15 LONNIE
THE INN, THE VILLAGE OF FORLORN
The air felt heavy and charged with unspoken tension as we entered the dim, grimy bathing room.
The room was small and cramped, less than half the size of the too-small bedroom. The wallpaper was peeling in places, and only decorated by a cracked mirror hanging above a dingy sink. The large circular bathtub in the center of the room was rusted beyond all belief, but I didn’t care. It could have been a worm-infested hole in the floor, and I still would’ve seriously considered using it to wash the grime from my skin.
To my immense relief, the water ran clear and hot when I turned on the rusted faucet. I stepped back, waiting for the tub to fill, then flushed when I felt the eyes of both princes on me.
It seemed foolish to request they turn around while I undressed, but equally embarrassing to simply strip my clothes off while they watched. A blush immediately heated my cheeks at the unbidden thought of having them both watching me, perhaps joining me in the water at the same time…
“Everything alright?”
Bael asked, a hint of humor in his tone.
I nodded, but couldn’t answer as my mouth had gone impossibly dry. I forced a deep breath and clenched my jaw to keep from trembling as I turned away. My hands shook as I hastily stripped off my grime-covered clothes.
I avoided meeting anyone’s gaze, but could sense the weight of their stares on my back. My breathing turned uneven and my heart raced with a mix of nervousness and excitement as I swiftly slid into the bathtub.
The tense atmosphere and lack of conversation made it clear that they were silently communicating once again, then slow footsteps echoed through the room. Bael walked around to stand in front of me beside the tub. He looked down pointedly, possessive hunger in his gaze. I resisted the urge to cover myself, and was reminded strongly of the first time he’d stood beside my bathtub, and how pointedly different this felt—still torturous, but now in an entirely different way.
Bracing his hands on the sides of the tub, he leaned down until our faces were level and mere inches apart. His yellow eyes locked onto mine, and he raised one hand to run his thumb across my bottom lip. “What are you thinking about, little monster?”
My eyes widened with mortification, as I recalled that they could likely smell even the barest hint of my arousal. I shook my head, wishing I could simply say “nothing”
and instead finding no words to describe my thoughts. “Nothing important.”
“Liar.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but he pressed his thumb between my lips and instead I let out a deep moan. I swirled my tongue around it, sucking the salt from his skin. He groaned in response.
Our mouths were so close, I could almost taste his lips without even moving. A current pulsed through every inch of my skin as he grasped my chin in his strong hand, and leaned further over the water to drag his tongue over my bottom lip.
I opened to the kiss, hungry and desperate, and wound my fingers into his curls. His lips moved against mine with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine, igniting a heat within me that only grew with each passing moment.
“Are you going to join me?”
I asked, my mouth dry.
His eyes rolled upwards to gaze at the ceiling, as if he was desperately searching for the willpower to resist. He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, little monster.”
“Why?”
I asked, knowing I sounded needy. Desperate.
His expression was slightly pained, and he pulled back from me. “I’m already far too happy with you,”
he confessed. “And if you keep looking at me like that, I don’t care if it destroys me, I won’t be able to resist the urge to claim you as mine.”
My eyes went wide, even as I heard the creak of the door. I whipped my head around, to see Scion halfway out into the hall. Fuck.
I hadn’t meant to ignore him, in fact, even now it was impossible to decide whom I would prefer more.
“Wait,”
I called sharply. I looked between them, helpless, my heart pounding as if I were on the brink of leaping from a cliff.
“No,”
Scion’s shoulders sagged and his head hung low, his usually confident posture now hunched and defeated. “I’m not your mate. I shouldn’t be here.”
Bael scoffed in disbelief. His expression had changed from one of arousal to annoyance in an instant, his brows furrowing and his lips thinning into a tight line. “And what’s made you so sure of that?”
“How can you ask me that?”
Scion’s eyes widened, as if it were already obvious. “Look at her.”
“I am,”
Bael snapped back. “It’s a bit late to claim modesty, don’t you think? I can smell you all over each other. I can see the marks on both your necks?—”
“—and yet you and I are still breathing,”
Scion cut him off. “So whatever you’re thinking, you’re wrong.”
My breath caught and my mouth fell open. A shred of doubt crept into my mind, as I realized for the first time that Scion and I had done exactly what Bael was warning against…hadn’t we? Hadn’t we marked each other, shared blood, and yet nothing seemed any different. Yet, even as I thought that, my pulse seemed to throb beneath the mark on my throat. My entire body tingled with a sudden awareness that seemed to embed itself in my chest.
“What does he mean?”
I asked Bael. “What are you thinking?”
He shifted his gaze back to mine, but his expression was unreadable. “What I’ve been trying to tell both of you for weeks. It’s not only you and I who are meant to be together, it’s you two. The way you’ve always been mine, little monster, you’ve really been ours.”
My eyes widened and words failed me. Was that right? Was it even possible to have more than one mate?
