Chapter 65
CASSIE
The strange piece of furniture arrived just as Cassie was beginning to believe they might actually have a moment to breathe.
She was still tucked between Ravik and Severin on the enormous nest-bed, both males holding her as though they were afraid she might disappear if they let go.
Ravik’s return had changed the air in the suite completely.
The tension wasn’t gone—not exactly—but it had shifted from sharp, painful fear into something warmer and more fragile. Hope, maybe.
Cassie was almost afraid to name it. She was afraid Ravik might change his mind—nothing was certain until they actually tried to form the Triune Bond.
Then the door chimed.
All three of them jumped slightly, which would have been funny under almost any other circumstances.
Ravik immediately shifted to put himself between her and the door, while Severin rose smoothly and reached for the robe Cassie had discarded earlier, draping it over her with automatic care before he answered.
“Yes?”
The door slid open and Lipshill stood there, crest feathers fluttering madly with excitement.
Behind him was a floating delivery platform carrying something large, padded, and deeply confusing.
It looked like a cross between an expensive reclining chair, a medieval torture device, and something sold in the very back room of an extremely specialized adult store.
Cassie stared at it.
“What in the world is that?”
Lipshill’s crest flared brightly.
“Dr. Verityx sends his compliments and this specially configured Triune reproductive support chair. He said it should be useful for the required simultaneous positioning, pelvic support, and nectar-production alignment.”
Ravik made a low sound in his throat and the corners of Severin’s mouth twitched.
Cassie looked from one male to the other.
“What?” she asked. “Why do both of you suddenly look like you understand what that thing is?”
“Because I think I do,” Severin said quietly.
The floating platform glided into the suite and lowered the chair to the floor with a soft hiss. Lipshill chirped something cheerful about best wishes for a successful vaccine-grade output, then backed away before Cassie could ask any questions.
The door slid closed behind him and for a long moment, the three of them simply stared at the chair.
It was actually two padded seats facing each other, close enough that whoever sat in them would have their knees touching.
The backs were high and angled slightly, with soft supports for shoulders and hips.
Between the two seats was a lower, curved saddle-shaped support, obviously meant for her.
There were handgrips on either side and adjustable stirrup-like rests that made Cassie’s cheeks heat when she realized exactly where her legs were supposed to go.
“It’s a breeding chair,” she said faintly.
“A support chair,” Severin corrected, though his voice sounded strained.
Cassie gave him a look.
“Severin.”
His cheekbones flushed.
“Yes. It is almost certainly a breeding chair,” he admitted in a low voice. “I’ve seen something like it before—the Twin Kindred use it for Bonding with their chosen female.”
Ravik folded his arms over his massive chest and stared at the chair thoughtfully. There was no old panic in his face now—no instant rejection. Just tension, hunger, and a raw kind of determination that made Cassie’s heart flutter.
“This will let us face each other,” he said at last.
Severin looked at him.
“Yes.”
“And Cassie will be between us.”
“Yes,” Severin said again, softer this time.
Ravik swallowed hard.
“Good.”
That one word seemed to echo through the suite.
Cassie looked at him, hardly daring to breathe.
“Good?” she repeated. “Really?”
The big Beast Kindred turned to face her. His golden eyes were still shadowed, but there was no denial in them now—no running, no door slammed shut between him and the truth.
“Yes,” he said. “Good. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to look at both of you while it happens.”
Severin made a low sound and Cassie felt tears sting her eyes again, because apparently she was just going to keep crying for the rest of her life. She tried to blink them back, but one escaped anyway. Ravik saw it at once and crossed the room to kneel beside the bed.
“Don’t cry, baby,” he rumbled.
“I’m not crying because I’m sad,” she whispered. “I’m actually happy.”
His expression softened.
“Good. Because I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to be together—all three of us. I promise.”
Severin came back to the bed too, sitting on her other side. For a moment, none of them said anything. They simply sat together, knowing what came next and letting the weight of it settle over them.
This wasn’t like the bunker, Cassie thought. There was no longer any serious infection—no desperation for the future. This was still for the vaccine, yes. Cassie knew that—they all did. But it was more than that now.
This was choice—a choice for the three of them to be together forever.
Cassie looked from Ravik to Severin and swallowed hard.
“I want this,” she said, before either of them could ask. “I want both of you. I want the Bond if it happens. I don’t want to pretend this is only about the vaccine, because it isn’t. Not for me.”
