Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
The library was quiet, a soft stillness that pressed against my skin. Shelves stretched floor to ceiling, dust motes dancing lazily in the morning light. I'd slipped in to lose myself amongst the books, to breathe without eyes on me.
Except, of course, it seemed they would always find me.
"Well, well," Magnus's deep voice rumbled from the doorway. "Look who's finally decided to join the land of the living."
I stiffened, the book in my hands suddenly heavy. When I looked up, Magnus was leaning casually against the frame, dark eyes glittering, while Leighton stepped in behind him, his smile far too bright for the sting of nerves coursing through me.
"Lisa," Leighton greeted warmly, as though nothing in the world could please him more than finding me here. "We've been patient, haven't we, Mag? Left you to your own devices. All your meals were sent to your room."
"Painfully patient," Magnus agreed with a smirk, prowling forward. "But enough's enough, I think. It's time to talk, little filly."
My pulse jumped. "And if I say I don't want to talk?" I shot back, hating the way my voice wavered.
Magnus's brow lifted, slow and predatory. "Then I'll enjoy coaxing you into wanting to talk."
Leighton chuckled low, stepping closer to my other side.
"Darling, don't look so cornered. We've given you space, yes.
But you can't hide forever. Not from us.
" He tucked a stray curl of hair behind my ear before tipping my chin up, forcing me to look at him.
"My sweet girl, you've been hiding for days, and as much as I want to indulge you some more, we do need to come to some kind of decision, because you're a single woman, living in a house with two unattached men.
We need to get on with wedding plans and your introduction to society out here. "
I set the book down with shaking fingers, ignoring the mention of me, a single woman being alone with two men. There were servants, after all. Instead I focused on the most important part. "I don't know if I can agree to this. To... whatever this is supposed to be."
Leighton tilted his head, curiosity softening his scarred features. "Why not, love?"
I swallowed, forcing the words out. "Because you already know it works for you. You've done this before. I haven't. I know nothing except—" My cheeks flamed. "Except a few stolen kisses."
Silence stretched. Magnus's expression darkened, filled with a heavy hunger. "Then we'll show you," he said, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.
"No!" The word tore out before I could stop it. "Don't you understand? If I let you... If I let either of you... Then I'll be compromised. Should I wish to leave here, no other husband would have me."
Leighton's smile curved, maddeningly charming. "Ah, but you're forgetting one small detail, love."
"What?" My voice was thin, shaky.
"That you already have a fiancé," he murmured, brushing his knuckles down my cheek. "Me. And by extension..." His eyes flicked toward Magnus.
"...me," Magnus finished, stepping closer until I could feel his heat hovering over me. He took my hand and pulled me from my seat to stand between their two hard bodies.
My breath came shallow, trapped between them. "That's not... That's not how it works."
"Oh, sweet girl, it works however we say it does," Leighton teased, amusement sparking in his voice.
I tilted my chin up, trying to muster some shred of defiance. "I say, it can't work that way."
Magnus gave a dark laugh. "And yet here you are. Cornered between us, cheeks flushed, breathing like you're about to beg us to kiss you again."
"I’m not begging," I snapped, though my body betrayed me, leaning toward him without a thought.
"Not yet," Magnus countered, stepping in even closer, so I could feel a hardness pressed up against me.
I might not have any physical experience myself, but I had grown up on a farm, and I understood the mechanics of it.
I knew what that hardness was, and what it was meant for.
And somehow, feeling it against me didn't terrify me as much as I thought it would.
Not as much as these feelings for them scared me.
Leighton caught my hand, warm and steady.
His thumb stroked over my knuckles in a way that made me feel hot and cold all at once.
"Lisa, sweets, we won't force you to do anything you don't want to.
But don't pretend you don't want to know what it could be like.
What it would be like to submit to us, to let us give you everything you need.
To show us what a good girl you could be for your Daddies. "
The forbidden word hovered on my tongue. They’d told me to call them Daddy. But just the thought of uttering it had my emotions all over the place. I couldn’t say it.
I wouldn’t. No matter how much I wanted to.
Magnus's gaze sharpened, as though he could see the very thought flicker through me. His lips curved in a wolfish smile. "She likes that, thinking of being our good girl."
Leighton's grin widened, boyish and hungry. "Hmmm, is that so, sweet girl? You want to be your Daddies' good girl?"
Magnus leaned closer still, his voice filled with dark promise, his hot breath in my neck. "What do we have to do to get you to agree, little filly?"
I shook my head in denial. A shiver skated down my spine. I hated how I wanted to give in. Hated how my body was betraying me.
Leighton chuckled. "I think I have an idea."
Magnus grunted as he pulled me back by my waist and I let a soft moan slip free. "What's your idea, Leigh?"
"She's so worried about us touching her. So worried about being compromised. So how about... we instruct her on how to touch herself?"
Heat flooded my cheeks, burning all the way to my ears. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, darling," Leighton drawled, his voice warm honey with just the faintest sting, "we're very serious.
" His eyes glimmered as his hand brushed lightly against my wrist, not holding but guiding.
"Wouldn't it be the perfect solution? We won't lay a hand on you.
We'll simply give you a taste of what's to come, what it's like to submit to us, and how good it can feel. "
"I—" My protests faltered, tangled somewhere between mortification and an ache low in my belly.
Mangus leaned in, his breath ghosting across my ear. "Think of it, love. Our voices in your ear, our eyes on your body, and your own sweet hands doing all the work. You'll remain untouched."
The room tilted, my body alight with a storm of emotion I had no control over. "That's indecent!"
"Mmm," Leighton hummed, totally unbothered. "So is kissing two men under the same roof. And you didn't seem to mind that."
I scowled, though the heat pulsing through me made it weak at best. "You're both insufferable."
"And yet..." Magnus murmured, his lips hovering above the soft skin of my neck. "You haven't told us no."
The words burned on my tongue. Unspoken. Dangerous. Delicious. Please Daddy.