“Blood?” Ophelia squeaks.
“It won’t take a lot. A small cut, but I mix it with herbs and other things.”
“What’s the purpose of it?” Ophelia asks.
“The blood sacrifice will form a protective circle around us all as a unit. This way, I hope it means I can ensure you never hear the Prophet again. And that none of us are haunted by the past.” He flicks a glance at Cain, fast, but meaningful. “It also means when we’re apart, which hopefully will be rare, we’ll all still be connected, and finally it binds us to one another on a soul deep level.” He quickly adds, ”It’s not a binding spell of the varietywhere you take someone’s will. There’s nothing dark about this, it’s just… it brings us closer, and forms protection around us. It helps banish the bad memories and create new bonds.”
She considers his words and then nods. “I trust you. All of you. If you think this is for the best, I’ll do it. What do you need for me to do to prepare?”
I want to go and hug and kiss her. She’s so fucking brave. She doesn’t think she is, but she really is. After everything she’s gone through, the betrayal, the heartache, she still has a heart big enough to trust, and I swear to myself that I’ll never break that trust.
“Nothing, other than take a shower, which we all need to do,” Roman says. “Then dress in something light, a pale dress, maybe?”
“Will you be wearing your robes and masks?”
There’s a slight tremor to her voice, and I realize with a pulse of lust that it’s not from fear, but desire.
Ophelia loves it when we wear our masks and robes. She’s even asked us to put the masks on before. I don’t know why she likes it so much, but I wonder if it frees her to be the wanton, sexual creature she is without feeling judgement or shame.
Not that we would ever judge her, but the robes and masks add a layer of false anonymity between us. They make everything seem less real, and more like a crazy, sexy dream. That’s my thinking behind it, but I know Roman would say it helps to thin the veil between the physical world and the spiritual one.
“Yes, we’ll be wearing our robes and masks.” Roman smiles at her. “If that’s okay with you?”
“Oh, yes.” Her words are breathy, eager, but she swallows and adds, “I mean if that’s what’s needed for the ritual, whatever it takes.”
I bite back my laugh. Our little angel is really a devil and a sinner in disguise, the same as the rest of us, and that suits me just fine.
My cock is already hard and aching like crazy at the thought of what lies ahead. If it wasn’t for the fact that I believe it might be bad to do, spiritually speaking, I’d go and take care of myself to take the edge off.
Ophelia stands and smooths her hands down her slim body. “Well, I guess I’ll go and get showered and make sure I’m squeaky clean all over.”
“Goddamn it,” Cain groans as she leaves the room.
“I’ll take a shower first, in the downstairs bathroom,” I say. “Then you guys can use it. I presume Ophelia will use the upstairs one.”
“No jerking off,” Rome warns, as if he can read my mind. “You need to come a lot, if you can, so don’t go fucking wasting it.”
“Come a lot?” I check. “As in produce a lot, or a lot of times?”
“The former.” Roman grins. “The more of our essence we can give her, the better.”
“Good job one of us has been behaving himself, then.” I give them both the side eye. I’m not the one who has been sleeping with Ophelia most nights the way Rome has, and getting off, the way I bet Cain has.
Heading out of the room, I turn on the shower, allowing myself to sink into the head space I need for the ritual.
CHAPTER 31
Roman
I’m wearingmy robe and standing alone in the altar room, preparing myself for what’s to come.
This is important to me. Yes, it’s going to involve sex, and that part will feel good, but this is a deeply spiritual moment between us all. In fact, I’d say it’s my way of us marrying Ophelia. I don’t speak those words out loud because I know Cain wants us to marry her for real, or at least as real as we can since it won’t be legal for all three of us. He wants a traditional ceremony, where we all say vows to one another, but this is my version.
It doesn’t only bring Ophelia closer to us, but it binds us three men, too. Mal was right when he said that if Cain leaves, this won’t work. It doesn’t work if any of us leaves. It’s a finely balanced situation. Like a three-legged stool, remove one of the legs and the thing falls over.
We have been through so much, and I’m hoping tonight will banish some of our demons of the past.
I sit on the floor, cross-legged, and gather the things I need from my altar. I take the knife with the curved, wooden handle and place it the deep pocket in my robe. Then I pray to the gods of wisdom that I don’t let anything go too far. Things can becomeheated when we’re amid a ritual with Ophelia. I pray to the gods of love and sensuality that we gain the intimacy we need.
