by Jayce Carter
They’d had this discussion before, had been prepared to try this eventually
Kaidan released her hip and, when she didn’t move again, Joshua began short, hard thrusts up, instead. Good, her remaining still would be easiest.
Kaidan poured lube onto his finger, then set the bottle on the table. He set the finger against the cleft of her ass so he didn’t startle her.
Bryce halted her movements, pulling her off his cock. “Kaidan is going to train your ass, omega. Is that okay?”
She refused to answer, her lips pressed together and her eyes void of anything but lust.
A deep growl from Bryce cut off on a breath, as though he’d tried to control his temper. “Still not talking? Fine, tell me if you don’t want him to. If it hurts, if you want him to stop, just dig those nails into my thigh. Maybe if you draw some blood, you’ll let go of being pissed.”
Claire didn’t answer, didn’t rise to the barb. A sigh and Bryce returned her lips to his cock and nodded at Kaidan.
Not good enough, not what he wanted, but if she didn’t want it, she’d have said so. If not with her scent, then with her body. So Kaidan ignored her lips and listened with his own body. Listened to her scent, to her breathing, to the roll of her hips.
He slid his fingers down until he used one against her ass, circling it to calm her, to relax her. Not that he thought it would help.
Omegas were amazing in many ways, and one was how they stretched, how damn sensual they were, how their entire body seemed designed for pleasure, both theirs and their partners.
In all his years, he’d rarely found an omega who didn’t enjoy anal sex, even if they were uneasy the first time or two.
It meant that when he finally pressed against her, seeking entry through the tight ring of muscles, it didn’t take much coaxing.
She released Bryce’s cock when Kaidan slid his finger into her, and he expected her to tell him to stop. He expected some coaxing, some reassuring—something.
Instead, a purr so loud that they all froze left her.
At least it was good, he supposed. She returned to Bryce’s cock a heartbeat later, a speedy resuming of the blow job as if that could wash away the reaction.
Kaidan allowed it to spur him on as he fucked her with the one finger until her hips started to move back against him. He added a second finger, the pressure tight until she yielded.
Better? The way she cried out, muffled by Bryce’s cock, as she came when he added the second finger. Her ass tightened around his fingers, and he could feel Joshua’s cock through the thin membrane that separated them.
Damn, he wished this had been done right. He wished he could whisper reassurance to her, or that Joshua could offer those charming words, or even Bryce could just speak filth to her until her chest flushed and she melted against them.
Kaidan wanted to sink into her, to have all three of them fucking her together, to feel the strength in such a thing, but they were broken. It would happen, but it wouldn’t be what it should have been.
“You better hurry up,” Joshua warned from between gritted teeth. “She comes again around me, and I won’t be able to hold off anymore.”
Kaidan nodded, grabbing the lube once more. He poured it onto his palm and stroked it over his cock, using more than needed, but even a wince would ruin what was left of the moment. He used one hand to spread her cheeks, to expose her to the air and his view. Her ass tightened, but she didn’t move.
The desire to call her a good girl rose in his throat, but he smothered it. She didn’t want that from him.
Bryce offered it instead, stroking his hand through her hair, a rare moment of tenderness. “You’re doing good, omega. Almost there, then you’ll get everything you need.”
A shudder ran through her, as though the words slipped past her defenses.
At least it meant there was something there—little as it was—for the words to reach.
Kaidan fit the head of his cock against her ass and pressed into her.
Claire couldn’t draw breath. The men filled her so completely, overwhelming her, with not an inch of space left untouched.
She suckled on Bryce’s cock, the action soothing, especially as pre-cum spilled onto her tongue and teased her with his taste. Joshua’s cock sat deep inside her cunt, twitching and jerking and stroking against her constantly. Worse? His fingers had moved between them to toy with her clit which was already sore and overworked.
But that she could deal with. She could keep her head on straight even with all that.
