46. Quinn
46
QUINN
For a long moment, no one moves. Nico’s gaze drops to the thin scar across the rings on my chest—their marks crossed out by my own hand. I see the storm of emotions in his eyes—possessiveness, tenderness, and still some leftover pain from that night.
And then there’s something dark and hungry that makes heat pool in my belly.
I glance at Atlas and see that same heat reflected in his gaze as he looks me up and down. His jaw is tight, and the muscles in his throat visibly work as he swallows hard. His hand rests on his thigh, his fingers flexing like he’s fighting the urge to reach for me.
Killian stands perfectly still, the way he always does when he’s feeling something intensely. Only his eyes betray him, burning with a need that I can almost feel in the air between us.
Goosebumps race across my skin, and I resist the urge to cross my arms over my chest. I feel vulnerable but not exposed. I feel seen. Wanted. Chosen.
“Well?” I look at each of them again in turn. “Are you gonna make me ask twice?”
Atlas is the first to break the spell, rising from the couch and approaching me slowly, giving me time to change my mind. Like I would. Like I haven’t been wanting this for too damn long.
“You don’t have to do this now,” he says. “You’re still healing. We can wait.”
I smile up at him and touch his face, tracing the line of his jaw. “Maybe you can,” I tell him honestly. “But I can’t. I could be at death’s door, and the last thing—the only thing—I’d want in this life would be your marks on my skin.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’ve never been more sure of anything,” I say, meaning every word.
That’s all it takes. His control snaps, and he surges forward, claiming my mouth in a kiss that takes my breath away. His hands cup my face, holding me like I’m something precious even as his mouth takes mine with a hunger that matches my own.
I lean into him, fisting my hands in his shirt. I want more. I need more.
There’s movement behind me, and then Nico is there, his chest warm against my back as his hands slide around my waist. His lips find the sensitive spot where my neck meets my shoulder, and I shiver, caught between them.
“So fucking beautiful,” Nico murmurs against my skin. “Our sexy, stubborn wife.”
Atlas breaks the kiss, his breathing ragged as he stares down at me. His pupils are blown wide, and he blinks like he’s coming out of a dream. “You’re really sure about this?” he asks again, like he’s afraid they’re going to break me or something.
“Yes,” I breathe, arching back against Nico. “I want this. I want you. All of you.”
I don’t hear Killian crossing the room to join us, but I feel his hand slide into my hair, gripping it just firmly enough to tilt my head back. His kiss is different from Atlas’s—more controlled, more deliberate, but no less intense.
When he pulls back, I’m gasping and my lips are tingling from the force of his kiss. “You’ll wear our marks again,” he says. “And everyone will know you’re ours. Forever.”
“Yes,” I nod, feeling Nico’s lips trail down the base of my neck while Atlas steadies me with his hands on my waist. “And you’re mine.”
“Always have been.” Nico’s voice vibrates through me. “Since the first moment I saw you.”
Killian steps back and reaches for the knife but Nico stops him. “Not here. Not like this.”
With a quick nod, Killian seems to understand. He moves forward again, sliding his good arm around me and lifting me off my feet in one smooth motion. I wrap my legs around his waist instinctively and throw my arms around his neck.
But the movement jars his injured shoulder, and he grunts in pain, letting his grip on me falter for just a second.
“For fuck’s sake,” Nico says, reaching out to steady us both. “Put her down before you drop her and add to her injuries.”
Killian scowls, but the pain etched in the lines around his eyes is unmistakable. “I’ve got her,” he insists, stubborn as always.
“You’ve got a bullet hole in your shoulder,” Nico counters, gently disentangling me from Killian’s grasp. “And a dislocated arm that’s still healing. You’re just as bad as Atlas about ignoring your body’s limits when it comes to Quinn.”
Atlas snorts, not even bothering to deny it. “A hundred percent worth it though.”
“Every time,” Killian agrees, reluctantly letting Nico take me.
Nico lifts me easily, cradling me against his chest. His ribs must be hurting too, but he doesn’t show it. There’s nothing but desire in his eyes as he looks down at me.
“Bedroom,” he says. “Now.”
Atlas leads the way, Killian following close behind. I curl against Nico’s chest, perfectly content to be carried, to be taken care of by these men who would kill for me. Who have killed for me.
Nico sets me on the edge of the bed with a gentleness that makes my heart squeeze in my chest. Then they stand before me, these three dangerous, beautiful men. Each scarred in his own way, each bearing the marks of the lives they’ve lived, the battles they’ve fought. And each of them is mine. All mine.
“Come here,” I say softly, reaching for them.
They don’t have to be told twice. Atlas kneels before me, his hands on my thighs, his eyes locked on mine as he leans in to kiss me again. Nico sits beside me, his fingers trailing down my spine, making me shiver. Killian stands back, watching for a moment before joining us on the bed.
