I stared at the dress hanging in my room. When I woke from my nap, it was there, calling out my name. I didn’t even know how they were able to sneak it into my room without waking me.
The dress was beautiful: a plum sleeveless mid-length dress with a round neck and lace trimmings. Black heels were on the floor in front of it. I rolled my eyes and pulled the dress off its hanger and held it against my body. The fabric was soft and silky.
I pulled it on, the fit perfect, hugging my waist before flaring outward. I slipped on the shoes, put on minimum makeup to accentuate my green eyes and then pulled my hair into an updo, letting a few strands hang down. The color looked warm against my naturally tanned skin.
When I finished getting dressed, I went out to meet the guys. They were already there, ready for me. The three of them cleaned up nicely. Rhett wore a full suit, Venni a t-shirt and a dinner jacket matched with dark jeans, and Davies wore jeans with an unbuttoned dress shirt to show a black tee underneath it.
“Where did you get all these nice clothes, and why do I feel like you guys got ready hours ago and were hanging around waiting for me?” I asked playfully.
“We heard you when you got up and started getting dress when you did,” Venni said.
“Not our fault you’re a slowpoke,” Davies said with a grin. “There’s a fae on campus and they’re well known for creating something that wasn’t there before—a.k.a. clothes.” His eyes trailed over me. “And every penny was worth it for that dress.” He approached me until he was only inches away, his hazel eyes smoldering as he looked down. I had to tilt my head back to see him since he was so tall. He leaned forward, his hands resting on my hips. “You’re gorgeous,” he whispered, bending and placing a chaste kiss right next to my lips. He sent my heart rate speeding at his simple touch, and my body sung for more contact just like that. I liked sex and it had been a while by my standards. This was dangerous territory.
“Okay, give her room to breathe,” Venni said and Davies laughed as he stepped back and did just that. I took in a sharp breath. I’d never reacted to someone so deeply like that before, and I’d had my fair share of one-night stands.
These guys were making me realize how empty those nights were despite having a warm body pressed against me. There was something about knowing a person better that added depth to their touches. That concept scared the shit out of me.
Trying to focus back on the now, I asked, “So what exactly are we doing?”
Davies grinned, his eyes filled with mischief. “You’ll see.”
“Come on,” Venni said, opening the flap of the tent for me. The sun had already set and all the lights were lit up so we could see the campgrounds. I went through and Rhett was at my side as my escort while the other two flanked us. The behessif was waiting and joined on my left as soon as we came out. He rubbed against me briefly, letting out a rumbling noise before following by my side. I reached over since he came up to my chest and gave his head a scratch.
“The path is all lit, and I’ve been assured everything is set up and safe,” Venni said.
“Now will you tell me?” I asked. I didn’t like surprises. They were unknowns and the unknowns always ate at me.
“You’ll know when we get there,” Davies said, and I released a frustrated huff. Why couldn’t they tell me?
We walked for ten minutes, everyone keeping quiet so we could enjoy the nightlife. The forest brimmed with life. Venni seemed the most excited about being in the wild, I could feel it in the flair of his energy and in how he had a little more pep in his step, not that I would ever use him and pep in the same sentence out loud. No doubt all the night critters around us called out to his shifter.
“Do you want to go for a run?” I asked him, glancing back so I could see him.
Venni met my eyes and for a moment, I stared at his wolf. He broke out into… well, a wolfish smile. Venni’s smile was a rare sight to behold and my breath hitched. “I’m right where I want to be,” he said.
I swallowed and turned to face where we were walking. I didn’t want to read too much in that statement, but darn it, his words sent my brain into the gutter. They were making it hard to focus, my imagination wanting to take every touch and word and twist it into the perfect fantasy. And that smile. I didn’t know he was capable of doing that. He worked so darn hard to restrain himself that he created a blank mask he always kept on his face. My lip twitched as happiness flooded through me. He’d given me a peek underneath his mask.
“Around this bend,” Rhett said.
I wanted to run on just to get the surprise over with, but Rhett kept a firm grip on my hand that rested on his arm. He wasn’t going to let me spoil the surprise until they were ready.
Davies rubbed his hands together. “This is going to be fun.”
