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EVANGELINE

A fter I left Angel’s room, I went on the hunt for Fiona.

Who knew far more than she’d ever let on and I wanted answers.

But despite a thorough search, Crimson House was practically empty, probably because Riordan and Blake had evacuated everyone. Which should have made me feel better but made me realize how vulnerable we were.

I paused outside Riordan’s office door, the hum of his and Blake’s conversation rising and falling as I debated just going back to bed. I was exhausted and hurting—probably because I’d fallen from the sky—yet somehow, I knew I’d never be able to sleep.

I pushed the door ajar and popped my head in. “Are you busy?”

Riordan’s expression softened, “Never too busy for you, Evie. We were just talking about you, actually.”

My gut clenched, and the fear must have shown on my face, because Blake was across the room in an instant and had me tucked against him. “We were discussing what piss poor males we’ve been, not taking care of you. We need to do better. We will do better, if you give us a chance.”

I pulled away so I could see his face. “You take wonderful care of me, it’s my fault…” Blake’s lips pressed against mine, long enough to cut off the rest of what I was about to say.

“None of this is your fault.” Blake cupped my face between his big, calloused palms and murmured sternly. “We should have watched over you, kept you fed, and we could have helped you learn about your magic. But from the beginning, we gave you good reason not to trust us, Evie. We see that, now.”

I opened my mouth to tell them I did trust them, but Blake was there, driving his tongue between my lips, making every rational thought vaporize.

“We will help you train your magic,” Riordan added, after my mate pulled away, leaving my lips tender and me breathless. “With some practice, Fiona thinks you can control your flames in a short amount of time.”

“Did you visit Angel?” Blake asked softly, running his hands down my back. “She must have been pleased to see you. I felt bad earlier, turning her away, but you were in no shape for visitors.”

“She and Bex told me about their research .” I took a breath, wondering if diving into my magical history was worth the trouble, when there was still so much we didn’t know.

“But yes, Angel was happy to see me. Thank you for letting Bex stay, I know my sister needs the company.” I paused. “Are they really safe here? Is there…anywhere we could send them that would be better?”

“Fiona offered to take them to House Drakeheart, and much like you, Angel stubbornly refused to leave.” Blake tucked my hair behind my ear, dragging his fingers lightly down my throat, his eyes dilating slightly. “But at the first hint of danger, Eldric has offered to take your sister and Bex to safety.”

“Eldric, huh?” I narrowed my eyes on my mate. “Eldric Drakon is going to take Angel to safety?” I snorted. “I’d love to see how that will go for him.”

“Not well, I assume, but he seems determined.” Blake tugged me closer, running his nose up the side of my neck. “You need to feed, mate. You’re not healing as you should.”

“I know, but…” I pulled away, only for his hand to hold me firmly in place. “I shouldn’t.” Blake’s smile faded, his gaze searching my face.

“And why shouldn’t you?” He challenged softly. “You’re hungry, I’m your mate. I want the pleasure of having you at my throat.” The moment his thumb rubbed across my bottom lip, my fangs descended, my stomach growling. “You are hungry, aren’t, you Evie?”

“Yes, but….” His fingers danced over my body, Riordan moving to the door, and I heard the metallic click of a lock. “I…really…shouldn’t…” Then every logical thought went out of my head when his lips closed on the tendon on my neck, fangs pinching down at the same time his fingers tugged at my sensitive nipple.

He pressed his lips to my ear. “I want your fangs in me, mate. Then you’re going to drink from Riordan.” His fingers never stopped pinching and probing, one hand kneading my ass, keeping me pressed against him, his hard cock trapped between our bodies.

“We’re going to spread you out on that desk, I’m watching you sink your fangs into Rohr’s throat, then I am going to lick your sweet pussy the entire time you drink from him.”

“This is…what you two discussed?” I asked weakly.

“Oh, we discussed much, much more,” Riordan’s voice was little more than a growl, “but you’re still recovering, so for now, this will have to do. Us feeding and pleasuring you. That’s what’s on today’s agenda.”

“Oh. Okay,” I murmured weakly, threading my fingers thought Blake’s silky hair. “Since you two have a plan, I suppose I shouldn’t fight you on this.”

“No.” Blake tugged my shirt over my head, then made fast work of the button on my jeans. “You really should stop fighting us altogether. Because you’ll only lose.”

Flames ignited in Riordan’s eyes. “Unless you want to fight.” His smile grew more wicked. “I can definitely work with that. I’ve been thinking about chasing you down, pinning you to the bed and…” A primal growl rose in his throat, and my breath went out in a rush.