Atlas breaks the kiss, his hands sliding up to the clasp of my bra. “Can I?”
I nod, lifting my arms to help as he removes the last barrier between them and my bare skin. The cool air of the bedroom raises goosebumps across my flesh, but I don’t feel cold. Not with the heat in their eyes as they look at me.
“Those perfect tits,” Atlas exhales, skimming his warm hands down my sides. “Everything about you is fucking perfect.”
I lie back on the bed, letting them look their fill. There’s no shame here, no embarrassment. Just the certainty that I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, with exactly who I’m supposed to be with.
Nico stretches out beside me, propped up on one elbow. “Do you trust us, mia cara?”
I meet his gaze, then look at each of them in turn. “With my heart. With my life. With everything.”
My panties come off next, leaving me completely naked for them. Nico flashes a wickedly sinful grin as he takes my wrist and nods for Killian to do the same.
“Fuck,” he groans. “The things I want to do to you.”
He kisses my wrist, then reaches down with his free hand to unfasten his belt. In a matter of seconds, he’s pulled it free and is using it to bind my wrist to the headboard. Killian catches on quickly, doing the same with my other arm.
Atlas joins in to bind my ankles to the foot of the bed, and my heart is beating faster by the second. There’s nobody else in the world I’d trust to tie me up like this, but I love the feeling of being at their mercy.
Only them though. Only ever them.
“Fuck,” Killian growls, reaching out but stopping just before he touches my breast. “I could look at you like this all fucking night.”
Atlas runs a hand up my thigh, making me suck in a sharp breath as he gets teasingly close to my eager, needy pussy. “I don’t think I can wait that long.”
Good.
I don’t want them to wait.
“Naked,” I say, looking around the bed at each of them. “I can’t be the only one naked right now. I need you guys to lose the rest of those clothes and fuck me.”
Nico shrugs out of his shirt before I’ve even finished speaking, then starts on his pants. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Atlas stands and does the same, stripping down to his boxers. He’s already hard, and his eyes are filled with the promise of everything he wants to do to me.
I let my gaze drift over to Killian, who is also already half-naked—his shoulder injury only slowing him down a little.
The sight of them is enough to take my breath away, and I tug against the restraints, wanting to reach for them, wanting to touch them.
“Make sure you get a good look,” Killian says with a hint of a smirk on his lips as he reaches over to the nightstand and pulls out my sleeping mask. “It might be a while before we let you see anything again.”
“What?” It takes my brain an extra second or two to catch up. “Are you seriously going to?—”
Instead of answering with words, he slides the mask over my head, using it as a blindfold and plunging my whole world into darkness.
I clamp my mouth shut, but can’t hold back a throaty moan when I feel something cold between my breasts. It’s just a tiny point, like a fingernail or a… a knife.
“Oh, shit.” I suck in a sharp breath. “Is that my knife?”
“Maybe,” Killian answers, applying just enough pressure to confirm my suspicions before dragging it down to my stomach.
He isn’t cutting me, just teasing, and I start to writhe on the bed as they drag the point of that knife lower and lower.
“Oh, god,” I whimper. “Oh god, please more.”
But just as I’m begging for more, the sensation goes away. I don’t even have time to question them, though, before a whole new sensation hits me. It’s blunt and cool, but not cold and sharp like the blade of the knife, and it’s pressing against my clit so insistently that I can only lie there and take it with my mouth hanging open.
“Yeah,” I hear Atlas’s voice from between my legs. “Look at that pretty little clit throb against that knife handle. I fucking love it.”
It touches me again, sending another jolt of pure pleasure through me.
“I think she wants more of it,” Nico says as the handle teases all around my clit before pressing directly against it again and making me see stars. “Do you want more, mia cara?”
“More, yes, please,” I moan, thrusting my hips in the hopes of getting just a little more pressure.
Atlas presses the tip of the knife handle just inside me, and fuck, that’s exactly what I need.
“Oh fuck, please.” I try to push down onto it, but my restraints won’t allow it. “Fuck, please. I need it.”
“Don’t worry,” he says, working it in and out of me a little more with each thrust. “We’ve got you.”
“Your pussy is so fucking wet, siren,” Killian says.
“Fucking dripping for us,” Nico adds.
The knife handle goes deeper, and then I feel something wet against my clit. Something warm and wet and fucking amazing tapping and lapping and swirling against that little bundle of nerve endings that’s threatening to make me come completely undone.
“Jesus,” I cry. “Fuck… I can’t, it’s too much.”
“Not too much,” Nico assures me. “You can take it, mia cara.”
