Chapter Twenty-Two
L andon tightened his grip on my upper thigh, squeezing so tightly I wanted to cry. Not because it hurt. Because it echoed one word through my head.
No.
I waited to hear it. Expected it to come quickly.
But it never came.
He teased his touch closer to where I needed it, and gave me a quiet order, “Open your eyes.”
I obeyed.
Onyx eyes burning in the dim moonlight met mine. Max stared at me with his jaw set, lips pressed into a line.
“Max, I?—”
Landon jumped to explain. “She can’t sleep. Her body is too wound up. She needs?—”
“Yeah.” Max grunted, his heated gaze flicking to Landon’s over my head. “I took the same sex ed class you did, dipshit.”
He moved like he was going to leave.
But when Landon sank two fingers inside me, I let out a deep, satisfied moan. His thumb grazed my clit, and my eyes rolled back.
Max locked his on me. “Do that again.”
His gruff voice issuing a command sent a shiver down my spine. I bucked my hips into Landon’s palm, telling him what I needed. Begging for him to give it.
Landon complied willingly, eagerly stroking my inner walls. Slowly working his fingers over my clit. Until the sounds coming out of my mouth were needy, desperate cries, as my one hand clawed at Landon’s hip and I fisted the other in Max’s shirt.
“Max, please…”
He growled, glaring at Landon before cupping my face in his hands. Kissing my forehead, he pulled back. Pinning me with a stare I felt down to my toes.
“This doesn’t mean I’m okay with what happened earlier. You got me?”
I swallowed past the dryness in my throat and nodded. “I got you.”
Pressing a quick kiss to my lips, he didn’t linger. His point loud and clear as he peppered kisses along my jaw before greedily attacking my neck.
He was giving me what I needed, but he still needed more.
But before I could overthink that, Max tugged the neck of my sleep shirt down. Tearing it off my shoulder. Exposing my collarbone, so he could nip and suck his way to my breasts.
I arched my back, seeking out his mouth. Threading my fingers through his hair. And crying out as the heat of his eager mouth latched over my nipple.
The vortex of molten heat from Max’s mouth mixed with the pulse of deep, steady thrusts from Landon’s hand nearly sent me over the edge.
But I wanted more.
I brought my hand up to cover Max’s palm, squeezing his fingers and tugging them away from my breasts.
He tensed, just for a second, but realizing what I wanted, he let me lead his hand between my legs.
Entering uncharted territory, at least for me, I went with my gut, focusing on what I wanted.
I held my breath the entire time.
But I needed him, too.
Either too focused on his task to notice or committed to doing whatever it took to get me there, Landon didn’t stop. Not even when I lay Max’s hand over his. He kept the pace and pressure of his hand exactly how I needed it.
Max narrowed his eyes over my head, but whatever he saw on Landon’s face wiped away any remaining hesitation. He stared down at me, his free hand gripping my chin.
“That’s what you like, Princess?”
I nodded, my walls clenching around Landon’s fingers at the sound of Max’s voice.
As soon as Max moved his hand in time with his, Landon slipped his away, running between my cheeks and flattening along the length of my spine. He arched my back until my breasts pressed against Max’s chest.
Fingers racing down my spine, he slapped my ass.
My hips jolted, and Max growled, glancing sharply at Landon. A low moan reverberated in my throat, drawing his eyes back to me.
I bent my neck, extending it far enough to loll onto Landon’s shoulder.
But I kept my eyes on Max.
Until Landon thrust his fingers back inside me.
My eyes rolled back in my head again. I clenched around him, everything coiling tightly inside me. Winding like a spring seconds from releasing.
As Max massaged my clit, Landon crooked his fingers. Pounding the spot he knew would make me lose control. Hammering my G-spot until I cried out. I screamed.
It overwhelmed me, and everything released. A sob tore out of me as I came all over his hand.
But drenched with my desire, they just worked harder.
Fingers coated with my release, Landon withdrew them from my pussy, and I whimpered at the sudden loss. Until I felt him sliding back, slathering my wetness between my cheeks. Lubricating my ass with my desire. And easing his finger inside me.
Even just the tip of it had my body shaking.
He pulled out, only long enough to lift my leg. Opening my body up for him, and I expected him to bring my knee back over his. Like he had so many times before.
But when he draped my leg over Max’s, my inner walls clenched. I hooked my leg over his body, my hips rocking back and forth. So empty without either of them.
Needy for them .
