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The moment Arjun flew into his arms, Tevin took his first real breath since he’d realized his mate had left him. Not even finding Baz had been enough to relieve the ache of losing his mate to his own stupidity.
He held on tight, refusing to allow the possibility that Arjun might change his mind. When he felt strong arms encircle them both, a sob broke free from deep within his body. It had come from a place in his gut that had somehow always known there was meant to be three of them.
“Did you feel that, too?” Arjun asked after he too had let out a wail that was a mix of relief and happiness.
“I did,” Baz’s deep voice rumbled out. “Our souls are rejoicing that we finally are together.”
Tevin could only nod and hold his mates tighter, for the ability to speak was lost as too many strong emotions raced through him. Breathing in the scent of his mates helped him deal with what he was feeling, but it also had his body reacting in other ways that he wasn’t about to encourage while they stood on the porch of a tiny hut that didn’t seem stable enough to hold their weight.
No. Tevin wanted them home, in their bed. Although, truth be told, the bed part was optional. Finding the will to speak, he asked, “Can we please go home? I need both of my mates to claim me properly and I refuse to do that here.”
When Arjun stiffened in his arms, Tevin pulled back just enough to look into those pretty copper eyes of his. “What is it, my love?”
When Arjun looked down and refused to meet Tevin’s eyes, he realized how selfish he was still being. It wasn’t fair to assume Arjun was ready for the three of them to be together, especially when Tevin had been such an idiot all these years.
Thank God for Baz. He placed a finger under Arjun’s chin and forced him to look up and to the side until he was staring at Baz. “We’ll go as fast or slow as you need, precious. We’ll understand if you need more time.”
There was anguish in those copper eyes as Arjun said, “What if I can’t do this? I mean, my fox is screaming in my head not to say this, but what if I can’t handle seeing you two together? It was hard always thinking that Tevin would one day leave me.”
Baz leaned in and sipped at Arjun’s lips, which had Tevin’s cock twitching at the sight. He would never forgive himself if he’d damaged Arjun’s ability to enjoy their mating like Tevin was at that moment.
“Then we’ll figure out a way to make it work for all of us,” Tevin said. “But I would never want to miss out on the chance of watching the two of you together like this.”
Arjun frowned and looked over at him. “Really? But when Baz is kissing me, no one is kissing you.”
Tevin took Arjun’s hand in his and placed it at along Tevin’s hard on. “I’m definitely enjoying every single moment of you two together.”
Those copper eyes widened as Arjun cupped his bulging groin. “Seeing us kiss made you hard?” The wonder in Arjun’s voice might have made Tevin chuckle if it wasn’t for the fact that the feel of his mate’s hand on him had Tevin aching for so much more.
“Yes,” he barely managed to get out around a groan of pleasure so intense, Tevin feared he was going to come in his pants. Lust took over as Tevin hooked a hand around the back of Arjun’s neck and pulled him in for a heated kiss.
The moan from Baz let them both know how much their new mate was enjoying the show as Tevin thrust his tongue into Arjun’s mouth. His mate’s sweet flavor flooded his taste buds. God he missed this. Just kissing Arjun was an experience all on its own.
Arjun had a way of sinking into the moment. His whole attention was on Tevin as their tongues glided together in a sensuous dance. Dick throbbing, Tevin forced himself to hold onto his barely leashed excitement of having his mate back in his arms where he belonged.
Need pulsed through him with each moment. His mate knew all his hot spots and Arjun was making sure to use all that he could reach. The added arousal of knowing Baz was not only watching them, but was turned on by it if the growls and moans he was making were any indication. Tevin feared he’d never make it to the hotel room he and Baz had rented, much less all the way home.
“Please, don’t make me come here,” he begged as Arjun nipped Tevin’s bottom lip. “I want us in our home, where we belong.”
The moment Arjun nodded, Baz grabbed each of their hands and tugged them to follow him away from the small rundown hut.
“How are you able to do that?” Arjun grumbled. “I have booby traps all over this place. There should be no way you could weave through them all without setting at least one of them off.”
Baz chuckled as he continued to pull them both along with him, making sure none of them got too close to one of Arjun’s devices. “Oh, my mate, you really don’t get it, do you?”
Baz couldn’t see the scowl on Arjun’s face as he was slightly in front of them, but it was so damn cute, Tevin was tempted to stop and kiss that adorable mouth. It had taken going through this mine field before Tevin had understood how Baz so easily traversed it. Why Tevin had never been able to do the same before, he wasn’t sure, but now, he would have little trouble.
“He can smell you, my love,” Tevin said.
“What?” Arjun’s eyebrows drew together as he considered what Tevin had said. When he still didn’t get it, he asked. “What does that even mean?”
“You’re my mate, precious,” Baz said as he made it past the last of the traps. Then he turned to face Arjun. “I would be able to find you anywhere. Which means at that first cabin, I could easily follow the path you made as you came and went.”
Baz leaned down and kissed the shocked look right off of Arjun’s face. “This time, admittedly, it was more of a challenge,” Baz told him.
There was the dawning light of understanding in Arjun’s copper eyes. “Because I hadn’t made a path yet. I was still putting in the various traps.” Then he frowned and asked, “Then how did you make it in and out without setting one off?”
Baz’s deep chuckle did things to Tevin’s already overstimulated body that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to control if it kept happening. “This time, I stayed away from your enticing aroma,” Baz told him. “I could make it through one of your minefields blindfolded so long as I know which scent trail to follow.”
Their much bigger mate pulled Arjun flush against his body. “I told you, precious, there is nowhere on this earth I couldn’t find you. Nothing and no one will ever stand between us.”
Arjun shivered at that bold statement. Then again, so did Tevin. Baz may not have said the words directly to him, but he knew their new mate meant it for both of them.
They made it back to the hotel where Baz and Tevin packed the few things they’d brought with them and checked out. He hadn’t missed the way Arjun had noted the fact that only one bed had been in the room.
“Nothing happened,” Tevin reassured Arjun as Baz turned in their keys. “I mean, Baz held me, but in fairness, he was trying his best to console me as I cried myself to sleep each night. But neither of us were willing to have sex without you.”
The tension in Arjun’s body relaxed somewhat. “Was he enough for you?”
Tevin let out a long breath. He feared his mate would never truly forgive him for what he’d done. But so long as there was breath in his body, Tevin would keep on trying. “No. Nor was I for him. We both felt the ache of you not being there with us.”
He wasn’t sure if that was the answer Arjun had been looking for, but it was the truth. One that neither Baz nor Tevin had bothered to deny to each other. Then again, they’d had the luxury of knowing it was Arjun that was missing. When he’d gone through the uncertainty with Arjun, Tevin wasn’t sure what the problem had been.
There wasn’t much he could do about the past. All Tevin could hope for was a chance to do better in the future.