Page 37 of The Dark Will Fall (Twilight Lake #5)

Shay placed his hands on my waist. His thumbs rubbed circles on my stomach, sending shivers down my spine. He leaned forward and kissed the seam of my jaw, moving my hair away from my neck as he peppered my throat with kisses.

“Shay...” I whimpered his name, reaching between us to rub my hand over the bulge in his trousers. Shay twitched before quickly removing his tunic. The brand over his heart was prominent, raised skin and swooping lines within a circle. My fingers covered over the mark—the twin to my own.

It didn’t take long to remove his clothes. I stood in front of him, entirely naked, while he sat on the bed. Shay reached between my legs, feeling my wetness and running a single finger from my entrance to my clitoris.

I placed my hands on his shoulders, pushing Shay back into the bed and climbing onto him.

I leaned over his body, kissing him, as I positioned his cock at my entrance.

Desperate to feel him inside of me. I hissed as I sank down on his member, rocking until he was fully seated inside of me.

So large that I felt my body stretching to accommodate him.

Shay rocked his hips, rising up to meet me, and I began to move, riding him with torturous speed.

Every time I sank down, his pelvis rubbed against the exactly right spot, giving the friction I needed for my orgasm to build.

“Isn’t that a pretty sight?” Cormac purred over my shoulder.

I couldn’t think straight. My response was a low moan.

“My turn,” Rainn stated wickedly, his hand brushing down the small of my back to rest on my ass.

I continued riding Shay, uncaring that where our bodies connected was open for everyone to see.

Rainn knelt behind my back, pressing himself against my ass.

His hard length against the cheek as I fucked Shay.

Rainn cupped my breasts from behind, his thumbs brushed the sensitive nubs, and a surge of wetness coated the inside of my legs.

I felt his thumb, circling my puckered back entrance, making me twitch as Shay stretched me from the inside.

He teased me for only a moment before he pressed his member against my back entrance, teasing the head of his cock inside. I couldn’t breathe. Too full, as Rainn and Shay moved in time, fucking me. Pressed between their bodies.

I looked over, meeting Cormac’s gaze as he watched us.

They surged into me, to the hilt, and my orgasm crashed over me with a scream.

A whisper rolled over my skin, waking me from my short but deep slumber. I thought it was the lake at first, brushing against the shore, before my paranoia grew like a worm burrowing into my skin.

I swung my legs free from the bed, the scent of my mates on my skin. I retrieved the staff from my fallen clothes, for no other reason than I worried I would lose it if I let go.

My sweat had dried cool, turning the night air to a bitter chill as I stepped free of the tent.

It was probably nothing, I told myself, but I had to see. Arden patrolled, and he would have sounded the alarm if more fomorians pulled themselves from the water.

My bare feet crunched on the frosted sand, though I did not get close enough to touch the lake.

I hadn’t noticed the male figure, sitting in the sand, knees curled to his chest.

Liam Cruinn.

A male who had once been my friend stared out at the water, his expression unfathomable.

In another life, Liam would have been my husband. Though I doubted Elaine would have ever let either of us take the throne, even with Liam named heir.

Liam was attractive enough, with dark hair and dark eyes that matched his mother’s. Though I had never thought of him as more than a friend.

“Where is Moira?” He asked, breaking the silence.

I startled, quickly realizing that I was staring at him in the dark.

Moira was my best friend. We had survived the frosted Sands together. “She escaped to the sirens. They gave her sanctuary.”

Liam nodded. “I’m glad.”

“What are you doing?” I gestured to his hands.

Liam revealed a length of wire, the kind I had seen my uncle knit with hundreds of times before. Weaver wire.

“It turns out, I am not destined to be a Troid Sídhe, after all.”

“Does that upset you?” I asked gently. “I know you wanted to be one of the palace guards.”

Liam flashed a smile, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Some things aren’t meant to be, I guess.”

I laughed, though the sound was hollow. “If only you could Weave us a weapon against Balor.”

“What kind of weapon can kill a god?”

“Iron, and the blood from their line, apparently.” I waved a hand dismissively. “We asked Lugh, and he said no.”

Liam frowned but said nothing.

“All the others are in the Tuatha Dé Danann. I sighed.

“What was it like?” He asked. “Death?”

I paused, thinking over my answer. “The same as life, I suppose. Though that depends on your views of life.”

Before he could ask any more questions, a noise echoed across the sand.

I cocked my head to the side. “Do you hear that?”

“The water?”

“Yes.” I frowned.

“It’s been whispering for a while.” Liam winced. “I don’t want to step in the water. It doesn’t feel right .”

Before either of us could say another word, an equine head emerged from the water. In the darkness, I thought it might be Tormalugh. My stomach leaped into my throat, and I stepped forward before my body caught up with my brain.

Liam sprang to his feet and grabbed my bicep before I could step into the waves. “It’s not your Kelpie.” He hissed.

As the horse grew closer, I realized he was right. The equine was a charm, like many of the enchanted horses in the Cruinn stables. I couldn’t tell which type in the moonlight, but it drifted towards us, made of water and magic.

The horse stopped before the water ended, and neither of us moved.

“ Maeve Cruinn ...” Balor’s voice echoed from the depths of its watery body. “I have your Kelpie. Return what you stole, and you may have him back.”