3
Kienan sat at a small table, facing the last living member of his family. His cousin, Pierce, stared at him for long moments before he spoke. “What’s the occasion, Kienan?”
He looked around at the enclosed balcony that overlooked the main floor of Tail. The polyglass windows muted the synthrock, the sound of people shouting or groaning at the gaming tables . . . or at some of the other, more sexual offerings of the technobrothel.
“I retired.” Neither of them were chatty men, so this conversation might be even briefer than he’d imagined. Then again, he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting. The Vaughns were hardly the type for heartfelt family reunions.
Surprise flickered in Pierce’s silver gaze. “I figured you’d die in harness.”
So had Kienan. He’d never imagined a life for himself outside of covert ops. If one assignment or another didn’t get him, he’d expected to be kicked upstairs to an admin desk job.
He shrugged. “I got tired of the game, so I got out.”
Every moment had been spent in a dark game of wits, lying to everyone around him, infiltrating crime organizations, terrorist cells, enemy governments, whatever was necessary. He’d realized there were only a handful of people in the world who knew his real name, who knew him at all. It had been an unsettling thought. He didn’t say that to his cousin.
Pierce grunted. “Never expected to see you again.”
“I thought the same with you.” Kienan rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “I don’t have any plans in place yet, but I just wanted to reconnect, see how you were doing, since we’re the only ones left. That’s all.”
Connection. Something to link him to reality rather than the world of secrets and lies that had been his existence for so long. Maybe coming to Pierce for that was a bad idea. The two of them were too much alike. Too dark inside. Too used to dealing in death and tragedy. His cousin was an agent for the FBI and had the same edge to him that all operatives did.
Pierce rubbed a thumb over the condensation on his glass. “I’m mated now.”
“Oh yeah?” Kienan’s intel had already told him that, but when he’d heard, it’d surprised him. He’d never have guessed his cousin had a mate.
“Two of them, in fact.” His cousin snorted, as if he knew how ridiculous and unlikely that sounded. “Nolan and Lorelei.”
Nolan Angelo was an assassin for the FBI, one Kienan’s superiors had tapped before to do their wet work. Not that the other man knew it, but it was something else Kienan didn’t say, so he focused on the other mate. “Lorelei Chase, the owner of Tail, is your mate.”
Pierce waved a hand around at the wild activities taking place below them. “The one and only.”
“Huh.”
“That’s what I thought, too, at first.”
Kienan chuckled and startled himself with the sound. When had he last laughed and meant it as something more than a part of the charade? “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Pierce tapped his finger against the gleaming mercurite table. “Why did you retire?”
“It was killing me.”
The words were abrupt, startling them both. He didn’t have to explain, though; his cousin understood. Pierce had been an agent for decades. They’d never been close, but he knew the lifestyle, knew what it cost a man. Kienan was grateful for that, at least.
“You can stay here with us for a few days, until you decide what to do with yourself.”
Kienan blinked, surprised by the offer. “Thanks, I think I’ll take you up on that.”
Pierce left their private balcony and went down to speak to the woman behind the bar, who nodded and tapped her fingers over a vidpad. He ran a single fingertip down her cheekbone, more affection flashing in his gaze than Kienan had ever seen from his cousin. Interesting. So that was Lorelei Chase. She was even more gorgeous in person than she had been in the holopics he’d seen in the intel file on his cousin. She was probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, with auburn hair cascading down her back, wide green eyes, high cheekbones, and a body that could make a man beg to touch.
It took no time at all to get his one bag transferred to a room in the technobrothel. He was staying in the private quarters, where the jades lived, not where they entertained clients. He’d expected to hole up in a hotel for a few days or weeks, but this worked out better for him. If Pierce had mates, that meant Kienan had . . . in-laws wasn’t the right term, but if they were mated to his cousin, they were family. Part of the Vaughn pack, though neither Lorelei nor Nolan was a wolf like Pierce and Kienan.
He’d wanted some connection to people. It looked like he had it. Or something.
He left his room to wander around Tail, learn the lay of the land. Pierce had been called away by a case, Nolan was apparently out of town on assignment, and Lorelei was busy, which meant Kienan had the chance to look around. Many of the doors were locked—taken by Lorelei’s jades and their clientele—but the main floor was crowded. And loud.
