Page 15 of Slaying With Sylphs (Haven Ever After #6)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DIRK

C onnall and I jog around the long line of shops to the corner and back around.

He laughs as we join up with the crowd, all focused on Louanna and her work in the gnome village. He stares around at the gathered wolves, centaurs; even most of the pegasi herd is here. Not to mention Louanna’s nieces and their mates. Thea and Shepherd cheer wildly, louder than the rest of the crowd combined. Ohken holds his mate, Wren, while she claps excitedly. And Abe rests his cheek on top of Morgan’s head as she shouts for Lou.

My family. These monsters are my family. They don’t really know it yet, haven’t comprehended it the way they will. But they’re Lou’s favorite people in the world, which means they’re mine too.

I glance up at Connall, who’s staring at Lou, green eyes hungrily eating her up. When I step closer, our thighs brushing against one another’s, his smile grows wicked, barely withheld behind a smirk to rival mine. We made progress tonight in our conversation.

Lou roars as she drags the log around under Bellami’s gruff directives. Connall rears back and howls for her, his wolf’s deeper tone laced through the noise. Other wolves take up the call, their howls echoing off the glass fronts of the homes built above the shops in the Hollow.

The noise brings goosebumps to the surface of my skin, watching my mate yowl for our woman. When he drops his hands by his sides, his fingers brush mine. He said he wanted to instigate physical contact with me…is that what he’s doing?

Was it purposeful? I was careful tonight to be flirtatious but not romantically touchy in public. I’m not embarrassed, not by a long shot. I long for the day when I can hold both their hands and walk them around to show them off. But it surprised Connall when I initially shared my interest in him. I can’t rush too quickly with him.

I curl the tips of my fingers into his palm, still focused on Lou. He shifts to the foot closest to me, his hand curving around mine.

He’s holding my hand. He’s holding. My. Hand!

I resist the urge to crow in victory or slap my jewel, turn us to wind and snatch Louanna from the gnome village. I could. Despite Bellami’s earlier comment, my boss hasn’t rescinded my portal override access yet. She will; she’s jest waitin’ for the right moment to do it in an embarrassing way. I know Evenia well enough for that. But I don’t worry about it. No.

Instead, I shout for my hard-working mate as she, with a bevy of gnomes beneath the log, manages to drag it on top of the first story. She bends in half, looking exhausted as she flops over the log, only to be shrieked at by Bellami and the rest of the crew. He quickly shoos her away as the crowd shouts in triumph for her.

Connall pulls me up the sidewalk, but we drift apart as the crowd jostles around us.

I ache to touch his warmth again. But there’s time. Tonight, I’m moving us another step forward. And then another. And another. Until they’re both fully mine and one another’s. I won’t rest until it’s done. This is the most important hunt of my life, right here.

Lou drags one foot in front of the other until she reaches the edge of the new village. Stepping carefully out, she raises both fists high in victory, laughing as her nieces crowd around her and crush her in their embrace.

Amber eyes close as she hugs her girls, then open again and move around the crowd until they land on Connall and me. I shoot my woman a quick wink as Connall backs up a step until our thighs are touchin’ again. I can’t hold back a smirk as Lou’s pink-dusted cheeks grow a darker shade of rose.

Her boss, Malik, high-fives her when she parts from the Hector triplets. The crowd begins to slowly dissipate, the gnomes still hard at work behind Lou. Connall and I move with the crowd until we’re reunited with her.

Thea glances up at me from her mate’s embrace. “Dirk, what a surprise to see you here.” Her deadpan tone always makes me laugh. Ever the detective, this woman.

“Jest here for my woman, as yeh know, Althea.”

She rolls her eyes but laughs at me. The Hector triplets have been front and center to my pursuing antics for a bit now.

Morgan rubs Lou’s back, playing with the long end of her lovely braid. “Lou, honey, we’re headed to Bad Axe to get nachos. Abe challenged me to an axe-throwing competition, so I obviously have to win that. Come with us?”

Lou’s eyes flick to mine. Ah, my woman needs a rescue.

“I’m stealin’ Lou for the night,” I say with a wicked grin. “Got a special somethin’ planned fer her.”

