Page 4

She was usually a good sleeper, but the previous events would give anyone a bout of insomnia.

Well, she could stay in bed moaning about it as the night ticked by one agonizing minute at a time, or she could head down to the kitchen and make a warm drink.

That had helped in the past, maybe it would do the trick this time.

The pixie who’d packed her pack had thoughtfully included her slippers. Digging them out, she shuffled to the bedroom door without bothering to turn on any lights.

Unlatching the door, she prepared to tiptoe downstairs; the last thing she wanted to do was upset anyone’s sleep.

They said they shared the room across the hall, but did Silas sleep there too?

Didn’t vampires sleep in coffins, or was that a myth?

He certainly didn’t seem like the monster of legend, so the coffin thing was probably fake. If anything, he reminded her of—

“Akk!” she screamed when she turned the knob only to have the door swing violently back. Jumping out of the way, she watched with wide eyes as Idris fell back into the room, Reed half on top of him.

“Woah,” Idris said, looking up at the same time he gathered Reed in his arms and rolled back into a sitting position. “I didn’t expect that. I guess you didn’t either.”

“What happened?” Reed asked, looking around blearily.

“You fell asleep in my lap, pup,” Idris explained. “I was leaning against the door, and when Cassi opened it, we both fell in.”

“Oh,” he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Cassi looked past the two on the floor to find Silas sitting in a chair in the middle of the hall. What were they doing lurking outside her bedroom? They must’ve been there for a while if Reed managed to fall asleep.

“Is anything wrong Cassi?” Silas asked, standing up and tucking his phone into his pants pocket. They’d all changed clothes, but Reed and Idris were wearing boxer briefs and t-shirts, and Silas was in another suit.

Now the question wasn’t if he slept in a coffin but if he slept in a suit.

“Couldn’t sleep,” she explained.

“What can we do to help?” Idris asked. “Is the room too cold? I know Reed likes to turn the thermostat way down because he’s always running hot, but we could turn it up for you. Silas and I aren’t affected by temperature.”

“Is the bed too hard?” Reed asked at the same time. “There’s another guest room with a softer bed, we could switch out the mattresses. I thought you’d like this room because it has a full bath, but I didn’t think about the bed until now. I’m sorry!”

She blinked at their rapid words all spoken together. Before she could decipher what they were saying, they started talking in unison again with more suggestions of what might make her more comfortable.

“Perhaps we should give her a chance to answer,” Silas said, cutting them both off. The men stopped talking and everyone stared up at her, patiently waiting for her to talk.

“I was going to-to-to make a vanilla st-st-steamer,” she explained. Silas and Idris looked confused, but Reed jumped up with an excited expression.

“I can make it for you! We’ve got a super fancy espresso maker so I can even steam the milk properly,” he said, holding out his hand to Idris.

“Coffee seems like a bad idea if you’re having trouble sleeping,” the gargoyle said as he let Reed help him up.

Reed’s muscles flexed, showing clear outlines through his tight shirt.

Then she realized the gargoyle’s shirt was just as tight.

Both men were built, and she fisted her hands to keep from reaching out to touch them.

“A vanilla steamer is steamed milk with vanilla syrup,” Reed explained. “No caffeine involved.”

“Oh, that does sound good,” Idris rumbled. “I think I’d like one too.”

“Great!” Reed said, then jumped at Idris. Idris didn’t hesitate to catch Reed and throw the wolf shifter over his shoulder.

“Pretty!” Reed exclaimed and reached down to grab Idris’s ass. “This is one of my favorite views!”

His antics made her chuckle, then laugh loudly when he slapped Idris’s butt yelling, “To the kitchen!”

“Behave, pup,” Idris said with a shake of his head and headed down the hall. Silas stepped up and offered her his arm. It was old fashioned, but she found it charming. After she accepted the invitation and wrapped her arm around his, they followed Idris and Reed.

“Before you ask, yes, they’re always like this,” Silas said. “Reed only has two speeds, bouncing off the walls and asleep.”

“W-w-why were you all in the hall?” she asked.

“Waiting for you to wake up,” Silas said.

“Wh-wh-what! Why?”

“I don’t sleep at night, so I told them I’d sit in the hallway in case you needed something or woke up confused,” he explained. “Idris wanted to be there too, and Reed wasn’t going to be left behind.”

That was…insane? Sweet? Considerate? A lot of adjectives flooded her mind, but the one that floated to the top was caring . None of these men were the scary beasts she’d thought they’d be.

By the time they got to the kitchen, Idris was sitting at the table, and Reed was fussing with the espresso machine.

“I’ve got vanilla, hazelnut, cinnamon, and peppermint syrups,” he said without looking around. “Do you want to stick with vanilla or try something else?”

“Vanilla please,” she answered. Silas pulled out a chair for her next to Idris, but the big man made a soft unhappy sound.

“Would you consider sitting in my lap, Cassi?” he asked. “I won’t grab you or anything. I'll keep my hands on the table or at my sides.”

Considering she’d thought she was agreeing to wild sex with the three of them and all they’d done so far was feed her and tuck her into bed, the request didn’t seem that inappropriate. If something as simple as sitting on his muscled thighs would make him happy, she wasn’t going to refuse him.

