Chapter 19
EMME
During my shower, a deeper cramp hit, and by the time I got out my ovaries and uterus ached. A smear of blood came away on the towel I used to dry myself, but thankfully this time I had all the supplies in the world.
Opening one of my bathroom drawers, I grabbed the period disc and underwear, unsure how heavy my flow would be tonight.
My skin was irritated too, so I dressed in my softest pajama set and headed out of my room with full intentions of filling my hot water bottle.
Only to find myself turning in the opposite direction and taking the stairs up to the third floor.
My feet slowed outside Slade’s room, and I knew why I’d inadvertently sought him out.
He'd been the one who’d eased my pain last time.
Not to mention, I hadn’t been able to shake the memory of the twins sprawled in that bed together.
That night hadn’t been the right timing to crawl in between them—Finley had been calling me, and the twins needed a few nights to properly cement their bond.
But now… they were my newest bonded mates, and I needed them tonight.
When I stepped through their doorway, I blinked at the sight of them already on the bed. “Snow,” Slade drawled, his green gaze locking me in place. “We’ve been waiting for you, sweetheart.”
My breaths came out slow and heavy, and I couldn’t bring myself to move. “Weren’t you patrolling?” I managed to ask.
He canted his head, taking a long, leisurely glance along my body. “I could feel that you needed me, so I cut the night short.”
The twins were positioned against the headboard, their wide shoulders taking up almost the entire width. “Come to us,” Talon commanded, and before I could think I was moving.
When my toes hit the frame of the massive bed, I all but toppled forward, forgetting I held my hot water bottle. The faceplant into the cloudlike mattress didn’t hurt, and I huffed at the laughter over the top of my head.
“Some days I wonder how you’re a shifter,” Slade said, slipping his hands under my armpits and slowly dragging me up the bed to face him.
Drawing the hot water bottle from my hands, he tossed it to the side.
“Your coordination and stamina are unique, that’s for sure.
” As the alpha who trained me, he had a ton of evidence to back that statement.
I opened my mouth to defend myself but Talon interrupted with a growl. “I smell blood. Are you injured?”
Both of them examined me closer, and their intense heat was soothing to my pain. Slade’s nostrils flared, but he quickly ascertained there were no injuries. “You have your period,” he noted. “Your fertile time is coming to an end for another season.”
I doubted Talon had much experience with fertile times or periods, and with that in my mind, I was already bracing for how he’d react. I’d heard there were males who didn’t handle it well or got grossed out. It would take him time to get used—
One of his hands slid down to cover my stomach, and the other across my lower back.
“We feel your discomfort, Emme,” he said.
“You’re staying with us tonight so we can soothe you.
Whatever it takes.” He looked toward his twin.
“I read that orgasms can help omegas during their period. Is that correct?”
Goddessfuck. Did I just burst into flames?
The ache in my uterus flared when it spasmed, my lower half unsure if we were shedding our lining or preparing to be bred. Who said it couldn’t be both?
“As nice as an orgasm would be,” I managed to say, sounding almost normal. “I’d prefer not to cover you both in blood. I can be quite the heavy bleeder for the first few days.”
As Slade was well aware. Not that he appeared to care, as he followed his brother’s lead and slid his hands across my sides until their heat infiltrated my entire core. “We’re not turned off by blood,” he said, his accent deepening. “You just let us know what you need.”
There was a ruckus at the door, and my bites pulsed as my other mates all but tumbled inside. “She needs to kiss us goodnight,” Kellan declared, the first in the room, with Finley right behind him. “And you two big bastards need to get on board with larger beds, and pack huddles from here on out.”
There was no real bite in his tone, as they all knew I’d spend this night with the twins. It was hard not to stay with all my alphas though, especially Finley, who struggled to sleep by himself. I’d been with him for the last two nights, and he’d crashed out completely for the first time in weeks.
As if he’d heard that thought, the bear knee walked from the end of the bed, ignoring the rumbles of the dragons as he pulled me from their grasp.
He wrapped me in a bear hug. “Now that our bond is complete, my soul is at ease,” he said softly, soothing my worries.
“I can reach for your essence anytime I need, and my bear is already inching toward your beast. I want to sleep with you, don’t get me wrong, but you don’t need to feel any guilt.
Enjoy your slumber in the dragon inferno. ”
My lips parted and he kissed me thoroughly. Kellan dipped in a beat later with a slow, tender touch against my lips. “See you at training, Shortcake,” he murmured in a teasing tone. “You’ve got weapons with me, after Slade destroys you on a soul-deep level.”
“Then magic with Constantine,” Slade added, not denying the soul-destroying comment.
I groaned at the very thought, especially while I had my period. “Aren’t we heading to the compound tomorrow?” The hint of hope was easily heard in my question, and Kellan snorted.
“Only you’d take Fletcher’s creepy lair over magic training.”
“Magic training with Constantine,” I reminded him.
