Authors: Mellanie Szereto
Groaning against Heath’s mouth, she arched to find Owen. She’d die if he didn’t pay attention to her needy cunt soon.
His tongue glided past her opening to the anxious bundle of nerves as Heath shoved her shirt up to bare her breasts. A quick flick of her nipple with Owen’s next pass brought a helpless cry up from her chest. She dragged her mouth from Heath to voice her pleasure. Another lick and a gentle squeeze made her muscles tremble with the building pressure of an imminent orgasm.
Wet heat suddenly closed over her puckered tip as Heath moved to her tits. He sucked and fluttered as Owen did the same between her thighs. She grabbed handfuls of their hair, holding them in place. “Right there. Don’t stop. Yes, so close!”
Her pulse thumped in her ears, and she panted through the growing rush threatening to consume her.
Teeth rasped over her nipple. “Come for us, sweetheart. Let it happen.”
Heath’s words yanked her release free from its bonds, pulling a scream from her throat as pure erotic bliss swept through her veins to swallow her. It ebbed for a second, only to regain momentum and carry her farther.
Experimentation with her box of sexual aides didn’t begin to compare to having two real lovers. Her muscles relaxed as she floated back into her body.
Flopping on his back, Heath smiled and lifted her to straddle his hips. “Damn, I love watching you come. Are you ready for both of us?”
She took his stiff cock in her hand to guide him home, the need for more helping her recover. Unable to form a response, she lowered herself onto him in one swift move. His rough moan blended with hers, and she leaned forward to allow Owen easier entrance to her ass. The coarse smattering of hair on Heath’s chest teased her sensitive breasts.
A palm smoothed down her spine, and Owen kissed her shoulder. “I need something to make us slippery.”
“Aloe. Nightstand drawer.” Anticipation taunted her while she waited for him to retrieve her supply of lube.
Cool gel slicked down her crease, easing some of the tension and creating more. She fought the instinct to grind against him. His touch spread fire over her skin as he fingered her hole, and only the wish to prolong all their pleasure kept her from begging him to take her already.
He nibbled her butt cheek, shooting a shiver up her spine. A moan escaped. “I want you inside me too, Owen. I need you both.” She pressed her lips to Heath’s neck before twisting around toward Owen. “Kiss me.”
His finger sank into her as he rose and leaned in to meet her mouth. His tongue wasted no time sweeping inside, the tangy flavor of her juices lingering in his taste. While Heath had seemed almost hesitant to show his desire, Owen held nothing back. Every aggressive thrust and parry told her exactly how much he wanted her. It still wasn’t enough.
Heath grasped her waist and held her in place. “Shit, woman, if you keep squeezing my dick like that, I’m going to come.”
Dragging her mouth from Owen’s, she met his gaze. “Fuck me now.”
After a quick rough kiss, he withdrew his finger and gave her a gentle nudge on the back. “Yes, ma’am. Slow and easy or fast and hard?”
A look at Heath’s pained expression made up her mind. “Fast and hard. I think we’ve all waited too long for anything else.”
Owen slid his slippery cock across her hole twice before lining up the head at her entrance. Rocking her hips backward, she didn’t give him a choice about taking his time. He glided into her ass in one smooth motion, the year of playing with her toys having prepared her body for the double penetration.
“God, you’re so tight, honey.”
She rocked forward and back again, too caught up in pleasure to speak. Heath’s rigid length stroked her engorged G-spot, and Owen’s thick erection filled the empty spot in her soul that had been there a minute earlier. Both men moved with her, setting off tremor after tremor until her whole body bucked with a powerful orgasm. Ripples of pleasure transformed into waves. A flood of completion washed over her even as her lovers joined in her cries, their yells blending with the sound in perfect harmony.
A crash of thunder drowned out everything but the sensation of slowly drifting to Earth. The rumbling ended, and voices echoed in her head—the voices of her sister witches. Was she truly one of them, though, since she’d refused to enter the circle? Were they welcoming her into the chant?
Their voices grew clearer, dragging her from paradise into reality.
Gather the powers of the fold.
Protect us all from evil old.
Repel the darkness and seal the rift.
Goodness and light shall stop the shift.
She joined the incantation in her mind, her body too sated to do more than silently repeat the rhyme. Each word pulled her closer to sleep. As she completed the third recitation, pain sliced through her brain, forcing her eyes closed.
A different voice intruded on the connection with her family—the one that had kept her from entering the circle in the library.
You are weak. They’ll never join with you. You failed. Surrender to your destiny.
The whisper abruptly ended, but not before her doubts returned. Had Owen and Heath used her to satisfy a sexual need and nothing more?
After hearing Jolán’s account of Kazmer’s dispelling with all the full-fledged witches of the household, Heléna could only assume that her own contribution to the current charm had been unsuccessful. Jolán had been much more competent when she’d helped repair the rift in the protection spell around the estate, saving not only herself but her mates as well. She’d even managed to transport them out of the rubble of the new wing into the main hall of the mansion.
Heléna hadn’t experienced the link with the others her cousin had described. She
was
weak—too weak to help seal the fracture the shifter had created and too weak to make any man want to spend his life with her. The pain in her mind shifted to her heart.