“Oh,” Morgan says with a sly smile. “Well,” her eyes flash at Lou, “I can’t wait to hear all about it later.”

“I promise to provide excellent fodder for yer next girlie Green Bean date.” I reach for Louanna through the crowd, and without hesitation, she places her delicate hand in mine and allows me to pull her to me.

“Green Bean for breakfast!” Lou shouts to the triplets as I grab Connall’s hand and slap my gem, dissolving us into pure, beautiful element. We whirl away from the crowd and off into the night.

I dance them through the clouds and up along the ward ceiling, grabbing current after current until we come to a tiny wildflower meadow tucked in the rolling hills behind Abemet and Morgan’s castle. He already knows we’ll be coming here tonight, so we’ll be undisturbed. Nobody else comes to this part o’ the woods.

Twisting through the clouds, I skirt us underneath them, marveling at the sentiment I read from both mates. Connall’s aura in wind form is all bright, steady joy, where Lou’s is unfiltered shock and awe. I never knew wind dancing with them would be so thrilling. Nothing could have prepared me fer it. But spinning along with their auras held close is a pleasure I’ll never stop thanking the gods for.

I guide us slowly away from the clouds, grabbing a pale blue current as it spirals down toward the meadow to rustle the flowers. When I shift us back into monster form, Lou sways off her feet, but Connall catches her easily around the waist, holding her to his much larger body.

Her hands move to cover his as she looks up and back at him. Her position highlights her elegant neck, freckles dotting the smooth skin. I cannae help myself. Reaching out, I brush my fingertips down her throat to a spot that’s just begging for a gift I made her and haven’t given her yet.

I don’t realize I’m staring so hard until Lou brushes her fingers over mine. “You alright? I’ve never seen you so serious-looking.”

I nod and beam at them both, tapping the spot with my forefinger. “I’ve a gift for yeh, my sweet. This is the perfect spot for it.”

Connall’s brows go straight up as he looks over Lou’s shoulder, brushing his fingers over the same spot.

“I have one for you as well, Wolf.” I smile. “Soon, I’ll give yeh both the first of many gifts, and it’d be my honor for yeh both to wear them.”

His cheeks and neck go red, but he nods.

Stepping close, I press Louanna between us as I lift my hands to touch the same divot at the base of Connall’s throat.

Lou rests her head against his chest as his eyes find mine. A soft smile turns his plush lips upward. I can’t wait to taste those lips.

“Is there a significance to this specific gift you have planned?”

Connall’s question is fair, so I take a step back and gesture to the picnic blanket and spread of snacks I brought here earlier this evening.

Nodding, I sink onto the blanket and reach for them. Lou takes my hand, Connall positioning himself next to her.

“To an elemental sylph, it means yeh’ve been identified as someone’s mate.”

“I see,” Lou says, “this is the sylph version of putting a ring on it.”

I cock my head to the side. “A ring?”

Connall saves the day with a smile. “Humans often gift rings to their intended when they formally ask to become mates.”

“This confuses me,” I admit. “Yer mates or yer not.”

“Humans aren’t like that,” Louanna says with a shake of her head. “While we believe in soul mates, it’s different for everyone. Plenty of humans marry, which is our version of a mating ceremony, but about sixty percent divorce, or split.”

Horror and revulsion streak through me as I shake my head. “That’ll no’ be happenin’ here, Louanna. This isn’t a test to see if we work. We’re fated, else my?—”

“Easy, Dirk.” Connall’s tone is soothing and deep. “We both know Lou was always meant to be in the monster world.”

She glances at him, her smirk falling into a thoughtful smile.

I struggle to wrap my mind around the concept of finding yer mate and then splitting from them. As it is now, playing the slow an’ steady approach with them is a struggle. Mostly, I want to move Louanna into Connall’s treehouse and spend all my time learning more about them.

I want to feed them, cuddle them, love them, support them. I am going to be an absolute menace of a mate, constantly in their business. I want to know every fookin’ thing there is to know about them so I can memorize it forever.

“Dirk, you look distraught.” Louanna’s throaty voice breaks through my rushing thoughts, bringing me back to the present.

