We didn’t return to the Academy, Lorcan’s court, or the Spring Isles over the shiny sea.

Arion dropped us off in the old ruins of Misery Twist, then he returned to the sky without glancing back.

“Why are we here?” I cried.

Had they forgotten this was where we’d fought three gods and Lorcan had almost died?

“The ward is still strong here,” Lorcan said. He had gathered me up in his arms again. I pressed against his length. “The gods won’t be able to trace us from here after we step through the portal.”

Just then, Alaric produced a thumb ring and tossed it into the air. The ring expanded, transforming to a liquid shimmer the size of a double-door.

“What is that cool stuff?” I asked, walking around the shimmering substance. “I must have missed out on a lot. How much do I have to catch up on this time?”

“Alaric stole the ring from Zeus when he went to see him,” Pyrder said beside me.

I blinked. “He went to see his dad? But I thought—” Then I clammed my mouth shut. If it weren’t for me, he would never have gone to see the King of Gods.

Alaric trained his gaze on me. “I’ll see you on the other side, sweetheart. I’ll make sure you’re safe in my realm. No one will dare try to hurt you in Australia.”

He hadn’t spoken to me after my rescue until now. My heart fluttered at his endearment for me. He’d be mine again. Soon.

The demigod stepped through the shimmer, followed by Lorcan, who carried me with my legs wrapped around his waist, then my best friend Amber, with my twin fae mates bringing up the rear.

As soon as all of us walked through, the shimmer vanished. A ring appeared in its place, floating in the air. At Alaric’s summoning, it flew back to him and became his thumb ring again.

Well, that was handy. I would borrow it from Alaric when he was in a better mood.

The sound of waves lapping at the rocks and shore hit my sensitive eardrums first. We stood on a cliff facing a dark expanse of ocean. Moonlight reflected off the cresting waves and white-foam tide.

“I’ve always wanted to see the ocean,” I said. 

“We’re in Alaric’s safe house, dulcis,” Lorcan grunted.  

Fine, it wasn’t what I expected. I’d thought we would go to a military compound in Sidney with at an army to welcome us, since Alaric was the King of the Hybrids. Or at least we would settle in a grand mansion fit for the demigod son of Zeus.

However, I was staring at a cluster of cabins atop the cliff, thin clouds floating by, and the ocean wind whipping at my cloak.

“This is the most secure place for you now, sweetheart,” Alaric said, leading us toward the largest cabin in the middle of the woods.

“Obviously, we’re cut off from civilization.” I let out a bereaved sigh. “Who will cook for us?”

There would be no supply of cakes in this remote place.

“I will,” a familiar voice said, and then Hector, followed by the other fae warriors, and Xihin moved out of the shadows toward us. “I’m glad you’ve returned to us, Cass. Without you, our chef wasn’t in the mood to cook for rest of us.”

“Hector!” I cried in joy and grinned at all the warriors. “But no, thanks, but no! I don’t want to eat anything you make. We need professionals to bake edible cakes!”

“How about I do the baking?” Boone asked, also walking toward us. “You’ll never lack for cakes, Cass. That I can promise.”

Shan and Frances stood behind him and waved at me, smiling.

My eyes moistened.

“Boone! I’m so glad they shipped you here, too, and Shan and Frances!”

My mates got all of my old team in here for me. Deep gratitude swelled in my chest. I realized that I still clung to Lorcan, my legs clamped like a vice around his waist.

My face flaming, I wiggled out of his arms. He didn’t want to let me go, but I had a public image to maintain.

I didn’t get to hang out with everyone since my mates whisked me away, into the main cabin before everyone had a chance to greet me, wanting me all to themselves. I didn’t protest since they’d promised to bathe me.

As soon as we entered the well-furnished cabin, I saw a variety cakes on the dining table.

My eyes brightened in excitement and a grin overtook my face. “Cakes! Lots of cakes!”

Reys chuckled. “You want cakes first or bath?”

I gave the dessert a longing look then turned back to my mates.

I bit my lip. “Bath?”

“Our mate has chosen us over cakes,” Lorcan declared with pride and approval.

Reys and Pyrder smirked. The heat in their twin turquoise eyes could easily cause me to combust.

My heart beat wildly at the thought of all the wicked things they were going to do to me. I bet they could all hear it pounding within my chest.

