Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
SERAFINA
A fter quickly distributing clothes—or at least, what little clothes we could find in this shack of a house, since my backpack was lost in the battle at the library—Foster heads out into the living room to speak with Cadmus while Tristan and Kian remain with me in the bedroom.
“You should get some sleep, angel.” Kian perches himself on the edge of the bed and brushes the tips of his fingers across my cheek.
Flutters start low in my belly, even as the sharp blade of panic slashes at my skin.
“I don’t know if I can,” I confess. “I can’t stop thinking about V and Gage and the others.”
Worry for my mates is an ever-present companion. Right now, we’re putting all of our hope in Cadmus being able to save V using his abilities. But what if he isn’t able to? What would I do if I lost?—
I shut that thought down before it can fester.
If Cadmus can’t save V, I’ll find someone who can. I won’t give up. Not now, not ever.
Tristan moves to sit on my other side. “He’ll be okay, Sera. V is a lot of things, most of them completely psychotic, but he’s loyal to you first and foremost. He will never, ever leave you.”
But he may not have a choice.
A part of me wants to demand we continue to the portal, but I know that would be idiotic. I’m not willing to risk the lives of the men with me, even if it means getting to V faster. But fuck, it’s hard to just sit here and do nothing.
Outside, rain continues to shoot upwards from the ground, and the entire foundation of the house trembles as thunder booms.
“It feels strange to sleep in a house like this,” I murmur, running my hands over the bedspread.
In one of the closets, we found what appeared to be semi-clean sheets. And I mean semi-clean because they were all coated in a fine layer of dust that we had to shake off.
“What do you mean?” Kian cants his head to the side.
“Someone once lived here.” I shrug. “Who knows what happened to them? Did they die in this house? Were they able to survive the virus and start a life elsewhere?”
Kian gently tugs at one of my pink curls. “I think…that there’s a lot we don’t know.” He seems to be trying to choose his words carefully. “And I also think that we got lucky running into Cadmus.”
An uneasy, noxious feeling settles in the pit of my stomach.
“You think he’ll have answers for us? More than just the ‘Sera is supposed to be queen’ nonsense?” I will my voice to stay level against the rising tide of panic.
“Foster’s talking to him now,” Tristan says softly, focusing on his hands instead of my face.
Kian laughs. “He’s probably getting a hard-on from all of the knowledge being thrown his way.”
I can’t help but snicker. Yeah. Foster is totally a nerd.
But he’s my nerd.
My amusement abruptly fades when I ask, “Do you believe Cadmus when he said I’m supposed to be the…queen?”
That one word sounds foreign on my tongue. Unnatural.
“I don’t know.” Kian shrugs a single shoulder, his eyes ensnaring my own.
The heat from his gaze gradually drives the cold away. My fingers and toes start to prickle as they regain sensation.
“But I promise you, whatever happens next, we’ll handle it as a team. You. Me. Tristan. Foster. Gage. Xander. Devyn. V.”
I gulp in a harrowed breath. “You’re incredible. You know that, right?” I shift slightly to address Tristan as well, knowing he has to hear this. “Both of you.”
Tristan scoffs. “I wouldn’t say?—”
”Hush.” I gently place my hand over his lips, stopping whatever self-deprecating rant he was about to spew. “I’m not a liar. Both of you are incredible. I’m so lucky I have you as mates.”
Tristan gently grabs my wrist and tugs my hand away from his face. His eyes burn with emotion—I imagine the same emotion he can see emanating from my own.
“Sometimes, I think you’re too good for me,” he whispers in a choked voice.
“For both of us,” Kian adds.
“You don’t see yourselves the way I do.” I squirm slightly at the heat in their gazes.
Kian leans closer—so close that his spicy scent surrounds me in a heated embrace—and brushes his lips across the skin of my neck. My body flushes hot with a sudden wave of intense arousal.
Tristan sucks in a sharp gasp and then murmurs, “I can go?—”
I grab his arm and keep him on the bed beside me. “No. Stay.”
The wolf shifter glances towards Kian, who smiles softly and nods once. Tristan swallows, a muscle in his throat bobbing.
With a gentleness belying the desperate need in his eyes, Kian grabs my chin and guides my face to his. He plants the gentlest, most innocent kisses imaginable against my lips, never taking it deeper than that.
My entire body becomes one big goose bump as I hold myself perfectly still, allowing him to lead this, lead me. I know it’s what he needs after everything he's been through.
A second pair of lips joins the first, tantalizingly soft on my neck. They start at the hollow of my throat before traveling down, down, down, down.
Kian stops the kiss much too soon and pulls away. Tristan stops as well.
“W-what?” I blink in dismay, wanting more but not willing to take anything they’re not readily offering.
Kian stares at me with absolute adoration as he helps me remove my borrowed shirt. I took my bra off when I changed, having wanted it to dry with the rest of my clothes, so my bare breasts spring free, my nipples already puckered. All I have on now is a pair of hot-pink panties with Hello Kitty on the back. Maybe not the sexiest piece of lingerie, but I suppose it’ll have to do.
