Serena gasped at her own revelation. How could she not love them? After pinning the sheet beneath her armpits, she slowly moved backward until she found herself pressed against the headboard. She shook her head. Her stomach clenched. Her heart stuttered. Tears leaked from her eyes. “No. No, no, no.”

  “Serena,” Damen said from beside her, “we know what you’re thinking. It’s time for you to let us take care of you, to love you as you are meant to be loved.”

  Why now? Why have they finally decided to give me all my hopes and dreams, now when I can’t embrace them? Tears pooled in her eyes. She felt like she was dying inside. She had to refuse them, had no choice but to reject what they were offering her. “I can’t. I can’t stay.”

  Scooting toward the edge of the bed with the sheet wrapped firmly around her, Serena tried to make her escape before she broke all the promises she’d made to herself. Until she discovered why an overheard conversation put her and the men she loved at risk, until she could go to the authorities and make sure the danger had passed, she couldn’t succumb to them. Even if denying what she wanted most shredded what was left of her heart.

  As soon as her feet hit the floor, Ash moved forward, swinging her into his arms, sheet and all.

  “You didn’t think we’d let you go that easily, did you?” he asked. “You escaped us once. Never again.”

  His rough voice sent shards of pleasure piercing her core. The second she felt herself melt against him in surrender, she remembered exactly why she should fight their seduction. “Put me down, Ash. Now.” When he only tightened his arms around her and sat on the bed, his back pressed against the headboard, Serena began to struggle in earnest. She couldn’t do this. Couldn’t let them make love to her and still walk away afterward. The pain would kill her. She’d barely survived leaving them years ago when she’d only had her girlish dreams and fantasies. How much worse would it be once she experienced the reality of making love with them?

  “Please, Ash,” she begged. “Don’t do this. Just let me go.” If they did this thing, she would leave this house forever branded by their touch. It would surely kill her.

  “That’s never going to happen,” he growled.

  “While Damon and I love you until you know that this is where you’re meant to be, Brady will make you breakfast. Then it will be his turn to convince you. You might as well give in now,” he added.

  Almost immediately, Ash’s mouth covered hers hungrily. It was a kiss of pure possession. She wasn’t even shocked at her own eager response to the touch of his lips against hers. Even though it was the dumbest thing she’d ever done, for this one day, she’d surrender to the need she had for them. Just this once, she would give all of herself to her men, knowing that in the morning the memories they created together would be all she’d have left.

  His lips seared a path down her neck, her shoulders as he slowly unveiled her body to his gaze. She felt the heady sensation of his lips against her neck and arched her body in response.

  Her hands gripped his thighs to keep still for his questing mouth. His lips continued their exploration of her neck and shoulders, the hollow of her throat, but she was having none of it. She wanted the taste of his lips against hers. She wanted to take control.

  She thrust her fingers through his thick hair and pulled him to her. Her kiss was full of urgency and need, heat and passion, which only made the kiss that much hotter, that much more powerful.

  It wasn’t long before kissing wasn’t enough for either of them. His lips slowly followed the path of his fingers as he lowered the sheet until her breasts were quivering in his hands. Unable to contain the fires burning deep within her, she arched her back, guiding his mouth to her puckered nipples, desperate to feel his lips against their sensitive peaks.

  Not to be left out of the action, Damen moved in, taking her lips in a kiss so soft and tender, it brought tears to her eyes. Ash and Damen worshipped her with their mouths, caressed her with fleeting touches.

  Serena was lost in a whirlwind of passion. She tingled everywhere. Even her skin burned with desire. The hair at the nape of her neck stood on end as sensation wracked her quivering body.

  Never before had she experienced such overwhelming need.

  Her whole body literally ached with desire in anticipation of making love with her men. Her pussy clenched in need, desperate to be filled.

  Ash’s fingers continued their upward trail toward her weeping slit while Damen continued to nibble on her lips, her neck, in biting caresses before laving the pain away with his tongue. Ash ran his thumb over her clit, sending shards of pleasure-pain coursing through her. She moaned in response, desperate for release. Dammit! How much more did they expect her to take?

  Lost in a haze of passion, time slowed to a crawl, every second lasting a minute, every minute an hour. The flames within them burned higher and higher, brighter and brighter, until it threatened to overcome her and still, the threesome rode the hot tide of passion as it raged on and on.

  ———

  Ash was mesmerized by Serena’s movements, by her beauty, by the sheer love he felt for her in this moment. His gaze raked boldly over her. Her pale complexion and long blonde hair combined with her sea-green eyes, she was an exotic beauty. Her small, jutting breasts were firm in his hands and her hair was like strands of silk as they wrapped around his hands, his body.

  He liked the way she looked in their bed. He couldn’t wait until she could take them all at once, until they became a foursome in truth not just in words.

  As though the previous minutes had never happened, Damen began a slow exploration of Serena’s body, using lips, teeth and tongue, driving her to the edge, while Ash made his way down her body before settling himself between her thighs. He was a big man and he wanted her well prepared for him. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her during their joining. Only after they’d made her come again and again, would they finally make love to her.

  “Please,” she begged.

