19. Oria

Soren snapped his neck and I expected to feel regret or remorse, but all I could think of was, good riddance. What hurt the most was Tay's betrayal. Did everyone know we slept together? Was it a running joke that he had taken my virginity? I couldn't believe he had slept with me and mother.

Nausea churned in my stomach. He used me.

My heart broke thinking that he played me for a fool, but not just that, he did it because Mother had instructed him to. I knew she wasn"t going to win mother of the year awards, but it felt like she had fabricated every piece of my life to keep me here.

Gray and Soren said something amongst themselves. I turned to walk back inside, not able to enjoy being outside, even though I wasn't chained to the wall anymore. I walked up the steps when strong arms picked me up. Instinctively, I wrapped my arms around them as I tried to make sense of all the information, wondering what was true and what wasn't.

I pushed my face into their neck hoping it was Gray, but even if it was Soren, it didn"t matter. I was so starved for human touch that I was willing to get it from the asshole who thought I was out to get them. A hiss from Loki eased my tension a little, even when the twin cursed at him for getting between his legs.

They walked me to the kitchen before sitting me on a bar stool, walking to the fridge. The other twin walked into the room as they worked in comfortable silence until I had a BLT with chips and a tea in front of me.

They didn't say anything as I ate my food, wondering what was going on. They cleaned up in silence, working effortlessly together. When I thought I knew who was who, something one of them did would make me change my answer. They stood side by side as I took my last bite with mirroring stances.

I was in one of the twins" arms before I swallowed the last of my food. He held me protectively, igniting a longing in me that I had pushed so far down. Why did they feel so good? Why did it feel right?

He set me down on my bed, looking down at me as I looked up at him. The twins were both dressed all in black, tight shirts and pants that had many pockets. When they first arrived, they also had on a black vest that had many pockets too.

It made me wonder how many potions, artifacts and who knows what else was in those pockets, but if I had one, at least one pocket would be dedicated to food. I couldn't help but smirk at the ridiculous thought I had just had.

"What's funny, Blondie?"

Soren.

"Nothing," I said, not wanting to divulge my chaotic mind.

"Look I know we haven't seen eye to eye but are you being held captive here?"

His expression was flat, not giving anything away and I wondered why Gray wasn't here.

"Captive?" I didn't know how to answer his question because now I didn't know.

"Yeah, are they holding you here against your will?"

Was Mother holding me captive? When I didn't say anything, he sighed.

"Can you come and go as you please?" He squatted in front of me.

"No," I whispered.

He nodded like he knew the answer.

"Are you the person who makes the vials of Oria?"

Yes was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't do it. Once I told him who I was, I knew it would change everything.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, but things are slowly making sense for me," he said, grabbing my hand, easing my anxiety. "Gray is everything to me and the thought of him being taken advantage of makes me fiercely protective."

He looked at our hands, when a wave of melancholy and longing hit me.

"We've never really been apart and those days of not knowing if he was dead or alive, really fucked with my head," he said, intertwining our fingers. "But what really scared me, was you."

"Me?" I was confused.

"Yes, with your double wielding frying pan abilities," he smirked, making me laugh. "Gray has never looked at a woman like he looks at you."

"That's why you hate me?" I was in disbelief.

"I thought you must have done something to have him so smitten with you, where he was fighting against me," he said quickly. "There"s a lot of things you could have done with him here, but now I know that's not it."

"That makes no sense," I said. "But why the sudden change of mind?"

Soren let go of my hand taking a deep breath.

"Amor Aeternus," he whispered.

Eternal love?

"It's rare for vampires to have mates, but it"s not unheard of," he explained. "I think that's what you are to us. You smell like mine, like ours and I pushed that thought away, hating that I wanted you even though I was dead set on you being the bad guy."

"That still doesn't explain why you believe me now," I said, feeling the truth in his words, even though he still scared me and made me wary.

"When Demetri was saying all those things about you, it snapped something in me, like I failed you," he said, looking up at me with those vibrant green eyes. "I know I shouldn't have killed him but the things he said about you, I couldn't tolerate him speaking about my mate. Killing him that easily was a blessing for him."

