44. Naomi

Naomi

"I can't believe we're mated. Truly mated," Sea murmured, gazing down at me, his eyes tender and soft, even as my sex clenched fiercely around his huge, hard knot. "I feared this day would never come. Tell me — promise me I'm not dreaming."

"I don't see how even our subconscious minds could imagine something like this," I replied over our new mate bond with a wry grin. "I mean, I'm milking you like a cow — but with my down below. Pretty sure you're not making that up."

"It's real," Wild assured us, his voice threading through our bond, revealing that it now connected all three of us. "We're bonded just as the gods intended it."

He leaned forward, bracing both hands against the bed's surface, looking every bit the grave, commanding boss — who happened to be completely naked.

But then his mouth hitched into a half-smile, and he said, "Thanks for not making the two of us have to do a jig first, Flower. "

We all burst out laughing, and the emotional impact was… unexpected. It wasn't just my own laughter I was feeling. There was Wild's amusement — his pleasure that I was finally responding to his humor — and Sea's relief, his joy that we were all getting along. The waves of shared emotion washed over me, binding us even tighter.

Honestly?

Outside of mating them, laughing with Wild and Sea over our new bond was the best feeling I'd ever had. For a moment, the world around us was nothing but sweet bliss.

"Alright, Wild, you've had your fun," another voice said, cutting through the moment. "Time to untie me and let me go home."

We all turned to look at Aidan, still bound to the chair.

But there were a few differences from the last time I beheld him.

His hands were balled into fists.

And the flesh between his legs was no longer flaccid. It was standing up straight and pulsing like Sea's had before Wild made it disappear inside me.

My breath caught at the sight of the male who wouldn't even open the bathroom door downstairs, so obviously aroused.

"Ye don't look ready to leave just yet," Wild said.

His voice sounded dry and unbothered. But the strange rage spiked again, and I could feel him seething over our mate bond.

"It doesn't mean anything," Aidan spat through clenched teeth, shaking his head in disgust over his straining arousal. "It's just a biological response to being forced to watch your pathetic little piece of amateur porn. "

I'd never seen amateur porn, but the scathing look in his eyes made it clear it wasn't something the kind of she-wolf Aidan would truly want would take part in. His words hit me like daggers thrown, flooding me with shame.

"Let him go," I said to Wild, saying the words and pushing them over our mate bond.

"No," he answered.

It was just a single word, but Wild growled it with even more ferocity than he used to threaten me about trying to run again.

Then Sea abruptly unknotted inside of me.

"Looks like you got everything I had to give," Sea said, rolling off of me with a happy groan.

"Good girl," Wild murmured.

His mood lightened over our mate bond, and he sat down on the other side of the bed to stroke errant curls out of my face. I vaguely remembered throwing my hair in a couple of braids before I left for the wedding — what felt like eons ago.

I could only imagine the state of it after my unexpected lake swim and two rounds of heat sex.

Yet, Wild looked down at me with an expression of total pride and approval as he asked, "Have ye had anything to eat yet?"

"No, we were about to eat when… wait, don't try to change the subject!"

I glanced toward Aidan, still glowering and bound in the chair. "I know I gave him my pledge, but he obviously doesn't want me. Want this. You have to let him go."

"Let's get ye something to eat, then," Wild answered as if he hadn't heard my plea to let Aidan go.

Sea swung his legs off over the other side of the bed and jogged past Aidan to the still-open door. "And while he does that, I'll clean up and get a hot bath going for you so that you can have a nice soak before you cycle again."

That sounded utterly delightful. Every muscle in my body was beginning to ache from two intense rounds of heat sex. But did Wild and Sea, who had already disappeared out the door, really think I could just sit there, eating breakfast and enjoying a bubble bath, knowing Aidan was still tied up?

I thought of how kindly he'd treated me after rescuing me from that cave, even though he didn't know me from Adam. And my heart twisted with a guilt that way overshadowed any feelings of rejection.

"Untie him first," I insisted to Wild. "As much as I want food and a bath, I'm not going to go along with anything until you — oh!"

I cut off when another sexual cramp rocked through me. Stronger and more painful than any of the ones that had come before it.

And just like that, my sex gushed, and the smell of a new heat cycle filled the room like a mushroom cloud.

"Wild…" I fell back on the bed, cupping my hands over my sore sex, which was clenching the air so hard, it felt like I was still milking Sea's knot.

"Already?" I heard Sea say, re-entering the room. "Aren't we supposed to have time between…"

Wild just muttered, "Fuck."

Before falling on top of me and doing just that.

There were no games this time. No teasing or instructing me to put on a show for the bound wolf Wild kept calling Dublin .

In fact, Wild's side of our mate bond went silent, like something put on mute, as his hips pistoned between my legs with a grim, staccato rhythm.

It didn't take long for both of us to come. Me with a cry of utter relief. And Wild with a determined grunt soon after.

It felt so good, and this time, I was completely prepared for him to knot inside of me.

Except he didn't.

Wild stilledin a way that made my stomach tighten with an ominous emotion.

He didn't comment on not knotting, though. Out loud or over our mate bond. Just pulled out, completely spent.

Which left me to ask him, "Why didn't you… um…?"

My cheeks burned. As much sex as we'd had, I still felt shy when it came to talking about it.

It's okay," Wild muttered, making me wonder if he was talking to me or himself.

His bond remained stubbornly mute, but somewhere in the room, I could sense Sea's emotions loud and clear — agitated and tense.

"Ye're satiated for now." Wild gave me another one of those tender looks I never would have expected from this rough-talking Irish King and stroked more curls off my forehead. "Close yer eyes, beauty, try to get some rest."