“Sure,” she agreed. Silas made an encouraging humming sound and stepped out of the way so she could climb onto Idris’s lap. Silas took the seat intended for her so once she was settled sideways on Idris, she was facing the vampire.

She could feel heat radiating from Idris through her thin, cotton pajama pants.

She was a little surprised that the pixie who packed her bag hadn’t thrown in the single sexy nighty she’d bought on impulse and had yet to wear.

But no, there was a change of clothes, her toiletries, and a very plain set of pajamas.

Cassi was still trying to figure out if that was a good or bad thing.

“Are you comfy?” Idris asked, one arm at his side and the other resting on the table in front of him.

“You’re n-n-nice and warm,” she murmured and gave in to the impulse to snuggle against his chest. She grabbed one of his arms and wrapped it around her. “Even better.”

He let out a happy sigh. “Yeah, this is good,” he agreed.

All the tension she’d been carrying in her shoulders started to ease. Now if only she could get the aching pain radiating from the base of her neck to go away, she’d be perfect.

“Silas gives really good massages,” Idris said, his low voice rumbling through her.

The idea of Silas touching her sounded nice. She looked at the vampire and gave a little nod. Silas smiled brightly as he got up and circled them.

“I’m only going to work on your neck and shoulders,” he said as his hands descended on her shoulders.

She hummed with pleasure as he started rubbing out the knots. It felt so good she closed her eyes and relaxed into Idris.

“Darlin’?”

Lazily opening her eyes, she found Reed sitting in front of her with a mug in his hands. “Do you want some of your steamer?”

“Hmmm,” she said, but when she tried to lift her arm, she was trapped by Idris’s embrace.

“Don’t worry, darlin’,” Reed murmured, shifting his chair closer. He held the mug up to her lips and carefully tipped it. She took a sip, marveling that nothing had spilled.

Everything about the vanilla steamer was perfect as the first sip slid down her throat and warmed her stomach.

“Nice,” she whispered, took another sip, then nestled back against Idris. Beaming, Reed sat back and took a sip from the second mug.

By the time she’d drunk half the steamer, Silas had worked every knot out of her neck and shoulders. She felt more relaxed than she had in weeks and was finally feeling sleepy. She should probably go back to bed, but didn’t want the massage to stop.

It turned out her version of heaven had a vampire in it.

“Hey, Silas,” Reed said. “Bradly returned your message.”

“It’s about time,” Silas grumbled.

“The man works days,” Idris said. “We can’t expect him to respond in the middle of the night.”

“For the amount I pay him, he should be on call 24/7,” Silas responded, then spoke to Reed. “What did he say?”

“He’ll schedule the repair crews this weekend, and he’ll take over managing the properties until a replacement for Edwards can be found,” Reed said, then looked up from the phone. “Do you think he’ll be able to get crews in there on a weekend?”

“If anyone can, it’s Bradly,” Idris said.

Hearing the name Edwards made Cassi perk up. “Edwards?”

“Yes, that Edwards,” Silas said and stopped massaging.

Walking around her and Idris, he slid into Reed’s lap.

The shifter welcomed him with open arms and a happy expression.

“I need to apologize. I gave Edward full control of those two apartment buildings. They were supposed to be nice places for low-income families, but he was skimming money that should've gone to keeping the buildings safe and comfortable. I didn’t know until you brought the evidence to me.”

Guilt hit her. “You d-d-didn’t know? I was all set to blackmail you for something that wasn’t your f-f-fault.”

Leaning close, Silas placed a kiss on her forehead. “Don’t feel bad, sweetheart. You were only trying to help your sister, and I’m the owner. It’s my responsibility to know what’s going on with my properties. I promise I won’t let this happen again.”

It felt natural to tilt her head up and press her lips to his. His hand cupped her jaw as she opened her mouth and invited him to deepen the kiss. With a moan, he swept his tongue inside, making heat rocket through her body and chase away her drowsiness.

“That’s beautiful,” Idris said as she felt his cock getting hard under her thigh. “Me next, please?”

Silas broke the kiss, even though she tried to chase after him. “Can Idris kiss you too?”

Feeling dazed, she nodded her head, then turned to the big man.

He was quick to capture her lips. His kiss was more forceful than Silas’s, but in a good way.

His arms held her close, with one hand gripping her waist and the other holding onto her hip.

The hand on her waist moved up, putting his fingers closer to her breast. A sudden ache to be touched there made her moan.

“Idris, stop,” Silas commanded. Cassi made a protesting noise when Idris pulled his mouth away from her.

“More,” she begged and tried to press her lips to his.

“Cassi,” Silas said, drawing her attention away from the gargoyle.

She focused on the vampire's face. “I want more k-k-kisses.”

“And we want to kiss you back, but we also want more. Do you want that, Cassi? Three men touching you? Kissing you? Fucking you? If you’re not ready, we can put you to bed alone, but you have to be honest with us.”

She blinked a few times, then swept her gaze to Reed. The shifter looked hopeful, but also scared. What did he have to be scared of? Turning her gaze to Idris, she found he had a similar expression. Then it hit her—they were scared of rejection.

It made her feel strangely powerful but also privileged to be wanted so thoroughly by these men.

Before tonight, she would've said it was impossible to be seduced with sweetness, but they’d managed it. This might be a one-night stand, but she knew it was going to be the most memorable night she’d ever have.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I want it all.”