Aeron spoke first. “I believe the children have made their choice as well.”
Erica stood up when the mists disappeared, and the twins began to cry again. “Please,” she pleaded to Aneena and Alak, who were still holding them.
Both Alak and Aneena came over to the trio and gently handed over the children to them. Ellie and Finn let out a happy gurgling sound before shutting their eyes in peaceful contentedness.
Alak then walked over to the nasty couple, who immediately took their seats again. “The decision is now final.” His words were loud, authoritative, and deadly sounding. “If you have a problem with your High Dorum, feel free to take it up with the one who appointed us. Let’s see if she deems the two of you worthy of speaking to, hmm?”
“We trust in our Goddess’s choice,” Lomer sputtered.
“Good, because as High Dorum, I relieve you of your duty to the council,” Alak proclaimed to both Lomer and Rhana. “I no longer deem your counsel valuable to the Dark Fae. This is not the first time your prejudice for other races has come to light. There is no place in our Goddess’s grace for those with such darkness within.”
“You can’t do that!” Rhana exclaimed loudly, an annoying shrill to her voice.
Ben watched Aeron roll his eyes, while Alak, looking like he was seconds away from strangling the pair, said, “You’re right. The decision must be unanimous between the High Dorum. Brother?”
“Get out of my sight,” Aeron said to them.
“There. It’s unanimous,” Alak said with a smirk.
Rhana curled her lip in disgust, and then she and her mate proceeded towards the exit in a loud stomping fashion while muttering what Ben could only assume were curses in their Dark Fae language.
Before they reached the exit, Alak added one more parting threat to the couple. “I suggest the two of you continue to live peacefully, lest you find yourselves being forcefully removed—by me—from the village.”
Rhana and her mate finished the rest of their exit quietly this time.
Once they were gone, it was time for the final oath to be taken and then Ben, Leo, and Erica would be officially deemed Ellie and Finn’s parents.
Aeron and Alak asked each of them individually to vow their bond of parenthood and all three easily answered in turn, “I vow it.”
More wisps of some kind emerged from Alak and Aeron, circling first the children and then the parents, literally binding them to each other as a family.
Forever.
Chapter Seven
Mine. My children.
Even now, hours after the decision was handed down by Alak and Aeron, and Ellie and Finn were declared theirs, the thrill of it hadn’t dissipated. Erica stood in the doorway to the nursery, watching her babies sleep, her heart filled to overflowing. She didn’t have the gift of foresight like Corrine had, but Erica was damn sure of one thing. She would spend the rest of her life protecting, loving, and cherishing her children, and knew beyond a doubt that Ben and Leo would be right beside her doing the exact same thing.
As if conjured by her thoughts, but probably more by her absence, she knew her mates were making their way toward her. The three of them had fallen into bed in a hurry to love on each other for a long while after they had settled Ellie and Finn for the night, not only in celebration of their family, but also to revel in the love and emotions that bound them as mates, as husbands and wife, and now as parents.
“I think this is what our life is going to be like from now on, Leo,” Ben said in a dry, but playful tone as he stepped up to her left and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“I’m going to have to agree with you,” Leo answered as he took his place on her right his arm sliding around her hip, and she was nestled between her mates, just as the Goddess had fated it to be.
Erica sighed contentedly as she slipped an arm around each of the men and tucked her head on Ben’s shoulder. “What are you to talking about?”
Ben pressed a kiss to her temple. “The fact that if our mate is not at our side—”
“Or in our bed,” Leo added.
“Good point, or in our bed where she was supposed to be, passed out in sated bliss or at the very least reveling in the afterglow of our lovemaking, then she will no doubt be with our pups. Case in point, we find you here, staring at our children and watching over them as they sleep. So, Leo and I figure that that’s going to be our lot in life. We will come second to our daughter and our son, and I for one am absolutely okay with that.”
Erica grinned, tilting her head to look up at him. “I bet that wouldn’t be the case if it were anyone or anything else that drew my attention.”
Erica laughed as both Ben and Leo growled at her, Leo even going so far as to lean in and press a bite to her neck in mock threat. Her reaction to that was nothing but pleasurable. Her mates’ growls changed, taking on the tone that told her they had scented the change in her body as arousal spiraled within her.
“I fucking love how you respond to us,” Leo murmured against her skin, making her shiver.
