Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“Her fingers just moved,” Daemon murmured against my skin.

A log in the fire fell, illuminating the thatching above as Edmund’s fingers threaded through mine. I welcomed his touch and silently demanded more as his exhale teased my exposed center.

“If I make a mistake again, kick me…send me flying…do whatever you wish,” he said. “When you need me to stop, make the cup rattle again. Now, let us see if we can help you do more than moan and open your eyes.”

I wanted to hug Edmund for realizing what I had—that their touch was the key to lifting the spell. Instead, I focused on the feel of his fingers gripping my thighs and Daemon’s mouth on my breast.

The discipline I’d gained through the endless hours of casting under Garron’s guidance vanished the moment Edmund’s tongue slicked through my folds. Pleasure coursed through me more intensely than ever before, and with it, that tingle of energy under my skin grew. That same energy made it easier for me to feel his desire, which fed my own.

I moaned. Edmund chuckled. The vibrations unmade me. Had my hands been free to move, I would have tangled them in his short hair and demanded more. More licking. More vibrations. More touching.

Daemon’s desire grew as he released my breast and leaned over to meet my gaze as his brother lapped at me.

“I missed the sight of your beautiful blue eyes, Lamb. Keep them open for me, all right?” He tenderly kissed my lips as his fingers trailed over my breasts.

The energy from their combined attention sizzled through me, but it wasn’t enough. Thankfully, Edmund had more to give. His hunger increased as his tongue swirled around the source of my pleasure.

His fingers trailed up my thigh toward where he kissed me. A fingertip breached my opening. Teasing. Testing. He groaned and pressed deeper in one long slide.

The slow penetration pulled another moan from me and the weight of the spell lifted fractionally. Yet the lid covering my well remained firmly in place.

Although Maeve’s spell had layered over the source of my energy, it hadn’t blocked my ability to sense energy. I could still feel it around me; I simply couldn’t directly use it. How, then, could I break this spell?

Edmund distracted me from my thoughts by turning his finger and touching a place inside of me that intensified my growing pleasure. His strokes grew more demanding as his tongue swirled in an increasingly tighter circle around my nub.

The spell rippled inside of me. Small sounds not of my own making emitted from my lips.

Daemon groaned, switching his mouth and hands between my breasts and my neck. Edmund shifted slightly between my legs and withdrew his finger to add a second. The stretch and his hunger fed my desire.

Breath by breath, I climbed higher until I tumbled over the edge with a low moan.

I felt something shift inside of me.

The spell.

I’d forgotten.

Panting, I focused on it instead of the way Edmund kissed my inner thigh as he continued to stroke my insides with two fingers.

The spell was lighter. Much lighter.

“Don’t stop,” I rasped.

Daemon lifted his head to look at me.

“Are you back, Lamb?”

I wasn’t. With the loss of contact, the little energy I’d gained dissipated quickly, and my eyes closed of their own accord.

“She said not to stop, you idiot,” Liam said.

Daemon returned his mouth to my chest. Though it still felt nice, it didn’t evoke the same tingle of energy as before. Neither did Edmund’s touch. They tried to coax a response from me for several more minutes to no avail.

“Perhaps she needs rest,” Daemon said. “And a wash.”

Edmund gently cleaned me then held me in his arms. My frustration grew with theirs.

“Let us try,” Liam said.

Liam and Garron switched places with Edmund and Daemon.

At Liam’s first kiss to the top of my breast, energy sizzled through me, and my eyes opened.

He saw but didn’t stop, the smart man. As he kissed his way across my chest, Garron kissed the sole of my foot.

A giggle escaped me, and I felt Garron smile against my skin.

“Looks like switching was the right thing to do,” Daemon said softly.

His longing caressed me, feeding the energy Liam and Garron were creating.

“She’ll be more sensitive now,” Edmund said. His hunger for me rose.

My breathing hitched, and my need climbed.