I blink away the bad thoughts, focusing on my mates. Connall sits with his big legs crossed at the ankle, leaning back on his hands. Lou sits next to him, legs tucked neatly under her body, her braid hanging like a rope over her shoulder.

“I brought us here to have a wee chat,” I share. “There’s mead and cheese in the basket as well. But now that my intentions are fully in the open with the both of yeh, I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject.”

Lou snorts out a laugh. “How many times did I tell you to stop following me over the last month, Dirk? Are you finally going to listen?”

I scrunch my nose. “If yeh mean I should stop staring at yeh every night while yer sleep, or appearing to help yeh with closing time at Alkemi, I could, but why would I? You love it.”

Her smile stills as she glances at Connall. “Perhaps we don’t like being peeped upon.” Yet I sense no real anger in her words. She’s simply making a point and playing with me.

I glance between them. Connall’s silent, ever watchful.

“What do yeh think, Wolf? Yeh asked me to stop spying on you. How does it feel?”

His cheeks go pink, the blush spreading down into his dark tee. I want to rip the fabric open and see how far that pretty tint extends.

“It’s good when I’m in therapy sessions. Those are designed to be private. But every time the wind blows, I wonder if it’s you.”

“’Tis not,” I say fervently. “I promised yeh I wouldnae continue after our last chat. I can be…respectful.”

Lou grins. “The monster world works a bit differently from the human world. For both of you, there are mating rituals and fated mates, and when you know, you know. It’s not quite like that for humans. We could believe we know someone is our person, and that could turn out to be wrong. It’s not foolproof, not at all. And spying is highly frowned upon.”

“Yuck,” I blurt out without meaning to. I quickly tack on an apology as Connall laughs.

When Louanna looks slightly affronted, I lean forward and place my hand on her knee. “I jest mean, I cannae imagine not knowing with absolute certainty that yer mine, Louanna.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she says with a haughty lift of her chin. “You could be wrong. I’m very bratty. You might hate that.”

Connall lets out a soft growl, turning his attention to her. “As it turns out, I’m a fan of bratty.”

Her cheeks go pink as she turns to look at him.

Shifting forward, I get in her space, hovering my mouth just above hers. “Are yeh worried we’ll have no sexual chemistry, Louanna? Because I can assure yeh, it won’t be an issue.”

She looks between Connall and me, her voice soft when she speaks. “Are we doing this? Trying to figure out the whole throuple thing?”

“I think so,” Connall states simply. “We’re gonna talk more about it before anything else happens, though.”

She and I wait patiently as he looks between us.

He leans back onto his hands and focuses on Lou first. “I want to date you, Lou,” he says confidently. “Take you out, spend time together. I’d like to have time alone with you as well as time for all of us together. How do you feel about that?”

“Definitely,” she says. “Makes sense. I assume it would be the same for all of us…right? Dirk and I will date separately too. But what about…” her voice trails off as she looks between us.

“We’ll date too,” Connall says confidently. “We talked about it earlier.”

“Oof, to be a fly on that wall,” Lou says with a huffy laugh.

Connall grins at me, then refocuses on her. “Does the idea of us together do things to you, Sweetheart?”

“Yeah,” she says breathlessly. “It always has.” She glances shyly at me. “It’s part of why I held you at length for a while, to be honest. I wasn’t sure I was ready, but also…”

Connall’s nostrils flare. “You were drawn to me too.”

When she nods, he crooks a finger at her. “Come here, Lou.”

To see them together will be the ultimate pleasure.

She hesitates, looking from Connall to me and back again, uncertainty obvious in the furrow of her brow and the way she nips her lip.

“Go, Louanna,” I encourage, “or I’ll put yeh on him myself.”

The heady scent of arousal saturates the air as she gives me a last look, then shuffles closer to Connall.

“Right here,” Connall encourages again, patting his lap.

Lou moves delicately, lifting a leg to straddle Connall’s tree trunk thighs. His eyes eat her up, moving from her face to her neck and chest and lower. Finally, they move to me as his smile becomes a wicked smirk.

“Dirk, would you like to tell me what I should do to her?”

Oh. Oh .

