Dex laid back and cupped his palms back around my ass, moaning against me, his tongue flicking over my clit before he sucked it and began fingering both my pussy and my ass. I closed my eyes, wrapping one hand around his cock to stroke him while I bobbed my head, meeting his greedy thrusts. Dex groaned against my pussy, his obscene noises muffled by my thighs while my moans were muffled by his cock. He thrust and I rocked. He pumped into my mouth, and I pushed my pussy and ass onto his fingers and ground my clit against his flicking tongue.

“You’re going to come with me, Aria,” he hissed, pushing my head down when I pulled it back to suck in a sharp, desperate breath. I didn’t know how to stay focused on him while I was consumed with so much pleasure, but he took over again, pushing his cock into my mouth. It thickened, and I sucked the tip, stroking furiously until his seed filled my mouth. I swallowed as much as I could, curious as to what made him taste so good. Musky and salty, but sweet at the same time.

And then I exploded. There was no more swallowing happening because I pulled back, moaning so loud if anyone was in the vicinity, they’d have heard me. Dex continued to lick and probe me with his fingers, holding me still so he could focus on my clit and plunge the digits in and out of me. His fingers hooked and my moan turned to a scream of pleasure as I clenched around him. The pleasure was so intense I felt dizzy, and when the rhythmic waves started to subside, it was all I could do not to collapse on top of him.

Dex moaned against my pussy, his tongue still moving, but his licks had changed from furious and frantic to languid and relaxed. He was enjoying himself, luxuriating in my taste even though I flinched away at the stimulation. I licked his softening cock, cleaning him as the others had made me do when they used my mouth. When I finished, I tried to sit up, only to be pushed down again as Dex gripped my thighs and secured me back over his face.

“I didn’t say we were done,” he murmured, nibbling my inner thigh. “Zander is going to be jealous, and I want to make his anger worth my time.”

“I thought you said you wouldn’t tell,” I whispered, losing my breath when his fingers slipped back inside me, filling my pussy and my ass again. Dex grinned against my thigh, then his teeth scraped my skin and he gave my ass a sharp slap with his free hand.

“I promised not to mention the panties, Aria. I never said I’d leave out how much you enjoy my tongue.”

He licked a long hot line up the seam of my body, then buried his face against me and sucked my still swollen clit. My back bowed involuntarily, trying to arch away as he licked me. I was so sensitive the sensation of his tongue made my thighs shudder, but the struggle to move away only amused him. “Look at you shaking, girl. It felt good to ride my face, didn’t it.” He kissed my inner thighs, then pressed his mouth over my clit. “So pretty and swollen, but still so desperate for attention. It would be rude to deny you what you need, just like it would be rude to not tell Zander, Umber, and Kaiden how glorious you look fucking my face.”

Dex set to work again, and I bit my lip, holding back moans as his cock stiffened under my palm. I wrapped my fingers around him, watching as he grew thick and long so soon after his release. Gods, what would that mean when they actually fucked me?

I already knew that answer. It would be hours of me lying spread open to receive them, one after the other, until their lust had been sated. This is what happened to the women in the barracks. Women who smiled at certain soldiers, basking in their lustful adoration.

But it was those same women who’d lined up behind me the other day, rallying against our oppressive leaders because they knew they had protection. I’d led the charge, but they’d immediately shored up my defenses because they’d had their own. They’d trusted those Kavari soldiers to protect them.

Just like I’d trusted Dex and the others to protect me.

Dex growled against my pussy, his licking and sucking turning rough again as he ground me onto his face, fingers still pumping in and out as I stroked his cock. I bit my lip, lowering my head to kiss the tip, giving in to the traitorous thoughts for a bit.

Would it be so bad to trust them? To give them what they wanted so badly in return for protection?

Esme had never asked anything of me during the years it was just us, but I vividly remembered wanting to give her the world. I’d never gotten the chance.

But the men that took her, perhaps they had.

And perhaps, if I let down the walls around my heart, these men would give me the same.

CHAPTER 11

Kaiden

Umber sat in the corner, his feet up on the table while Dex lay stretched out on the mattress, hands clasped behind his head. I stared at them, then my eyes shifted to watch Zander as he paced back and forth beside the bed, noting how the scowl on his face highlighted the angry scar on his cheek.

“You’re a fucking liar,” he snarled at Dex, who grinned in response. “I’d have to wrestle her down to get my head between her legs.”

“You enjoy that thought,” Umber pointed out, laughing at Zander’s expression when it turned mischievous.

“I do, and so does Aria even though she doesn’t want to admit it. When I want to play she’s rough with me. She wrestles me back, and the fight makes her wetter than the river.” His eyes narrowed, then he turned back to Dex and jabbed an accusing finger in his direction. “Which is why I know she didn’t climb on top and fuck your face.”

Dex held his arms out wide, basking in his apparent success. “I can’t help it if I’m charming. All it took was a bit of soothing, a few smacks on her ass, then she was ready to do whatever I asked.”

“Bullshit,” Umber said. “I’m charming but she still defies me. Not as much as she tries to defy Zander, but—”

“Maybe it’s because we fight before I try to get under her skirt,” Zander mused.

“You’ve been fighting with her?” I asked, narrowing my eyes when he shrugged.

“Not fighting like you think. Sparring. I’ve been teaching her to use a spear,” he explained, and when I lifted my eyebrows, he grinned. “She’s a quick learner, better than some of the bastards Ryne sent down.”

He picked up one of his spears and demonstrated, detailing how Aria had done well with training. I wasn’t shocked, honestly. The one time I’d gone out with her into the woods, keeping my eyes open for more Skepna after Zander told me how they’d killed one, I’d watched her shoot down a quail in a single shot. I’d wanted to pull out my own bow and shoot with her just as much as I’d wanted to pin her down and put my head between her thighs.

The idea that Zander would give her weapons and skills she could use against us didn’t seem like a well thought out plan, but perhaps he had a different rapport with her.