Chapter 39 #2
I grin, and I turn my attention back to the rest of the room.
The guys weren’t kidding when they said I had the biggest bed, because it’s at least twice as large as Thane’s.
The bed has an elegant wooden frame with shadows carved into the posts, and a sheer black curtain connects to each one.
The mattress is covered with a beautiful quilt, and just like in my dream bedroom, it’s decorated with a pattern of hearts and roses.
At least a dozen silky pillows of different sizes are neatly arranged near the headboard.
Smiling, I take a run up and launch myself onto the mattress, dissolving into laughter when I fall onto the soft cushions.
I flap my arms like a snow angel, and at least three of the pillows topple to the floor, which only makes me laugh harder.
My mates grin as they follow me, moving to the side of the mattress.
“I take it that you like it?” Galen says with a curve of his lips.
“Like it? No, I love it,” I say with a smile so big I probably look like a crazy person, but I don’t even care. I crush a pillow to my chest and smush my face into another. “It’s so freaking soft,” I say, my voice muffled.
“They’re stuffed with the softest feathers you’ll find in this realm, all ethically sourced, of course,” Knox replies. “I figured you’d appreciate it.”
His lips quirk up when I sigh happily, because this is seriously the comfiest bed I’ve ever been on.
I think of all the feathers. No, it’s not just a bed…
My guys have made me a nest. At that thought, more pain cramps my stomach, but it’s chased away by desire as I notice the way all my mates are looking at me.
Oh right, bonding. Wasting no time, my shadows curl around me, and I make my clothes disappear leaving me laying there completely naked.
I’m not in the most elegant position, so I go to move but end up jabbing the corner of a pillow into my eye.
I yelp as my eye waters, and when I blink, Raith has launched the offending pillow to the other side of the room.
It slams against the window and slides down to the floor, and I give Raith a questioning look.
His fingers are clawed, and the tips of fangs protrude from his mouth. He shrugs. “My monster’s on edge.”
I snort with laughter, but my expression becomes serious again when my mates move in closer around me, and their clothes disappear into shadows.
They climb onto the mattress, and my breath catches in my throat.
Four mates. Holy smokes. I’m going to bond with four freaking mates.
I’d spent so long telling myself this could never happen, and now I feel overwhelmed.
“What if I’m a bad mate?” I blurt suddenly, feeling the pressure of it all coming down on me.
“What?” Thane growls in confusion.
“There are four of you,” I say, stating the obvious. “What if I’m not…you know, enough for you.”
Raith’s answering laugh warms me to the tips of my toes, and my other mates all look just as amused.
“We’re the ones who should be worried we’re not worthy of you, treasure,” Galen says, moving close and pressing a kiss to the side of my neck.
“Or what if…you know, I am destined to destroy you all and this is a huge mistake?”
Raith chuckles, and my pulse flutters as he moves closer on my other side, sandwiching me between him and Galen. “Then I’ll die a fuckin’ happy man.”
Thane stares at me seriously, his rich brown eyes fixated on my face. “What we should be asking is do you want this, mate? Because once we’ve bonded, there’s no severing that bond. We would be yours…forever.”
“Or at least until we’re fuckin’ slaughtered,” Raith jokes.
Galen flicks him with one of his shadows, and he grunts.
My heart races. Forever? I know all I’d have to do is shake my head, and Thane would end this.
But then we’d walk into battle without the bond and the power boost that comes with it, and I know my mates would die to protect me.
I can’t have that. Plus…honestly, right now I realize there’s nothing I want more than to be bound to these men.
I can’t imagine my life without them. They went through hell and back to save me from the Xalgrith realm, and every fiber of my being tells me that these men are mine.
I squirm as more pain goes through me, and I can’t keep it hidden any longer. “Yes,” I whisper. “Of course, I want you. I want all of you.” When I go to gasp from the pain again, Galen captures my mouth with his, and the pain instantly eases a little.
The agony is completely replaced with pleasure as Knox moves between my legs, and his warm tongue slides up my center.
It’s like whatever’s causing the pain knows we’re serious about bonding, and it completely backs off as Knox devours me like he’s determined to drown in me.
I grip Galen as he kisses me, desperate to have something to hold onto as I fall into the ecstasy of their touches.