I didn't know what to say or how to feel about this.

"You don't have to feel or say anything about this now, but I wanted to speak with you and let you know that as your mate I would do anything and everything to protect you from whoever has held you captive here against your will. I am yours, Blondie."

He didn't wait for an answer before kissing my palm, sending tingles up my arm. I didn't think about it, but I slid my hand along his cheek and neck pulling him in for a kiss. It was simple, soft but igniting a response in me that made me want to bring him into my bed. I deepened the kiss as his tongue brushed against my own.

The kiss ended too soon.

"Blondie," he said, as if he was in pain. "Don't tempt me because if we do anything more, I don't trust myself to not make you mine and as much as I know you are mine, I want you to choose me."

His words made me choke up. He kissed me softly again before standing up and leaving the room.

"Calm down." Soren's voice was barely audible as Loki came into my room.

I stared at the door, processing how I felt about this and immediately wondering if what he said about Gray was true?

"Sunshine?"

A soft touch caressed my face as my eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, beautiful."

Gray's face came into focus while I rubbed my eyes.

"Hi," I said shyly, wondering when I had laid down to nap.

"Are you ok?" He studied me with concern on his gorgeous face.

Everything that Soren and I had discussed came back to me, making my abdomen flutter with butterflies.

"I think so," I said, still reeling from earlier.

"I know Soren asked you already." He took a deep breath. "Did they physically hurt you? Did they force?—"

Anger funneled through me. Gray was staring off into the distance.

"No," I immediately said, grabbing his hand. "When Tay and I were together, it's because I wanted it. I didn't want anyone to have that power over me."

He looked back at me and then our hands, the tension bleeding from his shoulders, along with anger.

"Have you ever tried to escape?"

"No," I whispered.

"Do you want to leave?"

I sat up in my bed, sitting in front of him like I did with Soren.

"I don't know, nothing makes sense now," I said looking at my hands. "I just know living like this is getting harder as the years go by and… I don't know how much longer I can do this."

"Would you be ok with coming with us? Would you feel safe?" he asked, tilting my chin to look at him. "I can't bear the thought of leaving you."

My heart beat rapidly as I thought of them leaving or worse, Mother finding out about them.

In my heart it was an easy choice, but in my head, betraying Mother and all her hard work to keep me hidden made me doubt myself.

"I don't like the thought of you leaving," I said, keeping the anxiety out of my voice.

"Well, I guess we won't have to worry about Soren being team Ria," Gray said, trying to make light of this situation.

My heart sank.

"That's not my real name," I said feeling clammy.

"What is your real name?" he asked cautiously.

This was going to change everything. I didn't know if I was ready for that.

"My name is Oria," I said, closing my eyes, waiting for things to change.

"Oh, ok," he said, as I opened my eyes. "Oooooh."

His eyes widened when it finally clicked.

"That's why you are here and can't leave," he said, pulling me in for a hug. "Everyone had heard rumors that Oria came from a girl, but it never made sense to me."

"There's rumors about me?" I asked, feeling a little weird about that.

"People have been looking for the source of Oria for over a century and no one has found you," he said, pulling away his expression.

"Are Laima and Tay the people who put you here?"

Hearing Mother's name always sounded weird.

"Yes, Laima is my mother." I cleared my throat from the emotions surfacing.

"So, she keeps you here trapped while she benefits from you making the most expensive magical item," he sneered. "I'm assuming the second bedroom is hers but how often does she leave you here?"

"I… I…" I didn't know what to say to his accusations that she had me trapped here and was using me.

"Where is she now?" Gray's expression hardened.

"I… I don't know," I said, thinking of anything that could give me a clue.

"You're scaring her," Soren's voice entered the room.

Gray looked over his shoulder before he settled his gaze on me.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Sunshine," he said, picking me up.

He sat down on the bed sitting me on his lap.

"I would never do anything to hurt you." Gray held me, easing the tension I had been holding since we started talking. "Is this what you have been afraid of? That we would take you and enslave you."

The sound of boots crossed the room before the bed dipped from the weight of Soren.

