Page 42

SETH | EKEZ

“ T he promise that it ends is what makes life beautiful.”

I’m careful not to react as I sweep up the glass, wood chips, and other debris on the floor of Zeke’s bedroom. Well, I guess it’s Aurelia’s now since she laid claim to it and suckered us into clearing it out to make room for her.

“You wrote this, didn’t you?”

I can feel her eyes on me as I continue sweeping. “What makes you say that?”

“Fine, Cura. Keep your secrets. Will you at least tell me what happened in here?”

Thorin is in and out of the room, hauling the ruined furniture out, but every time he returns, he lingers, waiting for Aurelia to acknowledge him before tucking his tail and leaving when she ignores him.

It’s been a few days since Sheriff Kelly and the death squad came knocking, and Sunshine’s been giving him the cold shoulder ever since. It’s not that he doesn’t deserve it. He does. But it’s better for everyone when Aurelia is happy with all of us.

Khalil is busy outside building a bed for our girl—one that’s bigger and fancier than his, per her demand.

“Which time?” I muse as I finish sweeping and cringe when I look around. Fortunately, I don’t have to imagine what Aurelia must have thought when she saw it.

“It looks like someone let a wild animal loose in here,” she mutters.

I crack a strained smile as I dump the full dustpan into the trash. “That would be Bane. And a little of me.”

“Why would he do this?”

“Because the only way to stop Bane is to kill him. Since Khalil and Thorin can’t do that without killing Zeke, too, they either tranq him or trap him until Zeke or I wake up.”

“How long does that take?”

“A few hours. A few minutes. It depends. The moment Bane no longer feels like Zeke is in danger, he splits, and one of us takes over.”

Aurelia pauses scrubbing the blood from the walls to look at me. “So if Bane only comes when Zeke is in danger, why didn’t he stop Isaac from torturing him and hurting you?”

I shake my head to free myself from the clutches of the dark memories that try to take hold. “Because Bane wasn’t born until after Khalil and Thorin came for Ezekiel.” Sucking in a breath while an internal war rages on, I force myself to meet Aurelia’s gaze while I deliver the blow that might cause her to never look at me the same again. “He killed Tatum.”

“What?” Aurelia drops the sponge into the bucket, causing soapy water to splash onto the floor. It goes unnoticed as she walks over to me, her wet fingers curling into the bottom of my T-shirt. I can tell Bane freaks her out already and she hasn’t even met him yet. “Why would he do that?”

Not wanting to relive the events of that day, I give her as much of the truth as I can part with. The rest is Zeke’s to tell anyway. “Because there is no reasoning with him, Aurelia. If Bane wakes up, he’ll kill on sight. He won’t ask questions, and he won’t care who you are.” Reaching out, I stroke her soft cheek with my thumb. “He won’t care what you mean to me.”

Aurelia searches my gaze before she grabs my hand from her cheek and rests it over her chest where her heart beats. “You won’t let him hurt me,” she says with a finality that fills me with a deep sense of male gratification knowing that my girl trusts me to protect her.

But on its heels, carving a hole into my stomach and filling it with dread is the question that keeps me frozen.

What if I fail?

I obviously won’t be around if Bane wakes up. How the hell can I keep him from hurting her?

“I can’t control him,” I try to explain while my stomach churns. “No one can. He’s a kill switch in Zeke’s mind, and once you flip it, there is no taking it back.”

“Then I guess we better keep Zeke safe.” Removing my hand from her chest, she places her palm flat against mine for the contact she seems to need as much as I do. “Any more nose bleeds?”

“No.” It’s a lie. The nose bleeds are not only becoming more frequent but they’re also accompanied by migraines.

“Seth…don’t lie. I don’t like it.”

“Okay.”

Nodding, Aurelia flips my hand over, and her gaze zeroes in on a similar scar on the back of my hand. “Tell me how you got this,” she demands while softly tracing the raised skin with her finger.

“You’re full of questions today.”

“Seth.”

“The same way I got this one,” I say while pointing out the three-inch scar high on Zeke’s throat near his jaw. “I tried to kill Zeke. Bane stopped me.”

“He stopped you?” she exclaims. “How?”

“He overpowered me, took control of Zeke’s left hand, and stabbed me in the right with the same knife I tried to use to cut Zeke’s throat open. The knife went through the kitchen table, and I had to wait for Khalil to find me and free me.”

The shattered look in her eyes says that if Aurelia could, she’d weep for me. The worry that I might still want to off Zeke swims in her eyes, but she doesn’t allow herself to ask, and since she told me not to lie to her, I say nothing as well.

“I guess that explains the gouge in the kitchen table, but wait…the two of you were awake… at the same time ? You can do that?”

Aurelia’s gaze is a cross between wonder and weirded out.

“Sure. It hurts a hell of a lot worse than being stabbed—quite literally like being split in two, so it’s not something we do for party tricks.”

“Why did you try to kill Zeke?”

“Because…” I have to swallow past the knot in my throat before I can say another word. “Being in his head feels like I never left Isaac’s table. He’s in pain all the time, except I can’t help him. There’s nothing I can do to bear it for him. Nothing except making sure he never has to feel anything ever again.”

