Page 26 of Slaying With Sylphs (Haven Ever After #6)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

LOU

T here’s nothing hotter in this world than watching the two males you’re obsessed with be obsessed with each other. Obsessed isn’t even the right word for this. I’m falling in love and it happened so fast.

Was it like this for my nieces? One minute you’re meeting a hot gargoyle and the next— bam —you want his babies?

I suspect they feel exactly the same way, too. It’s clear in the way Connall looks at Dirk, and Dirk has always been so up front about his feelings. He slides me off his shoulders, beaming at me. But my focus moves to Connall, to the way he pulls out of Dirk and stares in wonder.

“You okay?” I ask, hoping I’m reading the look on his face right.

He runs both hands through wet, dark hair, but smiles, looking a little surprised. “Better than okay. I…That was nearly indescribable. Having you both like this.”

Dirk glances over his shoulder with a wicked, knowing smile. After a moment, he looks back at me. “Louanna, I…”

His voice trails off as he closes his mouth, swallowing whatever he was going to say next. He glances from Connall to me, his expression tender, almost desperate.

“Woman, I wanted to tell yeh?—”

The alarm on his comm watch pings, and he groans. “I’ve a meeting with Arkan that I’m likely to be late for, but I’ve got something for yeh both.”

He bends down and kisses the tip of my nose. “Let me dry yeh off, Louanna. Then feed yeh a bit of Connall’s food.”

I give him a quizzical look. “Wasn’t there something about how you’re already late?”

Connall steps out of the shower and grabs a towel, wrapping it around his waist. I gulp as his thick cock disappears from view. Damn, I want that again.

“I’ll give it to you later,” he growls, “as long as you’re a good girl, Sweetheart.”

Dirk and I groan together. I slap his arm. “What are you groaning about? You already got dicked down, and I bet it felt so good.”

“So good,” Dirk confirms. “The fookin’ best.”

They’re going to be such teases together; I can already tell.

Dirk pulls me out of the shower, and then I get the oddest experience of being hand-dried by two gorgeous males who refuse to let me do it myself. But when Connall drops to his knees, claiming he needs to tongue-bathe me, honestly? I let him.

Who would say no to that?

A delicious, orgasmic quarter-hour later, I’m dressed and standing in the kitchen as Connall cooks some sort of breakfast hash with potatoes and sausage. Dirk joins us in the kitchen, leaning against the island where I'm sitting, staring at Connall’s ass while he cooks.

“Gods, it’s beautiful,” he muses. “I can see why yeh picked this spot, Louanna.”

I shoot him a gleeful look. “It’s just so bubbly and round. I mean, look at it!”

Connall turns, pink dusting his cheeks. He’s still only wearing the towel from before. An enormous erection now tents the front of it.

I drop my eyes to stare at it, mouth watering before I’m able to pull my gaze back up. “You should definitely cook naked. There’s no need for a towel. It’s just me and Dirk here.”

His blush grows deeper, spreading down his neck and chest as Dirk leans against the counter with both elbows. Connall reaches down and opens the towel, tossing it onto the counter next to us.

“Much better,” I whisper. Now I’ve got a perfect view of that gorgeous cock and a knot that still seems too big to fit inside me. But it did, and then I came so hard, I nearly passed out.

“Yeh need a blow job,” Dirk says on a growl. “And I would suck yeh off right now if I didn’t have to show up before this fookin’ meeting ends.” He looks at me. “Perhaps Louanna can do something about that.”

“I need to feed you both,” Connall corrects, waving his spatula at Dirk. “Enough sex. We’ve got shit to do.”

“Listen,” Dirk teases, grabbing the spatula from Connall. “I’ve one rule in this relationship, and it’s a sexy one.” He winks at me. “Are yeh ready to hear it?”

Connall leans against the counter and crosses his enormous arms. “Let’s hear it, Sylph.”

“As many times as yeh can get it up, mate, we’ll work tae get it back down.”

I snort and cover my mouth as the corners of Connall’s lips twitch upward.

Dirk reaches into his pocket and withdraws something, taking a step closer to Connall. “In all seriousness, Wolf, I told yeh I had presents, and I do.” He opens his hand to reveal an etched silver cuff. The top is flat but becomes round as it encloses the circle. There’s enough of a gap for someone to fit their wrist through.

My mouth goes dry watching my males together. Connall’s dark lashes flutter against freckled cheeks. “You got me jewelry?”

“Och,” Dirk laughs softly, “’tis the wolfish way, is it not? To gift your intended with jewels until they shine like the moon?”

“It is,” Connall says quietly, holding his wrist out. His hand trembles, and tears fill my eyes. This feels somehow momentous, this gift.

Dirk slips the thin cuff over Connall’s wrist and spins it, flat side up. Connall lifts it to examine the markings, stepping closer to show me.

“Silver is a traditional gift,” he says. “But I’ve never seen a cuff quite like this.”

“I had it custom-made.” Dirk joins us, running his fingers over the surface.

“That takes a long time,” Connall muses, looking over at Dirk.

“Almost two months,” Dirk confirms.

