EMOTIONS, IDEAS, AND REVELATIONS ALL slammed into me at once. They were so heavy and hit so hard, I had to brace my hands on the floor.
“His…wife…”
Roran tucked the small crystal back in the box and shut the lid. The whisper stopped immediately.
“His wife.”
I didn’t know what to think.
How old were these men? How much more didn’t I know of them?
Rilen had been married?
Placing the box in my hand, Roran curled my fingers around it. “You wanted us to stop being duplicitous and be honest with you. The grove of hushwillow was burned to the ground by the Three—a set of legendary seers who disappeared when the Spine rose.
“That box was probably one of the last ones made with the wood, specifically to hold that shell. I don’t know who it belonged to originally, but it was not meant for your mother. It is merely a sentimental heirloom. That your parents drowned in the sea was just an unfortunate accident.” He put a hand on my arm. “Kimber, I’m sorry.”
I put my hands on my temples. “No! Gods and demons, there’s so much there. Where the hell do I even start to ask questions?”
Roran took the box back and put it in my bag. He offered a hand and helped me stand. “My brother was married. Just a few weeks before the Spine. His wife, Amina, was one of the druids who knew how to make those boxes. She was in the woods, looking for fallen trees and trees that could be safely harvested. She died in the fire that morning, and Rilen was… crushed. Destroyed. He loved her so much.”
“I thought you and Dorian…”
“We didn’t know Dorian well until after the Spine rose. We were young when it did, just about a century old.”
I covered my face with my hands. “Dorian isn’t the only ancient bastard around here.”
Roran laughed. “No, but he’s much more a bastard than we are.”
I swallowed. “Did they have children?”
Roran shook his head. “No. There was no time. They weren’t married but a few weeks. And you know how notoriously difficult it is for druids to get pregnant.”
Nodding, I put the box back in the closet and closed the door. “I do. Will your brother be all right?”
“He will. He’d probably do better if we don’t leave him alone too long.” Roran took my hand, and we walked out of the bedroom, heading to the kitchen.
Rilen sat at the table, the chair merely turned out, staring straight ahead. I walked over and sat on his lap.
His arm went around me instantly. I didn’t say anything. He blinked a few times and looked at me, his fingers tracing my cheek.
“Amina was beautiful, like you. She was goodness. We’d known each other for only a few months when she agreed to marry me, mate me. We were happy. It was a happy time.”
“So we thought,” Roran added, pulling out another chair.
Rilen nodded. “So we thought. She was one of the few the magic allowed into the woods. The Three came galloping by, cackling, and the trees were instantly consumed by a conflagration. It burned so hotly, and the flames reached so high…”
“They were chased away by the vampire guards,” Roran took up the story. “We weren’t able to find her remains and give her a stone. The vampires who guarded the woods swore they would find her and give her a stone to remember her and the four others lost to the flames.”
“We barely made it back to West S’Kir before the Spine rose,” Rilen said. “So not only had I lost my wife, but we lost the hushwillow woods and all of our friends on the other side.”
“And my brother could not visit his wife’s stone.” Roran put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I lost my brother to grief for many years.”
I looked at Rilen. “You hid?”
Roran leaned in. “Not only did he hide…”—he dropped his voice—“…he grew a beard.”
I could not imagine Rilen Wolf with a beard. I wrinkled my nose, and he shook his head lightly.
“You had to bring up the beard.”
“It wasn’t just a beard, brother. It was an epic feat of facial hair. How long was it when I found you? Waist?”
Rilen groaned and closed his eyes. “Knees. And the first thing you did was to grab your sword and hack it off to my neck. I thought you were trying to kill me.”
“But the thing about that beard was, it was clean,” Roran continued. “Like the rest of him was a bit scrubby, but that beard was long and clean.”
“Even a hermit has standards. Just because I was hiding from society didn’t mean I had to stink. Or fester.”
“But, Rilen, a beard?” I cocked my head at him.
“Are you upset with us?” Rilen was so serious at that moment.
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Why?”
“Because you grew a beard!”
Roran guffawed and stood. Rilen kissed my nose. “Okay, fair enough.”
“Are you upset?” I asked.
“Why would I be?”
“Because we came all the way out to the Middling Hills, and I’m just still a misfit druid.”
Roran turned back. “We’ll forgive you if you take us up to the Rest and show us.”
I didn’t really want to go back up there, but I knew how closely my parents had guarded it. Not many people were allowed inside.
I could have been the Keeper of the Rest, but being around all those creepy, sleeping druids in the cave was not something I wanted. I didn’t want to have to dust off inert bodies. Or shoo bats away when they took up residence in the cave.
Never at any point had I shown enough magic to enchant the entrance once someone came or went. I didn’t have enough ability to change the gate subtly to keep those who had passed out from getting back in.
But I did have the master key to the door no one knew about.
