by Krista Wolf
“We were ambushed out in the far desert,” he said. “Mortar attack, followed by a ground assault. My whole unit was wiped out, almost to a single man.”
Broderick swallowed hard, then lifted his shirt. Just beneath his rib cage, he pointed to the long, zig-zagging scar I’d seen before.
“The shrapnel hurt me bad,” he said, “but it was the infection that almost killed me. Nothing they gave me seemed to slow it. I’d been out there three days without any help, bleeding non-stop, my body taking on all kinds of nasty stuff. I had a raging fever. 105 I think. I don’t remember much. I was delirious…”
I reached out and let my touch linger on the flat of his stomach. With the pads of my fingers I traced the gnarled pink skin from end to end.
“She came to me on death’s door,” he said. “Offered me a chance to live. A chance to heal from my wounds and move on, and all I had to do was join her.”
“And you did,” I breathed. “Of course you did.”
He nodded. “Wouldn’t anyone? I only half-believed her anyway. The other half of me was too far gone with fever to even understand what was happening. But she was right. I did heal. We always heal, better and faster. In that respect, Karessa was right. She kept up her part of the bargain.”
It made me furious, just picturing it. Her touching him. Making him. Going to him knowing he had no other choice, doing what she did at a time when he was the most vulnerable.
“She gave me life,” he said. “Instead of death.”
“She took advantage of you,” I replied angrily. “That’s what she did.”
“But is that so bad?” he asked. “Saving me, rather than letting me die? Giving me this measure of life — as strange as it may be — when there wouldn’t have even been one?”
I shrugged. “I guess that depends on what you do with it.”
He rolled down his shirt. That part was a damned shame. I was enjoying every bit of his skin, scar or no.
“Karessa was good to me,” he said. “For a long while. Before, and even after Damien.” He sighed heavily. “But now…”
“Now she’s just an asshole,” Damien chimed in. He’d just entered the room, but I had little doubt he’d heard everything. “An asshole who’s trying to hold you hostage by keeping your totem.”
That part made me angry too. I didn’t know how long he could go without the object, but in keeping his totem this woman was risking the very life she gave to him. Broderick might shift into a wolf at any moment… and then never shift back.
“Do you still love her?” I asked abruptly.
It was a strange question, considering. Even Damien remained silent. He folded his arms, waiting to hear.
“No,” said Broderick, after a time. “Not in the ways I once did. Not after everything she’s done.”
The words were genuine, even healing. I could tell it had been something he’d struggled with. Something he was only now ready to admit to himself.
Beyond the big glass window dusk had long since given way to darkness. It was getting late.
“So we’re not going tonight?” I asked.
“No,” said Broderick. “Last time we took the wrong approach. We went at night, thinking we could catch them while they were out.”
His palms slid up along my bare arms. His touch gave me the shivers.
“This time we go in the morning. Catch them in. Maybe while they’re sleeping, or tired, or turning in.”
I swallowed, realizing the implications. We’d actually be staying the night here. In the meantime, Damien had silently moved behind me. I felt his hands go to my hips.
“Tonight we rest,” said Damien, as his lips fell to my neck. His hands slid around, to the front of my waist. He began unbuttoning me. Unzipping me…
“At least for some of the night,” Broderick grinned. He lifted my arms. Slid my shirt over my head.
My heart pounded wildly in my chest. Every square inch of my skin was covered in goosebumps.
“Is that so?” I said, trying to be brave.
“Yes,” they said together. “That’s so.”
27
SERENA
The bath was more of a triangular hot tub. Right now it was filled with superheated water, made silky by the addition of the soaps and oils Damien had brought up by room service. The candles too; all three of them. Together they cast a deep red glow, reflected in the tiled walls of the darkened room.
Gotta love room service.
I allowed them lead me here after stripping me down. Lowering myself into the steaming waters made me feel just short of orgasmic. But leaning back and watching as they stripped and did the same?
Now that was a sight to see.
My two beautiful wolves each took their own corners of the tub. For a while we just sat there, enjoying the silence, the candlelight, the feel of hot water rolling against our sore backs. As a joke I extended my legs, offering each of them a foot to rub. When they actually did start rubbing them I closed my eyes and just about came.
God, if only I could just stay here forever…
Another water jet, located somewhere beneath me, seemed to be even more strategically positioned. So much so, that I had to wonder if the design were intentional.
“I must’ve done something right,” I groaned at the ceiling. “To deserve this.”
My voice trailed off as I slipped back into nirvana. Damien’s fingers rubbed deliciously into the arch of my left foot. Broderick’s kneaded the heel of my right. Behind me, two jets were shooting pleasantly into the small of my back.
“You came all this way to help us,” Damien noted. “A double-foot-rub is the least we can do.”
“And what’s the most you can do?” I asked daringly. Immediately after the words left my lips, my stomach dropped.
“You’re our mate,” Broderick eventually shrugged. “There’s nothing we wouldn’t do to please you.”
His choice of words sent a bolt of excitement straight through my body. I let out a long, contented sigh.
