Page 15

Chapter

Eight

EZABELL

W ait it out?

Impossible. Not when lust scorched my veins and arousal pounded like a drum between my legs. I’d told Nikolas I ached, but that was wrong.

I burned , a hungry fire licking over my skin.

But that wasn’t quite right, either. It was too tame—too ordinary to describe what I felt. Because I felt like I’d been dipped in molten gold, and now the searing, dripping metal stuck to me, clung to me, sizzling my skin away to seep into my bones.

Every breath brought another blast. Every brush of my clothes against my skin stoked the flames higher. They were going to burn through me and into the floor and then keep going forever.

The need was all-consuming, every wave threatening to suck me under.

Pain stabbed at my nipples. My skin felt too tight, like I’d stuffed my limbs into a gown made for someone half my size.

I was soaked between my legs, the scent of my arousal like a cloud around me.

And, oh gods, Nikolas and Dain could probably scent it.

I stood in the center of the room with my fists clenched and my heart racing.

Nikolas remained against the door, his muscles straining under his shirt.

The bulge between his legs left no doubt he was just as tormented by the love potion.

His throat bobbed. He squeezed his eyes shut, a low moan escaping him.

The sound went straight to the juncture of my thighs. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from echoing it.

“Fuck,” Dain muttered again. He leaned over the back of the chair, his labored breaths loud in the hushed bedchamber. Moonlight from the window turned his hair a lighter gold.

Immediately, scenes from the river appeared in my head.

Dain on his hands and knees, Nikolas thrusting into him from behind.

Nikolas on his back with his knees to his chest and moans spilling from his lips.

A trail of Nikolas’s semen sliding down Dain’s thigh as he leaned over Nikolas with a predatory look in his eyes.

They weren’t just friends or thieves-in-arms. They were lovers.

Undoubtedly, they could satisfy each other, perhaps blunting the love potion’s sharp edges. But I couldn’t suggest it without confessing that I’d watched them at the river.

Besides, it wouldn’t help me. I’d still be trapped in the fire, burning alive while they found relief with each other.

More heat blasted me, punching the breath from my lungs. I doubled over, my hips undulating without my permission.

“I can’t—” I gasped, tears pricking my eyes. My vision blurred as the fire roared higher. Hot moisture flooded me, and my inner muscles squeezed, desperate to clamp down on something. Around something. A sob ripped from my throat.

Footsteps sounded. Strong hands grasped my shoulders, and Nikolas’s gruff voice rasped in my ear as he pulled me upright. “Shh, my lady. It’s all right.”

The ache between my thighs twisted into pain. I sucked in a breath, my vision darkening. “I can’t see,” I gasped, blinking rapidly. I needed the light. I’d never been without it.

“I’ve got you,” Nikolas said, his hands warm on my shoulders. “Focus on my voice.”

A tremor swept me, making my teeth chatter. I clung to him as the darkness receded. The scent of pine and leather wrapped around me.

Him. He smelled of the forest—of sunlight and leaves and smoke from the fire he’d tended with his long, skilled fingers.

Fingers he’d used to hunt our dinner. To find gold when we were starving. To stroke Dain’s cock, moonlight spilling over their slick bodies as they came together.

“It’s not all right,” I croaked. The darkness fled, and Nikolas was real and solid in front of me. He held my gaze, his pupils huge black dots surrounded by brown. They should have been ordinary eyes. Boring, even. But they weren’t. They were soft and rich, the color like melted chocolate.

“It will be,” he said, but his voice was rougher. He shuddered, his fingers tightening on my arms. The stubble on his jaw had grown thicker, giving him an even more roguish look than before. A lock of chocolate-brown hair spilled over his forehead.

Only half-aware what I was doing, I slid my hands up his chest. His pecs bunched, muscle shifting under my palms. His face was so close to mine, his eyes burning with hunger as fierce as my own.

But that couldn’t be right. He desired Dain. And yet, he looked at me like he was barely holding himself back from…something.

“What?” I breathed, the flames crackling around me.

A low growl rumbled from across the room. “Nikolas,” Dain said, a warning in his tone. “We can’t.”

“We can’t what?” I asked, need clawing at me as I looked at Dain—and swiftly caught my breath.

He’d straightened from the chair, his bulk appearing even larger against the backdrop of the elegant bedchamber. Moonlight highlighted his square jaw and the proud angles of his face. But it was his eyes that made my heart race faster.

