Chapter 23 Hunter’s Moon #2
"Perhaps," I admitted. "Though I didn't plan it.
The spring corruption—it changed something between Aeolus and me.
Fighting it together opened something between us.
" I studied his face in the moonlight, noting the subtle tension in his jaw.
"You can sense it, can't you? The connection I have with you. "
"I can," he acknowledged, his voice dropping to a register that sent a shiver down my spine. "Just as I can sense your connection to them. Different, but no less real."
I nodded, appreciating his directness. "With Aeolus, it's like lightning—wild, unpredictable, exhilarating. With Desmond, it's like the earth itself—steady, nurturing, deep." I turned my hand beneath his, threading our fingers together. "And with you?"
"Beautiful," he whispered, tracing the golden patterns with reverent fingers. "Like you're made of living fire."
"She is living fire," Aeolus murmured, appearing beside us with that uncanny fae grace that always made my pulse quicken.
His gray eyes glinted in the moonlight as he settled onto the ancient cushions that lined the secluded balcony alcove, close enough that I could feel the subtle breeze that always accompanied him.
Lucas stiffened slightly but didn't move away. "I didn't invite you to this conversation, fae."
"And yet here I am," Aeolus replied, his voice lilting with amusement as he reached out to trace my flame-script with a featherlight touch.
Where his fingers connected with my skin, tiny currents of air danced between us, sending shivers up my arm.
"The wind goes where it pleases. And it pleases me to be here, with our Phoenix. "
The possessive note in his voice sent an unexpected thrill through me. My flame-script responded, golden tendrils reaching for him as if recognizing a kindred elemental force. Lucas noticed, his jaw tightening almost imperceptibly.
"Do you mind?" I asked Lucas softly, my hand still intertwined with his while my body leaned subtly toward Aeolus, caught between two powerful attractions.
Lucas's nostrils flared slightly, taking in Aeolus's scent mingled with mine. His jaw worked for a moment before he stepped back, making space. "If you want him here..."
"She does," Aeolus said with certainty, his hand sliding around to cup the nape of my neck. "Her flame calls to my wind just as surely as it stirs your primal nature." He leaned in, his lips hovering just above mine. "Fire needs air to truly dance, doesn't it, Phoenix?"
Without waiting for an answer, he closed the distance, capturing my lips in a kiss that tasted of wild honey and summer storms. Unlike Lucas's controlled intensity, Aeolus kissed with a playful precision that made my head spin.
His tongue traced the seam of my lips before slipping inside, coaxing rather than demanding, teasing secrets from me I didn't know I possessed.
When he pulled back, my flame-script was pulsing visibly beneath my skin, casting golden light across all three of us. Lucas's eyes had darkened to amber, the wolf closer to the surface.
"Impressive technique for someone who mostly talks to trees," Lucas remarked dryly, though the tension in his muscles betrayed his affected casualness.
"Centuries of practice," Aeolus replied with a wink. "Though trees are surprisingly responsive with the right approach."
I laughed despite myself, the sound breaking some of the tension. "Are you two quite finished?"
"Not even close," Lucas growled, pulling me into a kiss that contrasted sharply with Aeolus's approach. Where the fae had been teasing and deliberate, Lucas was all consuming hunger, his hands tangling in my hair as he claimed my mouth with fierce possession.
"So impatient, wolf," Aeolus murmured, his fingers tracing intricate patterns down my spine that left trails of tingling sensitivity in their wake. "A phoenix deserves to be savored, not devoured."
To demonstrate, he leaned in to press his lips to the side of my neck, just below my ear.
The precise pressure combined with the cool whisper of his breath sent arrows of pleasure straight to my core.
"Like coaxing a flame to life," he whispered against my skin, "you must be gentle at first, then feed it.
.." His teeth grazed my pulse point, making me gasp, ". ..until it roars."
Caught between them, I felt my body responding to their vastly different approaches with equal enthusiasm.
My flame-script flowed faster, brighter, illuminating the alcove with a golden glow that highlighted the sharp angles of Aeolus's ethereal features and the powerful planes of Lucas's rugged face.
"That's a little over the top, don't you think, fae?" Lucas's voice was rough with desire despite his teasing words.