Screw the Order, I laughed silently to myself. Screw Xiomara. Screw everything.
Eventually their hands traveled upward, along my legs. They moved higher, past my knees. Rubbed onward along the insides of my thighs. It was all very dream-like, but my senses were heightened instead of dulled. I felt everything. Wanted to remember everything…
Damien was the first to slide up alongside me. He crushed me against his body, his lips pushing softly against mine. My mouth opened for him, inviting his tongue. By extension of that my thighs also parted, somewhere beneath the swirling waters.
I gasped as Broderick’s fingers closed over me down there.
Are you really going to do this?
Damien’s mouth was kissing its way down my neck, the water and bath oils making everything more slippery and lubricated. Everything was so warm, so full of steam. I held his palm against my face while he chewed on my shoulder.
Oh… Oh wow…
I jumped as Broderick slid a finger inside me. He curled it toward him, slowly, until it was nestled perfectly on my G-spot.
“So… this is actually… going to happen…” I murmured. “Isn’t it?”
Damien’s tongue traced upward again, setting his lips right up against my ear. His voice was hot and wet. “Yes.”
I gulped hard as the full realization of what I was about to do stole over me. It was insane. I knew it was insane. Yet it also felt wholly natural, and I knew that too.
Besides, I wanted it. No… actually I longed for it. Craved it worse than any drug, more than any other—
“We can always stop if you want to,” Broderick whispered into my other ear. His gently curling finger was driving me wild. “Is that what you want?”
Panic swept me at the very thought. “No,” I said immediately.
“You sure?” he teased.
“Yes,” I breathed. “Yes, please.” I exhaled with a whimper. “I’m sure.”
I writhed against them until I felt a second finger
. Then I went all in. I wrapped my hand in Damien’s hair and shoved my face into his. We kissed hard and hungrily, like we had in his apartment. At the same time I grabbed the back of Broderick’s head and shoved him downward, between my breasts. I wanted his mouth on me. I wanted him inside me, just like his fingers…
This is incredible.
Through half-lidded eyes I surveyed their bodies in the mirror. Two broad backs, glistening where they pierced the bubbled surface. Four big arms. Four strong hands, fingers reaching out… touching me…
Two cocks…
Two gorgeous men, turning every last bit of their attention inward, onto me. I kissed them in turn, one after the other, diverting their lips back to mine whenever I wanted a new taste. I was the center of their world — a goddess, spread wide for them to please. But also there to give them pleasure…
“Here,” said Damien, taking my hand beneath the water. He pulled it into his lap. My hand settled over him, feeling his hardness. I sighed again.
“And here,” Broderick said, not to be outdone. He placed my other hand over his rock-hard shaft, squeezing it beneath his own. He pumped it up and down a few times before letting go.
I was lightheaded, both from the heat and from the implication of what was about to happen. Absolutely intoxicated with the idea of being with them both.
It’s only a threesome, my mind registered. It’s only—
But no. It was more than that. Much more.
You love them.
There it was again, those three little words. Yet together they meant so much. I knew in my heart I did love them, but in the back of my mind I had no idea how such a thing could even be possible. I barely even knew them! Had only just met them…
And yet it was true. Every part of me cared for them both. Equally. Simultaneously. It was strange and different — unlike any such feelings I’d ever had before, even for Alex. Still, I couldn’t help it. I’d allowed myself to be swept up in everything, caught in an inescapable spiral of need and want and desire.
You love them and it’s okay.
The whole thing shouldn’t have made any sense. A week ago I’d been sitting at home without an assignment, without a care in the world. Now I was here in France, about to give myself over to a pair of werewolves. Werewolves I somehow loved.
They kept kissing and touching me, bringing me to all new levels of arousal as my hands stroked them slowly beneath the water. More than anything in the world, I wanted them to have me. The both of them, together. At once. Any other way just didn’t seem natural.
“Oh!”
Strong arms slid beneath me and I was suddenly lifted from the swirling hot water. Broderick held me against his chest as he carried me from the tub. I could feel his heart pounding as the water dripped off of us. We entered the darkened bedroom and Damien was there, his arms full of towels. They set me down on my feet. Spreading my legs slightly, they dried every inch of me off…
I felt like a princess.
My eyes shifted over Damien’s shoulder and I saw the bed. It was large and soft and inviting, made up with silken sheets and a fluffy down comforter. Two more of the red candles burned on either side, illuminating the room with that warm, rosy glow.
“Romance a girl why don’t you?” I managed to quip.
Damien grinned back at me — my dashing, long-haired surfer. Broderick’s expression was more serious, as if I were distracting him from some business he needed to attend to. His arms went around me and he guided me backward. Downward…
Apparently that business was me.
Together they stretched me out, fully naked, like some sort of offering. My still-steaming body felt amazingly cool against the linens.
“No rose petals?” I laughed again, running my arms over the bed. The humor was me, not them. To break my nervousness. Keep things light.
Broderick leaned over me and I grabbed him with both arms. I pulled his mouth to mine, kissing him softly, pulling him onto the bed. A few seconds later I felt Damien climb on. He slid up alongside me, his body so warm against mine it actually made me moan with pleasure.