The gaming tables were on one side of the room, and a long, curved polyglass bar took up the other side. He wended his way through the raucous gathering. It felt odd not to have anything he had to do, had to plan, had to think about. He didn’t have to worry about money for a while, didn’t need to hurry to find some other kind of employment. He was at loose ends for the first time ever.
The very concept was unsettling.
He wasn’t the type to remain idle for long, but he didn’t feel the need to rush into anything either. Slipping through the crowd, he stepped up to order a drink, but his gaze was transfixed by the display behind the bar.
There were massive iris windows that opened and closed at intervals, revealing people doing every imaginable carnal deed. One had a man getting fucked up the ass while a woman sucked his cock. Another had two women paddling a man wearing a leash. Kienan arched his eyebrows and settled onto a barstool. Voyeurism wasn’t usually his kink, but he doubted anyone could resist watching.
A bartender in a tight microsilk-and-kleather corset approached him with a saucy wink as a greeting. “Hey, handsome. You looking for Lorelei?”
He shook his head, pulling his gaze away from the show. “Just looking for a beverage.”
“What’ll you have?”
“Synthbrew. I’ll open the bottle myself, if you don’t mind.” Too many years with too many people trying to kill or disable him meant he didn’t take chances with ending up drugged or poisoned. He might not live that life anymore, but old habits died hard. Besides, this was the Vermilion.
She grinned and didn’t look insulted, thank Deus. “Sure. In the bottle, we have German falsch-hefeweizen or English simu-stout.”
“Hefeweizen.”
She dipped down behind the bar and came back up with his order, sliding it across the polyglass to him. Her gaze went to someone behind him, and a dimple flashed when she smiled. “Quill.”
A man walked up and propped one elbow on the bar, facing Kienan. Black nanotats laced up the side of his neck to his jaw, and a thick mercurite hoop pierced one ear. More nanotats peeked out of the sleeves of his jacket, wrapped around his wrists, and covered the tops of his hands. He smiled in a way that said he was good-looking and knew it. Tall and muscular, his brown hair cropped short, his golden eyes alight with interest as he looked Kienan over.
“What have we here?” The man all but purred, and Kienan could smell the feline on him. “Hello.”
Kienan nodded a greeting, feeling heated awareness skitter down his flesh.
“Are you enjoying the Peep Show?” The feline gestured to the windows behind the bar.
“Is that what it’s called?” Kienan didn’t bother to look, keeping his focus on the other man. There was something . . . different about this one. Something Kienan liked.
The golden-eyed man waited a beat before he spoke again. “I’m Quilliam North. Quill.”
“Kienan Vaughn.” Deus, when was the last time he’d used his real name to introduce himself? A downward rush, a horror tangled with a sense of utter liberty. He took a deep drag of his beer. “I’m Pierce’s cousin.”
“You’re a gray wolf, too, then?”
“Yes.” More information than he’d offered a stranger in one minute than he had to anyone else in years. It was heady. “And you are?”
“A leopard.” A slow smile spread across the other man’s face and attraction sparked inside of Kienan. He held out his hand to shake, wanting to touch. The craving was sudden, sharp, an unexpected bonus to his first night of freedom. When was the last time he’d allowed himself to just feel without considering the ramifications to whatever mission he was on? Not since he’d joined the military at eighteen. Not since he’d been recruited into the murkier organizations of the government.
Sexual interest shone in the taller man’s gaze, enough to make Kienan’s muscles tighten, his cock begin to stiffen. The moment their flesh touched, instinct exploded inside of Kienan’s head. Mate.
A shudder ran through him, and he clenched his jaw as the attraction turned into hot, wild lust. Unstoppable need. His cock went harder than mercurite, and his hand tightened around Quill’s.
The other man’s eyebrow arched, and a little smile kicked up the corner of his mouth. “I had a meeting with Lorelei before her sister arrived and kicked me out of the office. She mentioned Pierce’s cousin was staying at Tail for a few days. You’ll be in town for a bit?”
“Come back to my room.” Kienan couldn’t care less about meetings or anything other than the fact that this man was his. His mate. The blood rushed through his veins as his heart raced and his breathing sped. His dick was so hard, he ached. The scent of other people annoyed him, kept him from smelling Quill and only Quill. It was exhilarating, this feeling. Powerful enough to make him shake.
