“Don’t be embarrassed,” Ceredes intones. “You’re beautiful.” His blue eyes hold mine, and that same bloom of heat that erupted inside me when Jeren kissed me returns.
“What’s on my back?”
“You have Larenoan figures along your spine, neck, and into your hairline.” Kyte’s fingers swipe my hair from the nape of my neck.
“Are they pretty?” I suppose I’m vain now, apparently.
“Exquisite.” Jeren kisses up my back, his lips soft and sending goosebumps racing along my skin.
“You took our powers, but you also took us.” Ceredes moves through the water until he’s standing in front of me. His eyes never leave mine, even though I have one arm barely covering my breasts. “You have my strength, Jeren’s shadow, and Kyte’s abilities.” He strokes his fingers down my throat.
“I feel it.” I melt against Jeren as he pulls me against him. “It’s all stuffed inside me. Too much. It can’t all fit.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Kyte comes to my side, his lips on my shoulder.
Ceredes still holds my gaze, the link between all three of us like the same electrical current I sensed earlier, but instead of afraid, I feel warm. I feel … I press my thighs together to stop the ache.
“We can ease you, Lana.” Ceredes’s voice is somehow lower.
“I’m okay.” But am I? My body seems to be saying otherwise. After everything I’ve been through with my Alphas, I trust them without a thought, without reservation. Can I trust them with my heart?
“Yes,” they all answer in unison.
“I almost died.” I give voice to my fear, the one thing that’s holding me back. “I think maybe Ididdie.”
Jeren spreads his palm on my stomach, Kyte cups the back of my neck, and Ceredes presses closer, his gaze just as intense as he is.
“We will never let you go, Lana. This circle is forever, is everything. Long after we become nothing more than the dust floating around the stars, we’ll still be linked. This is what’s real, what’s right. Our bond.” Ceredes reaches out and strokes my cheek.
Our bond sings through my veins as all three of them touch me. I can’t deny it. It’s strong enough to defy my fear, to defy death even. They saved me. I know it. I was gone, but they brought me back. Our circle.
With a shaking breath, I drop the arm covering my breasts and slide my hand over Jeren’s, then rest my other at Kyte’s waist.
One corner of Ceredes’s lip curves up, and he bends, tasting my lips slowly as Jeren holds me tighter, his arousal pressing into my backside.
Something inside me gives way, and I’m dizzy with need. The ache is back, stronger than before.
Ceredes sweeps his tongue inside my mouth, and I gasp as Jeren kisses the nape of my neck. Kyte’s hand comes up and cups one of my breasts. When he sweeps his thumb over my nipple, I moan. The deep ache—the same one that hit me on the shuttle the very first time I met my Alphas—is back, and it thumps through me relentlessly, demanding relief.
I whimper as Jeren slides his hand lower, my bare skin warm beneath his touch as he teases my most intimate flesh. But the thud doesn’t stop. It ramps up, thrumming through me as Ceredes masters my mouth, one of his hands at my throat. Kyte licks up my shoulder and nibbles, and when Jeren’s finger touches my clit, I jerk beneath the water as a golden barrier lights and fades around us.
“Powerful, Lana.” Kyte whispers against my ear. “So powerful. It’s intoxicating.” His fingers trace Jeren’s path, then go lower. With a smooth push, his finger is inside me, stroking the ache as Jeren continues to tease my clit with steady movements.
I grip Ceredes as his tongue owns me, each caress sending me higher. And when he cups my breast and squeezes, I whimper, wanting more. Needing more from all of them.
“We’ll always give you what you need, beloved.” Jeren circles my clit with his fingertip as Ceredes finally lets go of my mouth, then fastens his lips to my left breast.
I jolt and grip his short hair. Jeren turns my face to him and takes my lips, his kiss rough and delicious. My body is lit up, every stroke from my Alphas heightening my pleasure, but also the pain. I’m like a spring wound too tightly, and I’m going to explode if they don’t stop.
“We’ll never stop,” Kyte whispers and slides a second finger inside me, my body stretching to accommodate him.
I can’t breathe, not when these three Alphas are doing such bad, perfect things to me. But it’s not enough. I need more. I need them inside me.
Ceredes groans and switches breasts, his tongue lashing my nipple.
“I want you.” I reach down to his pants and gasp at the hardness I find there.
“I want you, too.” Ceredes covers my hand with his own. “But we aren’t taking you here for your first time.”
