by Nikki Dean
"Maybe." Matt shrugged. "Wouldn't you like to know?" He tensed as she rubbed coconut oil on a red spot on his waist. Why the hell they would have put a sensor there, she didn’t know, but she was suddenly happy they had.
"You remember when I told you I'd stab you if you took it out at your apartment that one night?"
He tensed as her fingers went lower, brushing against the sheet. "Yeah."
"Still counts. The only way it doesn't is if I take it out."
Matt groaned and reached for her, roughly pulling her down on top of him. His lips met hers and kissed her again and again, refusing to stop. Mallory went with it, reveling in the heat that shot through her body with every kiss.
Her palms were slick against his skin as she cupped his cheek, then the back of his neck. He followed her example as he drove one hand into her hair and clenched it, so similar to Nico that it took her breath away.
Nico. I shouldn't be doing this without him.
Matt's other hand slid down her back to rest just above her hips, pressing her down against his body. His erection drove against her belly and she moaned at the sensation.
"Matt. Matt, wait," she barely managed to breathe between kisses.
He pulled back with a strangled groan, breathing hard as he pressed his forehead against hers. "What? Too fast?"
"I just... I'm afraid that going any farther without Nico would upset him. I don't want him to feel like we're doing anything behind his back, or let him feel left out, you know?"
"So you want me to call him?"
The question made her pause. Do I? What would we even say? Hey Nico, I want to mess around with your best friend who just woke up from a coma while you're torturing a few guys out in the woods? That's insane.
"I don't know. I just don't think we should rush into anything without talking to him first."
Matt pulled back to look into her eyes. "You really care about him, don't you?"
She nodded. "I love him."
"Oh."
She didn't even have to reach for his mind to feel the flash of hurt betrayal that hit him almost immediately.
"Are you sure you want to do this then? Any of it?" he asked.
Mallory sighed and kissed his cheek, then slid off of his chest to lay beside him. He wrapped one arm around her and pulled her close. Like he couldn't bear to let her get far, even if she'd just broken his heart a little.
"I do want to," she confessed. "More than anything. I really like you, too, even if it took me a while to realize it. Apparently there's room in my head for more than one guy at a time, which hasn't been my thing before. But if you're both cool with it, then I don't see why it wouldn't work."
"When you say you like me, could you clarify that please? Because I feel a lot more than just like when it comes to you. Just so we're on the same page."
You might not feel the same way in a minute. "Actually, there are a few things I need to tell you first. You might change your mind."
Chapter 6
"Doubtful, but go on." The resolve in his tone made her smile as she ran her hand up his chest to rub at the sticky spots on his skin. The oil was already working, loosening the adhesive. He grabbed her hand and held it against him.
Well, here it goes. I guess there's no time like the present to confess how hypocritical I've been. "I haven't been completely honest with you. My magic has been growing a lot, and it brought a few new developments."
She took a deep breath while he waited.
"I can feel people's emotions now. Sometimes even their thoughts."
His jaw dropped and his eyes went so wide she was afraid they were going to stay like that. "You can read people's minds now? On top of tracking them?"
"Not really. Not yet. I can feel their emotions, and sense their thoughts. It's like seeing a painting, versus hearing about it. Not everything translates into words."
"Oh. And you think this would affect how I feel about you because..." he trailed off.
"Because I can do it to you. I was doing it that night in the car, to make sure you were being sincere. I was pissed that you were getting reports on me and spying on me through my teachers just so you could pass information along to Fitzam, when in reality I was spying on you with my magic. I'm sorry."
"You were using your magic to listen to my thoughts? Because you didn't trust me?" he repeated slowly, like he couldn't quite believe it. Mallory cringed a little at the angry disbelief in his tone.
"Yeah. Not the whole time or anything, just that night that you took me to your apartment. I needed to make sure you were sincere. I didn't know if I could trust you when I could feel you hiding things from me. It's why I kept asking questions."
"You didn't know if you could trust me?!" His volume increased and she sat up. The fur on the end of Dice's tail began to puff up and he growled.
"I've been looking out for you since the beginning! I lied on reports for you and covered for you with Fitzam even in his office, and you didn't know if you could trust me?"
"Don't you try to give me that shit,” she shot back, getting defensive. “You were hiding things from me, and you know it. You even tried to make me promise not to hate you, remember? Because you knew that you should have told me everything, but you didn't. That was the choice that you made, so yeah, I looked inside your head to make sure you weren't holding anything else back. Hiding things doesn't exactly inspire trust, Matt."
"And what did you find out?" he asked, his voice tight.
"That you're terrible at volunteering information. That you try to run away from your problems until they bite you in the ass. But most of all, I knew I could believe you. I was still pissed, sure, but I knew you weren't trying to hurt me."
"Glad you finally figured that out."
"Shut up, you ass. Nico and I eventually brought you home, even if it was almost too late. And then this happened, and I thought we'd lost you."
They glared at each other for another minute before he finally rolled his eyes and tugged her back down to his side. She lay there stiffly.
"I'm sorry," he finally said. "And thank you for telling me. I'm glad your magic helped you figure out that you can trust me, and especially glad it helped you find me. I guess I can't blame you for using it on me, given the circumstances."