It was the completely foreign and overwhelming sensation of Kaidan deep inside her ass that had her feet flexing and her lungs refusing to work.
It didn’t hurt, not a bit. He’d used lube, enough that he slid without resistance. Each stroke of his first fingers, then his cock, had ignited sparks of pleasure through her. Her skin had tightened, as if all the nerves inside her couldn’t be contained inside her body, not when the men took up so much space.
It was new, different and completely unexpected. She let Bryce sink deeper into her mouth, let him toy with the back of her throat as she rested her forehead against his stomach, resting on them, not fighting it anymore.
Did fighting do a damn thing?
She was bonded. It explained it all. No matter how much she’d sworn it wouldn’t happen, it had. She’d bonded to the three of them and, even then, even when she hurt so much from what they’d done, she had no way free. Every part of her wanted them, needed them, demanded she stay.
“Fuck,” Joshua snarled, his charming exterior shattered by the tightness of her pussy around his cock. No doubt he could feel Kaidan’s length as well, making the already snug fit impossibly tighter. His dick jerked again, but this time swelled.
She lowered her hips so his length could bury into her cunt as deep as possible, instinct moving her more than desire, until his swollen knot hooked into place.
He toyed lazily with her clit, and between that and the way his knot trapped her, she came yet again, a pathetically needy sound silenced by Bryce’s cock when she swallowed him down just to keep quiet.
Kaidan growled behind her, then retreated and slid his dick back into her. After she came, her ass was so much more sensitive. Each drag of his dick inside her tight ass had her unable to think, had her worrying she’d lose her mind, that she’d go mad from all the sensations running through her.
Still, he didn’t stop. He didn’t fuck her hard, but he never stopped, never slowed, plunging into her with solid thrusts. The even rhythm made her writhe, made her tug against Joshua’s solid knot, but it was all perfect and broken and impossible.
Bryce came next, pulling her back by her hair to spill on her tongue, so she had to actively swallow his cum down and taste him. Damn him, because he knew she would. Knew she needed the taste, knew she’d drop to her knees any time just for that.
It might have shamed her any other time, but she had no room for shame right then, not with each of them filling so much of her.
Kaidan released a masculine groan before he sank into her, pressing his hips against her ass. His cock jerked inside her. A heaviness she’d never experienced before happened as he filled her with his thick cum, as he gave her something she’d never had before, something she’d never thought she’d have wanted.
None of them moved for a heartbeat. It could have been a second or twenty minutes, she had no idea. She used her tongue against Bryce’s softening cock, not wanting the moment to end.
Right then she could pretend. She could pretend none of the ugliness had happened. She could go back to that morning when they’d been so happy, before she’d realized nothing was real.
Too soon, though, the world started again.
Kaidan pulled out of her and cleaned her. Bryce didn’t force her off his cock, didn’t take it away, didn’t make her stop even though it had to be uncomfortable, even as his cock perked up with renewed interest.
Eventually, Joshua’s knot went down enough that he slipped fro
m her, his cum sliding from her like a loss. He gathered some up, rubbing it against her cunt as if the idea of it leaving her bothered him as much as it had her.
She released Bryce’s cock, sliding from Joshua’s lap. A hand went to her arm as if to help, but she paid it no mind. She wanted to crawl into her bed, to close her eyes, to cry until she couldn’t anymore, until she cried enough that it stopped hurting.
It wasn’t just the betrayal—it was the future she’d thought they’d have, the future snatched away.
Someone spoke to her, but she didn’t hear it. She crawled into the bed, smelling of sex, of the men, of alpha and omega and pain. Blankets were pulled around her, but she didn’t know who did it.
The tears came hard and fast, and despite gentle hands that rubbed down her back and soothing words that promised it would be better, the tears wouldn’t stop.
Even after she’d fallen asleep, they didn’t stop.
She cried until the tears ran dry, until there was nothing left inside her, but even that didn’t stop the pain.
She wasn’t sure anything would.
