Chapter 6 In the Snow #3
“It does.” She rolled her hips in a deliberate motion that made me bite back another groan. “Now let me please you just as much.”
That set a whole different mood to the moment. Her words triggered an automatic response from both Cas and me as we spoke at the same time.
“You don’t have to—”
She cut us off with a shake of her head, curls bouncing around her shoulders, the braid Cas had barely started coming undone.
“I’m sorry I haven’t felt like doing much lately.” Her cheeks flushed pink as she stared at my throat. “I forgot how miserable periods were.”
The hesitation in her voice broke my heart a little. Even now, months after we’d claimed her, she still worried about disappointing us. Still carried the weight of Arabesque’s conditioning that her only value was in what she could do for others. What others could take from her.
“Are you referring to the rapid depletion of chocolates from your personal cupboard?” Cas leaned in to kiss the side of her throat, making her hum. “Because I find that quite reasonable.”
She giggled, and I smiled, relief washing through me at the return of lightness between us.
“Zane will be happy to hear it wasn’t because you were punishing us,” I teased, my hands running up and down her hips.
The smile vanished from her face so quickly, it was like I’d slapped her.
“Punishing you? Why would I— I would never—” She struggled to get the words out, looking horrified. “Did he really think that? That I was… Because you wouldn’t let me come on a hunt?”
“No.” Cas shot me a look that clearly read, Fix this, idiot. “None of us thought that.”
“I was joking, beloved,” I rushed to explain, mentally kicking myself. “We all know you’d never use sex as a weapon.”
She didn’t look convinced, worrying her lower lip.
“I just didn’t feel well, but I still should have let you—”
“Let us?” My heart shattered. Dark take me.
“The menstrual cycle causes significant hormonal fluctuations that affect not only your reproductive organs, but your entire endocrine system,” Professor Cimmerian began.
“The hormones estrogen and progesterone drop precipitously, which triggers the shedding of your uterine lining. This process causes prostaglandins to increase, which are responsible for the cramping sensation as your uterus contracts to expel—”
I reached up and clamped my hand over his mouth, cutting off what promised to be an excruciating anatomy lesson.
“We knew you were uncomfortable. Hell, I can see even fabric brushing against your chest hurts you right now because you’re so sensitive.”
Her blush deepened, spreading down her neck.
“It’s my, um… They’re tender. But it should be over tomorrow,” she added quickly. “It’s never lasted longer than five days.”
“That’s five days tooooo many!” yodeled a voice before our bedroom door flew open with a loud crash.
Zane appeared at the threshold, swaying slightly. Behind him, in the hallway light, I could see Brumous going around and around in a circle before finally plopping down on the soft carpet outside our door.
Cas and I let out synchronized sighs. With reluctance, he rolled off of us and stood, intercepting Zane as he made a beeline for Seri’s bathroom instead of ours.
“Cold shower. Now.” He hauled Zane along by his belt loop like a misbehaving kitten. “Did you drink the coffee?”
“Three mugs! Black as your soul! Seeeeeriiiii, tell Simmy your Zoodle is perfectly sober now, thank you veddy much!”
Instead of dealing with Zane’s shit, Seri stared at Brummy, her eyes concerned.
“He really is fine, beloved,” I assured her, brushing a stray curl from her face.
“Thanks to you.”
She leaned down and trailed open-mouthed kisses along my throat to my chest, where her tongue circled my nipple before she sucked it between her lips, giving it a gentle bite that sent electricity straight to my groin.
“Serafina,” I warned as my dick hardened against her thigh. Despite her enthusiasm, I was still wary of pushing her when she was uncomfortable.
“Do we have something I can use to, um, rub you with?” She looked at me with those big gray eyes, and my brain short-circuited, trying to process her question through the haze of desire.
“You mean lubrication?” Cas asked, saving me.
“I guess?” She tilted her head to one side with curious eyes.
