Page 56 of A City of Emeralds and Envy
My stomach tightens, and my skin flames. My heart, my nerves, my very bones ache with the depth of what I feel for these two stubborn, beautiful men.
I step closer to them both, tightening the space. “Riordan… you said I shouldn’t ask you this... but I am asking.” I look into his scarlet eyes—blood and embers, the windows to a desolate heart that feels so much more deeply than he’ll admit. “I’m asking everything of you, for my sake and Caer’s. I never want to be apart from you again, and I know he feels the same way.”
Closer I move, while Riordan’s chest lifts and falls, the only sign of the battle within. Slowly I take up his fist, uncurl the fingers, and tug the second glove from his hand. “You’re mine, beloved,” I whisper. “And you’re his, too. You’re ours. And we belong to you. Not a burden you have to carry. Not two dependents you must protect. Equals. Among the three of us there is enough cleverness, courage, and heart to sustain us through anything.”
Riordan exhales, half groan, half chuckle. “When did my little human farm-girl learn such beautiful words?”
“You should know by now that I’m full of surprises.” I rise on my toes while he bends and meets my mouth hungrily. Then I turn and touch Caer’s parted lips with mine, giving him a taste of Riordan on my tongue.
Caer lifts his eyes, looking past me to Riordan. In that look there’s a promise so beautiful, so courageous, it makes me want to shriek for pure joy.
Riordan makes a strangled sound in his throat—lunges forward, grips the Cat’s jaw with a scarred hand, and crushes his mouth against Caer’s.
Through Riordan’s wounded cheeks, I can see their tongues thrashing—teeth and fury and need. Riordan’s unrelenting grip travels to the back of Caer’s neck and clamps there, possessive.
An unbound thrill races through me, watching them. Their lips separate, but their foreheads are pressed together, a hard kiss of bone on bone, savage gazes locked. Caer is panting, light and quick, and Riordan growls, “You beautiful fucking idiot.”
Caer laughs, breathless—and then both of them turn their faces to me, a fluid, synchronized, predatory movement.
Chills skate over my skin as they both stare at me, their heads tilted against each other. Caer grins, all playful desire, and Riordan’s full lips twist, his eyes narrowing with a manic, aching lust.
Their entwined scent rushes over me, violets and midnight, citrus and salt.
My fingers find the knot of my belt and tug it loose.
20
When my robe slips to the floor, Caer and Riordan exhale hungrily, eagerly. They could have anyone, these two. Anyone beautiful and powerful, Fae or human. But they want me. They have chosen me, and they belong to me. That assurance leaves no room for self-consciousness.
They shed their clothing—Caer in a frantic rush, Riordan with slow purpose. We don’t speak of how tonight might be our only chance to join like this. We simply slide together, fitting as if we are all three pieces of a puzzle designed by the gods themselves. My breasts glide hot and full against Caer’s lean chest while his claws trace up my sides. His length pushes against my thigh.
Riordan approaches behind me, undoing my braided hair with the same studied gentleness he used to examine me when I was his captive. The hot tip of his cock pokes at the groove of my ass, and I remember the thickness of that cock, the girth of it shoving into me when I lay Heartless and suffering.
This is as it should be. Not choosing between them—I could never. This is the knot we were meant to tie, all of us. I close my eyes and surrender to sensation.
Hot skin, silky smooth over firm flesh, encompasses me from all sides. The strength rolling from both of them, the swell of muscle and hardness of sinew—it steals my breath, fires my blood to the shimmering heat of a summer’s day in the fields. One of my hands travels the slope of Caer’s waist and side, while I reach back and grab Riordan’s hip with my other hand.
Caer plays with my curved human ears, traces them with his claws, nips at them with his teeth, while Riordan’s hips surge against my backside and his hand slips over my sex, between my legs. I whimper at the brush of his fingers across my clit.
“Yes, kitten,” he says, low, and then kisses Caer again, right by my ear, while his central finger slips into my wet entrance. He has vanished the claws, but the scars are ever-present, their texture strangely titillating as he adds a second finger.
Caer shifts from kissing Riordan and takes my mouth, his long purple tongue flickering over mine, exploring, filling me with the taste of violets from him and citrus from Riordan. He’s careful with his teeth, as I’m cautious with my tongue.
Riordan’s fingers pull slowly out of my pussy, and then Caer gasps, a sweet helpless sound passing from his lips into my mouth. The White Rabbit has wrapped his hand around Caer’s dick and he’s pumping—I can feel the motion against my thigh.
“I get your pussy,” Riordan breathes hot against my ear. “Caer takes your mouth.”
“Yes,” I gasp.
Somehow we move toward the bed, limbs interlaced, hips urgently bucking, spines arching, sharp exhales issuing from each of us in turn as questing fingers find new hollows, new points of heat and pleasure. I’m kissing Riordan now, utterly abandoned to the raw, glorious agony that is his wicked, ravaged mouth. He tastes like sweet, dark death and mortal fire. It hurts, and I cut my tongue and lips a little on his teeth, but I keep kissing him through the salty blood because I’ve wanted him so much, for so long.
“I fucking love you,” I whisper savagely to him, and his grip on my back tightens.
Caer is behind Riordan, running his fingers wonderingly over his friend’s body as if he can’t quite believe he’s being allowed to touch Riordan this way. Once, when his claws pass over Riordan’s nipple, Riordan nearly snarls at him—but his cock bobs at the stimulation, and Caer notices. The Cat grins wickedly and reaches both arms around Riordan from behind, cupping Riordan’s pectorals and then playing with both nipples at once.
Riordan only allows it for a few seconds before he whirls and tackles Caer bodily, wrestling him down onto the bed. I watch, fingers tucked between my legs, helplessly wet for both of them. I’ve seen them fight before, less playfully, and it’s even more arousing this time. Their taut bodies curve around each other, sinewy arms straining and long legs thrashing. Caer slashes Riordan across the chest, and Riordan throttles him down, red eyes gleaming, settling astride Caer’s hips. In this new position, their cocks are pressed together, and Caer chokes out a groan of bliss at the friction.
Riordan bends down and kisses him ferociously, leaving blood on the Cat’s lips. “On your knees on the bed,” he orders. His hips buck once, firmly, grinding their dicks together before he climbs off the Cat.