Liam kissed his way to my lips, and by the time he reached them, I returned his kiss without restriction. He moaned into my mouth just as Garron’s mouth found the sensitive skin behind my knee. The dual sensations pulled me into the web of desire woven in the air around me.

I welcomed it all and gathered it inside of me as Garron stroked my other leg. Kiss by kiss, they renewed my need for them. Edmund was right, though. Everything was sensitive, so the pair wisely moved with more care. Rather than play with my breasts, Liam focused on my face, neck, and ears. And rather than torment that swollen bump between my legs with his tongue, Garron dipped that hot, wet appendage into my opening.

A raspy moan escaped me. The men continued their efforts until they brought me the same pleasure as Edmund and Daemon had.

During the peak of my release, I managed to speak the truth.

“Pleasure weakens the spell.”

As my release ebbed, so did my ability to move and speak. But it didn’t matter. They’d heard and understood.

“Rest, Love,” Liam said as Garron washed me. “You’ve done so well.”

Partially draped over Liam’s bare chest, I slept until dawn when they changed positions again.

Brandle’s chest pressed against my back as he held me in his arms while Eadric lightly kissed my face to wake me. I could feel their love and yearning for me. Their worry too. Especially Brandle’s. It called to me too. I wanted to soothe him and tell him that I was well and knew they weren’t using me.

That I trusted them completely.

“Are you ready to break the spell, Sparrow?” Eadric asked.

Trapped in my own body, I had no way to respond. That didn’t stop Eadric from kissing his way down my neck.

“Your skin is so soft, Sparrow. I could kiss it all day,” he said between teasing pecks. “Garron and Edmund said you taste even better between your thighs. Should I have a taste before Brandle takes over?”

My center clenched around nothing at his suggestion. Their desire fed mine, and I felt the now familiar tingle under my skin.

“I’ll take the silent tableware as your agreement,” Eadric said.

Brandle’s hands stroked down my arms, and he shifted back a bit so I lay angled against him. Eadric lifted my top leg and hooked it back over Brandle’s legs. Then his fingers brushed over what the position had revealed to his hungry gaze.

“You are so pretty here.” Eadric placed a gentle kiss on my folds, which ignited the tingle of energy crackling through me. “You smell nice too. Should I taste you?”

Brandle’s fingers came around to toy with my breasts. He kept his touch light as Eadric’s tongue darted out to tease me. Bit by bit, I forgot about the spell that held me and only thought of the pleasure Eadric could give me. When his tongue delved into my core repeatedly, I moaned.

“My sweet Sparrow,” Eadric murmured between lapping. “Are you ready for more?”

Brandle moved out from behind me. His touch never left me; only the heat of his chest did. A moment later, his mouth closed over my right breast.

With my eyes now open, I watched him reach down and tug at his pants.

Understanding coursed through me.

Brandle meant to bed me. Here. Now. With Eadric present. My pulse thundered. Fear mixed with desire. And when two of Eadric’s fingers replaced his tongue, I moaned at the slow, deep intrusion.

“She’s wet. Would it be better to let her find her release first?” Eadric asked.

As he spoke, he curled his fingers upward within me, touching the same place his twin had the day before, building my need for what would come next.

“No,” Brandle said around my flesh.

I scowled. If I would have had use of my hands, I would have tugged his hair.

Eadric didn’t give me time to dwell, though, as his fingers unerringly stroked over that place again and again.

As Brandle kicked away his pants, his teeth lightly scraped my breast. I shivered in response and clenched around Eadric’s fingers. Their desire for me climbed.

Eadric kissed his way up my torso to claim my other breast as Brandle’s hand replaced his mouth so he could adjust his position. I felt him kneeling between my legs. Eadric’s fingers were still buried deep inside of me. Moving. Coaxing.

“Kitten, you know what will happen next, don’t you?” Brandle asked, meeting my gaze over his brother’s head.

I managed a faint nod.