We went around the bend and stepped through some tree branches that were fighting to take the path back. When we broke through, I gasped, my jaw dropping at the scene before me.
This couldn’t be more perfect. The sound of rushing water acted as background noise to the candle lit dinner set up before us. The large round table had four metal domes on it, no doubt covering the food that filled the air with mouthwatering spices. Tree stumps acted as our chairs and each one had a black cushion. I didn’t even know how they managed to get the tree stumps like that because they were definitely still rooted into the ground and the location was too convenient for trees to have naturally grown in perfect spacing like that. The extra lights around the area were either torches or floating lanterns going up into the surrounding trees.
“This is gorgeous,” I said, looking all over, trying to take everything in.
I never thought I’d go to a candlelit dinner, especially in the middle of the wild. My eyes burned at the thoughtfulness of the guys around me. They were doing so much for me.
“And the best part is that rushing water you hear is a waterfall. It goes into a hot spring and after we eat, we can go relax,” Venni said.
“I didn’t bring a bathing suit,” I said.
“Not needed,” Davies grinned. He led me over to the table, motioning for me to take a seat on one of the stumps. Once I sat, the others settled down. Rhett took off the dome cover to reveal my plate, and he pulled off his own.
We were all served the same meal but with slight variations to cater to our tastes. While Venni poured the wine, I took in the mouth-watering scents. The smell of lemons filled my lungs as I took in the asparagus and chicken dish on a bed of noodles. I wasn’t a foodie, but I could still appreciate a well put together dish.
“Go ahead, don’t be shy,” Venni said, his smile soft as he watched me. I speared a noodle with my fork and ate it, closing my eyes as flavors burst across my taste buds. A creamy lemon sauce matched perfectly with the rest.
“How did you even get this kind of meal out here?” I asked.
“It wasn’t as hard as you think. The higher ranking guys here are spoiled with food. I made a trade with them and they were more than happy to help,” Davies said.
I narrowed my eyes. “What kind of deal?”
He chuckled. “Can you believe they don’t have chocolate here? It’s not really a priority and being so far away from civilization, they ended up stuck without any.” He shuddered at the notion. “So I gave them some of my stash.”
I laughed and dinner went smoothly as we talked and got to know each other better. They told me funny stories about some of the assignments they’d had. Of course they only told me what they could because of confidentiality, but the stories were still hilarious. I told them about some of my funny magical mishaps as a child, staying away from the ones that were only bad memories.
“No wonder you’re a control freak,” Davies said, still laughing at my story.
“I am not a control freak,” I said.
“Uh, yeah, you are,” Davies countered.
“He’s right, you do like to have control over everything,” Venni said.
I sent him a glare. “That’s not why I’m a control freak. I can handle magic mishaps. I learned to handle them.”
“Then why?” Rhett asked.
The humor I felt seeped away into nothingness as his simple question brought forward too many memories.
I sighed and glanced off to the side where the behessif was resting. His eyes were closed but his barbed tails flickered every once in a while and his ears flickered to catch the sounds in the area. No doubt, if someone approached us, he would let us know.
“Laila? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you think about unpleasant things,” Rhett said, concern softening his voice.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. I like control because too many times I lost it as a child. It really isn’t easy being a five year old trying to learn to use magic. Most beings don’t even get their gifts until their preteens. Me? I had it since I was a baby. I guess that’s why I was abandoned. Too much magic with no training is dangerous.”
“You accidentally hurt people,” Rhett said.
I nodded, staring down at my plate, now half eaten. The others had already cleaned their plates. “Yeah. I sent a few people to the hospital on accident. I never meant it. I didn’t know how to control my magic, and no one bothered to take the time to teach me. I was an inconvenience and it was easier to return me instead of giving me the help I should have gotten as a child. No one wanted to bother with me so I had to teach myself.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. We made this all depressing now,” Davies said.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.” I smirked. “It actually feels kind of nice to be able to talk about it openly. People see me as a control freak without ever thinking that there might be a reason why.”
“Well, if you ever need to talk, we’re always here for you,” Venni said.
