He saw Nicolas shudder and begin to move. Matthias took a few tentative steps, unsure if the wall had dropped. He forged on until he was standing over the pair. Nicolas’ eyes were open, and Matthias could see the white reflecting back to him.
“Matthias? What happened?”
Matthias dropped to his knees. One of his fears was allayed. He felt the sting of tears for the first time since he’d been pulled from his mother’s arms at nine, but he forced the emotion back, just glad Nicolas lived. His gaze then drifted to Britt. He gathered her into his arms, her head dropping back unfettered. The dark mark had crept up her neck and was emblazoned on her face. He lifted her, prepared to take her back to the cabin and help her, somehow, someway. He couldn’t let the evil win within her.
She had known what to do for Nicolas, she had used her power to heal him, but how did one heal the healer? His only gift was the ability to deliver death.
Chapter Six
Nicolas trudged behind Matthias, his body weak. None of his limbs wanted to work properly. His mind was a fog. He had no idea how he’d gotten in the midst of the wood or why Britt was lying limply in Matthias’ arms. Matthias had seemed to have a mindless singular focus on the female and had not answered any of his questions. Scattered memories washed through him, an inward battle with something that tried to overtake him. Had it won? Had he hurt Britt? He was too afraid to ask those questions, scared he couldn’t accept the answers.
They walked persistently for what felt like hours. Nicolas’ body was numb by the time they caught sight of the cabin. It was only a speck in the distance, but a beacon as he came from the darkness. The night sky was lightening as the sun had started its ascent, not quite over the horizon, but it still proved to be a dreadfully gray day, another of many.
The longer they walked, the more the memories assailed him. Pieces of the puzzle started to fit together and the errant thoughts that had plagued him started to filter through once more. He felt weak. For whatever it was that had been within him to take over so easily, he wasn’t as strong as he’d thought.
Nicolas saw the tight stretch of Matthias’ shoulders and sensed his quiet rage. The woman meant a great deal to him, so much that he’d done everything in his power to save her. His friend had never shown any partiality to any female before, so it was a testament to how unique she was.
She’d turned the eye of a statue.
Worry filled him with each step. The woman was teeming with whatever had been inside him. He could now remember the torturing pain of it being ripped from him, pushing him toward the brink of madness. Britt had saved him. He would do anything in his power to save her in return.
Once they reached the house, Nicolas could sense they weren’t alone. Matthias looked over his shoulder at Nicolas, his look saying much the same. With Matthias’ hands full, Nicolas took point. His hand went to the front door, but he tensed and pulled back. The door was in one piece, not broken as he’d left it.
That spoke of one person, but there was no definite. Nicolas pressed open the door a few inches and peek around the edge. Nothing looked out of place and no forms appeared. He took two tentative steps inside, observing everything. Matthias moved closer behind him, lurking in the shadows.
“There is no need to hover. Just come. And bring the girl.”
Nicolas rose as he heard Gaia’s voice, turning to see a look of relief turn to the normal scorn on Matthias’ face. As they settled into the next room, Britt still in Matthias’ hold, they saw her sitting in the middle of the living room’s coffee table. Her forest green dress flowed over one edge of the wood, the length of it tumbling in moving waves as if it lived. Blues and gold roiled through the deep green as it stirred. Her normal headdress of leaves, ivy, and twigs rested on her riotous auburn curls. Flowers sprouted on the table at her feet, making her appear soft and the goddess was anything but soft. She turned her emerald eyes on them, her bare arms lifting as she drew herself to her feet.
Nicolas nodded in greeting, unable to meet her gaze. Matthias only lowered his head as he normally did. Gaia’s eyes moved to Britt and then to Matthias. “You’ve allowed her to come to harm?”
“I tried to stop her.” The look of utter despair on Matthias’ face made Nicolas feel wretched.
And he couldn’t let Matthias take the blame. “It was my fault. She did this for me. She saved me from evil, and now I must find a way to repay her.”
“She’s a force of nature. Neither of you could have stopped her,” Gaia spit out after a few moments of quiet. “But I had hoped she would last longer before you broke her.”
“Broke her?” the men asked in unison.
Gaia sat back down into the ring of flowers. “She has an almost infinite source of power. Note I said, almost.”
“How do we fix whatever we’ve done?” Nicolas needed to know the answer. He’d do anything it took, even if it meant handing over his life.
“She’s a battery, a battery that has just been drained. You need to recharge her so she can fight the evil she’s taken within.”
Matthias barely waited for Gaia’s words to be complete before he added, “And how do we do that?”
Gaia smiled and settled back, resting on her elbows. “What happens when you touch her?”
Matthias’ brows ridged in thought. “I feel an electric flow of ener—we have to touch her? That’s all?”
Gaia’s salacious smile was bordering on smarmy. “It’s a little more complicated than that.”
“Isn’t it always?” Matthias asked.
Gaia chuckled. “What is the most intense form of touching?”
Matthias scratched his head for a moment before heat flooded his face. “Sex?”
“Our resident monk has hit the nail on the head.” Gaia sprung from the table and began to flounce around the room. “You’ve got to make love to her. Feed your strength and power into her, skin to skin. It is the most basic, raw power humans have.”