“Seth…”

“It’s fine.”

“No. It’s not . Maybe it’s a good thing I’m staying because the first thing I’d do if I ever went home is find Zeke’s brother and make him wish he’d never been born.”

I smirk at that. “If anyone can do it, Sunshine. It’s you.”

She peers up at me. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

Aurelia chews her lip like she thinks I might regret it once she asks me whatever is on her mind. “Are you sure those thoughts were Zeke’s and not yours?”

I stagger back a step, breaking our connection. “What?”

“I don’t want to upset you. It’s just that…it sounds like you suffered just as much as Zeke did. Maybe even more. Everyone’s worried about Zeke and what Isaac did to him, but what about you?”

“What about me? I’m just a door in Ezekiel’s head that he pulls open when he can’t deal.”

“Not to me. You’re real to me , Seth.” Aurelia sighs and shakes her head with a somber look in her eyes. “It’s just not fair.”

“What’s not fair, beautiful?”

“Zeke had a mom and a dad, he has friends, he had a childhood, he has memories outside of the cult, but what about you? What do you have?”

I stare at this beautiful girl and wonder how she still doesn’t know what she means to me. “I have you,” I tell her openly. “And you love me. I don’t care about the rest. Just don’t go, Sunshine, and I’ll be whole. Stay for me, and I’ll stay for you.”

“I won’t go, but Seth…I want you to live whether I’m around or not. You can’t put this on me—”

I wrap my hand around her neck, and she doesn’t blink an eye when I tighten my hold. “Ever, Aurelia,” I say through gritted teeth. “You can’t leave me. You promise?”

“Yes, Seth. I promise.”

That damn mouth of hers drives me crazy even when she’s being sweet, so I don’t hesitate to devour it. At some point, I back her against the wall and sneak my hand into her leggings. Aurelia’s not wearing panties, so there’s nothing keeping me from petting her sweet pussy until she purrs. I’m still lazily toying with her clit when Thorin walks in. I can tell it’s him because he brings his fucked up, hating-ass mood into the room with him.

“Do you two want to fuck or help me clean?” he snarls.

Aurelia and I pay him no mind as I quickly make her come before freeing my fingers and licking them clean. Pulling away, I catch the taunting smirk she tosses Thorin’s way before giving him her back.

“Be nice,” I whisper with a pinch on her ass.

“He started it,” she mumbles while swatting my hand away.

“Wolf.”

“Seth, did you hear something?”

My gaze bounces between Aurelia and Thorin. The former is back to scrubbing the walls, washing away the words Bane had written in our blood.

Death to the immortals.

The suds and blood run down the wall soaking the line under it. The one Zeke had written.

Bless the Savior.

The rest trickles down to the last line. My line. The one that Aurelia seems fixated on.

The promise that it ends is what makes life beautiful.

“Actually, I think I’ll go see if Khalil needs help,” I tell them before backing away for the door. Aurelia and Thorin are already bickering by the time I reach it.

“Stop following me, Thorin.”

“Then stop walking away every time I come near you! Why won’t you talk to me?”

“Because…” Aurelia hisses so spectacularly that Thorin actually takes an astonished step back when she whirls around to face him. “You’re an ass. ”

“Baby, I said I was sorry for doubting you.”

“And I’m sure you meant it, Thorin. Until the next time it happens and you make me feel small again!”

I cover my ears while their arguing follows me out of the room, up the stairs, and out of the cabin. I find a shirtless Khalil outside, hovering over the workbench he dragged out of the woodshed. There’s a sliding miter saw on the surface and a piece of wood about ten feet long poised under the blade. Hearing me coming, Khalil looks up from the measurements he’s making on the lumber we picked up from town this morning while Thor babysat Aurelia.

Or maybe Aurelia babysat Thor.

Keeping him from hunting down the mercenaries and killing them all has been a full-time job, so when Aurelia proposed we clean out Zeke’s destroyed bedroom, I think we were all relieved for something to take our minds off our uninvited guests.

It makes me wonder if it was her plan all along.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Aurelia was already learning how to manage us.

“We need to talk.”

Returning his focus to the wood, he shrugs. “So talk.”

“Look. I know I don’t have the right to ask you for anything considering how many times I tried to end you, but I need a favor. It’s…it’s important.”

Khalil’s brown eyes return to me, and then he tucks the pencil behind his ear as he turns to face me. “What’s up?”

I shake my head when words fail me, and when it feels like my legs will, too, I take a seat on the front steps. My head is down while my hands grip my hair, so I don’t see Khalil walk over or sit beside me until he nudges me.

“Zeke is going to wake up soon,” I blurt.

Khalil doesn’t immediately react, and when I look up, he’s staring at me with a calm expression that hides what he’s truly thinking. “You sure?”

“Positive.”

Nodding, he rests a hand on my shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, Seth.”

“How do you know?”

“Because when you’re this happy and when you have everything, you’ll do anything to keep it that way.”

“You have to promise me you’ll have her back, Khalil. No matter what.”

Confusion crosses his expression. “What are you talking about?”

“Protect her. From Bane, from Zeke, from Thorin, and even you. Aurelia’s the priority. No matter what happens, you have to choose her.”