  “Your body’s not ready to accept a lover yet—

  not to mention three lovers—but you will be. I promise.”

  “What do you mean I’m not ready?” she gasped as his finger pressed against her clit. When she instinctively began to move against his finger, he eased a second inside her and then finally a third, stretching her as much as he could so that when he entered her he wouldn’t cause her unnecessary pain.

  “I need you,” she said in low voice, husky with unspent passion. “Now.”

  Ash glanced over at Damen, caught his brother’s urgent nod. Despite his desire to stay exactly where he was, they both rolled away from her, now desperate to feel skin pressed against skin.

  “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

  Damen smiled. “You beg so beautifully, sweetness, but we have no plans of stopping. Not now, and definitely not before you come to your senses about your need to leave us again.”

  Moving closer once more, they began to kiss her again. Ash worked his way down her body while Damen worshipped her mouth and breasts.

  The mixed sensations had her tossing her head.

  Her hands fisted in the silken sheets as they continued to assault her senses.

  Damen nibbled lightly on her breast, his hand working her other nipple to a hardened peak. She groaned when Ash’s tongue slid through her slit.

  He lapped at her body’s cream, the warm, wetvelvet circling her clit before he suckled the hardened nub into his mouth. She whimpered.

  Her thighs clamped closed. Her hands reached down to fist in his hair. She’d heard of such a thing, even fantasized about it, but the fantasy was nothing compared to the reality.

  Ash brought her to the edge again before inserting his finger into her vagina and pressing upward, massaging what she knew now to be her G-spot. Reading about it, fantasizing about it was nothing compared to living it. She screamed out another orgasm as Damen continued to worship her breasts. When she lay on the bed gasping for air, they each moved away from her again. She wanted to cry, to beg them to stay with her, but the words wouldn’t come.

  Standing up, the pair began to strip out of their pajama bottoms, but instead of joining Ash and Serena in the mating bed, Damen moved to the settee in the corner to watch. It would be his turn soon enough.

  Once Damen moved to the couch, Ash rejoined his mate on the bed. She gasped when skin met skin for the first time. Not wanting to give her time to think, he rolled over and drew her astride him as he leaned them back against the headboard. He’d let her set her own pace, get her used to the feel of how hard he was for her. He could feel her wetness against his cock and it about killed him to let her have free reign over his body.

  Ash gasped as one hand wrapped around his shaft, lightly squeezing, then releasing while the other softly stroked his heavy sac. He groaned, unable to help himself, he needed her so much.

  The day Serena disappeared she had taken his heart—and his libido—with her. In fact, none of them had any carnal desires for a mate during her absence. Now it was about time to rectify that.

  They’d waited seven years to make her theirs and they wouldn’t wait any longer.

  Ash rolled them over until he was again on top, then growled, “Roll over, honey. Get on your hands and knees. This first time might be a little rough, but I’ll be as gentle as I can. “

  She rolled onto her belly and Ash trailed a finger down her spine, sending shivers up and down her body. Even her toes were quivering.

  Then he studied her bottom, taking each cheek in his hands. They, too, were a perfect fit, high and firm. His mouth watered. He couldn’t wait any longer to mount her.

  Ever so slowly, he entered her from behind, inching forward just a bit and then stopping until her body could adjust. Inch by inch he sank into to her channel. She was so wet, so tight. Nothing had ever felt so exquisite, so absolutely right.

  He kept his movements slow and steady until he reached her maidenhead. After a brief pause for the pain he knew she was going to feel, Ash broke through the proof of her virginity and thrust completely inside of her.

  He was so deep inside of Serena, he could feel her womb pressed against his shaft. The only thing he could think of at that moment was that it was too bad she wasn’t in heat, for then he—he shook his head, no they—could get her with child.

  That time would come soon enough.

  ———

  Serena felt stretched to the limits. He was so large she didn’t think she could move and survive. He must have sensed her discomfort, or maybe she winced, because he stopped until the ache between her thighs eased. When the dull throbbing passed, he began moving in slow, gentle strokes. In and out, until his long slow strokes became faster, sharper, harder, deeper.

  Urgency gripped her. Something phenomenal was building inside her, she just knew it. Something both painful and pleasant and she didn’t know what to do, how to explain that she needed something more.

  He drew her to a height of passion and love she never could have imagined existed. How would she ever go back to the lonely streets after this?

  How would she ever put them out of her mind—

  forget them? Ever so slowly, in and out, in and out, he moved until she was matching his rhythm, meeting his thrusts halfway, eager to feel his body filling hers. Their pace quickened and Ash bent over her, pinning her shoulders with his teeth.

  Gently his hands cupped her breasts and then began teasing her nipples unmercifully as he continued to thrust into her tight channel.

  “Please,” she begged, “I need…” She didn’t know how to go on, all she knew was that she was close to something unbelievable, that she couldn’t take his teasing of her body anymore.

  Trailing his hands down her waist and to her hips, Ash whispered into her ear, “What do you need?”

  “More. I need more.” Ash gave her more, moving his fingers between her legs and rubbing her clit until she was bucking beneath him, screaming out her release.