Nicolas ground his teeth together. He knew Matthias should be the one to do it, but it didn’t stop him from wanting to be the man to do the deed. And then a question rolled into his mind. “Is she human?”
“Yes.” Gaia nodded her head with a sly smile before shaking it side to side. “And no.”
“And you won’t tell us more, will you?” Matthias ground out.
“Nope. It’s all you need for now. So you two get in there and fix her.”
“Two?” Both he and Matthias said it at once.
“She needs all your strength and power. One of you won’t be enough to jumpstart her battery.”
Nicolas sucked in a breath and felt the heat of Matthias’ gaze on him. As he rounded to look at his friend, he saw anger and derision in Matthias’ glare. Matthias didn’t want to share any more than Nicolas did. Nicolas still had memories of her erotic touch, and knew what it felt like to have her sizzling caress on his skin. Even after everything that happened, he felt the seductive call of her body now as much as he had when he’d been bewitched.
“What if she’s still out cold? We don’t have her consent to do this.” Matthias moved closer to Britt’s door, his gaze sweeping the wood.
Their goddess cocked her head to one side and slowly appraised them both. “She wanted you earlier tonight, and you refused.”
“She was drunk,” Matthias argued.
“She was uninhibited. She asked for what she wanted without the pretext of what she should and shouldn’t do strangling her,” Gaia countered.
“I fought Illuminati in the wood; they could be coming for us even now.”
“They sensed Nicolas’ change and came to him. There are others coming, but they won’t arrive here for at least another day or two. And once she releases the evil from her, it will be even harder for them to find you. So the faster you get in there and do the deed…”
Matthias moved to the door, resting a hand in the middle of Nicolas’ chest. “I should be with her first. If she reawakens to see you, it might frighten her. I can explain it
to her afterward.”
Nicolas bit his tongue, knowing Matthias was probably right. After all that had happened tonight, he didn’t deserve the right to even want her. He nodded and stepped back, no matter how much he didn’t want to.
Gaia coughed to get their attention. “There are no firstsies or secondsies. You both need to get in there … together.”
Matthias caught his gaze once more, his eyes widening as realization hit him. “We have to share her? No.”
Anger swept through Nicolas when he first heard Matthias’ response, but he grasped on and held it at bay. After everything that had happened, he knew it would be hard for Matthias to trust him, especially after he’d put Britt at risk. “I know you don’t want to share her, and after everything I’ve put her through, I know I have no rights to her at all. Can you put down your jealousy for an hour or two to save her? I’ll walk away afterward, and she’s yours.”
“I’ve laid no claim—”
“But it’s obvious you want to lay claim. I get it. I won’t hurt her.”
Matthias looked at him for long moments before taking a hand to scrub his face. “I haven’t felt like this in … forever. She’s special.”
“I know. I know exactly how special she is. But after what she’s done for me, if this is the way to save her, then I must do this.” Nicolas knew there was also a small speck of need driving his words, but he couldn’t help it. It would be his one and only chance to touch her intimately. He hoped he could walk away once he’d had a taste.
Matthias turned to Gaia once more. “There’s no other way? I will lay down my life for her if need be.”
“She needs you to be there in the future, to protect her. Give her what she needs now so you can be there later.”
Matthias’ shoulders slumped, and Nicolas felt his gut clench. This wasn’t how he’d foreseen an encounter with Britt, far from it, but he wasn’t passing up the opportunity to be there for her, either.
Gaia coughed again to get their attention. “If you’ve finally made up your mind to do the right thing, I’m off. I don’t have time to stand here all morning.”
Matthias nodded, apparently resolved to do the inevitable.
“Once you take care of her, contact Thierry. Another will need your female’s healing very soon.” Gaia vanished in a large cloud of smoke and left the two alone beside the door.
Jealousy filled Nicolas. Another would need her? He didn’t want any more to feel her touch than already had. As soon as the thought was in his head, he realized he had no right to it. She was Matthias’. It was obvious.
“I know you want her, Nicolas.”
“I do. I won’t lie, but after everything that’s happened, I doubt she’ll want me after this night.”
“One night with her wouldn’t be enough for me.”
“I doubt it will be for me, either, but it will have to do.”
****
Matthias moved closer to the bed and saw the darkened mark growing across Britt’s neck and face, the tentacles undulating under her skin. She twisted and contorted in the bed as the evil within her blossomed, his stomach twisting for her pain. He lowered to sit beside her and gathered her into his arms as Nicolas stepped up to the bed.
“If touch is what she needs, skin to skin contact should help,” Matthias said aloud as he began to peel her clothing off. The more he removed, the more of the evil he saw. Hands shaking in anger, he struggled to draw her shirt from over her head.
He noted absently that Nicolas had begun to remove his clothing as well. His teeth set on edge at the thought of him with Britt, but he had to swallow his aversion. Nicolas was his best friend, and he had no claims on Britt, no matter how strongly he felt for her already. Matthias focused on the task at hand and began working on the hooks of her bra, struggling with his unsteady hands. Not once did her skin glow as he touched her, nor did he feel the energy flow between them. Sorrow touched him as he looked over her pale form.