“Thanks.” I stood, feeling brave. “Now, can we go swimming?” I didn’t say it, but I could see it in their expression. We were all thinking about how I killed Tobias Nilsen. That was a good example of losing control, even if they said it wasn’t my fault. I should have had more control to stop the spikes from killing him. I shook my head and plastered a smile on my face. Tonight was about fun. Not haunting memories.
“Not yet, now we enjoy dessert,” Rhett said as he stood up and disappeared into the surrounding darkness. I sat back down and a moment later, he came back with a new metal dome covered dish. When he set it on the table, he lifted the cover off with a little extra flourish, and I grinned at him.
When I took in the little surprise, I licked my lips.
“Strawberries,” I said.
“Strawberry kisses,” Davies answered. “The chefs assured us they’re absolutely delicious and easy to share.” His words were practically a purr, his focus on my lips. Anticipation whirled inside of me as I lifted one and took a bite. The bitterness of the chocolate mixed with the sweetness of the strawberry and a cream filling to smooth it all out brought my taste buds alive. I moaned, savoring every moment of the experience.
“How was it?” Venni asked, eyes hooded as he waited for my response.
I licked my lips, and he followed the motion.
“Sweet,” I replied. I grabbed a smaller one and held it out for him to try. His eyes stayed on me as he leaned forward and drew the entire strawberry into his mouth. I never thought watching someone eating food was erotic until Venni ate that strawberry.
I cleared my throat and slowly ate another, watching as the three of them helped themselves to strawberries. Davies told us random facts about strawberries such as they weren’t technically berries.
Once we finished, Venni got up and said, “Now we can go swimming.”
“Yes!” Davies cheered as he got to his feet. We left the food as Davies grabbed my hand and escorted me toward the sound of the rushing water. The temperature in the air increased the closer we got, and by the time we reached the hot springs, the air was filled with mist and my skin had become heated.
The springs was located next to a rock wall reaching up into the darkness. The small pool would fit the four of us comfortably, but there wasn’t going to be much room for swimming. Rocks reflecting the little bit of moonlight and the flickering lights surrounded the pool area, and we would have to step up onto the rocks before stepping down into the steaming water.
I expected a sulfur smell. Wasn’t that what springs were supposed to smell like? I wasn’t talking about the depths of hell sulfur either. Lombardi had that distinct and attractive scent down pat. No, I meant the rotten eggs kind, like magic gone terribly wrong. I’d stunk myself out of my home lab once when I mixed some ingredients that didn’t agree with the magic and what I wanted.
Davies didn’t wait, already stripping down, tossing his clothes onto a large boulder, away from the water.
“Wha?” I knew I needed to look away, but that wasn’t happening as he shed his clothes and revealed his powerful self underneath. His six and a half foot frame gave me a lot to look at. He was a piece of art with bulging muscles, ridges along his stomach and smooth pale skin to wrap it all up in a nice hard package. Black writing snagged my attention as they traced along his rib cage. I couldn’t make them out due to the distance and the shadows. When I had the chance, I’d have to investigate further. I moved on, following the taunt skin over thick muscles until I found the line of blond hair making its way down from his belly button to his manly bits. There was risk of drooling when his abs bunched as he leaned forward to pull off his pants, answering my question of boxers or briefs. Briefs. He wore briefs. And according to the briefs hugging him, he was a proportionate man. His body size was not to make up for anything at all. He turned away from me, sending me a heated glance before taking off his briefs to reveal two firm round ass cheeks and my fingers twitched, wanting to dig my nails into them, to see if they were as muscular as they looked. Without looking back at me, Davies got right into the pool, practically leaving me panting after him.
Someone chuckled, and I swallowed as I turned my attention to Rhett and Venni. They were both shirtless, and I missed the show because I was distracted with Davies. Venni held onto his shirt still and he put it down on a different rock, next to a neatly folded up shirt, no doubt belonging to Rhett. My focus kept flickering between the two as I tried to drink them in.
As a wolf shifter, Venni was almost as bulky as Davies, his skin a nice bronze color. His energy brushed against mine and for a moment I could see him standing naked in the middle of the forest under the shine of a full moon. He came off as powerful and deadly, a hunter in his prime.
My breath hitched, turned on by the image as it slipped away. By the time I could focus, he was already approaching the water and slipping in, leaving only Rhett and me.
