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Max sucked in an exaggerated gasp. “I’m telling,” he sang, plastering his hands against Lukas’ chest. He bit his lip with a hum as he dragged his fingers over warm flesh, tracing the definition of muscles with a soft sigh of bliss.

Caius and Quinn were both in good shape, but it was obvious that Lukas still worked out regularly. Max might have been jealous, but he was allergic to exercise. He was just thankful for his genes and metabolism keeping him slim.

When Lukas planted a hand by Max’s head and reached behind himself with the other, Max slid his hands to Lukas’ hips, biting back a giggle.

“You’re gonna be in sooo much trouble,” he continued, dragging out the last syllable.

Lukas narrowed his eyes, but the twitch of his cock gave him away.

Max grinned. “He might even spank you,” he said in a scandalized whisper.

“Fucking hell,” Lukas laughed. “Do you talk to Caius like this?”

He looked up with wide eyes. “Of course not. I call him my pirate Daddy and beg him to plunder my booty,” he said, cackling as Lukas toppled off him, clutching his sides and wheezing.

Max snickered as he fished for the dropped lube and coated his fingers before rolling into Lukas and wiggling his hand between the wolf’s legs.

Lukas was still gasping for air, but his laugh turned into a deep groan when Max pushed two fingers inside. He went pliant a moment later, his hands twisted in the covers as he pushed into the intrusion. “Yeah,” he gasped.

Max bit his lip, transfixed by the sight of Lukas curled up beside him, eyes shut and lips parted on soft moans, dark hair sticking to his face. He was gorgeous. And he belonged to Max, just like Caius and Quinn.

Somehow these three shifters had found him and claimed him as theirs. Called him pack. Made him family. And they were his. He really needed to figure out a way to put his mark on them. Ooh, maybe Rían would help him tattoo them. He’d have to ask.

He pushed Lukas onto his back and crawled between his legs, fumbling the lube as he tried to get more to coat himself. He wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or pure desire, but he needed inside Lukas. Now.

Once he pressed inside, he couldn’t stop. “Sorry,” he gasped, clutching at Lukas’ hips as he buried himself with a few quick thrusts.

Lukas arched beneath him with a sharp grunt, tearing the sheets with clawed fingers.

Max shivered and dropped his forehead to Lukas’ chest, rocking his hips with short, shallow thrusts. “Feel so good.” He rarely imagined how good it might feel on the other side; he was content being pinned and taken. But this was so much better than his imagination. Even better than jerking off.

He dragged his hands across Lukas’ hips and stomach, smearing lube as he groped for the wolf’s cock. Once he found it, he latched on and started stroking.

Lukas bucked beneath him with a shout, the glow of his eyes visible beneath his lashes. “Max.”

“Yeah.” He felt over-hot, like his flames were pressing up beneath his skin. He may not have found Rían’s amulet, but practicing with the trainer every day ensured he no longer felt on the brink of turning everything to ash.

He bit and kissed his way across Lukas’ chest until he found a nipple to sink his teeth into. Then he bit the other when Lukas thrashed beneath him with a throaty growl .

Tiny sparks flickered around his fingers as he continued stroking, and Lukas gasped, his eyes and mouth flying open with a look of shock, before his eyes rolled back and his body shuddered with his release.

Max groaned as Lukas tightened around him, giving a few last spastic thrusts before his orgasm slammed through him. He collapsed on top of the wolf with a breathless laugh, nuzzling against Quinn’s mark on Lukas’ neck.

“Fuck,” Lukas groaned, his chest heaving. “You can fuck me whenever you want.”

Max grinned and made himself comfortable, ignoring Lukas’ protests of needing to shower as he let sleep claim him.

MAX STARTLED awake when his pillow abruptly vanished. He sat up in alarm, squinting at the unfamiliar shadows and swallowing against the faint threat of nausea. Then he heard a ragged breath and focused on Lukas on the other side of the bed.

“Wh’s wrong?”

Lukas blew out a loud breath. “Nothing. Sorry I woke you.”

Max crawled closer and settled on his knees behind Lukas.