“Of course,” he readily agrees, relieving some of my fears. “But why are you telling me this?”

“Because Zeke won’t go down as easy as we did, and Aurelia still doesn’t get that yet. He won’t allow himself to trust her, much less fall for her—not after Tatum. And then Thorin and his paranoia…Zeke is very convincing, you know that. It will be two against one. Don’t make it three.”

Khalil blows out a breath because he knows that I’m right. “I’ll do you one better. I won’t just have her back. I’ll be her armor. Nothing will touch her without going through me. You have my word.”

My next breath punches out of my chest. “Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that. It’s always been the plan, but for you, I’ll make that vow a thousand times if it’s what you need to hear.”

My eyes narrow suspiciously at the sincerity in his voice. I can’t help it when Khalil has every reason to hate me. “Why are you being so nice to me? I tried to set you on fire.”

“Yeah, I haven’t exactly forgotten, Seth, but I forgave you a long time ago.”

“Because of Aurelia?”

He tilts his head at me like I should know better. “Because you’re my brother.”

“Thanks. I guess you’re marginally more tolerable, too.”

Khalil cuts his gaze at me. “Man, fuck you.” We snicker at that, and then Khalil says, “It almost feels weird admitting this, even after the last couple of months, but I’m going to miss you, man.”

I frown at that despite feeling funny in my chest when I hear him admit it. “You don’t have to lie.”

There’s sadness in Khalil’s eyes now, but he holds my gaze when he speaks again. “Despite what you think, Thorin and I care about you, Seth. We always have, but you wouldn’t let us in. After a while, we realized trying would not only get us killed, it pushed you further away, so we backed off, but we never stopped hoping you’d come around and warm up to us.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah… oh .”

“Full disclosure…if it wasn’t for Sunshine, I probably wouldn’t have.” I shrug.

Khalil smiles a little and claps me on the back. “I’m well aware, Seth.”

The front door opens, and Aurelia saunters out, bearing two cold beers and a bright smile for us. “What are my favorite boys talking about?”

“I heard that!” Thorin snaps from inside.

“You,” Khalil and I answer at the same time.

Cleaning out Zeke’s bedroom, and I guess mine too, turned into spring cleaning the entire cabin. It’s early evening by the time the four of us collapse into an exhausted heap in the living room.

“Oh, God. I still have to make dinner,” Aurelia groans from where she’s sprawled on top of Bruce.

“I can make it,” I offer.

Sunshine perks up at that, and I cock my head at the surprise in her eyes. “You can cook?”

“No, but neither can you, and you manage.” I don’t realize what I’ve said until Khalil chokes on the water he’s drinking, and Aurelia shoots up into a sitting position with a gasp and wide eyes. Her lips tremble, and I have a feeling if she were capable of crying, she would be. “Ah, shit.”

“Yes!” Thorin cheers because he’ll no longer be in the dog house alone after this.

I rub my brow while Aurelia stands before I can find the words to un-fuck myself.

“You know what? Make your own damn dinner. I’m going to take a nap. Do not follow me.” She storms into Thorin’s room and slams and locks the bedroom door.

“But that’s my room!”

“And?” she shouts back.

“Is it me, or is she crankier than usual?” Thorin’s grin spreads when he looks at Khalil and me. “You think it’s the baby? It’s definitely mine if it is.”

Ignoring him, I grumble as I stand and head into the kitchen to start dinner.

It can’t be that hard, can it?

As it turns out, cooking is kind of…therapeutic.

I have no idea what I’m doing, but I like it. I’m too busy focusing on manipulating ingredients into an edible meal to think about Zeke or death squads or Isaac or the fact that Aurelia is mad at me. Before long, I’m being overrun by hungry assholes.

I stand back as Thorin and Khalil pile their plates with the chicken fajitas. Neither of them move from their spots before digging in.

“Well?” I ask once Thorin eats his first fajitas in three bites and immediately starts in on the second. The only time I’ve seen him eat Aurelia’s food that fast is when he’s trying to shovel it all down without tasting it, so I have no idea what to think.

Khalil is the one to answer after finishing off his first. “What the fuck?” Are you trying to piss her off more?”

“What? What did I do?”

“This tastes amazing , Seth.”

“Okay, so? Isn’t that a good thing?”

“You just hurt Aurelia’s feelings and then showed her up.”

“Oh. I wasn’t trying to make it good. I just followed the directions!”

Khalil’s eyes blow wide. “ Definitely don’t tell her that.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“Man, I’m telling you,” he warns with a shake of his head before going back to devouring the food.

I put a couple of fajitas on a plate for Aurelia and carry them to Thorin’s bedroom where the door is still closed and probably locked. I’m holding my breath when I knock lightly. I don’t breathe until I hear her quiet voice.

“Go away, Seth. I’m not hungry.”

I want to ask how she knew it was me, but I don’t. Instead, I stand back, lift my leg, and kick the fucking door in. It flies open, slams against the wall, and bounces off as I walk inside to Aurelia sitting up, her stunned gaze staring back at me.

“Are you serious right now?”

I don’t realize I’ve been followed until I hear Thorin grumble, “My thoughts exactly.” He’s standing on the threshold, inspecting his door. “For future record, I have a key .”