Our separation had taken a toll on me. I needed them. I needed to press myself skin to skin against them. I wanted nothing between us. And I wanted the world to be just us for now. 

In no time, the males undressed me and put me in a vast tub. Large, powerful hands were on me everywhere. I was hyper aware of their every word, touch, desire, and emotion, yet it still wasn’t enough.

Not until I melted into them.

Without realizing it, I was leaning into Pyrder, weeping, since he was right in front of me. Pyrder was most skilled at snatching the spot beside me in any setting. It was no different in the bathtub. Lorcan considered it beneath him to fight for the spot, but he’d changed a lot. He was catching up, yet he was still nowhere near as aggressive as Pyrder.

“I got you, Cass baby,” Pyrder said, pulling me closer to him.

“Dulcis, it’s all right,” Lorcan cooed in my ear while massaging my bare back.

Reys wiped my tears from my cheeks. “We got you, Cass baby. We’ll never lose you again. We’ll never let you be taken again.”

Then I caught a glimpse of Alaric leaning against the door of the bath chamber. He watched us, his eyes dark and brooding. Before I could twist my torso and beckon him to join us, he was gone.

He remained distant, but I knew that was only because a weight bore down on him. Before I could jump out of the bathtub to chase him, Pyrder pressed his warm, sensual lips to mine and made my toes curl. When he kissed me deeply and thrust his tongue into my mouth, claiming me again with his male demand, I was lost to him.

Then Lorcan’s hands cupped my breasts from behind, as half of my ass was on his legs and the other half on Pyrder’s, and then Reys’s fingers slid down my valley between my thighs, and I became all fire and steam.

I wanted to fuck them. I wanted to fuck them all at the same time.

I untangled my tongue from Pyrder’s and gasped over his lips. “I need—”

“We know what you need, baby,” Reys said. “We’ll take care of you. We’ll fuck you good and hard, re-stake our claim on you.”

Heat rushed through my veins, singing in my blood with desire for my mates. 

Then I was out of the water. My mates dried me and placed me on the center of a vast bed that could fit us all. But only Reys and Pyrder got in bed with me. Lorcan let his hungry gaze linger upon me for a moment, and then exited the room.

The three of them must have reached a silent agreement. They’d let Reys and Pyrder fuck me first, then I would be Lorcan’s, for he would need to feed from me, which would be too intimate for others to watch.

I’d learned that, while I had stayed in Apollo’s realm for only a few days, Earth had rotated through weeks. The High Lord of Night had no blood in all that time. He wouldn’t drink from anyone else since we mated.

Reys stared at my bare pussy, his beautiful blue eyes darkening in thick lust.

“The loveliest sight ever,” he murmured, shaking, as if fighting a battle not to leap upon me and devour me.

But I wanted him to. I wanted him to do all sorts of dirty things to me. I wanted all of my mates to do all sorts of naughty things to me.

I didn’t want any inhibition.

Fire coursed in me, all the way to the tender flesh between my thighs, under the weight of my mates’ desire.

I writhed a little just to sunder their control.

Reys cursed and palmed my pussy roughly. I thrust my crotch toward his hand, rubbing my silken sex against his palm.

Pyrder also cursed as he watched, lust burning so intensely in his darker turquoise eyes that I felt like melting wax exposed to an open flame.

They were identical twins with the same red-golden hair. While Reys’s flowed down to his broader shoulders, Pyrder’s was tied in a man bun. 

My lustful gaze traced from their enticing, cut chests down to their six-pack stomachs, then their powerful legs. Both of their bodies were perfectly proportioned. The only difference was Pyrder had the tattoo of a magnificent panther inked on his forearm and half of his chest. Reys was all smooth skin rippling with well-defined, steely muscles.

My eyes dipped to their massive cocks. They also had the same straight, beautiful cocks. I licked my lips, picturing how they would make me feel when they filled my pussy. They were both steel rods wrapped in velvet-fine skin, but I remembered the differences when they fucked me.

They were twins, yet they were different in many ways. They were also very similar in some ways. Their lust and love for me had the same intensity. They balanced each other well. Pyrder was more impulsive, and Reys grounded him. Reys often looked at the bigger picture, but Pyrder surprised us all by remembering all the details and spotting every flaw. Reys was older by a couple of minutes, so he called the shots most of the time. But when Pyrder insisted on having his way, no one could deny his will. 