  Waves of ecstasy throbbed through her. The pleasure he gave her was pure and explosive. He rubbed the bare skin of her back, her shoulders, gripped her again with his teeth. He began thrusting harder and deeper, faster than before until he, too, reached his climax, jetting his hot seed deep inside her.

  Ash collapsed on top of her, his body still joined with hers. They were flesh against flesh, hard plains meeting soft curves, man against woman. Lovers.

  Serena sighed in utter satisfaction, not even caring that Ash’s limp form still pinned her to the bed. She was too deliriously happy and sated to move.

  Ash lay atop her a few moments, then gently eased out of her and rolled to his back, gathering Serena up into his arms, laying her atop his chest.

  “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  She wanted to be like this, spread all over him, or Brady or Damen—every night for the rest of their lives, connecting them even in sleep. But even as she thought that, Ash rolled to his side, gently easing himself from beneath her sated body. Before she could protest, Ash rose from the bed and placed a tender kiss against her passionswollen lips.

  “I think I’m going to take a shower down the hall, then see what’s keeping Brady. Breakfast should have been up here ages ago. Rest, baby.”

  Before she could say a word, he’d scooped up his sweats and was out the door, leaving her stunned and a bit bewildered. “What in the hell was that all about?”

  Chapter Four

  Wanting to make their time special, Damen went into the bathroom to gather supplies.

  After pulling out a stash of aromatic candles from the linen closet and wetting a washcloth with warm water, he made his way back toward his mate’s side, carefully placing the candles in various spots around the room.

  As he knelt beside the bed, his heart clenched in a painful spasm. They’d come so close to losing her last night and that was something he just wouldn’t be able to live through. Damen slowly spread her thighs, anxious to wipe away the evidence of the loss of her virginity, though the thought of covering her with their seed, marking her with their essence, was almost overpowering.

  Maybe later, after the bonding ceremony on Imbolc.

  Serena didn’t even move as he gently pressed the warm cloth against her swollen mound. In fact, the whole time he bathed her, she didn’t so much as twitch. He smiled. If she was tired now, he couldn’t imagine how exhausted she would be after he and Brady got through with her. She wouldn’t have the energy to run once they’d all mated with her. Which is probably why Brady had insisted they seduce her this morning, one at a time, before they spoke to her about her past, about what had her running for her life all these years.

  Only after he cleansed her completely, did Damen move away. After tossing the washcloth in the hamper, he closed the bedroom curtains, blocking the bright morning sun. When the room was sufficiently darkened, he made quick work of lighting the candles. Soon, the room was awash with the ambient light of a dozen candles and the soothing scent of vanilla filling the room. He only wished he had some rose petals to cover her with or some chocolate covered strawberries to feed her.

  “Are you just going to stand there and stare at me or are you going to do something with the hard-on you’ve been walking around with?”

  Damen swallowed thickly, then stalked toward the bed. Serena just looked on, wide-eyed, whether from shock or anticipation he really didn’t care. He wanted to make love to her, had wanted to for hours—hell, years—and nothing was going to stop him now.

  Damen could smell her need as he approached the bed. Her scent called to him, enticing him to give her all that he was, his heart, body and soul.

  ———

  Serena’s heart somersaulted in her chest and a delicious shudder heated up her body. He was so stunningly gorgeous. All that muscle and sinew, moving in perfect rhythm as he stalked toward her, could give a woman heart problems. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his profile. In fact, she had no desire to do so. He was all hers and she intended to revel in it.

  She’d almost lost her life countless times since she’d left home, now she wanted to celebrate what time remained before she left again. And what better way could there be to rejoice in life than by making love? She swallowed tightly as he dropped down next to her.

  At the base of her throat, a pulse beat and swelled as though her heart had risen from its usual place. She moved toward him, driven involuntarily by her own passion. His sweetly intoxicating scent threatened to overwhelm her.

  Gathering her into his arms, he held her snugly against him. She buried her face against the corded muscles of his chest, taking his scent deep into her lungs. She would know this man in the dark amongst a hundred men just by his scent alone.

  His hands explored the hollows of her back, then skimmed her hips, her bottom, before sliding back up and cupping her face in his hands. His lips pressed against hers, gently covering her mouth. His kiss was slow, sweet, and then it changed. His tongue traced the soft fullness of her lips, then demanded entrance. The kiss sent the pit of her stomach into a wild swirl and her heart thudded in her ears. He lifted his mouth from hers and gazed into her eyes. .

  “I love you, baby.”

  As though unable to help himself, his lips seared a path down her neck, her shoulders, exploring her body with a thoroughness that astounded her. She wished she could say the words back to him, but it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. “Damen, if you don’t make love to me soon, I’m going to die.”

  “I am making love to you. Can’t you tell?” he asked as his lips trailed lower. “If not, I must be doing something very wrong.”

  His tongue encircled her nipple with tantalizing possessiveness, while his fingers trailed slowly across the other, bringing them both into hard peaks.

  He lifted his head only long enough to ask, “Do you know how sweet you taste?”

  She just shook her head, mesmerized by the passion and honesty she heard in his voice. There was such love and devotion behind his words. It was impossible for him to hide his feelings from her and she felt blessed.

 

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