He knew better than to touch, thanks to Caius waking like this sometimes.

“Should I get Quinn?” When Lukas didn’t respond, he crawled to the edge of the bed and held his hand out.

“Or we could go down to him together.” He wiggled his fingers when Lukas remained silent.

Finally, chilled fingers gripped his own and he tugged Lukas to his feet, only realizing halfway down the hall that they were both naked. Oh well.

Bright moonlight reflected off the snow out back, illuminating the house with silver.

Max led the way to the stairs to Quinn’s lair, the moonlight vanishing a few steps down. Thankfully, Quinn’s several computers lit the room up enough he didn’t stub his toes.

When they reached the bedroom, he knocked lightly on the door. “Quinn,” he called.

Covers shifted as Quinn stirred. “Yeah?” he replied, his voice rough with sleep .

“We’re coming in.” Max tugged Lukas to the bed and nudged him in first, then stretched out on the other side as Lukas curled into Quinn. He closed his eyes with a yawn and a murmured, “He needs a spanking in the morning.” He grinned and drifted back to sleep to the sound of Quinn’s soft laugh.

WHEN MAX woke again, it was to the sharp sound of flesh slapping flesh. He rolled over with a groan, cracking his eyes open to see Lukas bent over Quinn’s lap as Quinn spanked him.

He pushed himself up with a startled laugh, crawling on his knees to Quinn and draping himself against the shifter’s back. “Knew he’d like that,” he said, settling in to watch for a few moments before kissing Quinn’s cheek and mussing Lukas’ hair.

He hopped off the bed and into the bathroom for a quick shower, then headed upstairs with a towel wrapped around his waist. He stopped in Lukas’ room long enough to grab his hoodie before heading to his own room for clean boxers and sweats. Then he found Caius in his office and slipped inside.

“No, of course not,” Caius said into his phone, swiveling his chair towards Max with a tired smile.

They really needed to get away for a few days.

Between the attacks from the Order and his father and struggling to control his magic, Max felt like he’d been on high alert for months.

He made a note to find a way to block the Order from tracking them later and straddled Caius’ lap with a sigh of content.

“I didn’t forget. We can meet soon,” Caius said.

Max tilted his head before leaning in to nuzzle Caius’ neck, grinning when Caius tipped his head to the side with a soft groan.

He dragged his tongue against the warm column of flesh before sinking his teeth into Caius’ earlobe.

He smothered his laugh into the wolf’s shoulder when Caius jerked with a sharp hiss.

“I’m not,” Caius said, voice tight, and Max heard the sound of laughter on the other end of the line. “You’re dead to me,” he continued, the laughter growing louder.

When Max lifted his head, Caius glared at him before sighing into the phone.

“Yes, fine, tomorrow. See you then. ”

“What’s tomorrow?” Max asked, wrapping his arms around Caius’ neck and threading his fingers through the salt-and-pepper hair.

Caius hesitated, settling his hands on Max’s hips before answering. “My ex wants a double date.”

It took a few moments for that to sink in. Max sat back enough to eye Caius. “With me?”

“I’m not dating anyone else,” he replied dryly.

Max grinned. “We’re dating?” He laughed when Caius narrowed his eyes with a growl, relishing the warm pulse of pleasure at hearing this wasn’t just a fling between them.

“Will I get to hear embarrassing stories about you?” he asked, and Caius’ pained groan was more than enough reason to agree before attacking his neck again.

Caius leaned back in his chair with a throaty moan, his hands sliding down to grope Max’s ass. “What’s this about me plundering your booty?”

He collapsed into helpless laughter. “You weren’t supposed to hear that!”

“No? Am I not allowed to plunder?” Caius groped Max’s ass before lifting him as he stood.

Max yelped and latched on like an octopus. “You all like to carry me around way too much.”

“Should we stop?”

“Don’t you dare.”

Caius laughed, a deep, throaty rumble in his chest.

Max marveled at the sound of it. At the fact that he’d caused it.

His life might still be teetering on the edge of a clusterfuck, but at least he had three shifters to call his own.

And he was a mage who could summon fireballs. What wasn’t to love about that?