14. Zeph
The intensityin Aflora’s features gave me pause. “You think I want you to choose?”
I would never ask for such a thing. It would be akin to asking her to kill a piece of her soul. We were all part of her, whether we liked each other or not. And while I certainly did not care for Zakkai, I acknowledged who he was to her.
I could also admit his use to her as a protector as well.
There wasn’t anyone else in this world better suited to guard Aflora than Zakkai.
“I would never want you to choose, pixie flower,” I added in a low voice, my hand cupping her cheek while my opposite palm remained against her hip. “We’re your mates, even when we hate each other.”
“Hate is a little strong,” Zakkai replied, his lips ghosting along her neck to settle over her pulse. “Dislike, maybe. Hate, no. I just wanted to make a point. Again.”
My jaw clenched at his words, mostly because I understood them. Respected them, too. Because his point had been needed.
And admittedly, I hadn’t possessed the ability to push her the way he had.
She wasn’t the delicate flower I’d first met, but a being of superior magic and strength that I admired to the depths of my soul.
However, it was hard for me to see that part of her. Because it required me to hurt her to ignite the power within her, and I had learned over the last few weeks that harming my mate was not a natural skill of mine. In the bedroom in a fun way? Yes. In reality, where she could seriously be injured by things outside my control? Absolutely not.
Zakkai seemed able to provoke her without regret. Like he was somehow programmed to mete out dangerous training.
I envied that about him. It granted him a measure of control over our situation that I couldn’t attain. And I did not handle a lack of control well.
I met his gaze over her shoulder. “I may not agree with your methods,” I said slowly. “But I can’t deny the outcome of those methods.”
His responding nod was short and to the point. Then he returned his focus to Aflora’s neck, his lips worshipping her skin. “I don’t hate your Guardian lover, little star,” he informed her. “I just refuse to kneel to him.”
I snorted. “Likewise.”
Aflora sighed. “You both are going to be the death of me.” She relaxed between us while she spoke, her fingers tracing my nape near the edge of my hairline. “Can I please be done for today?”
Zakkai’s eyes met mine once more, a foreign understanding passing between us. “No,” he said softly. “We still have another lesson to deliver.”
His palm slid up her side to her breast, squeezing her flesh while holding my gaze.
A new activity.
One about unity and understanding.
He was inviting me in his own way to help deliver that lesson. We might fight one another on many things, constantly striving to best the other, but at the end of it all, we were still her mates. And we would never make her choose.
“You did well today,” I told her.
“Extremely well,” Zakkai added. “But you failed to understand something important, Aflora.”
“Yes,” I agreed, drawing my thumb along her lip.
“What?” she breathed. “What did I miss?”
“The fact that we will never make you choose,” I told her, leaning forward to kiss her.
“But we might make you take us both,” Zakkai murmured at her ear.
“B-both?” she stammered against my mouth.
“It’s a suitable lesson, isn’t it?” I studied her eyes, noting her flared pupils. “You doubted our intentions. Now we’ll demonstrate them thoroughly.”
“By not letting you choose,” Zakkai finished for me. “And neither of us will submit, Aflora. Which means you’ll be forced to handle us together.”
“At the same time,” I said.
“Indeed.”
Aflora shivered. “I… I don’t…”
“No choosing, remember?” I skimmed my teeth along her lower lip, then bit down gently. “You’ll take us and accept us. As one.”
She inhaled heavily, her cheeks turning an adorable pink shade.
Zakkai’s palm left her breast to explore downward to the sweet apex between her thighs. His growl of approval told me what I already knew.
“You’re soaked,” he whispered, his finger gliding through her folds to pierce her deep. “You want us inside you, don’t you, little star? All that power turned you on just like it did to us. And now you want to expel some of that residual energy by taking us into this sweet pussy and screaming out our names.”
Kols and I had done this once before, but not with Aflora.
Her eyes widened at what Zakkai had implied, her mind whirring with impossibilities. I silenced her with a kiss while he stroked her below, his arm brushing my abdomen as he taunted her lower half. She gasped as his teeth pierced her neck, his throat working to draw her essence from her vein.
I speared her mouth with my tongue, distracting her while he lit her internal fuse with his vampiric kiss and clever touch.
She moaned, shivering between us as he drew her closer to a climax. It would take some of the tension out of her body, making her more pliant as we prepared her.
I let go of her hip and drew my touch upward to her protruding nipple. She released a breathy sound as I pinched the hard peak, massaging it in time with Zakkai’s ministrations below.
