Page 28 of Cathmoir’s Sons (Bad Boys of Bevington #5)

Chapter 28

Waxing and Waning

RHODES

S cilla is nothing like I expected. I haven’t been to Italy before; I guess I pictured Rome or the Italian Riviera when Luca and Caileán told me about it.

Scilla is quiet, provincial, and smells of the sea. The villa that the twins bought is ridiculously cozy: smooth, worn stone, polished wood, herbal scents, knitted throws over every chair. Caileán slips off her boots and pulls a heathered purple stole around her shoulders within minutes of us stepping out of the Fae Ways. Mugs of steaming, lemon tea sweetened with honey appear on the side tables without any of us venturing into the kitchen.

“Have your bwg followed you from Ceòfuar already?” I ask Caileán as I sit next to her on a sofa and join her in looking out of the huge picture window over the tops of the pines rolling down to the night-dark sea.

“Mmm-hmm, but they’re shyer here, away from my court,” Caileán responds, tucking herself under my arm. “Are we swimming the Straits tomorrow?”

“Sure,” I agree. The sea’s as flat as a pond from this distance, but I’ll bet there are some evil fucking currents. It’ll be good to swim without the weight of expectation dragging me under. I’ve done a dozen practices solo and with the team since dying. As much as everyone wanted me back on my block, it was obvious that I’m not up to competition. I’m not sure who felt more let down by my performance: me, Coach, or my team.

Maybe that will take some of the sting out of me leaving the team when I withdraw from Bevington after Winter Study.

Luca drops to the floor by my feet and leans back against my shins. He balances a platter piled with food across his knees.

I nudge him. “We just ate.”

“Uh-huh but this is Italian food. Only the deeply crazy pass up Italian food,” Luca responds before popping an herb-crusted shrimp into his mouth and chewing. He tips his head back onto my knees and grins up at me. “Sooo good.”

I hold my free hand out. He hands me a single shrimp.

“Half, kit,” I grumble.

He scoots the food around on the platter with his finger, tucking shrimp under greens, crab claws, and mussels.

“I see what you’re doing,” I grumble.

“Do you?” Luca asks innocently as he finishes hiding all but four shrimp. He offers me two of them with the tips of his fingers.

“You’ll regret this later,” I promise him.

Law drops into an armchair beside Caileán with a chortle. He has his own platter of seafood. Caileán accepts a crab claw when he offers it to her, cracks it between her back teeth, and sucks out the meat with a contented smile.

“Part of my team arrives tomorrow,” she tells us. “We should make the most of tonight.”

“Oh, we will,” I say, since I now have a kit to punish. “That’s a ruined orgasm for every shrimp you hid.”

Luca gulps and offers me three more shrimp.

“Too late,” I tell him.

Luca shifts and rubs his cheek on Caileán’s knee. “You’ll take half of them for me, won’t you?”

Caileán grins around the crab claw. “What are you going to give me for taking half your punishment?”

“A week of foot rubs?” Luca offers.

Caileán wriggles against my side. “That is a good offer. Sweeten it with feeding me olives whenever I want, and you have a deal.”

“Isn’t it grapes?” Law asks after swallowing a mouthful of shrimp.

“I think they’re out of season and I prefer olives anyway.” Caileán accepts another crab claw from Law. “The local ones are amazing. Remember?”

My kit nods enthusiastically. “They gave us a whole dish of local olives as a starter at the restaurant in Scilla. I could have eaten them all night.”

“Is this going to be a thing?” I ask. I’ve negotiated our relationship extensively with Luca; I know the boundaries of it. I was still feeling out the contours of our power-exchange with Kellan when things went to shit. Throw in the twist of Caileán not seeming particularly submissive and I want to be sure I’m not making assumptions about what she is and isn’t up for. “You two sharing punishments?”

“How often does he earn punishments?” Caileán asks.

“Smart woman,” Law says. “Make sure you know what you’re signing up for. My brother’s the biggest brat on the planet.”

“Better’n being the biggest asshole,” Luca mutters.

“Case in point.” Law points at his twin with a crab leg.

“Pretty regularly,” I say. “At least weekly.”

“Real punishments or funishments?” Caileán asks, although she doesn’t sound concerned either way.

“If you consider ruined orgasms or an hour of edging funishments, then the latter,” I explain.

Caileán stretches her legs out, wiggling her toes in baby blue socks with a white cat face across each set of toes. “I’m up for those,” she says. “Particularly if we can be punished at the same time. Something about that, going through it together, appeals to me.”