Ben’s hand slipped between the opening of her robe, and he groaned as his hand encountered soft, warm skin. “I think it’s only fair that you get excited as quickly as we do. The scent of your arousal is enough to have my dick throbbing in need for you, but add the feel of your skin to the mix and I am seconds away from laying you across the nearest flat service and taking you. Hard.”
Erica’s heart rate sped up at that thought, and she felt her body tighten even further. “I think,” her voice was a sultry mix of need and breathless anticipation, “that sounds almost perfect.”
“Almost, love?” Leo asked as he gently swayed into her, letting her feel the strength and steel of his own arousal. “What would make it perfect for you, because you have to know that Ben and I live to give you what you want? What you need.”
Ben rolled her erect nipple between his fingers making Erica whimper. “I want both my mates. Together.”
Erica heard both her men inhale sharply a split second before her world tilted on its axis as Leo swept her up and into his arms. His mouth slammed into hers, and Erica felt his kiss to the very tips of her toes. Her mates never did anything by half, and when they kissed her, they poured everything they were and everything they felt for her into their kisses.
As always, Erica lost herself in the moment, and when she was aware once more of everything around her, she was naked, straddling Leo’s hips as he lay back at the foot of their bed. Somehow, he had managed to take off the pajama pants he had taken to wearing when Aneena moved in, and she could feel the hot, smooth head of his cock pressing against her.
Breaking the kiss so she could sit up a little, she grinned down at her handsome mate, reaching between her legs to stroke his erection, loving the flicker of color in his eyes that told her his control wavered. There was nothing more powerful for her than knowing she had the ability to push her mates to the edge of their legendary control.
Leo groaned, arching back as she pumped her hand along his cock, just the way she knew he liked it most. “Don’t play with me, baby. Take me in … take me all the way in.”
Heart beating wildly, she moved and slowly pressed the head of his dick to her entrance so that it easily slid inside of her. Unable to resist, she tilted her head down to watch him slip into her body. She rotated her hips as she took him all the way to the hilt, not stopping until she was settled completely against his thighs.
“Oh, Goddess,” she moaned as she placed her hands against the hard planes of his chest and threw her head back, reveling in the heat and slight pinch within that told her she had every inch of him.
“So fucking hot, so fucking tight,” Leo moaned, and she felt his body tremble beneath her fingers. “You had better hurry the hell up, Ben, or you are going to miss this round.”
Erica continued to roll her hips in small, tight figure eights, enjoying the sensations the movements sparked in her clit. She heard Ben moving behind her, and then she felt his hand pr
essing slightly on her lower back.
“Move forward a little, baby. I want to make sure you are ready for me.”
Erica moved to place her hands on either side of Leo’s shoulders, her movements bringing her face closer to his.
“Hey,” she whispered, her gaze locked with his.
“Hey back, my love,” Leo murmured, lifting a hand to gently sweep her hair from her face.
Erica stiffened as Ben began to ply her body with the cold lubricant he was using. She bit her lip on a groan when he used it to gain entry to her ass. Her eyes closed on the sensory overload as Ben began to scissor his fingers within her, using them to ensure that when he finally took her, he gave her nothing but pleasure and that small hint of burn that always had her begging for more. She whimpered when he removed them, feeling bereft.
A few seconds later he was back. “Here I come, baby,” he said sounding a little breathless, and Erica was pleased that he was just as affected by his attentions as she was. “Push out, that’s it.”
Erica groaned at the feel of him pushing into her body, the slight pinch and burn as he stretched her added to the sensuous heat of arousal that had been building within her. She held her breath for a moment, and then released it in a rush when he was finally seated within her and she held both her mates in her body.
“Fuck,” Ben growled, the sound loud in the room. “I gotta move, baby.”
“Yes, please! Move!” Erica cried out.
Ben withdrew, and Erica moved a little to give Leo some room of his own to maneuver, and then she was unable to really think at all. Ben and Leo began a steady rhythm, one that was completely in sync so that she alternated between being full and completely taken, to almost bereft at the loss of both of them. The room filled with their shared sounds of pleasure, and Erica could feel her release building to epic proportions within her.
It wasn’t long until their smooth movements dissolved into desperate thrusts, both her mates pounding into her, reaching for their own releases as they hovered just out of reach. Erica keened as her body began to shake, poised on the edge of the abyss. Leo and Ben both slammed into her at the same time once again, and that was all it took.
“I’m coming!” she wailed as her body flew off the edge and a tidal wave of pleasure crashed down on her. Her entire body shook and shuddered with the power of her release, but she heard both men cry out their own pleasure and she felt them jerking inside of her, their own orgasms seeming as epic and turbulent as her own.