Oh. My God.

I’d missed them so badly, missed this easy camaraderie, missed their laughter, the smell of them. The sheer adrenaline rush of having these powerful, savage males focus all their attention on me.

They were mine and I was theirs and all I wanted—all I needed —was to sink my teeth in and taste them. Or have them sink their teeth into me .

I shivered, my toes curling at the thought, my mind going blank as two sets of lips nibbled and licked, fingers stroked and pinched, kneading soft flesh until I could barely even remember my name.

Blake’s mouth trailed down my throat, the brush of his lips over my skin making me moan, but Riordan was there to swallow the sound, his tongue tracing the seam of my lips until I opened for him, sinking into this moment, into them, as if we’d never been apart.

We were magical together, pleasure already cresting as Riordan kissed me like he’d been counting every second we were apart and was making up for every one of them.

I was barely aware of the three of us moving, Blake’s lips on my bare skin while Riordan plundered my mouth, until my ass hit something hard.

Before I fully grasped I was moving, Blake lifted me, set me on the cool surface of the desk and knelt between my legs, tugging down my jeans and throwing them over his shoulder, where they landed beside my shirt in the middle of the floor.

“Are you sure we should do this in here?’ I asked, as Blake lifted me up, easing underneath me. I was in nothing but my bra and panties, and they were both still fully clothed. “Maybe we should take this upstairs.”

“You are exactly where you should be.” Blake tugged me to his throat, and then he was all I could smell, like I was in the middle of a thunderstorm. I leaned closer and pressed a kiss to his warm skin as he slipped his hand between my legs, gently stroking the outside of my already soaked panties.

I pushed my hips forward, trying to get that pressure to just the right spot.

Blake pulled his hand away with a chuckle. “Oh no. You’re not getting yourself off, yet, Evangeline.” He cradled the back of my head. “Fangs in my throat. Now. Then in Rohr’s.” His wicked grin grew even darker. “My tongue is going to be buried so deep inside your tight little pussy, you’re going to fucking forget your name.”

The coiling pressure between my legs turned into a demanding ache.

“And what about you two?” I challenged. “What if I want to taste you?”

Riordan stripped off his shirt, his gaze positively cataclysmic. “Whatever our queen wants, right Blake?”

“Anything you want, Evie.” Blake tipped his head back and I took another deep inhale of his delicious scent, eyes glued to the long stretch of muscle before me, the vein pounding beneath his skin.

“I want you both. I want us to be like we were,” I said, a little sadly. “I love you. So much. I swear, every time I think about…”

“None of that.” Riordan commanded, “This is for you, Silver. All of this is yours.” He came and stood beside us, tattoos so dark against his skin, twining over his chest, his arms, down his abdomen. I wanted to trace every single one, to lick and nibble and suck and another shiver of pure need went through me.

“Drink, Evie,” Blake urged softly. “Stop thinking so hard and just follow your instincts.”

And then it was easy to trace my lips over his velvet soft skin, to breath him in, to brace my palms against his hard chest, feel every heartbeat pounding against my hand. The bond drew us tighter together, until I was intimately aware of his every breath, of the sigh when I paused over his vein, the slight jerk of his body when my fangs sank home.

He flooded my mouth with his unique flavor, and I knew right then, I could never live without this male.

That I was his and he was mine and I relaxed against him, that lovely, logy feeling seeping through me like honey as his arms came around me.

I licked the punctures closed when I was done, my nipples peaked from the blood and having both of them touching me, my pussy throbbing and wet as I shifted against him, searching for some relief.

“Oh no, you’re going to cum in my mouth, mate, and not a second before.” Blake tipped me back and searched my face. I could barely hold my eyes open, the euphoria from feeding coursing through me like a drug.

“Riordan wants to take care of you, Evie.”

Blake carefully extricated himself from beneath me as he and Riordan traded places, turning me so I was on Rohr’s lap, but he had full access, spreading my legs wider, teasing me through my soaked panties.

“So fucking wet,” he murmured. “You’re dripping for us.”

“All I can fucking smell is you.” Riordan’s voice was little more than a growl, as he tugged me to his throat. “You smell fucking delicious, Silver. After Blake’s finished you off, I’ll tease one more orgasm out of you.”

“Hmmm.” Riordan’s skin was even softer, paler, spicy and rich and I fastened my teeth over the corded muscle and bit down, luxuriating in his groan, the way his fingers dented into my skin. “You taste so good. Like coffee. And cinnamon,” I murmured, licking the spot I’d just bitten, watching the blood rush in, every piece of me suddenly on alert.