Chapter Eighteen
Coffee couldn’t chase away the weariness that dragged on Joshua. He’d slept three hours, and he’d tossed for most of those.
They’d rotated turns watching over Claire, in case she woke and wanted any of them, not that they kidded themselves into thinking so. Still, the way she’d cried in the bed, the way her shoulders had shaken, it had torn at him.
After all the shit she’d been through, she hadn’t fallen apart. A few tears here and there, sure, but the heartbroken sobs? No. James hadn’t broken her. Running and surviving on her own hadn’t broken her. They’d broken her, though, and it made sleep impossible.
Bryce walked in, dark circles beneath his eyes as bad as Joshua’s. Seemed no one had slept. He poured himself a cup of the coffee and took two big gulps of it black.
“Is now when I say I told you so?”
Bryce turned a glare on him, setting the cup down. “Really? Is this the time for that?”
“No. It was time when I told you I didn’t think it was a good idea. Now? Now we’re past time.”
Bryce’s lip pulled up. “Don’t act like it was all me. You agreed to keep it from her for the same reasons.”
“And look where we are now.”
“We’ll get her to forgive us.”
“You think? Because I watched her cry while she fucking slept. The girl I saw last night doesn’t seem too willing to forgive anyone.”
Tension rose between them, something that rarely happened. So many years together and most things swept away without trouble, yet this? They snarled at one another.
The reason seemed obvious. Their mate slept in the other room, and they couldn’t fix it. They couldn’t fix her anger or her hurt. They couldn’t fight her, so they’d fight with one another.
“So what do you think? We could have told her from the start, then she’d have run off then. That better?”
“If we had told her, maybe she’d have listened! She wouldn’t have put herself in that danger because she’d have still trusted us. This went to shit because you didn’t trust that she’d stay.”
“So it’s my fault?” Bryce took a step forward, rolling his shoulder.
And Joshua knew it wasn’t Bryce’s fault, not really. He’d never have lied to Claire without Joshua and Kaidan agreeing, but to hell with it. Joshua wanted to blame someone, and Bryce was as good as anyone else. At least they knew they wouldn’t kill anyone else.
“Maybe you’re not as smart as you think.” Joshua came forward as well until they were nose to nose. “And now we’re all paying the price.”
“Right, just lay it all on me. Don’t take any responsibility for yourself.”
“Look at you. Do you even fucking care? You act like nothing matters, and maybe that’s right. Bet all those tears didn’t mean a thing, did they?”
And there it went. Bryce swung, nailing Joshua in the jaw, and Joshua knew damned well he deserved it.
But that was what they were for, he guessed. Who better to take out some aggression on?
Joshua tackled Bryce, and they knocked into the small table beside the wall. A roll and down went the bar stools, too. They traded blows, pulling them enough to not break bones, but they’d walk away bloodied and bruised.
“We all fucked this up,” Bryce said, catching Joshua in the ribs.
“I can’t lose her!”
They both stilled, Bryce pinning him down.
Joshua continued. “I lost one mate. I can’t lose another.”
“She’s safe. You aren’t losing her.”
“I am. I saw it in her eyes. She might still be breathing but that doesn’t mean we aren’t losing her.”
Bryce sighed and hefted himself up, then offered a hand. “We’ve been through worse than this. We’ll figure this out, too.”
Joshua took the hand and let him pull him up, wincing at the soreness already developing in his ribs. “I love her, you know? I didn’t expect that, didn’t think I’d ever find that again.”
“I know. I’ll make this right somehow, I’ll make her forgive me. Doesn’t matter what it takes. Hell, I’ll take the blame if that’s what I need to do. I’ll step back.”
Joshua wiped his forearm across his lip, blood smearing across his arm. “We both know that isn’t happening. I want to think we can fix this with Claire, but us? We’re family. No matter what else happens, we’re family, and we won’t split up.” He put his hand out.