With a tiny smirk that looked downright wicked on his usually blank face, Cas headed into our bathroom. As he opened the door, we heard water splashing and Zane’s muttered monologue.
“Take that. And that. Yeah, that’s right. You messed with the wrong Cimmerian, muthafuckahs! Die, die, die!”
Cas returned a moment later with a bottle of lube, holding it out to Seri as she and I exchanged puzzled looks.
“Don’t tell me there are ants or spiders in the shower,” she asked with alarm.
“Bubbles.” A nearly silent snicker escaped Cas. “He’s stomping bubbles.”
Zane, deadly assassin and telepathic powerhouse, engaged in mortal combat with bubbles? The image was too much, and Seri and I cracked up. I never would have thought that desire could be funny, but I was learning that, with her, everything could have joy in it.
Still giggling, she rolled off of me and reached for the towel around Cas’ waist. His breath caught as her fingers unknotted the terry cloth and let it drop to the floor.
“Teach me how to use this.” She held up the bottle of lube with one hand, the other wrapping around Cas’ dick as he stood before her.
Of course, he took it in stride. He was Casimir fucking Cimmerian. His hands were steady as he showed her how to warm the lube between her palms before applying it, and I grinned as her brow furrowed, the tip of her tongue poking through her teeth, as she concentrated.
“Hinge motion,” Cas rasped. “Not strokes. Rotational— Damnation!”
I’d seen my older brother take a bullet to the chest without blinking, but under those small hands with their chewed nails and pale freckles? He came apart like a green recruit facing artillery fire. He fought it, but when she twisted her wrist just so on an upstroke, he was done for.
The choked-off groan. The way his hips stuttered.
That split second where his control shattered and he became pure animal need should have been hilarious.
Was hilarious, right up until hot white streaks painted Seri’s chin and throat, and she gasped like she’d discovered her favorite candy.
Cas flopped onto the bed and lay beside me with his eyes closed, chest heaving and wearing a look of blissed-out satisfaction.
Which was when Zane appeared.
Naked, of course.
“I come bearing gifts!” He held up a pack of wet wipes. “Stolen from what I’m calling Seri’s period prep locker. Why don’t guys have wipes? I love these fang-rotted things!”
Seri giggled as she used the wipes to clean Cas up, then wiped herself and her hands before turning her attention to me.
Zane opened his mouth, clearly about to ask why he wasn’t next in line, but it was too late.
She’d already lowered the front of my boxers with careful fingers, freeing my painfully hard erection.
She paused for a moment, her eyes thoughtful, then night’s teeth whipped off her nightie, exposing her perfect breasts, flushed and fuller than usual due to her cycle.
“Baby, no,” I protested as she smeared lube between them. “You’re too sore.”
“I can angle it right. Just don’t touch, um, those.”
Her face burned red, and I smirked just a little. Everything we’d done together, and she still couldn’t say nipples in front of us.
Zane whined that it wasn’t fair I got the first ever titty fucking, but Seri wasn’t hearing anything, her concentration laser-focused as she leaned over and cradled my balls and dick between her breasts.
“Push your tits together with your hands, bunny,” Zane whimpered, all but drooling as he stood next to the bed, stroking himself with a loose fist as he watched.
She listened and dark take me I realized I was going to die right there, my eyes rolling back at the slick, soft warmth of her skin all around me. So I wouldn’t be tempted, I locked my hands behind my head and drank in the sight of her rocking up and down.
“Arch your back, sundrop. Yeah, perfect. Now take his crown into your mouth and suck him like a straw.”
I started to tell Zane to shut up and let her do what she wanted, but she already had her mouth on me, and bleeding night I was done at the first whisper of suction. My hips bucked up as I came hard, spilling myself in her mouth before I could warn her to pull back.
She’d discovered early on that she didn’t like swallowing very much, but now she took what she could and let the rest dribble down her face and throat and onto her breasts.