Erica felt her release peak again, and unbelievably she came a second time, and she simply gave herself over to it. When she was finally able to open her eyes and concentrate on her surroundings, she had no idea how much time had passed. The room was mostly dark, but the curtains were open and the light of the moon lit the room in a beautiful white light. She was cuddled between her mates, the light cover pulled up over all of them as they simply basked in the afterglow.
“Wow,” Erica whispered in a voice that held a slight rasp to it.
Ben laughed softly from his place pressed against her from behind. “You can say that again, pixie. Every damn time we take you like that I think it can’t get any better, but the next time we prove that it can.”
Erica laughed with her men and sighed, snuggling closer to Leo’s chest. Before Finn and Ellie came into their lives, Erica was happier than she had ever thought she had the right to be, but there was always this shadow in her heart that her men couldn’t quite reach. That place in a woman’s heart that belonged only to her children. When she had found out that her ability to have children naturally had been taken from her, she had thought she would never be able to fill that void. Finn and Ellie filled it to overflowing, and yet Erica knew that if the opportunity or need arose, she had more love in her heart for any that might need her.
As clichéd as it sounded, it made her happy to see others in her life finding the same happiness. April had Donovan and Jason. Corrine had her Alphas Gabe and Braxas. Their sphere of family and friends was expanding, and Erica loved it. There was someone for everyone. That thought brought the images of Aeron and Alak to her mind.
She had spoken with both of them after the proceedings that afternoon, and they had both seemed preoccupied. If Erica were a betting woman, she would have put money on the fact that the two were more than a little frustrated. With the discovery of those cuffs that had held Kat captive and the sword used on Gabe, both of which had been infused with some kind of Dark Fae black magic, they had a lot on their plate. But Erica had a feeling that perhaps the frustration they were feeling was more on the sexual side than anything. The thought of the High Dorum, all powerful and dominant, being fated to a woman who was probably more dominant than any female they had ever encountered before, had her giggling.
“What’s got you laughing, mate?” Leo asked.
“I was thinking about Alak and Aeron.” Both men tensed. “Oh, stop it, both of you. I love you with all my heart, and you are both the hottest things on legs as far as I’m concerned. No, I was thinking about the journey we have been on so far. We have more questions than answers when it comes to the Dark Fae faction that’s causing trouble for all of us. Then you add in the fact I am pretty sure both men recognized Kat as more than just a beautiful shifter with a mean streak a mile long.”
“You think they are fated?” Leo asked, before barking out a laugh. “Fuck, I hope so. Those bastards need a woman who can hold her own with them, not to mention the fact I plan to be in the front row with a big bucket of popcorn to watch that relationship unfold.”
“Kat won’t give in without a fight, for sure,” Ben added, and Erica could hear the amusement in his tone. “Leo and I have fought and worked beside her plenty of times when we were Gabe’s enforcers. She’s a stubborn one.”
Erica felt a shiver roll over her skin, and a small tendril of dread unfurled within her. A premonition of things to come perhaps. “And that, I fear, is what is coming their way.”
The three of them fell into silence for a moment. Erica shook her head slightly to clear those thoughts. They were for another time and in the light of day. This time was precious, and it belonged to the three of them.
“Have I told you both that I adore you?” Erica kept her tone light.
“More than once, my love,” Ben murmured, and she felt him press a kiss to her shoulder. “You are the love of our lives, the light to our dark and the mother of our children.”
Erica felt the slight tingle of tears at his words.
Leo rolled so that he lay facing her, his gaze locked with hers. “When we first met you in that alleyway, when you were wielding your sword and fighting for your life and looking so fucking beautiful, you stole our hearts. When you fled from us in order to save your world, we felt as if we were chasing fate with every step we took to get to you.”
Erica reached up to touch his cheek even as she reached out to lay her right hand along Ben’s thigh. “Now look at where we are. Married, mated, fated, and parents to two beautiful children. Catching fate led us to this moment, and I thank the Goddess every day that she deemed me worthy of being your mate.”
Erica had often thought of fate as a fickle beast who toyed with the emotions and lives of those it was destined to help. But now she figured the Fates knew exactly what they were doing. All they really needed was faith.
The End
If you enjoyed this book, you may also like:
Owned by the Alpha anthology
His Huntress by Renni Acre
Kiss of Death by Annie Harland Creek
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