Page 18

Archer

I watched as Rowen cradled Sierra against him, their bodies still joined by his slowly receding knot.

The sight of them together, my king and our mate, stirred something primal in me.

My daggers materialized in my hands without conscious thought, my fingers twirling them restlessly as I waited for my turn.

The air in Callum's sanctuary crackled with magic. The recent earthquake had settled, but the flowers that had bloomed along the walls continued to pulse with an ethereal light. The scent of their nectar mingled with the heady musk of sex and power.

"She's ready for you now," Rowen said, his obsidian eyes meeting mine as he carefully separated himself from Sierra.

Her silver hair clung to her sweat-dampened skin, her chest still heaving from the intensity of her multiple releases. But her eyes—those remarkable silver eyes—found mine with unmistakable hunger.

"Archer." My name on her lips sent a jolt of electricity down my spine.

I banished my daggers with a thought and approached the bed, my gaze fixed on the evidence of Rowen's claim. His seed trickled from her core, marking her as his in the most primal way—and yet, by the ancient laws that governed our kind, she wasn't fully claimed until all three of us had taken her.

I grinned, a manic edge to my expression that I couldn't suppress. "My turn."

With one fluid movement, I flipped her onto her stomach, reveling in her surprised gasp. My hands slid beneath her hips, pulling her up onto her knees while her upper body remained pressed against the furs. The position displayed her perfectly—vulnerable, open, and slick with Rowen's release.

"Going to fuck his come right back inside you," I growled, positioning myself behind her. "Going to make sure you're filled so completely that you'll never forget who you belong to."

Her response was to push back against me, her body seeking mine with an eagerness that made my cock twitch in anticipation. I wrapped one hand around myself, guiding the head to her entrance, circling it through her folds to gather the slickness there.

My claws extended involuntarily, the sharp tips pressing into the soft flesh of her hips as I lined myself up. Unlike Rowen, I didn't enter her slowly. There was no need for such gentleness now. Her body was ready, prepared by his thorough claiming.

With one savage thrust, I buried myself to the hilt.

"Fuck," I hissed, my head falling back at the sensation. She was hot, wet, and tight around me, her inner walls still spasming from her previous orgasms. The combination of her wetness and Rowen's seed created a slick heat unlike anything I'd experienced before.

Pure ecstasy.

I set a punishing rhythm immediately, my hips snapping forward with enough force to drive her into the furs with each thrust. My claws dug deeper into her flesh, not enough to break skin but enough to leave marks—my marks—alongside Rowen's.

"You feel that?" I demanded, my voice rough with desire. "Feel how deep I am? How perfectly you take me?"

Her answering moan was muffled by the bedding, which wouldn't do at all. I wanted to hear every sound, every gasp, every plea. Maintaining my brutal pace, I reached forward and fisted my hand in her silver hair, pulling her head back and up.

The arch of her spine was exquisite, a perfect curve that pushed her ass higher against me. I used my other hand to circle her throat, applying just enough pressure to make her breathing shallow, to remind her who controlled her pleasure in this moment.

"That's it," I praised as she gasped, her inner walls clenching around me in response to the dominant gesture. "Take every inch of me. Show me how much you need this cock."

Something shifted in me then. A pressure between my shoulder blades that I recognized with dread and excitement in equal measure.

I tried to fight it, to suppress the part of my heritage that I'd spent centuries concealing, but the connection forming between Sierra and me was too powerful, too primal to deny.

With a sound that was half-groan, half-snarl, I felt my wings explode from my back, tearing through the skin in a burst of light and power. I gritted my teeth against the sensation. It was always painful, and always unwelcome, but in this moment, somehow right.

The massive wings unfurled behind me, spanning the width of the bed. Unlike the leathery appendages of a full demon like Rowen, mine were feathered. A stark reminder of my angelic mother, of the celestial blood that ran alongside the demonic in my veins.

I'd always hated them. Hated what they represented.

A heritage that had seen me bartered away before I was even born, a consequence of my mother's na?veté and my father's treachery.

In the underworld, they marked me as different, as other.

Not fully demon, not accepted by angels. Trapped between worlds.

But here, in this sacred space, with our fated mate beneath me and my brothers at my side, I couldn't bring myself to hate them. Not when Sierra's eyes widened with wonder as she looked over her shoulder, not when her inner walls clenched around me at the sight.

"Beautiful," she whispered, the word a benediction that soothed something long-wounded inside me.

I felt Callum approach before I saw him.

His presence at my side was familiar, comforting in its constancy.

His hand reached out, fingers tentatively brushing against my wing.

I couldn't suppress the shudder that ran through me at the contact.

The feathers were sensitive, rarely touched, and certainly never with such reverence.

"They're magnificent," Callum murmured, his pale green eyes meeting mine with undisguised admiration. "You've been hiding them too long."

My back muscles jumped beneath his touch as he stroked along the arch of one wing, the sensation sending sparks of pleasure straight to my groin. I faltered in my rhythm for a moment, overwhelmed by the dual sensations of Sierra's heat around my cock and Callum's touch on my wings.

Movement on my other side drew my attention.

Rowen approached, his obsidian eyes fixed on me with an intensity that would have brought lesser beings to their knees.

