Page 129 of Entranced By the Basilisks

I brush my teeth in a hurry and mentally promise the serpents a shower later before I’m off down the stairs. I may have been feeling generous enough not to spy on them during sex, but I have no such compunction for training. I’ve never really seen them fight.

I freeze when I make it through the doorway of the training room. They’re both shirtless and sweaty. The soft light from the windows hits them as if they are moving art needing to be illuminated. They move fast and each strike is hard enough that I flinch, but I’m transfixed.

Heat spreads through me like honey, viscous and syrupy, pooling in my belly and between my legs. My skin is tight and even though I just woke up, I’m very much at attention.

Ari traps Jasper in a hold, and he makes an unattractive sound as he struggles to break out.

“Do you surrender?” Ari asks and pants. Sweat glistens on his skin. “You’re really putting me through my paces today. You’ve gotten so much stronger, faster too.”

I think that Jasper is going to find a way out of the hold Ari has put him in, but at the last moment, he taps out. Ari immediately releases him, and Jasper shakes his arms as if to remove the tension Ari introduced.

They meet each other’s gaze and I bite my lip at the wave of heat that comes off them. Jasper glares at Ari and Ari grins like he’s daring Jasper to snap and tackle him.

“Good morning, sweet spark, you seemed to sleep well,” Ari says.

I jolt at the address, apparently, he wasn’t too lost in Jasper to notice me. “Don’t mind me. I’m just spying.”

“Do you like what you see?” Ari gestures at his body, hewn perfection.

I stroll toward him and hum, sliding my hand up his chest, smooth scales to heated skin. He’s sweaty, but it only adds to the appeal. It calls to an animalistic nature in me that hungers for my mates. “Yes, but I like watching you two more.”

Jasper is at my back. His hot breaths hit my neck as he kisses my skin. “You smell like a treat.”

My cheeks heat at how quickly they circle me, but I didn’t come down for this.

“No need to stop on my account. You two looked like you were about to do something fun,” I say.

“You don’t want to be involved?” Ari asks. There’s a lost look that crosses his features.

“After. I want to have my moment with you two… but I want you to have the moment that I interrupted.”

Ari flashes me a grin, not denying the charge. He pulls Jasper toward him with his waistband, which pulls me in too. I laugh and kiss him.

“I mean it.” My words are husky. “The sexual tension between the two of you has been off the charts… can I watch? I’ll go if you want.”

Ari hums in consideration. “I haven’t wanted to do anything intimate with either of you until we settled into a new normal and had an opportunity to rebuild the trust I’d squandered.”

Ari and I may not be bonded, but I still get a sense of where his mind is at. I place my hand on his heart. “I forgive you, Ari.”

He blinks and clears his throat. “Thank you.”

Jasper presses us all closer together and kisses Ari. “And I’ve already forgiven you. I need you… and I also have a surprise.”

Jasper’s cheeks are red even as he teases our lover. His throat bobs and for a moment, I wonder what kind of surprise he must mean until it clicks. He’s never shown Ari that he can shift now. I step away, grinning, but Ari and Jasper both catch my hands at the same time.

“Stay?” Jasper asks, his voice full of vulnerability.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have your own moment?” I ask.

Ari’s smile is small. “I’m hoping that you’ll be more inclined to participate after… I’ve missed you both so much.”

My throat swells. I know he’s talking about more than sex. I’m grateful that they both let me adapt after the Circle meeting. It was terrifying and memories of it are just as sharp as if they are happening in front of us, but it’s time to move forward.

It’s time to become the triad we plan to be in the future and that means I need to take my newfound peace and be brave… after Jasper surprises Ari that is.

“We both missed you. We may have bonded without you, but I knew you were missing,” I say.

Ari smiles and it’s sad. “If only I wasn’t such an egotistical bastard, I would have been there.”

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