He released her neck, his gaze flashing to mine. I took over his bite, sinking my teeth into the same grooves he’d created, providing Aflora with a demonstration on how we intended to share her as equals.
She belonged to us just as much as we belonged to her.
Zakkai threaded the fingers of his free hand through her thick hair and guided her head to the side and slightly up so he could kiss her. It exposed her neck to me even more, the column of her throat stretched to accommodate us both. Just like we would soon do to her tight little body.
Aflora canted her hips into Zakkai’s touch, her skin fevered with arousal as she strove to find her release. Zeph, she whispered. Zeph, please…
I grinned against her neck, enjoying that it was my permission she sought while Zakkai penetrated her.
Then he pinched her clit, causing her mind to fracture as she came undone beneath his command, not mine.
He didn’t look at me while he did it, but I sensed his pride nonetheless.
She was his, too.
And if he wanted her to come, she would. With or without my permission.
I fought the urge to growl in response and instead focused on Aflora’s euphoric blood. I could taste her orgasm in her essence, her excitement an aphrodisiac to my senses and drowning me in her heady scent.
Her fingertips remained against the back of my neck, her nails digging into my skin as she writhed in pleasure.
Then Zakkai added more pressure and she stilled.
“You can take it,” I said against her neck. “Just relax and let us guide you.” It was an act between me and Aflora that I always assumed would be shared with Kols first. But the significance of this with Zakkai wasn’t lost on me.
Aflora needed this.
Our circle needed it.
Because it would join him and me in a way we couldn’t undo, while also showing Aflora what she meant to us. This wasn’t just about sharing but about teaching her what we were prepared to sacrifice for her.
Zakkai wasn’t the type to share.
And I wasn’t the type to bend.
We would have to rely on each other to control the situation, to read her cues, and to ensure her safety and pleasure throughout.
That wasn’t an easy task, but it was a necessary one.
“Take off Zephyrus’s pants,” Zakkai said against her mouth, releasing her in the next breath. “Now.”
I swallowed down the urge to correct him and issue the command myself. Instead, I focused on her gaze as she looked up at me.
Do what he says,I whispered into her mind.
Her throat worked as she licked her lips, then she reached for the drawstring at my waist.
I kissed her forehead, thanking her without words for acquiescing. This had to be an intimidating lesson for her, but she showed her faith in us by doing exactly what we’d told her to do.
She pushed the fabric from my hips, causing them to drop and leaving me naked before her. We never wore shoes while dueling, and I rarely wore a shirt. Zakkai was the same, his pants the only clothing remaining between the three of us. He removed them himself, kicking them off to the side before licking Aflora’s essence from his fingers.
Then he did something I would never have anticipated.
He created a bed with a spell and sat down in the middle of the black sheets.
I arched a brow.
He merely said, “Come over here and straddle me, little star.”
He was offering to be on the bottom, at least in a mild manner. He was still sitting and very much in charge, but he wouldn’t be the one driving into her from behind.
Which meant he expected me to set the pace for her after he finished preparing her for my entry.
I stroked my shaft in anticipation. Go to him, pixie flower. Take him in that tight cunt so I can hear him tell me how wet you are for us.
Aflora visibly shivered, then followed our orders without an ounce of hesitation.
Zakkai entered her with ease, her body more than ready to receive his cock. But mine would be another matter entirely. “Not ready yet,” he said, reaching between them to stimulate her clit with his thumb as he slid another finger into her alongside his shaft.
She moaned in response, her breasts flushing with color. They were all signs of a needy, expectant woman. Not one fearing what we were about to do, but one looking forward to our intentions.
“Think you can suck my cock while he prepares you?” I asked, stepping up to the side of the bed. “I’m feeling a little dry.”
Zakkai chuckled, the sound deep and languid. “You won’t be in a few minutes.”
“Mmm,” I hummed, agreeing. Then I lightly took hold of Aflora’s chin and drew her focus to me. She was at the perfect height while sitting astride Zakkai, her lips level with my groin. “Part your lips for me.”
The flaring of her nostrils told me she approved.
Then her mouth confirmed it as she took me deep, her tongue a velvety touch against the underside of my shaft. “Fuck,” I breathed, loving the way she sucked me.
She knew everything I liked, her actions all ones I’d taught her, with a few moves tossed in that were just pure instinct.
Such an apt pupil.
The perfect student.
She murmured something against my shaft as Zakkai flexed below, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.
I grinned, seeing all the signs I craved in her—appreciation, excitement, arousal.
She wanted us.
We wanted her.
And we were about to embark on something that would change the landscape for all of us.
