by James, Honor
“Well as long as they will be able to handle me touching and showing you guys affection often, that’s all right, I guess. I just need to, I don’t know, reaffirm that you guys are really here and I’m not living in a dream.”
“They will expect it,” he said quietly, leaning in to kiss her. “If you didn’t, you’d get a lot more of an interrogation from them. Especially the females.” Michael rolled his eyes. “By the Gods, the females,” he muttered, moving toward the door. “I’ll put the water on and be back in a few minutes. Get comfortable, we will have a little time before you can have your bath.”
Rissa laughed and nodded. “No worries. Go and do what you need to do, honey. I know how to take care of myself, I promise.” She moved to the bedchambers and got up on the bed, listening to Michael as he moved around and then left her. Shaking her head, she smiled happily and pulled a blanket up and around her body while waiting on her water to get hot.
“Knock, knock.” Gabriel stuck his head through the door with a hand over his eyes. “Am I permitted to come in?” he asked, easing in and patting a foot before him as he moved, his free hand out before him. “You decent, Princess?”
“Yep, I’m all wrapped up in a blanket.” She couldn’t help but laugh and shook her head. “Really, Gabe? After all that you have seen, you are trying to cover your eyes? Silly man. Get in here and get over here, silly.”
Chuckling, he dropped his hand and his pretense and moved to the bed. “I just didn’t know if you and Michael were in here doing things that could potentially scar me for life.” Sitting, he leaned in to kiss her gently. “How are you holding up, sweetheart?” he asked, his manner serious now.
“I’m good,” Rissa said with a smile. “I’m really fine. I hate that my parents are gone, but I’m happy because I’m finally getting the three men that I love the most in the world as mine. I’m very happy that you three are finally going to be mine.”
Grinning, he tipped her head to the side. “I see the big guy marked you. About damned time, too.” He shook his head. “There is nothing that snarls more, growls more, or acts like he’s got a stick up his ass like a Prime Alpha not claiming his mate. Raphael and I were planning to intervene if things didn’t get moving. Lucky for us”—he shot her a wide-eyed, innocent look—“that we had to go right past where he was living, wasn’t it?”
“You planned it, didn’t you?” she asked with wide eyes. “Oh God, please tell me that you didn’t plan the attack as well. He will have your heads on platters if he learns that you did that. Please, Gabe, tell me that you and Raph didn’t do that.”
“Hell no!” he hissed and shot a look over his shoulder, his body still before he relaxed and turned back. “We would never, ever put you in danger. We were just hoping he’d catch your scent and maybe get his blood pumping, kick in some of his urges. The attack was not expected at all. Though he handled it rather well. So did you, as a matter of fact.” He grinned again.
“Well you know, I have had the most amazing men in the world teaching me just what was what, and then had you guys helping me, so of course I did well.” Rissa smiled up at him and added, “I know you wouldn’t put me into danger. None of you would. I just wasn’t sure. I had to ask.”
“I’m offended you even did ask,” Raphael said from the doorway. “We might have wanted to push you two at one another, but we’d never risk your life, Rissa. We’d be risking our future if we did that, and we’re much too selfish to consider it.” Pushing off the doorframe, he walked to the bed and sat slightly behind her, leaning in to kiss her cheek. “Hello, darling. Has the mean old beast been treating you well?”
Leaning into him, Rissa nodded. “He’s been very good to me, but you both already know that. You both know that he would sooner tear out his heart than hurt me in anyway, just like the two of you.” She smiled and took Raph’s hand as well. “I know you wouldn’t do it. I just blurted the question before I could think better of it.”
“Well don’t go saying that stuff to Michael. He’s kind of twitchy about such things,” he told her, nipping her ear. “He’d likely beat the snot out of us both. And I really don’t feel like going a round with him anytime soon. He’s got really big and hard fists.”
“I don’t want that either. I want you guys to get along.” She got serious and added, “I love you guys. All three of you. I know that’s not something typical for anyone, but I do. I love you guys, and I need for you to get along, want for you guys to get along. We will make this work, right?”