Severin’s pale blue eyes softened.
“Not for me either,” he said.
Ravik drew in a rough breath.
“I’m still afraid,” he admitted.
Cassie reached for his hand.
“I know.”
“I don’t know how to be this male yet.” His fingers closed around hers, big and warm and trembling slightly. “The one who can take both of you and not care what anyone thinks.”
“Then don’t be him perfectly,” she whispered. “Just be him honestly.”
A sound that was almost a laugh broke out of him.
“Gods, you make it sound so fucking simple.”
“It’s not simple.” Cassie looked from him to Severin. “But it doesn’t have to be impossible—as long as we stick together.”
Severin reached across her and laid his hand over Ravik’s. For a second, the Beast Kindred went still. Then he turned his hand and gripped Severin’s too.
Cassie’s throat tightened—there they were, her two warriors. And they were each other’s too.
“We stop if anyone says stop,” Severin said, his voice low and steady despite the heat in his eyes. “No hesitation. No explanation needed.”
“Yes,” Ravik said at once.
Cassie nodded.
“Yes.”
“And if the Bond starts to form?” Severin asked, looking at Ravik now.
Ravik’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t look away.
“Then we let it.”
The words made the need that was growing inside Cassie surge.
“Then…can we start?” she asked, looking between them. “Because I’m feeling it again—I need you…need you both so much.”
Severin leaned forward and kissed her first. It was soft at the beginning—his mouth warm and careful against hers. Then Ravik’s hand slid into her hair and turned her gently toward him, and his kiss was deeper—rougher and full of all the hunger he had been trying to run from.
When he pulled back, he looked at Severin. The moment stretched like warm honey between them and then Ravik reached for him.
Their kiss was slow at first, almost tentative. Cassie watched, her breath caught in her throat as Ravik’s mouth met Severin’s and the two males finally let themselves have the thing they had been denying for years
Severin made a low sound and leaned into the big Beast Kindred as Ravik’s hand tightened on the back of his neck.
Cassie felt heat roll through her body so intensely that she trembled. She didn’t feel jealous at all—seeing them together didn’t take anything away from her—it made their circle complete.
When they broke apart, both males were breathing hard.
“Well,” Cassie murmured. “I think we’re all warmed up now.”
“Yes, we fucking are,” Ravik growled and Severin nodded.
“Good.” She nodded. “Then let’s try out this chair that Dr. Owl sent us.”
Severin gave a startled laugh and Ravik rumbled briefly as well.
“Yeah, he does look like an owl.”
After that, the laughter faded and the heat took over.
They undressed her slowly, as though she was something precious being unwrapped.
Severin untied the red silk robe and eased it from her shoulders, kissing the place where the fabric had rested.
Ravik cupped her face and kissed her again while Severin’s hands moved over her, slow and teasing, stroking her bare skin and making her shiver.
Cassie relaxed completely and let them do whatever they wanted.
She let herself be looked at, stroked, touched, and adored.
She let herself feel beautiful between them—not too much or too old or too curvy or too needy.
Just theirs. The serum had made her breasts full again, though not painfully so, and when Ravik bent to kiss the upper curve of one, she sighed and threaded her fingers through his dark hair.
“Need to get you ready, baby,” he murmured against her skin. “Need you soft and open for both of us.”
Severin rose from the bed and went to the small cabinet near the wall. He returned with a slender vial filled with pale gold liquid.
Cassie frowned.
“What’s that?”
“Something I thought—hoped—we might need. I brought it from the Mother Ship before we left for Cherubin Three.”
Ravik raised an eyebrow.
“You brought Bonding Fruit liquid?”
Severin lifted his chin with as much dignity as a male could manage while holding a vial of alien liquid especially meant for Bonding Sex.
“I thought it might be useful,” he said. “If both of us took Cassandra at once.”
“If the three of us wanted to try Bonding,” Ravik rumbled.
“Yes.” Severin nodded. “If we wanted to try. If Cassandra was willing to take us both at once…and if you were willing to as well,” he added, looking at his friend.
Cassie’s heart squeezed in her chest.
“Oh, Severin…” she murmured.
“I didn’t want to pressure either of you,” he said quickly. “I simply thought that if the treatment required more than we expected, it would be better to have something that could help you stretch safely.”