Quill blinked, but didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
He ran his thumb over the back of Kienan’s hand, raising gooseflesh in the wake of his touch. When hard claws scraped his skin, sweat broke out on Kienan’s forehead. Deus, he’d never been so hot in his life. Mate. The word drummed through his head. Mate. He wanted. He craved. Leaning in, Quill “accidentally” brushed up against Kienan’s heavy erection and purred in approval as he trailed one finger up the hard length of it.
Fangs grazed Kienan’s bottom lip, and he realized how close he was to feral. His voice dropped to a barely audible growl. “We go now or we fuck right here against the bar.”
Shuddering, Quill dropped his hands, stepped back, and motioned toward the private area of Tail. “After you.”
Kienan pivoted, striding toward the correct hallway while he felt the heat of the other man searing his back. Soon. Soon he’d be fucking his mate. The thought was almost enough to make him lose control. He stopped in front of his door and fumbled into his pocket for his ident card.
Hissing, Quill grabbed his shoulder from behind, spun him, and shoved his back against the door. Kienan snarled, the wolf close to breaking free. Quill just laughed and kissed him. It was rough and wild, the two biting and sucking, fighting for control of the encounter. Kienan thrust his tongue into the leopard-shifter’s mouth, felt the scrape of fangs, but didn’t know if they were his or Quill’s. It didn’t matter. What mattered was tasting his mate. Quill’s hands moved down Kienan’s chest, one settled on his nipple while the other trailed down to his cock to fondle him through his pants.
Deus, yes. He arched his hips, thrusting into those talented fingers that stroked him so perfectly. He tugged at the other man’s clothes, wanting them gone. He managed to wrench open the seal on Quill’s pants, drove his hand inside, and pumped his dick in his fist. When Quill twisted his nipple, dragging a sharp claw over it, Kienan nearly came in his pants. He jerked back, reversed their positions, and pinned the leopard to the wall beside the door.
Quill’s cock was out, hard and twitching with need, and Kienan was beyond caring if anyone should see. He wanted to suck and fuck his mate. He sank to his knees, wrapping his hand around the long shaft and using his grip to pull the other man forward. Quill hissed at the rough contact and snarled when Kienan took him into his mouth. He sucked hard, his teeth scouring the sensitive flesh while Quill’s moans rang through the empty hallway.
Kienan’s cock throbbed as heat flowed like lava through his veins. His hips rolled in time with his sucking on his mate’s cock. The head of Quill’s dick hit the back of his throat, the salty tang of his pre-come sliding over Kienan’s tongue. The low sound of his mate’s groans drove him onward, and he gripped the other man’s thighs, felt his talons dig into Quill’s muscular legs. Urgency ripped through Kienan’s system, the need to fuck, to claim, to mate tearing into his very soul. He’d never felt anything like it before, but he wanted more. He sank down on Quill’s cock, sucked him in as deep as possible until his throat contracted around his mate’s dick.
“Deus!”
Kienan heard Quill’s claws scrabble against the wall, his other hand fisting tight in Kienan’s hair. In retaliation, he let his fangs drag lightly over the other man’s cock.
A feline scream ripped through the air, and Quill jetted come into Kienan’s mouth.
Gea knocked on the back door of Tail, knowing there was always a staff member in the kitchen who would answer. It was her job to know when and where information could be found. The kitchen of the most notorious technobrothel in New Chicago was where prime gossip could be found. The newsvids would never get wind of anything as juicy as these people knew.
It helped that this was also the last place that her target had been seen alive, and that Delilah’s sister Lorelei owned it. All roads led to Tail.
A wide smile creased the scarred face of Sienna, the retired jade who ran Tail’s kitchen. “Good to see you, Gea.”
“You too.” She walked in and dropped a smacking kiss on the old woman’s cheek. “Got any tidbits for me?”
Sienna laughed and handed her a pastry filled with rockfish. “This is the juiciest thing I’ve got for you tonight, but Lorelei and Dee are waiting for you in the office.”
“Mmm, thank you.” Gea’s stomach rumbled and she realized she was famished. She hadn’t eaten anything since before she’d been to Quill’s, and she’d burned off a lot of energy since then. She took a bite, and the mellow flavor of the fish combined with spices exploded in her mouth. “You’re the best, Sienna.” She spoke around the food. “I’m looking for a woman who was here a few months back—Felicia Tamryn. You know her?”
“I’ve met her once or twice, but I wouldn’t say I know her.”
