“Can you fix this? These two obviously have no desire to be my mates, and I don’t want to be with anyone who is being forced. As it stands, I can’t be crowned with them still a part of the bond, so can you sever it?” I ask frankly, and she gapes at me, looking slightly horrified.
“You want me to sever the mate bonds? That will cause you immense pain,” she warns, though she doesn’t admit if it’s something she can do.
I shrug. “Probably no worse than what their emotional detachment is doing right now. My chest hurts with the need to bond with them, and it hurts even more every time they say something against it.”
“No!” Nox exclaims, lunging toward me. Titus does the same thing. When the three of us collide, I feel a lurching motion, and I squeeze my eyes shut, my stomach rolling with nausea.
When it stops, I open my eyes and don’t recognize where I am. Gone is the dining room and my mates, Father, and goddess, and in its place is an opulent bedroom with elegant furnishings and a massive bed with luxurious bedding and a mountain of pillows. It’s surrounded by gauzy curtains and so many plants, it’s like a tropical greenhouse in here. I don’t even know where to look, but then something catches my eye. In the plants, at the top of the four-poster bed, I see something slither. It’s bright blue with beady eyes and a tongue that flicks in and out, and it’s definitely not a vine.
“Where the fuck are we?” Nox asks, grabbing his head.
I point to what I think is a snake amongst the foliage. “What the fuck is that? And why the hell are we here?” I demand, taking a step away from the bed.
“My room. I thought it would be better if we discussed this privately without any interference from anyone else.” Titus brushes past us, peeling numerous weapons from his body and placing them on a cluttered desk on one side of the room, as well as tugging off the gloves covering his hands. “And that is Fluffy, my Shaylian tree viper.” He reaches out to run a finger over the top of the snake’s head. The snake arches into him just like a cat, his eyes slitted with pleasure. I wrinkle my nose.
“You named your snake Fluffy?” Nox asks incredulously.
“You know, I was willing to put up with Stormheart and his psychotic ways, but I draw the line at a pet snake,” I tell them flatly, crossing my arms, and Nox’s eyes brighten at the mention of his blasted cat. “Why are we here?”
“You asked the goddess to sever our bond,” Titus growls, facing me and crossing his arms.
I scoff. “Both of you have made it perfectly clear that neither of you want to be mated to me. So what if I asked her to remove the bond? I thought you’d be happier that way, and what was that comment before? How do you two know each other?” I ask him, and Nox stalks up to Titus and stabs his chest with a finger. I have a feeling Titus is letting him. I doubt many get to lay a finger on the assassin spy.
“Did you know who I was when we hooked up?” Nox asks, and my eyebrows jump in surprise. Well, this just got interesting, but I keep the scowl on my face for now and stay quiet. I don’t want to interrupt.
“Of course I did. I wouldn’t disrespect my mate by cheating outside the mating bond. I assumed since Gem and Gryffin hook up, she wouldn’t have a problem if others did.” He tilts his head to the side, staring at Nox with cold eyes. “But you didn’t feel the same way. You were happy to go outside the mate bond.”
“Hey, whoa, no. My necklace blocks most of the bond. I didn’t know for sure if our mate had been marked. All I knew was my bond mark throbbed more than usual. I put it down to the magic of the necklace wearing off,” he claims, panic in his tone. Nox looks at me with imploring eyes. “I swear.”
I shrug, not feeling sympathetic to his plea. “You’re kind of preaching to the wrong person. You already slept with me before you knew I was a shifter. You weren’t interested in saving yourself for your mate.” I sigh, deciding to give him a little grace. “But don’t sweat it. None of the others were celibate either. I wouldn’t have expected any of them to be until their mate appeared and they knew for sure.”
He heaves out a sigh of relief.
“But none of that matters if neither of you want to be mated to me. I can’t be crowned with unsolidified bonds, which is why I asked Aramis to sever them. I refuse to give up my crown,” I explain unapologetically, and they both frown. I know my tune has changed since I was first marked, but I’m grabbing my destiny with both hands now.
“I want to be your mate, Colbie,” Nox says, taking one of my hands in his. “It’s a dream come true. All I could think about as I drove away was the fact that bond groups don’t get to be with queens and kings. I didn’t care about my past trauma, I would have run headfirst into bond group life for you, but I thought it wasn’t possible. Had I known, I would have accompanied you to the shifter zone then and there.” His eyes beg me to believe him, and I think I do.
“Take off your necklace,” I order him, and he drops my hand to comply, reaching up and tugging the cord, which snaps, then he tosses it onto the cluttered desk with all of Titus’s weapons. My chest is flooded with the same, needy aching feeling I felt when I first met Nox, only it’s ten times stronger. Somewhere inside me, I always knew this man was mine. I stagger slightly, and Titus jumps forward, putting a hand out to steady me.
“Easy,” he croons. “Give it a moment for the bond to settle.” My creatures thrash inside me, and my head spins, but my gaze catches on the ring on his finger now visible without his gloves.
I clear my throat and lift my head, meeting his eyes. “What about you? Do you want this bond?” I ask him, and without removing his gaze from mine, he reaches for the ring on his finger and yanks it off before tossing it onto the desk to join Nox’s pendant.
I stagger again, and this time, both of them catch me. “I want you more than I want my next breath,” Titus tells me, making my heart skip a beat. My creatures thrash harder, pushing me to bite both of them so they can’t get away, but I’m still cautious. If they are only telling me what they think I want to hear and I bite them, there is no reversing that. I would hate for both of them to grow to resent me, but before I can voice my concerns, I see them exchange a glance over my head.
“I can feel you,” Nox murmurs into my ear, pressing his body into my back and pushing me closer to Titus who puts his hands on my hips, tugging me against his own body. “Your soul is reaching for mine. My mouth waters at the thought of biting you and adding my mark to the ones already on your neck. I’ve never hoped this could happen to me, and I’ve never wanted anything more.”
My spine tingles, and my heart thumps harder inside my chest. A finger presses against my chin, lifting my head for me to look at the fae in front of me. “The goddess was right. I have always wanted a fated mate. I couldn’t ever hope for one because it’s rare for hybrids to get them. I would never spit in her face or turn my back on my dream, but it is hard for me to trust. I can count the number of people I do on one hand. Be patient with me,” he asks, and it’s the most serious I’ve heard him since we met.
“What are you? Fae and…” I trail off, but I’m pretty certain I know what he is.
“Fairy shifter,” he says, confirming my thoughts. “I actually still have family in Aramis, though it’s been a while since I visited them. Not since my teen years.”
“How do fairy shifters bond?” Nox’s words brush past my ear, and goosebumps erupt across my skin.
A wicked grin crosses Titus’s lips as he slides a hand into the back of my hair and tilts my head to the side before taking my lips. He tastes like chocolate and chili, both sweet and spicy, and he kisses me with enthusiasm. His tongue plunders my mouth, caressing my own and licking like I’m the best thing he’s ever tasted. My mind goes to what it would feel like for him to kiss my pussy the same way, and I shudder in their arms. When he pulls back, I’m breathing heavily, but he hardly seems affected. His hand slides out of my hair and yanks Nox toward us, and I turn my head as he treats Nox’s mouth to the same decadent kiss he gave me.
Holy shit. My core throbs, and my nipples pebble. Nox is breathing as heavily as I am when Titus pulls away again, and they both rub raging hard-ons against my body.
