Page 90 of The Dark, Dead, Deep

“Why do I feel like you are the one in control here?” Shay did not open his eyes as he spoke the words through gritted teeth. His brow creased with concentration and pleasure.

Rainn chuckled. “Because I am.”

“My… magic,” Shay huffed, letting out a groan as Rainn twisted his fist again.

“Shh,” Rainn admonished.

Thinking on it, Shay was the nymph. It would have made sense for him to lead the interaction, but somehow I didn’t think he minded that Rainn was in charge. Not really. In fact, I think he rather liked it.

Rainn continued his steady ministrations, pressing his lips to Shay’s before biting his bottom lip and tugging it playfully. Shay was distracted by Rainn’s hand on his cock, but he returned the kiss before Rainn began to press kisses down his jaw. Shay’s chest, where it peeked out from the collar of his shirt, was flushed red.

I fanned myself.

“Perhaps, we should give them some privacy,” Tormalugh suggested.

There was nothing that I wanted to do less.

“Unless you like to watch,” he finished.

My eyes shot to the kelpie’s for the first time since Shay’s magic had begun to muddle my head and turn my legs to jelly. “Excuse me?”

Tor’s dark eyes sparkled. “You like to watch.” He nodded to himself as if confirming something.

Shay moaned deeply, and Rainn chuckled, but Tor and I did not turn away from our silent stand-off.

“As if I like to watch,” I scoffed, waving my hand dismissively.

Tor clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “You have never seen two men touch each other before,” he guessed.

I said nothing; my tongue felt too big for my mouth. I felt incredibly young and naïve at that moment. I didn’t like that feeling.

“You’ve never seen two people touch each other like that before,” Tormalugh continued, elaborating on his guess. He moved towards me, and I was frozen, with only my eyes moving as I eyed him like a barracuda on the prowl. “I’d wager that you have never been touched like that before.”

“Who would take such a wager?” I snarled, my eyes narrowing.

Tormalugh laughed, shaking his head until his dark hair dropped into his eyes.“What was it that you said about the shíorghrá?One person to see your soul’s design and the beautiful shíorghrá scar on your skin, invisible to all others. One person who will accept you beyond the boundaries of refinement and politics, to be yours, as the gods choose?”he recited perfectly, mimicking my words down to the very cadence.

“How did you—?”

Tormalugh was close enough to touch me, and he did. He reached out with a single finger and pressed it to the seam of my jaw to lift my face to his.

The world slipped away at that moment, and it didn’t matter that two men were writhing in pleasure on the bed only feet from us or that Cormac was lifeless on that bed with them. All that mattered was that Tormalugh’s eyes were as deep as the Abyss, and I knew they would trap me if I allowed them to.

Tormalugh made me feel very small, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“What would you do if I said I could see your shíorghrá mark?” Tormalugh used the finger he had placed on my jaw to draw a path on my cheek, right to the smooth flesh of my crescent scar.

I laughed without humor. “Everyone can see my scar.”

“Humour me,” he said, his lips twitching with the threat of a smile.

I exhaled through my nose. “I don’t know,” I admitted.

“Would you allow me to touch you if we shared a mark that no one else could see?” Tormalugh purred, stepping closer to me until I felt the hardness of his chest against mine. Just close enough that I felt his heat. His finger brushed the corner of my eye, and his head tilted to the side. He licked his bottom lip, and that was all the warning I had before he kissed me.

My world tilted, and everything slipped away, save for the feel of Tormalugh’s lips on mine—his eyes closed tight as he kissed my mouth with force. The kiss was filled with desperation, with longing; there was no coaxing. Tormalugh kissed me as if he expected me to vanish when he opened his eyes.

As quickly as the kiss began, Tor pulled away, his eyes dazed as if he hadn’t expected himself to do that.

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