with Romy and Sol, no matter how short. He didn’t want to live in the past anymore or worry about the future. He wanted to focus on the present, on the gifts he’d nearly left behind because of his fear of losing them.
The scent of water lilies and cattails wafted on the moist night air. He couldn’t see his lake, but knew it was just meters past the tree line. Tonight he would celebrate his homecoming, and tomorrow he would ask Romy and Sol to forgive him for being a coward.
He leapt over the final hurdle, a briar bush, and burst between two maples into the moonlit clearing—only to gasp as his gaze fell on the lake, stumble as his feet hit the soft earth. Falling forward, his arms jarred from the impact when his palms met the ground. The air was still, the bugs had quieted…
And the small lake had a reed sticking out of the middle, while two pale hands nervously flicked their fingers on the surface.
Someone was in trouble.
Lucien crawled to the water’s edge, his solid hand reaching out tentatively…
“It’s a dryad!” a small voice squeaked.
Lucien blinked rapidly to clear his panic-clouded vision. A female pixy with deformed wings frantically rowed a leaf toward him. Her excited chatter continued the moment he spotted her.
“I’ve given her a hollow reed, which should keep her going for a while, but she keeps sinking deeper into the muddy bottom! My husband went for help. Are you the help? Have you seen him? I’m frightened for him in town. He’s not comfortable around big people! The dryad gave him directions while she could still talk, but he’s terrible about asking for help when he gets lost. He might fly around until he’s so lost, he won’t find his way back home!”
Lucien ignored most of the pixy’s prattling to concentrate on the important bits. A female dryad…
The fingers on the surface belonged to Romy? His and Sol’s Romy?
Why did she have to be in the water, of all places? Why?!
She could breathe for now, thanks to the pixy. Though for how long?
He couldn’t save her. His defect meant he simply didn’t have the ability to manipulate the water.
However, he could save her from being alone.
In the span of a heartbeat, he dove into the lake, the water instantly transforming him into liquid. His clothes floated to the surface as he glided swiftly to the center where Romy stood, trapped in the murky darkness.
He wrapped himself around her, and heard startled air bubbles and a muffled cry escape from her mouth as her body jerked.
Of course he’d startled her! Stupid grim. He pulled away and watched her red hair float around her face. Her eyes, open and wide with fear, darted left and right but even with the light of a full moon, there was less than inches of visibility.
Resisting the urge to encircle her again, he put his mouth next to her ear and said, “It me, Romy. It’s Lucien.”
She turned her face slightly, her lips tightly closed around the reed’s end and her body, though still tense, no longer rigid with alarm. He knew she wouldn’t be able to visually distinguish between him and the water, but even so, he brushed against her lips before melting around her once more.
His movement dropped her a few inches deeper into the muck and her fingers could no longer reach the surface.
He glided away from her in terror. His presence had only made the situation worse. In this form, he couldn’t pull her out!
Lucien’s nightmare replayed in his mind, Siobhan splashing helplessly and him, impotent in his ability to save her.
He watched Romy’s moss-green eyes blink, searching for him, searching for a savior.
Lucien screamed his frustration, the noise, so unlike like a human scream, ricocheting across the watery landscape. Romy’s body jerked again, startled by the piercing sound.
He was killing her—actively participating in her death. Everything he did was wrong.
Swimming back to her, he moved next to her ear again, “I’m sorry, Romy. I’m so very sorry, my love. Please stay calm.”
His words seemed to soothe her, so he kept talking.
“I’ll stay with you, Romy Shea. I won’t leave you. Not ever again.”
She turned her face toward him again and blinked. She slowly took the reed from her lips and mouthed a word, then put the reed back in for another breath.
“I don’t understand.”
She pulled the reed out and this time said aloud, “Swim.”
When she put the reed in her mouth again, her eyes widened as she spit it back out immediately. She shook her head and drew an imaginary line at her neck.
Goddess take him—she couldn’t breathe! The reed no longer breached the surface!
What had she meant by “swim”? Did she want him to swim away? To leave her?
Lucien’s thoughts jumbled nonsensically. What had Romy said to him at her house?
You didn’t kill her. You just couldn’t save her.
Siobhan couldn’t swim, couldn’t save herself—but Romy had swam the other night like a fish.
That’s what she’d meant! She could swim! If he could get her free, loosen the clay around her feet and legs enough for her to get herself out, she could swim to safety.
He dove down, pressing his molecules into the tightly packed mud imprisoning Romy. Her legs moved slightly every time he managed to make progress. She was fighting. Fighting to stay alive. Fighting to stay with him.
In seconds, he had the muck broken apart and Romy kicked herself to the surface.
Lucien slipped behind her in time to see a hairless werewolf lumbering into the water, splashing toward them.