“You burned a lot of energy today,” I tell Aurelia while ignoring Thor. “You need to refuel.” I set the plate on the nightstand, but Aurelia doesn’t acknowledge it as she glares up at me.

“I’m a grown woman, Seth. I can decide when I eat, thank you.”

“Fuck that. If you’re not going to take care of yourself, I’ll damn well do it for you.”

“Oh, goody!” She smiles and claps her hands together before resting them on her cheek. “Now all of my problems are solved!”

My gaze narrows when I feel my patience drain. “All right. What the hell is your deal? You’ve been kind of a bitch all day.” I reach out and grab her chin in a possessive grip, yanking it toward me when she looks away. “Where did my Sunshine go? Hmm?”

Her pretty lips curl. “I’ve always been a bitch, Seth. You’re just now noticing?”

“You’ve never been mean without cause. What’s the matter, baby?”

Aurelia looks tormented, and then her gaze softens after a while, becoming less sharp and more vulnerable, even as her pout remains. “My stomach hurts.” She releases a whimper like she’s been holding it in and hiding the pain all day. “It’s been cramping all day.”

“Okay…” I nod my understanding. “Is that all?”

She shrugs. “I guess.”

I sit down next to her and rub my palms together to warm them up before slipping my hand under her shirt to rub her belly. I have no idea if it’s actually helping, but when Aurelia’s lashes flutter closed, I think that it might be. “How’s that?”

“Better,” she whispers back, resting her head on my shoulder.

Khalil appears and stands over us with two pills in one hand and a tin cup full of water in the other. When Aurelia lifts her head and tries to take them, he shakes his head. “Open.”

Dutifully, her lips part, and she sticks out her tongue. I sigh when my dick twitches in my sweats at the sight because I don’t think I’ll be getting any tonight.

Khalil places the aspirin on her tongue and then holds the cup to her lips for her to drink. If she’s cranky about being handled so delicately, she knows better than to complain. There will always be times when we’re rough with our girl, but we will never ever be careless.

When she drains the cup, Khalil sets it on the nightstand next to her dinner and takes a seat on her other side to join me in rubbing her stomach. Aurelia sighs and lays her head on Khalil’s shoulder this time, but I don’t mind. Thorin returns to the room, bearing a small mug with steam curling from the rim. When he offers this olive branch to Aurelia, I see that it’s tea. “I put a little honey inside. I didn’t know how you took it.”

Aurelia isn’t able to hide her surprise, and I swear the three of us exhale all at once when she curls her delicate fingers around the mug. “This is fine. Th-thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Thorin drops onto the floor while she sips her tea. He takes her ankle and peels off her sock to massage her bare foot. The paint on her toenails is chipped and nearly gone, but her feet look so soft and pretty even from here.

“Have we been demanding too much of you?” Khalil asks.

Aurelia whips her head his way. “What? No.”

“Will you tell us if we do?”

“Will you listen?” she tosses back.

Khalil struggles with an answer to that one because, let’s be honest, Aurelia needs a firm hand, and we’re not going to suddenly turn into less demanding assholes overnight. “We’ll try,” he promises.

Aurelia hums like she expected that non-answer and sets her tea aside. She pauses when she notices the plate of food, and then she picks it up after a moment of contemplation. “Baby, you made this?”

“Yup.”

Aurelia lifts the fajita and takes a tentative bite before glancing at me in surprise. “Oh, my God…”

“That bad?”

“Are you kidding me? You knew how to cook this whole time?” she yells.

“No.” I snort as she takes another bite. “I wanted to impress you.”

“Well, you succeeded.”

Khalil and Thorin release a collective sigh.

The three of us are content to watch Aurelia eat, and it’s how we pass the time with some mindless chatter in between until the plate is empty. I take it from her and we all stand.

“I think we should make fajitas a regular thing,” she announces as she stretches. “Fajita Fridays?”

I nod while staring at her tits. “Sounds good.”

Aurelia chews on her bottom lip as she peers up at me. “Will you show me how to make it?”

“Of course.”

“Good. Now beat it. I’m going to shower.”

Khalil slaps her ass as he passes, and then the three of us leave Thorin’s bedroom while Aurelia heads into his bathroom. Khalil disappears to get the tools to fix Thorin’s door while Thorin helps me clean up the kitchen. Afterward, we return to the living room with a couple of beers while we watch Khalil curse and struggle to fix the door.

And that’s where we are when we hear Aurelia squeal. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Thorin and I are already on our feet when the bathroom door opens. “Oh, boooooys!”

She dances out of Thorin’s bedroom, past a stunned Khalil, and into the living room. Her skin is wet, and the only thing she’s wearing now is a towel.

“You want to let us in on what’s got you dancing around naked in our living room?”

“See for yourself. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you anyway.”

She drops the towel.

At first, I don’t see anything out of the usual. Just one fine, curvy piece of ass.

And then I see it.

A drop of crimson between her thick thighs. It runs down the inside of her leg, and my eyes flare, but she’s too busy smirking at Thorin to notice my panic.

“What happened?” I say as I pull my knife and stalk across the room to reach her side in two steps. “Why are you hurt? Who did this?”

“Seth, I’m okay.”