“That’s right,” Atlas growls, “I’m gonna make you come with this fucking knife handle.”
I’m almost there already. The pressure is building and building, and the way someone’s tongue is swirling over my clit is bringing me closer and closer.
“So close,” I pant. “God, yes.”
Killian leans down to whisper in my ear. “We’re gonna give you everything you need, siren. We’re gonna keep you safe and protected and fucking satisfied until you can’t even remember your own name.”
I’m so fucking close. I’m teetering right on the edge, and I can’t hold it back any longer.
“You’re ours,” Nico says. “Say it, mia cara.”
“Yours,” I cry, unable to hold back anymore. “Fuck, I’m coming, I’m yours!”
All three of them work together, licking and touching and kissing me through it, until the last tremors of pleasure finally subside and I’m a boneless, gasping mess.
“So fucking beautiful,” Nico growls, kissing a path up my body and stopping to kiss and suck and bite my nipples, which are so sensitive that the slightest touch sends little aftershocks of pleasure rippling through me.
“I love watching you come,” Atlas says, pulling the knife handle from inside me. “But now we have something important to do.”
I turn my head in the direction of his voice as he moves up the bed toward me. I can’t see a damn thing with this sleeping mask on, but it almost seems like all my other senses are more heightened without my sight.
“More important than making me come?” I ask, only half-joking.
“That’s right,” Nico joins in. “Or have you already forgotten how you told us we owed you new marks?”
Oh, fuck.
They’re going to do it now? To mark my body with the knife while I’m still blindfolded? Jesus, I might actually come again just from the thought of it.
“Who is going first?” is all I can think to ask.
“I am,” Nico answers just a half-second before I feel the slight prick of the knife blade against my breast—just where his older mark is. “I want to build on what I’ve already given you, to make something newer and better.”
Just like we’ve done with our lives.
“Oh, fuck,” I moan.
“This is the easy part,” Nico warns me.
I nod, bracing myself for the worst, and just when I’m starting to wonder what the hell is taking so long, he presses the blade down harder and begins to carve.
My skin splits and burns, and tears spring to my eyes, but the pain is short-lived. Almost as soon as it comes, the agony transforms into something else entirely.
Something that feels an awful lot like pleasure.
“Oh, god,” I cry, arching my back, trying to chase the sensation. “Fuck, Nico.”
He continues working, pausing here and there to soothe the raw skin with a tender kiss or lick.
“There,” he says after a few small touch-ups that send little jolts of pleasure down to my core. “Now it’s Killian’s turn.”
The knife blade touches me again, this time a little higher on my breast, and Killian begins to work.
His carving is different from Nico’s. He doesn’t pause and take his time. He’s quick and efficient, but he’s no less precise.
“That’s it,” I gasp as the knife slices into my skin. “Oh, fuck, yes.”
“Careful, siren,” he rumbles. “I need you to be still.”
It’s easier said than done when my whole body is being wracked by alternating waves of pain and pleasure, but somehow, I manage.
“I think that’s it,” he finally says, lifting the blade from my skin.
“My turn,” Atlas says.
My pulse kicks up a notch, and I feel the familiar heat pooling between my thighs.
“First,” he says, “I’m going to start by tracing the shape into your skin.”
“Tracing it?”
“That’s right.” He doesn’t explain any further, just begins gliding the knife blade across my skin in a pattern.
The cold, flat edge is almost soothing compared to the warm trickle of blood running from the other two marks. But I have a feeling it’s about to get a lot rougher.
“Fuck,” I breathe.
“Now, the real fun begins.”
I’m not quite ready for it when he brings the blade down and starts slicing. The pain is intense and immediate, and I scream.
But Atlas doesn’t stop. He keeps going, pressing the blade a little deeper, carving a little harder, until finally, the pain morphs into pleasure, and I’m a sobbing, writhing mess on the bed.
“Yes,” I gasp, not even fully aware of what I’m saying. “Fuck, yes. Please, Atlas, please.”
“Fuck, siren,” Killian groans. “I could listen to you beg all night.”
“I could too,” Atlas says. “But I’m too fucking close to coming to wait that long.”
Just as he’s finishing his mark, I feel the wave of my orgasm crash over me. The sound that comes out of my mouth is a strangled, desperate noise, and then there’s a rush of wetness between my thighs as I come harder than I’ve come in a long fucking time.
“Good girl,” Killian whispers in my ear, holding me close. “Our perfect fucking girl.”
I can’t help the sob that escapes my throat as he pulls the blindfold from my eyes. The bedroom is dark, so it doesn’t take long for my eyes to adjust. Nico has disappeared, but comes right back with a damp cloth to wipe away the blood that’s smeared across my breast. And when he does, I see three perfect marks, even better than they were before I put that ugly line through them.