“Aren’t you a little overdressed?” Davies called out, and I glared at him. He was ruining my show.
Rhett’s smile widened, turning challenging as he stood before me, shirtless, but still with his pants. He cocked an eyebrow.
“Aren’t you forgetting to do something?” he asked.
I cleared my throat and took in a sharp breath, preparing myself. I was proud of my body. I was hard and soft in all the right places. I didn’t go to the gym or workout, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t an active person. I didn’t have a darn thing to be embarrassed about. I was proud of my body.
And yet I could already feel my skin heating at the thought of revealing it all to these three guys.
“You don’t have to take off anything you don’t want to,” Rhett said, sensing my discomfort.
“Of course not,” Davies said. “You can wear your underwear too.”
“Or come in with the entire dress,” Venni added.
Davies groaned, but he didn’t disagree. Their response to my discomfort only made it easier as I grabbed the hem of the dress and pulled it over my head. The dress was too nice to ruin.
Davies made a whistling noise, and by the time the dress was off, my cheeks were blazing, and no doubt the blush went all the way down my neck. I folded the dress carefully and put it on a dry rock. Rhett did the same with his slacks. The only thing he had left were the boxer briefs that currently hugged his frame like a second skin, conforming to the ridges of his body. Rhett wasn’t bulky. He was tall and lean. His golden eyes met mine and captured me as he pulled down his underwear. I wanted to look down so badly, but his eyes demanded my attention.
Of course, by the time I broke free of his gaze, he had done his vampiric speed thing and was in the water.
They chuckled at me, and I glowered. They didn’t play fair.
An idea came to me and I broke out into a mischievous smile that had their laughter stopping.
“I don’t like that look,” Davies said.
“What look?” I asked.
“That! Right there.” His eyes narrowed. “What are you up to?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said and hummed a little tune, letting my magic wrap up with the song. I reached out and felt for the water, feeling its heat, finding its source, and enjoying how content the water was.
I pushed through an idea, still humming as I swayed my hips and approached the hot springs. All three sets of eyes were on me, and if I hadn’t know that they were interested in dating me, then I would now. Rhett’s golden eyes blazed with the heat of all his energy. Venni’s eyes darkened. Davies’s eyes smoldered with need. I slipped off the heels and then hopped up onto the rock, the cool stone not as slippery as I expected. It was like the hot spring didn’t touch the stone despite it being right at the water’s edge.
I reached behind my back to the hooks on my strapless bra. I wore a cute little black set with lace. The fabric gave them hints at what lay underneath without giving anything away. The perfect tease for this moment.
Once I unhooked my bra, I attacked, sending my magic into the water with the request. The water approved and reacted, surging upward, turning the spring water into a temporary fountain, shooting water up from the hole.
The men cried out in surprise and while they were distracted, I managed to get my bra and undies off. I hopped into the spring, loving the way the hot water soothed all my aches and tension. By the time the water around them settled, I was already in the water up to my neck, sitting on the stone benches placed underneath.
They couldn’t see much through the dark water and groaned when they realized what I’d done. I grinned wide.
“Not fair. We gave you a show,” Davies said, moving closer to me.
“And teased me. I simply returned the favor.”
Rhett chuckled as Davies came over next to me, resting his arm on the rock behind my head. I leaned back so my head rested on the inside of his elbow.
“This is really nice,” I murmured.
“That’s good,” Venni said.
“We worried about you after we got out. You’ve been distant,” Rhett said.
“Too much to think about,” I said. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Davies snorted. “It’s our job to worry.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Speaking of job, Rhett told me.”
I glanced at Venni and then back to Davies, trying to gauge their reactions. Davies’s smile widened.
“I know. We told him to tell you. We know you don’t like surprises and springing this idea on you would have only pissed you off.”
I made sure to look at each guy. “And you’re all okay with this?” I asked. “I mean… there’s only one of me.”
Rhett’s smile softened as he moved closer to stand in front of me. “We’ve talked about this multiple times. For some of us, it’s an easy decision. We like you, we want to know you better, we want to go further with you if you’d let us.”
“What do you mean some of us?” I asked, latching onto those words.
Venni shifted but didn’t say anything while Rhett’s smile turned a little sad. “Cultural differences that you don’t need to worry about.”