"Damn straight, and don't you forget it. I'm not the kind of girl that lets anyone get away with shit if I can help it, and you shouldn't be hiding things from me anyway. At least I, unlike you, volunteered the information."
He tensed a little, then blew out a long breath. "Fine. You got me there. I don't like confrontation with people I care about."
"You care about me?" she couldn't resist asking. Even though she already knew the answer.
"Nah, you're annoying."
Mallory laughed and poked him in the belly, earning a grunt. He curled onto his side and pulled her close again, then paused. His brown eyes met hers, so close and steady that she could count the individual flecks of lighter color if she wanted to.
Warmth of a different kind suffused her, not so much desire as just being with him. She almost thought she could feel him inside her mind without ever activating her magic. She felt his heart beating in her chest, his strong limbs tangled with hers as though they were her own.
The shadow magic twined between them, connecting them more subtly than before. Mallory barely even felt it as she sensed it tying them together, cocooning them in a little bubble of solitude.
"What's happening?" she whispered.
He kissed her again instead of answering. His lips were slow as they brushed over hers, back and forth as he took his time. Mallory closed her eyes and savored the moment, let herself fall into the fullness of his lips as she kissed him back.
One of his hands came up to stroke her cheek, then the side of her throat. Mallory shivered as he tickled her with his barely there touches, and he reached down to pull the blankets back up around her.
But I'm not cold, she wanted to say. Touch me again, and see what happen
s.
But she didn't. The slow, deliberate way he traced his fingers across her skin was almost as heady as his quickfire passion, and she knew if she asked him to go farther, she wouldn't be able to ask him to stop again.
Matt kissed his way across her cheek to nip at the sensitive skin beneath her jaw. She sucked in her breath as his hand skimmed over her side, barely lifting in time to avoid palming her breast.
Her nipples tightened beneath her clothes anyway, as though the lack of sensation was nearly a replacement for what she wanted from him.
"Matt," she moaned as he kissed her throat.
"It's okay. I've got you. I won't do anything you don't want me to, I just remember how loud you moaned in the gym when Nico kissed you here. I've been wanting to hear you make that noise for me ever since."
Another moan tore its way from her throat at his words, whether it was from the desire behind them or the way his mouth felt against her skin as he spoke, she wasn't sure. Probably a little of both.
Delight shot through him at the sound.
"I need to tell you something else," she murmured.
"Hmm?" He didn't look up as he kissed his way farther down, skimming along her collarbone. His tongue dipped into the little well at the base of her throat and she arched into him, pressing closer.
"I can feel what you're feeling right now. Physically. I'm not trying to, but my magic is connecting us so that I experience anything you do. I can't really turn it off."
That got his attention. "I'm sorry, but what did you say?"
She blushed, embarrassed. "I... can feel what you're feeling." His chest beckoned to her and she ran her hand over it again, relishing both the way his body felt and the ghostly sensation that traced over her own skin as well. "Like, I can feel that. On me. A little."
His eyes lit up as he grinned. "Oh, yeah? So instead of touching you, and you possibly feeling bad that Nico isn't here to participate, I could just touch myself and watch you squirm?"
She glared at him but didn't deny it. "I never should have told you."
"Oh no, I think you wanted me to know," he whispered as he ducked his head back down to her throat. "I definitely think you had an ulterior motive in mind."
She was about to deny it when he grabbed her hips and pulled them forward, wedging his knee between her legs. Sensation rocked her core as her mound rubbed over his thigh, much like it had in the gym and she moaned again. He ground his hard cock against her belly.
"Fuck, Matt," she breathed as pleasure assailed her from both sides. Her legs clenched around his and she grabbed his shoulders as he rocked against her, feeding off of her sounds. His skin was hot beneath her palms.
Grabbing her throat, he used his thumb to tilt her chin up toward him. He kissed her hard, leaving her no time to react other than kissing him back.
It felt like it went on much longer than the ten or fifteen seconds that their lips actually met. Her mind wrapped into his on instinct, melding them together much easier than it ever had before. Mallory's nails dug into his back as Matt deepened the kiss, his tongue dominating her mouth as he held her tightly.
They both arched beneath her nails. Mallory drew her hands down, scratching over his skin as he shuddered beside her.
He rolled, pulling her beneath him. Fitting himself into the space between her thighs, he rocked their centers together, grinding against her clit. Mallory moaned again as she wrapped her legs around his waist, unable to deny the heady pleasure that rolled through her body.
Matt pushed her shirt up, running his hands across her naked belly. Mallory tore her mouth away with a gasp as his fingers grazed the sensitive strip of skin beneath her breasts.
"Matt..." The warning was clear, but so was her desire. Matt swore as he wrapped his arms around her, grabbing his own elbows to make sure he didn't go farther than he'd promised.
"Call Nico. He'll make it back here in time," Matt ordered, his voice raspy with need. "If he's the only thing holding you back, then we can totally fix that."
Call Nico? Just like that? Am I seriously thinking about calling my boyfriend home to have a threesome with Matt?