I squeeze her shoulders. “I love the idea of punishing the two of you together.”

Law shifts in his chair. “I can see the appeal.”

Caileán sets her crab claw on the edge of Law’s plate and takes his hand. “I know our situation’s a little unorthodox?—”

“Actually, it seems par for the course among your friends,” Law says. “I didn’t realize there was a relationship between Teddy’s husbands.”

Caileán nods. “Darwin and Gabe dated before either of them met Teddy. It was incredibly messy to start with. Lots of hurt feelings. Darwin tried to kill Teddy at least once and she more than returned the favor. Almost as messy as our beginning.”

Law snorts. She sticks out her tongue at him.

“Anyway,” Caileán continues, “I want you to be part of everything. I miss you when you’re not with me. But I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I know it must be a little strange to share me with your brother and his lover.”

Law shrugs. “I wasn’t raised among humans the way you were. Cait have different mores. I’ve never wanted to have a mate I didn’t share with Luca.” His eyes slide to me. “Sharing you with Luca’s human is ... a bonus.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Dick.”

Law purrs. “Shall we cross swords, human?”

“Fuck, no,” I grumble over Luca’s puking noises.

Law buries his chuckle in a crab claw.

Once the twins finish their second or third or whatever it is dinner, we wander upstairs, poking into the different rooms. There are a lot of bedrooms. One’s clearly a master with an attached bathroom. Compared to the luxury of Cait House, it’s warm and homey. No marble. No jacuzzi that can seat six. But I like the claw-footed tub and chipped enamel fixtures. Creamy pillar candles clustered on every flat surface flare to a warm glow as soon as we enter, reminding me that this was a human home and not a witchholme. I wonder if Law was nodding to Kellan’s mixed heritage when he bought the place.

The candlelight gilds Caileán and Luca’s high cheekbones and pale curves as they explore, hand-in-hand. There’s something particularly fae and otherworldly about them tonight, despite the cute blue socks. It’s the way the golden light reflects in their gemstone eyes. The grace with which they occupy an unfamiliar space. I’ve never seen them as a couple before. Kellan’s been resistant and Luca’s been reticent to push her boundaries. But whatever’s united them since Doctor Prince’s memorial, it’s been a melding of more than emotion. They’re attuned to each other now, physically, spiritually, magickally.

I stop in the bathroom doorway and hold my arms out to them.

With nearly identical, inquisitive expressions, they stop investigating the bath products and approach me.

“The eyes say you’re Caileán, but you seem more like Kellan tonight. What’s going on?”

“I’m always myself,” she answers. “But my unawakened self remembers more and more each day. This place, Ty Olewydd, feels like the place where I can be everything you might wish of me. Even more than my own hall. Ceòfuar is where I’m the Crow Queen. Ty Olewydd is where I’m yours. This is our den. Our homeplace. Strange, since it’s so far from our birthplace, but that’s the way I feel.”

Law draws in behind Caileán and rests his chin on the top of her head. “I like that, Ty Olewydd. Olive House.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Caileán confirms. “Tonight, we’ll consecrate this new den to the Mother. Tomorrow, we’ll swim the Straits and claim the Waters.” She gestures through the doorway into the bedroom where huge windows look out at the darkened sea. “This is a place where Air kisses Water. Where Fire dances with the Sea. This is our home.”

I pick her up, pulling her legs around my hips, and kiss her. Air and Water. Our magics mingle: lapping, seeping, ruffling, until we’re one. An ocean breeze.

I carry her to a huge bed positioned with a view out of the windows. “Bring a towel,” I call over my shoulder to the twins.

Kellan or Caileán—the woman in my arms—laughs, throaty and happy.

I toss her onto the bed. White pillows tumble to the floor. Green and brown quilts billow as she sinks into the mattress. A rich, herbal smell rushes up out of the bed. Caileán rolls around in it, hugging herself.

“Mmm, sage and cedar and lavender,” Luca says as he nears the bed, the requested towel folded over his arm. He’s stripped down to just his boxers.

“I obviously replaced the bedding but the lady who sold it to us said something about a ticking mattress that’s been in the family for generations. She said it’s a baby-making mattress.” Law comes around the other side of the bed, grinning wickedly. “So I kept it.”

“I’m already pregnant,” Caileán points out.

“Insurance,” Law says with a shrug.

