Gwen Read online

  “No one.”

  “No one? Nasty scar from nobody?” Cade put in.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” The room began to seem more oppressive by the second, and she fanned her face.

  “You don’t like it in here?” Cade cocked one eyebrow.

  “It’s beautiful, but the heat. It makes me feel unwell after a short while. Always has.”

  “Unusual,” Jay said. “For a dragon.”

  “Do you like the cold instead?” Cade asked.

  “No. I like being somewhere in the middle. A hot tub is good. Steam rooms, saunas, not so much.”

  Gods, it really was hot in this damned room. She stared at Cade and Jay, all glorious and clearly aroused in front of her, and the heat spiked higher.

  “It’s not merely the steam room, baby.” Jay shot her a sympathetic look. “You’d better get used to being hot and bothered.”

  “Maybe I’ll go home and cool down,” she shot back.

  Cade huffed out a short laugh. “Good luck with that plan, sweetheart. Won’t do you a damn bit of good. You’re going to feel this way until you scratch that itch.”

  “Not if I go far away and never see you again. It will fade, won’t it? In time? The yearning?” Panic filled her at the thought she’d be like this forever if she didn’t mate with them.

  A flash of anger slashed across Cadan’s features. “Why do you fight this so hard, Gwen? Fuck, I want to bite you. Mark you and make you ours so that no matter where you go, you’ll always feel us.”

  Half of her wanted to run away, and the other half wanted to drop to her knees and beg him to do just that.

  “Come here.” He crooked a finger at her, and as if under a spell, she did as he instructed and walked over to him.

  Cade sat on one of the benches and pulled her down onto his knee. He didn’t ask permission or go gentle. Those big arms of his wrapped around her, and he pulled her into him and kissed her as if his life depended on it.

  She lost all track of reason. All her objections about the situation and her worries just floated away as she soared on a cloud of elation. Her body thrummed and throbbed with need and want. Her core fluttered, and Cade broke off the kiss to stare at her, his nostrils flared.

  “Fuck, you want me, don’t you?”

  She nodded because she wasn’t a liar.

  “And Jay.” Cade jerked his chin to where Jay stood, watching them with predatory eyes.

  “Yes. Both of you.”

  “And we want you.” Jay came over to her. “I need to be in you so bad, Gwen.”

  She wanted it too. Not sure whom she wanted more, she glanced between Jay and Cade. She could take them both. She’d tried anal and liked it, and she’d always had a fantasy of taking two men at once. But something told her to do so now would be stupid and dangerous. Would tie her to a commitment she wasn’t sure she could handle. Christ, she hated being so out of control in this situation.

  “I want to fuck you, but I don’t think I can. Not while you’re not sure you want this.” Cade lifted her up and rubbed his hard cock up the length of her soaking slit.

  She moaned and dropped her face to his neck, breathing him in.

  “Why not?”

  “You know what happened to one of those sisters, right?” Jay supplied as he came to stand behind her, playing with her hair and sending shivers up and down her spine. “She and her males ended up bonded without having had the mating ceremony or deciding they were definitely headed in that direction. It’s freaked out a lot of dragons. Seems if the match is strong, then the old rules we thought applied, don’t.”

  “And you don’t get matches much stronger than this,” Cade supplied. “Not physically, at least.”

  “I wanted to take you both,” she groaned.

  “Jesus, Gwen. Say some more shit like that, and I swear to the gods, I’ll fuck you till you scream. Consequences or no.” Cade nuzzled at her shoulder and gave a small bite there.

  The sensation made her cry out and want more. She didn’t know why, but more than anything else he’d done to her, her body liked that. It instinctively wanted more.

  “Gods, do that again. Bite me again. Harder.”

  He gave another light nip and shook his head. “You don’t even know what you’re asking for. Your body and mind are at war. Your heart, your soul, your damned cunt, they want us both.”

  She flinched at his use of the c-word. And damn her, she might hate the word, but her body still responded.

  “But you keep letting your mind get in the way as you work through a thousand permutations as to why this won’t work.” Cade sounded angry, and he pushed her off his knee. He didn’t let her go, though. Instead, he parted her legs roughly and pushed two thick fingers into her. She spread her legs even wider, wanton and unashamed in that moment.

  Cade worked her, angling his fingers and pressing into her until he found that spot inside her that made her crazy. “Oh gods.” Her head tipped back.

  Jay sat on one of the benches and spread his legs. “Bring her here.”

  Without even pausing, Cade removed his fingers, picked her up, and placed her between Jay’s legs, her back to Jay’s chest and her legs spread open.

  Jay put his arms around her and hefted her breasts in his palms. “Love these tits of yours, Gwen. You’re so lush. Like some fucking tropical forest of hotness, all for us.”

  “Gods, you two have filthy mouths.” She felt drunk as she drawled the words.

  Cade sat on the bench in front of her and parted her folds. “You’re soaking, swollen, and pink. Prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  He pushed two fingers back inside her and began to pump them in and out. Every stroke in, he pressed on her G-spot. She’d never been so exposed in her life. Or so turned on.

