Chapter Nineteen
Simina woke sticky and sated, almost buried in a pile of warm male dragon goodness. She hadn’t felt so good … so complete in ages. At least not since she’d first made love to Talon and they’d explored their darker desires together.
Her bottom was still a little sore, both from Cato’s spanking and then from the thorough fucking. Had all three had her? She couldn’t quite remember, but as the haze of sleep cleared, she thought she remembered being almost perpetually tangled with Veryl in a tender embrace while the other two had their way with each of them.
She turned toward the dark-skinned man on one side of her, her chest warming at how peaceful he looked. It turned out they had that in common. No wonder they didn’t quite work on their own together—he needed a dominant partner as much as she did.
But the tenderness he added to the mix was a more than perfect counterpoint to Cato’s almost sadistic domination and Dez’s hedonistic abandon. Between the three of them, she could actually see herself finding happiness again, if they were willing to entertain the idea of sharing.
She’d heard of other shifters who were in polyamorous relationships. Bryer and Ignazio were the ones she was closest to, and they certainly appeared beyond happy with their mate, though she doubted the two of them took their friendship to the level these three men had. But who was she to judge if they did? It was none of her business.
She was just happy that Veryl had gotten what he wanted. And that with any luck, she would too. God, should she even bring up the idea of making it official so soon?
She glanced at their sleeping bodies, Veryl on his side still with his arm draped over her, Dez on the far side of him, clinging just as close, and Cato just over her shoulder at her back, one thick tattooed arm draped over her middle. It was like the world stopped for her in that second, her body humming from head to toe with the overwhelming ache to have all three of them as her mates, and more than that—to have their children.
The sound of Cato’s breathing changed behind her, his hand tightening on the breast he had been cupping in his sleep. “I can hear your wheels turning, love,” he whispered. “Care to share?”
“I was just thinking how the three of you made a mess of me last night. Yet somehow, I don’t mind a bit.”
He chuckled and leaned up on one elbow to stare down at her with a dubious look. “I don’t believe that’s really what you were thinking, but I have ways of making you talk.” The glint in his eyes sent a hot jolt to her core, and she shivered.
“As much as I would adore letting you subject me to whatever you define as torture, I’d like to bathe first.” She sat up and started to navigate a way out of the bed, but paused to stare at the bathroom door when a thought occurred to her.
“What is it?” Cato asked.
“I don’t think the shower will do,” she said, recalling the expansive bathroom in the luxurious cabin and the huge, shining shower she’d marveled at as she did her business after their second round of sex the night before. Dez’s cabin was a step above her own, but even as big as the shower was, it wasn’t big enough for all of them.
“It works just fine. Dez didn’t seem to mind getting fucked in it yesterday morning,” Cato said.
“Oh, if it were just me, I’d be in there already, but I’m not the only one who needs a bath after last night.”
Cato’s eyebrows lifted and the corner of his mouth curled. “True enough. Got any better ideas?”
She turned toward him and pointed past his shoulder, out the French doors that led to the dock. The length of weathered wooden planks stretched several yards past the shore of a lake that extended about a mile back, ending at thick forests on the opposite shore. “That bathtub is plenty big enough for four dragons.”
With a surge of joy, she leapt to her feet in the center of the bed and bounced up and down gleefully, bursting with too much happiness to hold it in. Cato let out a surprised laugh as she bounded over him, giggling at the noises of the other two men rousing from their slumber with gruff grumbles and half-coherent questions.
“Time for a morning swim, boys! Catch me if you can!”
She tore naked down the dock, shifting as she ran. When she reached the end and vaulted off, she was fully shifted and her wings stretched wide, carrying her across the water, her talons skimming the mirror-smooth surface. With the sunrise reflected beneath her, she felt surrounded by sky.
She soared up, stretched her wings and made a wide arc into the air above the lake, then angled back down, aiming for the water near the end of the dock. As she approached, she saw all three of the men running naked down the end and diving into the water. They came up in a circle, staring up at her and she aimed for the open water between them.
She plunged in head first, shifting beneath the water as she swam back to the surface. Dez, Cato, and Veryl were soaking wet and laughing. Breathless from her sprint around the lake, she stared around at each of them. Her heart raced and her body heated with a fresh wave of need she didn’t think she’d ever tire of, now that they’d reawakened it.
As they treaded water, their expressions changed, mirroring the rising tide of carnal hunger that gripped her.
“I don’t care how sore I am. I need you now. All three of you. Please.”
Veryl treaded water in front of her. He cupped her cheek in one hand, his gaze earnest and filled with love. “You have us, starshine. Anything you need.”
At her sides, the other two moved in, murmuring their agreement. As a unit, they urged her closer to shore where they could find purchase on the sandy bed beneath the water. Rather than attempt to share her tender pussy the way they had the night before, they took their time. Veryl made love to her first, wrapping her legs around his waist while he entered her beneath the water. Cato and Dez supported her floating torso, kissing her and teasing her breasts while they caressed her body from shoulders to hips.
She climaxed along with Veryl, her gaze shifting between three sets of eyes and the brightening sky above, feeling like she was flying the entire time, carried on the currents of the pleasure they gave her. When Veryl finished, Dez took his place, plunging into her with the sensual enjoyment she’d learned was his trademark. After another shared orgasm, Cato took his turn, spearing her with his cock so hard she cried out at the first stroke, clinging to the other two as he fucked her with mad urgency before finally slowing and letting himself enjoy their coupling.