Reys noticed the way my gaze darted between his and his brother’s cocks and grinned.

“Which cock you want first, Cass baby,” he purred.

“I want both of you,” I said.

“Greedy girl,” Reys chided me playfully.

Pyrder watched our banter and let his twin take the lead.

I wiggled my ass, my hands cupping the weight of my own breasts. “What are you going to do about it?”

Reysalor pulled his palm away from me, and my pussy met the cold air. Before I protested, Reys spread my legs wider, and his face was between my thighs.

His tongue licked my narrow slit before its wicked tip thrust shallowly between my folds. Then it withdrew and lapped round my sex.

He was teasing me, letting the desire burn slowly through me. His thumb circled my clit, barely brushing it. My legs jerked, liquid fire burning between them. I needed Reys’s or Pyrder’s cock now. It didn’t matter which fae’s rod filled me first, as long as I got one.

I whimpered. “No more teasing, please.”

I had held out for so long. I needed some action. I needed big guns. I needed my mate’s cock inside me, now.

“You want to be fucked badly, don’t you, Cass baby?” Reys asked in a husky voice, which excited me even more.

“Yes, please,” I begged. I didn’t care how pathetic I sounded. I was on fire. If I didn’t get a cock inside me to soothe this ache, I would combust!

And then the twins would regret the consequences! 

Pyrder sensed my urgent carnal need and took pity on me. Actually, it was because he couldn’t hold back any longer. He dipped his head, wrapped his lips around my taut nipple, and suckled.

A tingling sensation washed over me, and I arched my back at the pleasure. Pyrder’s breath labored as he sucked my left breast with feverish need. He wanted to penetrate my pussy with his big, hard cock. I could feel his need through our mating bond.

Yet he restrained himself from fighting his brother, from asking Reys to hurry so he could have his turn with me.

His other hand fondled my right breast with almost bruising force.

I ran my hand through Pyrder’s thick mane and grabbed a handful of red-gold hair just as Reys thrust his tongue into my heated passage again. 

I lifted my torso up from the luxurious mattress so I could watch how the twins played with me. A deep moan escaped my throat at the sight of these two incredible males moving over me.

Reys withdrew his tongue.

“Our Cass loves to watch,” Reys purred.

“I want more, Reys! Please!” I whimpered my demand. 

“Of course you want more,” Reys said. “Remember how you taunted me when I couldn’t claim you because of the pact?”

I remembered it all.

He’d brought me to his mansion at the edge of the Academy after he rescued me from my stepfather’s vampires. I’d had a long bath, and he’d come to check on me. I’d tried to seduce him, and he’d resisted me.

When he’d helped dry my back, the towel slowly moving down to my butt, I’d parted my legs, bent forward, and bared my pussy for him.

I’d wanted him to fuck me from behind and had expected him to do just that.  

He’d rubbed my flesh between my thighs with a swath of the towel, pretending to dry me. So I’d swayed my hips.

Instead of screwing me, he’d spanked me.

Now, I spread my legs wider for him and writhed as I said. “How did I taunt you? I don’t remember. Why don’t you give me a hint?”

Pyrder cursed. While I teased and challenged his twin, he got all hot. 

I smirked, hoping my new seduction worked since my wet pussy was slick with want.

“Let me remind you,” Reys said roughly. “I wasn’t able to give it to you then, but I can give it all to you now. I’m going to fuck your perfect little pussy over and over without the slightest mercy until you can barely stand when I’m done.”

My heart pounded at the promise. His words sounded threatening, but it was extremely erotic. I was no ordinary female. I was no human, and I was far stronger than an immortal.

My mates knew I could take whatever they threw at me. We were well-matched.

And right now, I wanted a raw, hard fuck more than anything. And only a dirty, rough fuck could truly satisfy me.

On second thought, that wasn’t entirely true. My mates had all made love to me at some point, and their gentle passion had rocked me to my core.

“Pyrder, release Cass,” Reys said. “You can suckle her tit later. I need to fuck her from behind.”

As soon as Pyrder reluctantly pulled his mouth from me—he remembered he was playing a supportive role today—Reys flipped me over.

