Page 29 of Kissed By Shadows

“But then the outfit would get all dirty. I’d probably be better to not wear anything at all, just to be safe,” I reply, holding back a laugh at his stunned expression. “After all, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”

His nostrils flare and I hear two growls.

“What the fuck do you mean, it’s nothing he hasn’t seen before?” Hunter grits out, bracing his arms against the island, giving Roman a death glare that has me chuckling.

“Stand down, Hulk. He just helped me dry off after my shower this morning,” I say casually, feeling the heat warm my cheeks as all three pairs of eyes train on me. I guess I kind of thought that they were a package deal, that it was okay to be intimate with them all, but Hunter looks pissed, although he is a caveman so that might account for it. “It’s not a big deal.”

“I’ll help you tomorrow,” Rowan states, no room for any kind of argument, like it’s a done deal.

“I–Um–I can manage myself,” I stammer as my gaze snaps to him, my entire body flushing hot.

“Then I get the day after,” Hunter adds, all three of them looking away from me to each other, faces unreadable. I get whiplash from how fast I glance at them, my mouth agape.

“I can dry myself!” I squeak out, squirming as their attention falls to me once more. Evangeline calls me a dirty liar because we both know that I thoroughly enjoyed having Roman dry me. Either way, I don’t want them to argue over me. “I really don’t need help.”

“If we’re keeping things equal, then I get my fingers inside her next,” Rowan adds, and I gasp at the same time as all the hair on my arms and nape stands on end.

“I’m sitting right here, fuckers!” I yell, pushing up from my seat, my chest heaving. The worst part is I’m not sure if it’s from anger or the lust that’s leaving my breath panting. Perhaps it’s both? “If I say I don’t need help in the shower, o–or your fingers in my pussy, then, well, that’s it.”

Raising my chin, my chest tightens as Hunter stalks around the island, coming towards me with a maniacal grin on his face. He’s all feline grace, like a panther, one you found as a kitten, allcute and harmless, only to wake up one day to find a beast in its place.

“What were the terms of our protection?” he asks as he comes closer, his voice low and menacing. Then he comes to a stop right in front of me, our bodies almost touching. I have to crane my neck to look up at him, his height another way he tries to intimidate me, but he won’t get the satisfaction this time.

“I paid the price, on my knees,” I hiss in a snarled whisper, but his nearness is confusing my body, my nerve endings lighting up even as my mind tells me to run far away.

“And what else, Peaches?” he questions softly, his large hand coming out to brush along the side of my face, his thumb swiping over my bottom lip in a way that has my body giving a full shudder despite my mind telling him to fuck all the way off.

“And…” I swallow, knowing what I agreed to but hating that he’s tainting the thing that was brewing between us, between us all, as an obligation, a transaction. “And learn obedience.”

“Good girl,” the motherfucking ballsack coos, the words hitting my core with the force of a lightning bolt. “So if we decide that we are going to help you dry after your shower, or Rowan wants to sink his fingers inside that pretty pussy of yours, what will you say?”

My jaw clenches, the words trapped. I gave them freely earlier, but now it’s like he’s ripping them from me. My mind takes me back to last night—to the early hours of this morning—when he told me why I might want my control taken from me, that it would allow me to be free. Is that what this is? Is he taking control so I won’t have to think about anything other than existing? Or is he being a dominating arsehole?

“Yes, Daddy,” I grit out, the sharp intakes of the twins hitting me in my solar plexus even as my cheeks burn and my throat thickens. Did I give in too quickly? Should I fight more? Is this?—

“Stop thinking, Peaches.” Hunter’s demand breaks through my swirling thoughts, shutting off all the voices that are telling me this is some kind of fucked-up situation. My wide eyes latch onto his, the green somehow calming my racing heart as his warm palms come up to cradle my face. “We will never hurt you, never take what isn’t ours or what you don’t want to give. Trust us.”

I feel my lower lip tremble, everything becoming overwhelming once more. “But how do I know it’s not wrong?” My voice is barely above a whisper, the worry slipping past my lips without my permission to be voiced.

His entire face softens then. “Close your eyes, Peaches.” Slowly, hesitantly, I do as he says, taking a deep inhale of his rosemary and mint scent which instantly calms my racing heartbeat. “Does this feel wrong?”

I concentrate on the warmth of his palms, the way his body heats mine, his nearness bringing a measure of peace even if it also sends a skittering pulse throughout my body. “No.”

A presence at my left side has me trying to twist my face, my eyelids starting to open, but Hunter holds me still, his thumbs tracing my cheeks.

“Keep them closed,” he commands gently, a sharp gasp falling from my lips when a hand grasps my hip, hot lips pressing against the side of my neck, sucking and causing my nipples to pebble. “Does that feel wrong?”

“No,” I breathe out, butterflies taking flight in my stomach, a shifting feeling near my heart forcing me to inhale again and my nose fills with peppermint, lavender, and lemon, telling me Roman is pressed against me.

Another body heats my right side, lavender, bergamot, and patchouli filling my nostrils and soothing me even more. Rowan’s comforting scent is always a welcome surprise, a part of me expecting him to smell sharper, less soft. A sigh falls from mylips when his mouth meets my skin, sucking me inside its heat with a light graze of his teeth, sending goosebumps cascading all over my body.

“Does that feel wrong?” Hunter asks, his deep voice somehow more husky and toe-curling than it is usually.

I’m shaking my head before the word even leaves my lips. “No. It feels…” I trail off, fear causing my stomach to clench.

“Feels like what, Peaches?” he demands as the twins remain silent, their lips pressed against me but unmoving.

Swallowing past the worry in my throat, I keep my eyes closed as I let the truth spill free. “It feels more right than it should, considering I hardly know any of you and that I’m your prisoner.”

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