“Of course we will.” Gabriel touched her cheek. “And we will do that by not poking the big snarly one. Well”—he shot her a huge grin and wrinkled his nose in mischief—“not too much anyway,” he whispered before chuckling.
Rissa snickered and shook her head, “Well, warn me when you decide that you want to go poking at him so that I can be ready to nurse your aches and pains afterward, because we both know that he will make you hurt, and you will make him hurt, too.”
“Oh, if Gabe goes and pokes the beast there won’t be much warning at all. There will be a moment of silence before a loud and mighty crash. I seem to recall that occurring the last time you poked at him,” Raphael chuckled.
“Really? I don’t remember that.”
“Probably because you were unconscious at the time with the maids all in a fit because he’d hit you hard enough to clear the entire dining table. Thankfully they’d only started to set it and hadn’t had it fully done.”
“Oh God I remember that,” Rissa said with peals of laughter falling from her lips. “Oh God, that was utterly and completely priceless. However, I had to ensure that the footmen helped you instead of the maids that wanted to strip you down to your skin and ensure that you were completely and fully all right. That irritated the hell out of me.”
Laughing at that, Raphael nipped her bare shoulder. “She was rather determined, too, as I recall. She was smacking hands left and right. Hell, she even stuck her fists on her hips and yelled at all the maids to get out before throwing out her imperial little finger toward the door just in case they didn’t get it.”
“Oh, I was very angry. That damn woman was trying to undress you, pants first. She made me so mad that I was seeing double and red. I swear if I had been able to, I would have likely taken her out behind the castle and beaten the hell out of her for touching you.”
Gabriel stared at her, aghast. “That is not very Princess-like behavior, Rissa.” He clicked his tongue at her, shaking his head. “I wholeheartedly approve, but not very ladylike in the least.” Leaning in, he kissed her gently.
“Yeah, well even then, I knew that you were mine. I didn’t want anyone else touching you because in my mind you already belonged to me. Weird I know. I was yours and you were mine. I’ve always known that.”
“It’s not weird,” Michael told her, coming into the room with the pot of boiling water. “You have good instincts, Rissa,” he commented, moving to where the tub rested in a corner. Tipping the hot water in, he set the large pot aside. “She needs water to cool this down, now.” He looked at the other two before he headed for the door.
Rissa smiled and shook her head. “I think that is your guys’ cue to go and find some cold water for me so that I can take a bath. Please,” she added happily. “Go, we have plenty of time to be together, right? We are safe here, right?” Michael had said they were, so she knew that they were.
“From the brigands? Absolutely. From the wrath of the Prime Alpha, not so much,” Raphael said, getting to his feet.
“Now!” Michael’s voice bellowed from somewhere in the house.
“So sayeth the savage beast.” Gabriel chuckled softly. Kissing her again, he hopped off the bed and went to the door. “We are coming, oh mighty, growly Alpha of all Alphas,” he called out as he vanished from sight.
“Gods damn it.” Raphael moved for the door. “Don’t poke him, Gabriel,” he called, following after his friend.
Rissa laughed and shook her head. “Boys, the sil
ly, crazy boys that I love.” A little louder she added, “And no poking and prodding or irritating of each other. It would distress me greatly to have to break up a fight with you three when all I want in life right now is to be a part of a lovely pile of all of us, nice and warm.”
“No promises,” Gabriel said before there was a loud thud.
“It’s nothing,” Raphael called out. “Just walking into walls,” he said to her before there was a muttered, not-so-whispered conversation that sounded heated.
Moments later, they filed back in with cold water. Michael and Raphael dumped theirs into the tub while Gabe put his into the still-hot pot before pouring the warmed water into the buckets once more. “There you are, Princess.” Raphael smiled at her.
Rissa grinned and shook her head. “God I love you three. I’ve missed having all three of you around, too.” She stood and let the robe drop to her feet, her eyes on Michael, and then shyly glancing at Raphael and Gabriel as she boldly stepped forward. “Who is going to help me bathe?” she asked quietly.