“Edmund did his best to prepare you for this when he first started touching you here.” Brandle’s fingers trailed over my hip and traced over my folds as Eadric’s continued to stroke that magical place. “We’ve discussed the spell. You said pleasure lifts it, but you stop responding once you find your release on our mouths or fingers. I think more is needed to break the spell.”

Brandle’s fingers circled my sensitive bud; then one slid in with his brother’s in a single slow thrust that would have curled my toes if I’d been able to do so.

“Once we do this, Kellen, we won’t let you go. You’ll be ours, do you understand? All of us. Together. Always. Once we remove this spell, we will go to Turre to rally the help we need to free your sister. After she is freed, you will not return to her. You will return to us. If you do not agree to this, stop me now by any means necessary.”

Eadric removed his fingers on the next withdrawal so only Brandle stroked me from the inside. The way they were working together to touch me was making it more difficult to focus on his words, but it mattered little. I already belonged to them, and they belonged to me. I had no intention of letting them go either.

After several moments passed without the dishes rattling, Brandle nodded before briefly leaning in to kiss me. His lips touched mine lightly.

“Are you ready to distract her?” Brandle asked.

Eadric’s teeth briefly closed on my nipple.

I groaned loudly.

“Good. Like that then,” Brandle said, withdrawing his touch and replacing it with something much broader that he moved through my slick folds.

The wet head nestled into the dip of my entrance. His need to feel me accept his hard length as I had his fingers consumed him. His desire became my desire.

A wanton sound escaped my lips. Brandle cursed under his breath and slowly pressed forward, trying to force my small opening to accept his girth. My tender flesh seemed to give very little, though, until Eadric bit my nipple lightly again.

I clenched around Brandle’s head. He grunted and stilled. When my core relaxed once more, he eased in another inch.

“Kitten, this isn’t the way I imagined my first time with you. Please. Please give me something. Show me I’m not hurting you or taking what you are unwilling to give. Show me that you like this.”

His fear and hunger wrapped around me.

Eadric took my hand and pressed it against his cheek as he switched to my other breast.

I moaned, and my fingers twitched against Eadric’s skin.

“It’s working,” he said around my breast before nipping my nipple.

I clenched down on Brandle again. He pressed forward another inch then stilled. Sweat dotted his brow as he searched my gaze.

“More,” I whispered.

He swore under his breath and pushed forward again. The intrusion stretched and burned as I struggled to accommodate him. The pleasure started to fade, but the energy buzzing under my skin didn’t, proving that this truly was the intent of the spell.

Maeve had thought to ruin me.

A smile curved my lips.

The energy pooling beneath my skin tripled.

“Kitten, you steal my breath and test my control.” Brandle closed his eyes with a pained expression.

“Then lose it,” I rasped.

Another curse slipped from his lips, and with a growl, he thrust home.

I gasped at the shock of the invasion…and at the movement of the spell. It rippled strongly within me as if, by burying himself to the hilt, he’d hit it. So I threw all my will at the lid, demanding it lift and free what was mine to control.

And it listened!

The lid lifted, and I connected with the energy within myself.

The moment I did, I also connected with energy in everything around me. The air. The earth. The fire and wood. It ignited what was inside of me as it flooded toward my well.

Above me, Brandle’s amulet exploded with a blinding light.

“That’s it, Kitten,” he murmured as he closed his eyes. “Break free. Come back to us.”

He slowly withdrew and advanced.

The discomfort of his invasion remained as the spell tried to settle over my well again. However, with the lid nudged aside, it didn’t have the power to do so. I held it where it was and used the energy to start peeling it back in time with Brandle’s careful thrusts.

Within the depths of the spell, I felt its intent.

Seven layers. One for each of the men. The first one dissolved on its own as Brandle continued to move within me, and I knew the others would also disappear once each of the brothers bedded me.

But I refused to allow Maeve’s spell to dictate the path our lives took.

Using my magic, I sent my intent into her spell. I would bed each brother–but in my own time and in my own way. The spell would not control me.

Never again would I allow another spell to control me.

