Chapter Four #2
“Let me know if you change your mind about the quest,” Penny said between hearty bites of sweet rice. “Always room for one more.”
“Tempting offer, but I can’t.” I offered her a regretful smile over my shoulder as I rolled out dough for more cookies. Genuine regret too. Exploring caves sounded kind of fun. “We’re catering the royal ball.”
“Ah, right!” She nodded, shoving another bite into her mouth. “Perhaps next time?”
“Next time,” I said, ignoring the glares from Callum and Rowan. Even if I had to sneak out to do it. Stealthy Muffin.
When she grinned, she had the same dimple as her brother. “I’ll hold you to it, Freckles.”
“Hey, none of that.” Callum pointed at her. “You’re not allowed to give Ev cute nicknames.”
Penny stuck out her tongue at him.
She stayed for an hour or so, then said she had to leave to meet her party and make preparations for the quest. I told her to stop by before she left. Before an expedition, my knights always got a travel satchel filled with snacks for the road. She deserved one too.
Once the café closed, Alice, Peter, and Miles helped me clean the dining room and kitchen before leaving. Our last day of work until after the ball. Hard to believe it was so close. I felt behind on everything. Almost dying would do that, I guess. So much to do and so little time.
For the rest of the afternoon though? I planned to escape into the pages of a book. I grabbed one from the reading parlor and stepped onto the front porch, dropping down into the comfy, cushioned chair Lake had made.
He was a total handyman, always fixing things around the cottage. Building things too, like chairs, bookshelves, and side tables. His current project, aside from the smaller trinkets and chess pieces he whittled, was a bigger bed frame that would allow all of us to sleep together comfortably.
I curled up in the porch chair and let the novel take me on a sea voyage, where the sun blazing down on the deck was hot and the pirate crew even hotter. A murmur of voices came from inside the cottage before the door opened and Callum stepped out.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked, holding a leatherbound book at his side.
“I’d love it if you did.”
He rewarded me with that cinnamon roll smile, eyes crinkling at the edges and dimple on display. I scooched over, and he sat beside me. We then read together in a comfortable silence.
The sun periodically passed behind a cloud, and the sudden shade made the air cooler. The breeze did too. It swept through the surrounding trees and danced among the leaves like a gentle applause.
Not that long ago, I’d realized my feelings for Callum and agonized over them, believing nothing could ever happen with us. Believing him to be out of my reach. But there we were, together just as we were meant to be.
As we sat on the porch, both lost in our books, he shifted his weight to press against my side. The moment our eyes met, there was a tug in my chest. An invisible tether that connected us. As best friends. As soulmates.
Fate might have brought us together, but I happily chose him.
And always would.
***
Maddox was feral that night.
As soon as he got home, I’d sensed his tension. It weighed heavily on his shoulders but also in his eyes. They tightened when meeting mine, revealing the worry he often tried to hide from me.
The knights had been on a constant rotation of patrols, along with joint training with the king’s unit of mages to better defend against magical attacks.
These were no ordinary mercenaries. If the rest in Nocturne were even half as powerful as the one who’d attacked me, mere shields and swords would be useless against them.
Which put more pressure on Briar. He spent his day crafting protection charms to hand out among the various Orders. Not that they’d do much good, considering what happened to my necklace, but some protection was better than none at all.
With the weight of the world on his shoulders, Maddox took me in his arms after dinner and carried me upstairs without a word. Between kisses, he laid me on the bed and stripped off my clothes, caressing every inch of my skin.
“You don’t have to keep it all in, big guy,” I said, peering up at him. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“Speaking of it will change nothing.” He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, blue eyes as deep as the sea. The depths unreachable. “I’m only…”
“You’re only what?”
“Afraid,” he whispered, dropping his face to my neck. “I feel like I’m going to lose you, sweetheart.”
An ache clawed at my chest. “None of us knows what will happen. But I’ll do all I can to not be a damsel in distress.” I lightly poked his cheek. “I’ll be the hero and save all of you.”
That made him smile. The hard swallow in his throat told me those worries still had him in a tight grip though. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed the spot beneath his ear. His skin smelled of warm spice and leather, even after his bath. A smell unique to him.
Then, as if a man possessed, his mouth crashed to mine. His kisses deepened. He palmed my chest before dipping down and taking hold of my cock. I lifted my hips and tipped my head back, an opening he seized. He pushed his face against my neck and grazed his teeth across my Adam’s apple.