“Get over here,” I said, breaking the kiss. And I grabbed him too.
They lay on the bed, hovering above me… the both of them, gloriously naked. The two of them shared a very familiar look, and I saw Damien nod to Broderick almost imperceptibly.
He’s going first…
For some reason Karessa floated to mind, and this time there was no jealousy. I thought about how many times they’d been here before, doing this same thing they were about to do to me. Sharing her. Communicating wordlessly as they took her together, over and over again, hundreds, maybe thousands of times.
The thought of it made me wet between the legs. And I was already drenched.
You want this…
Broderick climbed forward and my thighs parted for him. I looked down the flat expanse of my stomach, to the achingly empty place I knew he’d soon be filling.
You’re theirs now, a little voice in my head told me. You belong to them. And they to you…
His arms went along either side of me as he positioned himself. They were thick and big and strong. The kind of arms that could protect you against anything. The kind of arms that could wrap themselves around you and hold you forever.
“Take me,” I said softly. Lost in his steel-blue eyes, I spread myself wider as I felt the head of his manhood pressed tormentingly against my glistening entrance. Broderick shifted his weight, pushing forward.
And then he did.
28
DAMIEN
He took her first. And with my blessing.
I’d mated her before him, and without really knowing the ramifications of the decision. It wasn’t something I’d planned, really, but it was something I’d definitely wanted. Serena was hot. Sexy. Intelligent, beautiful and skilled.
All that, and she seemed to have a sexual appetite that rivaled mine. Always a plus.
I hadn’t bedded her with any of this in mind, but I could tell she’d be a good fit for us. There was an emotional isolation about her — ‘a loneliness without coldness’, Broderick had called it. We could tell she’d been hurt, and hurt bad. But she’d already been through the worst of the pain.
There were a lot of things I loved about her, which is why I was so glad she’d answered the call. And that Broderick had finally gotten on board… so to speak.
Right now though, she was practically in heat.
I kissed her soulfully, playing my tongue through her mouth as Broderick fucked her. Serena responded in kind, and the little whimpers and moans she emitted were the hottest thing in the goddamn world.
Her eyes found mine and they were thick with lust. Soaked through with long years’ worth of emotional needs and longings. Mostly though, for right now at least, it was her basest and most physical needs that required to be fulfilled.
And that we could more than do.
We remained face to face, our lips brushing sexily against one another as Broderick put her through the paces. Every breath she breathed was my breath. Every cry was stifled by my own mouth. Our eyes continued dancing together, unwilling to let go. I reached out my hand and clasped hers, pinning it to the pillow just over her head.
“He’s taking you,” I breathed.
Serena nodded, trying to swallow. She couldn’t. Instead she exhaled with a sigh.
“And when he’s done,” I whispered, “I’ll take you next.”
I squeezed my fingers, interlacing them with hers. She squeezed back. Part of it was because she felt the shared connection. The other part was because Broderick was taking her deep.
There were a lot of advantages to sharing a woman. For one, you split the work. It was an adjustment at first, but I found I enjoyed the thrill of watching two other people getting it on, right in front of you. Even more so knowing you’re about to be a part of it.
Serena reached out for me, kissing me some more. She really was sensual. I could tell it went beyond sex to
o; she was experiencing the same deep feelings and emotional attachments that Broderick and I were. The bond, so to speak, that we’d once shared with our former mate.
Karessa…
I didn’t really even think of her anymore. Not like Broderick did. She’d been amazing at first, and as hot and insatiable a lover as anyone could ask for. But there had always been a certain distance between us that was never there with Broderick. An invisible barrier that kept the two of us emotionally detached, even when we were physically bonded in the most intimate and exciting of ways.
No, with Serena it was already different. I could see it in her eyes, feel it in the way her soul seemed to extend outward and pass through mine as we kissed.
“Faster,” I heard her gasp. “Please.”
The bed shook, and the next few minutes were frenzied. Serena grunted and clawed the bed with both hands. She took every last thrust of the pounding she was being given, delivering it back just as hard.
I watched her face go from longing to need to the fulfillment of that need, and every phase was equally as exciting. Of course I’d seen the same look in her eyes before, but under much different circumstances.
Serena gasped with pleasure as Broderick finished her off, sending her rocketing off to the same place I had. Her eyes rolled back, her hips bucking hard to take him just that much deeper as she ultimately came all over him.
Jesus…
I’d never been so excited just being a spectator before.
Broderick finally nodded at me, urging me over. He slid aside, watching as I took my place between Serena’s legs to fully consummate our trio.
She was absolutely soaked. Her lithe body, chest still heaving, was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
“Ready?” I smiled, pushing forward. She nodded, and I plunged into her.
Oh fuck…
It felt tremendously good, being back inside of her. Like my body had secretly missed her, and now it couldn’t get enough of drinking her in. I began screwing her slowly, to bring her down from the place Broderick had just left her. She looked up at me again, and the expression on her face was filled with longing. Her beautiful lips mouthed only a single word.