“I don’t much care about sitting on a horse at the moment,” I replied.
“Fuck…” His voice was rough and hoarse, as much his beast as the man, but my gasps became high and breathy as I felt his fingers slide between my legs.
It didn’t hurt. At least, not in a bad way. Gael had healed me well, though he lay down on the bed beside Dane then slid down to make eye contact with me.
“If there’s any pain, you say something,” he growled. “They can wait, no matter what they say.”
“But you’ll make it all better, won’t you?” I stared at Gael, with heavily lidded eyes.
“Always, lass. Always.”
“I meant it when I said it hurts more not to… uhh… be with you,” I said, my ability to speak becoming compromised and then my voice tapering away with a hiss as Axe started to touch me more intimately. I felt his thumb brush against my pearl as he pushed his fingers inside me. “I was holding onto the pain and…”
I wasn’t ready for this, the deep, visceral pleasure that came from being with each one of them, a bliss that seemed to cut deep with each wave. Dane knew what I meant, arching his hips upwards to try and get more contact, the cords biting into his wrists as he fought their grip. I took pity on him, sobbing my pleasure all over the swollen head of his cock, then sucking it in.
I was full of them, Axe and Dane, and that went beyond the physical. One my protector, the other my advisor, both of them my lovers. And I felt that thing that I’d been fighting against, the sweet, sweet bubbling sensation of loving and being loved in return. Because it was like blood rushing to my extremities after being numb for so long. Now it was back, my whole body throbbed with life.
And in some ways that hurt.
As if the pleasure we were taking in each other was an attempt to shove the pain of loss to one side, unresolved. But that would never be. Whatever children I had, now or in the future, I would never forget any of them. Jan, Del, and my unborn one, they lived in my heart forever. And with that realisation—that sharing my love with my mates would never mean denying the love I had for my children—I was freed from focusing on that pain. Which let me come back to focusing fully on what was happening in our bedroom.
“Darcy, lass, I’m going to burst!” Dane gasped out so I pulled free, listening to his pained moans as I let his cock snap back against his stomach. “Mercy, lass, please, for whatever I’ve done to anger you. Please, Darcy, please.”
“Seems like we are all fucking needy tonight,” Axe said, slapping one hand down on my hip and using the other to move the big, blunt head of his cock against my seam. It slipped in the slick there, something he gave a grunt of appreciation for, rubbing it up and down and making his shaft wet. “You give my stupid brother what he needs and I’ll see to you, lass.” As he rubbed against me, he found my opening and pushed the head of his cock in slightly, and my eyes widened as I immediately felt the stretch. “Fairly sure I should be trying this after someone else has softened you up, but you’re the queen.”
That I was. Queen of this little fiefdom, and my court of four was nothing if not attentive. Each one focused on me and my pleasure as Axe began to work himself into me. Then, as I was gasping at feeling so very full, I went back to sucking Dane, closing my eyes as I lost myself in the taste of him.
He tore free of his bindings, that had to be what happened, because gentle, shaking hands went to my head, caressing my hair restlessly as my head began to bob and I moaned.
“Gods, lass…”
They both groaned that out, one after the other, as I fought to take Axe, as I sought to push Dane over the edge.
“You feel so bloody good,” Dane growled. “Like heaven and hot wet silk, squeezing the seed out of me. I’ll never forget how this feels, never.”
His pleasure only served to enhance mine, and I increased my pace, my body shuttling back and forth between them.
“That’s it, lass,” Axe urged, his fingers digging into my hips. “Take me. Take everything I’ve got to give.”
That felt daunting, and not only because of his size. Because this was more than just physical pleasure. This was a connection snapping tight between us, locking us together. And it seemed as though that was something Gael feared.
“Don’t knot her,” he growled at Axe.
“By all the fucking gods—”
“I mean it, you filthy son of a whore. Not yet.” I pulled my lips off Dane and raised myself up to lean on my elbow, leaning forward so I could look at his brother, my hand taking over what my mouth had been doing. Gael tipped my head his way, kissing me. “You’ve done so well, lass. You’re so fucking perfect, but I don’t want you hurting, not tonight. Not when…” He kissed me again fervently, swallowing my moans of pleasure, just as they began to spike. My eyes rolled back in my head at the intensity of it all, then I pulled hard on the reins of control, breaking away from Gael to gaze down at Dane.
“Come with me,” I commanded. His eyes held mine as his claws raked the sheets. “Come when I do and I’ll mark you as mine.”
I was always going to, anyway, but Dane had grown up so enmeshed with power games, I’m not sure he even knew how to exist without them. My words seemed to trigger something inside him, and his whole body went rigid. He rode my hand as I rode Axe’s cock, those long, hard movements drawing out the point of bliss.
Blue flame had been an expression first of Gael’s power, then mine, and now it seemed as if it was ignited by this ecstatic connection between Dane, Axe and me. The fire flickered all over the three of us, turning each one of us incandescent. But the flames didn’t harm us. They couldn’t, because they were an innate part of us that was now freed. And so I burned, in bliss as much as in actuality, with the remaining specks of the dried blood of our enemies sizzling before falling as ash from our skins.
I let out a wolf-like howl as my peak smashed into me and Dane erupted all over both of us, sending the heat of his seed everywhere. Axe bucked up hard, making me all too aware of how deep he was inside me, before his body stiffened and he gripped my hips hard while he pumped into me with scalding hot bursts. If the priests of my father’s keep could see me now, they’d describe this as some pagan rite. And maybe it was. One that went beyond our connection with each other to link with the very earth itself. My awareness of what was happening spiralled up, up, up and out of my body, hovering by the ceiling to watch the three of us come apart as my other mates watched, transfixed, and then it was as if I came slamming back down.
Not onto the bed, but down the stairs, through the kitchen and into the cellar and on to the cave beyond. The crystal cave came to life, each shard of quartz becoming a blazing blue, one that got brighter and brighter before zigzagging through the earth and taking me with it. Beyond Middlebury to some forgotten cave, then when that was alight, to another and another. Deep within the earth, caves blazed to life across Grania and Strelae, all the way to Snowmere.
It made sense,in a way, to be brought back here, to the great chapel built under Snowmere. The statue of Pepin lit up first, the idealistic shine of youth in her eyes, then the mute mother took on a golden glow, but the light faltered when it reached the final chapel, that of the Morrigan. The darkness within it was absolute, swallowing the beam of bright light that speared into it, the sound of birds flapping their wings growing louder and louder. The single note of pleasure seemed to go on and on, beating back the dark until I saw what stood within the chapel.