Matt released her long enough to grab her phone and shove it into her hand, then dive back down and press a kiss against her belly.
"Call him. You can't tell me you don't want to."
Her finger hit his name on her favorites list and the phone began to ring before she could talk herself out of it.
"Hey, babe, what's up?" Nico answered.
Her throat closed. Froze. Wouldn't work. What am I supposed to say? Hey, love, can I fuck your best friend?
"Mallory? You okay?" Nico asked. She heard Alec's voice repeat the question in the background. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment. No way. I'm not doing this.
"Um, yeah, fine. Matt woke up and is doing great. I just thought you guys would all want to know."
Matt groaned.
"What was that noise?" Nico asked. "You want us to come back?"
Us? All of you? Hell no. "Nope! Everything's fine, don't worry about us. Just wanted to say..."
Matt snatched the phone from her hand before she could think of anything else.
"Nico, walk away from everyone else for a second," Matt ordered, his voice unusually harsh. "Yeah, everything is fine. Well, unless you count the raging blue balls I've got going on, but Mallory is refusing to help out with that unless you're involved too."
Mal gaped at him, then reached down and pinched his nipple. Hard.
She arched as the sensation hit her too, leaving nothing but spicy pleasure in its wake. Matt groaned again.
"Hang on, I'm putting you on speaker," Matt said.
"Bunny? You okay over there?" Nico asked. She could hear the husky amusement in his voice, a sure indication that he was as turned on by the thought of what was going on in the dorm as they were. "You want me to come, um, sit with you guys?"
"Only if you want to. I know you said you wanted to, uh, watch this movie, and I don't want you to feel left out," she replied. Watch this movie... like the others won't know what we mean. I'm an idiot.
"I promise I won't feel left out, Mal. Really. You can watch whatever movie you want with Matt and I'll be fine with it, I swear." His voice had gentled, as though he knew how much this meant to her. "I want you guys to enjoy it. I can always see it later."
"I love you so much," she breathed into the phone. "You know that, right?"
Matt stilled.
"I know. I love you too, Bunny." His voice took on a teasing note as he finished, "Love you too, Matt. I'll be back later."
"Love you too, buddy," Matt said just before he grabbed the phone and hit the red end button. "Feel better?"
She didn't answer at first.
Matt leaned down and kissed her again, gentler this time, then laid his head down on her chest. "All of my clothes are up in Nico's room, so you'll just have to deal with me like this for a little while. Oh, and I think I got oil all over your shirt."
"Clothes?"
"Yeah. You're not sure about this, and that's fine. I want you to be comfortable. I want you to be so into me our first time that Nico and everyone else are just a distant thought, Miss Magic. I want you to want me for more than just this," he said as he rocked his cock against her pussy again. "Cheesy, I know. Don't judge me."
He wants me to love him, she realized. He doesn't know. If Nico’s fine with it, and I want them both, why not just fucking do it? Have two boyfriends. Fall in love with both of them. Live without worrying about how I’m going to manage this, and instead just do it. The thought was steadying, even as it made her heart race. Here’s to living my best life.
"I do want you for more than just that," she whispered into his ear. "A lot more. I've just never done anything like this, so if there's a protocol or something to make sure no one gets hurt, I just want to make sure I follow it."
"A protocol," Matt scoffed. "Now you're just making fun of me."
"Does this feel like I'm making fun of you?
" she asked as she kissed the top of his ear. He stilled against her, but she felt an answering throb of hope hit him in the chest. "Or this?"
Mallory wrapped her legs around his waist again, pulling him against her. His sharp inhale was more than enough of an answer.
"You're sure?" The raspy gravel in his voice was enough to make her belly clench.
"Absolutely. If you are."
The force of his answering kiss pressed her back into the bed, burying the back of her head into the pillow. He devoured her, his soft, full lips pressing against hers until she opened for him, giving him what he wanted. His tongue plundered her mouth, rubbing against hers as he kissed her deeply, barely giving her a moment to breathe.
His hands were everywhere, thrusting roughly beneath her clothes. Mallory responded in kind, running her hands over his bare back. He jerked the hem of her shirt up over her head and attacked her bra clasp.
It popped open and Matt ripped it off of her, leaving her topless beneath him. He groaned as he wrapped his hands around her breasts, feeling their weight for the first time.
She squirmed as he kissed her one last time, then dove down and sucked one aching nipple into his mouth. He sucked hard, pulling her sensitive tip deep as he tweaked the other side. Mallory arched upward, begging for more as he pulled back, drawing it out.
He let go, allowing her breast to pop back as he kissed his way to the other side. She allowed her mind to meld with his, reveling in his elation at finally getting to touch her.
The feeling was mutual. His skin was hot beneath her fingers, so warm that she was almost worried for a minute. He sucked at her again and the thought fled, leaving nothing but zings of sensation behind.
"Matt, I want to touch you, too," she panted.
"You are."
He reached up and slipped one finger into her mouth when she would have protested again, effectively silencing her. Mal sucked it between her lips, twirling her tongue around the end like she wanted to do to his cock.
A groan tore its way from his chest and he had to stop for a second, leaning his forehead against her chest as he ground hard against her center. She did it again.