  “Open wider for me,” Cade grunted.

  Jay’s hands left her breasts, and he pulled her thighs farther apart before using his fingers to part her folds.

  “Yeah, hold her like that,” Cade ordered.

  Now he pushed a third finger in, and she sighed at the wonderful stretch. He pressed hard on her G-spot, making her writhe. Fuck, she felt as if she were on the edge of coming so hard she might pass out or pee. And she’d die if the latter happened.

  She tried to squirm away, close her legs. “Oh no, you don’t. You’ll take it all.” Cade looked like the devil himself with the flickering light of the nearby candle lamp playing over his harsh features.

  “I’m going to…” she panted, unsure of what she was going to do. Come. Explode? Implode, maybe? The sensations were too much.

  A fresh press on her G-spot and she moaned as more slickness ran out and covered her thigh.

  “Oh gods. Oh gods. Shit.” She panted and moaned, and then she was coming. So hard, her vision went starry with a thousand tiny pinpricks of light. Her pussy sucked Cade’s fingers in, and he pumped her ruthlessly as she contracted around him, her arousal positively soaking his hand.

  When it ended, he pulled his hand free, and she rolled to her side on the bench, squeezing her legs together and enjoying the aftershocks.

  Jay petted her hair, kissing the top of her head, and Cade ran his fingers down her legs soothingly.

  Regaining some of her composure, she sat upright and fixed Cade with a hard stare. “What was that? Some sort of hate finger-fuck?”

  He shook his head. “I could never hate you.”

  “But you’re angry with me.”

  “I’m…surprised by you.”

  His words took her by surprise, and she furrowed her brow. “Why?”

  He gave a lazy shrug. “I thought you were a daredevil. The girl who jumped in both feet first. The girl who risked it all to catch a wave. And yet, here you are. Scared and timid. Standing on the precipice and afraid to jump. Maybe you’re not who I thought you were.”

  Without another glance her way, Cade turned and left the room. He’d still been rock hard, and she’d been looking forward to taking care of it. His words stung, his
leaving even more so, and stupid tears filled her eyes.

  ***

  Jay wanted to murder Cade with his bare hands, but first, he needed to take care of a shocked and upset Gwen.

  “Hey, don’t take what he says to heart. He’s a mercurial bastard, and at times he lets his temper get the better of him. Come on, let’s get you into a dressing gown and out of this steam room before you melt.”

  He guided her out of the room, pretending not to notice when she swiped at her eyes. If he knew Gwen at all, he thought she’d be the sort of female who didn’t want a fuss when upset. More the kind who’d like it ignored, the same as he would.

  He grabbed her a robe and gently wrapped it around her shoulders, then got her a glass of water. “Here, drink. You’ll be dehydrated.”

  After a few moments, she began to look a little better. “Shall we get dressed and go cue up a movie?” He had no real desire to watch a film, but he didn’t want her left feeling so distressed. So, for an hour and a half, he watched some movie without taking any real notice. He talked about inconsequential stuff and fed her snacks and drinks. Right at the end of the film, Lara came into the room, yawning and drinking from what looked like a glass of wine.

  Great. The mother had turned to sleeping and drinking as a way to deal with all this shit.

  Still, her appearance gave Jay the opportunity to slip away. Once out of the room, he stalked to Cade’s bedroom door and, without pausing, stormed straight in.

  Cade was sitting on the bed, doing something on his laptop.

  “You bad-tempered fucking bastard,” Jay roared. “How dare you treat her like that?”

  Cade shot him a cold glare. “That little girl needs to understand what she’s doing and that she’s playing with fire.”

  “And you need to fucking understand that you’ll ruin this for all of us if you push too hard and fast.”

  “I’m not pushing!” Cade shot off the bed and prowled around the room, pacing as he breathed heavily. “Pushing would be to take her and give her the bite now. Do you see me doing such a thing? I walked away. Let her stew in her own juices.” He gave a nasty smirk. “Literally.”

  Jay didn’t even think. If he had, he certainly wouldn’t have pulled his arm back and punched Cade in the face.

  Cade didn’t even flinch at the blow, but he did stop and stare at Jay. Something almost akin to wonder shone in those dark eyes of his. “Wow. You hit me.”

  “Yes, and I’ll do it again if you keep talking about her in such a fucking way. I know you can probably kill me if you wanted to, but I’m not going to let you treat Gwen like this. You owe her an apology, and you’ll damn well go and give her one. Right the fuck now.”

  Cade stared at him, breathing hard, and Jay prayed the dragon would settle on the side of not killing him, what with their being bonded males and all.

  Moving as fast as lightning, Cade closed the small gap between them and grabbed Jay, one large hand on either side of his face. Jay’s breath stilled as he waited to see what the hell Cade would do.

  Nothing could have prepared him for the warm lips that descended on his in a hard and demanding kiss. Nothing.

