Page 10 of Taste of Danger

Panic set in, and there was no way to shut it down. Their touches had triggered him, flooded him with memories he desperately wished he could escape.

He ripped away from them and hugged his arms tightly to his chest as if he could hide the shame beneath them.

“Please, don’t.” Jax tried to reach for him, but Arion took a few steps back. “Baby, your scars don’t matter to us.”

Elvine looked as if her heart was breaking. Arion didn’t want her pity, didn’t want her to feel sorry for him. Then he would always wonder if she touched him out of sympathy or genuine attraction.

There was no goddamn way Arion would become another form of a pet, one Elvine and Jax felt obligated to care for.

“Of course they don’t matter to you,” Arion argued. “You’re not the one who has to live with them. I don’t need your fucking pity, either.”

Arion clutched his upper arm in his hand, looking toward the floor and wondering how they truly saw him, because he felt like a puzzle with missing pieces, a canvas with unfinished patches.

Jax and Elvine exchanged a glance between them.

Finally, Jax spoke up. “Arion, we understand your scars are a part of you, and we don’t want you to ever feel like we’re pitying you. That’s not what this is about.”

They seemed sincere, and Arion wanted to believe them, but it was hard to shake off a decade of abuse, to become vulnerable, even for his mates.

“You’re right. We can’t understand what it’s like to have to live with those scars,” Elvine said. “But we can understand the pain they represent, the hurt they symbolize.” She held out her hands and wiggled her fingers. “My two cuties need to trust me. I think this will benefit all of us.”

Unsure what Elvine was up to, Arion slowly placed his hand in hers. As did Jax, though he looked like he wanted to snatch his hand back.

“Are you about to voodoo us?” Jax asked.

“In a way, yes.” She smirked. “Raidh taught me how to do this, but don’t tell him I’m much better at it than he is.”

“Better at what?” Arion tried to pull his hand away, but for a tiny fairy, Elvine was strong.

“Do you think I would honestly do something kinky to you?” she huffed.

Arion frowned.

Jax choked on a laugh. “Babe, I think you mean hinky,” he said. “But feel free to do all kinds of kinky things to me, sexy.”

“Me too!” Then Arion curled his lips in, embarrassed he’d just blurted that out.

“I’m trying to be serious.” Elvine stomped her foot.

“So were Arion and me.” Jax wiggled his brows. “Hell, I’ll strip my clothes off and lay spread-eagle on your bed. I won’t even mind if you and Arion get freaky with each other while laying on top of my chest, ma petite.”

Arion nearly swallowed his tongue. As for Elvine, he was pretty sure Jax had broken her. Her lips were parted, and she just kept blinking over and over again.

In a low, seductive voice, Jax said, “You two have no idea just how kinky I am.”

Arion wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but the image was now seared into his brain. He shook Elvine’s hand while still clutching hers. “Are you going to voodoo us or try Jax’s suggestion?”

Not a chance was Arion going to get fully naked, but the humor had just slipped free.

Finally, Elvine cleared her throat, but it took a moment for her to tear her gaze away from Jax. Arion knew how she felt. Jax was seven kinds of wicked sin rolled into a gorgeous body.

“Close your eyes,” Elvine said, eyeballing Jax again before she turned to stare at Arion.

“Don’t look at me,” Arion squeaked. “Jax said he would get naked. He never said we had to do the same.”

One thing was for certain, Jax knew how to throw a verbal left and knock Arion right out of his moroseness. Now all he thought about was getting freaky with Elvine while they squirmed on top of Jax.

“Okay, we’ll do this first,” Jax said. “Then I want you both to consider getting hinky.” He winked at Elvine.

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