Romy yelled, “Stop! Sol! I’m okay. I’m really okay.” She flipped her feet to the surface as proof then rolled to her stomach and swam easily for shore.
The lycan roared, howling frustrations and relief at the moon. Lucien felt the same relief as he followed Romy’s path to dry land.
He hadn’t saved her, but he’d made it possible for her to save herself.
The emotional surge renewed his soul. He slithered into the grass, waiting to become solid again.
Lucien watched Romy put a hand on Sol’s shoulder, her trembling fingers stroking his buttery-caramel skin. His blond hair hung loose, brushing the ground as his chest heaved. A choking sob racked his body.
Romy wrapped her arms around him as he shifted back t
o human form, holding the broken beast close until his crying subsided. Lucien stood, his body no longer liquid. He put his hands on their heads and knelt next to the pair. They both turned, their gazes meeting his. He gathered his courage.
“Forgive me. Please.”
Another sob escaped Sol, who wrapped his long arm around Lucien’s waist and gathered him to them. Being this close to Romy’s and Sol’s naked and beautifully unique bodies, Lucien’s cock stirred. He fought to keep his body solid as his length pressed against Sol’s leg and his lover drew him closer, moving his thigh against the thickening shaft, creating a sweet friction.
Lucien licked his lips. He leaned to his left and kissed Romy, her lips parting for him. Gently breaking the kiss, he turned his face to the right and found Sol’s mouth just as willing. “I need you both. I need you so much.” The words hung heavy on his heart as he waited for their response.
Romy nodded. “Goddess help me, I feel the same way. Without you,” she gazed at Lucien, “or you,” she bent toward Sol and kissed his eyelids, moist with tears, “I can’t make sense of this life.”
Sol’s face reddened, and Lucien could tell the werewolf was holding his breath—and keeping something from them. When he finally exhaled, he dropped back onto his heels and rubbed his thighs nervously. “You both want me?”
Lucien and Romy nodded.
“To share?”
Lucien nodded. “Yes.”
“Yep,” Romy added.
“Then why do I feel like a consolation prize?” Sol asked.
“Some consolation,” Romy snorted.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Goddess, you’re thick, wolf! Does it need to be spelled out for you? We fucking love you, you idiot.”
His gaze swept them both but landed on Lucien. “You feel the same way?”
“I’m here, and I’m not planning on going anywhere. I’ll stay as long as you both will have me.”
“Forever then,” Sol said, sealing the bargain with a heated kiss.
Lucien responded warmly, though the recesses of his mind harbored a deep sadness. Sol’s and Romy’s forever wouldn’t last nearly as long as his. What would he do when they were gone?
When Romy’s hand trailed over the skin on his back until her strong fingers firmly cupped his ass, he buried his doubts. He wouldn’t dwell on the things he couldn’t control, the past…the future. Instead, he chose the present.
And looking at Romy and Sol, his present couldn’t get any better.
Chapter Twelve
Romy had been surprised when Lucien had showed up in the water. He’d said he was leaving, and there had been no doubt in her mind she’d never see him again. Sol surprised her as well, scrambling into the water a half-crazed beast. They’d both come through for her. They’d both wanted to be her knight in shining, well…glorious birthday suits.
She felt a pang when Sol said “forever”. Her handicap made “forever” nothing but a dream. She pushed the thought away as her fingers traced the skin of Sol’s and Lucien’s backs. Sol was fire and Lucien ice. Polar opposites, but somehow they worked.
As Lucien kissed Sol, their tongues meeting through parted lips, Romy’s pussy tightened with lust. The throbbing ache between her legs had never been so insistent. She wasn’t sure what was hotter, the way they touched her or the way they touched each other.
When Sol’s bronze hand slid around Lucien’s pale erection, she let out a stuttering sigh of excitement. Both men turned to her and smiled with wicked intent. She covered her mouth to stifle the squeal and nervous giggle threatening to burst from her throat.
Sol’s tongue played across his lower lip, his gaze piercing and demanding. He wanted her to watch, and goddess have mercy, she would give him what he wanted. Rawr.
Lucien seemed to know exactly what Sol had planned, as he too stared at Romy while his hand found Sol’s rigid length. They angled their bodies toward each other, Lucien’s knee sliding between Sol’s.
Romy pinched one of her nipples, while her other hand slipped between her thighs. She groaned as she watched them, dark and light, fisting each other’s cocks, sliding the foreskins up and down the thick shafts. The pearl of pre-cum was easy to see on Sol in the night’s silver light. She assumed it was there on Lucien as well.
Goddess, she wanted to taste them, to take them both into her mouth at the same time. Neither man was small, by any means. Could she fit their girths between her lips? She certainly wanted to try.
