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I took a shallow breath, recalling them and what to do. “Do you, Casteel Da’Neer, enter this Joining freely and with will of your own, only your own?” I asked as I lifted my left hand. It trembled slightly.

“I enter this Joining freely and with will of only my own,” he said, taking my left hand in his.

The nightbirds fell silent.

I lifted my right hand. “Do you, Kieran Contou, enter this Joining freely and with will of your own, only your own?”

“I enter this Joining freely and with will of only my own.” Kieran’s warm right hand enveloped mine, and he brought our joined hands to the center of my chest where Casteel’s ring had once rested between my breasts.

The air stilled around us.

And with the last words needing to be spoken—it was only a handful, but the realm seemed to hear them—the Primal essence stirred even more as if it were waking up and listening.

“I love you, Penellaphe Da’Neer,” Casteel whispered, dipping his head to drag his lips over mine. “From this moment to your last moment.”

I shuddered at what he’d said. Those words had nothing to do with the Joining. They were just a reminder. “I love you, Casteel Da’Neer,” I whispered thickly. “From this moment to our last moment.”

The same shudder ran through his body as he brought the blade up. Without looking away, without flinching, he drew the sharp edge across his chest, slicing open his skin. Blood immediately welled, beading. Casteel tossed the blade aside and then stepped into me. The contact of his body against mine, with Kieran planted so firmly behind me, and the feel of Casteel rigid against my belly, was another stunning, sharp jolt to my system.

My heart started racing again, beating so fast I wondered how it could sustain such a speed as Casteel placed his right hand on Kieran. Could Kieran feel it beneath our hands? Could Casteel hear it pounding away?

Kieran’s left hand went around the nape of Casteel’s neck, and then all three of us were connected.

They waited for me, and they didn’t have to wait too long. I stretched up, my pulse skittering as their bodies seemed to conform to mine in a way that almost felt as if they were bracing me, becoming two pillars of support. Something I found ironic when I would become the one who would support them.

My mouth brushed Casteel’s chest, and he gave a little jerk that I felt throughout my entire body. My lips tingled at the first touch. I closed my mouth over the wound, drawing his blood into me.

It felt like forever since I’d tasted him. My memories did him no justice. His blood tasted like citrus in snow. I drank, sucking at his skin, drawing his essence into me.

Casteel’s groan rumbled through him, vibrating against my breasts and moving to Kieran. I felt his head fall back. The taste of him—his essence—was an awakening, a freefall rush without compare. His blood was warm and thick, heating my already inflamed skin. In the recesses of my mind, I realized I hadn’t even considered the effect of Casteel’s blood. It was probably for the best that I hadn’t considered it until now, until his blood was lighting up every cell in my body, and the eather in my chest started to throb.

“Poppy,” Casteel moaned, his chin grazing the top of my head. “That’s enough.”

I heard him, but I took and took until that hidden-away place in me, the cold part, began to warm—

“If you don’t stop,” Casteel said, his body taut against mine, “this will stop right here and end in a very different kind of joining.”

Those words reached me. Flushing at the sensual warning, I forced my mouth from his chest and lifted my gaze to his.

Looking at him then, stark need etched into every line of his face, didn’t help keep my thoughts focused on the goal at hand. Lowering my gaze, I flicked my tongue over my lower lip, catching the last drop of blood that had gathered there.

Casteel groaned again as his hand tightened around mine. “Behave,” he ordered roughly. “Or you’re going to make Kieran blush.”

“Yeah,” came that not-so-dry response. “That’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

I had a feeling I was the only one blushing as I moved just a little out of the way, enough for Kieran to reach Casteel. The position caused areas of him to come into contact with areas of me, and I desperately tried to ignore it as his mouth replaced mine.

Casteel jerked again as his burning, golden eyes locked onto mine. I could barely breathe as Kieran drank from him, and Casteel watched me, his chest beginning to rise and fall more rapidly. At first, I was concerned that he wasn’t ready to part with so much blood, but when I cracked my senses open just enough, I immediately knew that wasn’t the case.