His cock was hard and full, jutting out in front of him. Audrey knew she’d compare every man she ever met for the rest of her life to the two men in this room. They were the standard by which all others would be judged.
Abrah sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard. He lifted her with ease, settling her on his lap with his erection between them. It pressed against her stomach and the dampness from the head brushed against her skin.
Reaching down, she closed her fingers around his cock. It pulsed hard and hot against her palm, filled with life and promise.
Heroc moved in behind her, his chest pressed against her back, his mouth hot against her nape. He nipped at the flesh, his teeth nibbling the sensitive skin, drawing a moan of pleasure from her. His tongue teased the length of her neck just below her ear and she gasped.
Abrah growled and captured her mouth, kissing the very breath from her body. Desperation filled her and she clung to his shoulders, digging her nails into him. She was surrounded by the two brothers, their strength and their overwhelming presence. But she didn’t feel threatened. She felt safe and secure. Protected. Cherished.
Tears pricked her eyes and she inwardly cursed herself for being so emotional. Three days. She’d only known them for three days but they’d changed her in ways she hadn’t thought possible.
And she had changed them too. In her heart, she knew their lives would never be the same. The echo of loss would follow them all to their dying days.
Chapter Fourteen
Abrah tasted desperation on her lips, felt it in the way her fingers dug into his shoulders. He didn’t understand Audrey. Obviously, she felt something for him and Heroc, so why wouldn’t she stay?
Because this world was foreign to her. Because she would be alone and at the mercy of men here.
He was still reeling over the confession of her past. How could a man leave his wife and child? Abrah couldn’t even imagine such a thing. It was unknown to his culture. If a man died, his brothers and family would care for his woman and child. She would not want for anything.
Her past had tainted her thinking and Abrah knew he was asking the impossible of her. Yet he’d had to ask. He’d offered her his entire wealth, such as it was, but she’d rejected the silver and jewels the same way she’d rejected his home and his heart.
That wasn’t quite true. He’d offered her the wealth but not his heart. That, he’d kept locked up tight in his chest. He could not afford to have it offered and rejected. It would kill him.
He cupped her breasts and thumbed her nipples and she rewarded him with a moan of pleasure. Here in bed, Audrey never held back. She gave of herself freely, offering untold treasures. But it was borrowed treasure.
He couldn’t wait any longer, knowing that the tapestry could appear at any time and steal her away from him. Abrah released her lips and lifted her. “You will remember me,” he promised her. Her nails dug into his flesh as he lifted her and positioned his cock against her opening.
“I will,” she promised, but it was cold comfort.
Abrah met his brother’s gaze and saw the sorrow there. Heroc no longer believed. It was a deep blow to see the hope bleed from his brother’s eyes.
He pulled Audrey downward and gritted his teeth as his cock forged inward. She was tight, but wet and warm. Welcoming.
It was a lie. She might welcome his body but nothing else. She would not risk more and stay.
Abrah tilted back his head and roared his pain to the heavens.
Heroc did not want to think about the coming night. He wanted this moment to last forever. He pressed his cock against Audrey’s warm, supple spine, clasped her hips in his hands. She’d brought life to his home and to his heart.
And she was leaving.
There was nothing left to be done. Abrah had shocked him by offering Audrey their small treasury. That was held in keeping, to be used for only the direst of emergencies. They produced all they needed to survive, but the silver and jewels would see them through any dark times. To offer it to Audrey was as deep a declaration of love as Heroc could imagine his brother giving.
He wondered if Audrey even realized that.
To Abrah the well-being of the people came first. Always. To offer the wealth of their entire holdings to her was unprecedented. It also told him how deeply Abrah cared for her.
His brother’s cry of pain echoed off the walls. Desperation seized Heroc and he wrapped his arm around Audrey’s waist, trying to anchor her to him, to his home and to his life.
He buried his face in the curve of her neck and inhaled her sweet scent. She smelled of the soap she’d used in her bath and he knew he’d never be able to use that blend again. It would forever remind him of Audrey.
Audrey’s heart beat faster than a runaway train and her lungs were struggling to get enough air. Abrah’s cry was filled more with pain than pleasure. She was hurting him and Heroc. She hadn’t meant to. She bit her bottom lip to keep from echoing his cry.
His cock filled her, stretching her pussy, but there was more pain than pleasure. Not physical pain, but the ache of loss, of separation even though they were joined in the most intimate way.
She ran her hands over his wide shoulders, down his muscular biceps and across his thick chest. She wanted to touch him everywhere, to memorize every inch of his body.
There was so much about Abrah she didn’t know. There hadn’t been much time to talk and he hadn’t exactly been offering. Heroc was the more open of the two and even he was quiet now.
Their harsh breathing and the occasional moan were the only sounds in the room. There were no words of love, no offer of comfort, only the physical act of coming together.
Heroc’s hand slipped low and he found her clit, pressing it with his forefinger. She began to move, undulating her lower body to find the most pleasure. Abrah was still inside her, letting her motions rock them to oblivion.
She cried out, her entire body clenching. Warmth flooded her core.
Abrah gave a roar and before she realized what was happening, he had her flat on her back and was pounding into her. Sweat beaded his forehead as he thrust heavily. She clung to his forearms, helpless against the storm of his passion.
He yelled again and she felt the hard jerk of his cock as he came. When he was done, he pulled out and flopped onto his back. He’d barely left her when Heroc was over her, supporting his weight on his forearms.
“Audrey.” He said her name and nothing more as he slid into her. The sensitive tissues were swollen and tender, but he forged inward and her pussy rippled around him, accepting him easily.
Heroc’s possession wasn’t quite as frantic as his brother’s had been, but was no less powerful. He flexed his hips over and over, thrusting in and out, claiming her as his own, making a place for himself in her body and heart. Muscles rippled along his shoulders and arms as he continued his relentless pace.
Audrey felt buffeted by the winds of passion, unable to stop her reactions. Her pussy clenched around his cock, clasping it tight. He drove home one final time and she was thrust into another orgasm that rocked her to her soul.
Heroc threw back his head, teeth gritted, thick cords of his neck tense. His cock jerked as he found release. When it was over, he did what his brother had done and rolled off her to lie on her other side.
This time had been different. She understood that now. The other times they’d come together they’d been making love. This was about sex, pure and simple. It was a physical joining tinged with desperation—an act of goodbye.
Audrey missed the closeness of the other times even though she understood the need for separation. She shivered, cold to her bones, even though the room was warm.