I was on all fours, my ass in the air, and my breasts were pressed down on the blanket.

I knew what the fae heir planned to do to me, and my skin burned with urgent need.

No more foreplay. No more teasing.

Reys roughly brushed open my swollen folds with the thick crown of his cock. I threw a glance at him over my shoulder. He was staring at my pussy, ravenous hunger twisting his handsome, sharp features into something animalistic and wild.

Liquid flame licked the flesh between my thighs, burning like a bonfire, and I whimpered with need. The hot wetness inside my narrow passage ached to welcome his cock into me.

Reys grabbed my thighs, pinning me in place, and his large, hard shaft drove into me with a single powerful thrust, embedding deep within me.

I gasped at the force of his entrance and moaned when pleasure lapped at my molten core. Before I could moan again, Reys pulled out an inch or two, then thrust right back in, harder and deeper. I was gasping and moaning with each movement, but he didn’t intend to give me a break or let me get used to his rapid rhythm.

He thrust and thrust. In and out. Flesh slapped flesh with a blinding speed.

The onslaught of his hammering made my vision blur, yet I loved every second of my fae mate’s power. After our unbearable separation—far longer for them than it was for me—we needed this coupling more than anything. I needed the delicious, rough friction to tell me I was safe and with my mates, and my mates needed to convince themselves they’d gotten me back in one piece.

Reys pounded between my thighs relentlessly.

“I need inside you, too,” Pyrder said hoarsely. “It’s been so long, Cass baby.”

He knelt before me, his cock jerking forward before my face, a bead of moisture appearing on the split of his crown.

He lifted my head gently and thrust his cock into my mouth.

Both cocks filled me, stretching my muscles.

Pyrder was gentler, but he also pushed my limits to go as far as he was allowed. While he fucked my mouth, his large hands caressed my breasts. He wanted to be all over me, imprinting me with his scent and touch.

The electrifying, erotic sounds of their pounding made my blood heat and my pulse race. I couldn’t get enough of both of them.  

Reys kept penetrating me, driving deeper, and hitting every sensitive spot.

I wanted to howl in ecstasy, but I had a cock in my mouth thrusting wildly and possessively.

It was too much, and yet never enough. That was how I always felt with my mates, whether it was with one of them, or all of them.

For long moments, we didn’t talk but fucked in pure bliss.

We matched in every way. Only we could give each other maximum pleasure.

I was born for them, and they’d waited for me for millennia.

Their cocks grew heavier and harder, and their thrusts became frantic—the sign that they were going to have their release soon.

I slammed my ass back toward Reys, his balls smacking against me, pulling his steel rod deeper into me. At the same time, my teeth grazed over the silken skin on Pyrder’s rock-hard shaft, which pushed them both to the edge.

They thrust into me wildly, one cock in my mouth and one deep in my pussy. 

“Your little pussy is so tight and hot,” Reys groaned. “It’s already milking me. Oh, fuck, yes, clutch me. Drive me mad! You squeeze my cock so hard, baby. My merciless little mate, my horny female! Look how I fuck you! Watch how I fuck your tight, little pussy. Baby, I’ll fuck you to eternity!”

“Call me little,” I hissed amid my breathless moans. “Call me horny. And let’s see how merciless I can be!”

The inner walls of my narrow passage clamped down on every inch of his cock, but his hardness pushed through, impaling me over and over.

Rapid, hard, and deep.

Waves of pleasure shocked me, shattered me, unmade me, and re-forged me again. When I reached the peak, Reys roared and emptied his hot seed in me with more powerful pumps.

Pyrder groaned, and he, too, quickened his rhythm. With a shudder, he found his release in my mouth, his hand fisted in my lush, curly as he thrust down my throat.

Spent and content, I sprawled on the twin fae princes, my head on Reys’s chest and my feet on Pyrder’s legs. We wanted another go, but then we would never stop if we started again.

Lorcan was still waiting for me. No matter how patient and restrained he was, he wasn’t going to wait forever. And soon he would come to fetch me. I also needed to check on Alaric.

They wanted me to treat them equally. Just as Alaric had once said, “We’re all your mates. You need to learn to balance us if you don’t want big fights to break out among us.” 