Maddox took no mercy on me. Once I was prepped and ready to go, he thrust in deep. I cried out and dug my nails into his back before having that cry silenced with another hard kiss.
The bed creaked as he pumped his hips back and forth, fucking me like he hadn’t in a long time.
It told me he was worried. That he was barely holding himself together and didn’t know how to process that feeling.
As his kisses softened, paired with a small sound in his throat, it also said he loved me.
“I’m right here.” I held him tighter.
“You’re not allowed to be anywhere else.” He cradled my head with one hand, bracing himself on the mattress with the other.
A light sound at the door drew our attention.
Briar entered the room, shut the door, and shed his clothes.
None of us spoke as he joined us on the bed, kissing the top of Maddox’s shoulder as our captain pumped into me.
He then moved his lips to mine, capturing them for a scorching kiss.
He smoothed his hand down my chest and took hold of my cock.
“Fuck.” I arched my back and moaned. The feel of his hand, combined with Maddox hitting my sweet spot, had my thighs quaking. A quake that warned of an imminent eruption when Briar licked down my ribs and took me into his warm mouth.
I came quickly. Something that should’ve embarrassed me, but the triumphant gleam in both their eyes said they loved having that effect on me. As my body started to calm, Briar pulled off and pecked featherlight kisses to my lower belly.
“I’ve only just begun, and you’re already a mess beneath me.” Maddox’s deep tone was paired with a sexy curve of his mouth. “What am I to do with you now?”
Briar lightly laughed.
An idea struck. More than an idea; a desire I’d had for a while and couldn’t hold back any longer.
“I can think of one thing,” I told him. “But you wouldn’t be doing it to me.”
That stumped my captain. Stumped Briar too. Both gave me quizzical stares. Placing a hand on Maddox’s muscled chest, I gently pushed against him and sat up. He understood my intention and rolled to his back, still perplexed.
“You see…” I straddled his hips and took him back inside me, descending slowly. His lips parted. “As much as I love your cock inside me—big and pulsing—there’s something else I’ve wanted.”
“Tell me,” he said, breaths quickening as I continued to ride him. “Anything you want is yours.”
“Anything?” I peered over at Briar and grabbed his hand, pulling him closer. “Then, I want to watch the two of you fuck.”
“Pardon?” Briar choked out, quickly adjusting his glasses. He still wore them, which I loved. A man in glasses totally did it for me. “You wish for us to…”
“Fuck,” I said with a nod. “Make love. Screw. Do the nasty. Knock boots. Whatever you wanna call it.” After another glide up and down Maddox’s hard cock, getting one last feel of him, I slid off his lap.
He made a gruff noise at the loss of contact and fisted the sheet beneath him. His swollen tip glistened. “But Briar and I have never…”
“I know.” I smiled down at him and brushed aside the hair on his damp brow. “I also know why you haven’t. Both of you think it would upset me, right? Well, I’m telling you right now that it won’t.”
“That’s not the only reason,” Briar said. “We’ve discussed it before. The desire certainly exists between us, but we didn’t wish to do it without you with us.”
“Why?” I asked.
Briar touched my cheek. “Because you, love, are who we treasure most in this world. We love each other dearly, but you’re the one we’d give our final breath to. Our love for you is soul-deep.”
“Stop,” I said, throat tight. “You’re making me emotional, and this is supposed to be sexy-time.”
A deep laugh rumbled in Maddox’s chest. “It’s what makes you so endearing. A clumsy sap. But damn if the physician isn’t right. I’d give you my last breath. I’d give my life if it meant sparing yours.”
He caught me by the wrist and tugged me to his level, capturing my lips.
“Okay, enough or I’ll cry,” I said after breaking the kiss. “There’s nothing sexy about me snotting everywhere.”
“Sexy? Perhaps not.” Briar smiled. “But adorable? Very.”
“Know what would be sexy?” I nodded to Maddox’s cock. “If you sit there and go for a little ride.”
“I…” A flush crept up Briar’s neck, and he pushed his glasses up his nose again. “I’m at a loss for words.”
I snorted.
“Then don’t use your words.” Maddox touched Briar’s chest and skimmed his hand up to his throat. “Do as our male said and get over here.”
Holy fucking shit. It was actually going to happen. Anticipation built inside me just as pressure built in my groin.