Chapter 68

This was our last night together.

Our last night.

Gods, you never thought you'd say those words.

I couldn't get them out of my head as I surveyed the bedroom of my dreams, the enormous, canopied mattress covered in a midnight-blue velvet coverlet, piled with as-soft-as-a-cloud pillows. The draperies above were dotted with what looked like real diamonds, twinkling like stars in the night sky.

A low fire burned in the hearth, surrounded by comfortable, broken-in leather chairs, more of those soft blankets thrown over the backs. A low table piled with books and a pitcher of water stood between them atop a woolen rug thick enough for me to sink my toes into.

I must really like soft, fluffy things given they were literally everywhere.

"It's beautiful, Anaria. Perfectly you." Zorander's strong hands tightened over my shoulders, massaging my strained muscles.

Tavion, of course, was over by the long table, running his hands over the piles of clothing. Five outfits, each of them tailored for whatever we would face tomorrow. "These are…" His eyes met mine before he quickly looked away. "They're too much, Anaria."

"I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth, husband," I murmured, taking in his quiet pleasure. "Besides, like you always say, there's no harm in being well dressed for any occasion."

"I've never said that," Tavion muttered, a blush creeping up his neck.

"No, but you've thought it."

"Anaria…"

"No." I shook my head. "We're not doing that tonight." I slid out from Zorander's grasp to lead Tristan—lurking in the corner like usual—over to the bed, catching Raz's hand along the way.

"Tonight is for us. All of us."

I couldn't explain this sense of breathless possibility. Fear, yes, for tomorrow's battle, but there was something more urging me on tonight.

We'd started something the night the four of us had been together, when that place beneath my heart had filled to overflowing. We'd arrived at some momentous discovery…only to fall short.

Because Zor had been missing that night.

But what if we all joined as one?

What then?

"I like how you think, princess." Tavion tumbled me onto the bed with a chuckle, working my buttons free, his mouth licking a trail straight to my breast, tongue dancing around my taut nipple until I moaned. Zorander peeled my trousers off, kissing both knees before he knelt before me, one hand banding around my ankle to tug my legs wider.

Then…

"Oh gods." I bucked beneath them, Zor's tongue probing deep, my muscles clenching around the sudden onslaught, Tristan's mouth fastening over my tight, swollen bud. Two mouths.

No, three, Tavion's teeth pinching my nipple.

Three mouths on me. At the same time.

Cool shadows wrapped around my ankles, my wrists, and spread me wide, opening me up so they could taste me, use me for their pleasure. Raz's mouth captured mine in a ruthless clash of teeth and tongue as I met him stroke for stroke.

Their combined assault was equal parts ecstasy and pure torment and my body responded, waves of goosebumps rising in prickled excitement, my empty, aching core contracting painfully as I writhed between them.

"Please," I moaned into Raz's mouth. "I need more than this."

Zorander never stopped licking, his tongue probing deeper and deeper, curling against my achy, throbbing inner muscles, teasing moan after needy moan from my mouth.

His fingers left my pussy and dragged moisture between my cheeks, his thumb circling my tight entrance before pushing in with the best kind of pressure.

"You'll get more. Let us play first." Tristan smoothed his hand down my stomach. "Come in our mouths, Anaria, then you'll get our cocks. I can't wait to fuck your tight little pussy."

I grunted from the wave of need that hit me with those words, every muscle contracting then releasing, Tristan fastening his mouth back over my clit, lashing wickedly with his tongue until I was begging him for more.

To stop. To go faster.

Gods, I didn't know what I wanted, only that I had to break the coiling pressure building inside me. Either that or I was going to scream.

Zor replaced his tongue with his fingers, Tristan working my clit with brutal, hard strokes until I was dizzy.

They overwhelmed me in the best way, and I'd been anticipating this for hours, riding such a needy edge that their warm, wet mouths and musky scents tipped me over the brink.

"Come for us, princess," Zor ordered, and I twisted, arching my back against the plush mattress. "Give it to us, Anaria. Give us your pleasure. We want to hear you."

My head whipped back and forth—the only part of me I could move—and I imploded in a knot of writhing pleasure, drowning in sensation, lost beneath the surface of rational thought. Bliss. This was pure bliss, floating outside my boneless body.

"That's it, love, ride it out."

"Fuck, you're beautiful, princess. So fucking beautiful."

This was so new it felt dangerous.

So intense it might destroy me.

Decadently wicked, my hands straining to break Raz's bonds. I wanted to touch them, to sink my nails—my teeth—into them. I wanted to claim them, in body and soul.

In this world and the next.

But by the time the orgasm was done with me, I was wrung out, floating.

I was putty as they moved me how they wanted me, then I was astride Tristan, Zorander behind me pumping his finger—then two fingers—into my arse, winding my hair around his fist. Raziel was in front of me, eyes glimmering with banked fire, stroking his cock until moisture beaded on the tip.

Someone lifted me then slid me down onto Tristan, my hands braced on his chest, my thumb stroking over that dark, gnarled mark on his chest. I dropped my head as he sank in deeper and deeper, only stopping when my womb rested against his blunt crown.

"Take a breath, princess." Zor wound my hair tighter, pulling my head back so my mouth was perfectly positioned for Raz to plunder. "I'm going to take you. Make you mine in the best way possible."

"Gods, yes." My teeth sank into my bottom lip as Zor's hips thrust forward, claiming me ruthlessly as if I were an army to be conquered, my body spasming around him, around Tristan's cock, my hands sliding through the sweat pooling on his chest.

"You can take more," Zor hissed, pulling out and slamming in again. "You were fucking made for us, princess. For all of us."

This was so intense I fought to stay focused, every stroke inside me coaxing another ripple of carnal pleasure, another ribbon of molten ecstasy.