Connall’s green eyes go wide. “That means you ordered it?—”

“The moment we met.” Dirk lifts his chin, his expression more serious than I’ve ever seen it. He reaches out and places a hand on my thigh, squeezing, his fingers shaky as he looks between us.

I can’t look away from either of them.

Connall lurches forward and slams his mouth against Dirk’s. It’s so quick and rough that I gasp, but Dirk just snarls and shoves Connall against the countertop, their kiss ragged and desperate. My body is molten lava watching them. Dirk’s hand never leaves my thigh. I could reach out and touch either of them, or both of them.

Their kiss slows to a tender, thorough exploration, and moments later, they part. Connall pulls me close to them and takes my mouth with the same attention he gave Dirk. His lips are soft and hot. But then Dirk grips the back of my neck and steals me from Connall, slamming his mouth against mine as he bends me backward into our wolf. This kiss is harder, needier, with an almost desperate edge. And he kisses me until I’m breathless.

When we part, Dirk dips to Connall’s neck and places a tender kiss over a spot where his neck and shoulder meet.

Gods, I think he’s about to profess his love. Or maybe I just hope he does. Because watching them fall for one another might be the best thing I’ve ever had the privilege to witness.

After kissing Connall, he turns to me, removing something else from his pocket. He moves and parts my thighs, slipping his big body between them. Opening his hand, he reveals a tiny round orb on a long, thin silver chain. The orb is clear glass, and inside, blue mist swirls like it’s alive.

“Tis a bit of my magic, Louanna,” he shares. “A very traditional air elemental gift. Because you’re mine, it’ll bring yeh peace and joy when I’m not around. Just rub it, and the magic’ll react to yeh, following your fingertip around the orb.”

I fully expect a bit of snark, because that’s how Dirk delivers all news. But none comes.

Instead, he lifts my chin with a forefinger. “It would be my greatest honor if yeh’d wear this, my beauty.”

I can’t find words, so I take the tiny orb and slip the chain over my neck. It lands level with my heart, something I suspect he planned. Because, if nothing else, Dirk is an insane planner.

“It’s beautiful,” I whisper, tears springing unbidden to my eyes.

He presses forward and brings his cool lips to mine. “Yeh deserve the world, Louanna. And Connall and I will strive to give that to yeh every fookin’ day. Do yeh hear me? This world and every other that exists, mate.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “We’ll be worthy of a box full of letters to Caroline.”

I gulp around words that choke me. I’m still figuring out this dynamic and what it means, and I?—

But Dirk banishes those thoughts from my mind when he slants his mouth over mine, his tongue dipping in to taste me. A soft moan from him has me rocking my hips against his.

When Connall’s big hands slide up the back of my neck, holding my head while Dirk kisses me, I decide I’m going to beg them both to stay home today. No matter that we all have work to do.

But when Dirk’s comm watch pings, we part. He looks at Arkan’s name hovering over the band and groans.

“I’ve got tae go.” His voice is mournful, so I suspect he’s feeling the same thing as I am.

Connall grips my neck and turns me to face him. “Are you working today?”

I nod. “Yeah, my shift starts in an hour.”

His expression goes soft. “I’d like to walk you to work, if Dirk is leaving. And maybe take you to lunch after you’re done?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to snark about not needing someone to walk me the five minutes to Alkemi, but when I think back to what happened with Amatheia, I decide not to.

“Sounds good,” I agree. “To both.”

“Och, Louanna’s tryin’ not tae sass yeh,” Dirk says on a laugh. “She thought about it; I could see it in her face.”

Connall’s grip tightens as he presses his body to my thigh. “Let’s play with that sass a little bit tonight.”

Heat spears through me, and I squirm on the countertop. Gods, I love Connall in dominant mode.

Eventually, we can’t delay any longer, and Dirk disappears on a lazy gust of wind.

Connall and I dress, and then he stands in the doorway and stares at me while I braid my hair.

As I loop the elastic around the end, he joins me in the bathroom, wrapping the braid around his fist. Green eyes roam over the strands before meeting mine in the mirror.

“Would you teach me how to do this sometime? The idea of braiding your hair is appealing.”

I raise a brow. “Appealing, huh?”

He comes to stand behind me, pressing me to the sink as we stare at one another in the mirror. His big hand comes to mine, and he guides it to his heart, green eyes locked onto mine.

“Appealing, Lou,” he says to our reflections. “Because I want to be part of every moment of your day. The big moments, the smaller ones.” He twirls my hair around his fingertip. “I want to take care of you, sweet girl, just like Dirk does.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” I admit.

“And?”

“I’d like us to plan something special for Dirk.” I lean back against Connall’s chest, lifting my head to look up at him. “He’s this crazy master planner when it comes to us, and I don’t want him to feel like it always has to be him. What we’re doing, it's…new. But in his mind, it’s been all about us since he met us.”

“What do you have in mind?” Connall’s voice goes deep, his wolf’s sheen swirling through his irises as a hand snakes around my front to rest between my breasts.

“Not sure,” I admit. “Think about it, and we can make a plan over lunch?”

“Done,” Connall whispers into my hair, kissing the top of my forehead.