My wolf is invitin’ me to direct them. Good, he senses what I like, then, which is to be bossy.

I crawl forward on the blanket until I’m seated with a good view of them. Lou squirms in Connall’s lap, looking between us as she grabs her braid and starts twirling the end of it.

“Kiss her,” I command. “Put that pretty mouth to good use, Wolf.”

Green eyes move to Lou’s. “I’d be delighted to. Lou, may I?”

She glances at me again. She’s nervous. It’s obvious in the way she sits tensely in his lap. This is new and different, and it’ll take some work for her inner brat to fully show. She needs gentle, thorough encouragement. Very, very fucking thorough.

“Lou, I need your consent.” Connall’s deep voice is like a calm, cool river running between us. If I’m the fiery spark of our trio, he is undoubtedly the bedrock of our foundation.

“Umm, that’s fine,” she says after a moment, placing her hands on her thighs. Her fingers tremble, but Connall chuckles.

“Too many fookin’ clothes,” I grit out.

Connall grins but keeps his focus on Lou, green eyes scanning her face. “I agree. Take your shirt off.”

She spins to face me, chest heaving, but Connall places a finger under her chin, redirecting her to him. “Take your shirt off, Lou.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to scent you.”

Heat flares through me as she grinds against his lap. It takes everything in me not to straddle his legs behind her and rip the fabric from her shoulders so he can smell every inch of our woman. I want her to experience him, the soft drag of that pretty mouth and sharp teeth.

Lou’s chest heaves, but she grips her tee and pulls it over her head, revealing a soft-looking lace bra.

Another groan leaves me. I fookin’ love lace.

Connall’s eyes eat her up. The hand under her chin drops to her shoulder as he sits upright, bringing their upper bodies closer together. He pulls her arms up around his neck. I hold back a groan as her fingers curl into the hair at his nape.

His fingers trail a path along her exposed collarbone to her bra strap. He tugs it down her shoulder as his left hand slides up her back to the base of her neck.

She pants softly when he dips down and presses his mouth and nose to her collarbone, breathing in quietly. They let out matching groans that make my dick throb, precum pooling on the tip as I watch our mate explore her.

Lou’s head falls to one side as Connall drags his mouth along her collarbone and to the hollow at the base of her throat. I watch in rapt fascination at the way his lips move over her skin, teasing, taunting, enjoying. He cocks his head to the side, closing his mouth over her throat, biting and pulling. That move pulls a groan so needy, so desperate from Lou, I spurt in my pants at the sound of it. Connall grins into her skin, eyes flicking to mine as he nibbles a torturous path up her throat to a spot just below her ear.

“Delicious,” he murmurs. “Your scent is heaven, Sweetheart.”

Oh my fuck, that nickname. I want to be called the very same thing. I’ve jest decided.

I shift onto my knees, getting closer as Connall’s lips trace a path up Lou’s neck to her chin. She practically vibrates in his lap, her need so tangible, I drop my mouth open to taste her arousal in the air.

Connall wraps his right hand around Lou’s throat and squeezes, forcing her to look into his eyes. He scans her face like he’ll never get enough time staring at her, like she’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. Then his eyes shut, and his mouth closes around her lower lip. He sucks the plump thing, parting just long enough for me to see his pink tongue swiping over her lip.

Lou cries out, but in a rush of movement, Connall swallows the noise, slanting his mouth over hers. He devours her, his lips demanding as he holds her to him, his mouth claiming every inch of hers. And Lou goes wild, panting and groaning at every pass of his lips over hers.

Their kiss grows frenetic, out of control, until she’s tearing at his shirt, ripping it open to reveal a broad chest covered in tattoos and auburn hair. She digs her fingers in, clawing at his pecs as he growls, his wolf evident in his tone. His eyes snap open as he parts from her, big chest heaving with his wolf’s emerald shade glowing.

“Oh my gods,” Lou murmurs, both hands flat on his pecs. “That was…I have no words.”

“Hot as fook,” I offer. “Delicious to watch. Please don’t stop.”

Connall grins and bends forward, kissing Lou more slowly. His lips make a tender, soft exploration of hers, as if he has all the time in the world and intends to learn every inch of that sinful mouth.

