32. Maeve

“What are you doing?”

I squealed with shock, dropping my end of the couch. The leg landed on my foot, sending a shooting pain up my leg. On the other end, Arthur winced as the opposite leg slammed into his shin.

We both whirled around. Dora stood in the entrance to the great hall, casting her frown around at the furniture pushed up against the walls and the rolls of tapestries propped up in the corner. She folded her arms across her black dress and tapped her orthopedic shoes against the stone floor.

“Just um…a little spring cleaning.” I winced, rubbing my foot.

“It’s not spring,” she snapped. “And I do the cleaning. Those tapestries are over four hundred years old, young lady. You don’t know how to properly handle them?—”

“That’s why we’ve left them for you to take care of,” I gestured to the tapestries.

“How kind of you,” Dora said in a voice that implied it wasn’t kind at all.

The two of us stared daggers at each other until Arthur coughed awkwardly. “Hey, um…Dora, there’s some mold on the curtains in my bedroom. Shall I help you lift them down?”

“Certainly, Arthur, that will be lovely.” She turned on her heel and stomped off toward the staircase.

Arthur sighed and set down the end of the couch. “I’d better go help her.”

I nodded. “Looks that way. I don’t know why she doesn’t like me.”

“I’m sorry about Dora. She’s been cleaning Briarwood for Corbin’s family since he was in diapers. Most of us don’t have families or don’t see our families, so I think she sees herself as kind of a grandmother. She doesn’t like it when we bring girls here. Corbin even had a girlfriend for a while, and Dora would only refer to her as ‘that woman’.”

I shrugged. “Hey, my father was a preacher. I know overprotective parents when I see them. She thinks I’m a bad influence on you boys.” Although, it would be nice if she got to know me first.

My mind flashed back to last night, to Corbin pounding into me, to Rowan and I moving together on the kitchen stool.

On second thought, bad influence is damn right.

Arthur kissed my forehead. “You can be a bad influence on me any time.”

He darted off to occupy Dora. I tried to shove the couch toward the middle of the room myself, but it was too heavy. I poked my head out into the courtyard and yelled, “Corbin!”

Footsteps clattered across the ramparts. Corbin’s head appeared over the railing around the covered walkway, his dark hair mussed up as though he’d been bent over a book. “You rang, m’lady?”

“Help me!”

A few moments later, I leaned my shoulder into the couch arm, trying to throw my weight behind it, but the damn thing barely shifted an inch. I cursed at it, and a deep voice behind me growled, “I don’t see what the problem is. My view of the situation is brilliant.”

I glanced up. Corbin leaned against the doorframe, his eyes fixed on my ass, which I’d stuck right out to try and move the couch. A warm flush coursed through my body, but I folded my arms and gave him a stern look.

“I’m glad we sent Jane home so she didn’t have to see this chaos. Dora arrived and she’s not happy about the mess in here, so Arthur’s gone to distract her.” I kicked the sofa. Bad idea. A second, even sharper pain shot through my leg. “He’s left me to deal with this beast on my own.”

“At your service.” Corbin trotted over and lifted the other end with one hand like it was nothing. We shuffled the couch into the center of the room with the others.

“Job done.” I collapsed onto the couch where, in a few hours, I’d be falling asleep as part of my first spell. A spell where I’d have to somehow drag my four coven-mates into my dream and then take us into the realm of the fae…a place where, by rights, we shouldn’t even be able to go.

A flutter of fear flickered across my stomach. I pushed it aside. I’d read the book on spirit magic cover to cover, and Corbin had even shown me a couple of simple spirit spells my mother had written in. Staring at her loopy, cursive writing made a lump rise in my throat, especially when I thought about the portrait in the hallway I hadn’t glanced at since I’d heard that weird voice. I’d never got the chance to know my mother, but through this weird power she’d given me, for the first time in my life I felt like we were connected.

I only hoped I’d inherited her skill along with her power.

Corbin lay down beside me, turning his body to face mine and wrapping his thick arms around me. I snuggled into his warmth, and that growing sliver of doubt shrunk away to almost nothing. Corbin’s strength was his protectiveness. He was used to putting others” needs first. His family, the other guys, and now me. He believed I could do this, and his belief flowed into me. Maybe that was what Air users like him did – they exuded this presence into the air around them, so that it flowed into everyone they came into contact with.

Corbin’s lips found mine and I welcomed the kiss, reveling in the heat of his lips, the way my whole body tingled and thrummed as his tongue slid over mine.

“You slept with someone else,” he said, his gaze intense. It wasn’t a question.

I nodded. I was about to say that it was Rowan, but then I decided not to. Instead, I said, “Does that bother you?”

“Not as much as I expected it to,” he said, his hands stroking my face. “But a little. I thought…well, last night was so amazing, I thought…I hoped you’d choose me.”

“I haven’t chosen. But why do I have to choose?” I said boldly. The image of the orgy in the grimoire flashed in front of my eyes.