But I had never knelt for Rowen out of fear—only out of choice, out of respect, out of the bond that had formed between us centuries ago.

He threaded his fingers through my hair, tugging my head to the side in a gesture that mirrored what I was doing to Sierra. "Look at you," he rumbled, his voice vibrating with approval. "Finally embracing all that you are."

Before I could respond, he claimed my mouth in a bruising kiss.

His tongue pushed past my lips, dominating the exchange as thoroughly as he dominated his kingdom.

I yielded to him readily, a groan escaping me as his fangs nipped at my bottom lip, drawing a bead of blood that he lapped up with a satisfied hum.

This was nothing new between us. We'd been lovers for centuries, finding in each other what we'd missed in all others.

I'd always known, in some deep part of myself, that when our fated mate finally appeared, she would be for both of us.

Now for all three of us, once Callum joined our strange, fractured family.

When Rowen released my mouth, Callum was there to take his place.

Where Rowen's kiss was dominating, Callum's was teasing.

All light nips and fleeting pressure, his tongue darting out to trace the seam of my lips before retreating again.

It was maddening, and I growled my frustration against his mouth, which only made him smile against mine.

Through it all, I maintained my rhythm within Sierra, my hips driving forward with unrelenting force. She was watching us over her shoulder, her silver eyes wide with arousal as she witnessed the three of us exchanging kisses while I continued to fuck her savagely.

"Oh gods," she moaned, her head falling forward again as I hit a spot deep inside her that made her thighs tremble. "Archer, I'm—I can't?—"

"Come for me," I demanded, tightening my grip on her throat just slightly. "Come on my cock while they watch. Show them how good I make you feel."

Her climax hit with startling intensity, her inner walls clamping down around me like a vise as a cry tore from her throat.

The sound was primal, abandoned, a testament to the pleasure we were giving her.

It echoed off the walls of Callum's sanctuary, amplified by the magic that continued to build with each claiming.

The tight pulse of her body around mine pushed me dangerously close to the edge. I wasn't ready, not yet, I wanted to savor this, to make it last. I stilled within her, breathing heavily as I fought for control.

Rowen chuckled, clearly aware of my struggle. "Don't fight it," he urged, his hand sliding down to stroke my wing again. "Let go, Archer. Claim her fully."

I shook my head, stubbornly holding back. "Not yet."

But then Callum moved behind me, his mouth pressing against the sensitive juncture where my wing joined my back. The sensation was electric, a jolt of pleasure so intense it bordered on pain. My hips jerked forward involuntarily, driving deeper into Sierra's welcoming heat.

"Fuck," I gasped, my control slipping dangerously.

Callum's teeth scraped along the ridge of muscle where flesh met feathers, a prelude to what we all knew was coming. As the only unmated one among us now, his mark would complete our circle, binding the four of us together in ways that transcended ordinary bonds.

His lips moved to my shoulder, hovering over the spot where his mark would soon reside. "Come for her," he whispered against my skin. "Fill her with your seed. Complete the second claiming."

The command in his voice, so rare from the usually deferential Callum, pushed me over the edge.

My rhythm faltered, became erratic as the pressure built at the base of my spine.

I felt the telltale swelling at the base of my cock—not as pronounced as Rowen's demonic knot, but present nonetheless, another reminder of my mixed heritage.

With one final, brutal thrust, I buried myself as deep as possible within Sierra's willing body and let go.

My release hit with the force of a tidal wave, pulsing from me in hot spurts that seemed endless.

At the exact moment my climax peaked, Callum sank his teeth into the flesh where my neck met my shoulder, marking me as his in the same moment I was claiming our shared mate.

The dual sensation, the pleasure of my release and the sharp pain of Callum's bite, was overwhelming.

My wings snapped fully extended, the primary feathers brushing the ceiling of the sanctuary as a roar tore from my throat.

Magic surged through the room in a visible wave, the flowers along the walls releasing their pollen in a glittering cloud that settled over us like stars.

Callum's teeth remained buried in my flesh ensuring the mark would take, the pain giving way to a spreading warmth as our bond solidified. I could feel him now, his pleasure, his satisfaction, his impatience for his own turn with Sierra, as clearly as I could feel my own emotions.

As the last pulses of my seed filled Sierra, I felt the swell of the partial knot lock us together. It wouldn't last as long as Rowen's, perhaps ten minutes at most, but it would ensure my essence remained deep inside her, mingling with our king's, preparing her body for Callum's final claiming.

Carefully, I maneuvered us both, pulling Sierra back against my chest as I settled into a seated position on the bed. She came willingly, boneless with satisfaction, her head falling back against my shoulder as she adjusted to the feeling of being locked together.

My wings curled around us automatically, creating a feathered cocoon of warmth and protection. I pressed my lips to her temple, inhaling the scent of her, mingled with Rowen's and my own, as aftershocks of pleasure continued to ripple through both our bodies.

"Just Callum left now," I murmured against her skin, my eyes finding our final mate across the room.

Callum stood at the foot of the bed, his pale green eyes glowing with power and anticipation, his arousal evident as he watched us locked together. The mark he'd placed on my shoulder throbbed in time with my heartbeat, a physical reminder of what awaited Sierra once my knot subsided.

Three mates, three claimings, one unbreakable bond that would connect us through the ages to come.