But I could stay a little longer with Reys and Pyrder, and they both grinned like rogues when I decided to do so. Then Reys told me stories about the four of them that were unknown to me as my fingers traced the inked panther on his twin’s chest, and Pyrder groaned at my touch, only occasionally adding some detail to Reys’s narration.

I knew that my mates were ancient, powerful, and battle-hardened. They all bore scars from the long march of time. My decade of caged life was nothing compared to some of the hardships they’d endured, yet none of them could stand to watch me suffer.

The gods brutalizing me had wounded them more than it did me. I had a lot of work to do to iron out the tense knots in them and get them to relax again. Otherwise, they might try to hide me in a tower and throw away the key.

Through Reys, I was given a peek into the demigod’s past.  

Alaric had watched as his high priestess queen-mother was cut down in front of him when he had been a child. His mother had received a vision of the assassination and hidden him. She’d also bound him with her last power to prevent him from coming out to rescue her and getting himself killed. 

He’d watched the gang, sent by Zeus’s jealous wife, torture his mother before her death. For years, he’d had to hide from Hera and scavenge on the streets to survive before his demigod power came to its full strength. Since then, he had been relentless in finding a way to get his revenge on the Queen of Gods.

He hadn’t been able to get to her. She was too powerful, and even a major god couldn’t kill their equal. Alaric, however, had managed to slay the pawns who murdered his mother.

Though Zeus played a role in finding him and helping him come into his demigod power, Alaric hated him, for the King of Gods, Thunder, and Lightning hadn’t protected his mother.

The gods had been the bane of his existence for most of his life. Alaric had calmed down after the gods first left Earth, but now they’d all returned.

My heart went out to my demigod mate, and then it bled for the High Lord of Night.

Lorcan didn’t have a severe childhood trauma, but he was the only natural-born vampire, the only of his kind. He’d also lost his parents to the war, after which he endured an eon of loneliness and desolation, which became so unbearable that he entered stasis and let Selena and her half-sister, Jade, run his Court of Blood and Void unchecked.

Jade had attempted to murder me in ShadesStar, and she would have succeeded if Reysalor hadn’t reached me in time. It wasn’t Lorcan’s fault, though guilt burdened him anyway.

He wasn’t alone anymore. I was with him now, as were his bonded brothers.

Yet I had more to be thankful for than any of them.

I was lacking in so many ways, due to a decade of life in captivity, but my mates made me feel complete, lacking for nothing. They taught me whatever they could, carried me through the world, and brought me happiness I couldn’t have dreamed of before. Even though I was so flawed, they considered me perfect, and wouldn’t want me to change a damn thing about myself.  

Reys and Pyrder ended the tales and decided to tell me their own personal stories another time. I didn’t push for more. When they were ready, they knew where to find me. I wasn’t going anywhere without them. However, through our mating bond, I could sense their bone-deep ache and sorrow. My fae mates had also lost someone dear to them.

Lorcan cleared his throat, though he remained in another room. As supernaturals, we all had superior hearing. He must have heard our chatting and wondered why I hadn’t come to him. I concealed a grin. The High Lord of Night was losing patience.

I wondered how he positioned himself while he was waiting for me. Did he sit on a sofa, pretending to be reading? Or did he lean against the rail at the balcony with a glass of wine in his hand in order to play cool? But in my mind, I was seeing him naked under the blanket, his erection taut as a bowstring. Was he stroking himself?

My face flushed.

“I’m going to check on Lorcan,” I said, rolling off the twin fae’s beautiful, muscled torsos. “He must be hungry if he keeps coughing.”

An amused smile tugged at the corner of Reys’s lips. 

“After that, you can come back here,” Pyrder said. “This is the biggest room. If you want the vampire to come over too, it’s fine.”

“I might,” I said. “I like us all sleeping in the same bed. But before I feed Lorcan, I think I should go see Alaric to make sure he’s okay.”

“He isn’t in the cabin,” Pyrder said. “Let him brood for a few days and he’ll return to normal.”

“I can’t bear to see him like that,” I said. “I can’t bear to see any of you suffer alone.”

“I’ll accompany you and find him for you,” Pyrder said.

