Chapter 17 #2
“Wait,” Loch says, scooping up some of my cum and feeding it to Jareth. My cock twitches with interest, my knot threatening to explode as I watch the two of them share my release.
“Fuck, Rome,” Jareth moans. “You taste like…” He shakes his head. “A word I don’t know.”
“Like mate,” Loch offers. “Like home.” His eyes meet mine. “Like forever.”
JARETH
Forever?
It’s not possible for me, but it is for them.
I’ll be sad when I start to get old and know my time in this realm is ending, but at least I know they’ll still have each other.
Maybe there’s another way though. Some magic that could keep me around longer.
I have to try, because now that I know what the three of us could have, I can’t just let nature take its course.
I’ve never wanted to live forever before, but now I can’t think of anything I want more.
The three of us lie tangled together, sticky and spent, and it’s the happiest I’ve ever been. I thought I’d lost Loch and would never have Roman, then I thought I’d have to choose, and finally, I feared I would have to walk away and watch them be happy together.
But there’s no way that what I just experienced was simply sex. I don’t know what a fated mate connection feels like, but I know what we just did was deeper than anything I’ve ever felt, even with me and Loch before.
The urge to tell Loch about my past rears up, and despite me trying to push it down, to just enjoy the afterglow, the feeling is persistent. Maybe there can’t be a future until the past is finally laid to rest.
“I was a teenager when it happened.”
“Oh,” Lochlan murmurs in surprise, lifting his head slightly to look at me.
“I was out in familiar woods where I always went to forage herbs and leaves. It was such a peaceful place, not too far from home, but far enough to feel like a whole other world.”
Roman wraps his hand around mine as he lays his head on my belly and I stroke his hair. Loch’s eyes are fixed on my face.
“It had started to get dark, so I was heading home and got turned around even though I knew those woods like the back of my hand. I wasn’t scared, but I was confused. Out of nowhere, these men dropped from the trees, and I knew right away they weren’t regular men.”
Loch looks scared as his brow creases and his eyes widen.
“They attacked before I even had time to react. I didn’t know how to use my magic back then—I didn’t even know I was a mage.
I couldn’t run,” I murmur, my body starting to tremble as the fear I felt that night floods me all over again.
“Their teeth tore my flesh and it was pain like nothing I’d ever known to that point.
” I touch the scar on my face. “That’s where this came from. ”
“Jare,” Loch whispers, wrapping his arms around me while Roman rubs my hand.
“I don’t know why they didn’t kill me, but they were close.
They left as quickly as they’d arrived, and I lay on the ground in that forest with no hope of having the strength to get home again or find help.
With the last of my will, I started murmuring words I didn’t really know.
It was an incantation, I know that now, but I think it was instinctual then. I wasn’t ready to die.”
I look down at Roman. “You tell this part.”
He nods, his brow creased. “I was out running that day with my pack when I caught the scent of human blood, but it was different. I’d never smelled mage blood before that moment, and it called to me.
I ran and ran until I found the source, and there, crumpled and nearly dead, was Jareth.
Even in that state, he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. ”
My heart flutters in my chest. “And he was the most beautiful anything I’d ever seen.”
“Were you in wolf form?” Loch asks.
“Yes,” Rome says.
“And glorious. He was huge and so majestic, but I wasn’t afraid. I knew he was there to help; I could see it in his eyes.”
“And then what?” Loch asks.
“I carried him to my packmates, to the den where we lived. They agreed he could stay and we would nurse him back to health. We hunted and brought him food,” Rome says.
“And the best spring water I’ve ever tasted.”
Roman smiles wistfully. “He had so much will to live. When he was better, he told us the story.”
“Vampires,” Loch says softly. “That’s who attacked you?”
I nod as the pain of that memory rips through me again. “Ever since that moment, I’ve had a deep hatred and mistrust for their kind. I’ve tried not to hold it against the entire species, but in my experience, they are indiscriminate killers with no regard for mortal lives.”
“There are exceptions,” Roman says, squeezing my hand again.
“Roman tried to find them for me.”
He grumbles, shaking his head. “They left the area, but if they cross me, I’ll know it. Jareth’s scent will linger.”
“Even after all this time?” Loch asks.
