Chapter 11 For a Heartbeat #2
“Such a thirsty pussy,” he breathed across my cheek. “Ko, ready for your round two? Because I sure as shit ain’t gonna last three more strokes.”
“If Seri wants it,” came Koa’s quiet reply.
“I want it! I want it!” I choked into Casimir’s chest as he returned my earlier trick, fisting my hair and tugging it until I exposed my throat to his hungry mouth.
Zane was true to his word, erupting after a trio of thrusts, then both he and Casimir reluctantly moved over to make room for Koa.
Like a gentle rain after a thunderstorm, Koa sank into me with tender words and slow hips, his body gliding effortlessly against me like velvet over silk.
Every time his chest brushed over my nipples, an electric current shot through my core.
With each deep stroke, my belly wound tighter, as if every inch of him was imprinting itself onto me.
Then his eyes locked with mine as he picked up his pace, his lips parting slightly as they breathed out my name, his thick eyelashes dusting the feverish color on his cheekbones. I climaxed with a soft sigh, and his rhythm stuttered, a broken gasp escaping him and his body stilling against mine.
For a heartbeat, we stayed frozen, his forehead pressed to my shoulder and my nails denting his solid biceps, before he tumbled down beside me with a breathless laugh.
Zane’s fingers danced along my hip, tracing the suck mark Casimir had left there.
“Think we knocked her out.” His thumb brushed the twitching muscle of my thigh. “She’s got that glazed doughnut look in her eyes.”
“Still awake,” I protested, weakly swatting at him. My arm flopped against the mattress like a stranded fish.
“Liar.” Koa nuzzled my damp temple, his lips curving against my skin. “You’re shaking.”
Casimir rose on one elbow, his hair a tangled curtain as he stared down at me.
“We overdid it.” The edge in his voice warred with the swollen redness of his mouth. “You need electrolytes. Rest.”
“What I need,” I said, hoisting myself up on wobbling arms, “is for you three to stop treating me like I’ll crumble if you—”
The room tilted. Zane’s hand shot out to steady me, his smirk equal parts smug and tender.
“Crumbling’s kinda the goal, moonbeam, but point taken. Next time, snacks between rounds. Grapes! Very romantic. I’ll feed them to you while Ko—”
“No one wants grape foreplay, Zoodle.” Swinging his legs off the bed, Casimir’s spine straightened into alpha-mode, even though he couldn’t hide the way his gaze lingered on the love marks blooming all over me. “Shower. Now. All of us.”
“Then servicing after,” I blurted out as my stomach growled.
“Servicing?” Zane howled with laughter. “Oh, my love, that’s going in the spank bank.”
I frowned at him. I didn’t even really know what I’d meant, other than that I was hungry and thirsty.
And what was a spank bank?
#
Much later, I found myself nestled between Koa and Zane, with Casimir’s arm draped across all three of us on Zane’s other side.
After our shower, Zane had indeed produced grapes and Koa more cookies from his dresser.
Casimir had made a run to the kitchen and returned with his arms full of cartons.
Coconut water, milk, and apple juice, all of which, he assured me, were ‘more than adequate to replace electrolytes lost during extreme exertion.’
Then he’d blinked at me when I’d giggled at him.
Now, my belly full, my mind shutting down, my body aching in the best way, a stray thought drifted back to me.
“I can’t believe Eluned does with Foster what we just did with each other,” I said, the thought still bewildering to me. “I can’t believe she’d enjoy it.”
“Trust me, menace, she’s not experiencing anything like what we just did,” Zane scoffed.
“What do you mean?” I raised my head from Koa’s shoulder to look at him.
“Fozzy Wozzy isn’t exactly the gentle type. He’s not into aftercare or cuddling or sweet nothings.” Zane shrugged a little. “It’s just fucking to him. Hard, fast, and rough. No strings, no emotional connection. It’s not love, treasure.”
“Oh.” I processed this, remembering Eluned’s gleeful cruelty, the way she’d sometimes lick her lips when Arabesque punished me. “That actually makes better sense.”
“How so?” Casimir asked, propping himself up on one elbow to look at me.
“Eluned always did enjoy pain. Not just causing it, but I think she likes feeling it, too. Last winter, she deliberately held her hand in the fireplace, just to see how long she could keep it there. She laughed the whole time.” The memory made me shiver, and Koa pulled me tighter to his chest. “Do you think she wants what we have with Foster? Or is it just another game?”
“Some people get off on power, Seri. Or pain. Or both.” Zane’s thumb brushed the mark he’d left earlier on my inner thigh. “But what we have? This fire? That’s not something you play at, sweetheart.”
“What about Amabel?” Koa asked. “Is she the same freaky-deaky as her sister?”
“Amabel doesn’t seem to feel anything.” I shrugged and snuggled more into him. “But sometimes, I wonder if she just won’t let herself.”
“What do you know about Austin Cho?” Casimir asked.
“Not much. He arrived two days before I left. Seemed like a nice guy,” I said with a yawn. “I wanted to warn him, tell him to leave as he carried my suitcases to the car.”
“Sleep, baby,” Koa murmured when I yawned again. “We’ll save the questions for tomorrow.”
Humming my thanks, I kissed his chin, then reached down and threaded my fingers through Zane’s where they rested on my hip.
As I drifted off, surrounded by their heat and heartbeats, a sliver of pity cut through me for Eluned.
Whatever she and Foster shared, I knew that it held none of the warmth, none of the tenderness, the four of us shared.
No matter how exquisite pain might be for her, it could never compare to making love with someone who cherished your heart as much as your body.
As for Amabel, I pitied her, too. Courage wasn’t about maintaining control rather than giving in to pleasure. Sometimes, courage was letting yourself be loved—loudly, messily, and thoroughly—by three men who’d raze kingdoms to keep you safe.