Yes, I thought, answering my own question. It had to be, because I’d heard stories about it. Queen Aisling, for one, had three mates. But then, she was a Fae queen, and I was…just me.
“You’re delusional,”
Scion snapped at Bael, his voice breaking through my haze of wonderment. “If that were true, then you and I wouldn’t be here to discuss it, would we? There’s no fated bond here, and no excuses.”
He laughed humorlessly. “I don’t understand why you haven’t tried to kill me yet.”
“I think you’re too fucking neurotic to be happy,”
Bael hissed at his cousin. “I’d always assumed I was the more fucked up of the two of us, but at least I can recognize my own damn emotions.”
Scion straightened, his face morphing back into its usual mask of arrogant rage. “Careful.”
“No, I won’t.”
Bael snapped. “You won’t do shit no matter what I say. You can’t hurt me because it would hurt her, and you can’t do that, can you?”
Scion spluttered, words seeming to fail him.
“I’m almost jealous,”
Bael continued, “that you seem to have found a way to circumvent a generations-long curse, but I could never hope to be so inherently miserable that I could claim my own mate and not know it.”
“That can’t be right,”
Scion replied, his voice rising in frustration.
“No?”
Bael laughed without humor. “I’ve been watching how you two look at each other for weeks and all I want is for you to get over yourselves and admit what’s fucking obvious to everyone around you.”
“And what’s that?”
Scion demanded.
“You’re in love with her,”
Bael practically shouted. “It’s so fucking obvious, Sci. Everyone can see it. Everyone knows except you, and you,”
he looked at me, and I reeled back, not having expected to be addressed directly in what seemed to be a fight between them alone.
“I don’t?—”
“You don’t know?”
Bael interrupted, sounded almost mocking. “Then explain how I can’t even think about anyone else looking at you without being ready to murder them, but you’re naked right now, practically begging to be fucked, and the only thing bothering me is how we’re all going to fit in that tub.”
I blinked in complete and utter shock. His frustration had clearly been simmering for some time, and he’d reached a boiling point without my ever noticing there was a problem. This had gone way too far.
I looked over at Scion, and tried to keep my voice as calm as possible. “Shut the door.”
“Gladly,”
Scion hissed, taking a step further into the hall.
“No.”
I stopped him with the command in my tone. “Shut the door and come over here.”
Bael reached down and ran a hand through my hair, petting me as if to silently apologize for raising his voice. I leaned into his hand.
Scion watched from the doorway, one hand gripping the frame, his body halfway in and halfway out of the room. His eyes were downcast and his face contorted, like whatever was going on in his head had completely broken him. “Rebel…”
he breathed, his tone turning almost pleading. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
I replied mercilessly.
Bael twisted his fingers more firmly through my hair. “Because somewhere deep down he knows one day the bond will break through even his damaged fucking psyche, and he’ll end up killing us both just to be with you.”
Gods, that shouldn’t have sounded so hot. He was talking about their death, but all I could focus on was the way my pulse throbbed between my legs at the idea of owning anyone so completely.
“That’s not why,”
Scion said doggedly, even as he stepped back inside and shut the door behind him. He fixed his too-intense gaze on me, and his silver eyes flashed with rage. “Do I have to fuck you again to prove there’s no bond here?”
My chest screamed as I struggled to take in a breath. My thighs clenched, as I grew wetter at just the idea of that. I knew he wanted me to reject him—to turn away in disgust—just as he’d tried to force me to be the one to say no in the barn.
Just like he’d been trying to push me away since the very beginning.
I forced myself to keep my tone even, my face neutral. “Yes, my lord.”
I turned away, waiting for what he would do.
Bael looked down at me with something like approval, as behind me, I heard the now familiar clanging of metal and the dull thud of discarded armor hitting the ground. My heart raced as the distinct click of Scion’s heels echoed through the room. I held my breath as each step brought him closer.
My pulse throbbed harder between my legs, and I twisted to see Scion step up beside the tub, his intense gaze locking with mine. He was entirely naked, and already half-hard. I licked my lips, and his gaze darkened, following the path of my tongue with his eyes. “Slide forward, Rebel.”
I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, but he was already lifting one foot and sliding his leg into the warm water. I scrambled to make room for him, splashing in my haste.
Settling behind me, he sank deeper into the bath, his arms flung out to the sides, and he let out a deep sigh as he tilted his head back against the cool porcelain. My mouth went dry, even as wetness pooled between my legs.
Smirking, Scion pulled me backwards until I relaxed against his chest. I could feel the warmth of his body even hotter than the bathwater. He hummed contentedly and his breath tickled my neck, making me shiver.
I could hardly believe that Scion was going along with this. He must truly believe that we were not meant to be bound together. I couldn’t wrap my mind around that idea, and wasn’t sure what I wanted to be true.
If he was also my mate, then this was incredibly dangerous and if not, then what was I thinking?
Doubts and questions tangled together in my mind, and I craned my neck to meet Scion’s gaze. I opened my mouth to ask what he was thinking, when the words died when the warm press of his lips made every muscle in my body loose and malleable. I couldn’t help but whimper at the sensation, craving more.