“We should talk about how many we want.”

“Sure, we can do that.” Law plants his hands in the baby-making mattress and leans over Caileán, smiling down at her. “After the first dozen.”

“Madman,” Caileán responds, shaking her head in a froth of midnight hair against the earthy quilt.

“Do you really want to be insulting the Cait in control of your orgasms for the next few hours?”

Caileán grabs the quilt and pulls it over her face. A muffled “yes” rises from under the bedding.

Law chuckles. “Luca’s not the only brat in the room, I see.”

“I resent that,” Luca says. “I’m the best brat in the room. But I’m not the biggest brat. You hold that honor, bro.”

Law flips his brother off.

I have Luca help me pull back the quilts, strategically arrange some pillows, and lay down the towel. “Caileán, face down. Best brat, you’re up first. When you’re within a minute of coming, tell me.”

Law holds up a finger. “Not to fuck with your scene, but I’d like to be on the bottom of that cat pile.”

I gesture magnanimously to the towel.

Law spreads himself on the bed and beckons to Caileán. “Ride me, mate. I want to feel you tighten around me as my brother works you higher and higher, knowing there’s no release coming.”

Caileán’s throat works but she bravely straddles Law. She lowers herself onto him an inch at a time, bracing herself against the headboard. I’m not sure there’s been enough foreplay for her to take him easily and tonight’s going to be rough for her. I draw on my Element, flick my fingers at her, and am gratified by her sigh. She circles her hips atop Law’s and they both groan with the connection.

I flick my fingers at Caileán again to make sure she’s clean. “Get in there, kit.”

Luca’s eyes are brighter and hotter than an emerald flame as he watches his mate and his brother. “Can I hold her wrists?”

“For now and don’t get used to it.”

Luca shivers and climbs onto the bed. Caileán’s still wearing her cute socks, a stretchy black skirt that she’s pulled up to her waist, and a sapphire-blue shirt. Law’s plucked the buttons of her shirt open and has Kellan’s breasts in his hands. He draws red circles on the skin around her nipples with his thumb-claws, each revolution pulling a fresh moan out of Kellan.

Luca makes quick work of the shirt and skirt, pulling them off over Caileán’s head. He tears her black lace panties off with a satisfying rip, leaving Caileán in her socks and a black bralette that Law’s pulled down to frame her breasts.

It’s a combination that somehow suits Caileán perfectly. Seductive and yet utilitarian. She rarely shows any concern about how others view her, even when they view her with desire. She’s probably more concerned about her feet being warm on a winter night, although she really doesn’t have anything to worry about with the three of us in bed with her.

We will keep her more than warm.

Luca appreciates the view as well, running his hands down Caileán’s back and cupping the mounds of her ass. He strokes and squeezes until the shapes of his fingers are printed in pink on her skin.

“Give me your wrists, my queen,” he growls at her, and growls again when she puts her hands behind her back. He grips her wrists in one hand while he licks down her spine. His lithe body winds into the shapes of theirs, moving with them as Law pushes up into Caileán and she bounces above him. They rock together in harmony, skin murmuring against skin, whispering over and under and around their hard breaths and whispers. Law praises Caileán constantly in a rumbling undertone, calling her his exalted queen, his most precious love, his heart’s desire.

As Luca shifts backward between his brother’s legs and licks down below Caileán’s captured wrists, I stop directing and start participating. I run my hand down Luca’s bowed spine, pinching the dimple of his ass before I give him a hard slap. I cup my hand behind his knee and drag his lower body toward me until I have easy access as I kneel beside Caileán. His ass-muscles tense in anticipation but I make him wait, teasing him with the tips of my fingers, until he pulls back from licking Caileán’s ass to look up at me.

“Who do you belong to, kit?”

His eyes glaze. “You.”

I slap his ass again. “Don’t ever forget it. Get back to it. I want to hear Caileán wailing.”

Luca grins wickedly and he dives back in.

Between them the twins work Caileán up until she’s whimpering. Law fucks her hard and steadily from below, controlling her pace with his grip on her breasts. Luca eats her noisily from behind. While watching Caileán, I tease Luca’s sensitive hole, tug on his balls, and squeeze the head of his cock. He yelps when I squeeze too hard but then spreads his legs so I have better access.

Law releases one of Caileán rosy breasts to grab her hip. He pulls her toward him for a better angle, sinks his heels into the mattress, and hammers up into her. Caileán’s head snaps back, her eyes rolled back in her head, her mouth open. She’s lost in what we’re doing to her.