Rest .

He was right. A sudden wave of exhaustion came over me, dragging me down into darkness.

At least for a little while.

I woke up a short time later to the sensation of a washcloth moving over my body.

And the smell of a new heat cycle filled the room.

I was once again clenching air down below, and I reached down to soothe the pain, even though I was too tired to open my eyes.

"Bloody Christ, it's only been a couple of minutes," Sea said somewhere above me.

Strangely, his side of the mate bond had gone mute, too.

"Try claiming her in the way of the wolf this time," Wild said on the other side of me. "Maybe that will…"

He didn't finish, but apparently, Sea knew exactly what to do.

I found out what "the way of the wolf" meant without having to ask when Sea flipped me over and pulled my hips back.

The brush of his hand against my butt cheek as the thick head of his rod lined up with the back of my slick space. One shove of his hips, and he was inside of me, somehow even deeper than before. How was that even possible?

I groaned and collapsed to my forearms, rubbing my face in the cool sheets, and Sea followed me down, his chest blanketing my back.

This position, I recognized after a lifetime in an agricultural community. He was a ram, suddenly taking charge and mounting his ewe during her breeding season.

Next spring, there would be lambs.

My moans and the sound of his hips slapping into mine filled up the room, and soon, another new orgasm crested over me.

I'd only submitted to his claim, but we were both panting by the time he was done.

But…

No knot.

A burst of alarm and worry came down the mate bond.

From Wild or Sea? I couldn't tell before some biological mute button was pushed again, cutting me off from their emotions.

What was going on? Why were they worried? I needed to ask some questions, but I collapsed on the bed in a boneless heap and instantly fell into a dreamless sleep.

Until I woke again. To a new heat cycle.

"Mmm… it hurts!" I moaned. I writhed. The aching burn of my need made it feel like my skin was on fire.

"I'm here, beauty," Wild murmured behind me. I didn't register that I was lying on my side until he lifted one of my legs and slid into me from behind.

For a few languorous minutes, he became my doctor, taking me with rolling strokes that felt like medicine.

Except I don't think a doctor would ever say, "Your willy's going off again. How's your fuckin' pride serving ye now, Dublin?"

I opened my tired eyes and realized I'd accidentally created another amateur porn with Wild when I saw that we were directly facing Aidan. My drenched sex pumped out heat as Wild held my top leg over his thigh — presumedly for even easier access as he took me from behind.

Maybe Aidan had been watching us before, but now his eyes were squeezed closed. And this time, the flesh between his legs wasn't just pulsing. It spasmed, angry and red, before sputtering out a few liquid pearls of seed. Aiden made a harsh animal sound in the back of his throat, the kind that signaled abject pain.

But Wild's voice held no pity as he continued to taunt him with, "How many times do ye have to watch us fuck her before ye give in to the prophecy?"

I didn't need Aidan. And I didn't want him. Not like this.

Was Wild aware that he sounded like a complete maniac? Why wouldn't he just let Aidan go?

I came again before I could ask him either of those questions, my body seizing up as intense bolts of pleasure thundered through me.

But again, no knot.

Wild pulled out of me with another rough curse.

"What are we going to do?" Sea asked in another part of the room. Though his side of the mating bond stayed mute, his voice was laced with worry. "This isn't working, and she's exhausted. I'm not sure how much more she can take."

They were talking about me.

Some dim part of my brain knew I should probably weigh in, but my eyes fluttered closed, and another sleep overtook me before I could.

Black but not deep. Another round of heat. But I was too exhausted to open my eyes.

Someone climbed on top of my prone body to claim me anyway. So long and thick, it could only be Sea.

More restless sleep.

I woke up again in what felt like an instant. This time, I was zero percent surprised to feel myself clenching desperately below as the smell of a new heat cycle filled my nose.

I waited for one of my mates to take me again. Whose turn was it? Wild's or Sea's? I'd lost track.

But no one came.

"Wild? Sea?" I croaked out, my voice rasping and tired as I rubbed my needy body all over the sheets. "I need you. Please… please come fuck me!"

I'd gotten used to begging, I realized then. Somewhere over the last few hours, it had gone from something I'd never do to instinct.

But no one came. No matter how many times I called out.

An abandoned feeling began to set in on top of the wanton, all-consuming heat of my need.

Maybe they couldn't hear me from wherever they'd gone. Maybe I needed to stand up and shout louder.

My brain cleared a little at that thought, and I dragged open my eyes to do the hard work of standing up and walking over to the door of the room they'd let me alone in.

Only to freeze at the sight directly in front of me.

Sea and Wild hadn't left me alone, as it turned out.

Aidan still sat in his chair, but his arms were no longer attached to the handles. They were behind his back.

The armrests had been pulled off and tossed to the floor.

Giving easy access to Aidan, whose rod was straining and pulsing like something with a heartbeat.

A piece of what looked like ancient, yellow-stained printer paper was taped to his chest with messy block letters written on it. It simply read: FUCK HIM. IT'S THE ONLY WAY.

My blood ran cold, even as my core gushed with a new wave of near-crippling heat.

That was when I understood. Sea and Wild weren't coming. Not until I had sex with the wolf they called Dublin.

Oh God … oh, God. I stood up in the few feet of space they'd left between his chair and the bed.

What I needed…

What I wanted…

It was right there. Right there. Straining and pulsing between Aiden's legs.

"Don't," Aidan whispered.

But my pride wasn't the only thing I'd lost. The upstanding, reasonable person who'd argued for his release had disappeared.

He said something else, his tone a strange mix of angry frustration and desperate pleading.

But I lunged toward his chair. Too far gone to hear him.