“Pull your knees up to your chest,” Alister instructs, the muscles in his neck corded from holding back.
Maneuvering around him, I do as he asks. One hand on each knee, I pull my legs up as far as they’ll go. Alister pushes the backs of my thighs, rolling me onto my upper back. The mattress gives a low groan, which turns louder as Mick climbs in, directly behind Alister. His fingers are on my behind, circling the rosebud there with something slippery that must be lube. That’s good, I’ve never done this before and I’m nervous. It doesn’t help that Mick is the biggest of all the men.
Caspian’s hands cradle my head. He combs his fingers through my hair from scalp to tip, again and again, smoothing the panic down. My palms slide over Alister’s thighs, then up to tangle in Caspian’s hair. I moan as Alister kisses me and continues to move, slow and sure. Then they trade places, so Caspian is the one kissing me. His mouth is hot, his skin too, almost like there’s a fire raging deep inside him. Alister leans back, picking up his pace. His length slides in and out so fast and deep that I almost miss the first nudge of Mick pressing at my back entrance. When he breaches that tight ring, it burns. I cry out, more startled than hurt. The windows rattle in answer. The fire leaps, then calms.
“Breathe,” Caspian murmurs between kisses. I fight the urge to push Mick out, but Alister has his hand between us, circling my clit in firm strokes while his thick shaft rocks into me. The heat of that, with Caspian’s mouth on mine, blurs the edge of discomfort. Mick advances by inches,patient, pausing when I tense, waiting for my exhale. He settles deep. The pressure from him behind and Alister in front fuses until it becomes one heavy pulse of pleasure at the apex of my thighs. Above us, crystals chime faintly. Rain softens, then slams again, like the sky is catching our rhythm. Together, we moan.
Mick wraps his arms around Alister’s waist for balance. Alister rises off his forearms into a half kneel, eyes locked on mine.
“Are you okay, Madison? Talk to me,” Alister grits out with his eyes never leaving mine. He’s been checking on me this entire time, watching each facial expression, chronicling each moan, each gasp.
“Yes,” I breathe. Mick and Alister fall into the same cadence. I open for them. Mick behind. Alister inside me. Caspian at my lips. All of themmine. Fullness sparks low, an ache drawing sweet and deep as the orgasm gathers.
A portrait on the wall, a painting of a younger Alister on a black horse, tilts sideways by one degree and a drawer in the nightstand creeps open like it’s curious. The canopy cords give a tiny twist while the storm prowls the eaves, waiting.
“I’m the last one. Are you ready?” Caspian whispers then kisses me so hard our teeth crash together. In the space between us, dust motes tumble and spin, turn gossamer in the moonlight.
“Yes. All three,” I repeat like it’s a mantra. I glance at the clock. 11:42 p.m.
Caspian positions himself so his knees are on either side of my shoulders. Staring at me with wide hungry eyes, he reaches down and wraps his fist around his cock. He strokes himself with fast, hard thrusts until pre-cum leaks from his tip. Watching him touch himself, and the other two men driving into me, is easily the most erotic moment of my life.
Alister’s hand finds Caspian’s shoulder, steadying him. Caspian lowers until his tip brushes my lips, a silent plea. I part for him, tongue circling his crown, then down his shaft as he moves deeper. He nudges the back of my throat until I gag, but then he adjusts, and we find the angle that works. He moves into me and then back out, and again, an endless wave.
I drown in sensation, in them, my monsters, until it feels like they’re inside my bones, my soul. Something swells behind my eyes, a live wire hum, high-voltage singing in the walls, and the sound balloons until it’s a thousand voices screaming through my skull. Alister works my clit while he and Mick drive in perfect counterpoint, deeper, faster, until the room blurs, reality slips.
Above us, the painted clouds don’t drift anymore; they run, stampeding across the ceiling like they’re fleeing some larger thing. The velvet curtains billow inward on a breath, stroking Mick’s back and he flinches, startled. The nightstand drawer, frightened, slams itself shut. Somewhere inside the walls, something scratches to be let out.
Pleasure knifes through me, bright as lightning. My thighs shake as the wave gathers. The storm prowls the eaves, prying at nails and seams. The latch gives, the window yawns, and rain barrels in, soaking the floorboards. Pressure crowds my lungs until I can’t breathe.
“Maddie,” Caspian rasps, voice torn and ragged. “I’m sorry. I can’t hold it anymore.” His hair lifts with static, the air around him fizzing to life like a fistful of shooting stars. Only then do I realize how much of me he’s been channeling, siphoning, how close he is to burning out.
I glance at the clock. 11:57 p.m.
We’re out of time.
Power surges through my body. It floods my mind. It pours into me, reckless and wild. Too much. Too fast. My skin will split. My heart willstop. My mind will shatter. Brimstone smoke rises from the four candles that gutter at the corners, each flame fighting for its life.
My men’s auras shift. Each halo pulses from its usual color, white, green, black, to mine.
Red.
Red like an alarm. Red like blood. Red like a door with NO RETURN painted across it. Horror climbs my throat as the red bleeds fully into them, three bright warnings beating in time like ill omens.
Something is happening. I open my mouth to tell them, but the orgasm hits like a tsunami. Every muscle bows until it might snap. I scream, pleasure and pain. Life and death. Alister, Mick, and Caspian scream with me. The gate opens wide.
Three terrified sets of eyes find mine.
My anchors. I cannot hold on.
I fall through the floor.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lions Roar
Darkness.
A heartbeat.