Her legs begin to shake, her feet pounding the bed.

I gather a handful of her hair in one hand and pinch her nose shut with two fingers of the other. She gasps. I cup my palm over her mouth until I feel a seal. I don’t know if she can come while she’s choking, cut off from her Element. Luca can’t, so I figure I’ll try it with our other Air mage.

Caileán stiffens, arching against the twins’ hands. Beneath her, Law lets out a long, stuttering breath, then throws his head back and growls out his release. Caileán’s body jerks, resisting, her flight or fight response triggered by the lack of air, but she doesn’t claw at my hands or use her magic. As Law relaxes under her with a final groan, Caileán goes pliant, lolling into my arms.

I ease her off Law, out of Luca’s grasp. He grumbles and tries to follow but I stop him by planting my foot in his breastbone while I reposition. I shove a bunch of pillows under my back and pull Caileán onto my chest. She murmurs and clutches at my hips while I position her. I clean her with a twirl of my magic since I don’t like the idea of following Law in any sense. Hooking her legs over mine, I spread her for Luca, make sure she’s wet and open from my kit’s attentions, and ease myself into her pussy for a few strokes before I pull back and push into her tight ass.

She moans and rolls her head, bumping my chin, but remains beautifully relaxed, beautifully submissive, across my body. Luca, his expression wholly feral as he looks at the two of us, scoots forward on his knees. His cock bobs against his stomach, red and visibly jerking with each heartbeat. It looks deliciously uncomfortable.

“Wrap your hand around your cock and edge yourself while you eat her out, kit.”

“Let me fuck her, Rho, please .”

“I’ll consider it. But first, edge and eat.”

Luca groans as he obeys. He palms his weeping head first, tugging and smoothing his foreskin over his glans, before he slides his wet palm down and works himself. My boy’s so graceful, even this pained masturbation is fluid, the lean muscles of his arm bunching and flexing, his hips rocking slightly. Desperation is carved in every line of his beautiful, feline face as he lowers it between Caileán’s thighs.

I make him keep up his good work until Caileán’s shuddering again. Then I make him kneel and jack off until the first drops spatter her reddened breasts.

“Grab your balls and pull, kit,” I order.

Luca throws his head back and howls his frustration. I don’t take any pity on him, nor on Caileán. Bratty subs need to learn their place.

And they do, as I work them through another set of ruined orgasms before I roll Caileán onto her front, spent and shivering, while I pin Luca to the bed and fuck him until he screams his release and sprays the towel I’ve thoughtfully provided.

I bring them both down with kisses, soft touches across their shaking shoulders, a head rub for Caileán while she cuddles to Luca’s chest. As I drift, I register Law turn Caileán onto her front again. He climbs onto her, covering her soft curves with his harder lines, bracing on his forearms as he seats himself inside her.

She murmurs, rubbing her face against Luca’s shoulder.

“Take me nice and deep, my mate,” Law groans softly, burying his face in her nape.

“I want your spines,” Caileán whispers without even opening her eyes.

“No, my greedy queen,” Law murmurs back, sweet and low, as the heavy muscles of his ass flex. “My spines won’t rise again until you’ve given me my kit. Then you can have them as often as you want. But until then, you’ll have to be content with keeping my cock warm in this soft, hot cunt all night.”

Caileán’s beatific smile, the last thing I see before I close my eyes and let myself drift, says she’s very content with that.

An insistent ringing pulls me out of the best sleep I’ve ever had.

“Rho, that’s yours,” Luca says sleepily.

I fumble my way out of bed and through the piles of discarded clothes until I find my jeans. My phone tells me it’s six-twenty local time, twelve-twenty in the US, when I wrangle it out of my back pocket. The caller ID says Coach.

I thumb the screen to answer the call. “Coach?”

“Sorry to call so at this hour, Rhodes. I wanted you to hear it from me first and I didn’t want you to try to open the pool in the morning.”

No chance of that, but I don’t tell him about my waning dedication.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“There’s been an incident at the pool. It’ll be closed for today at the very least.”

“An incident?” The instincts honed by my training for the White Cloaks begin to twitch.

“I don’t have all the details, but it looks like a student drowned. I’ll know more in the morning and I’ll keep you updated?—”

“Coach,” I croak. “Who?”

There’s a long silence before Coach finally says, “Yan.”