Zakkai had yet to embrace her other mates, choosing to watch rather than play. Tonight, he opted to engage in the most intimate way imaginable—all to show Aflora that he could share in his own way.
If she’d said no and meant it, we wouldn’t do this to her. That wasn’t what we meant by this lesson and her not having a choice. We were telling her that we accepted the dynamic and that we would never allow her to choose between us. Instead, we would ensure she could always take us both.
Even if that meant a little pain with her pleasure.
Which she seemed to be enjoying now as her hips undulated against Zakkai.
He braced himself on one hand while his other continued to prepare her, his thumb circling her clit and stimulating her the way he should.
It was exactly what I would do.
Although, I’d probably have her take Kols first, then position myself behind her and prepare her that way so I could intimately feel our Elite Blood mate penetrate her with my fingers.
An activity for later.
This lesson was about Aflora indulging the two dominant males in her life.
And about us accepting each other.
Her teeth skimmed my dick in a taunting caress, her blue eyes flickering up to mine.
“Siren,” I whispered, brushing my knuckles across her teeth. “But I’m not coming down your throat, pixie flower.” I wrapped my palm around the back of her neck to encourage her to take me deeper while I spoke, my hips forcing her to take as much of me as her mouth allowed.
I waited a beat before withdrawing, smiling as her irises glistened with erotic need.
Her tongue licked my tip, kissing me in her own way, just as Zakkai confirmed her readiness with a look.
No words, just a knowing glint.
I released her nape and went to kneel on the bed behind her.
Zakkai didn’t lie back the way Kols would have. He chose to remain seated, his gaze holding mine in a war for dominance as I found my position against Aflora.
His hand blocked my entry, his fingers still lodged deep inside her.
Then he slowly withdrew but kept his cock inside her.
This would be undeniably intimate, an act neither of us likely ever intended to share together. Yet it was oddly appropriate given the circumstances.
His damp fingers went to the back of her neck, claiming her as he pulled her in for a kiss meant to distract her.
This would hurt at first.
And this was his way of saying he’d do his best to keep her preoccupied.
I reached around her to resume his ministrations with her sensitive nub, my thumb finding the swollen flesh with ease. She shuddered between us, another orgasm lurking on the horizon of her thoughts.
He’d properly stimulated her.
Now we were going to utterly annihilate her, blacken her senses, and show her an ecstasy few had ever experienced.
I lined myself up with her entrance, my head touching Zakkai’s shaft.
Neither of them reacted, Aflora lost to his kiss.
But I knew he felt me.
And I suspected this was unlike anything he’d ever done before.
I kept one hand against her center while I used the opposite to guide myself toward her entrance.
She froze as I started to slide inside, causing Zakkai to growl and bite down on her lower lip.
You can take it,I assured her as I pressed in slowly, my patience and control resolute.
Zakkai remained equally still, his cock pulsing in response to the added pressure but otherwise staying firmly lodged inside her.
Aflora whimpered a little, her body tensing between us. I kissed her shoulder and then her neck before pressing my lips to her ear.
“You feel amazing,” I praised her. “So good. So tight. So wet.” I rocked into her a little more, easing her into this intensity, knowing how easily we could accidentally hurt her like this.
“Oh,” she moaned, arching into me and tilting her head back to find my mouth.
“Perfect,” I whispered against her lips. “Fucking perfect.” I penetrated her with my tongue, taking full advantage of our kiss as I slid the rest of the way inside her.
Zakkai groaned, his palm skating up her side to capture her breast as he continued to brace himself on his opposite hand.
Aflora whimpered, the sound one of pleasure underlined in torment. I massaged her with my thumb, renewing her ecstasy in hopes of drowning out the pain.
Her tongue sensuously touched mine, then Zakkai did something to her breast that had her gasping.
She whipped around to face him, and he took her mouth in the next breath, demanding her attention as he tweaked her nipple.
We didn’t move or thrust, giving her the time she needed to accept our joint size.
Zakkai wasn’t small and neither was I.
However, Aflora took us both, her body seeming to expand to accommodate her mates.
Elemental Fae were known for their sexual appetites, something I’d indulged in thoroughly these last few months. And we had a lifetime to explore her true limits.
This certainly wasn’t one of them.
Something she demonstrated as she began to tentatively move between us, her soul firing to life at the sensation of being so utterly filled by her men.
I allowed her to dictate the pace at first, wanting her to enjoy the experience as much as we were.
Zakkai clearly felt the same way, his body tense with control, giving her time to explore and feel and indulge.
Her nub pulsed beneath my thumb.
Her breathing escalated.
Her heart beat loudly.
And her moan reverberated off the walls.