"I prefer to think of it as appropriately poetic," Aeolus replied, his hands already working at the fastenings of my clothing.
Unlike Lucas's straightforward approach, Aeolus treated undressing as an art form, each movement revealing skin that he immediately claimed with lips or fingertips.
"Beauty such as hers deserves verses, not mere sentences. "
Lucas chuckled as I helped him remove his shirt, revealing a torso marked with the scars of countless battles and hunts.
My flame-script reached for him, golden light spilling from my fingertips as I explored the map of his experiences etched into his skin.
Each scar told a story: of protection, of sacrifice, of survival.
Aeolus's clothing had already dissolved in that peculiar fae way, revealing a form of different but equal beauty.
Unmarked alabaster skin that seemed to glow with an inner light, catching and reflecting my golden flame-script where it touched him.
His body was lithe and powerful, like a dancer or an acrobat, with subtle muscle definition that spoke of agility rather than brute strength.
"These are beautiful too," I said, running my fingers across the scars on Lucas's chest.
Lucas's eyes, now fully amber in the moonlight, caught mine as my fingers traced a particularly jagged scar across his ribs. "Wolf pack dispute. I was younger then, more reckless."
"And now?" I asked, my voice husky with desire.
"Now I choose my battles more carefully." His lips curved into that predatory smile that made my flame-script pulse beneath my skin. "And my companions even more so."
"So the wolf can be poetic," Aeolus teased, but his eyes held no mockery. He shifted to create a triangle of connection between us, his lithe body a study in controlled power. "Though I must admit, your choice of companion shows excellent taste."
As the last of my clothing fell away under eager hands, I found myself between them on the cushions, skin bared to the moonlight and their hungry gazes.
Lucas knelt before me, his eyes tracing my body with unconcealed appreciation.
Aeolus moved to my side, his fingers trailing down my arm with such precise pressure that I could feel my nerve endings singing in response.
"May I?" Aeolus asked, gesturing for me to turn toward him.
When I did, he guided me to straddle his lap, my thighs parting to accommodate his narrow hips.
"I've wondered how your flame would feel against me," he murmured, his hands settling on my waist. "Whether you would burn me to ash or forge me anew. "
I gasped as he lifted me slightly, then guided me down onto his length in one smooth motion.
The sensation of him filling me, stretching me open, made my head fall back, a moan escaping my lips.
His body was cool compared to mine, creating an exquisite contrast that made my flame-script flare brightly against his pale skin.
"Look at you," he breathed, his voice filled with wonder as his hands guided my hips in a slow, deliberate rhythm. "Celestial fire given form. Even the stars would envy your brilliance."
Lucas moved behind me, his heat a stark contrast to Aeolus's cooler touch. His lips found my shoulder, teeth grazing the sensitive juncture where neck meets collarbone. "Is this what you want?" he asked, his voice a rumbling growl against my skin.
"Yes," I gasped, caught between these two powerful beings, each offering such different pleasures.
With Aeolus, every movement was precise, calculated to bring maximum pleasure, his rhythm never faltering as he guided me onto him again and again.
Behind me, Lucas was all heat and barely restrained power, his hands gripping my hips with bruising intensity.
"She responds so beautifully," Aeolus observed, his eyes darkening as he watched my face.
One hand left my hip to trace the curve of my breast, thumb circling the sensitive peak.
"Like an instrument crafted solely for pleasure.
" His hips lifted to meet mine, changing the angle of his thrusts in a way that made me cry out.
"There," he murmured with satisfaction. "That's the note I was seeking. "
Lucas's hand slid around to where Aeolus and I were joined, his fingers finding that sensitive bundle of nerves with unerring accuracy. "And this one?" he asked as I shuddered between them.
The dual sensation was overwhelming, Aeolus inside me, moving with that controlled precision, while Lucas's touch added layers of pleasure that threatened to unravel me completely.
My flame-script responded to both, golden light flowing across their skin in different patterns.
Swirling vortices for Aeolus, primal slashes for Lucas.
After what felt like both an eternity and a heartbeat, Aeolus gently lifted me off him, exchanging a look with Lucas that contained challenge and invitation in equal measure. "Your turn, wolf," he said, shifting to the side to make room.