“I know where he is,” I said. “I need to do this alone.” At the twins’ look, I said softly, “I’ll be safe. Our guards are everywhere, and they’re vigilant. I know that you’ve just gotten me back. But you still need to give me some space. Don’t treat me like a fragile glass.”

“We’ll try,” Reys said. “But I’m walking you to where Alaric is.”

I wanted to protest again, but one look at their stubborn, worried expressions, and I stopped. No matter what, they wouldn’t let me wander alone. Pain still throbbed deep in them at my being taken and tortured.

“If you don’t like Reys for company, I volunteer,” Pyrder said.

“Fine,” I sighed. “Either one is fine.”

Pyrder helped me dress warmly while Reys pulled up his pants and waited for me at the door.

The frigid ocean wind whipped my face as soon as Reys and I stepped outside. Reys pulled me closer to him to shield me with his towering frame. But the cold didn’t bother me. I found that my body temperature could adjust to fit the climate.

The bonfire at the other end of my mating bond to Alaric flared. I’d learned to distinguish the four ends that each led to a different mate, and the four bonds also merged in the middle. That was their brotherhood bond.

My thread to the demigod snapped tightly as I closed the distance. Alaric had sensed me nearing him. I smiled. He taught me tracking, and now here I was, hunting one of the best trackers.

Hadn’t he found me? Hadn’t all of them found me, helped by my seer and Goddess Demeter?

The guards in the shadows didn’t disturb us but watched, even as I walked toward the cliff.

Alaric was inside a cave nearly thirty feet down. As my magic flowed ahead to spy for me, it told me about the ward at the entrance of the cave. I had no fear of the demigod’s ward. He would never harm me. His power and spells would never hurt me.

I turned to the Reys. Under the moonlight, he was as beautiful as any fairy dream. He pressed his palms to my face and kissed me, feather light. When he pulled away, I smiled at him.

Reys opened his mouth to shout for Alaric to come to pick me up, but I didn’t want to be the girl that waited for her lover.

I was way more aggressive. Plus, I had a flair for drama.

So, I twirled and jumped off the cliff.

“Cass!” Reys called in alarm. Just when he was about to leap after me, which wasn’t wise, I tossed my air current down and floated in mid air, right at the mouth of the cave.

“You forgot that I can levitate, Reys,” I said with a laugh.

“Next time, give me a warning, baby!” he hissed, both relieved and irritated, and then he shouted coarsely, “Alaric, get the fuck out of there!”

“Cass!” Now Alaric called in alarm and poked his head out of the cave’s mouth.

“Aren’t you going to invite me—” Before I could finish my demand, Alaric wrapped his thick arms around my waist and pulled me into his lair.

“I got her!” He shouted toward the cliff.

“After you’re done with brooding and talking, bring our mate to the main house!” Reys barked. 

I slanted a guilty glance at Alaric. I’d given them both a scare, especially Reys, so my level-headed fae mate was taking it out on the demigod. Usually it was Pyrder and Alaric who got into arguments. After what the gods had done to me, all my mates were now constantly on edge, full of fear for my life, fear that I may be taken from them again.

To his credit, Alaric didn’t bark back to prove his alpha dominance.  

A moment later, I could sense Reys storm off, my mating bond to him stretching, yet it still pulsed strongly on the other end.

Out of all my mates, I’d only told Reys that I loved him when he ran with me on the training field as I carried Noah/Apollo’s magical bomb. It wasn’t that I loved my other mates any less. It was just always easier to talk to Reys about my feelings.

I quickly took in the surroundings.

The cave was well-equipped—a bed, a desk, cushioned chairs. Magical light radiated from the smooth stone walls, illuminating the cave’s interior in moody light. Orange fire leapt in the fireplace, embers sparking from burned wood.

Even punishing himself, Alaric didn’t forget to find comfort. 

I’d expected the cave to be all rough rocks, dark dirt, and green moss, and imagined finding Alaric kneeling on a rock, bare torso with loose trousers hanging low on his hips. Then there was a whip he would use to lash at his back now and then in repentance. Not that I wanted him to inflict pain on himself, since I knew guilt, shame, and angst already beat down on him.

As if perceiving my thoughts, which he was always good at, he murmured, “Being away from you is already the worst form of punishment.”

“Then why did you stay away?” I demanded as I scanned the grave cast of his sensual mouth. I wanted to kiss it. I didn’t want it to be in such a sad shape.

