Page 103 of A Deal with the Shadow King

All thoughts of my old life, my old self, and then some.

I melt into the kiss as One falls forward on top of me, his weight pinning me down on the mattress. His leg sneaks between my thighs as he pulls me up and aligns my head with the pillows. I’m hanging on for his next breath, his next moan, his next kiss. If lust does that to mortals, I’m not at all against it. It’s a clarity I’ve never known. My body roars for what it craves, even beyond reason. It was good in the Dreaming, but it wasn’t real.

This is real.

I peel his shirt off and spread my legs to make space for him. The feel of his hardness against my inner thigh fills my blood with fire, and I scratch two parallel lines in his shoulder blades. “Stay for the night.”

He shakes his head, and the hungry, unsatisfied gleam in his eyes melts me from the inside out. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”

I trace the scar splitting his brow. “Before coming here, I thought Fae were dangerous and wicked. I thought I was coming here to suffer in some evil land that would try and destroy me.”

“Evil is a point of view.”

“No it’s not. There’s not a shred of evil in you.” I struggle to keep a semblance of composure, and the tremble in my voice grows three times too loud for me to sound confident as I say, “Two said we could be together if—if I agreed to take all three.”

One grips my wrists and holds my hands above my head. “He shouldn’t have said that.”

“Is it true?”

He buries my knuckles even deeper in the pillows, and the dark curve of his mouth sends my pulse flying.

“What would you do with the three of us?” he chokes.

His attempts at deflection only harden my resolve. “Humor me. Is it true?”

The last of the embers twinkle in red and orange hues in the hearth, our fingers still entwined above my head.

“Yes and no…” he trails off regretfully. “Morrigan’s curse ensured that I couldn’t so easily replace her. I can’t feel true compassion, can’t love—can’t even fuck you properly.” He grinds his hip forward, making me doubt his assessment, and my lips part at the friction.

Our noses bump, and I stretch out my neck to kiss him. “Just try. I think it might work.”

Two stalks out of the shadows. “Tell her the whole truth—or by the spindle, take a moment to look at yourself.”

A third silhouette slowly comes into focus on the other side of the bed, and I hold my breath.

They’re all here. And they’re not wearing their masks.

Two plops over to the empty space beside us on the bed. “You can’t deny it… The four of us together is a tempting idea. With a little luck, it could even break the curse.”

My cheek digs into the pillow as I angle my face to him. “Break the curse? Is that possible?”

One lets go of my hands and sits up over me on the bed, his chest rising and falling. My gaze follows the defined muscles of his bare chest down his stomach to the v-cut shapes of his hips, and I lick my lips.

Two shifts to his side next to me and tucks his arm under his head, so close that I could count his eyelashes. “Curses are more like songs than spells. Morrigan wrote the lyrics, but the melody was left to the spindle of the gods. Curses have a loophole—a loose thread that can be unraveled. Clearly, it has something to do with you.” His tongue darts out to touch his bottom lip as he leans closer to my ear. “One might be a pessimistic ass, but he has feelings for you. He’s hard for you—even though that should be impossible. You’re a game changer, pet, but it terrifies him.”

One jumps to his feet and covers the obvious bulge in his pants with one hand. “It can’t be as easy as that.”

“You don’t know. Her magic is growing beyond what any of us had dared to hope. She is drawn to us, and we all yearn for her…” Two rolls the end of my braid between his index finger and thumb. “If we manage to break the curse, the king won’t have to steal her magic and make her forget she ever set foot in Faerie.”

The shimmer of silver and gold that frames his pupils softens. Two is difficult and rude and a tiny bit evil, but in this moment, I can almost believe he cares for me.

Three feeds a few pieces of wood to the fire and moves to sit on the opposite side of the bed. His hand curls around my shoulder like a promise.

One looks as if he’s about to tear his brothers off my bed, but I extend my arm in his direction. Flames flicker over his handsome face as he considers my offered hand, but the most stubborn of the bunch still holds out.

Two loses patience first. “Alright, let’s vote. All those in favor of getting naked together to see if it’ll break the curse, say aye.”

Three flips his brother off with a warm chuckle, and the tender touch of his fingers along the ridges of my spine clears up any doubt I could’ve had on where his vote lies.

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