“Take me.” Riordan begged. “I need you to bite me, Silver.”

His skin gave easily beneath my teeth, his blood was thick and rich and warm, sending energy rocketing through my veins.

Blake dragged my panties off, spread me wider as Riordan banded his hand over my belly and held me in place as my mate licked straight up the center of me, driving his tongue—as promised—deep enough to make me groan.

He lapped at me as I drank, matching every thrust of his tongue to every hard pull, until the three of us were moving together, surging and sighing, fingers digging into flesh, caught up in something almost holy.

Then I was cresting that wave, balanced on the delicate edge between anticipation and pleasure, suspended like a bird before I broke, coming apart in a rush of quivering flesh and fire, before that earth shattering moment when my mind went perfectly blank.

I barely remembered to lick Riordan closed as I imploded, held tightly in his arms, Blake lapping at me like he meant to get every drop.

Then my mate wiped the back of his hand across his wet mouth, and rocked back on his heels, his eyes pure male predator. “Fucking delicious.” In one move, Riordan had me flat on my back as he took Blake’s place, and this time…this time…

“ Oh God, oh God, oh God .” My body torqued up off the desk as I came again, drowning in this endless pleasure, in the feel of his mouth on me, of their blood roaring through my veins like the light from a star.

This was too much. Too fucking much. And I never wanted it to end.

Riordan took one last, long lick and rose up between my spread legs with a slow, slightly lopsided smile. “Do you want us both, Evangeline?” He reached out and pushed a finger into my mouth, and I tasted salt. “I want your mouth so badly,” he admitted softly. “I’ve been dreaming about your lips wrapped around my cock for days…weeks now.”

“Yes.” I was half dazed, head spinning, and right now, I wanted everything .

I licked my lips and Riordan went perfectly still. “You in my mouth, my mate fucking me from behind. On the desk.” I ran my hands over the smooth surface, brushing the rest of the papers onto the floor, hoping they weren’t important kingly business stuff.

Not that I really cared right now.

“Fuck yes,” Blake rasped. “I want you spread wide so I can fill you up. I’d cover you with my scent, if I had my way.” His eyes turned positively incandescent. “Both of us, Evangeline, and you’ll get on your knees, like our obedient little queen.”

Jesus, his dirty mouth was seriously going to be the death of me.

They stripped down and I watched every single move, the way Blake’s muscled abdomen flexed as he stripped off his pants, Riordan’s perfect, tight ass flexing as he bent over to untie his shoes. They were gorgeous, and somehow, they were mine.

I didn’t deserve them, but when Blake came up to me, naked, cock bobbing, all I could do was smile.

“You smell like spice. And warm desert winds,” Blake murmured, cupping my breasts, his thumbs teasing my tight, aching nipples before he nodded to the desk. “On all fours, mate. Legs spread wide.” His eyes glinted like steel. “Right the fuck now.”

I crawled onto the desk, facing Riordan and braced my hands and knees on the slick surface. “Wider,” Blake commanded, running his fingers through my folds as he urged my knees further apart. “Open your mouth for your king like a good girl.”

Rohr came up in front of me, stroking his cock while Blake’s warm hands traced the curve of my spine, my ass, dragging his thumbs through my soaking folds. The head of Blake’s cock brushed my entrance, his hands braced on my hips and he pushed inside in one long, delicious surge of pressure and heat.

I arched my back, taking him down to the base, because I knew that was what he would give me. Every fucking glorious inch, his girth stretching my swollen pussy with a delicious pinch of pain.

Riordan stroked my cheek, his blue flecked eyes glimmering as I opened for him, purring around his invasion.

He coated the inside of my mouth with salt and cinnamon, dragging his head against the top of my mouth, my teeth, with every stroke. “Fucking hell,” he breathed. “Do you know what you look like, taking my cock like this?” His gaze darkened. “Use your tongue, Silver… Yes, god yes, just like that.”

He gave me no quarter, working his cock in and out, one hand tangled in my hair as I rolled my tongue around him, teasing that thick vein, the underside of his cock with every stroke. “Relax your throat. Let me— Fuck, you feel so good .”

Blake fucked me slowly from behind, both of them grunting with every thrust, the slap of skin against skin; the wet sound of Riordan sliding in and out of my mouth was so erotic I could barely stand it. The three of us together were incendiary, and as they slid in and out of me, the sensual glide of hot, hard flesh had me combusting.