“The buzz on the street was that she left here in a hurry.” She stuffed the last bit of pastry in her mouth.
Sienna snorted. “Grifters sometimes need to make a quick exit.” She shrugged. “Lorelei would have been the last one to talk to her, so you might want to ask her about it.”
“I will. Thanks for the meal.” Gea felt a lot less shaky now that she’d eaten, and except for the occasional twinge, her leg seemed to be doing fine. All in all, it could have been a much worse night for her. Now, if she could get the intel she wanted, she’d be all set.
“Anytime.” The old woman waved her off, already back at work. “And, yes, I know. If anyone asks, you were never here asking too many questions about people who don’t want you to find them.”
“You really are the best.” Gea skirted around the prep table that dominated the kitchen and took the staff hallway to Lorelei’s office. The staff areas weren’t gilded in the finery of the public areas, but they also granted privacy and quiet from the raucous customers.
The door to the office popped open before she reached it, so she swung it wide and stepped inside. Delilah sprawled across a red kleather chaise while Lorelei sat behind her polyglass and mercurite desk. She motioned to a wall of vidscreens behind her that showed angles of every room in Tail. “I saw you coming. Mooching for information in my kitchen again?”
“And food, naturally.”
Lorelei’s green eyes—so like her sister’s—twinkled with amusement. “What do you want to know about this time?”
“A few months ago, there was a couple in here, caused a small commotion.” Gea moved to the chaise, dropped her bag on the floor, and sat sideways next to Delilah, propping her feet up on the rolled arm of the couch. Her leg ached, but it felt better after she elevated it.
“What’d you do to your pants?” Delilah leaned in to look at the shredded cloth.
“There was this guy earlier—during my constitutional stroll—who just couldn’t get enough of me, Dee. He wanted to take home a souvenir, so I let him have a bit of my pants.” Gea grinned as sweetly as she could, which wasn’t very. “I’m nice that way.”
“I bet that’s exactly what he thought, too.” Delilah settled back into her seat with a chuckle.
Gea glanced at Lorelei, but one of the vidscreens behind the desk caught her attention. A woman arched in ecstasy, her mouth opened in a silent scream, riding out her orgasm on top of a polyglass stand with a phallus built into it that thrust into her body.
“You got the updated version of the game,” she noted.
“Space Race 6000. Just installed it yesterday. My jades love it.” Lorelei’s gaze swept the screens, checking her establishment.
The game always amazed and appalled Gea. It wasn’t her style at all—she liked her pleasure a little more private. Two contestants stood on motion-sensing pads with controllers attached to each hand. A massive vidscreen on the wall was split in half, with each side trying to blow up the other’s animated spaceships. It was innocent enough, until one looked at those polyglass stands beside each player. A male and female jade were mounted on the stands, and each time a contestant destroyed a ship on the screen, the stand vibrated and thrust the phallus into their jade’s body.
Gea shook her head and refocused on Lorelei. Time to get the info she needed and get on with her night. “The woman in this couple was—”
“Tam.” Lorelei pushed her coppery hair back. “Yes, she was here and Breck found her. She demanded I make him leave, he made a few threats, and Pierce set him straight. There were a few I hate you’s thrown in with a few I love you’s, and they spent the night in one of the Peep Show rooms. That’s the last time I saw either of them.”
Delilah slanted Gea a glance that made her look every bit the lynx-shifter she was. A cat, ready to pounce. “So, Breck hired you to find her? Is that what you wanted to see me about? You want the buzz on your client?”
“No. You, I’ll get to in a moment.” Gea stayed focused on the elder Chase sibling. “You have no idea where she went after she left here?”
“I don’t. Breck asked the same questions the next day, when he woke up alone. I can tell you what I told him—she snuck out the staff door you came in tonight just before dawn. I only know that because my vidmonitors picked up her escape. No one here saw her leave.”
Which was her intention. Sneaking out was pointless if you left a bunch of witnesses behind. A dead end, though. Unlike in the Downtown District where Gea lived or the posh Lakeshore District Delilah and her husband called home, the Vermilion didn’t have vidmonitors on every street. There’d be no surveillance to help Gea track her target. She managed to repress a growl. Barely.