Talon shook his head. “I need to do some scouting first, make sure the area is clear. I won’t put you all at risk. If everything is good though, we can head there the next day.”
The dragon’s energy pulsed strongly in our quintet bond, and I was starting to wonder if that happened when they were doing their own twin communicating.
“The next day works,” Hunter said, the last to enter the room. His nostrils flared. “You’re bleeding.”
I forced myself not to roll my eyes at their overprotective nature; I’d barely been alone in weeks and was clearly uninjured. “I’m fine,” I said, meeting his blazing gaze.
“She’s got her period.” Kellan figured it out quickly. “Everyone needs to go easy on her tomorrow.”
So far, none of my alphas showed any sign of being remotely squeamish about periods, which was… unexpected. But really damn nice.
“They’ll be here every six to eight weeks,” I said with a shrug. “As long as I’m not knocked up of course.”
That statement had scents flaring, and in our quintet energy, all the beasts pressed against my wolf. No thoughts really accompanied it, but we were absolutely in a pack huddle. “That day will come, Emmeline Anders,” Hunter said in a low, soothing burr. “Now, let’s get you to bed.”
The alphas who weren’t sleeping in here tonight kissed me one last time and then headed off to do their own thing. With exhaustion pressing in on me, I crawled in between the dragons, and Slade wasted no time stripping me out of my pajamas, leaving me in just black period underwear.
“Much better,” he declared, his gaze dragging down my bare breasts. “I want to feel your skin against mine.”
Talon grunted his agreement, and I cursed the timing of bleeding when I really wanted a few of those promised orgasms. A thought that immediately filtered through the bond.
Slade’s smile grew, and his eyes were a blazing green fire as they burned into my soul. “Talon’s offer stands. We aren’t worried about a little blood, but we can use the shower if it makes you feel more comfortable.”
My stare darted toward the bathroom door. I swore it was an involuntary movement. Not that Slade cared as he hauled me up in a flash, and by the time I sucked in a deep, ragged breath, we were in the bathroom.
Slade stripped my underwear from me, and then two naked shifters crowded me back against the wall.
The cool tiles were a blessed relief as steam and dragon heat covered me until I burned.
Talon stroked down my stomach, his fingers sliding inside me without hesitation, only pausing when he hit the edge of the disc.
“What’s that?” he asked, blinking down at me.
“My period disc,” I rasped, my core aching as my legs trembled beneath me. “You can leave it in if you’d like. According to the instructions, the disc should contain blood without limiting sexual activity.”
“Remove it,” Slade ordered, and Talon curled his fingers in to hook on the edge, somehow knowing the exact way to catch it and pull free.
There was no way it should be as erotic as it was to watch him slide the disc from me, blood slicking down my legs to land on the white tiled floor. But here we were.
True to their word, neither of them looked remotely turned off by the blood, and I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d watched them tear Fletcher to pieces only two days ago, and not one of the alphas had flinched at the blood that had covered them.
“Stop thinking so hard,” Slade murmured near my ear, and while there was a brief annoyance at his arrogant ass trying to force my thoughts to obey him, my mind did weirdly clear.
My wolf obeyed her alphas in a way that the human side of me couldn’t.
When Talon sank to his knees, I gasped and tried to back up, but I was already plastered against the wall. “No, not like that,” I choked out. “Put the disc back in before you stick your mouth—”
My words were cut off by his tongue on my clit, then my head spun until I couldn’t remember my objections.
Slade tilted my head back and captured my lips, his hands reaching out to clasp mine and keep me pressed against the wall.
As sparks of pleasure took me under, I decided that it wasn’t up to me to protect grown shifters from a little blood.
If they didn’t care, then I did not care.
After taking both of my hands into one of his, and positioning them above my head, Slade used his other hand to slide two fingers inside me, moving them in time to his brother’s tongue stroking my clit.
They were both gentle, as if they sensed how tender and sore I was in my core. A pain that all but vanished under the maddening swirl of a tongue meeting slow thrusts of a hand.
My moans were so loud that not even Slade’s kiss drowned them out. I parted my thighs wider, hovering on the edge of what felt like a devastating release. At the first roll of the orgasm, my knees buckled, but I already knew they’d hold me up.
Neither of them slowed, and when my release shattered through me, I gushed all over Slade’s hand. They continued to touch me until I was spent, relaxed, and completely pain free. There wasn’t a ton of blood from what I could see, with the shower taking care of most of it.
After that, Talon lifted me out from under the stream and dried me off.
Neither of them looked away when I inserted my disc again, and I got the feeling that they’d be asking to do that job next time.
With my backup underwear on once more, I crawled into bed between them, half drifting off before my head hit the pillow.
As they cocooned me between their naked lengths, their palms landed on my stomach and back, the heat easing any cramps the orgasm hadn’t taken care of.
I fell asleep so fast that I barely caught their goodnights.
Sleeping between my dragon sentinels was the safest place in the world, and I knew I would rest easy.