Sol bent forward, grasping a handful of Lucien’s dark hair with his free hand. He yanked the nix’s neck back until he throat was bared to the moon. He kissed and sucked along Lucien’s skin, his tongue snaking out for licks along the groove between neck and jaw. Lucien pulled Sol closer, catching his ear, taking the lobe between his teeth, biting and tugging until Sol growled.
“Ohhh,” Romy breathed. Her fingers deftly worked her clit back and forth while she watched the erotic exchange.
They both stopped and stared at her.
She tingled with anticipation. They let each other go and turned to face Romy, Sol’s eyebrow quirking as if in question. Yes! She nodded. Yes. It could be the only answer. Anything they wanted from her, anything they needed, the answer would be yes.
They guided her until she was on her back. Both men took turns kissing her and kissing each other, their saliva mingling until she couldn’t tell which taste belonged to whom. Sol started down her chest, taking a tightly drawn nipple into his warm, wet mouth, sucking hard until she gasped from both the pain and the pleasure. Lucien took over her other breast, his lips and tongue cooler then Sol’s but just as exciting.
She squirmed under their ministrations. Her pussy throbbed with need. Unbidden, her hips thrust into the air. Grasping their hair, she pushed them down her torso. Fingers slid inside her channel, probing and warm. Sol’s. More fingertips spread her folds as she raised her hips again to meet cool lips. Lucien’s.
Romy rose to her elbows, her face slack with pleasure as she watched them take turns licking and sucking and fucking her with their lips and teeth, tongues and fingers. Every once in a while, they would use their hand to stimulate her sex while their mouths met in heated exchanges, tasting her on each other’s lips.
“Ahhhh,” she moaned, squirming beneath them. She wanted them inside her so badly it ached. “Please, please.” She scrambled up, pushing Sol back until he sat on his heels. She lifted her leg over his and straddled his straining cock, guiding it to her opening.
“Fuck yes,” he murmured, low and throaty.
She drove her pussy down over his shaft, taking him inside her until his balls reached her ass. Leaning forward, she blindly reached back for Lucien. “Goddess… Inside me! I need you in me,” she begged.
His body instantly cooled her back as he reached down, his fingers finding their way to the rim of her pussy. “I don’t know if there’s room, Romy. I don’t want to hurt you.” His words were a whisper across her shoulder.
Sol’s hands grabbed her ass cheeks and pulled her up, until his length was half out. “We’ll make room,” he said. “If that’s what you want, love. We’ll make it happen.”
His words flooded heat to her groin and she cried out, bucking against him as an unexpected orgasm tore through her abdomen, bowing her back and shaking her thighs until she was nothing more than a pile of jelly.
She panted, her forehead resting against Sol’s. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop it.”
Sol laughed. “No worries.”
Lucien chuckled behind her, and she felt his cock press against her ass as he said, “We have plenty of time, love. And I think that orgasm might have given us the room we need to do what you want.”
“Goddess, save me,” she said to them both, the thrill of anticipation tight in her throat. “I can’t wait.”
Sol lay on his back with Romy straddling his thighs, his cock seated deep inside her liquid heat. Her pussy had clamped so hard on his shaft when she’d gushed her orgas
m, he’d almost climaxed with her. It wouldn’t have been right though. The moment had to be shared with Lucien. It seemed too important, as if their lives depended on it. Such an irrational thought, but he’d had it all the same.
Her breasts were marvelously soft, round and perfect. He squeezed them once before pulling her forward until her chest met his. Her hands slid along his arms until her fingers entwined with his above his head.
He could see Lucien kiss along her spine, and feel her shudder of pleasure with every press of his lips. His cock grew even stiffer. “You’re killing me,” he said, his gaze finding Lucien’s.
Lucien smiled. Kneeling behind Romy, the pale nix rubbed his cock against her luscious ass and along the base of Sol’s shaft. Lucien cupped Sol’s ball sac, giving it a slight squeeze before his fingers began to rim the edge of Romy’s opening. She squirmed, pressing back against his fingers in response. The gliding movement felt so fucking good. If they didn’t manage this quicker, Sol wouldn’t last.
Romy pushed forward more, raising her hips a little, pulling Sol’s cock almost completely out. Lucien held their shafts together, placing his swollen head at her opening.
Romy whimpered. “Fuck, Lucien. Just fucking get in me, already.”
Lucien’s face was strained as he forced himself into her tight pussy, the nix’s cock rubbing against Sol’s in the process. Romy cried out as they slowly stretched her wide.
Sol held his hips still, resisting the urge to thrust, knowing it would ruin Lucien’s efforts. He waited as Romy adjusted to their combined girth.
When she was ready, she panted, “Now. Now.”
Lucien rocked his hips forward, stroking his cock inside Romy, and simultaneously creating friction against Sol’s dick. The sensation made all the blood in Sol’s body rush to his groin, leaving him lightheaded.
“Oh damn,” he groaned. “Shit feels so good. So fucking good.”