“Let’s go to your apartment,” she said. It had the warm memories of their last round of lovemaking. She led the way, and her men fell into step behind her. No, that wasn’t how she wanted to start things. They’d already proven they would listen to her, follow her. She reached back blindly, and they each took one of her hands, moving up to walk beside her. Yes, that was better. Right. What she really wanted. A Triad should be a bonding of equals, a perfect balance of three lives, powers and energies.
She’d never had such a bond, but she was willing to see if it was possible with them. They’d risked everything to help her save the Russian girls from Bruno. If they’d blown the case because of that, it could have ended ugly. Samael didn’t harbor fools. Her partners trusted her to do what she was supposed to, and it would be the worst kind of betrayal to reward that by abandoning them. She’d had that happen to her, and while they may not be bonded yet, she couldn’t do that to someone else, especially two men who had captured her heart in so short an amount of time.
The elevator they’d had sex in earlier carried them up the many floors to the men’s apartment. None of them said a word. Was that a good sign or a bad one? She wasn’t sure.
Kobal prowled nervously once they were inside, going from the kitchen to the living room window and back again. Raum went to the bathroom to wash the blood from his nose and put on a clean shirt. When he returned, Kobal glanced from her to Raum, who dropped onto the couch. He ran a hand through his dark hair, still looking a little shell-shocked. “Are you sure?”
“You don’t have to do this now if you don’t want to.” Kobal gestured at Raum and himself. “I think I can speak for both of us when I say we’re willing to wait.”
His partner nodded in agreement.
She took a deep breath, knowing she was going to have to explain her sudden change of heart before they’d understand that she meant it. It was one thing for them to be open to the bond, but they had to worry that she’d be open to it after what she’d told them about her past. The way to put it into words eluded her. It didn’t make sense. It was a gut-level, emotional response. She’d felt love before, but had been so swept up in her newfound connection that she’d loved the wrong kind of man. The logical side of her had decided that to avoid that pain again, she had to deny love. But they’d changed that. They’d changed everything, just by being themselves.
But how to express it in a way that made any kind of sense? She opened her mouth. “I love you.”
She shocked them. She could see it in their expressions. Hell, she’d shocked herself. She hadn’t expected to say it—holding back, what she hadn’t been able to do with Shax. But they deserved better than that. A bond shouldn’t start with distrust.
She knew herself better now—she wasn’t the same demon she was when she’d first come topside. Trial by fire would do that to a person. She was a lot stronger, tempered by that fire into something unbreakable. She was strong enough to give herself to a bond again. The essential part of her would be the only thing she kept back. The rest she’d offer in the bond. Yes. That was right. It felt good. She could do this.
Fear would no longer rule her life, stunt her growth, keep her from experiencing everything she truly wanted. A weight that had rested on her chest for so long she’d forgotten what it was like not to have it pressing down on her crumbled to nothing. Her own self-doubt. She was strong enough, confident enough to let go of control.
The silence lengthened as they stared at each other.
“I love you too.” Both men said it, their voices husky with emotion.
She smiled, pure, sweet joy bursting inside her. Tears blurred her vision, and one trailed down her cheek. “Say it again.”
Raum rose slowly from the sofa, and she felt Kobal close in behind her, their heat surrounding her. The dark-haired man bent forward until his lips were a hairsbreadth from hers. “I love you, Maron. And I love you, Kobal.”
“I love you both,” Kobal whispered, his breath brushing her ear. “Why do you think we went to Samael and asked him to partner us with you? It wasn’t just because we wanted a female. We wanted you. Neither of us could get you out of our blood after that night we were together. We knew we’d found what we were looking for, and every second since has only been more convincing. We’re good together. In bed and out of it. We want you to be ours. We want a Triad.”
“With you,” Raum rumbled. “Only you make this work. No one else fits us the way you do.”
She shivered in reaction. Yes. A circle of emotion that kept cycling and building. Forever. The three of them balanced each other. “I love you both. No one else has ever made me believe it was possible to get over what Shax did, what I let Shax do to me. But you aren’t him, and I’m not who I was. It’s time to look to the future instead of the past, and I want that future to be with the two of you. I don’t want to wait. I’m ready now. I want to bond with you too. I want a Triad.”
Raum groaned and swooped in to capture her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, thrusting her tongue between his lips. The taste of him was just as intoxicating as ever, the feel of them more sinfully delicious than anything she’d ever dreamed of. And they were hers. Or they would be. Soon. The thought of bonding with them sent a zing of longing through her, not a hint of fear.
“This will be more comfortable on a bed.” Kobal’s hands slid across her shoulders and down her back until he cupped her buttocks. “And I’m going to have your ass like I promised yesterday.”
Cream flooded her pussy at his words, and she moaned into Raum’s mouth. Lifting her off her feet, Raum carried her into the bedroom. She hooked her legs around his trim waist, grinding her clit against him with every step, wanting that carnal friction. Their clothing hampered her, and she growled in frustration, pulling her lips away from his. “I want us naked.”
“Your wish is my command.” Kobal chuckled and tossed back the covers on the bed before Raum laid her out on the mattress. She watched them undress themselves and each other.
Raum hauled Kobal forward and kissed him, their mouths fusing, tongues twining. It was just as erotic as the first time she’d seen it, and the link between them now let her feel how much they enjoyed it, how much they liked it that she got to see them. Kobal pushed Raum’s shirt up and over his head, bending forward to lick the other man’s nipple, working it with teeth and tongue until Raum rocked his hips in helpless abandon.
Maron’s nipples tightened in response, and she pinched them, twisting them a little as Kobal did the same to Raum. The sparks of need flashing through the slender bond between them was beyond erotic, but it wasn’t enough.
“Naked,” she whispered.
Tugging Kobal’s shirt out of his pants, Raum simply ripped the garment in half and threw it over his shoulder. Then he went to work on the blond’s zipper. Kobal did the same with his partner, and they were soon nude. One dark, one light, both gorgeous and muscled and rock hard with lust. Kobal stroked Raum’s cock, pumping it in his fist while Raum’s face flushed and his head fell back. Dropping to his knees, Kobal slid his tongue around the swollen head, still stroking the shaft.
She flicked open her jeans, sliding her hand inside to tease her clit. She could feel the heaviness of her sex, the wetness that slicked her flesh. She’d never been so turned on in her life. “Suck him, Kobal.”
That was all the permission they seemed to need. Raum groaned, burying his hand in the blond’s hair for leverage as he fucked his mouth. Kobal sucked him in long strokes, taking him deep with each strong pull. He cupped the dark demon’s balls, rolling them between his fingers. Maron swallowed at the sensual display and plunged her hand into her sex in time with Kobal’s sucking. She loved watching, loved how they moved together. And they loved it too. Each of them glanced at her every few moments, drawing her into the experience. She bucked her hips up to meet her plunging fingers, so on edge that she might explode from her skin any moment. But that wasn’t how she wanted it, so she forced herself to stillness. “Don’t come yet, Raum. I want you to come inside me.”