“Be serious.” Corbin pressed his lips to mine, our mouths opening against each other, our tongues entwining. His kisses stole my breath, and I forgot what it was I was daring to propose, instead wrapping my legs around Corbin and enjoying the shivers that coursed through me as his hands explored my body.

“Share that?”

I snapped my head back. Flynn’s face dangled a few inches from my face, his mouth set in his customary cheeky grin.

Corbin swore. “Bloody hell, Flynn, you made me bite my lip.”

“Tell me bollix.” Flynn vaulted over the back of the sofa, squishing his body behind me. Now, I was sandwiched between Flynn and Corbin, the meat in the world’s most delicious sandwich. Two hard bodies pressed against mine, and the ache inside my pulsed with desire.

I hardly dared to breathe. My eyes locked on Corbin’s. His face read equal parts annoyance and desire. Flynn’s hands danced along my bare arms, raising the hairs on my skin.

What’s going to happen next?

What do I want to happen?

My body knew the answer to that, even if my brain was still stuck on the idea that I was going to burn in hell for all this.

“Go on,” Flynn urged. “Don’t mind me.”

Corbin hesitated for a split second, his eyes searching mine. My heart in my throat and the throb inside me begging for more, I nodded. Corbin leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. The ache in my core flared to life, harder and hotter than ever.

Something scraped along my neck. Flynn. He kissed along my collarbone, his teeth brushing against my skin, sending delicious shivers right down my spine.

Two guys, each one with their hands on me, with their erect cocks pressing into my thighs, my hips. Each one different – Flynn’s hands rough from his work in the forge, his red curls tickling my skin. Corbin’s fingers smooth as silk, his kisses hard and urgent. Each one sending flares of pleasure through my whole body.

This is just like my dream.

Well, in my dream, it was all the guys, each one pleasuring me in his own unique way.

But two guys was a pretty damn good start…

Flynn’s hand slid further down my arm, his fingers trailing over the bottom of my t-shirt. He lifted the fabric up and I gasped against Corbin’s lips as Flynn slid his fingers against my stomach. Everything felt more raw, more intimate, with the two of them, knowing that the other was watching.

“You okay there, Einstein?” Flynn whispered against my earlobe.

I moaned in response, bending my hand beneath his arm and running my fingers down the bulge in his pants, encouraging him to keep going. Corbin’s lips devoured mine, his kiss fierce. He dug his fingers into my thigh, pressing me against his hard cock. Flynn’s fingers slid higher, skimming the bottom of my breasts.

“Mother Mary, she’s not wearing a bra,” Flynn breathed. Now it was Corbin’s turn to moan as Flynn’s hand closed over my breast, lifting up the bottom of my t-shirt so Corbin could see Flynn’s hands playing with my nipple.

I leaned back against Flynn, giving Corbin more room. He bent down and pulled up the rest of my top, freeing my second breast. Corbin bent down, his mouth clamping over the other nipple.

Oh my Goooooood…

A mouth on one nipple, the tongue flicking at my sensitive bud. Flynn rolled my other nipple between his fingers, pinching it slightly. Now that my mouth was free, he bent my head back and covered my lips with his. Flynn’s kisses were like him – light, fluttery, the kind of kisses that swept a girl away.

I can’t believe this is happening. Please, don’t let it stop.

The air around us sizzled with heat. I relaxed into the sensations, feeling their kisses and caresses through my whole body, relishing the warmth of being surrounded with them. One question burned in the back of my mind.

How far will this go?

As if he heard my question, Corbin slid his hand down the outside of my thigh, bringing it up between my legs, underneath my skirt. His fingers brushed over my panties.

It was the lightest touch, but it sent a fresh wave of pleasure through my body.

In response, Flynn’s tongue rammed into my throat and I devoured him with all the passion that swirled around inside me. Corbin’s fingers snaked under the edge of my panties, and he pressed one finger against my throbbing clit. I shuddered, already so close to climax?—

“Um, guys?”

Shit. Hell. Bollocks!

Corbin sprung off me like he’d stuck his cock in an electrical socket. Flynn sank back into the couch, somehow thinking he could camouflage himself in the purple cushions. I stuck my head up over the top of the sofa, dreading what – or who – I was going to see.

Rowan stood in the doorway. For once, his eyes weren’t on the ceiling, his lips weren’t moving as he counted the swords. Instead, his gaze bore into mine, his expression completely unreadable. My cheeks blazed as I yanked my top down, covering my breasts. The ache had gone, replaced by a terrible churning in my stomach that somehow, I’d hurt him.

Rowan’s eyes never left mine. He said, his voice calm but emotionless. “The drought is ready.”

I gulped. No time now to sort this out. I couldn’t worry about Rowan or Corbin or any of the guys. I had to focus on trying to do the one thing I still didn’t entirely believe I was capable of.

I had to perform real, honest-to-God magic. It was time to do my mother proud.