Picking up where he left off, Landon eased one finger back inside me. He gently pumped it in and out, his pace painstakingly slow. This hadn’t been high on my list of things to try out after my first experience, but every one since had left me wanting more. Landon knew exactly what I needed, exactly how to make me beg for more.
When my body relaxed, Landon nodded against my head. Then, Max curved his fingers down and filled me, too. His palm kept pressure on my clit as he stretched me wide. The size of his fingers, and the combination of them both inside me, widened my eyes.
“Oh, god.”
I tightened my grip on Max’s shirt, clawing at the fabric to drag his body close. Arching my head back as far as it would possibly go. Trying to get closer to Landon at the same time. My body shook as, together, they drove me toward climax.
Together, they made me shatter.
Landon recognized it first, and with his free hand, twisted my neck to face him. Dark amber eyes, pupils blown with lust, he drank in my reaction as my desire peaked. His hand never stopped pushing me over the edge as he slowly leaned in to kiss me.
And I let him.
When his lips brushed mine, tentative and soft at first, everything resurfaced. Everything I felt for him came rushing in, the force of it crashing through my chest. He deepened our kiss, his lips firm and somehow trembling at the same time. A deep moan rumbled in the back of his throat, fusing with the choked sob I tried to hold back in mine.
He swept the sadness away with the urgent sweep of his tongue, cresting the need I’d tried to force down with the soft thrusts of his hips. His body moving in time with his fingers and mouth drove out thoughts of anything but how it felt when we connected.
He kissed me as if he’d never stop.
And when finally he released me, because we couldn’t breathe, he bared everything he’d been hiding in his eyes. I felt it then, how strong this thing between us had become, and how even the secrets couldn’t truly break it.
It didn’t change that I needed answers.
But that didn’t change how I felt about him, either.
It couldn’t.
And as a word I wasn’t ready to voice filtered through my head, my heart pulled toward the other one stealing a piece of it. The one watching Landon and I kiss with a mix of lust and fury blazing in his pitch-black gaze.
My Dark Knight with a soft side. The one whose darkness wasn’t really darkness at all, but a cover shielding the light in his heart. A light I craved as much as any other part of him.
As much as anyone else.
So quickly.
It happened so quickly. As if they’d been waiting, here at Camelot Court, for me to find them. As if my hatred had been a shield to keep me from diving in too quickly.
“Max.”
In the grips of climax, I couldn’t get the words out.
My orgasm pulsed through me in waves from my head down to my toes, hips riding their hands as they continued to draw it out. Each wave ebbed into the start of the next, and I let go, nearly reaching what I’d felt one other time. Standing on the edge of oblivion.
But my mind clung to how Max held back, even as the thrust of his fingers grew stronger.
Landon whispered in my ear, clearly loud enough that he wanted Max to hear. “I’ll kiss you as long as you’ll let me, if he’s too stubborn to do it.”
I couldn’t even laugh at Max’s answering growl. It tore out of him, and I couldn’t do anything but cry out as Max crushed his lips to mine.
He kissed me like he wanted to leave a mark.
Like he didn’t know it was already there. He savored my mouth like he’d been starving. And consumed me like he would never stop.
Slowing his hand, he coaxed me through the final waves of climax with his kiss. And I knew he was right. I was keeping secrets. Lying to myself about how I felt about him.
About both of them.
Right there, in that moment, I couldn’t run from the truth.
And it didn’t scare me.
I slowly relaxed.
Landon eased his touch away first, kissing my shoulder as I whimpered against Max’s lips.
He trailed kisses down my back, my neck, and my shoulders. Burying his face in my hair, he drew in a long, deep inhale. Landon’s fingers never left my skin, drawing circles like they always did, soothing me as I came down from the impossible high they’d given me.
When my body settled fully, Max withdrew his hand. He kissed me one last time, a long and slow sweep of his tongue caressing mine, before he pulled back. Resting his forehead on mine, he nuzzled my nose with his and closed his eyes.
The flutter of his eyelashes drew mine shut.
I nestled between them, drained, but with my heart and body sated.
Maybe later, I’d deflect from the huge feelings I’d just admitted to in my head. Blame the hormones and endorphins. Blame the lack of sleep and intensity of finally having them both with me.
But right then, I couldn’t deny it.
I’d fallen down the rabbit hole way deeper than I’d ever planned to go…And I didn’t regret it.
I couldn’t choose. Couldn’t pretend my heart didn’t want them both. I didn’t know how that would work, if it was crazy or stupid to even think about it. I didn’t care at that moment.
They felt like mine.
That was the last thought in my head before I fell asleep.