Holy shadow daddy hotness. Raith’s mouth moves to one of my breasts, and I pull my lips from Galen’s, sucking in a sharp gasp as one of Thane’s shadows move to my entrance.
It’s cool as it slides inside me, stretching in size as it pushes against my walls.
Oh sweet baby book gods. My mates feel like they’re touching me everywhere, and I can’t get enough.
Raith lifts his head, rubbing my nipple with his thumb as his tongue dives into my mouth, and as Thane’s shadow begins thrusting into me, over and over, Knox’s tongue teasing my clit, I fall over the edge.
Power ripples in the air around us, the sensation of ice and fire rushing through my body, and the moment I stop shuddering, Thane and Knox move back and I climb onto Raith.
I moan as I slide onto his cock, and Knox positions himself behind me.
Galen is still close on my right, and I reach across, fisting his cock as Knox gently eases into my ass.
My mouth drops open as my fingers press against Raith’s hard chest, because I feel so damn full but in the best way.
“You worry that you’ll destroy us, mate,” Knox says, his voice like a warm caress against my bare back. “That you’ll break us, and yet, you’re the one who makes us feel whole. Without you, I would watch the realms turn to ashes and burn along with them.”
Thane comes up on my other side, and I grab his cock with my free hand.
“We’ve been lost for a long time,” Thane says, his deep voice rumbling through the air. “It turns out we were just waiting for you, mate.”
My heart feels like it’s about to burst. “I love you too,” I rasp, tears welling in my eyes.
Raith’s large hands grip my hips, and I start moving on his cock, pleasure rolling through me. I stroke Galen and Thane’s cocks in time to the movements, and Knox matches my pace, starting out slow then increasing speed as he pushes into me.
He grunts a moment later as Thane thrusts one of his shadows roughly into Knox’s ass.
Ho-ly shadow daddies. It’s too freaking much.
Horns peak from Raith’s head as the four of us pant and groan, and his cock shifts inside me.
He hasn’t fully shifted into his monster form, but it’s almost like he stops halfway through the transformation.
Raith gives me a devilish smirk, and it’s his monster who speaks the next time words slip from his lips.
“You’re ours, tiny mate,” the monster rasps.
“Ours to breed. Ours to cherish. And ours to protect…forever.”
I whimper, and as quickly as he had come, Raith’s eyes flash, and I know Raith’s monster has moved back and given Raith’s more human side control again. But Raith stays in that half-shifted form as he grins at me. “What he said,” he mumbles, his face flush with pleasure.
“And ours to treasure, always,” Galen adds, reaching across to tuck a sweaty strand of hair behind my ear.
We pick up our speed, and our shadows explode into the air, entwining with one another, touching everywhere.
I gasp as light dances behind my eyes, and I cry out as another orgasm rips through me. This one is more forceful than the last, and I claw at Raith’s chest as wave after wave of pleasure goes through me. Ice and fire, it crashes into me over and over, and my mates shatter with me.
Power chases the pleasure, and it slams into me making me feel as though the floor has fallen away from us, and we’re just left spinning until the ground returns.
A burning sensation makes my skin tingle, and I cry out at the near unbearable feeling.
I wrench my eyes open as tattoos appear on my body, moving quickly as the whorls and black patterns cover my skin, matching the design of my mates.
Whoa, that is badass. I’ve always wanted to get some ink, but this…
this is incredible. I marvel at the intricate black lines marked on my skin, and the bond snaps into place.
“We’re yours, my love,” Knox’s voice sounds in my head, and I realize he’s not using the power of shadow whispers. No, I hear my mate clear in my mind.
“We’re really bonded,” I reply softly, feeling the truth of it in my chest.
“Forever, treasure,” Galen confirms.
“And thank fuck for that. I’ve wanted this from the beginnin’,” Raith comments.
I grin, but my smile softens when Thane adds, “And we will love you always, our mate. You were the only one missing from this family. We’ve known that for some time now.”
Emotion tightens my throat, and a tear slips down my cheek.
Galen wipes it away, and I smile, feeling the power pulsing in my veins.
“Do you think the power boost will be enough to help us survive what comes next?” I ask.
Raith lifts his hand to cup my cheek, and shadows dance over his fingers. “Doesn’t even fuckin’ matter, sunshine. If we die, we die together.”