Because Dain wasn’t looking at Nikolas. No, his gaze was fixed on me, his blue eyes glittering with undisguised hunger.

Confusion joined the lust pumping through me. “I don’t…” I began, only to clamp my lips together. He couldn’t want me, could he?

The heat in his gaze said otherwise. Dazed and aching, I turned back to Nikolas, who watched me with the same expression. And he held me, clutching my shoulders like a drowning man clinging desperately to something solid.

He held onto me like he couldn’t bear to release me.

It was the love potion. It had to be. He and Dain only wanted each other.

More heat blasted me. I doubled over, breaking Nikolas’s grip as a cry ripped from my throat. The fire inside me burned hotter. My clothes were sandpaper against my skin, every brush of cloth setting new bonfires in my bones.

“It’s too much!” I cried, tears clogging my throat. I stumbled back, clawing at my high neckline as I put distance between me and Nikolas. “I can’t stand this!”

He lifted his palms in a soothing gesture. “Bel, it’s going to be all right. Just?—”

“No,” I gasped, tugging at my collar. Gods, it was strangling me.

My gown was too tight. I couldn’t breathe.

Gasping, I pawed at my clothes. Fabric ripped.

My fingers found a tear in my bodice, and I grasped it and kept on ripping.

Buttons scattered across the floor. No matter.

If I didn’t get my clothes off, I’d burn alive in them.

“Bel…” Nikolas rasped, his voice like gravel. “What are you doing?”

I ignored him, tearing at my skirts, my chemise, anything that touched my fevered skin. Piece by piece, I flung my clothes away until I stood nude in the center of the room. My breasts heaved, my nipples tight and dark pink with arousal.

The copper tub beckoned, promising relief from the inferno. I staggered toward it, barely registering the men’s swift intakes of breath. Water sloshed over the sides as I plunged in and sat.

For a moment, the fire subsided. I gripped the sides of the tub, lukewarm water lapping at my waist.

The reprieve didn’t last long. Just as I let my shoulders relax, the heat rose again. The burn streaked to my center, the ache in my sex unbearable.

With another broken sob, I plunged my hand under the water and found my clit.

I gasped at the first stroke, my hips bucking involuntarily.

Desperation gnawed at me as I spread my legs and worked the tight point of my desire.

Tipping my head back, I panted toward the chamber’s beamed ceiling.

Water tugged at the ends of my hair as I surrendered to lust.

Release struck all at once, bowing my spine and putting a scream in my throat. White covered my vision. My scream shook loose as I rode the waves of pleasure, each one sweeter than the last. I spiraled toward the ceiling and then flew apart, not caring if I ever came down.

But I did, awareness returning as I floated back to myself. Eyes closed, I sagged against the side of the tub, my clit still throbbing and my breath coming in ragged gasps.

Only then did I remember I wasn’t alone. Tensing, I opened my eyes.

Dain and Nikolas stood frozen, their gazes locked on me. There was no mistaking the look in their eyes.

Desire.

Want.

Raw, unvarnished lust.

Nikolas stood halfway between the tub and the door, his fists clenched at his sides and his dark eyes glinting with an intensity that should have frightened me.

Dain had moved around the chair, and his chest rose and fell rapidly.

His blue gaze lingered on my breasts, which bobbed above the water, my nipples thrusting lewdly.

As it had at the river, a little voice in my head told me what I should have done. I should have covered myself—crossed my arms over my chest and hunched in the tub, shame and embarrassment dropping over me like a blanket.

But the fire inside me wasn’t vanquished.

No, it was merely banked. Under the men’s avid stares, fresh embers stirred, a new blaze sparking under my skin.

The voice in my head ordered me to hide—to spare the men my lust. The fire whispered give them more.

Maybe the heat was my punishment for staying at the river when I should have fled.

Well, the men and I were even now.

“I know you’re lovers,” I blurted. “I saw you at the river.”

Nikolas’s eyes glittered. “We know.”

My breath hitched. Anger stirred, cutting through the haze of desire. “You knew?” We’d spent the whole day together, the three of us walking through the forest. “You knew this whole time, and you said nothing?”

Dain grunted. “You didn’t say anything, either.”

I snapped my mouth shut. Damn. He had me there.

He dipped his gaze to my breasts again. His nostrils flared, and a muscle ticked in his jaw. He wanted me. They both did.

But they also wanted each other.

“You…” I began, only to falter. Even nude in the tub, my body still trembling from an orgasm, I couldn’t bring myself to ask the obvious.