Page 47

Vince

After walking through the village, the four of them settled at a small café.

Scarlett seemed completely amazed by her new surroundings, her eyes wide as she tried to take it all in.

Vince could see her spending the next few weeks sampling the menu at each restaurant on the strip to find her favourites.

“When are you heading to the trail?” she asked, peering over the spread-out maps on the table.

“In a few days,” Mateo answered, looking up for the first time in a while. “We want to be sure you’re all settled.”

“And one of you is going to stay with me at first?”

“Yes. We’ll take turns,” Mateo reassured.

“As long as you don’t make me choose, I’m good.”

“A good fist fight will do just fine,” Ezra chuckled, taking a sip of the lemonade he’d chosen for himself.

“I thought you might want to keep injuries to a minimum with having to keep your strength.”

Ezra shrugged. “Fine—no serious injuries then.”

Her gaze drifted off. Vince loved seeing her out and spreading her wings.

She’d been cooped up for so long in her family’s tower, and now the world was her oyster.

It was beautiful to look at how much she enjoyed the simplest of things.

He wondered how often she’d fantasised about a day like this: getting to explore a new town, something as simple as enjoying a glass of lemonade in the sun.

They also treated her to a piece of cake—it would have been more but she refused a second—before heading back to their cabin.

Mateo had made sure to pay the owner to stock the pantry and fridge, so they had food for at least a week.

They would refill it again between hiking the trails so Scarlett wouldn’t have to worry about doing it herself.

Once back in the cabin, Scarlett claimed one of the rocking chairs on the porch for herself and looked over the valley beneath them. When Vince went out to top up her juice, she smiled up at him with the most curious eyes.

“You grew up a hunter too.”

“I did.”

“Do you have a book about magical creatures too?”

“I do. Would you like to see it?”

“I would love to.”

He happily fetched it for her, presenting it with a strange feeling of pride in his heart.

Scarlett took the book, indicating for him to take the empty chair next to her. “Did you write this one? Mateo said he handwrote his.”

“I did. This is actually my third.”

“You wrote the entire book three times?”

“I did.”

“Is there a reason for that?”

“My father disliked the first two and burned them. He made me rewrite it until he was satisfied.”

Blood drained from Scarlett’s face, her jaw falling open in surprise. “He burned them because he simply didn’t like it?”

He’d buried those memories deep in a chest and locked them away in the back of his mind. His heart had shattered when he watched his father burn his hard work to ashes. “They were hard to read.”

“Oh, Vince.” She held out her hand and he gratefully took it. “I’m so sorry. It would’ve destroyed me if someone had burned my first sketches. They were horrendous, but I spent hours upon hours making them. I would’ve never touched a single blank paper ever again.”

“I had no other choice.”

“I know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” She trailed off, her free hand running over the leatherbound copy of his Creature Collection .

“Are you looking for something specific?”

Scarlett shook her head and carefully, as if she was too scared to bend the pages, opened the book in her lap. “No. I was just wondering if yours and Mateo’s are different. I read through his on the way here.”

“Did you find it interesting?”

“Yes. I mean, I know other magical beings exist, but we never really talked about or interacted with them. It just opened my eyes a little more.”

He watched Scarlett flip through the pages, some she admired more thoroughly, while others she only glanced over. Halfway through the book, Mateo poked his head out of the door to see if they were hungry. Vince f ollowed them both inside after Scarlett returned his book back to him.

Sitting back with Ezra on the couches, Vince’s adoration grew as Scarlett and Mateo chose and prepared a special meal. Vince loved to see how relaxed Scarlett became every day. She’d done wonderfully during their time in the village, appreciating even the smallest details as they’d explored.

When Vince and Ezra stood to set the table, Scarlett insisted on doing so herself and forced them to sit back down.

Maybe it was her way of spoiling and taking care of them.

That was what she’d been taught after all.

Even after dinner, she didn’t allow them to do anything more than bring her the dishes to the sink, earning her a kiss from each one of them.

Only after she’d cleaned the dishes and counters did she let Mateo scoop her up and carry her to her bedroom.

“When you showed me the cabin before booking it, I didn’t realise it only had two bedrooms.”

“I thought that since there’ll be times where only one of us will be here, it would be easier.” Mateo looked back, indicating for them both to follow.