“You’re so beautiful, angel,” Kian breathes, his voice graveled.
Tristan merely stares at me as if he’s never seen a half-naked female before. And since I know he has, that reverence in his gaze makes me feel good. Really, really good.
Hesitation descends over the wolf shifter’s features.
“Can I…?” He scratches at the inside of his wrist. “Can I touch you?”
I want to reassure him that he never needs to ask, but I know how important consent is for him, for both of them. It gives them a level of control that they both lost when they were held by that evil bitch of a teacher.
“Yes, Trist. Touch me. Both of you, touch me.”
Tristan gently cups one of my breasts and skates his thumb over my nipple. That one little touch sends lightning shooting to my core.
Kian moves on my other side, lowering his head slightly and staring up at me through heavily lidded eyes. I answer the question in his gaze with a nod, and then his lips are on my breast, closing around the tip. His tongue flicks at the sensitive nub as a maelstrom of emotion whips around in my chest.
I…love them.
Both of them.
I don’t know when it happened or how, but somewhere along the way, what started off as friendship turned into something deeper, something real. Yes, they have baggage, but that doesn’t make them any less deserving of love and affection.
And I do love them.
So, so much.
I allow my eyelashes to flutter shut at the simultaneous sensations—Tristan’s rough palm on my breast contrasted with Kian’s hot mouth and tongue.
My eyes snap back open when I’m shifted slightly, settling between Tristan’s legs as Kian kisses down my stomach. Tristan continues to tease and fondle my breasts as Kian pokes his tongue into my belly button, eliciting a giggle from me. And then he moves lower, towards the waistband of my panties.
“Kian,” I say quickly, funneling my fingers through his golden hair and guiding his face up. “You don’t have to.”
I know that his previous…partners often saw him as a tool for their pleasure. I don’t want him to think he has to do that with me.
“I know.” He kisses my lower belly. “But I want to. Is that all right?”
A sudden shyness enters his features—red rising up his neck and splashing onto his cheeks.
“Yes,” I whisper, running my fingers through his hair lovingly.
He lowers his lips back to my skin and slowly begins to edge down my panties before tossing them aside.
Tristan pinches my nipple, and a ripple of desire tears through me.
“You’ll need to be quiet,” he murmurs in my ear. “We don’t want Cadmus to hear you.”
“Oh…fuck.” I completely forgot that a virtual stranger is on the other side of that door.
Hopefully, the pelting of rain on the rooftop and the boom of thunder drown out all other sounds.
“Foster is going to regret choosing Cadmus over you,” Kian teases, a playful glint entering his eyes.
“Nah.” Tristan smirks at his cousin. “He’s probably getting just as hard talking about old Faerie history and politics.”
“His loss.” Kian returns his attention back to my bare pussy.
“Yes. Definitely his loss,” Tristan agrees.
Kian stares at me for so long, I start to feel a little self-conscious. A part of me wants to close my legs and hide from his prying gaze. But before that thought can fester, Tristan twists my face and claims my lips with his. At the same moment, Kian buries his face in my cunt and begins to lick.
Tristan kisses me like he wishes to devour me whole. Each flick of his tongue against my own speaks to some deep, dark splice of my soul.
He’s mine.
I whimper against Tristan’s mouth as Kian alternates between prodding at my lips with his tongue and nipping at my engorged clit. One of his fingers slides through my folds.
I break away from Tristan to catch my breath.
“Oh god!” I cry, my focus entirely on the head buried between my legs.
The throbbing need in my core grows hotter and hotter by the second.
Tristan cups both of my breasts and begins to twist my nipples in a way that borders on pain. That, combined with Kian’s sinful mouth, sends me careening towards the edge.
My body lights up brighter than the Vegas strip as I explode, my pussy convulsing, my hips thrusting upwards. Kian laps at my slit through it all.
And when he lifts his head, his cheeks flushed and his mouth sparkling with the evidence of my arousal, I know that I want him.
I want him in a way that’s pure and unencumbered.
I want him in a way that’s gentle and loving.
I want him in a way that seems to defy logic.
I want him in a way I imagine he’s never been wanted before.
I eagerly reach for him, and he comes willingly. There’s nothing timid or unsure about this kiss. I feel wholly and completely consumed. By him, by my feelings for him, by the lust saturating the air between us.
“I want you,” I whisper against his lips, and he freezes above me.
At first, I worry I pushed him too far, too soon, but when I glance into his eyes, I see a spark of hope so potent that my breath catches.
”Are you sure?” He reverently brushes at a loose strand of pink hair, tucking it behind my ear.
“Yes.”
I’m belatedly aware of Tristan sliding himself out from underneath me. He moves so he’s now standing, his cock straining against the fabric of his borrowed pants. I stare at him in surprise, and he offers me a soft smile.
