Page 77 of Unleashed

“In the old way,” Balir added.

“What?” she rasped. Eyes wide, heart quickening, she looked between her mates. “You…you don’t want to wait until…” What if they found their people and regretted this choice? What if they came to resent her for what she’d already forced upon them by inadvertently blooding their heartstones?

Vortok grunted. “Why wait any longer? You are our mate in all but ceremony.”

“You want a lifebond? With me?” Tears misted her eyes.

All three valos lifted their hands, holding their left palms up. Balir slid a claw over his open palm; Aduun did the same for himself before assisting Vortok, who did not have claws of his own. Nina’s breath hitched at the sight of blood welling on their skin; it was their life force, their essence, and they wanted to share it with her.

With no blade of her own, she held her left hand out, wincing when Aduun flicked his claw across it to slit her skin. He extended a hand and grazed the back of his finger down her cheek, along her jaw and neck, until he reached her chest, where he sliced another shallow cut over her heart. Stunned, she watched as the valos made the same cuts on their own chests.

Aduun placed his bleeding hand over her heart and gently clasped her wrist to flatten her palm against his chest.

“Heart of my heart,” he said, voice low, “you are mine until Sonhadra claims me.”

Nina smiled through her tears, fingers curling in his fur. “Heart of my heart, you are mine until Sonhadra claims me.”

Aduun stepped back, breaking the contact between them, and Vortok moved forward. She turned to the big valo as they placed their hands on each other’s chests and repeated the same words, staring into one another’s eyes.

When Balir advanced and mimicked the motions, he also lifted his free hand to her face, the pad of his thumb brushing over her lips to feel the smile there. He spoke the words solemnly and wore a smile of his own when she said them back.

After they’d performed the actions and spoken the words, Nina held her bloody palm up to them. Each valo reached forward and covered her hand with theirs.

“Hearts of my heart, I accept each of you as you are. Not as man, beast, or valo, but as Aduun, Balir, and Vortok.” She looked each in the eye as she spoke their names. “We four are now one.”

Vortok stepped forward as soon as she’d finished speaking, lifted her up into his arms, and kissed her. Nina wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss with all the joy and love she felt in that moment. He set her down, slowly, letting her naked body slide along his abdomen, and her feet had barely touched the bottom of the pool before Balir pulled her close, kissing her with equal passion.

When she broke away from him, she turned to Aduun. He was still, silent,watching. She stepped toward him, raising her hands to his face, and cupped his strong jaw. She stood on her toes and leaned closer to brush her lips across his. “Accept him,” she whispered. “You are not Aduun and his beast, you are Aduun.”

She glanced from side to side at the other two valos. “All of you. Accept your beasts as you have accepted me. If I am part of you, they are too. I wish you to know peace.”

Aduun placed his hands on her elbows, bringing her attention back to him, and guided her arms around his neck; she slipped them beneath his quills. He pulled her flush against his chest and lifted her, smoothing his hands down her outer thighs to curl her legs around his waist. His cock, unsheathed, pulsed hot and hard against her bottom.

“Youare our peace, Nina.” His eyes flashed before he closed them, capturing her mouth in a fevered kiss. There was nothing soft about Aduun, but even though he took what he pleased, he always gave more in return. Heat flooded her as his tongue swept past her lips and flicked against her teeth.

Another set of hands — large, calloused, and strong — ran over her back, along her sides, and moved to her front to cover her breasts. She moaned against Aduun’s mouth as Vortok squeezed her soft flesh and stroked her sensitive nipples. Aduun pressed closer, his chest flush with hers. She gasped, tilting her head back and breaking the kiss as Vortok pinched her hardened nubs, sending a jolt of pleasure to her core.

Long, graceful fingers settled on her cheek and guided her face to the side. She found herself looking into Balir’s pale, unseeing eyes as he dipped his head and claimed her mouth. His long, dexterous tongue slipped between her lips to explore her mouth, his fingers delved into her hair, and his thumb brushed along her jaw. She moaned.

Aduun’s head dipped to her neck, and a moment later, she felt the crown of his cock nudging her open sex. Nina pressed her heels into his lower back, silently begging him to enter her.

He thrust hard and deep, filling her to the brink. She gasped against Balir’s mouth but didn’t pull away from the kiss. She raised one hand and curled it around his head, holding him to her as Aduun pumped his hips, setting a rhythm that stoked the fire burning within her, building it higher and higher.

Without thought, she opened her senses to them and found theirs equally open to her. A torrent of emotion and sensation swept between the four of them; lust, pleasure, possessiveness, adoration, loyalty, belonging, andlove. She trembled with their combined power and felt her valos tremble in turn.

“Nina,” Aduun growled against her chest, his tongue slipping out to lap at her collarbone. His hips quickened, pounding his shaft into her, driven by his beast’s fierce need to claim his mate. Pleasure engulfed her, escalating with every thrust until she burst. Aduun slammed into her one final time and roared, his cock thickening and filling her with his release as waves of ecstasy flowed through her veins. She cried out against Balir’s mouth; he stole her breath, taking it for himself.

They stayed like that for a time, Aduun’s lips brushing over her neck and jaw, his hands clenching her thighs until his knotted shaft finally slipped free. With a groan, he unhooked her legs from his waist and lowered them. Not a moment later, her pelvis was tilted back and lifted, and the blunt head of Vortok’s cock entered her from behind.

Nina gasped. She hooked her heels around Vortok’s thighs, and his powerful hands held her up by her hips. She threw her arms around Aduun’s neck for support, crushing her lips against his, and felt the brush of Balir’s body shifting between them as he positioned his shoulders beneath her knees.

Balir’s hands trailed down her sides. Before she realized his intent, he angled his head, bone plates brushing over her stomach, and trailed his tongue over the top of her sex to flick her clit. Lightning blasted through her, and liquid heat flooded her core, easing Vortok’s entry.

Vortok pushed slowly, allowing her to take him into her body inch by thick inch. Nina panted against Aduun’s mouth and writhed, undulating her hips as she sought more of Balir’s ruthless tongue and mouth, more of Vortok’s cock.

When Vortok had Nina fully seated upon him, he growled, grinding himself against her. The fur around his pelvis tickled her backside. He slowly pulled back, and she nearly cried at the loss before he slammed back into her again, and again, and again. From this angle, the sensation was overwhelming, threatening to shatter her mind, and yet it wasn’t enough. She neededmore.

Finally, Balir pressed his lips over her clit and sucked. Her vision went black for an instant as the intensity of her orgasm struck her. He hummed, prolonging the electric zing strumming her nerves as Vortok continued to thrust into her.

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