I want us to burn together, I thought helplessly. I want us to turn to ashes, and then I want to do this all over again. I never want this to end.

“It never will, Silver.” Rohr’s low growl sent a shiver straight down my spine as he pushed forward, his eyes gleaming as he watched himself slide in and out of my mouth. “ Never .”

You were made for us, Evangeline. And we were made to be yours. Blake plunged into me, so deep my moan became a low, husky scream.

With Rohr in front of me, Blake gripped my hips as he rode me, my pussy tightening around his cock as he picked up the pace, pounding into me, groaning out my name as he thrust deeper and deeper, as if he was trying to reach into my very center

Rohr gently cradled my face. W e serve at the pleasure of our queen. That’s you, Evie. You are who we serve. He pulled away, long enough to whisper, “Come with us, love. Let’s all go over together.”

Those words were all I needed to fall apart, his deep voice resonating straight through to my heart.

Blake’s fingers dented my hips as he froze, shuddering, filling me up, then Riordan hissed my name and spilled down my throat, my throat moving to take every drop as we rode out our pleasure together, everything narrowing down to their delicious fullness filling me up, the taste and feel of having them both inside me.

This was how life should be.

This was everything I’d ever wanted, even if I didn’t deserve them.

This time, release wasn’t an explosion of my senses, it was slow and sweet, like a warm, rising tide, warmth flooding through me, into every cell and cold place, chasing away the doubts and even the specter of what was coming.

Blake’s seed coated my thighs, all I could taste was Riordan and my arms quivered before a pair of strong arms scooped me up and swept me against a chest packed with solid muscle, flecked with scars.

“Now you’re going to sleep for a few hours,” Blake admonished, the office blurring into a smear of black. One blink and I was in my bedroom, surrounded by…him.

“I’ll stay with you as long as I can, but…” His gaze strayed to the door. “Nash is making preparations to go after Draven at the compound, and I don’t want to leave it all on Rohr’s shoulders.”

Weakness flooded through me, my heart turning as gooey as my body.

They were really going to help him.

“Nash still has to get everyone armed and he’s waiting for a few more guards, so you need to sleep, Evie. In a few hours, you’ll feel like new.”

“Stay just a few minutes?” I wanted to weep when he set me on the bed and tucked blankets around me, then climbed in. “Just until I fall asleep.” This was beyond exhaustion, more than the normal post feeding lethargy. This was finally being safe and warm and with my mate.

This was being home .

“A few minutes,” he agreed, settling back in the pillows, but was snoring before I even closed my eyes.

* * *

I didn’t know what woke me, the hair on my arms prickling, but I burst up out of bed in the pitch darkness, the barest hint of moonlight streaming in from the windows.

Blake was out of bed even before me, buttoning himself up, grabbing his weapons on the way to the door while instinct told me to head toward the window.

Fiona was below, staring up at the window.

“She’s come to lock my magic back down.” I murmured, “Probably a good thing, since it feels unsettled after feeding. I need to go talk to her.” I wanted answers, in addition to information on my magic.

“What, can’t this wait until morning? Fuck, it’s nearly midnight.”

“Well aware.” I pulled on a shirt, jeans, and a sweater, since it was—as my astute mate observed—the middle of the night. “But she knows more about my magic than she’s letting on, Blake.” Since there wasn’t a pair of shoes to be found, I got down on my hands and knees and rooted beneath the bed for footwear.

“I don’t like this.” But he sheathed his knives. “At least do this inside.”

“You haven’t seen my magic in action. Trust me, you want me outside for this. Yes, finally .” I found my missing shoe and slipped it on, then crossed to him and set my hands on his shoulders. “I’m going to ask her about some family history, and I’d rather not have an audience.” I searched his face. “This isn’t any reflection on you, or how much I love and trust you, I’m just…expecting some ugly truths to come out and I’d rather not have you hear them until I’ve had a chance to process them first.”

“Evie.” His fingers ghosted down the side of my face. “There is nothing ugly about you.”

“There is, and this conversation is one I’d prefer to have alone. Can you do that for me?”

Blake glanced at the door. “I should go check on Nash and Riordan, but…”

He studied my face, then nodded. “You go talk to Fiona, I’ll watch from up here. Not listen,” he added hastily. “But I just…need to keep my eyes on you right now.”

“I get that, and I appreciate you watching over me. You’re the best mate I could ever ask for, Blake.” I looked back to Fiona, looking exasperated as she waved me down.

“I’ll always keep you safe, Evangeline.” His smile turned slightly wicked. “Never forget, I serve at your pleasure.”