I didn’t even have time to thank her before Zane, citing his fictitious book, dragged her off of me, positioned her to sit on the edge of the bed, and grabbed his throbbing dick, already leaking.
“Please, baby,” he begged, his usual arrogance cracking from desperation. “I can’t go any longer without something. Anything. Even just your hands on me will be enough.”
Apparently, it surprised him when she leaned forward and mouthed his tip, and a stream of curses came out of him faster than his ejaculate. His legs nearly buckled as he came, hands grasping her shoulders for support.
“Cruor! Suck harder. Fang-rotted period. Shit! Death to bubbles—” he babbled as she worked him through his release.
Curling over her as his dick fell out of her mouth, he kissed a line down her spine, and I smirked a little to see his hands shaking. Then he stood, picked up the package of wipes he’d dropped, and daintily cleaned her face as if he were dabbing at paint splatters on a masterpiece.
“Chest, too,” Cas reminded him.
“Nips are sore, so be careful,” I added, and Zane nodded as he cleaned her up, fumbling a bit in his attempt to be as gentle as possible.
Once she was semen-free, and Cas tipped a bottle of electrolyte water down her throat, she declined any return of favors, saying she’d hold onto those promises until later.
That made me snort; as if we’d ever not want to pleasure her.
The second Zane’s body was horizontal on the bed, he was out. I sighed as I started to get up, prepared to push him to the middle, his spot ever since we were kids in Mom’s quarters of Lucian’s mansion, but Seri stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“Leave him. I want to snuggle between you two.”
“But that’s a violation of Zane D. Cimmeran’s guide,” Cas teased, and she pinched his ribs, making him jolt and blow a chuckle out of his nose.
Seeing him like that made me smile.
“Do you want your nightie?” I whispered.
“No, I’m fine in just my undies.” Wriggling backward until her spine met Cas’ chest, she reached out to pull my arm across her, and my palm slid down to cup her ass cheek.
As for Zane, he sprawled half off the bed, which was why we always kept him between us. Otherwise, he’d end up on the floor before morning.
But what beloved wants, beloved gets, I thought smugly.
“Comfortable?” Cas rumbled against the top of her head.
“Mmm. Warm.” One of her hands drifted up to brush along my jawline, catching on the old scar there. “And safe.”
Zane snorted in his sleep, knee jerking upward in a dream-fueled twitch that nearly upended him from the bed, but I caught his ankle without looking and yanked him back onto the mattress.
“Still fights imaginary foes in his sleep,” I sighed.
“Maybe he’s battling more bubbles,” she giggled.
Good. She deserved all the happiness in the world after what she’d endured. And just because of who she was.
Sometimes, whole days could go by without me thinking of how we found her. Other times, I couldn’t get it out of my head. The brutally infected cut on her arm. The deep contusions on her chest and thigh. The welt on her jaw. The bruise on her temple. The fang-rotted shoeprints—
“Koko? Your heart’s racing.”
Before I could spin a lie about residual arousal, which was partially true, Cas saved me.
“He’s mentally cataloging tomorrow’s mission parameters. VR headset perfectly adjusted to fit you? Check.” His fingers walked up her ribs like a general reviewing troops. “Spy-eye drones synced to holo-projectors? Check. Zane-proof restraints to keep our resident goblin from improvising? TBD.”
I snorted, tension bleeding from my shoulders as Seri dissolved into giggles again, a sound sweeter than silver bells in winter air.
Her laughter hitched when Zane rolled onto his side and flopped a long arm across all three of us, his face in the back of my neck and his fingers brushing Cas’ jaw as he muttered about “bubble warfare.”
Snickering at that, I drifted toward sleep with a content sigh.
I’d found a way to give Seri agency while also keeping my brothers and myself sane.
When it came to her safety, yeah, we’d be the villains if necessary, but none of us liked it.
Better to find the middle ground where we could all win.
Seri could participate without risk, and we could focus on the hunt without the distraction of worrying about her.
Compromise. The bedrock of all good marriages.