“Fuck me,” she panted, her words going straight to my groin.
She never cursed unless we were in bed together, and she only did it to provoke my passion. Now was no different, her demand one I happily accepted.
Zakkai clearly agreed because he thrust upward into her, his shaft stroking mine in tandem with her and sending a jolt through my system.
Because fuck, that was intense.
His eyes met mine as he pulled away from Aflora’s mouth, his expression telling me he felt the same way.
So he did it again.
Then I repeated the motion.
And we found a rhythm together that had Aflora singing between us, her body breaking beneath a rapturous typhoon of hot sensation.
We all felt it, her exuberance gracing the bonds and spilling into our own pace. I groaned, my blood on fire from her reaction to being filled to the hilt by two of us.
Then Zakkai let me set a pace, my position on my knees giving me greater momentum.
He kissed Aflora again, his hand leaving her breast for her hair as he tugged her into him with a need that was borderline feral. I felt it through her, his power a whiplash to my senses that drove me onward, compelling me to take us all over the edge in a ferocity of movement that would either kill us or take us to the brink of death and back.
It no longer mattered.
We were beasts fucking and reveling in the shared energy rolling between the three of us, Aflora a beacon of power we could only worship and praise.
I kissed her neck, her shoulder, her cheek, and eventually her mouth as Zakkai released her lips to feast upon her breasts.
I lost track of time, my control slipping into a vortex of consuming passion.
Aflora’s walls began to tighten, her body strung tight as her clit pulsed beneath my thumb.
One more flick, a single circle, and it sent her off into the stars on an explosion that pulled me right along with her. I cursed, my orgasm so intense it sliced through my insides and left me paralyzed against her back. I was only vaguely aware of Zakkai shooting off with us, his growl one that seemed to echo through the room.
And then the three of us collapsed in a pile of limbs with Aflora limp between us.
“Power expulsion,” Zakkai said, his voice hoarse.
It took me a moment to understand, then I felt her energy thriving through my veins. Another one of those dark balls of power had erupted from her, but not in a fight this time… in ecstasy.
And she’d released it directly into our bonds.
Thatwas what had taken me over the edge with her, along with her tight cunt squeezing my shaft in that addictive pulsing motion. My balls tightened at the memory, my lower abdomen clenching. We were no longer inside her, my cock against her damp thigh and Zakkai’s against her abdomen.
He drew his fingers through her hair, his expression reverent.
“Kols,” he said softly.
“What?”
“Kols,” he repeated. “She’ll need someone to take care of her when she wakes up. Shade and Kols are best for that.”
I wanted to argue because I very much excelled at aftercare, but with how destroyed I felt right now, I realized he was right.
Kols, I said, opening my link to him.
I’m already here, he replied, drawing my attention to where he stood leaning against the doorway.
Oh.That was why Zakkai had said his name—he’d been calling for him to join us. I’d been so lost to Aflora that I hadn’t even noticed Kols was here, something that should have concerned me, as I was always aware of my surroundings. But that joining with Aflora had removed my ability to focus on anything other than her and the act that had followed.
You all right? Kols asked, clearly sensing the direction of my thoughts. Zakkai calling to Kols suggested he hadn’t lost his awareness at all, not even when we all detonated. I wasn’t sure if that impressed me or annoyed me.
Zeph? Kols prompted when I didn’t reply to his question.
I’ll live.
Will she?he countered.
She’s fine,I replied, brushing my lips against her temple. Just lost in subspace. She’d been dominated by two men and had erupted on an avalanche of power. I wasn’t surprised that she’d passed out afterward. Hell, I felt like I was on the edge of unconsciousness, too.
Kols snorted into my head. Dangerous game you two just played.
She loved it.
I know. His words implied he’d witnessed her falling apart.
Are you upset? I’d never shared women with other men, only with Kols. But this situation was unique.
No. I enjoyed the show. He pushed off the door and sauntered toward us. “I’ll take her from here.” He lifted her into his arms and cradled her against his shoulder. “Try not to kill each other while she’s gone.”
With those parting words, he left.
And all I could do was laugh.
Because killing Zakkai was absolutely not what I wanted to do at the moment.
He seemed equally against the idea as he sighed in content, his arm falling over his eyes. “I’m taking a nap.”
I considered leaving him to it, then rolled my head against the bed beneath us. “Yeah. Me, too.”
Right here.
Next to him.
“Class dismissed,” I added on a yawn.
Because after that performance, who the hell cared anymore?
He snorted in agreement.
I closed my eyes, forgetting his presence beside me. And let sleep take me under.