"It happened before and that's why we moved here," I said, looking up at Soren, whose face was too passive. "They found us in the forest in a small cabin mother used to own. She had left me one night saying she needed to go pick up supplies and I was woken up in the middle of the night with them coming into my room."

I shivered from the memory.

"Did they—" Soren didn't finish his sentence but from the anger in his voice I knew what he wanted to ask.

"No, Mother arrived before they did anything sexual but that didn't mean they didn't say things or hit me," I said, pulling myself from the memory.

"Did she kill them?"

Soren looked ready to get up and finish them if needed.

"Yup, one got away but Tay and his crew hunted him down," I said, pulling away from Gray to look at him. "After that, Tay brought us here."

"How long have you been here for?" Gray kissed my temple.

"Seventy- five years," I said. "I'll be turning two hundred in a few days."

"You've been trapped for seventy-five years here?" Soren murmured.

"I have only ever seen the outside world a few times and each time it feels like a whole new world," I looked over at him.

"Fuck, Blondie. I'm so sorry." He reached over and kissed me fiercely.

His emotions were high, like he couldn"t settle on what emotion to feel until he settled on feeling satisfaction. I hummed my approval threading my fingers in his hair to deepen the kiss. Soren groaned as his need fed my own need, but it wasn't just his need either.

I should have felt bad or weird that Gray was here but feeling them together only made it even more perfect. Gray kissed the back of my neck as his fingers played with the ribs underneath my breast.

"Please tell us this is ok, Sunshine," Gray whispered into my neck causing goosebumps to pepper along my skin. "I've been dying to touch you."

"Yes," I said, in between kisses from Soren.

"Let him make you feel good, Blondie," Soren growled. "Let us make you feel good.

I nodded my head not knowing what else to say other than enjoy this. Soren scooted closer to us until I was almost sandwiched in between them. It was by far the sexiest thing I had ever experienced—yes, I know I don't have much experience but two men were probably going to be the highlight of my life.

Soren nipped my bottom lip before kissing down the other side of my neck. Each twin sucked, nipped and kissed each side of my neck. I moaned, rocking my hips back and forth, feeling how hard Gray was behind me.

"Sunshine," Gray moaned against my neck, holding me in place with his hand splayed on my lower abdomen. "My control can only take so much."

I shivered from his desire-filled voice that made me want more, that made me want for them to lose control.

"Please," I said, not knowing what I wanted. "More."

"Use your words, Blondie, what do you want?" Soren captured my lips in a quick kiss before leaning back, taking his warmth away.

"I want more," I gasped when Gray"s fingers reached the apex of my thighs.

"Come on, Brother I think she deserves an orgasm," Soren smirked, picking me up, scooting us until he sat against the headboard with me in between his legs and Gray watching us.

He turned my head, sucking on my bottom lip before kissing me. His thumb grazed across my nipple igniting a burning need for more. I whimpered into our kiss, rolling my hips, needing some type of friction.

Soren teased the edge of the band on my yoga pants. He broke the kiss, biting gently down my neck as my gaze caught Gray's. He sat in the same spot watching us, the room immediately felt warmer, my skin grew clammy, my body felt like it was on fire with his stare.

Soren's hand slipped under the band skimming the top of where I wanted him to touch. Rolling my hips up, dying for him to touch me, he pulled back as if he were teasing me. He slowly trailed down lower, finally reaching my sensitive nerve. The moment he made contact, I jolted from the pleasure.

"Soren," I gasped.

He expertly rubbed me with one hand as his other grabbed me by the neck. It wasn"t hard but enough to keep looking at Gray.

"Come on, Blondie, say my twin's name as I make you come," he growled in my ear.

Gray was enraptured by us, evident by the bulge in his pants that only made me more excited.

"Come for us, Sunshine." Gray"s lust filled voice threw me over the edge.

"Gray," I whimpered as my pleasure soared through my entire body.

Soren removed his hands from my pants before I heard him sucking on his own fingers.

"You taste so fucking good, Blondie," he groaned. "Next time you come, it will be from my mouth."