Bryce grasped his hand and they pulled in for a quick hug before breaking apart. “You know, you fucking hit like a hammer. You’re all charm until you throw a punch.”
“You hit me first. You aren’t getting an apology.”
“Oh, like you weren’t begging me to throw a punch. You like getting people to do what you want.”
Joshua laughed, groaning at the way it pulled what had to be a split on his lip. “You’re such an asshole.”
“Really?” Kaidan’s voice had them both turning. “I leave you two alone and you destroy the house?”
The laughter died when Claire walked around Kaidan, hair braided back, gaze down. She looked at the overturned tables, at the blood and disheveled state of both men.
He expected censure. If this had happened a day before, she’d have given them a piece of her mind about the behavior. She might have had a spark of fear, facing against that sort of male aggression, but they’d have reassured her. A kiss, a few gentle words, and she’d scold them before making them clean up.
Instead, she took in the scene and turned away as if it didn’t matter. She passed them and went to the kitchen, pouring coffee.
“You want breakfast, love?” Kaidan asked.
No answer. She took the coffee and walked past them again, the click of her door loud even from down the hallway.
Joshua rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He couldn’t lose her.
A shower didn’t work to scour away the fog in her head. It washed away the scent of the men, but that didn’t help. It made her miss it, made her want to rub against them. She wanted to cover herself with their smell, to curl around it.
And that sickened her because she didn’t want to touch them. She didn’t want to hear their voices, to feel their touch, nothing.
She’d woken to Kaidan in the room, seated in a chair, legs on the bed. The moment she’d moved, he’d sat straight. Questions had fallen from his lips, that same sweet voice. ‘Do you need something? Thirsty? Hurting? We still have some pain pills.’
She’d said nothing, had no desire to. No words bubbled inside her, and silence had come easily.
In the kitchen, she’d found the scene, the evidence that Bryce and Joshua had fought. Even that hadn’t spurred anything inside her. The blood on them, the darkening skin, it had made her chest ache, but she didn’t bother to ask.
Instead, she’d gotten coffee and left them be.
They didn’t care to include her on im
portant things, so she didn’t care to ask them questions. Why bother? They’d only lie.
Hours later, Claire left the room again, the silence in the room too much, too still. It let her dwell on her own pain, on the way her brain whirred.
The men stood around the kitchen island with another man she knew.
Kieran lifted his gaze from the papers to meet hers. His lips tipped down.
Angry at her?
She didn’t care.
Bryce spoke first. “They ran Kieran’s blood. DNA tests will take a few days, but his blood type doesn’t match what was under Jackie’s nails. He wasn’t the killer, but he’s here to help.”
“Are you expecting me to apologize?”
Kieran’s frown deepened, but he still said nothing.
Joshua didn’t answer, continuing where Bryce left off. “What do you need, sweetheart? Do you want to go to work? I’ll drive you?”
The idea of going to the shop broke her heart. She couldn’t imagine being there. Too much had changed. Before, she’d sat there with Kaidan, eating lunch. Joshua had sat across from her, his smiles and innuendos. Bryce had set up the cameras and spent an hour explaining how to use the security system, the worrier he was.
She shook her head at the pain of it all. “No. I don’t want to go there.”
“Do you want to go home? I’ll take you home if you need anything, if you want some space.” Joshua grasped for something to do, anything, like he’d offer her the whole damned world if she’d just take it.
“No. I know we’ve bonded. I have to stay.” She wrapped her arms around herself as she whispered the truth out loud for the first time. “I’ve got nowhere else to go.”
The men all shared a similar expression, one of confusion, as though they wanted to help but didn’t know how.
Worse, neither did she. She guessed that put them all in the same spot.
Claire sighed, tired again. “I think I’ll go back to bed.”
“Go outside, love. You can rest on the chaise outside. The sun and fresh air will do you good.” Kaidan offered the advice to her, voice soft but steady.
Sure. One place as the same as any other. Claire nodded, then left through the door. Maybe the sun would help her feel something.