Page 129 of Lavender and Honey

"There's always room for you," I say to Elias, surprising myself with the steadiness in my voice. I shift slightly on the couch, making space between Lucian and myself— an invitation.

Elias's smile deepens, his eyes warming as he crosses the room to join us. He settles into the space I've created, his body a new source of heat along my side. The couch wasn't designed for three, and our thighs press together in a way that feels both innocent and charged.

The silence was deafening before I glanced to Elias again, before I could say anything else his lips were on mine, making the world melt away around me.

Chapter Seventy-Three

The kiss is gentle at first, exploratory, as if Elias is giving me time to pull away. But when I lean into him instead, his hand comes up to cradle my face, deepening the connection. His lips are softer than Lucian's, his approach more measured, but no less intoxicating.

When we part, I'm breathless, caught between them like a ship between two shores. Lucian watches us with hooded eyes, his breathing shallow. There's no jealousy in his gaze—only heat, appreciation, desire.

"I've wondered what that would look like," Lucian murmurs, his voice dropped to a register that sends shivers racing across my skin.

Elias turns to him, a silent conversation passing between them—one built on years of friendship, of understanding, of boundaries respected and now, perhaps, redrawn.

"Your turn," I whisper, surprising myself with my boldness.

Lucian's eyebrows lift slightly, but Elias doesn't hesitate. He leans across me, one hand braced on my thigh for balance, and captures Lucian's mouth with his own. The kiss is different—more assertive, a hint of challenge in it—but no less affecting to witness. Something primal unfurls in my chest as I watch them, these two men who have circled my life in different orbits, now colliding in my presence.

When they separate, the air in the room feels charged, electric with possibility.

"Well," Elias says, his voice rougher than before, "this certainly beats counting sheep."

Lucian laughs, the sound vibrating through me where our bodies touch. "Lydia was just telling me about her insomnia."

"Is that so?" Elias's fingers trace idle patterns on my knee. "And were you planning to tire her out, Lucian?"

"I was considering it," Lucian admits, his smile wicked in the low light. "Before we were interrupted."

"Not interrupted," I corrected, finding my voice at last. "Joined."

My hand finds Elias's, and I reach for Lucian with the other. The three of us sit connected, breathing in sync, as the grandfather clock in the hall chimes four times, marking the deepest part of night.

"We should probably talk about this," Elias says eventually, always the pragmatist, though his thumb hasn't stopped its maddening circles against my palm.

"Now?" Lucian asks, his free hand sliding back to the drawstring of my pants, picking up where he left off.

"Later," I decide, tilting my head to expose my neck as Lucian leans in to press his lips to the sensitive skin beneath my ear.

"Later," they agree in unison, and I close my eyes as four hands begin to map the geography of my body, leading us all into uncharted territory.

My breath quickens as bodies shift and hands roam with increasing urgency, shirts and hesitation shed together. Elias lays me back against him, his chest solid against my spine. His hands paused to grope my breasts, squeezing them tightly as he pinched my nipples making me give a small yelp of surprise.

He chuckled in my ear making me huff but before I could scold him his hands moved lower. Pressing into my abdomen making me whine at the heat that is now pooling there and lower.

Lucian hovers above, eyes gleaming as his fingers hook under the waistband of my pants and panties and slowly begins to pull them down, His gaze never leaves mine as he moves inch by agonizing inch. I lift my hips off Elias to help move things alone, and then I'm bare beneath them, their combined heat washing over me in waves.

Elias's mouth finds the side of my kneck, while his hands slide beneath my arms, cupping my breasts and brushing thumbs over my already abused and sensitive nipples. I arch at the touch, a soft sound escaping as Lucian kisses his way down from my lips to where Elias's hands tease my nipples.

Moving so he was taking over the spot Elias had been taking, he greedily cups my breasts, looking at them like a man starved. He wastes no time, eagerly sucking a nipple into his hot wet mouth. He gives one hard suckle before rolling my nipple between his teeth before letting it go with a wet pop and repeating the same thing with my other breast. Somewhere behind him, Elias strips away his own clothes, returning swiftly to trace a hand between my legs.

His skillful fingers trail up and down my slit, pausing to press on my already hard and sensitive clit. I gasped as he used my growing wetness to slide his fingers up and down my slit once more, pausing over my slit to give it a light tweak before slipping a finger inside of me.

I gasped, moaning as he let out a low groan. “So tight and wet…” His words were murmured and I barely registered them as he began to move his finger inside me, his thumb rubbing my clit as Elias trails kisses and love bites up and down my neck. His hands move to my breasts and cup them gently. Even so my nipples are red from all their tasing and sensitive.

The noise that falls from my lips is more of a strangled groan that anything but it encourages Elias. He slips another finger inside of me while moving lower. My eyes snap open as I feel the bed shift and then a hot wet tongue trace over my clit. Lucian is between my legs, and I feel my eyes slide shut as he starts to eat me like I’m the first meal he’s had in ages.

“I-I-!” I’m trying to talk, to communicate what I need and even though I’m not making any sense they seem to know what I want, what I need. Elias moved so he was behind me again, I could feel his smile against my neck as he presses a kiss behind my ear.

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