She lost herself in the languid undulations of their ministrations, losing count again of the number of orgasms they gave her. Finally, they were all spent and satisfied.
After seeing to their actual bathing, she climbed back onto the dock with the intention of running into the cabin for a towel. Veryl hopped out before she could take a step and immediately had her wrapped in a blanket-sized towel, rubbing down her chilled limbs.
“Wow, you were prepared, weren’t you?” She smiled up at him, pleased by his thoughtfulness.
He smiled and reached for another folded towel among the stack he’d apparently left waiting for them before joining her in the water. “I didn’t think you’d want to go inside immediately. It’s beautiful out here at dawn, isn’t it?”
He wrapped the towel around his waist and sat in one of the sturdy wooden lounge chairs nearby, tugging her hand until she fell boneless onto his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder with a happy sigh, watching Cato and Dez horseplaying in the water.
“Are they always like this?” she asked.
“Never,” Veryl said. “They bicker. Dez likes to push Cato’s buttons like you wouldn’t believe, even though he looks up to him. We both do—he’s our leader, always has been in some sense since we were kids, but we trust him because he’s always right.”
“This was his idea, wasn’t it?” she asked.
“Hooking up with Wilder to get us mates was, yeah. It almost backfired. They had shit luck with the dates she first set them up on. I guess you were the one we were all really meant to meet, though. Cato always claimed finding a mate was like alchemy—all the elements had to be just right, stars aligning and whatnot. I guess that’s why you and I didn’t entirely click until they were there. Though I admit I wouldn’t trade that first night for anything.”
“It had to be all four of us,” Simina said almost absently. “You and Cato did always belong together. You just didn’t have me there to show you.” She smiled up at him.
He gazed down at her, his eyes filled with a strange combination of elation, love, and pure wonder. Sighing contentedly, he held her tighter against his big chest, letting his head fall back against the chair as he stared at the sky where Dez and Cato chased each other, wings stretched and trumpeting calls echoing through the valley.
Simina closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the pure, unadulterated happiness that flowed through her. Talon’s memory still lingered, bittersweet for what might have been, but deep down she had no doubt he would have approved.
Her attention wandered, her gaze drifting along the shoreline where the early morning mists began to dissipate as the sun moved higher in the sky. The pink tinge of dawn was disappearing, revealing Earth’s true colors. She loved how at dawn and twilight the place looked almost identical to Nova Aurora. If the light was just right, she could imagine she was home in the mountains above the lake where she’d shared a house with Talon before he’d died.
Talon used to love flying drills above their lake too, just like Dez and Cato were doing now. Her gaze followed the pair for a moment and a strange sense of déjà vu overtook her. The way they flew no longer consisted of playful twists and dives. They weren’t showing off for a captive audience anymore. Their movements possessed the careful synchronicity of a pair of athletes who were well-trained at the types of aerial acrobatics she now witnessed. The same type she’d seen countless times in the arenas of Nova Aurora.
A chill crept through her. “What are they doing?” she asked, her voice sounding hollow in her own ears.
“Drills,” Veryl said. “Leave it to Cato to take advantage of any moment to train. Our first match is a week after we get back to Aurora.”
“Drills. Are you … champions?” She struggled to swallow past the spike of dread in her throat. Please let him say no.
Veryl stilled beneath her, the hand that had been idly caressing her bare thigh coming to a stop on her knee. “We … didn’t want our celebrity status to influence our dates, so we kept it quiet. You must understand what it’s like for a champion.” He tilted his head to the side to get a better look at her face, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the two dragons twisting around against the clouds. “Simina? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
In a brittle voice, she said, “What’s your team’s name?”
Veryl smiled hesitantly. “Triple Talons. We chose it as an homage to our hero, the Ebon Claw. I hope that’s okay. It was before …”
A deafening buzz had taken up residence at the base of her skull and his words became a dull drone. Her entire body prickled with an icy chill despite the summer sun slowly warming the dock. Nausea clutched at her stomach and she scrambled off Veryl’s lap, dizzy with panic. This couldn’t be happening. They couldn’t be champions. Gerri had promised her.
“I have to go,” she said, unable to look at Veryl. She’d let them get too deep, let herself feel too much already. There was no way she’d let herself go down that path again. She turned to run up the dock, but a big hand caught her elbow and spun her around.
“Simina! What the hell is wrong? Did I say something? Fuck, we can change our name if it offends you. We’ll do anything for you. I hope you know that!”
“No!” she snapped at him, turning back with hurt and rage and all the bottled-up grief she’d held onto for the past year—grief she had, until now, believed she’d finally let go of. “You won’t! You champions care too damn much about winning. You’ll fucking die before you let love have a chance. I can’t do it again. I just can’t!”
He stared back at her, his face stricken with shock and confusion. “That’s not what we want …”
“It doesn’t fucking matter, Veryl! I can’t let myself stand by and watch you risk your lives and wonder if I’ll lose you too. Please don’t expect that of me. Please!”
She tore free of his grip and ran. Tears streamed down her face and the towel fell away from her shoulders. Her vision was hazy with despair, but her dragon knew the way, and a few seconds later she was flying.
She stopped at her cabin just long enough to throw on clothes and stuff her belongings into a suitcase. Thankfully, a taxi was close at hand. She couldn’t bear to see the three of them again if they came after her. Her will would crumble if she had to face them, and she couldn’t let that happen. Her heart was too fragile to survive the death of a man she loved again, and if there were three of them now, she was sure it would kill her if they all met the same fate as Talon.