“You’re bleeding .”

Aurelia gapes at me before shaking her head. “God, you’re precious. It’s just my period, Seth. I’m fine.”

I’m still frowning despite her insistence that she’s okay. “You sure?”

“Very.”

“Oh.” I take a step back and sheathe my knife. “Okay then.” I look her over once more just to assure myself she’s in one piece. “Does it hurt?”

“Only the aforementioned cramps. Actually, I’ve never been this happy to see it before. Score infinity for womanhood.” Her gaze wanders past me to Thorin. I can feel him brooding behind me because he lost. Aurelia isn’t pregnant, but that won’t keep Thorin down for long. Especially when it means he gets to keep trying.

Glancing over my shoulder, I see him tip his beer to her. “Impressive.”

Aurelia’s smirk transforms from triumphant to secretive when it shifts my way, and I wink. I guess the birth control pills I’ve been slipping her worked after all.

“I want a reward,” I rumble in her ear so the others don’t overhear. “I want you.”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to want me for a few days, Seth.” She places a hand on my chest and tries to push me away, but I don’t budge. “Period means no sex.”

Smiling, I dip my head to kiss her jawline. “Says who?” Aurelia stiffens against me while I continue kissing down her neck until I reach her shoulder. That peaches and daffodils scent is back now that she has her own body wash again, and all I want to do is climb inside her fucking skin and live there. “I’ve been fantasizing for weeks about getting your blood on my cock without hurting you, Sunshine. This is happening.”

Done talking, I lift her in my arms and she wraps hers around my neck as I turn toward the stairs. At the top of the landing, I pause to look over my shoulder at Thorin and Khalil, who seem rooted to the spot.

I lift a brow, and they both burst into action, following us downstairs to the basement and into Khalil’s room since his bed is the only one big enough to fit all four of us.

“This is insane. You cannot want me that bad,” Aurelia whines when I lay her down, and the three of us begin to undress. “It’s only for a few days.”

“What’s insane is thinking that a little blood would change a thing when all three of us have had our tongue in your ass at least once, Goldilocks.”

Of course, she has no retort for that, so she settles for pouting while we finish shedding our clothes.

I’m the first to finish, so I join Aurelia on the bed. The moment I do, she snaps her legs closed. I pry those thick, sexy motherfuckers right back open and settle between her thighs while she stares up at me like I might eat her alive. Sometimes, I think I might.

She’s just so fucking…

Diving in, I press my lips against hers and force her to feed me her tongue while I swallow her moans.

Delicious.

There’s no better feeling or taste than Aurelia George.

While I’m kissing her, I hear the top drawer of the nightstand slide open, and I have a pretty good guess what Khalil is searching for. I peek an eye open in time to see Khalil toss Thorin a small silver key before removing a bottle of lube and setting it on the nightstand. On the other side of the bed, I hear the metal cuffs rattling and shift my gaze to see Thorin freeing them from the headboard.

I still have my tongue twisted around Aurelia’s when my gaze connects with Thorin, and he climbs onto the bed to lounge on his side next to us. On the other side, Khalil does the same. Breaking the kiss, I return my focus to our girl as I lift my body into a plank with my hands planted on either side of her.

When her eyes fly open, there’s a haze there that wasn’t present before. Her head falls to the side, and she eyes Khalil and then Thorin.

“Look at me,” I order. Her gaze flies back to mine. “Put me inside your pussy, Sunshine.”

Gulping, she reaches hesitantly between us and wraps her small hand around my cock. I’ve been hard ever since I saw that first rivulet of blood on her thigh, so when she feels it, she gasps her surprise. She still runs her hand up and down the shaft a few times, playing with my goddamn dick instead of doing what I told her. I can’t help but smirk at her bullshitting ass.

If there’s one thing Aurelia loves to do, it’s fuck. She wouldn’t have been able to wait either, and now she doesn’t have to. Once again, she gets her way while accepting none of the blame—just like our spoiled little brat.

Finally, she slots my cock against her slit and holds my gaze as she uses me to tease her pussy. Almost simultaneously, Thorin and Khalil both reach for their own cocks and begin stroking to the same pace and rhythm, probably imagining that she’s doing the same to them while they wait their turn.

“Shit,” I grumble when a little pre-cum eases out of the tip just as it lodges against her swollen clit. Knowing I’ll come prematurely if I don’t get inside her soon, I nip her jawline. “Enough. Do as I say, Sunshine.”

Glaring at me for ending her stalling, she guides me to her little hole once more, and I press my hips forward. Her brows furrow as I breach her cunt, but she doesn’t ask me to stop. She’s tight and hot as usual but slicker than normal, and the reason why has me fighting for control on a razor’s edge. Aurelia keeps one hand around my cock and the other on my ass, her fingers digging into the muscled globe as I slowly sink inch after inch inside of her until she’s forced to remove her hand so that I can get balls deep.

Once our middles meet, we both release the breath we were holding.

“God, Seth.”

“Tell me you want my dick. Tell me you want me to fuck your little red pussy.”

“I want your dick. I want you to fuck my little red pussy, Seth.”

