Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“Bastian.” Nox says my name on a sigh. “If you don’t want this, you’re free to go, but…” They hold out a hand without looking at me. “I’d like you to stay.”
“We’d like you to stay,” Siobhan says.
I don’t know if it’s possible to get whiplash from swinging from heartbreak to overwhelming joy in a single instant. I don’t care. I release the doorknob and start for them.
Chapter 26
Nox
I don’t sigh with relief when Bastian turns from the door to face us; there’s not enough air in the room for that. I feel strange and boneless, dizzy with fear and joy in a way I didn’t know I could experience. I’ve been so damn afraid of being hurt again that I’ve put up walls between myself and my lovers, but there are no walls to be found when it comes to Siobhan and Bastian. They both see me too clearly in their own way. That seeing terrifies me, but when your life is numbered in days, hours, minutes, a broken heart is barely worth mentioning. If I experience it, then at least the pain has an end point this time.
No matter what they think, no matter the confidence I’ve portrayed to my crew, there’s a part of me that doesn’t believe the horn will do anything.
That’s a worry for another day, another me. Right now, Bastian is crossing to stand before me, Siobhan on my other side, her perfect body on full display. Even as Bastian takes my hand, I drink in the sight of her, doing my best to memorize every line, every curve. She’s every inch a warrior, strong and solid and fierce.
And she’s looking at me like she wants to take a bite out of me, her honeyed eyes shining in the low light of my cabin.
“I—”
“What terms would you like me to use?” she asks softly. When I don’t immediately answer, she motions to my body. “Do you have preferences?”
Shock makes my knees buckle. I manage to stay on my feet through sheer habit, grounded by Bastian’s hand in mine. I usually take the lead when it comes to sexual encounters. It’s easier that way, to tell my lovers what I need from them before they have a chance to disappoint me. For Siobhan to ask this now shows a level of care that I don’t know how to deal with.
Bastian squeezes my hand, but is otherwise silent. I appreciate that. I was still feeling out my identity when he and I were together, and what I wanted from him then is not the same thing I need from lovers now.
I clear my throat. “Uh, chest.” I press my hand to my chest and then slide it down my stomach. “Sex.”
“Good.” Siobhan makes a rumbling sound somewhere between a growl and a purr. She takes the single step that brings her close. She surveys us for a beat. “Let’s get cleaned up before we begin.”
I’ve never been at a loss for words in my life, but I can’t seem to draw forth the breath required to speak. Bastian presses a kiss to the sensitive spot on my neck, right behind my ear, and chuckles against my skin. “Best not argue. Siobhan always gets her way.”
Argue? I can’t even think properly as she leads us into the bathroom. The sensation only gets worse—better—as she catches the hem of my shirt and pulls it slowly up, her knuckles coasting over my stomach and chest, sending little zings in their wake. I’m so distracted, I almost miss Bastian’s hands on my belt, effortlessly tugging it free and sliding my pants down my legs. He gets tangled up in my boots. “Well, fuck.”
Siobhan makes that delicious rumbling sound again. “I have a solution.” She bands her forearm under my ass and lifts me, pressing me tightly to her naked body.
Distantly, I can feel Bastian freeing me of my boots and pants, but all I can focus on are her honey eyes and the fact that her mouth is…right…there. Just like that, I’m not frozen any longer. I wrap my legs around her waist and dig my hands into her hair. Then I kiss her the way I’ve wanted to for years, a slow savoring of the simple press of her lips to mine before I nip her full bottom lip and tease her mouth open.
Gods, her taste. It’s as wild and heady as faerie wine—and just as quick to sweep me away.
My back hits the cold tile wall, and not even that is enough to shock me out of the need for more. I lock my heels against the small of her back, grinding against her mindlessly as she kisses me back like she wants to consume me, bite by bite.
The sound of water running is a distant thing, even as steam fills the room. And then there are more hands on my body—Bastian’s hands—soft palms and clever fingers running up my legs to cup my ass, squeezing and parting me even as Siobhan keeps kissing me like her life depends on the stroke of her tongue against mine.