The spell broke apart inside of me and flew outward in millions of glowing sparks that only I could see. In the absence of its weight, the light from Eadric and Brandle’s amulets faded away.

Brandle paused and cautiously opened his eyes.

I smiled at him and tugged gently at Eadric’s hair until he lifted his head too.

“Sparrow?” he asked, looking at me.

“Yes,” I said, fighting not to flush. “I am very much myself again.”

He gave me a resounding kiss on my mouth and grinned widely. All the while, I felt every inch of his brother buried deeply within me. I clenched around Brandle involuntarily and looked up at him.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked.

“Any discomfort I felt is not your fault but hers for casting such a spell.” I lifted my hand and touched his cheek. “Did I hurt you? By asking this of you?”

He groaned and leaned in to kiss me. It was tender and demanding at the same time. Filled with need, desire, and questions.

When he pulled away, I was breathless. Holding my gaze, he withdrew and reseated himself.

“You didn’t hurt me, Kitten. I’ve been dreaming of this since the moment our glade echoed with your laughter. Tell me you want this too.”

“I want this.”

He braced himself on his arms again and began moving within me in a steady rhythm. The discomfort faded, and in its place, I felt a pleasant fullness.

“Help her, Eadric,” he said, holding my gaze.

Eadric’s mouth dipped to my chest, and he teased my nipple until it pebbled, then nipped it so I clenched around Brandle.

“Again,” Brandle gritted.

Eadric reached between us, and his finger found my nub.

I groaned as he circled it, and my eyes started to close…of my own accord this time.

“I want to see you, Kitten. Keep those eyes open.”

Brandle’s thrusts increased as my pleasure climbed until I cried out with my release. His rhythm faltered soon after, and he groaned. I felt his hard length twitch within me and the hot wash of his seed. When it stopped, he nudged Eadric aside and gathered me into his arms.

“It’s done,” I said, breathing heavily. “I won’t let you go now, Brandle.”

He chuckled in my ear and kissed my temple.

“Can you hear thoughts now, too?” he asked.

“No.” Yet, I could feel what he felt. Love. The need to protect me and hold me close. Forever.

And it was echoed six more times.

Turning my head, I looked at Eadric, who was kneeling beside us and grinning widely.

“I won’t let you go either, Eadric. You’ll need to share me with your brothers until the day I die.”

“Gladly,” he said.

“Um, is the sharing going to start soon?” Darian asked from the doorway.

I met his gaze and smiled at him and the others gathered behind him.

“Perhaps. We will decide how and when. Just the eight of us. No one else.”

“Of course, just us,” Daemon said with a snort. “Do you think we want to start a harem, Lamb?”

“We are the harem,” Liam said, standing on his toes to grin at me over his brothers’ shoulders.

“You are not a harem. You are simply mine, and I am yours.” I looked up at Brandle. “I love my sister and will do anything to free you. Anything but give any of you up. You mean too much to me to leave.”

Brandle and Eadric’s amulets flickered oddly. When I glanced at the others to see if theirs had done the same, my mouth dropped open in surprise. They still stood outside of the cottage but were no longer their smaller versions.

Daemon shouted in elation and hugged Liam.

Edmund’s expression reflected shock as he ducked to see inside. Our gazes met, and I felt his surge of desire.

Brandle kissed my temple, then my mouth, and fully reclaimed my attention when he stirred inside of me.

He broke off the kiss and looked down at me. Joy lit his gaze.

“We love you, too, Kellen. Without reservation or hesitation.”

My heart stuttered with hope and fear.

Love? Love was dangerous. Love meant being hurt when you lost it.

Yet, I could no longer deny that was what I felt for each one of them. I loved them. Completely. Without hesitation.

And I feared what that would mean for my heart in the days to come.

I will not lose another person I hold dear.

Thank you for reading Desire, Book 2 of the Tales of Snow. The trilogy concludes in Degradation , Book 3. I hope you’re ready for what comes next!