His hand slides to her bra, and he plays with the clasp, thrumming his fingers on her back. Green eyes focus on Lou. “May I?”

She tosses me a fiery, teasing look over her shoulder.

I move behind her, straddling Connall’s knees as I slide my hands up her back to meet his. “Allow me.” I press a kiss to her freckled shoulder.

Her scent explodes across my senses, sharpened by her obvious arousal. I’m too hot to move slowly, so I brush my mouth along her shoulder and up her neck, nipping at the spot Connall just kissed.

“Fuck,” she grits out, throwing her head to one side to grant me better access. My lips have a mind of their own as I bite, taunt and tease my way back down her neck. I kiss every beautiful, freckled inch I can reach as my fingers expertly unclasp her bra. She gasps when it comes loose.

My eyes drift over her shoulder to Connall’s face, his wolf’s luminescent shade shining as he licks his lips, focusing on her chest.

“This is a little unfair,” I admit, sliding the other bra strap down her shoulder and off her arm to tease him. “I’ve been spying at her bedroom window for a while. I’ve seen these breasts dozens of times, and they are fookin’ glorious, Connall.”

He shakes his head but grins at me. “You are something else, Dirk.”

“Mate,” I correct. Here in this meadow, we can be free to behave how we want. I need them both hooked and in love, and then we’ll do all of this publicly.

I don’t push Connall to respond, to call me what we are to one another. Instead, I drop Louanna’s bra around her waist, exposing her firm, bounteous breasts to him.

He sucks in a ragged breath, hungry eyes exploring every inch of her as I kiss a path along her neck.

Bringing my lips to her ear, I nibble tenderly at it. “Look at him, Louanna. I told yeh he’d be enthralled, that he’d be besotted with yeh. I was right. Can yeh feel his wolf’s focus? What if he put that pretty mouth on yer body?”

Connall’s lips curl back into a soft snarl, mouth dropping open as his hands run up Louanna’s back, pulling her flush with his chest. I nearly groan watching her soft body smashed to his. His rough hands explore her skin, running down one arm and up her neck to grip it. It’s like he can’t get enough of holding her, and I know how that feels. I wanted her in my arms long before she agreed to be in them.

Connall uses his grip on her to tilt her back enough that he can bend down and suck one peaked nipple between his lips. They moan at the same time, all ragged lust as he explores her with patient, thorough intensity. Her head leans back against my chest as I watch our wolf. A soft-looking pink tongue laps at Lou’s nipple until it’s swollen and flushed, then he moves across her chest to the other one, giving it the same treatment.

“Does he feel good?” I growl into her ear. “Like you could come just from his tongue, Louanna?”

She bites her lip and moans, arching to press her neck to my mouth.

She wants more.

Gods, I’ve waited so long for her to ask me to touch her, to invite me to play with her. I’ve schemed and planned, and it’s working out.

I hover my open mouth over the side of her neck as Connall bites his way up to the other side. Teasing her with my tongue, I close my lips around her skin and suck. We’re pressed so tightly together with our wolf at her front and me at her back.

Yet I’m not pushing my mates any further tonight. This was about getting somewhere private so we could explore new things and discuss our foundation. They’re doing so well. Shifting, I stare as Connall bites his way along her shoulder, rubbing her arm. His brows are furrowed with pleasure; he’s intensely focused on her.

But out here where there’s nobody to see, I want him focused on me too. So I dip down and bite a spot right next to his mouth. For a moment, we’re practically breathing the same air as I swirl my tongue over Louanna’s skin. She moans, writhing between us. She fits so perfectly there. I flick my eyes to his, and he’s full green, staring intensely at me. He removes his mouth from her shoulder, head cocked to the side. I consider leaning forward to kiss him, but decide a tease is better.

Licking a path down to Louanna’s shoulder, I swirl my tongue over her skin. Nipping softly, I watch my wolf. His focus falls to my mouth, nostrils flaring. Is he tantalized? Jealous? Getting hornier by the moment?

I have my answer when he dips his head and follows my trail, his mouth so close to mine.

My wolf is very, very interested.