Page 43 of Rising Darkness

I exhaled slowly. Once my immediate concerns were addressed, how grimy I was registered. My hair was greasy, and my scalp itched. The hair on my legs was spiky beneath the soft sheets.

Goddess, how could they even stand to be near me? I was afraid to lift my pits and take a whiff.

Reading my thoughts from my expressions, Jolon chuckled.

“I’ll run you a bath,” he told me, and disappeared into their ensuite.

I sent Syler a shy smile, and he tilted his head, studying me. Though I wasn’t the best at reading sign language, he motioned slowly with his hands. I did my best to interpret, but I was sure I was missing pieces. Luckily, Jolon came back into the room and gave me the gist.

“He’s right, you know. Seeing you awake is a beautiful sight.”

Together, they helped me to the bathroom and into the tub. Jolon added bath salts to the water, and Syler grabbed a washcloth and started cleaning my back. The lather of the soap and the soft scrap of the cloth sent me into a haze. The warm water relaxed my muscles, and I never wanted to get out.

Here in this tub, the world wasn’t falling apart outside of our little haven. It was just me and my mates starting our lives together. Staying in that bubble for as long as possible was all I wanted.

“Tell me something about you,” I said, sinking below the suds and leaning my head against the back of the tub.

“What do you want to know?” Jolon asked, settling on the floor and stirring his finger through the water. Syler sat on the edge of the tub and played with my hair.

“Tell me about your life before you met me.”

For the next hour I bathed while they told me about shenanigans from their youth, about their loft in New York City, promising me they’d take me to their old bachelor pad someday, if only to pack it up and rent it out. Jolon explained about how the other orphans they’d lived with at the orphanage used to pick on Syler. Once upon a time, he’d been a scrawny little kid. I couldn’t see it, but my heart broke for the abuse he’d been through. And the director hadn’t cared to step in.

Jolon and Syler shared a weighted glance, and then Jolon explained. “That’s how Syler lost his voice. He was attacked one day. Held down while they stabbed him. During the attack, they sliced through his vocal chords and cut his tongue. They said it was so he couldn’t rat them out. When I found him, he was almost dead. I healed him the best I could, but not until after I chased the kids off. I lost myself to rage.” Jolon swallowed and looked at his hands that were resting in his lap. “I killed one of the kids. He was my age, but he was an evil little fuck. That’s how we ended up shadow touched, his death placed on both our shoulders.”

“Fate doesn’t seem fair, does it? The way it chooses who to turn.”

Syler shook his head and motioned with his hands.

“He says he doesn’t regret a thing. Without the pain of the past, he’d never be here with you right now, and that’s worth every goddamn scar,” Jolon translated. “He’s right, baby. Don’t mourn for us. Having you in our lives is worth all the hardship in our past. We’d live it again tenfold if it meant being the lucky bastards who get to mate with you.”

“Speaking of mating.” I blushed. How the hell did you ask for sex? I wasn’t used to having to seek it out. There were too many men in this house to go unsatisfied for long. After the fight and my trip to the veil, I wasn’t up to my full strength. I needed Tye to balance me and I needed to feed. But I also realized that we were out of time.

Danger was drawing closer with every day that had passed. Being out for three days had set us behind. Elan could be up to anything by now.

No. I wanted to claim my mates, and as soon as I made that decision, my heat warmed inside me, urging me to be bold with my mates and tell them exactly what I needed.

“Mate me, Jolon. Claim me, Sy. I’m tired of waiting.”

“Lorn.” Jolon shook his head. “You need to recover first. And then I promise to fuck you until you beg me to come, but—”

“No,” I interrupted. “I want to belong toallof my mates. You talk about protecting me all the time, and now it’s my time to protect all of you. I want to claim you as badly as I need your claiming bites in return. I’m tired of not being anchored. Of not being at my strongest. Do this with me and let’s complete our family.”

Syler and Jolon paused, and then they were in action. Helping me from the tub, they dried me with towels and carried me into the bedroom.

“You tell us if you’re not feeling well, or if you want to stop. You promise?”

“Do I need a safe word?” I teased, feeling more energetic by the minute.

“I guess that depends on how hard I fuck you, doesn’t it?”

“All this talk,” I challenged the alpha.

He growled in response and dove for me. Jolon kissed me all the way to the mattress and nibbled on my ear. “I’ve been waiting too fucking long to claim you, mate. Syler and I are going to make you ours together. And when we’re done,”—his breath was warm on my neck—“you’ll be complete.”

Licking his way down to my collarbone, he captured my nipple in his mouth, sucking hard. At the same moment, I felt Syler settle on the other side of me, his fingers tweaking my other nipple. The duel sensation sent wet heat to my pussy. Jolon worshiped his way down my body, and then he licked a long line up my slit. He dedicated himself to the task until I was writhing underneath him, crashing toward my first release of the night.

Growling as I creamed his face, he disappeared, only to come back without his clothes. He stood before me like a man at the altar of a goddess.

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