I bit down on his lip hard enough to draw blood, and Scion let out a feral sound from deep within his throat. Our kiss became more aggressive as he fought for control. He dug his fingers into my thighs, spreading them wider beneath the water and causing a delicious pain that only added to the heat pooling between my legs. He ran delicate fingers over my core, and I moaned into his mouth as I felt him grow harder against my ass.
Next to the bathtub, Bael let out a low growl as he watched Scion’s fingers dance over my clit. My attention shifted to him, and he quickly removed his shirt with one fluid movement.
My eyes went wide, and I couldn’t help but stare at the white, vine-like tattoos that traced his toned chest, and disappeared into the waistband of his trousers. I’d seen every inch of him before, traced my tongue over those hard muscles, yet the sight still had me pressing my thighs together.
He smirked down at me and ran his hand through his tousled red-blonde hair before taking another step closer. Bael leaned forward again, bracing holding himself over the water by the edges of the tub. His lips closed around my breast, and a jolt of pleasure shot through me. I gasped and arched my back, desperate for more.
His hand slid down to the front of his trousers and gripped his own hard cock through the fabric, as he flicked his tongue over my nipple. My eyes fixed on the movement, and I struggled to form coherent words while Scion’s fingers expertly teased and stroked my sensitive clit. My exhaustion seemed to evaporate, and I completely forgot everything except my pounding pulse. I needed one of them inside me, now.
“Are you sure you won’t join us?”
I asked Bael, my mouth dry.
He smiled wickedly, but shook his head. “No, little monster…I don’t need any help to realize the hold you have on me.”
I made a pleading sound in my throat, and Scion seemed to understand. He lifted me with ease and switched our positions so that I straddled his lap. I gripped the edge of the bath and my breath hitched as I moved to settle onto his hard length beneath me. Except, he gripped my hips holding me off him, and looked me in the eye.
This felt vastly different from the first time. In the barn, it was hot and frenzied, whereas now my heart squeezed, and his gaze lit me on fire, saying everything without a single word.
Keeping his gaze locked with mine, his hands firmly grasped my hips, guiding me down and impaling me on his cock. A sharp gasp escaped my lips as I felt the exhilarating fullness inside me. Rising up on my knees, I began to ride him, feeling every inch deep within me.
He buried his face in my neck, as if he too felt the need to hide from the intense emotions that were passing between us. His breath tickled my skin, and I fought to hold on to myself as the awareness in my chest seemed to heighten.
Blindly, I reached a hand behind me, feeling for Bael, wanting both of them touching me.
Bael’s footsteps echoed as he circled the large, claw-footed tub and leaned over Scion’s shoulder to kiss me gently on the lips. “You look so pretty like this.”
I moaned into his mouth and reached out to palm him through his pants. Following my lead, Bael pulled away and took his cock out, to run the tip of himself over my lips. I opened, taking him down my throat. He closed his eyes as if in pain as I flicked my tongue, tasting all of him.
I sucked hard, making Bael moan as Scion gripped my hips harder. I could feel his fingers dig into the soft flesh of my ass. He guided my body up and down with force, grinding my clit against him with every stroke and causing me to bounce and the water to splash out onto the floor.
My entire being quivered in anticipation, my breaths quickening as an intense wave of pleasure began to rise in my lower belly.
Bael threaded his hands through my hair, pulling hard until I looked up at him, my lips still wrapped around his cock.
“Give me your hands,”
he said, his voice strangled.
I raised an eyebrow in silent question, and licked the tip of my tongue over his throbbing tip.
“Let me hold your hands,”
he said more urgently. “Unless you want to burn this inn to the ground.”
My shocked jolt had me pulling back, wanting to ask any number of questions, but he gripped my hair and held my head in place.
I reached up and held out my hands for Bael to hold onto, as Scion guided me to go faster. Electric tingles coursed through my limbs and I arched my back, meeting every thrust with a soft moan. It was as if his touch was setting off an explosion inside me, and I couldn’t tell whether it was madness or pure ecstasy coursing through my veins.
My breathing turned uneven, and Bael squeezed my hands so hard it was painful, as a final wave of pleasure crashed over me. I screamed silently, my vision going white as my legs shook uncontrollably.
Spurred on by my release, both men spilled inside me. I swallowed hard, and then finally slumped forward against Scion’s chest.
Bael reached out to pet the top of my head. I felt the soft brush of his fingers through my hair, and a tingling sensation spread down my scalp. “You’re perfect, little monster.”
I felt Scion suck in a deep breath and hold it. I didn’t dare to even try to look at him, afraid of what might happen if we saw too much in each other’s eyes. Instead, I closed my eyes and listened to the frantic sound of all our hearts beating out of sync with each other.
An intense feeling of contentment washed over me, and in that moment, two things became incredibly clear:
First, that I would never be able to choose between them because both were wholly and completely mine; my mates. My everything.
And second, I had to leave them.