I narrowed my eyes. “No. If I’m going into this, I want to know.”
“We’ll have problems of course, trying to find a balance. It’s easier for me,” Rhett said, “because in vampire culture, most broods have a queen and that queen has multiple lovers, usually her guards.”
I cocked an eyebrow because I did not know this. “Have you…?”
He shook his head. “No. Our queen is not someone I want to be close with.” His expression shut down briefly before he forced a smile. “I wanted to let you know it’s more common to have multiple lovers than you think.” He glanced at Venni.
I glanced at the shifter and saw his nervousness. It wasn’t anything he outwardly did. He didn’t fidget or glance around too much. He showed his nerves in a different way, by locking his body tight, fighting against the involuntary movements that normally gave it away. “But not all supernatural cultures are the same,” I said.
Venni met my eyes and nodded. “Shifters believe strongly in soul mates and we can be so possessive that it’s impossible to share our mate with others. Our beasts would ride us hard enough to claim the mate and keep the others away. We don’t share well.”
I licked my lips and he followed the motion with intensity. “But you can?” I asked.
He nodded. “Working at BMS has taught me about teamwork and what it means to have others to back me. I can’t always be there for you, but knowing you’ll be taken care of by the others helps. My wolf and I know our limitations and knowing who you are, we accepted that having others around is a bonus, not a crutch.”
“I just…” I didn’t know what to say.
“Don’t overthink it, Laila,” Davies said. “We like you, we know you like us, what’s there to think about? We’re willing to do this if you are.”
“Rhett mentioned Alijah and Elliot too?”
“Yup.” Davies didn’t even balk at the idea.
“All five of you?” I asked.
Rhett chuckled. “From the looks of it, there might be a couple more.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“That’s not for us to talk about. If they want to throw in their interest too, they will, but I’m sure they know what’s going on. They’ll have their own issues to deal with if they want to be a part of this.”
My instincts told me to jump head first into this… whatever this was going to be, but my head told me to slow down, to get all the facts before I made any decisions that could potentially change everything—and not necessarily for the best.
“I really do need to think about this,” I said.
“Of course,” Rhett said. “Your pace. We’ll do what you want to do and we won’t push.”
“I’ve had good practice at restraint,” Davies said, and I had to swallow at the double meaning behind that.
We spent the rest of the time relaxing and teasing each other. They knew each other well enough since they had to work together, but for me, I was starting to get to know them and I enjoyed every second of it. The more I learned about them, the closer I felt to them. They definitely drew me.
Fears played at my thoughts, but I did my best to keep them away. It wouldn’t do me any good to question what could potentially happen if I allowed myself to get close to all of them and then it didn’t work out. I definitely avoided thinking about the possibility of changing their dynamics. I could see clearly that they were friends. Working in the security company meant they had to work closely with each other. They were practically family. I didn’t want to ruin that.
When we finished, I slipped out first, keeping my back to them as I pulled on my underwear, grinning as I heard their intakes of breaths and someone who went as far as groaning.
Of course, they returned the favor, hiding all the best parts of themselves as they put on their clothes.
Rhett held my hand as we walked back to the campsite, following the lit path. The behessif stayed on the other side, bumping into me every so often to remind me that he was still there. We were only a couple minutes away when I felt something wrong and stopped. The behesiff moved in front of me and growled.
“Laila?” Venni asked, eyeing the creature ready to tear into an invisible threat.
“Something doesn’t feel right,” I said, looking around. The three of them went still, Rhett and Venni’s noses flaring as they scented the area.
“I don’t sense anything,” Venni said.
Something was definitely wrong. The air was heavier and the nature around us was a little more withdrawn, as if hoping if they stayed back, they wouldn’t get hurt.
“We need to hurry,” I said. I went to take off, but the behessif stepped in my way.
“Move,” I said.
He didn’t, letting out a little whine.
“I like him already,” someone said.
This time, I pulled on a little bit of magic, filling my word with it. “Move.”
The behessif whined, but did as I commanded.
I kicked off my heels, grabbed them, and took off, sprinting to the camp, the dark feeling urging me on. Something was very, very wrong. I didn’t hear chaos, but I felt like there should have been.