“You can stay,” I begin softly, and Kian nods his agreement.
“I think this is something you two should do on your own.” Tristan leans over me to kiss my forehead. “We’ll have our time, but it’s not today.”
Kian’s eyes glimmer with suppressed emotion. “Thank you, brother.”
Tristan looks as if he wants to say something but simply smiles and ducks out of the room. The door closes with a soft click behind him.
I run the tips of my fingers across Kian’s smooth-shaven jaw. “He loves you. You know that, right?” I whisper.
“He loves you too,” Kian says, and my heart squeezes. “He didn’t leave because he didn’t want you. He left because?—”
“I know.”
Tristan was giving us this moment.
Kian ducks his head until his lips are a breath away from my own. Anticipation flushes my skin.
“He’s not the only one who loves you, angel.” He brushes his lips against mine. Once. Twice. Three times.
“I love you so much, Kian.” Tears prick my eyes.
Kian’s answering smile is dazzling. “You’re my horizon. Nothing exists beyond you for me.”
And then he kisses me, and I swear he’s trying to steal my soul with each swirl of his tongue. I want to tell him there’s no need for that. He already owns it.
I tug on his shirt. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”
He smirks and moves to stand beside the bed. I watch with bated breath, unable to look away, as Kian removes his shirt first, revealing hard, streamlined muscles. My mouth waters, wanting to taste all of that golden skin, and I think I make a whimpering sound low in my throat. His cocky smirk broadens, turning into a full-fledged smile.
And when his hands move to the waistband of his pants and tug them down, I swear all coherent thoughts flee. The monkey in charge of my brain begins pressing random buttons.
It takes me a few tries, but I finally manage to stutter out, “Y-you’re beautiful.”
He wraps a hand around the base of his dick, long and thick. I never thought it was possible for a man to have a perfect cock before. Don’t get me wrong. All of my men—at least the ones that I’ve seen so far—have awesome dicks, but Kian’s is…
Perfect.
The corners of his lips twitch.
“Pot calling the kettle black.”
“You think I’m beautiful?” I don’t know why that question comes out shy and timid instead of flirty the way I intended it to.
Maybe it’s because, beneath all of the bravado and sharp knives, I’m still a girl who wants to be desired and loved. Who wants to be told that she’s perfect the way she is, even with her limitations.
“The most beautiful star that ever graced the sky, more brilliant than the sun and more dazzling than the moon.” He crawls over my body and kisses me. “I love you, angel. I love you in a way that makes me feel stupid and silly and hopeful all at once. I love you in a way that I never thought was real, that I assumed didn’t exist for people like me. I love you in a way that makes me struggle to think of words to say because the English vocabulary isn’t strong enough to articulate what I feel for you. I love you. I love you. I love you.” He punctuates each declaration with a kiss to my overheated flesh. “I don’t have a condom, but I promise I’m clean and?—”
“I’m on the pill.” I dig my fingers into his shoulders.
He lines himself up with my entrance, his eyes never leaving my own, and then slowly slides inside of me. Instinctively, my eyes flutter closed, and I release a loud moan that I’m sure can be heard over the clap of thunder.
“Eyes on me, angel,” Kian instructs. “I want to see you when you fall apart, when your perfect pussy milks my cock for all it’s worth.”
He begins to move, each slide of his length inside of me sending bursts of pleasure spiraling through me. I feel so full, so loved, so adored. That heat coils tight, building in preparation to strike, and all I can do is grip his shoulders and chant his name.
“You feel so good, angel. So perfect. So tight.” He begins to move even faster, each movement of his hips erratic, and I love that I was able to get him to lose control.
One of his hands leaves my hip and settles just above my stomach. At first, I don’t understand what he’s doing, but then I feel it.
“Oh god.”
Even though he’s not touching them, both of my nipples feel as if they’re being stimulated simultaneously. Something begins to flick my clit, but I know it’s not Kian—at least, not physically—because I’m aware of both of his hands and can feel the pressure of them on my skin.
My eyes widen in surprise, and my lips part on a silent scream. It feels so good, almost too good.
A heat I’ve never felt before courses through me like an unrelenting wildfire, fast and dangerous. I don’t even get a chance to warn Kian before I come with a scream, one he quickly muffles with his lips. My pussy squeezes his dick as tremors reverberate through me. He thrusts inside of me two more times before he, too, explodes with a muffled roar, one I chase away with my tongue in his mouth.
When we both come down from our high, we’re breathing heavily, our skin slick with sweat, our cheeks flushed.
Kian slowly, almost reluctantly, pulls out of me and rolls onto his back. I immediately rest my head on his chest and curl against his side. We should probably clean up and then rejoin the others. Figure out what Foster learned from Cadmus.
But neither of us moves.
The silence is serene and comfortable…but also fleeting. This is just the calm before the storm.
We both know that any second now, our worlds could implode. All we can do is hold each other a little tighter, a little closer, and pray we’re strong enough to survive.