Chapter 45
KORYN
The rhythm of the masquerade had changed while we were away.
There were just as many people, but almost all of them were on the dance floor now.
Only a handful remained around the edges, pressed against the walls.
Most of those who did were quite literally pressed against the walls while a partner—or multiple—attended to them.
I saw a woman sink to her knees and then disappear beneath another’s skirt.
A pair of men pinned a third against the wall, hands over head, but by the sounds he was making, it was more than consensual.
Garrick had not been thorough enough in his explanation of how the fae celebrated the Winter Tithe.
“We are drawing too many eyes,” I managed to say through the thickness of my own throat. My cheeks burned, too. I was not a prude by any measure. But the surprise of it turned my own thoughts and fantasies against me. Thank the Dark God we’d already accomplished what we needed to in the treasury.
“You’re welcome.”
I stomped on Syleris’ foot. He pressed closer, so that I could feel the press of his cock against my backside through his finely made trousers.
“We need to join the crush,” Garrick said. He was right, of course. If we were going to remain, we had to dance. Or take advantage of the walls. No glamour or disguise would be enough if we were the only ones standing and staring.
Syleris rubbed himself against me, pressing into the curve of my bottom. I shivered, leaning back against him, only to find nothing.
He slid one hand around my waist and offered the other to Garrick.
“Dance with me,” Syleris said for the second time that evening.
“What if someone recognizes you? We are hardly inconspicuous?” I shivered again. Garrick was on my other side. He threaded his fingers through mine. He’d leave the decision up to me, but he was not hiding what he wanted. I recognized the heavy catch in his breath.
I’d been with each of them, but never together, and never where others could see. To have them each on an arm felt like exposing a secret to the world. A precious, beautiful secret. It felt right, and that felt dangerous.
Loving too much meant I had too much to lose.
“I think we are past that, sweetling,” Syleris crooned in my mind.
And then added aloud, “You think the fae are the only ones capable of disguising themselves? I am a god.”
A low, irritated growl sounded from Garrick’s throat. “Say that louder.”
“I am your god,” Syleris said, staring right at Garrick as he did. “And I want you to be the one to say it.”
The intensity between them made my knees shake. They both towered over me, caged me in, surrounded me. I was right in the middle. Right where I wanted to be.
“Let’s dance,” I said.
Otherwise, I was going to melt into a puddle of need on the spot.
For a moment, I thought they were going to ignore me. Or at least, my request to dance. I had no worries that if something happened between the three of us, I would be well cared for. But Garrick broke away from Syleris’ gaze, lifting our joined hands in the direction of the dance floor.
“As you command, witch.”
We stepped onto the dance floor as a trio.
The steps were quick, but Garrick and Syleris both seemed to know them.
Garrick had spent his formative teenage years in Balar Shan and been educated with the prince and princess.
It made sense that he knew. Syleris, however…
I supposed that being an immortal god had advantages. He did not step on anyone’s foot.
I did, more than once.
But not either of my partners. We moved perfectly in sync, Garrick’s hand clasped in mine while Syleris guided me with a gentle but assertive hand on my waist. I did not miss the sensuous touches they exchanged, either.
When Garrick lifted our hands over my head so that I could spin, Syleris used the opportunity to slide his own hand up Garrick’s back and caress the nape of his neck.
Garrick returned the sentiment by stepping into Syleris’ space even when the steps should have taken them apart.
They were going to kill me.
Watching them like this, feeling each of their hands on my body, would be the end.
Syleris’ hand on my waist wandered downward to explore the curve of my hip.
Garrick’s fingers brushed a little too intentionally over my breast as he spun me.
I would never make it to the final gate.
There was no need. Not when I could find bliss right here.
Except it was not bliss—it was torture. They were teasing each other and me.
The tempo of the music changed as one song ended and another began. This beat was slower. Sultry. The couples and trios around us pressed together. I swallowed hard.
Garrick still held my hand in one of his.
He curved the other around my waist, where Syleris’ was already waiting.
I felt their fingers interlock, then Garrick pulled me against him.
Syleris caged me in from the other side.
One hand on my hip with Garrick’s, the other joined where Garrick and I’s were already locked together.
He did not try to disentangle us. Instead, he curled his longer fingers around the outside of our already joined ones.
The message was so clear, so perfect. Did Garrick see it, too?
I glanced up at his eyes to see and—
Mistake.
The ring of bright blue around his pupils glowed as brightly as my coven mark when I was flush with power. The clover green irises transformed to pure turquoise. Garrick saw and felt all the same things that I did.
All of them?
Enough of them. Enough for now.
“Breathe,” Syleris reminded me. His hands were occupied, so he sent a little breeze to lift the hair off the nape of my neck and make space for him to press a kiss to the sensitive skin.
“I’m not sure I can,” I exhaled.
Garrick pressed his forehead to mine. “I love you, Koryn.”
If the two of them had not been there holding on to me, I would have collapsed.
The combined force of emotion and need was so overpowering…
as much as any power I’d ever felt. Syleris’ cock pressed into the cleft of my bottom, Garrick’s into the soft folds of my stomach.
I rocked against one, only to find myself pressed against the other.
I was certain that every person in the presence chamber, fae and god, could smell the arousal coating the insides of my thighs.
“I…” My chest trembled. “I need—”
“Sssh,” Garrick said, folding me in against his chest.
Syleris’ hand was pinned between us, his chest pressed to my back. He pressed a kiss to the side of my head.
“I’ve got you,” Syleris said. “I’ve got you both. Trust me,” he purred.
The world fell away, the ground dissolved beneath our feet, and we were gone.