Page 64 of Vanish Into Light

Rose settled on his other side, mirroring Beck’s pose, and when Lance rolled his head toward her, she saw that he didn’t look half-afraid, like he had yesterday. He lookedeager.

Though he said, “There’s a war on. We – people – can’t just be fucking all the time.” A blush had come up along his cheekbones.

Beck chuckled. “War demands fucking, sweetheart. After all: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

Lance rolled his eyes so hard it looked like it hurt – but when Beck leaned down, he leaned up to meet him.

Beck kissed like he fought, savage and delicate by turns. He could tease until you were swaying toward him, and then devastate with a bold press of his tongue. Kissing him was a full-body sensation, one she could feel the echo of now, her own lips tingling – but when she kissed him, she didn’t get toseeit, not like this. The flex of his lean jaw, the arch of his neck, the dart of his tongue; he was all hungry angles, and against him, Lance looked strong…and was absolutely melting into it, lips parting beneath the slant of Beck’s, chest stretching his shirt as he tried to catch his breath in the quick moments between kisses.

Rose smoothed a hand across Lance’s stomach, felt the tension in the muscle there. She skimmed up his ribs, to the little valley between his pecs, and felt his heart throbbing there, already so fast, just from kissing.

Beck’s hand covered hers, and he pulled back from the kiss with a quiet, wet sound. Lance chased him – until Beck’s finger landed against his lips. Then he leaned across, and kissed Rose.

His lips were already damp, when they pressed to hers, his tongue hot as it slid into her mouth. She thought, fancifully, that she could taste Lance on him, and then she didn’t think much of anything, as Lance’s heart kicked against her palm, and Beck devoured her with the sort of slow, thorough kisses that left her neck weak.

When he drew back, too soon, he swiped his tongue along his lower lip, and she caught the flash of his eyes, that bright spark ofladies first.

She’d tried her best to explain things to Lance, to hold his hand and walk him through it, this thing they were doing; but for her own part, she didn’t need words. She never had, with Beck. The whole universe lived in one of his looks.

She didn’t want or need words with Lance right now, either. What they were attempting – with their research, with their torture, with their gathering of shards – was complicated. But this wasn’t.

She leaned down to kiss Lance, and it was different, but it was good, too, and no less thrilling. His lips were fuller, his tongue more impatient – as were his hands, when she straddled his hips, and he reached up to palm her ass, squeezing over her tac pants.

He was hard already; she could feel the bold line of his cock against the center seam of her pants.

She sat up – his pupils were blown, his face flushed prettily, his lips damp and swollen,God– and felt Beck settling in behind her, kneeling between Lance’s knees. His hands landed on her waist; his claws scraped faintly at her belt.

Last time, last night, had been overwhelming. All her senses overloaded.

Right now, she wanted, and she feltpowerful, bracketed by them. Beck had been the orchestrator last time…but now it was her turn.

With a frisson half-alarm, half-epiphany, she thoughtit’s because of me. This here now…I love them both, and they care about each other because I need them to.

It was the kind of realization that could drown a person. She took an unsteady breath.

Lance’s hands tightened. “Rose?”

Beck’s hands slid up to frame her ribs, slender fingers fitted in the space between the bones. He kissed the back of her neck, but kept silent.

Simple truths were sometimes the most powerful, and this was no exception. It was a truth that flared, and then settled, a sustainable heat low in her belly.

She pulled the hem of Lance’s shirt from his pants, and pushed it up – all the way up, so it was gathered under his arms. His nipples were drawn up tight, and she pinched them, just hard enough to hear him gasp, before she braced her hands on his chest and rolled her hips, grinding down against him.

The friction was delicious, sparked in all the right places, and had her chasing it again, and again, hips building a steady rhythm that had Lance gritting his teeth, muscles leaping in his chest, beneath her hands.

Beck swayed forward with her. “Fair’s fair, sweetheart,” he said, his purr vibrating through her back, as he peeled her shirt up; his claws scraped pleasantly over her skin as he tugged the front of her sports bra down, and wedged it beneath her breasts.

Lance made a sound very nearly a whimper, and she ground down harder in helpless response.

Beck reached around to cup her breasts; molded them with palms and fingers, claws dragging over her nipples until they were drawn so tight they ached, pulse throbbing there, beneath his touch – and lower, between her legs where she grew wetter with every grind, until her panties were damp and slick.

Beck trailed his hands down over her stomach to her waistband. Her hips stuttered, when he opened her pants, and smoothed a hand down inside her panties, fingers sliding against her wet folds, claws teasing carefully, gently.

His purr intensified. “Are you ready for him?” he whispered, right against her ear.

She could only jerk an unsteady nod, chasing the press of his fingers.

Fingers that withdrew in the next instant…so he could grip her hips and urge her up. Body singing with pleasure, it took her a moment to grasp what he intended – then she got unsteadily to her feet, standing over Lance, while Beck unlaced and pulled off her boots, one at a time, steadying her; while he pulled down her tac pants and panties and stripped them along with her socks. When he urged her back down, she was bare, save the pushed-up shirt, and pulled-down bra, peaked nipples lifted and thrust forward. When she settled against Lance again, she felt the rough fabric of his tac pants against the tender insides of her thighs, and her wet sex…and felt his cock, too, hot, and hard, and smooth-skinned.

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