Raphael and Gabriel both threw up their hands as they hopped around. “Ooh, pick me, pick me,” they were both saying. Michael just stood there staring at them like they’d both lost their minds.
“Good lord, you are like a couple of two-year-olds,” she teased. “How about all of you help me? That way when I get out we can all get into bed together? Naked?” She looked at Michael and asked, “Is that okay?”
“Why are you looking to me, Rissa?” He frowned, shaking his head. “We’re all in this together, and if that’s what you want, you know we’ll do it for you. But it is your choice, Princess. It’s always been your choice.”
“Then I chose all of you,” she whispered. “I want all of you. God help you, but I need all of you. I want to wear your marks, all three of you. I want to be yours and have you being mine. Love me,” she added very, very softly.
“We always have, Princess,” Raphael said, stepping forward to take her hands. Pressing a kiss to each, he drew her toward the tub. “Come, climb in and we’ll get you cleaned up. Then we will rest. Tomorrow will be soon enough to talk about Gabe and I claiming you as well. Tonight you need to sleep and relax.”
“And you will all three sleep with me? Hold me close and keep me against you? Keep me warm?” she asked hopefully. “We all know how cold I get at night, so you will ensure I stay warm?” Rissa was hopeful, needful as she asked that question.
Michael touched her chin and made her look at him. “You know we will,” he told her quietly. “Have your bath. I need to start the fire or we’re all going to be cold come morning.”
“Come on, darling.” Gabe took her other hand in his and helped her into the bath, he and Raphael lifting her up and then setting her on her feet. “Slide into the water, Princess. Let’s get you bathed, and then we can all get some rest.”
“That sounds like a perfectly reasonable decision to me.” Rissa let them lead her to the bath and stepped in when they moved slightly to the side. Easing back in the water, she sighed. “This is very nice. I know what an oddity I am, but I happen to really and truly love baths. They tend to make me relax so nicely.”
“Baths have their purposes,” Raphael said, passing her the soap and a cloth. “Soap that up so I can wash your back,” he murmured as he shrugged out of his overcoat and rolled his sleeves. Crouching down, he rested his arms on the edge of the tub and held out a hand for the cloth.
She passed him the cloth and smiled at him. “Are you just saying that because it means that you will be able to touch me naked?” She loved teasing these men, and now that they were in her life, now that she was finally behaving as if she were grown and taking what she wanted, she felt as if she could do just that.
“Any chance to touch you is a good thing.” He smiled. Leaning in, he pressed a kiss to her shoulder before he began to wash her back and shoulders. “The fact you are naked is a damned good thing. I like having you finally naked in the same room as we are. It’s been much too long in coming.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Rissa reached up and stroked her fingers over his cheek. “You have no idea how long I have longed for this, needed this. I’ve needed and wanted you, all three, for so very long.” Which was crazy, but it was true.
“We’re here now, Princess, and that’s all that matters. And we will always be here for you, with you.” He smiled. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he smiled slowly. Passing the cloth to Gabriel, he leaned her back so he could rinse her back.
“Yes, we are all together now.” She smiled and leaned back, the feeling of the water over her body an erotic sensation that made her nipples pebble in excitement and need. Biting her lower lip, she whimpered, “God you are killing me so very slowly.” She teased, “In such a wonderful way.”
“It’s all about the sensations, the pleasure, and just letting go to enjoy,” Gabriel told her, starting to wash her arm and her chest. “Close your eyes, lean back, and just feel, Rissa. Feel the coarseness of the cloth as it lightly abrades your skin. The softness of the soap as it slides down and the heat coming off our bodies as we sit close to you.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” She closed her eyes and did as he had instructed, leaning back so that she could allow Raphael to rinse her hair and sighed happily. “God that feels amazing. Even more so with my eyes closed,” she said with a low and slow moan escaping her lips.