He was looking at my lips, too.

By sheer will, I pulled my gaze up and studied his disheveled appearance. He hadn’t combed his hair. It was longer than when I had last seen him, and wilder. His honey-brown eyes were still bloodshot. I knew my mates barely slept after I was taken, and it had taken a toll on all of them.

I’d command them to sleep after I got a bit skin-to-skin time with each of them. We all needed to reconnect, and the best way to do that was to reacquaint our bodies.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said softly. “I have my reasons.”

“Your reasons are bullshit, if it’s that same stupid thought you’re still brooding over,” I said. “You did not fail me. You found me and brought me back. It’s not your fault that asshole took me in the first place. I ventured out of the Academy and right into his ambush, but even then, it wasn’t my fault, either. Sooner or later, he was going to get to me, no matter how tightly you guarded me. He’d been planning it for months! And it isn’t all bad. We’ve learned the gods’ endgame and their fallout. We now know that there’s a certain way to truly kick their asses. And now I’m back, standing right in front of you, and you’re just going to sit on your fat ass?”

“Fat ass?” he repeated, his eyes sparkling. “No one has ever called me that. Only my mate can insult me.” The next moment, I was wrapped in his arms. “This fat ass will make it up to you and be worthy of you.”

I narrowed my eyes, but I clasped my hands behind his neck. “By brooding more?”

“You made quite a speech, sweetheart,” he said, studying my face, as if he was trying to compare every line on my face to the ones he remembered.

Alaric was the firmest with me among my mates, but he was never too hard on me. He could always make me bend to his ways if I became too difficult. Pyrder was the softest with me and let me walk all over him most of the time. Reys often resorted to reason and negotiated with me. Lorcan chided me, then explained things to me.

“I can’t afford for you to break,” I said, not gently. “I can’t afford for any of you to lose it.”

“I won’t,” he said, “as long as I have you in my arms. I’ve designed a new rune that can detect the gods’ presence. They can no longer fool us and infiltrate our inner circle.”

While we lounged in bed after our reconnection, Reys mentioned that Alaric had spent endless hours finding the perfect rune while searching for me in every corner of the planes.

I pressed a palm against his ruggedly handsome face. He was all male, harsh and menacing, but he was mine. “That’s good, but you need to remember to eat and sleep. You promised not to crack up.” Then I glared at him. “If you don’t know how to take care of yourself, how can you take care of me?”

“I’ll gain strength for you in no time,” he said. “And I won’t allow anyone—gods, mortals, or immortals—to take you away from me again.” With that, he crushed his mouth over mine.

I parted my lips for him, and his tongue invaded through them and swept over my hard palate. I shivered as a tingling sensation rippled in me.

Pleasure buzzed on my skin, and lust burned in my veins.

I closed my eyes, thinking of how Goddess Demeter had dressed me in Apollo’s realm, then I pictured undressing Alaric and myself.

I blinked open my eyes.

Both Alaric and I were naked, with me pressing against him.

Alaric gasped on my lips and laughed. “You learned a new trick, sweetheart.”

I grinned. “I’m a quick study.”  

His large, powerful hand took advantage of the convenience of my nudity and cupped my breast. His massive erection pricked against my belly.

“I need to fuck you now, demigod,” I said.

Alaric gazed down at me, his honey-brown eyes darkening, unbridled desire riding him. The male had such intense passion! My heart pounded, and the roar in my ears wouldn’t stop until he sated me.

Alaric lifted me up. His skilled hands spread my legs, then in one swift move, his hard shaft pushed through my plump folds and glided into me with ease, despite his size, all the way to my aching center.  

I gasped at the erotic sensation. Skin to skin. Flesh inside flesh.

He started to move, thrusting slowly, giving me time to adjust to his size. His cock was so large it stretched me to my muscles’ limits.

But I loved every minute of being filled like this. The weight of his length in my passage was both intoxicating and comforting.  

Lust became tangible fire, lighting my every cell, and burning the demigod.

Alaric abandoned his slow burn torture, snarling and thrusting deep and hard into me while maneuvering my hips to let me ride his massive cock.

I moaned as he kept pumping into me, faster and faster, until his movements blurred.

