Page 11 of Controlled

“How would I know? I thought I was human an hour ago.” Hearing the bitchiness in her tone, Flora sighed. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to take this out on you. You’re the only one who hasn’t been horrible.”

“The night is young.” He grinned. “I suspect you will think I’m just as horrible as the others before we reach our destination.”

The door opened so she rushed inside, putting as much distance between her and Noratu as possible. Draven stood near the dining table looking grim and imperious. Perfect. Her challengers were smoldering charm and icy control.

She positioned herself so she could see both males. They were each attractive in their own way, but so very different. Similar yet opposite. Wasn’t that the phrase her father had used? “If I don’t agree to this triad, my loving father has threatened to send my grandmother to prison for the rest of her life. Are you guys okay with him using an old woman to manipulate me?”

Draven crossed the room, his movements slow and purposeful, like a panther stalking its prey. His dark hair shone with midnight-blue highlights and flashes of red already sparked within his eyes. “You do not even understand what you are. Until you do, the rest of this conversation is pointless.”

Automatically backing up, she soon found herself trapped between Noratu and Draven.

“Do not fear us, firebird.” Noratu gathered her hair and lifted it away from her neck. Then he bent and pressed his lips against her skin. “There is nothing more natural than sharing pleasure with your mates.”

She felt the subtle stroke of his tongue and then heat curled through her entire body, lodging right between her thighs. She moaned, shocked and a little afraid of the intensity he’d created with such a simple caress.

“We know you are confused,” Draven joined in, his tone low and darkly caressing. “Trust us just this once and everything will make more sense.” He caught the hem of her sweater and started to draw it upward.

“Wait,” she cried, trapping the material against her midriff. “Can’t we get to know each other better before we do this?”

“Are you a virgin?” Noratu asked, sounding slightly impatient.

“There was no barrier when I fingered her,” Draven told him, his tone matter-of-fact.

“There is not always a barrier,” Noratu pointed out. “And a cock is not the only thing that can enter a pussy.”

Flora closed her eyes, mortified by the conversation.

“Answer him,” Draven directed. “Have you ever been mounted?”

She opened her eyes and glared at him. “No, I’ve never been ‘mounted.’ I’m not a fucking horse. I have, however, had sex before. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Everything about you is our business.” Draven whipped her sweater off and unfastened the front clasp on her bra with shocking speed. “If you have been with human males than what we are about to do will be familiar.”

“That doesn’t mean I want to do it with you!” She slapped his hands away as he tried to draw the bra straps down her arms. His expression hardened and fear shoved aside her modesty. She went wild, hitting and kicking until she broke free. “I am not having sex with you,eitherof you!” She darted across the room, frantically refastening her bra. “I don’t care how you justify it.” She looked around for her sweater and spotted it on the floor at Draven’s feet.

“A psychic link is necessary to unbind your abilities,” Noratu explained. “We can create the link without having sex, but it is much more painful that way.”

“So, leave my abilities bound,” she cried, desperation making her voice shrill. If she let them seduce her, it would seal her fate. That much was obvious. Life as she’d known it would end forever, and the alternative had been enough to send her mother racing to another planet. “I’ve lived for twenty-five years without magic powers. I have no need for them now.”

“That’s not an option.” Draven stalked toward her, gaze narrowed and gleaming. “What your mother did to you is unnatural, likely harmful. It must be undone. Once that has been accomplished, we will see how you feel about the rest.”

“I do not want my power unbound.” That wasn’t accurate. She was curious about the abilities everyone claimed she possessed. She just didn’t want to become a commodity because of it.

Draven looked at Noratu. Noratu’s expression tensed and then he shook his head. They were communicating telepathically, or in some way that she couldn’t hear.

Suddenly Draven looked at her and resumed his advance, not stopping until he stood right in front of her. “Your father has been searching for you for over twenty years. Did you not wonder how we were able to find you now?”

“I don’t care.” It was another lie. She held her ground, refusing to let him intimidate her.

Noratu chuckled, but Draven was not amused. He crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his gaze. “Have you had any interesting dreams lately?”

Her eyes widened and she fought back a gasp. “That was you?”

“In a way,” he admitted. “A psychic thread was woven between your mind and Noratu’s when his parents paid the first half of the bride price. I was brought into the connection when the official contract was signed.”

She was staggered by the implications. “You’ve been able to sense me since I was fifteen?”

Noratu shook his head. “The connection was dampened because your abilities were bound. We had the assurance of knowing that you were still alive, but that was about all. Two weeks ago we felt the connection clearly again.”

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