Roman nods. “I scented them all over the area, and it’s a scent I’ll never forget as long as I live,” he growls.
“Then we’ll find them and kill them,” Loch says simply, and my heart swells with love for my ridiculous, impulsive vampire.
“You can’t do that, Loch,” I murmur, stroking my fingers through his hair.
Roman shakes his head. “No, you can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Vampires cannot kill other vampires without council approval or, in rare cases, a war.”
“There’s a vampire council? No one told me that.”
“Your maker told you nothing, so that’s not a surprise.”
Roman growls in response, agreeing with me.
“What would happen if I did?”
“You’d become a target, an outcast. Any vampire would have approval to kill you in retribution.”
“Well, that’s fucked up,” he mumbles. “So, they can hurt you and get away with it?”
“Darling, I am not a vampire. I am nothing to them. They broke no rules.”
His anger swirls thick around him, his eyes flashing red and his fangs descending. “You are everything. You are my home. I can’t just let it go.”
Roman nuzzles Loch’s neck, whispering something I can’t hear, and whatever he says, it has a deeply soothing effect on our love. Loch’s eyes soften as he reaches for my hand.
“I’m so sorry. Obviously, I had no idea, and I made a reckless decision, but it was never meant to hurt you.
I wanted desperately to be close to you, closer in a way I couldn’t get without changing.
When I saw you and Roman together, I could feel the connection there, and I thought it was because you’re magic and he’s a wolf. But now I think it was just love.”
Roman’s breath catches as he turns his eyes to Loch. “Love?”
“Isn’t it obvious? It is to me, and it’s wonderful.
I was jealous before, but now I feel privileged to witness it up close.
” Loch takes Roman’s hand in his. “I love him too, and someday, I know I’ll love you the same.
Or maybe differently, but definitely love.
You’re the mate selected for me, and Jareth, he’s the man I chose.
He’s the man you’ve wanted since you met him, and now…
” He takes one of my hands in his as well, stacking it on top of Roman’s.
“We all get this. But first… Jare, can you forgive me? Can you… can you still love me?”
My eyes well with tears I can’t hold back, and as they streak down my face, I nod. “I never stopped loving you.”
“But can you forgive me?”
“You’re already forgiven. In fact…” I pause, wiping my face as the truth I can’t deny momentarily clogs my throat.
“In fact…?” Roman prods.
“I think it had to happen this way. If you hadn’t turned, hadn’t needed help, you and Roman wouldn’t have discovered your mate bond, and without that, maybe the three of us wouldn’t have come together like this.
” I huff a laugh. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I feel the truth in these words.
All this time I thought life was cruel and fate was crueler, but I’m starting to believe fate knew exactly what she was doing. ”
Roman’s breath hitches and he nods. “My wolf’s reaction also tells me it’s true.”
Loch’s pretty face lights up in a brilliant smile, his vampiric features on full display, and instead of filling me with repulsion, fear, or anger, it makes my heart flutter in my chest. He’s beautiful.
“That settles it, then,” Loch says. “Fate meant for it to be us. The three of us. For eternity.”
My mood sours a bit. “About that… I’m still mortal. Enhanced a bit, but mortal. I’ll die.”
Roman whimpers as his arms ripple with fur, and Loch looks distraught.
“No,” Loch says. “There must be a way. We’ll find a way. We have to.”
“There might be a spell that can slow things down or extend my life a bit, but I am not immortal.”
“You could—”
Roman clicks his teeth, subtly shaking his head at Loch, clearly sharing their thoughts. Okay, that might take some getting used to, but right now, I’m curious what Lochlan was going to suggest.
“We’ll figure something out,” Roman says and Lochlan nods obediently.
“Can we have more orgasms?” Loch asks.
I laugh at that. “Still mortal. It’s gonna take me a bit to recharge.”
“I’ll get snacks for now.” Roman slides out of the bed.
Both Loch and I are left speechless as we watch the sexy man push his wolf features back and pull on a pair of jeans.
How many times have I jacked off to the fantasy of touching Roman?
Now to have the man right before me is a mindfuck.
And with the man I thought I’d lost right beside me. I get to love them both. Openly.
Maybe life is sweeter than I thought.