She turned her attention to Delilah. “A source of mine said Tam was in here that night to try and fence something to a bear-shifter named Meier. He’s from—”
“Germany.” Delilah shuddered. “Yeah, I know him. Not one of my favorite people to work with. He’s a mean bastard, but he’s got connections to some very selective Eurasian buyers with deep pockets.”
His mean streak might explain why Tam had chosen such a public place for a meeting. Also a place with a lot of exits one could use, if the need arose. “I wonder if she ever managed to meet with him.”
It was more a rhetorical statement than anything else, but Lorelei answered her anyway. “She wasn’t here long before Breck found her, and she hasn’t been back since. If she met with Meier, it wasn’t at Tail.”
Gea nodded. “Thanks so much. Your standard fee for information?”
“As well as the understanding that you were never here, and we never spoke.” Lorelei was very selective about whom she gave intel to, and what she was willing to talk about, so Gea was grateful when she could pry information out of the madam. Which wasn’t often. More than likely, she’d only offered up the goods because Breck had already done the asking, and what had happened occurred in the public areas where other people could report on what transpired. Gea was just grateful that, unlike other sources, Lorelei hadn’t felt the need to include details about what the couple had done in the Peep Show.
A knock sounded on the door and Gea slid to her feet. “Is there a private exit from here?”
Delilah flapped a hand. “It’s just Hunter.”
A tall man with dark hair stuck his head in the door. His eyes lit when they fell on his wife. “Hello, kitten.”
“Hey, birdie.” Delilah rose and moved to his side. “Finish your business?”
“Yeah.” He nodded to his sister-in-law and to Gea, wrapping an arm around his wife’s waist. “I came to say hello to Lorelei and to see if you’d like an escort home.”
“How could I resist?”
His eyebrows arched. “Why would you resist? Don’t I always make it fun for you, kitten?”
“You two can go now.” Lorelei shooed them out. “Pierce will be back soon, and I want him to myself.” She shot a glance at Gea. “You too.”
“I’m gone.” Gea grinned, grabbed her knapsack, and sped out the door first. All the lovebirds could take care of themselves. She was going home and she was not stopping by her mate’s penthouse on the way. Absolutely not.
With that in mind, she spun resolutely for the kitchens, winding through the staff hallways she’d become familiar with over the years. She turned a corner and what she saw made the breath freeze in her lungs. It felt as if she’d been kicked in the stomach. She covered her mouth as horror punched through her.
There was another man sucking off her mate.
Deus. Deus.
Ecstasy molded his face and she knew from experience he’d just come, spurted into the other man’s mouth. She hated that someone else had put that look on his face. She’d known he had other lovers. Probably many of them. A man like him could twitch his finger and have women—and men—fighting for him. He was handsome, young, rich, sexy without being a twisted pervert. Of course he slept with other people. Their arrangement wasn’t exclusive, and that was her choice, wasn’t it? She had no one to blame but herself.
It was only her who sensed the mating instinct. Only her who couldn’t bring herself to let anyone else touch her. She’d tried. Deus, she’d tried, but she couldn’t go through with it.
She swallowed the bile that burned her throat, spinning away from the scene that sent pain and jealousy knifing straight into her soul.
“Gea.”
She closed her eyes, cursed under her breath, and then faced them. Her eyebrow arched, and she tucked away all emotions to offer up a lopsided smile. “Sorry for the interruption, gentlemen.”
“Don’t worry about it.” The man who’d been sucking Quill had risen to his feet and faced her. She focused on him rather than her mate. Anything not to think about what she’d just witnessed. It was one thing to assume he slept with other people, it was another to know it, to see it with her own two eyes.
“I didn’t know you’d be here.” Something close to guilt flickered across Quill’s face, but he covered it with a teasing grin. “I might have asked you to join us.”
“I was just passing through. Excuse me.”
“Your name is . . . Gea?” the other man asked, frowning. His hair was black and edged in silver at the temples, his eyes were a deep gray. He was tall, though not as tall as Quill, but broader. He had the kind of leashed strength that said his body was a weapon he knew how to wield. Deadly. There were shadows in his eyes that spoke of seeing too much and keeping too many secrets. This was not a man to cross. Ever.
Wariness slid through her, and she moved to skirt around them. “Yeah, I’m Gea. I’m on my way to the kitchens, so don’t mind me.”
The sooner she got out of here, the better. What she’d seen would be seared into her memory forever, but that didn’t mean she wanted to stick around like some masochist fool. She jolted when the silver-eyed man’s hand closed around her arm and pulled her to a stop.