“Yeah?” I say as I begin to move. Gradually, my pace increases until I’m pounding Aurelia into the mattress. “I knew you wanted it, you fucking cock tease. Our fucking slut. You knew what you were doing when you came out of that bathroom. You knew we’d take it, didn’t you? Answer me!”

“Yeah! Oh, God, yeah! I knew! I knew…” Her huge tits sway wildly from our rough movements, drawing Thorin and Khalil’s attention. Their coordinated attack is a thing of beauty as they each latch onto her brown nipples at the same time while tugging furiously on their cocks.

Aurelia brings her hands up to cradle each of their heads, holding them to her while I brace my hands against the headboard and pound her gushing middle.

I make the mistake of looking down and glimpsing a red smear during a backstroke.

“Goddamn,” I mutter when I can’t resist the temptation anymore. I pull out to the tip and feel my balls tighten immediately once I see her blood coating my cock. “Fuck yeah.” I slam back inside, and Aurelia slides toward the head of the bed from the force. Thorin reaching out to wrap an arm around her waist is the only thing that keeps her head from crashing into the headboard. “Fuck yeah, fuck yeah, fuck yeah, fuck yeah,” I chant as I bully that pussy into coming for me.

Whatever reservations Aurelia had are blown wide open once her walls contract around me, and she comes on my dick. That vice grip of hers is what has my back stiffening as I spill inside her. Once I’m spent, I collapse on top of Aurelia while Thorin shifts away.

I don’t know if Thorin or Khalil came yet, but I know this night is far from over when I hear him lift the cuffs from the nightstand.

Slowly, I pull out of Aurelia and sit back on my heels as I admire all the cum and blood staining my veiny cock. When I look down, I see the same combination marking Aurelia’s thick thighs and my cock gives an interested twitch.

“Oh, baby,” I coo in awe. “Look at the mess you made.”

“Let me see,” Khalil demands.

Even though her thighs are still gapped open, I push Aurelia’s knee out a little further as Khalil leans over. He’s got one hand cupping his balls and the other wrapped around his shaft, and he leisurely works them both as his gaze bounces between Aurelia’s bloody cunt and my equally red cock.

“Fuck,” he breathes out. “That’s a pretty goddamn sight.”

“Indeed.”

Rolling away, I take Thorin’s spot on the other side of Aurelia with an arm tucked under my head. My dick is limp but throbbing against my thigh, and I know it’s only a matter of time before I’m hard and ready to go again.

Thorin threads the thick chain between two of the twisted branches in the center of the canopy, leaving no way forward or back. Aurelia won’t be able to free herself until one of us allows it.

At the moment, she has her eyes closed and is barely responsive when Khalil lifts her top half from the bed and raises her arms above her head so that Thorin can secure her wrists inside the cuffs. There isn’t enough slack in the chain for her to lay down, so it forces her onto her knees with her arms above her head.

The moment she’s in position, kneeling in the center of the bed, Khalil swipes the lube from the nightstand. He flips the top and squirts some onto his fingers before tossing the bottle away.

“Aurelia,” he calls out expectantly.

She jerks awake. “Hmm?”

“Thorin’s going to take your pussy now…I’m going to fuck your ass, baby.”

“Mkay,” she answers sleepily, looking like she might pass out again. Khalil’s words finally register, and Aurelia jerks into full awareness. The chain on the cuffs scrape across the bark as she shifts nervously. “Wait…what? You’re going to…what?”

Thorin is the one to answer as he kneels in front of her and presses a hot, quick kiss to her lips. “He said he’s going to take that gorgeous ass, songbird, and you’re going to let him, aren’t you?”

“I’ve never…” She loses her words when Khalil gets into position behind her. Aurelia’s sandwiched between them, and knowing what they intend, she’s suddenly skittish. She calms a little when Khalil starts kissing her nape since her hair is pulled up and out of the way with only a few curly wisps left out. “I’ve never done it before.”

“We figured,” the three of us answer at the same time.

Aurelia jumps when Khalil spreads her ass to expose her puckered hole where he spreads some of the lube.

“Khalil’s not going to hurt you,” I say to her as I grab the lube and pour some onto my palm. With the way she’s facing, I can see all three of their profiles from my lounge at the head of the bed. “He’s going to take real good care of you. We all will.”

“So you’ll both be inside me…at the same time?”

Khalil answers. “It will feel a little something like this…” Aurelia’s breath hitches when they both sink a finger inside her from each end. Leisurely, I stroke my cock back to life as I watch her lean her head back against Khalil’s shoulder and squirm from the pressure. “But a hundred times more intense.”

Thorin dips his head and swirls his tongue around her nipple while she combs her fingers through his hair. I’m just reaching full hardness again when Thorin removes his hand and replaces it with his dick. Because he’s so much taller than her—even while kneeling—he ends up having to lift her up and wrap her legs around his waist. My eyes are glued to their centers as I watch him carefully seat her on his erection. Before she’s even halfway down, I spot a bright red rivulet of Aurelia’s blood running down the side of his pale shaft, and I nearly blow my load right then and fucking there.

Everything about this woman is designed to drive me crazy.

The moment her greedy pussy finishes sheathing Thorin, he begins thrusting upward, causing the chain to rattle above them while Aurelia moans like she’s as close to death as she is to another orgasm.