“Fuck me just like that!” I cried amid my breathless, shameless moans.

“I’ll fuck your pretty pussy so hard until you scream hoarse,” he growled, driving into me with menacing, yet sweet force.

It unmade me while the demigod poured his bountiful, pure energy into me.

I started feeding on Alaric through our fucking, taking all he had to offer, and he gave it all to me without reservation. Then I gave him back some of mine.   

His immense power was the purest I’d tasted. It was nectar. My demigod was very special. Maybe that was why his father favored him over his full-blooded god children.

Alaric whispered my name again and again, but he didn’t slow down his wild, merciless thrusts. I cried and screamed at the onslaught of pleasure that sent me flying high to the seventh heavens and then bought me down to the pit of the hell, only to toss me up again.

It was fortunate that Alaric had put the concealment spell around the cave, or my screams and his growls would have woken up the entire camp.

At his next sequence of brutal thrusts, I was pushed to the edge. My fingernails raked through his muscled back, drawing blood.

He hissed in approval.

“It’s my turn to fuck you, Alaric!”

“Be my guest, my horny little goddess,” he chuckled in dark lust and slowed down his thrusts to lazy strides.

I grabbed his shoulders to anchor myself as I started to ride along his cock. Earth, his shaft was so hard, long, and massive, I felt its every delicious inch of hardness inside me. I did a little twirl, and he snarled in response and tried to move in me vehemently again.

“I said it’s my turn to fuck you!” I snapped, picking up speed until I rode him in bruising rhythm.

He gritted his teeth. “Fuck yes, sweetheart. Fuck me!”

My goddess strength poured into him, and his demigod’s power surged up to meet mine in equal measure.

Alaric could not hold back and simply let me dominate. He pumped into me as we fucked each other with such raw, brutal force that no mortals could take.

It was a place not everyone could go and survive.

I exploded, raining down liquid fire on his cock, and he roared, pumping his hot seed into the depth of my womb.

I cried out with him before I dipped my head down on the hollow space between his neck and shoulder. My fangs emerged, and then I was biting him, bleeding him, and leaving my mark.

We collapsed onto his bed, nearly toppling it, with me still riding him and him calling my name.

When he carried me, fully dressed, back to the main cabin, he stayed with us. He was no longer brooding but grinned like a school boy who’d just touched his first boob.

“The shit-eating grin,” Pyrder grunted.

Lorcan gave me a look. He’d come to the common room to wait for me. I sent him back a sly smile.

“Listen,” I commanded, my hands on my hips. “All of you go to sleep and make up for the sleepless nights while I was gone. You’ll need your strength to protect me, so I won’t be taken again. You know that Ares and Apollo will return to try soon.”

The gods weren’t like any other races. They never gave up their hunt. I could easily picture how pissed the sun and war gods were right now.

“And to be honest, guys,” I continued. “You all look like shit, and that’s no way to attract your mate.”

They didn’t look like shit, but I had to lie to get them to take me seriously.

“Do you have any additional words, dulcis?” Lorcan arched an eyebrow and stretched a hand toward me. “If not, then come.”

He could wait no longer. Hunger, lust, and impatience swirled in his eyes, turning them a stormy grey. I’d satisfied all of my mates except him.

“Our mate has become so bossy since she returned,” Alaric said. “In my long immortal years, no one else has dared to give me orders.”

“Get used to it,” I said.

Lorcan flung me over his shoulder and stalked out of the room.

Reys chuckled. “We’ll stay up, waiting for you to have cakes, and then we can all go to sleep together.”

I squirmed in Lorcan’s arms. “Cakes? How could I forget that?”

But the High Lord of Night’s long strides had already carried us into his room, where he shut the door firmly.

I raised my head from the upside down position, my eyes blinking once, then twice.

Fresh dandelions paved on the floor and the bed, illuminated by the candle light. I’d once collected the flowers from a field every morning for him, hoping the dandelions’ loveliness and strength could knock some sense into him and wake him the hell up from a coma. 

He’d remembered, and now he was romancing me with dandelions.

My light and fire blazed for the High Lord of Night. When he placed me in the center of the bed, above the dandelions, I saw the same light and fire ignited in his strongly beating heart.

Our lust merged. Our bodies joined. And our bond glowed.