That inner wrenching that she always felt whenever Quill was near hit again, only in double. Mate. Both of them. Mate.
Deus, no. No.
Awareness flared to life in that silver gaze, and panic bolted through her. She blurted out, “What kind of shifter are you?”
Please, please, don’t let it be a species that mated for life. Please.
“Gray wolf.”
Fuck. He knew. He knew what they were, what she was to him. Her stomach turned and she had to swallow hard. “Oh.”
“I’m Kienan.” The pad of his thumb rubbed over the inside of her wrist, and tingles raced down her skin. She fought a shudder as emotions collided with each other. His gaze searched her face, inclining his head toward the door Quill stood beside. “This is my room. Come inside and have a drink with us.”
“Yes,” Quill said, and what could she do? If she ripped herself away from Kienan and ran the way her mind told her to, Quill would come after her, want to know what was wrong. He’d ask questions she couldn’t answer.
“I’m tired. I should go home.” She tugged away from Kienan’s grip, but his fingers tightened just enough to let her know she wouldn’t escape so easily.
“The Vermilion is no place to run around when you’re tired.” Quill pushed away from the wall and set his hand on her shoulder, concern in his gaze.
Heat spiked through her at his touch. Her body was well trained after all these months, and her muscles loosened to ready her for something that logic told her to retreat from. Kienan drew her toward the door, swiping his ident card over a vidscreen to unlock it.
She shouldn’t. She knew that, but her instincts didn’t want to listen. They sang from having two mates touching her at once. She was caught between them. Her sex clenched when Kienan stroked his thumb over her skin again, her pussy dampening. She closed her eyes and told herself to leave. Right now. Save herself while she could. Kienan’s scent intensified as he leaned close. “Stay the night with us, Gea.”
He rolled her name on his tongue like it was fine wine, sweet to the taste. His warm breath brushed the side of her neck and a shiver passed through her, her heart racing with panic and lust at the same time. What would he say to Quill? That the wolf wanted her to stay the night with both of them told her one thing—he felt the mating urge with Quill as well. It wasn’t just her with both of them, it was a true three-way bond. Or so fate intended. Deus help her. Quill slid his hand down her back and urged her forward.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
The knowledge pounded through her, the need to rut breaking her logic. She allowed herself to be drawn into the room, feeling a death knell toll when the door shut behind them. Kienan kept his grip on her, as if he sensed she might bolt. He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. Just that simple touch sent ecstasy coursing through her. Her nipples went tight, and she clenched her thighs together to still the ache between them. It didn’t save her. Nothing would.
Quill engaged the lock on the door and closed in on her other side. He kissed her shoulder. “I didn’t think I’d have the pleasure again so soon, dearheart.”
She opened her mouth to protest the endearment that always sent sweetness winging through her, and she hated that, but he bit the spot he had just kissed. A jolt went through her, pain mixing with her pleasure, sharpening both. Her pussy flooded with juices, and it was all she could do not to drag both men to the ground. The fox within her writhed in mating heat, demanding she do just that.
A moan broke from her when Quill’s lips brushed the side of her throat, his fangs scraping the sensitive spot that connected shoulder to neck. He took her hand and drew it to his renewed erection. The erection that Kienan had been sucking when she found them. The memory flashed through her mind, and this time it didn’t horrify her. This time, it titillated, added to the passion that flamed to life inside her. She’d like to watch them again, just like that. One filling the other’s mouth with hard cock. Her pussy throbbed at the thought.
She closed her fingers around Quill’s dick, stroking it in the slow rhythm she knew would drive him to madness. His deep groan made her grin.
“Lovely,” Kienan whispered, and the look he sent her was filled with a reverent worship that made her chest tighten.
She slammed her eyes shut and refused to think about what his expression meant. “Kiss me.”
Distraction, that was what she needed. Something to keep her mind from focusing on things she never, ever wanted to consider. Like mating. His mouth closed over hers while Quill’s lips and teeth and tongue teased her sensitized neck. His hands were busy opening the front of her shirt while his hips plunged his cock through the ring of her fingers. Kienan swept his tongue between her lips, and her brain emptied of all thought. The taste of him burst into her mouth, burning into her psyche forever. Mate.