I opened my mouth to moan and Raz pushed inside, coating my mouth with his salty musk. "Gods, look at you. Taking my cock so sweetly. You are so beautiful, princess. So fucking beautiful."

"You are ours." Zor pressed in deep, wrapping his hand around my throat, his fingers gently digging into my tendons as he held me still. "Ours to protect. Ours to love. Ours to cherish."

The words rolled through me on the tip of another orgasm, my pussy pulsing around Tristan, his groans in time with Zor's hips slapping against me, with Raz pumping in and out of my mouth.

I was missing something…something wasn't quite…

I whimpered, and Tavion answered. "I'm right here, mate. Right beside you. Hang on."

He picked up my hand, wrapped it around his thick, hard cock, then began stroking, up and down his massive length. Steely velvet rubbed against my palm, slick with his seed, and I fell into rapturous oblivion, careening down and down and down.

The spot beneath my heart expanded, the pressure almost painful. I gasped around Raz, clamped down around Tristan, and they both shouted out their release, Raziel spilling down my throat, Tristan shuddering beneath me.

Zor and Tavion followed us over the brink, and while I was too far gone to hear their words, I felt every tiny detail as if I was inside their heads.

Their balls tightened, the base of their spines tingled in anticipation, that final hot, aching explosion. The haze of white eclipsing their vision as they spilled and spilled and spilled until they thought they'd never stop.

That building, crushing pressure inside me detonated like an imploding star, a wave of pure power rippling through the room—through them—spreading like a cataclysmic energy surge that crushed everything in its path.

That climax reordered my magic, tendrils of lightning creasing over us, down my arms, into their marks like we were a storm made flesh. I felt reborn.

I felt invincible.

Holy fucking shite. I want to stay inside your tight little arse forever.

The air in the room tightened, not a single sound except the low crackling of the embers in the hearth. I wondered if I'd imagined Zor's voice inside my head, then…

Why the fuck are you inside my head, Zorander?

I'm…You can hear me?

What the fuck just happened? Raz reached up and rubbed his chest. I feel like I have a vise around my chest.

Me too.

Me three, arseholes. A long pause then Tavion growled. This feels like the mating bond but different. I think…this is a soul bond, like what Bexley was talking about. Maybe that's why all you aresholes are in my head now.

This is totally going to suck. Raz groaned. It's bad enough listening to what comes out of your mouths, now we have to listen to everything you're thinking, Montgomery?

I collapsed on top of Tristan while they argued back and forth, unable to do anything except smile.

If this was our last night, if tomorrow was the end, then I couldn't have asked for anything more perfect.

"This is not our last night," Zorander scolded as he eased me carefully onto my side, Tristan smoothing my sweaty hair out of my face before curling himself around me.

"But I have to agree." Raziel climbed over us and nuzzled the back of my neck before he threw his arm over me. "Tonight was as perfect as it gets."

"You can…really hear my thoughts inside your heads?"

We hear everything, so stop thinking so loud.Tavion settled between my legs, head on my stomach. This is going to be fun, wife. I've always wondered what you're thinking about.

Zor chuckled, climbing out of bed, my limp fingers slipping off his arm. "You are in for a big surprise, Tavion." He dressed then bent and kissed my cheek.

"I'm checking the perimeter before I sleep. Get some sleep, and you aresholes, don't keep her up with your nonsense."

I watched him until he was through the door, then snuggled down between them feeling safe and cherished.

No matter what happened tomorrow, we still had this.

I wondered if tomorrow would punish me—punish all of us—and take everything away.

The sun wasn't evenup when I dressed quietly in my new leathers and replicas of my eel-skin boots, snuck out of the bedroom, and went up one floor, resting my hand on the doorknob as I imagined exactly what I wanted to find inside. Then I gasped when I stepped into the room.

Straw practice dummies lined one wall; high windows let in plenty of light. The center of the polished black floor was wide open except for a few piles of shattered stone.

Light bounced off that smooth-as-glass surface, glimmering across the symbols inset into the floor, especially the white tree inset in the center. Not as large as the cave, but a close enough replica for a quick run-through before we left.

I stretched, my leathers creaking, my new boots gripping the smooth floor surprisingly well as I reached behind me, wrapped my fingers around the handle of the weapon, and drew the blade from the leather scabbard.

No sooner did my hand tighten around the hilt, the vision slammed into me, and the practice room became Corvus's dank cave, the smooth floor carved with glowing symbols connected by a series of intersecting lines.

Everyone lay dead around me, Raz and Zor to my right, broken at the base of the stone wall, Tavion face down on my left. The golden wyvern had been the last to fall, Corvus's darkness slowly pulling back to reveal a pile of decaying bones amongst a scattering of golden scales.

I firmed my grip on the hilt of the weapon.

No starlight glowed at the center of my blade, no magic remained inside me, that deep well of power drained dry, my legs trembling as I lifted my knife one final time.

When Corvus rose over me like an enormous black wave, the vision dissolved as he crashed down over me.

I came to kneeling in the center of the floor, head cradled in my hands, Raziel wrapped around me.

"I felt you." He was shaking almost as badly as I was. "I felt your fear and your pain. You had another vision?" he asked, glancing at the knife lying forgotten beside me. "How bad?"

Bad enough I didn't tell him, and whatever courage I'd felt when I'd woken evaporated, replaced by the sick, consuming sort of dread that would stay with me the rest of today.

Fine, I told myself. Fear would keep me from getting overconfident and making mistakes.

But I let Raz pull me to my feet and re-sheathed the knife, feeling like a fraud because I hadn't gotten in a single minute of practice. I mustered a smile, one I was sure Raz could see right through. "No worse than usual."

Raz took one final look at the room, studying that polished floor before he followed me out.