“Thank you,” is all I can manage to say as an unexpected rush of emotion hits me.
I love these men. These crazy, dangerous, beautiful men who would die for me. Who would kill for me.
Nico tosses the washcloth aside and climbs back into bed beside me. I’m a sweaty, bloody, sticky mess, and yet I’ve never felt more beautiful.
“Now I think we need to pick up where we left off before,” he says. “Somewhere between ‘oh, god,’ and ‘please, more.’”
I can’t help but smile, but it fades to a hungry look of my own as my eyes settle on the hard length of his cock. He’s started stroking it—they’ve all three started stroking, now that I’m looking—and they’re all three closing in, positioning themselves over me as they jerk off.
“Fuck, I’m not gonna last long,” Atlas groans, towering over me and pumping his dick with both hands. “Seeing you like this…”
“Like what?” I gasp, loving the way he’s looking at me. Like he’s starving and I’m the last meal on earth.
“Completely ours.” His lips curl back into a snarl, and his eyes darken.
“Ours,” Nico reiterates, and the way he’s looking at me, the way his cock is leaking precum, it’s obvious he’s not far behind Atlas.
Killian just growls, his gaze fixed on my core. “Spread wider for us, siren. Fuck, let me see that tight pussy.”
I do as he says, spreading my legs and lifting my knees, offering myself to him and the others. “Like this?”
“Yeah, just like that.”
His words are strained, and then the first shot of cum lands hot and wet on my belly, followed by the next, and the next.
Atlas’s face is a grimace, his hands pumping fast and hard, and his dick shoots more ropes of cum onto me, covering my chest and stomach.
And Nico holds himself back until the end, letting out a deep, guttural groan, and adds his release to the rest.
Watching the three of them unload on me is enough to push me over the edge again, and I come for a third time as they all watch.
The three of them undo my restraints and then collapse onto the bed around me, arms and legs intertwined.
“Mine,” Killian whispers, placing a soft kiss on my shoulder.
“Ours,” Atlas adds, kissing my thigh.
“Ours,” Nico agrees, and kisses my cheek.
And I know I’m safe, protected, and loved. Forever.
I’m not sure how long we stay tangled on the bed, but I know I’m sticky and crusty and covered in blood and cum when we finally pry ourselves apart to get cleaned up. Only when we’ve all showered and refreshed and are lying back down do I realize Atlas has a fresh cut on his cheek.
It’s just a small nick, but it definitely wasn’t there before today.
“What?” He frowns when he sees me staring at his face, then reaches up to touch his cheek and grins. “Oh, that. I think I got a little carried away when I was eating your pussy and fucking you with that knife handle at the same time. Next time I’ll know to watch out for the pointy end.”
A laugh escapes before I’m able to school my features into an appropriate look of concern. “Are you okay, though? Seriously?”
“Look at him,” Killian grunts. “He’d poke his own eye out with that knife just to get at your pussy.”
Nico and I laugh, but Atlas just shrugs. “Worth it.”
Just like he said the last time he almost killed himself fucking me. I bite back a grin, grateful that no matter what kind of shit the world throws at us, some things don’t change.
Each of them kisses me, then we all settle into the bed. My life feels as close to perfect as it ever has, and it’s all thanks to these three men. The four of us together make something that’s so much better than the sum of our individual parts. We’re a team, and no matter what, we’ll always have each other.
Nico and Atlas doze off almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow, but I’ve only just closed my eyes when I feel the need to open them again.
“I thought I could feel you looking at me,” I whisper to Killian.
“Sorry,” he says, even though he doesn’t look apologetic at all. “I just…”
“What? Is something wrong?”
“No, not wrong.” He hesitates another second. “I want you to give me another tattoo.”
I can’t pretend to hide my surprise. “Really? Are you sure?”
“I’ve thought about it a lot, and yeah, I’m sure.”
“Okay. Do you know what kind of design you want? And where you want it?”
He nods. “I know where I want it, but I’ll let you pick the design.”
And now he’s surprised me a second time in as many minutes. “Me? You want me to pick your tattoo?”
A small grin spreads across his face as he reaches out and gently brackets his hand around my throat, gesturing to the finger and thumb. “That’s where I want it. But you’ll be the one wearing it, see? Sort of like a necklace.”
A necklace.
“I love it,” I say, meaning it as I lean in to give him a kiss. “And I’ll absolutely give you that tattoo.”
As I finally drift off to sleep, I can feel myself smiling again. Out of the four of us, I think Killian has probably changed the most. From someone who thought they weren’t capable of any feelings at all—let alone love—to the man he is now? I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted it, least of all him, but I love that he loves me, and I love that he’s figured out a way to share the mark on his body with me.