I nodded. “Come on. I’ll show you. I should have been coming here to check once a year anyway. I’ll need to find a new keeper if it’s a mess in there.”
The door was nowhere near the entrance that most people saw. Years before, my father had built a shed over the doorway that wasn’t enchanted. Not only was the door locked, but the shed was locked, as well. Drawing out the keys, I let us in with Roran supplying the light as we went.
The passageway into the cavern was long and boring from this way, but it was easier than trying to figure out the current magic at the door.
Leading the way into the dark, I was glad to see the magic created in the cavern worked as we walked in. It triggered the enchanted torches and lit the cave up.
“Holy Gods,” Roran whispered.
“I hate this place,” I said.
Rilen walked forward, and his eyes followed the walls around and up and around again, all the way behind us. “I didn’t realize—”
“It’s massive.” I pointed to the stairs. “Go up, and you’ll see how big it is and why it needs a caretaker.”
The twins looked at each other and started climbing the stairs. I followed behind, taking my time. There were things I had to check to make sure everything was safe and secure.
They reached the top a full three minutes after starting the climb, ending up near the common entrance. I could tell they were shocked by what the Rest really was.
Roran’s whisper did not echo. “How many?”
I grabbed the paper ledger that sat next to the main, magical entrance. “Currently, there are five thousand, one hundred sixty-three druid taking Rest in this cavern. There are three more on the schedule for the year, and eighteen due to wake in the next six months.”
Putting the ledger down, I pointed to the archway across from us. “That’s where the First Rested. She slept there for nearly three thousand years. That is where her ashes are interred.”
“Three thousand years rest?” Roran was shocked.
“Yes.”
Rilen peered across. “She died from the sleeping sickness.”
“Yes.” I started to walk around the top of the first level, checking that those in rest were covered, clean, undisturbed and magicked to keep the dust away. “I’ve seen three druids die from it during the years I lived there. It was terrible, a wasting disease. My nanny was the first when I was five. Cely was the mother I wished my mother was. I don’t remember a time she wasn’t tired, but all of a sudden, in just a few short months, she went from needing a nap to only waking for food at dawn and dusk. And even that stopped at the end. She kissed me goodnight and never woke up again. She died three weeks later.
“The other two were shorter, both men who my parents welcomed into the house for their final few weeks. They were broken and tired from fighting to find a place in the world.”
Roran ran a finger over one of the dust-free tableaus that held a Resting druid female. “You have to sleep over a thousand years, don’t you?”
I nodded. “And very few Rest more than just a few hundred. Everyone who comes in here now must swear not to Rest more than five hundred. My parents instituted that rule. If you wish to Rest more than that, you have to find somewhere else.”
Sighing, I stopped my inspection. “I don’t see anything wrong with this upkeep. I think the Fox family is doing just fine. I’ll send them a note to keep up the good job and forward them a few extra gold pieces.”
Glancing around, a feeling of disturbing discontent washed over me. “Let’s go. We’ll have dinner with Everett and his family and get back to the city tomorrow. I’m done with this place.”
* * *
I found Rilen sitting in the garden of the inn we had picked. Roran told me he was out there and then told me to go talk to him.
Sitting next to him on the bench, I took his hand as he stared up at the slowly darkening sky.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He nodded slowly. “It’s been so many years, and yet Amina’s death can take my breath away in a moment.”
Lifting a shoulder, I offered a little shrug. “You loved her. That’s what happens when something you love is ripped away from you.”
Turning on the bench, he put his hand on my cheek. “I am so sorry you had to see Elex die, Kimber. That was unfair of us. I forget that we all have hearts, no matter how hard or strong we seem.”
I drew in a slow breath. “Do you miss her?”
“No, not anymore. It’s been too many years. I loved her, but she was in my life for such a short time.” He ran the tip of his thumb over my lips. “I have to admit another truth to you, ilati. It wasn’t just Dorian stopping you from the raid. I was too. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Oh, Rilen.” I stilled his hand and kissed the pad of his thumb. “You aren’t going to lose me. I promise. I will tan the hide of anyone who tries to take me away from you.”
“With that sword? I believe it.”
I moved to sit on his lap, straddling his legs. “Please, don’t hold me back from the raid. I need to go. I want to go. I can’t pull my weight at the shield. So let me use my sword. Let me help. I’m nothing more than a magical puzzle, but I can do this.”
Rilen’s fingers tunneled through my shoulder-length sandy hair, darker in the approaching night than it really was. “I trust you, Kimber. I won’t stop you. You might still have to fight Dorian.”
“I’ll sneak away. Better to ask forgiveness than permission.”
His laugh was light. “You’re so beautiful. So strong. And I don’t have an iota of jealousy about sharing you with Roran and Dorian.”
“I’m glad.”
He cocked his head. “How do you feel about your little harem?”
My cheeks must have flamed red, and I ducked my head. Rilen found my chin and brought my face up.
“Kimber?”