Behind her, Owen eased away, breaking the physical connection. “Be right back.”
His footsteps faded, and a door closed. A few seconds later, the sound of water running told her he’d gone to the bathroom.
Opening her eyes, she chanced a peek at Heath. His slow, even breaths and relaxed face hinted that he’d fallen asleep. When she shifted, his flaccid penis slipped from her. Otherwise, he didn’t move.
They left me. I mean nothing to them.
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she crawled out of bed to put on her robe. Even covered neck to ankles, she couldn’t veil her exposed emotions. The raw wound burned and stung. Her feet carried her to the door of her apartment, taking her farther from the blatant evidence of her failure.
Each step drained more energy from her already-beaten-up sense of self. She’d allowed her hormones to control her actions, and now she had to pay the price with a broken heart. Logic had deserted her, leaving her open to believing she’d found her mates. How could she have been so gullible?
Her ability to cast spells had slowly decayed as well. She was a burden to her magickal family. A useless detriment. Even if she managed to live through the coming conflict with Kazmer, she’d put everyone at risk by not being able to defend herself. They’d have to waste time and skills protecting her instead of focusing on the destruction of the evil shifter.
Taking the back stairs down to the corridor off the kitchen, she wracked her brain for a place to hide. Confrontation wasn’t in her nature, and she couldn’t face anyone after Heath’s and Owen’s abandonment.
Could she slip into the study unnoticed?
She strained her ears for footfalls on the steps as she descended to the first floor. Voices in the kitchen and the steady
tap, tap, tap
of a knife on a cutting board made her freeze for a moment. Rebeka’s serious tone segued into a low exchange with Magdolna and Boldizsár, their hushed words barely discernible to Heléna at the base of the staircase.
“The battle is imminent.” Boldizsár’s volume rose as he neared her concealed spot. “His attempt to break through the protective spell was a test of its strength. We must gather and prepare.”
The chopping stopped, and Rebeka sighed. “Something was missing when we blocked the fracture. Or someone. What if he knows Heléna hasn’t taken the oath?”
With shaking hands, Heléna grasped the handrail to keep from collapsing. Their enemy was about to attack, and she’d lost too much of what she’d learned during her training. By running away, she’d not only interacted with the wrong men, she’d neglected her duty. She’d let her family down in so many ways.
Another crack of thunder rattled the pots hanging from the wall hooks.
“To the parlor! Quickly! We must link with the matriarch!” Boldizsár’s shouts faded with hurried footsteps.
Peeking around the corner, Heléna scanned the empty kitchen. She leapt from stairs and jogged along the hall leading to the west wing of the mansion—away from the parlor and her family. When she reached the wide corridor connecting to the foyer at the far end, she paused to check for anyone exiting the library. Arriving at her destination unnoticed was of vital importance.
The hallway was clear, and she picked up her pace to the entrance to the study. The pocket doors clacked together as she closed them behind her. Going to the fireplace, she flattened her palm against the wood panel bordering the brick chimney and searched for the catch she’d accidentally found while cleaning a sooty smear from the wall last week.
Her finger skimmed over the nearly invisible button. The panel slid aside with the light pressure, revealing the same dark opening she’d been too timid to explore when she’d discovered it. Lighting the black wick of the closest candle on the mantle, she lifted it, holder and all, to illuminate the passage.
Shadows flickered in the shallow tunnel, and the flame did little to show what lay beyond the top two rungs of a ladder going straight down into a hole in the middle of the floor. If the strange map she’d come across years before in the library was accurate, a number of catacomb-like passageways existed beneath the original part of the structure. The longest terminated across the road from the gated entrance to the estate.
She wasn’t brave enough to leave the safety of her home, but she wasn’t so selfish as to expect her family to fight their enemy while they stood guard over a powerless witch.
With a decisive nod, she adjusted her hold on the candle and climbed down the ladder. The panel slid shut at the third rung, blocking all but the light in her left hand. She counted her steps as she descended. At twenty-four and counting, she worried she might never reach the bottom, but her bare foot finally touched packed dirt. She wouldn’t go far into the next tunnel for fear of crossing the boundaries of the estate, leaving her completely unprotected. Standing on shaky legs, she turned to find her path.
Long, black hair framed a beautiful flame-lit face with steely gray-green eyes. While unexpected, the woman didn’t emit the same malevolent energy that surrounded Kazmer. How had she gotten through the protection spell?
“Ah, you’ve come to meet your destiny, sweet Heléna.”
Chapter 9
Owen wiped the water from his face, staring at his reflection in the mirror. He’d hated withdrawing his cock from Heléna’s beautiful ass, but if he hadn’t made a run for the bathroom, three words would’ve escaped his mouth. Even as agreeable as she’d been about him and Heath wanting to share her, Owen doubted she was ready to hear what his heart was yelling at him.
How could he love a woman he’d met less than twenty-four hours ago? Yes, they’d spent considerable time together under some unusual circumstances. They’d confronted more than one life-or-death moment in that time and been trapped on an island.
He’d dated women for
months
and not developed feelings like he had for her. How could he have fallen in love overnight?