“That’s the idea, Princess,” Raphael said next to her ear. Moments later, his fingers were in her hair, rubbing soap into the strands. All the while, Gabriel moved the cloth over her front, her breasts, and then down lower over her belly.
Rissa’s foot braced on the bottom of the tub, and she lifted herself slightly to meet Gabriel’s touch and shuddered. “Please,” she whispered very softly. “Goodness please, touch me more intimately. I want to feel your fingers stroking and teasing me.”
“Need to make sure you’re all nice and clean first,” he chuckled. Dipping the cloth down, he rubbed it over her clitoris and pussy, the material rough on the tight nub and her soft flesh. Then one of his fingers pressed into her pussy, the cloth still rubbing to her clit.
Rissa moaned and lifted slightly. “Yes, clean,” she panted. “Clean is a very good thing to be. I think, however, we should get you all three clean as well. I truly think that would be a remarkable thing, darling.”
“Michael already bathed,” Gabriel told her. “Raphael and I will go and take a dunk in the pond as well. Won’t take too long at all, and then you can help warm up any parts we’ve tried to freeze off.” He chuckled.
She snickered and shook her head. “Why use the pond? The water is still warm. If you need you can always warm some more and just take a quick bath here. That way I will have more time with you without you going and jumping in a cold pond and trying to freeze off your lovely dangly bits.”
“We won’t freeze anything off. It’s not that cold,” Raphael said quietly. “All right, Rissa, time to stand so we can rinse you off,” he told her. Getting to his feet, he gave her a hand up to her feet. Passing one bucket to Gabriel, he hefted the other. “Head back, eyes closed and push out the soap from your hair.”
Doing as instructed, she tilted her head back and then lifted her hands to run them through her hair as they rinsed her. When they were finished slicking water over her body, she opened her eyes and grinned, shivering slightly. “All right, I’m cold, I’m ready to get out and get under some blankets, please.”
Wrapping a bathing towel around her, Raphael lifted her from the tub and set her on her feet. Rubbing her down slowly, he smiled. “I’ll let you work on drying your hair. I hear the pond calling for me.” Pressing a kiss to her lips, he pulled back and bowed slightly. “See you soon, Princess.”
Rissa watched them leaving and shook her head. Looking to Michael, she said, “How about you come over here and give me a nice, warm hug? Talk to me and let me know that you are okay with this, all of it?” He had been very quiet and it frankly worried her a great deal
.
Walking to her, Michael scooped her up and carried her to a chair before the fire. Sitting, he settled her in his lap before running his fingers through her hair, working out the knots. “What would I not be okay with, Rissa?” he asked softly, his eyes on his task.
“I was just worried that you didn’t want to share me with them. You have been so very quiet. I’ve been worried that you had changed your mind,” she whispered quietly. “That’s what I’ve been worried sick about—that you had changed your mind, and I wouldn’t know what to do after that.”
Looking her in the eye, he frowned. “I’m mated to you, Rissa, and I happen to love you as well. That, for me, is a lifelong commitment. There is no other for me, and there never will be. I was trying to be considerate so you could have time with Raphael and Gabriel. Which was very difficult for me. All I wanted to do was scoop you up, protect you, and warn them off. Not exactly the behavior a Prime Alpha should be displaying.”
“I love you, too, Michael. I love being with you, and I love having you as my mate. I know that they are my mates as well, but the simple truth is that you are always going to be first. Yes, I love them, but the truth is that I’ve loved you from the first moment I saw you.”
“You did like using me as your favorite chew toy,” he commented. Returning his attention to her hair, he continued to separate the strands. Sliding his fingers through, he dropped his hand to her lower back. “Come, you are nearly asleep, Rissa. They will be back soon, and when they said they would use you to warm up, they were not kidding.”
“And I’m totally fine with that,” she said with a smile. “I really and truly think that it will be wonderful to be able to have them warming me, and you as well.” She reached up and curled her hand around his neck. “Will you be able to allow them to mark me as well? Are you certain you will be able to share me as a mate?”