Page 17 of Venice

The three of us pad home. I hold her all the way back, walking on my hind legs. It’s not an easy feat. We push open the front door, and I carry her downstairs to the basement. She lets out a single sob as I place her gently on the bed, but she lies down and turns her back to me.

Marcello approaches and paws at her pant leg, claws retracted. She scoots away from him without making eye contact, but he doesn’t stop. Diva bats his paw away, but he lets out a low growl and lays it on her pant pocket, holding it there. Sighing, she pulls her phone from the pocket and holds it out to him. He takes it in his teeth, careful not to bite her.

“I wasn’t going to post it,” she says. “It was my insurance. Are you keeping me locked up again, after all the promises you made?”

If I could talk, I might have yelled at her, called her a hypocrite, so it’s best I can’t. I know she’s afraid, and I wouldn’t want to say anything I’d regret. Still, I’m hurt. I feel betrayed. Our change is intimate and private. I love her enough to let her see me in this form, but she never asked. She was duplicitous, and I don’t know what to do with that.

But I still love her. There’s no doubt about that, even if we can’t talk about what happened. So, I lay down next to her and spoon her. She doesn’t try to move away but nuzzles into me, and I hold her while she falls asleep. It’s not much different than cuddling your favorite two-hundred-pound dog.

Chapter Fifteen

Diva

I’m flying again, and this time I flit above a garden of bright purple freesia, intoxicated by their scent. A furry paw ascends from between the blooms with claws extracted and swipes at me.

Jerking awake, I’m filled with terror; bile taints my mouth as the night floods back. I bat away the paw that holds me tight, but it’s no longer a paw. It’s a hand—Emilio’s hand. And it’s warm and reassuring, even though he was a terrifying creature last night.

I try not to wake him as I take a moment to make sense of what happened. They came after me in the light of the full moon, all three of them, as fully turned werewolves.

And yet, none of them hurt me. They were able to control themselves, which is something that’s not supposed to be possible. If I hadn’t seen it, wasn’t part of it, I wouldn’t believe it. But the facts are impossible to deny. I pull his arm around me, draw his hand to my lips, and place a single kiss on his palm. He stirs behind me, and I arch my ass into his bulging cock.

“You want me again, angel?” he whispers into my ear.

Our first knotting session was the most amazing sexual experience I’ve ever had. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it again and again and again, but his werewolf form flashes in my mind and I stiffen.

He sighs and moves a hand lightly over my body, following the curve of my waist, up to my neck where he gently moves my hair aside and kisses my shoulder. “Diva,” he says. “I will not force you . . . unless you want me to.”

I roll my eyes, but he can’t see my reaction.

“But . . .” he continues. “You are my mate now, and I cannot make love with anyone else.” He presses his length against me and growls low and deep. “God, I want you so bad. Even after you spied on us, taped us, and ran away last night, I still love you. I could blame my wolf hormones because now you’re my fated mate, but the why doesn’t really matter.”

I shift within his grasp and roll over to face him. “I’m sorry. I was afraid. I shouldn’t have recorded you. That broke every rule.”

“And our trust,” his eyes are soft, but he can’t hold my gaze.

“How can I get it back?” I want to. Now that I know they can control themselves and didn’t hurt me, I am no longer afraid. However, I don’t like being sequestered to the basement again. My self-preservation instinct is strong.

So, I can’t help but wonder, do I want to gain their trust again so I can get away from them forever or because I truly love them? My heart aches in my chest, telling me the answer, but I’m good at ignoring how I really feel.

“Give yourself to us, completely,” he says. “All of us. Accept us as your mates, as I have claimed you.”

“Let Luca and Marcello fuck me?”

“Make love. Let them knot inside you as I have. Open yourself up to us. Let them claim you.”

As I turn it over in my head, Emilio slips a hand between my legs, stroking my sex. I’m dripping, and there’s no denying my body wants this. When he brings his hand up, he grins at his glistening fingers, pauses for just a second, then shoves them into my mouth. “Your pussy is begging for us to fill it.”

I hold his gaze. He licks his lips, leans down, and places a tender kiss on each of my cheeks. Then he kisses his way slowly down my neck and shoulders, pausing at my underarms where he buries his face and licks, groaning. “I can’t get enough of your flowering scent.”

It tickles and I writhe and giggle, but he holds me down, forcing me to stay, licking. His licks are shorter and more insistent as he moves farther down, until he reaches my breasts. He takes a nipple between his teeth and gently rotates it until it stands at attention. His hands roam lower, tickling and caressing my stomach and reaching between my legs. Emilio’s mouth follows his touch, leaving heated trails of saliva in its wake. When he reaches my center, his mouth clamps over me, sucking and licking. My body bows into him, and I ride the waves of rapture.

Someone is coming down the stairs, and my eyes flick open as Marcello and Luca approach. Marcello catches my gaze and holds it for an instant before he strips off his clothes and moves to the bedside. Hovering over me for a moment, he stares at me before he bends down to kiss me. “You were a very bad girl last night,” he growls into my mouth.

“I know, I’m so sorry.”

“You need to be punished,” he says.

I stiffen at his words, but Emilio wraps his hands around my ass cheeks and plunges his tongue inside my pussy. All rational thoughts and all my fears vanish in an instant.

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