Ella
Alec shuffled around Rowan as he moved closer, placing my hand against his abdomen.
His eyes creased at the corners when he smiled—soft, almost fond—but then his hand came up to my throat.
The grip was feather-light, barely there, yet my body clenched around them instinctively.
There was something in the way they held me—close, possessive—while still keeping me on edge, forever a breath away from gasping.
I lost my train of thought when Rowan began to slide me up and down his body again, only this time there were two of them.
Alec’s fingers tightened, squeezing my throat just enough that my hand curled into a fist against his chest. I felt suspended between them as Alec began to move faster, thrusting harder, until the stretch turned into a burn—heat and pain colliding inside me.
Pain that gave me relief from my past.
From my present.
“She’s close,” Nick murmured, reminding me he was still there—sitting beside the bed, watching us.
“Yeah, she’s gonna come on our cocks,” Alec panted.
Rowan’s fingers dug into my waist and hips as he thrust upward.
The tension peaked—then pleasure detonated through me. The pressure around my throat loosened, and I dragged in air desperately, greedily, like it might disappear again.
It hurt as I clenched around them.
It hurt so damn good.
Their frantic movements didn’t stop—not until they flooded my insides like a reward.
I did that.
Me.
The black spots vanished.
Intense hazel eyes stared down at me.
Handsome.
Wicked.
My lashes fluttered before falling shut as hands roamed over my body.
Alec covered me.
So much heat.
So comforting.
I held on.
And sank into the darkness.
Content.
?
?
?
Soft, wet kisses—roughened by the prickle of Alec’s beard—pulled me back to consciousness. I couldn’t have been out long; they were still inside me. Teeth grazed my neck as someone palmed my breast until a sigh slipped free.
“There she is,” Alec murmured when my eyes opened. “Our girl.”
Rowan hummed beneath me, the sound vibrating through my body.
Fingers curled under my chin, tilting my head.
Nick.
His lips closed over mine.
Hunger bled through the kiss as his tongue pressed deep. Alec pulled out, and I moaned at the loss, the sound swallowed between Nick’s mouth and mine.
“Move her onto her back. I want to watch Nick before I move on to her arse,” Alec said.
Nick pulled away, but I didn’t look away from him—not from those bright blue eyes.
Rowan grunted as he lifted me off his cock.
A gush of come slipped from me.
Cold bedding met my back as Nick loomed over me, all height and shadow. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about him had shifted. Those blue eyes weren’t cold anymore.
I didn’t know if that was good.
Or very, very bad.
“Don’t go easy on her,” Rowan chuckled, drawing my attention. “She loves a bit of rough.”
There was nothing malicious in his boyish smile or those warm brown eyes.
He wasn’t wrong.
I heard Alec moving around in the bathroom.
Nick shifted, and my focus drifted to his neck. The black serpent twisted there, inked muscle and menace. I traced my fingers along the curve of its head.
“You’ll be getting one tomorrow,” he said quietly.
My fingers stilled.
“A tattoo?”
“A seal. Our initials. Nothing major,” he added, like it was an afterthought.
Their initials.
R. A. N.
The irony never stopped.
“You want the word ran on me?” I mused. “Like what I should have done when I first met you three.”
“There isn’t a corner in the world you could hide from us,” he growled. “Or maybe we should add our full names. Everywhere.”
“No. The initials are fine,” I said quickly, frowning as the image took shape in my head.
“Alec Calder,” Alec said, climbing onto the bed. “Yes. I like that.”
Rowan Blackwood.
Nick Graves.
“No. No,” I said again, more firmly this time. “The initials are fine.” I swallowed, thinking how big and ugly those brandings would become.
“What about full first names?” Rowan added mildly.
Nick’s smile turned unmistakably nasty.
I cupped his cheeks, smoothing the rough edge of his beard, grounding myself in the familiarity of him.
“The initials are fine,” I whispered.
“Pity,” Nick said, trailing his fingers down my cheek and along my jaw.
If he’d had his way, my body—front and back—would’ve been covered in ink.
They gathered around me.
It wasn’t until much later, when exhaustion dragged me under and sleep crept in heavy and unavoidable, that the truth settled in.
I hadn’t negotiated anything.
I’d agreed to exactly what they wanted—because they’d offered me something worse.
People had the nerve to call women devious.
I was lying in a den of vipers.
“Still awake?” Nick whispered, tightening his arm around me.
I hummed softly. Rowan and Alec were asleep, their breathing slow and even—but they were heavier sleepers than Nick. He was always alert. Always listening. It made him a light sleeper.
“You don’t need to worry about your dad or Eric.”
The words jolted me fully awake.
I almost spoke—but Eric’s vile voice echoed in my head, and instead I rested my hand against Nick’s chest. I was past caring about James Constantine and the endless mess he dragged to my door. Whatever power he once had over me had burned itself out.
I slid my hand up to the warmth of Nick’s neck, inhaled his familiar scent, and closed my eyes.
I guessed I was part of the vipers now.