Ezra jumped out of his seat as if he’d been stung by a bee and followed with rapid steps.

When Vince entered the room, Ezra sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard while Mateo sat on the foot end of the bed and unzipped the back of Scarlett’s dress.

Without taking his eyes off her, Vince sat down on the armchair opposite.

Her tights had already been set aside, so when the dress fell to the floor it revealed a matching black lace lingerie set.

“Beautiful,” Mateo hummed, kissing the small of her back before taking her hand and spinning her around. “Did I hear correctly that Ezra plans on making me watch while he fucks you?”

Scarlett’s skin pebbled right before Vince’s eyes, and he couldn’t quite tell if it was fear—or excitement. There was a strong possibility that it was a combination of the two.

“Yes, he said that,” she whispered.

Ezra chuckled, his eyes greedily running over their princess’s exposed body. “The second she’s ready to carry a child, you’ll be tied up to watch me fuck my heir into her.”

“Maybe I should give you a taste of your own medicine.”

Taking the hint, Vince went to Ezra’s luggage and grabbed the rope he’d brought with him. When he returned, he handed it over to Mateo and took his seat again, eager to watch this play out. They’d only shared Scarlett once before and it had visibly overwhelmed her.

“Tie Ezra up, my love.”

She hesitantly took the rope and let it glide through her fingers. “I don’t know how.”

“I’ll show you.”

Ezra held his hands out, wrists together for Scarlett to do as she pleased. With Mateo’s hand on her lower back, she inched over the mattress towards Ezra and followed Mateo’s instructions to secure Ezra’s wrists together.

“Tighter, princess.”

She didn’t follow Ezra’s command right away and looked up at Mateo for help.

“Don’t be afraid,” Mateo softly encouraged. “He’s telling you what he needs.”

She turned her eyes back on Ezra and ran her fingers over the rope that bound his wrists. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Where is the fun in that?”

Scarlett sighed and released the knot, then tied it again—tighter.

She barely needed Mateo to instruct her.

She learned fast, and Vince loved it. His cock was already hard from just watching her in that pretty lace set, tying up one of her mates.

So damn innocent, yet even more eager to please her men.

“Wiggle your fingers,” she demanded once the knot was fastened again. Ezra did as told. “Do they tingle?”

“Not at all.”

“I want you to tell me if they do or even feel numb.”

“I will,” Ezra promised, his body already relaxing into subspace. The tension that typically flooded their bond dissipated. Scarlett helped Ezra cope in a way that no other woman had done before.

Now that Mateo had what he’d been waiting for, he shifted to kneel behind Scarlett and unhooked her bra.

Vince’s dick swelled even more at the beautiful sight of her—and he wasn’t the only one with out-of-control lust. Though Mateo forced himself to gently kiss her neck and cup her tits, desire coursed through his veins.

Ezra too wanted to reach out and touch her but even more, he wanted to please her, so he remained still.

Her head lolled back against Mateo, his finger running a trail over her stomach and teasing the waistband of her lace panties.

If it had been him, he would’ve torn the flimsy material from her body but Mateo set his own lust aside and carefully pushed the fabric down her legs.

She rose onto her knees, allowing Mateo to fully undress her.

“So beautiful,” Mateo hummed, letting his fingers slide between her thighs.

Vince couldn’t see much, but her body twitched and a soft moan echoed throughout the room.

He wanted to get up and join Mateo and spoil her skin with his kisses, but he didn’t dare move.

Ezra was more daring, reaching for Scarlett with his bound hands.

Before he could even touch her, Mateo slapped his hands away.

“Mine,” he growled, pulling Scarlett closer against him, his hand cupping her pussy. “I told you: I’m going to fuck her, and you’re going to watch.”

Scarlett shuddered again and a moan filled the air. He couldn’t hold back his own sound of pleasure as he watched his mate melt into Mateo’s arms. She was stunning, nothing like he’d ever seen. And even though he wanted to touch and please her, he enjoyed watching her from afar too.

Scarlett reached behind herself and tugged on Mateo’s pants. He got the message, dropping them far enough to free his cock, but not before retrieving a condom from his pocket.

“Lean forward and place your hands on Ezra’s shoulders.”