And no matter how loudly she cries out, Thorin keeps going, suckling her breast while serving her long, hard dick.

Khalil eventually takes mercy on her and reaches around to rub her clit, which sets her off and leaves her limp in Thorin’s arms. Afterward, Khalil withdraws a little to grab the lube and quickly slicks his fingers once more.

Aurelia is leaning forward with her forehead resting on Thorin’s shoulder when Khalil begins working two fingers inside her ass to finish stretching her out. She barely stirs as he sinks to the second knuckle, so I sit up and grab the lube, pouring some into my palm again.

It’s not my cock I reach for this time, but Khalil’s.

While Aurelia is perfectly pliable, I reach between them and wrap one hand around his base and the other right over the mushroom tip and begin to spread the lube over his long, thick shaft as thoroughly as I can. Khalil is hung, and hurting her is the last thing any of us want when she’s trusting us so completely.

I know they’re both ready for each other when Khalil starts thrusting in my hand with his gaze pinned on our girl’s puckered hole. Aurelia starts pushing back against him, so I let Khalil go and recline back on my elbow. I take my own dick in my hand once more while Khalil presses himself against her back once more.

Thorin is still inside Aurelia and keeping her thoroughly distracted with his tongue and mouth, so Khalil is able to line up his cock and press forward before Aurelia is even aware he’s there. He has both hands on her ass, spreading her cheeks, so I can see the moment that puckered hole stretches around his flared head.

Aurelia tenses up immediately and makes such a perfect sound of distress that my hunter instincts stir, raising the hairs along my arms. I don’t know how much longer I can settle for being a spectator. I already had my turn, but there’s no such thing as not wanting more when it comes to Aurelia George.

Her ass is certainly tempting, but it’s her blood that calls to me.

“Relax, baby,” Khalil croons when his crown breaches her rim, and she cries out again and starts yanking on the cuffs. “Relax, relax, relax. I got you…” Khalil rears back only to push forward again, sinking even deeper upon his return. He repeats the movement several times until half of his thick cock is buried. “Yeah, that’s it. Look at this pretty little ass opening up for me. God…” He slowly sinks the rest of the way inside her until his Adonis belt is flush with her perfectly round ass, and then he drops his forehead onto her shoulder, closes his eyes, and exhales hard. “Damn.”

Thorin, who’s been remarkably patient so far, checks in with Aurelia. “You okay, wolf?”

“I think so,” she answers quietly. “It doesn’t hurt. It just feels like if I breathe, I’ll explode.” She makes the mistake of squirming against the discomfort she must feel, and—head still down—a strangled sound leaves Khalil as he tightens his grip on her hips to keep her still. “Can you feel each other?”

“Yes,” Thorin and Khalil answer at the same time.

“Oh.” She tries to play it cool, but I can tell it excites her to know that only a thin wall separates Khalil and Thorin’s cock.

“When we fuck you,” Khalil rumbles in a low tone after lifting his head to speak against her ear, “we’ll feel each other then, too. I’ll feel him sliding inside your pussy, and he’ll feel me taking your tight little ass…” Khalil retreats and slides forward slowly, causing both Aurelia and Thorin to groan. “See what I mean?”

Thorin mimics Khalil’s move, and the same thing happens again, but this time, Aurelia turns her head to lock lips with Khalil, moaning in his mouth while Thorin fucks her.

When Khalil and Aurelia come up for air, she wraps her arms around Thorin’s neck and feeds him her tongue.

“How does she feel?” I ask Khalil while Thorin and Aurelia kiss.

“Ah, she’s tight,” Khalil says as he begins fucking her too. “So fucking tight. I’m not going to last. Fuck.”

“Then you better make the most of it,” I suggest.

Thorin grunts as Khalil loses control and quickens his pace. His shove drives Aurelia forward, and Thorin matches his thrust, sending her back onto Khalil. Before long, they both have a rhythm, and all Aurelia can do while trapped between them is hold onto that chain for dear life as they ride her ass and pussy.

Khalil uncuffs her once they all come together, and then he drags her into his lap with her back to his chest, where he cuddles her while they catch their breath. “You okay?”

Aurelia gives a sleepy nod while her head rests on his shoulder.

“How’s your stomach?”

“Better, actually.” She yawns. “The cramps are gone.”

Khalil smirks like he expected that answer while Thorin climbs off the bed and prowls his naked ass out of the room. He returns a minute later with a soapy cloth, and Aurelia watches him nudge her thighs apart through lowered lids.

My gaze snaps to her pussy smeared with blood, cum, and her own arousal, and I hear myself speaking before I’m aware of the direction my mind has gone. “Wait.”

I feel all three sets of gazes on me as I reach out to blindly grab the lube. I can’t look away from all that slick, and Aurelia…she’s so relaxed right now. So trusting and pliable. I can do whatever I want to her right now, and she’ll let me.

The only other feeling that compares is knowing she loves me.

She loves me.

She loves…me.

“What are you going to do?” Aurelia asks with a shudder.

I shift until I’m lying on my stomach between her legs and peck her knee as I look up at her. “Do you trust me, Sunshine?”

