Page 19

He eased back, giving her bottom lip one last suck before turning her to face Mehl. The other king had removed his formal robe and freed his cock, and she couldn’t draw her gaze away from the broad head. Her core clenched hard, sending a blast of heat through her body.

“If you want to do this together, you’ll have to use your mouth,” Toren muttered at her ear. “Are you willing to do that?”

Ria shivered. From the dark heat of his words and the hard press of his length against her bottom. From the sight of Mehl waiting for her decision, an almost vulnerable gleam in his eyes. As if she could refuse them. For some reason, she couldn’t deny these men anything.

“More than willing.”

Toren pushed gently between her shoulder blades, and she bent over, resting her forearms across Mehl’s thighs. His hand cupped her cheek, his fingers tangling in her hair as she took him slowly into her mouth. A finger stroked across her entrance, and she hummed in pleasure. Mehl’s startled twitch had his cock sliding deeper until she had to curl her fingers around the base to steady them both.

Then Toren slammed home, and all three of them cried out at the surge of power and pleasure. Magic moved between them in a constant ebb and flow, so strong and constant that Ria didn’t try to grasp it. For the first time in years, she simply let herself feel. The salty taste of Mehl on her tongue and his soft, stifled moans. The slide of Toren inside her, hitting a spot that made her dig the fingers of her free hand into Mehl’s thigh.

But most of all the nameless emotion she couldn’t bear to fathom.

Someone’s memories flitted through her mind, but she ignored them. She reached for something else, some eternal force she couldn’t control or define. Her pleasure rose to meet it, and something sparked within her, like the magic she used to create clothes. But so much greater, especially when Toren’s and Mehl’s magics blended with it. Unconsciously, she smoothed the rough edges.

Ria couldn’t pause to question. Her orgasm ripped through her with such force that light flashed behind her eyes. Then Mehl’s cock pulsed in her mouth, and she swallowed his essence as Toren stiffened behind her with a cry, filling her with his seed. She shuddered from the perfection of the moment, an unbroken link connecting them.

They stayed that way for a moment, though Ria surely would have fallen if not for Toren’s support. She let herself drift on a haze of pleasure before awareness slipped in with a slight movement from Mehl. Quickly, she drew back, releasing him from her mouth. A pinch against her scalp reminded her that his fingers were still tangled in her hair, something that only became clearer when he tipped her face up.

“Thank you for including me,” Mehl murmured, his voice husky.

Her face went hot, and he chuckled as he drew his hand back. She understood why when Toren tugged her upright, turning her to face him. But she couldn’t make out the expression on his face. Angry? Frustrated? Intense, most certainly, and not what she would have expected considering the situation.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said darkly.

“What?” Ria blinked, searching for understanding. “Include Mehl?”

Toren’s jaw clenched as he shook his head. “No. Join our magics.”

* * *

Mehl couldn’t preventthe wave of hurt, so strong he almost didn’t catch Toren’s explanation. The thought of his husband wanting him left out of this… But, no. He’d mentioned joining magic. What did he mean by that?

“I don’t understand,” Ria said, obviously no clearer about the claim.

Toren scowled. “Couldn’t you tell how our magics blended? You were the one who performed the task.”

Quickly, Mehl searched inside himself, anxious to verify the claim, but the well of power that was uniquely his showed no sign of connection. Whatever Toren meant, it was not something ongoing. Mehl thought back to the flow of power between them while they’d been having sex. The blast of Toren’s magic hadn’t been unusual, but the thread that had come along with it…

Mehl’s spine stiffened, and he leaned forward. “You were attempting to join our power together?”

Couples sometimes did that, either temporarily or permanently as desired, but it wasn’t something undertaken without permission. Had they been mistaken about Ria after all? If she managed the trick, it would give her hold over them. Especially Toren, who was powerful but also vulnerable with it.

Ria’s eyebrows drew together. “No.”

“Then I hope you have a better explanation,” Toren drawled. “We have given our oath to care for you in exchange for bearing our child. I hope we haven’t bound ourselves in such a way to a traitor.”

Mehl winced, though his husband’s words echoed his own worries. He tucked himself back into his pants and stood, hoping to calm Toren enough to find the truth. But he should have worried about Ria, instead. Her skin flushed red, and before either of them could react, her hand cracked across Toren’s face.

Before she could lower her arm, Mehl had her wrist in his grip. “You do realize you could be executed for striking the High King?”

The color that had risen in her face drained away, and her arm went limp in his hold. But a moment later, her chin tipped up. “I didn’t consider that, but I don’t care. He deserved it. Both of you do. To take my body like that and then call me a traitor… Go ahead and plan my execution, because just thinking about it makes me want to hit him again.”

Although Toren’s expression didn’t soften, Mehl felt his own concern begin to fade. “Forgive us if we are mistaken. However, creating a link like that without permission would be obscene. If you did not attempt that, then what happened?”

Her expression twisted with dread. “When Toren’s power rushed through me and into you, there was something unusual about it. Rough, like a snarled thread or fabric unevenly matched. I smoothed it so it wouldn’t do harm.”

“Interesting. Wouldn’t you say, Toren?” Now, Mehl caught a hint of easing in his husband’s demeanor. He slowly released Ria’s arm and sighed. “How does your magic work?”