I cleared my throat. “I love it. I didn’t know wanton was a good thing. I adore waking up in bed with the three of you. Naked is fun.” I leaned in and whispered in his ear. “I didn’t think I would like anal, but, oh, Rilen, when it’s two of you inside me…”
I felt him grow hard against my thigh. He kissed the tip of my nose.
“I want you inside me, Rilen,” I breathed. “Just you. Alone. Do you think anyone will mind?”
“No, not even remotely.” His hands found the hem of my skirt, and he reached up the front slowly. “Roran’ll want a turn of his own, too. And we already know Dorian…”
I smiled against his lips. “Dorian likes to fuck me from behind.”
“He does like that.” His hand palmed my breast and massaged softly.
“Do you like it when he does that?”
“Oh, ilati, you know I do,” he breathed. “To you or to me.” He pressed his lips to mine, his tongue darting out and stroking my own.
He tasted delicious. His possession of my mouth was sweet, caring. I could feel my entire body responding to him, the heat growing between my legs.
I enjoyed it. So much.
The warmth and desire for him, the sensation of my pussy growing wet and ready. I had to start accepting that this was where my power came from. I had three amazing men who enjoyed my body, who enjoyed me.
My hands found the front of his pants and released the ties. I peeled fabric out of my way, and his massive cock landed in my hand.
“Too long again, ilati,” Rilen whispered against my mouth.
“I know. But we can take care of that right now.” My hand wrapped around his length.
“Never hesitate when it comes to your power, Kimber,” he breathed. “You are the Breaker. There is more for you to do, and you must have the power to do it.”
“I do enjoy these power-ups.” I grinned and wrapped my hand around the back of his neck. “You understand why I did this, though?”
“Oh yes, I get it. Roran gets it. We’ll fuck it into Dorian’s brain.”
My laugh was light as I aligned him with me, and slipped forward, welcoming him into the wet heat of my pussy.
Gods, he felt good. I had gone too long without this.
He moaned softly as I snuggled up against him, seating him deep inside me. He chuckled a moment later. “You didn’t wear underwear.”
Rocking back slowly, and rolling forward again a moment later, I answered with a breathy tone. “No. I decided not to wear them around you anymore. Too much trouble.”
“Oh, Sweet Savior, you mean you walk around bare like this all the time?” Rilen’s hands traveled up the thin corset around my center and found their way around to the front. “Holy Gods, are you not wearing a covered corset?”
“No,” I whispered. My hips traveled the path of his cock and back. “I didn’t want to. I don’t even want to wear the corset.”
“Praise the heavens, please don’t…” His hands pulled my shirt up, along with the camisole, and his lips immediately found the pearled bud of my breast.
I gasped sharply. Rilen’s tongue was amazing. He took such pleasure from my body, from my whimpers and moans as he worked over me.
It was hard to keep moving over him, sliding in and out, again and again, when his lips were so demanding.
“Rilen…”
He hummed with my nipple in his mouth. The feeling rolled through me, shooting straight down to my clit.
My breath stuttered as I tried to draw it in.
“Ride me, Kimber. Ride me. Put your hands on my shoulders and fuck me hard.”
I wasn’t about to say no. However, I did pull his shirt up and over his head so I could feel his hot skin in the cool air.
“Gods, I love your eyes,” he breathed, staring up at me from his place at my breast. “They flash such a beautiful blue and turn such a rich dark green…”
My hips pumped, drawing his shaft in and out of me. While his mouth was busy at my nipple, his other hand slipped between us, his thumb finding my clit. Pressing lightly, he stroked over it.
Tossing my head back, I could see the inn just behind us, and there were more than a few windows open, and quite a few eyes peering down at us.
We were the couple in the garden tonight.
I found myself enjoying the idea that there might be people watching us. That perhaps there was a couple up there, mimicking our movements, thrusting and grinding, panting and pleading as they sawed out their own rhythm in pleasure.
Rilen blew on my pearled peak, chilling me, and making my breasts ache like they hadn’t before.
He tipped his head up, and I looked down at him, seeing his soul in his eyes. His mismatched eyes glowed golden, just a little, and I knew my own hazel ones held the same colors.
“Come for me, ilati. Take the power.”
Leaning down, I whispered in his ear. “Come inside me, Rilen. Share your power.”
His hips popped up as I came down on him. He wanted to come—so did I. His thumb tapped my clit as I dropped on him again.
I came, light dancing behind my eyes, my skin pulling tight, my muscles freezing. All in the most exquisite pleasure we could reach.
He came, his eyes flashing gold as his cum raced from his cock, painting my channel. His hips slapped up a few times and finally settled, as I was able to regain some of the motions in our joining.
I stroked over him until his cock started to soften a bit.
Rilen dug his fingers into my hair, pulling my forehead and breathing hard. “I love you, Kimber Raven. Never ever forget that, and always come back to me. To us.”