“Let me help you—”
“I can do it!” Matthias nearly growled out. He didn’t want or need Nicolas’ help getting her bare. That task would be his and his alone. His fingers would trace patterns on skin, dancing a path of molten need before Nicolas would lay one hand on her.
Once she was freed of her clothing, he noticed her shiver. “Add more logs to the fire. She’s cold.”
As Nicolas moved to the fireplace, he eyed her body. Firm, rounded breasts were the perfect size for his hands. He wanted to mold her to his grasp, but he felt as though he would be molesting her sleeping form and kept his hands beside him. Her pale blonde hair glistened in the firelight, picking up the hints of gold that ran through the length. He looked lower and saw her patch of golden curls at her apex and how they shined as well between her supple legs. Long limbed and graceful, she was stunningly beautiful, so much so, his eyes hurt from looking at her.
The fire grew with each log Nicolas added, and he watched the light dance along her slightly rounded abdomen. She had the body of a woman, all curves and soft places. A woman he could hold against him and his hardness would melt into her. Matthias rose and began to remove his own clothing, his gaze never leaving her satin skin.
Moments later, he slid beside her, his entire length touching her. He captured her and brought her closer, the front of her molded to him. She released a groan and snuggled even closer, her head resting on his shoulder. He ran his hands along her back, hope filling him as her skin began to glow faintly with her blue light.
Nicolas stood beside the bed, watching them. His hands were clasped in fists at his side. Matthias knew he awaited an invitation, one Matthias didn’t want to give. Not yet. For now, he would bask a moment in her embrace, the only man in her bed. He dropped kisses to her forehead and spread his hands along her back and ass, squeezing the firm globes. She began to squirm against him, her mouth kissing his chin and cheek. Her pelvis twisted, rubbing her pussy against his cock, his pre-cum already spreading from the tip to her stomach.
Her light grew ever brighter, but still nowhere near what he’d seen in the past. Matthias looked down at her, seeing her eyes open. They shone onyx, the whites completely gone. She was under the evil’s spell, and he knew they had no more time to waste. He sought Nicolas’ gaze and nodded his head. His friend slowly slid in behind her, covering her back with his front.
The light intensified minutely. Matthias lowered his hand between her legs, testing her pussy. He found her already wet, a light coating of her cream covering her sex. He ran the tip of his finger around her hard nub, and she bucked into his touch, a moan coming from her lips. The light rose a bit more as he speared his finger through her folds. Her hips moved of their own accord, beginning a slow, undulating tempo matched to his finger’s movement.
Matthias bit his tongue, his balls tightening to his body already. It had been so long since he’d had a woman, he wasn’t sure how long he could hold back. He stood on the precipice, and he instinctively knew she would need much from them to overcome the evil within.
Nicolas slid his hands between Matthias and Britt and captured her breasts, kneading them as Matthias had envisioned doing moments before. Matthias watched those hands move and pressed a finger into her depths. A deep moan came from Britt’s throat as she arched into the touch.
She was tight, not virginal, but close to it. It had been some time since she’d had a partner, and Matthias smiled at that. He’d never considered asking her if there were a man in her life, not that it mattered now. She was his.
She was theirs.
The thought made him frown. Somehow it didn’t sound quite as bad as he’d imagined it would be moments ago. If there was any man he had to share her with, Nicolas was the only one he could handle. Any other man would be laying down his life with the first touch. Matthias saw Nicolas squeezing her breasts, and it was like an extension of his own caress. The thought floored him, but allowed him to continue, his displeasure dissipating.
Britt’s hips languidly moved over his fing
er, her breathing shortening. Her light grew with each stroke. He added another finger, and she cried out, her body becoming more feverish, her motion growing faster. Matthias lowered his head to hers and captured her lips for a heated kiss. He tongue danced along his as she returned his fervor.
Her black gaze glistened, light shining off the onyx depths. A flicker of blue began to invade the black before she closed her eyes in abandon. Matthias added another finger, stretching her tight channel. His fingers plunged into her deeply, caressing the walls of her sex. More of her cream slid from her, readying her for his cock.
Nicolas began to move a finger to her core, gathering the cream and pulling it behind her opening. Her body stiffened momentarily as he assumed Nicolas had begun to press a finger to her tight bud. Matthias continued to thrust his fingers within her, allowing her to associate desire with Nicolas’ foreign touch. Her breathing caught in her chest, and she slowly arched into the touch. A mew of pleasure was dragged from her throat as she began to relax against Nicolas, her breathing still tight, coming in short pants.
Matthias drew his fingers from her. She pressed against him, her face contorted in frustration. He reached between them and covered his cock with the condom Nicolas handed him then brought the head to her opening, squeezing a few inches into her. Britt cried out as she angled her hips for his invasion. Her light brightened considerably as she demanded he complete her. Matthias thrust forward, only gaining a few inches into her tight channel. He moved within her again, pressing forward another few inches.
Once he was finally seated within her, he rolled to his back with her atop him. Her hips settled over his lap, and she began to move of her own accord, taking his entire length within her. She moved above him like a woman possessed. He had to chuckle, because it seemed that was exactly what she was.
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