She bit Kienan’s lower lip, then suckled it. The hot masculine flavor of him made her moan. He growled low in his throat, his hand moving around to squeeze her ass. Lust made her sex fist on emptiness, and she welcomed the heady feeling. Anything to keep from acknowledging her instincts. She tightened her grip on Quill’s cock, pumping him faster while he closed his hand over her breast. He toyed with her nipple, sent heat streaking through her that arrowed straight to her pussy and made her even wetter for them.
Both of their hands on her was intoxicating. She’d never had two men at once, never thought she’d enjoy it. But she did. Oh, she did. She broke the kiss and threw her head back. “Now. I want it now.”
Quill hissed, stepping in behind her. He lifted the single strap of her pack over her head and dropped it on the floor. “You don’t need this right now.”
His thick cock rubbed over her ass, nudging at the cleft of her cheeks. He reached around her and wrenched open the seal on her pants, working them down her thighs. “I was inside you tonight, but I want more. I want to fuck that sweet little pussy of yours.”
A sound of pure need issued from her throat, and her knees threatened to give out. “Quill.”
“I want you between us.” A small smile curved Kienan’s mouth. “I want your mouth on me.”
Yes. Deus, she wanted that, wanted to taste him. He tugged her shirt off and, within moments, they had her naked. She quivered at the way they looked at her, gazes hot enough to set her aflame. “Now the two of you. Clothes off. I want to watch you strip.”
Quill’s chuckle mixed with a purr, and he unsealed his boots and kicked them away. His jacket and shirt were next, then his pants, revealing every solid micrometer of him. She’d always loved his body, long and lean, black tattoos scrolling from his calf all the way up to his temple on one side. It was one of the few things that showed his rougher upbringing when he had such an urbane, polished surface now. She’d licked her way from one end of his nanotat to the other on more than one occasion, and her pussy slicked with cream at the remembrance.
“You too.” Quill gestured to Kienan. “Strip. Now.”
The wolf’s eyebrows arched, but he obeyed. His fingers danced over the seal of his kleather coat, revealing a dark gray shirt underneath. He pulled both off and tossed them aside. When he bent forward to unfasten his boots, she saw a large nanotat across the back of his shoulders. From upside down, she couldn’t tell what it was. He pushed his pants down and stepped out of them and his shoes. A black nanotat banded one thigh, and it looked like tribal-style sea creatures swimming in a circle around his leg. He straightened, and his chest rose and fell in bellowing breaths, a flush of lust running under his skin.
When they were both naked, she absorbed the masculine beauty of them. Kienan was darker, broader, a triangle of hair stretching from one nipple to the other and arrowing down to a thin line that bisected hard abs and expanded again to a thick thatch around his jutting cock. Beads of pre-come slid down from the head of his erection. He was broad there, too, his dick wider than Quill’s. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get her mouth around it, but she wanted to try. Quill’s cock was longer, could slide deep inside her and make her scream. Her pussy spasmed, and the fire within her threatened to consume her.
Quill reached out a hand to both of them, one slid between her thighs, two big fingers pushing inside of her while his thumb brushed over her clit. He closed his other hand around Kienan’s cock, used his grip to draw the wolf nearer, and then pumped the thick shaft in rough strokes. Kienan’s head dropped back and he rocked his hips forward, groans spilling from his lips. The sight made Gea burn hotter, and Quill dropping to his knees to slide his tongue up the length of the wolf’s dick did nothing to assuage the lust rising like a tsunami wave inside her.
Letting Kienan’s cock slip from his mouth, Quill continued to stroke the wolf. He looked to her, curled his fingers inside her, and dragged her closer. A cry broke from her throat at the rough treatment, and the sound rose to a scream when his lips closed around her clit. She rose up on tiptoes, trying to escape the overwhelming ecstasy that exploded through her. But there was no escape, and her hips pressed into his mouth of their own volition. He thrust his fingers into her, suckling her clit until she thought she’d die. He switched back and forth between Kienan and her, flicking his tongue over their needy sexes, driving them both wild. Sobbing for breath, she quivered right on the edge of orgasm. Tingles rippled up and down her limbs, her inner muscles fisted around Quill’s fingers.
So close.
And then he stopped. She moaned a protest, but he withdrew from her pussy and yanked her down to her hands and knees. “I believe Kienan wanted your mouth on him. And I want to fuck you.”