When we leave his place, he reaches a hand out for me. It hangs there in the air, expectant, hopeful. But the look on his face is downright pleased.

I slip my fingers through his, reveling at how warm and rough they are. We talk about his childhood and his parents, who still live in Arcadia.

We get the occasional stare and whisper as we pass through town. I wonder how the pack feels about their Second dating? Are they excited for him? Feel weird because I have no wolf? I wonder…

But he pays them no mind, focused on me from door to door. When we get to Alkemi, I struggle to untwine my fingers from his. I don’t want to let him go.

Eventually, after a couple parting kisses, I manage to get myself in the door. But I miss him.

I miss them both.

And I’m falling in love. I’m definitely falling in love.

“ O kay, so you want to plan something special for Dirk?”

Malik glances down at me as we arrange a new window display of aragonite crystals. I stare at the gorgeous yellowy-amber color, musing about how, if I had any sort of power, these crystals would help to channel it. But I don’t, and they are completely wasted on me.

“Yeah.” I glance up at Malik. “Is it weird to talk about me dating two males?”

He snorts and turns the largest crystal in the display, angling it so the sunlight outside filters through the crystal to cast yellow light on the whole tabletop.

“Not hardly, Lou. Many monsters mate in throuples or even in groups. Are humans not the same?”

“Some.” I shrug. “For a long time, I think it’s something people did behind closed doors and simply whispered about. Nowadays, it’s more common and accepted, but you still can’t marry multiple people.”

He cocks his head to the side. “Who would keep you from your mates? What do you mean?”

“I mean in a legal sense.” I stare up at him. “Does Hearth HQ not have rules about mating?”

He shakes his head, stomping one foreleg. “Hardly. There are so many species of monster, it would be impossible for them to capture the nuance of mating habits. Plus, they differ all around the world. The Hearth is more focused on the haven system itself, and its administration, less so on individual monsters and their customs.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

Malik reaches into a box and withdraws the next large crystal. “Well, if you wanted to plan something fun for Dirk, you could always take home a couple of the enhancing potions we just got in.”

I stare up at my boss. “You haven’t explained those to me yet. What exactly do they enhance?” I give him a meaningful look.

A pink blush steals over his pale cheeks. “Not physical enhancement. It’s a mental stimulant. They make sensations feel more…well, more powerful. Every touch, every look is enhanced. They were originally designed by a pegasus warlock like me who mated a human. Because of the size difference, things were challenging.”

I laugh as I retrieve another crystal from the box between us. “Do you mean challenging in that he had a giant dong, and she was my size?”

Malik clears his throat and chuckles as he blushes scarlet. “Something like that, yes.”

I focus on setting the crystal carefully down. “My niece Wren used something like that when she and Ohken mated.”

He shakes his head. “Ah. That’s different. That’s a traditional troll potion and wouldn’t be something you could buy in a store. It has to be brewed by the troll for his or her intended.”

“Right, right. How does one use this enhancer potion?”

Malik’s grin grows wicked. “Massage it into the skin, of course.”

I grin as I mull that idea over. I’m definitely liking the idea of this.

Three hours later, my shift is over and nothing notable has happened. I leave Alkemi and head toward the gnome village to check on how it’s coming along. Bellami hasn’t asked for more help, which makes me wonder if we irritated him too badly with all the flirting on the job.

When I arrive, the village is bustling. I glance around but don’t see my grouchy, bossy friend.

“Lou!” One of the other gnomes jogs up. “Need something?”

“Well, I was going to find Bellami and see if you guys need any more help.”

He smiles at me, maybe the first smile I’ve ever seen one of the gnomes give. “He went to mark more logs. I believe he was planning to find you tomorrow to schedule more time. Why don’t you head up the path and check with him now?”

Nerves prickle across my skin. Connall will be here any second for lunch, and I don’t think I should go into the woods alone. That’s how horror movies start, and I’m not a dumbass.

But I feel comfy striding to the back of the gnome village, craning my neck for any sign of Bellami. Nothing but crickets.

Then a figure stalks through the trees, eyes lit white from the darkness of the forest.

Leighton.

I gasp, hand flying to my mouth.

Leighton’s mouth stretches wide, teeth black as he opens his mouth and lets out a soundless cackle.

Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods.

Leighton dissipates into nothing as I stare in shock at the spot where he was. Suddenly, nothing can hold me back as I dash up the path, roaring Bellami’s name. Surprised shouting drifts behind me as I tear around a corner and into the verdant green.

Not ten seconds later, I spot Bellami’s small figure prone in the pathway. Sliding to my knees, I stare at him. And then I start screaming for help, even though I can already hear footsteps and rushed shouting.

Bellami’s skin is mottled black, eyes staring at the sky. He’s muttering, but no words leave his lips.

The gnomes rush around the corner and into view, Connall right behind them. He sprints toward me and drops by my side, glancing around with his eyes narrowed. He takes one look at Bellami and lifts his wrist to comm Richard, then Arkan. The gnomes mill around as I pick up Bellami’s tiny hand and hold it.

Why is this happening?

And why do we all seem powerless to stop it?