Page 33 of Fool's Bargain

I held perfectly still, though my body heated and wet heat pooled between my legs. Unable to resist touching her, I rested my hands atop the curves of her bare hips, sighing and tilting my head for her to kiss me. Her tongue felt soft as velvet and when she nipped me with her teeth, an involuntary gasp escaped my throat.

Behind her, Dorian let out a concerned growl. “Careful with your teeth, Zar. We all can bleed, not just Theo. Don’t break skin unless you are sure you want to blood meld again.”

My brows shot up and I looked into her eyes. “You’ve blood melded Theo already? Why him?” I honestly didn’t care who she’d blood melded or how. Only that she had. That she’d crossed that barrier already turned my faint hope into near certainty that she and I were meant to be. I would finally have my second chance to do this right.

She gave him a dizzy glance and they shared a silent exchange I wish I could have been privy to. Then he gave me an apologetic look.

Kyril spoke first, addressing Zarya. “You and I have melded once of the three times it takes to complete a formal mating. That gave us an avenue into each other’s minds. Two melds to breach our hearts, and three to breach our souls. Or like you’ve done with Theo, we can skip the entire ritual and go straight for blood, which binds our very essences at the deepest level, but there is no going back from that.”

Her cheeks flushed. “It wasn’t intentional. He has very talented fingers and I have a habit of biting when I’m turned on. I guess I bit a little harder than I should’ve.”

I gave Theo a dark look. “This really isn’t fair, you know. I had visions of her this morning. How long did you three know about her? Certainly no earlier than midday, because I talked to you after our training session and you insisted you had no interest in leaving the Haven so soon. Yet here you are, your scents all overmysoul mate, and one of you is half blood melded to her. Deva would never be so careless as to mix up soul mates this way.”

“Does it matter how you all got here?” Zarya asked, cupping my chin and urging me to look at her again. “You’re here now, and I’m not exactly chasing you away. I mean, look at me.”

My irritation faded as I let my gaze drop to her naked body. Licking my lips, I shook my head. “It never pays to make assumptions where Fate is concerned. I can accept that we all belong to you, but the circumstancesareworrisome.”

I didn’t want to speculate, but there was only one sure way to be matched with a member of the bloodline, and if what the men had shared so far was true, they hadn’t heard a call from Deva’s hounds. Were they really willing to test Fate this way?

She closed in, her warmth distracting me from all worry as her lips brushed my throat again and she inhaled. “Let us enjoy each other for now. Can we overthink the whole thing in the morning? Please?”

She tangled her fingers into the hair at the base of my skull, brushing her cheek along mine. I sighed, reveling in the fragrant softness of her skin. “Dion save me, but I want you more than life right now,” I whispered, then tilted my head and angled my mouth over hers.

The spark of longing in me grew to a raging blaze when our tongues slid together. She was both soft and sharp, a fruity taste filling my mouth with our kiss. I was only dimly aware of my need to get out of my clothes, to be skin to skin with her as much as she’d been with the others. She had similar sentiments, tearing at my leathers, seeking a way into them, and finally finding the laces at the front. My hands accompanied hers and we parted only long enough to both work at the cords holding the bodice of my leathers together over my breasts. When my breasts fell free of the bindings, her attention fixated on my nipples. My breasts were larger than hers, the hardened blue peaks a contrast to her rosy ones.

I shrugged out of my jacket, eager to feel her skin against mine. As she tore the open bodice away from my chest, my skin already glistened with the steam that now filled our private enclosure. She surged close again, practically tackling me. I let out a husky laugh against her mouth at her overenthusiastic kisses, yanking on the laces at one hip of my leather trousers while she worked on the other side. Before we had my pants past my hips, she pushed me back toward one of the cushioned chaises. I fell back, relying on my nymphaea dancer’s grace and environmental awareness to keep from crashing down on my ass. I couldn’t help but smile at the turn things had taken.

She slid down my body to start working on my boots when Kyril nudged her aside and tilted his head upward. “Let us help. You focus on her.”

She looked startled, as if suddenly remembering that we weren’t the only two people in the universe, then her lips curled in an excited smile when she turned back to me. My breathing quickened when Theo knelt on the other side of the chaise, unlacing the other boot while Dorian gathered up my discarded garments and draped them over the back of a nearby chair. The fact that the guys were all as invested in this meld as I was thrilled me and I sent a silent look of gratitude Theo’s way. He smiled back, winking at me. Dion bless them, I should have guessed they’d be willing to share with me.

Zarya paused, an amused look on her face. “Is there something I should know about you four? This isn’t really a student-teacher dynamic you’ve got going on here.”

“It is if you’re nymphaea,” I said, pushing my pants down my thighs while she knelt at the end of the chaise between my legs. Kyril and Theo had made quick work of my boots and I drew my legs up to shove my pants over my knees and off my ankles.

When I stretched my legs out again, she froze, jaw dropping as she stared at the Thiasoi tattoo that was etched across my hips and over my pelvis. Only the female initiates received the marks, which signified our commitment to binding the power of our fertility within our cores. The pattern stretched across my hips and pelvis, more delicate tendrils extending even farther between my thighs, covering my labia, and connecting with themselves at the base of my spine. The artwork glowed with vivid blue magic.

“May I touch them?” she asked, the awe in her voice palpable.

I leaned back on my elbows and parted my legs a little wider. She scooted closer on her knees. “As long as you promise they’re not all you touch.”

She fixed her gaze on my pussy as she slipped even closer, sliding her palms up my inner thighs. “You have my word.”

My mouth fell open with a sigh when her fingers grazed the juncture of my thighs and pelvis. My own arousal flooded the air with the scent of tropical flowers and my channel flooded with warm wetness. She bit her lip, grazing a fingertip along the hood of my clit where the tattoo began, and I let out a soft hiss at the responding throb in my needy flesh. I wanted more but adored the way she marveled at the sight of me, as if I were the greatest gift she’d ever received. She kept her touch focused on my tattoo itself, its shimmering luminance from under the surface of my skin making it look more like a glowing brand. Itwasa brand in a sense, the ink having constricted beneath the skin to create a taut layer not unlike scar tissue but designed to bind my power until I had need. Her fascination with it spoke volumes though, and I wondered if her own elaborate markings signified a similar well of dormant magic within her.

My chest rose and fell with deepening breaths as she used both hands to follow the pattern across my hips, like she was plotting the path through a maze. “It’s so beautiful. What does it mean?”

“It’s her thyrsus mark,” Theo said in a reverent voice. He’d remained at our side and was seated on the ground now, his knees bent and his forearms resting atop them. He’d shed his pants and was entirely naked, one hand gripping his erection. “It means she’s symbolically mated to Dionysus, preserving her virginity for use in his service. The marks glow as long as her virgin power is intact.”

“Wait, you’re not like a nun I’m about to defile, are you? Not that that wouldn’t be hot.”

I frowned and shot Theo a questioning look. Theo laughed.

“She is far from chaste if that’s what you mean,” he said. “Humanity’s Christian orders are nothing like the Thiasoi order. For our kind, a woman’s virginity isn’t just sacred or symbolic. It can be a powerful weapon, one we don’t dare take for granted. She’s a soldier and as long as she keeps that power intact, she can channel it to defend the Haven if the need arises.”

She returned her attention to me and continued to follow the lines of my tattoo with her fingers as if committing the pattern to memory.

“So you’re a virgin. Does that mean the same thing in your world as it does in mine?” She reached my hips with her fingers. The designs didn’t end but kept going around to my back, but rather than ask me to turn over, she returned the way she’d come while she watched my face.

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