He didn’t need to tell her twice. Kienan knelt in front of her, and she took him deep into her mouth. The essence of Quill lingered on his flesh, so she could taste both her mates, and it sent a jolt of utter need straight to her core. Then Quill plunged his cock into her pussy, and she screamed around on Kienan’s dick. He groaned, sliding his fingers into her hair to grip tight. She rolled her tongue around the thick head, taking him as deep as she could. It was difficult because he was so big, and she had to concentrate on relaxing her jaw. Not an easy task with Quill fucking her. Her sex clenched each time he filled her. It was the most erotic experience of her life—both her mates taking her at once. She loved it and she knew she shouldn’t.
Shifting her weight to one hand, she slid the other up the inside of Kienan’s thigh, pausing for a moment to stroke the nanotat circling his leg. She cupped his testicles, rolled them between her fingers. He groaned, his thrusts into her mouth picking up speed. But she wasn’t done with him. She slipped her hand farther between his muscular thighs, caressed the sensitive flesh behind his balls, and moved to tease his anus. His body tensed, his thrusts faltering, but she pressed a finger into his ass, curling it until she stroked just the right spot. He jolted, his cock expanding between her lips. She rolled her tongue around his hard shaft and pushed her fingers in and out of his anus, making sure to rub over that sweet spot inside him.
“Deus. Gea!” Kienan choked on a breath; then his big body went rigid. A rough shudder racked him, and his fingers tightened in her hair. He fucked her mouth hard, his cock hitting the back of her throat as he came. The salty flavor of him filled her mouth.
“Swallow it, Gea,” Quill growled, reaching around to flick his claw over her clit. She moaned around Kienan’s cock, swallowed his come, just as Quill had ordered.
Heat flushed her face, skittering through her body. She could feel the scrape of Quill’s talons on her, the clench of Kienan’s hands in her hair. Their breath rushed out in pants, Quill’s skin slapped against hers, Kienan groaned out his climax—a carnal symphony that ratcheted up her excitement. Quill pinched her clit hard, and it was too much. She hit orgasm in a hot rush that exploded through her body. Her pussy flexed around Quill’s thrusting cock, and each time he entered her, her sex spasmed again. And again.
He pounded into her, and she knew from the roughness of his movements that he was close to climax. The thought sent heat spiraling through her. He sank deep, grinding against her ass, his fingers working her clit in time with his thrusts. When he spurted into her, another wave of orgasm shuddered through her, and they both groaned. Her pussy contracted tight, milking his cock until she thought she might faint.
Kienan slipped his cock from her mouth, sliding his hands down from her hair to her jaw and massaging the tight muscles there. She sighed, shut her eyes, and relaxed. Not a single thought went through her mind, which was a blessing she’d take and not ask questions about. She was ready to just curl up and sleep. One of the men lifted her into his arms, cradling her close. She drew in a breath, then opened her eyes. Kienan. The hair on his chest rubbed against her cheek and then a soft mattress gave beneath her.
Reality would return soon to bite her in the ass, but for just a moment, she drifted, boneless and content. Each of the men settled on opposite sides of her, surrounding her in solid warmth.
“Sleep,” Quill said, his purr a sound of deep satisfaction that lulled her into doing as he commanded. She closed her eyes again, just for a moment. She’d wait for them to pass out and then she’d go. Just a little nap.
When her eyes popped open again, she knew it was morning, that she’d stayed all night the way Kienan had wanted. The three of them were tangled together and she eased away from the men, praying exhaustion kept them from waking. She stood, turning to look down at them.
Their breathing remained the steady cadence of deep slumber, Quill with an arm thrown over his head, Kienan facedown with one arm flung across Quill’s stomach. She’d never seen him sleep, never allowed herself to stay long enough for that. The sweetness on his face was unexpected. He was usually so in control, so aloof and mocking, so willing to yank other people’s chains to get the reaction he wanted from them. The vulnerability nearly broke her. She wanted that. She wanted it so bad she could taste it. Forever.
No. Deus, had watching her mother’s life melt around her taught her nothing? What was wrong with her? She knew better than this. She’d been so careful.
Until last night. Until Kienan. Until there had been two of them overwhelming her ragged willpower.
Everything in her wanted to stay, craved it like someone blissed out on a bender.
She didn’t even take the time to grab her clothes. She just shifted to her fox form and ran like hell.