After a moment’s hesitation, she answers. “Oddly, yes.” A heavy sigh follows like she doesn’t quite understand why. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Fuck yeah.

“Go slow, Seth,” Khalil warns after peeping the eager glint in my eyes. Thorin uses the cloth to clean his dick since I’m obviously not done before tossing it aside. He then leans his shoulder against one of the bedposts at the foot of the bed and crosses his arms to watch.

Since Aurelia’s already aroused, I pour some more lube onto my fingers while Khalil palms one of her breasts and thumbs her nipple to make sure she stays that way. Holding her gaze, I slowly sink two fingers inside her with my palm turned up. Thorin and I did a good job stretching her out when we fucked her, so I eased right in, feeling her warm walls flutter around me.

When her lashes lower, I pull my fingers out nearly all the way and add a third. Aurelia gasps at the stretch, and the three of us watch her closely for any discomfort while I work to get my pointer, middle, and ring finger inside. She’s fucking tight, even while dripping and thoroughly fucked, so I don’t rush it and listen to her body until I’m three knuckles deep.

“How’s that, Sunshine?”

“Fuck,” she whispers while sitting up a little with Khalil’s help to get a better look. Her pussy lips are flared around my fingers while streaks of her blood and our cum help ease the way. Aurelia whines the moment she sees it.

“Do you want Seth to stop?” Thorin asks.

“N-no.” She gasps again, and then her hips and ass writhe a little into the mattress when I curl my fingers and use my knuckles to massage her. We stay like that for a while—until Aurelia is used to the stretching.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if he added one more?” Khalil suggests, picking up on my cue while rubbing the inside of her thigh. “You’ve been such a good girl. He just wants to reward you. Would you like that?”

Her sensitive pussy strangles my fingers the moment Khalil calls her a good girl, but then she catches on to the rest of what he said and tenses. “One more?”

“It’s just my pinky, baby. You’ll barely notice it, but it will make you feel so fucking good.”

After her nervous gaze travels between the three of us, she relaxes once more, as if finding some comfort in knowing that all three of us are focused on her instead of our own pleasure. She nods and licks her lips. “I can try.”

Khalil lifts her knees to her chest to help stretch her spine and relieve the pressure on her pussy while Thorin reaches over and begins circling her clit with the pad of his fingers. Aurelia quickly becomes puddy in Khalil’s arms while I withdraw enough to add more lube.

Aurelia’s eyes are closed while she chases the orgasm that Thorin keeps just out of reach so she doesn’t see that all of my fingers are bundled together like a duck beak when I push inside again.

But she does feel it the moment the tip of my thumb breaches her cunt.

Aurelia’s eyes fly open once I'm past the first knuckle. “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. What are you—”

“Fuck,” Khalil interrupts. “Seth, is that—”

“His hand,” Thorin answers hoarsely.

All five of my fingers are now inside Aurelia’s pussy, but I’m only up to the second knuckle, so I keep going, feeling her muscles stretch more than ever before to accommodate me.

“Seth. Oh, God. Seth…”

“Shh,” I soothe when she gets inside her head and starts to panic. “You’re doing so good, baby. Fuck.” I watch through wide eyes as my third row of knuckles disappear inside Aurelia.

I’m only distantly aware of my cock spurting cum.

It’s trapped between my body and the mattress, so no one else but me knows I just blew my load. The rest of my hand eases inside Aurelia until I’m wrist-deep. Thorin curses at the sight and fists his cock. Behind Aurelia, Khalil does the same.

The two of them fuck their fists while mine rest inside of our girl.

I don’t dare move for fear of hurting her, and Aurelia seems to be frozen herself as she stares down at our connection.

“How does it feel?” I ask in a quiet voice.

She searches for words and settles for unintelligible sounds instead. If I could, I’d reach for her heart, so I could feel it beating inside my fist. Eager to see how far I can push Aurelia I give my fingers a testing wiggle as I really might do just that.

Sunshine tosses her head back, coming so abruptly that her sharp cry ends in a silent scream. I can feel her pussy contracting around my fist while Thorin props a knee on the bed, aiming for Aurelia as ropes of cum escape the tip of his cock and land on her glistening brown skin. Khalil wraps his hand around her neck while he deposits his own on her back. I slowly remove my hand with a plop, and Thorin hands me the cloth he used to clean my hand.

Afterward, we all collapse into a tangled heap, where we stay for half an hour.

Thorin recovers from his doze first, rising from the bed and leaving the room. I hear water running in the tub moments later, and he returns after a few minutes. “The bath is ready.”

Nodding, I stretch and rise before carefully lifting Aurelia from the bed, as if she’s fragile despite what we just put our queen through. I carry her out of the room and into the bathroom with Thorin on my heels. Khalil joins us once he’s done changing the sheets, and it's cramped inside the small bathroom, but none of us seem to mind. Once we’re all clean, the four of us return to his bed.

Khalil wraps Aurelia's gingham headband around her hair to protect her curls, while Thorin gives Aurelia aspirin since she’ll no doubt be sore in the morning. He then makes her drink an entire glass of water and asks twenty-one questions about how she’s feeling before finally letting her lie down.

I don’t remember falling asleep, but I do remember whispering how much I loved her before she fell asleep in my arms.