  His mind whirred to catch up, even as his body responded immediately. His cock hardened, and what the fuck was that all about? They didn’t do this. They absolutely did not play this way. Neither of them cared what other males did, but the attraction for the same sex wasn’t something either of them felt much, if at all.

  When Cade broke off the kiss, Jay panted as he tried to gain his composure.

  “What the fuck was that?” he exploded.

  Cade had the audacity to shrug as if he’d merely made his coffee a different way. “Don’t know. I liked the feisty side of you, and the urge kind of took me.”

  Then his eyes darkened with memory. “And you holding Gwen like that today, holding her open for me. It turned me on something fierce. I guess it made me think of us all being together. I suppose she’s awakened something in me I hadn’t felt before. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

  Jay wasn’t sure he didn’t want Cade to do it again. “You can maybe do it again.” He turned away, face burning.

  A warmth covered his back, and lips found his neck. “I want to, which freaks me out as much as it probably does you. But at the end of the day, I’m not a coward, and I’m not going to run away from it.”

  “What’s this?” They both spun around at the low, feminine voice.

  Gwen stood in the open doorway, staring at them both. Shit. Would it be an issue for her? Not that they’d done anything more than kiss and say they might, maybe, want more. Possibly.

  “Erm…he kissed me.” Jay made the confession as if he were a blushing, virginal bride, damn him.

  Gwen raised an eyebrow and looked from one to the other.

  “Nice.”

  “Excuse me? I thought you might not approve. Call it a hunch.” Cade turned his body fully to her, and Jay did not admire his broad shoulders or tight backside. He just did not.

  She grinned. “Me too. When I thought about it, I imagined I’d prefer it to be all about me. But I like the idea of you two together. Gets me all hot and bothered. And, frankly, you’re too much for a girl to handle on her own. I’ve been thinking about how hot it would be, you two touching each other.” She ran her gaze down both their bodies. “Stroking one another.”

  “Fuck this. I’m done.”

  Cade picked up Gwen, who squealed, carried her into the room, and kicked the door shut behind him with his heel.

  He strode across the room and placed her on the bed.

  “I want you so bad, Gwen. If we do this, there’s a risk we’ll bond without the mating ceremony. It happened to Steffan. But today, I went to our most powerful Warder and asked her to ward against it. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s like a magic condom, if you will. It gives us protection against this going too far. I want to fuck you, but if you say no, I’ll walk away right now.”

  Jay realized he was holding his breath as he watched Gwen’s chest rise and fall, her eyes wide and her lips parted. Some sort of internal battle raged within her as he stood there, still as a statue.

  “I want you too. And what you said earlier, you’re right. I am a risk-taker. I don’t run away from things, and I’ve been running away from this because I wanted to protect my relationship with my mum. But the more I’ve been thinking, the more unhealthy that seems. I love her, don’t get me wrong. She’s my best friend and more like a sister in some ways than my mum. But our relationship is strong enough to face one or both of us falling in love and pairing up. Even if this thing between us doesn’t work out, and Mum ends up with Awen and Lucien, I’ll still be her daughter and her best friend. We’ll still do stuff together, just maybe not as much traveling. It’ll be just fine.”

  He hated that she still thought it might not work out between them, but he supposed it was a huge leap that she’d started to see how she and her mother could have their own relationships and still be close.

  Cade gave a low growl deep in the back of his throat and smiled. “Is that a yes, Gwen?”

  “Yes,” she breathed.

  Cade grabbed her ankles and pulled her down the bed, spreading her legs as he did. She wore a short skirt, one she’d changed into before their movie, and it rode up, revealing she wore no underwear. Damn, their mate was a minx.

  Whoa! Their mate. Jay already thought of her as such and didn’t think he could change it. If she decided not to be with them, he’d hate it. Cade, though, he thought the male might go ballistic if Gwen walked away from them.

  Crawling up Gwen’s body, Cade bent his head and kissed right between her legs. He didn’t mess about, though, with a lot of foreplay. Normally, Jay might try to slow things down and cool Cade off for a while, but Gwen was so primed for them. Her sex was swollen and pink, her breath coming in rapid gasps.

  Cade shucked his clothes off in record time and climbed onto the bed, onto Gwen. He didn’t take any of her clothing off
, merely pushed her skirt farther up her legs before impatiently shoving them apart.

  He brought his mouth onto hers in a rough, demanding kiss, and she moaned into it. Suddenly a little awkward, Jay wasn’t sure what to do.

  Cade solved the problem by beckoning him over. “Gwen, do you want to take Jay in your mouth while I fuck you?”

  “Yes, please.” She licked her lips and smiled up at him, and Jay lost the awkwardness right there and then.

  He began to take his shirt off, but Cade stopped him. “Stay dressed but take yourself out.”

  Kinky fucker. So only Cade would be nude, while he and Gwen were clothed. The dynamics of such a thing should somehow make Cade the more vulnerable one, but he wasn’t. The male was completely and utterly in charge. Something Jay liked more than he probably should.

  Running his big cock right up Gwen’s soaking slit, Cade groaned and licked her neck before biting there. “So want to bite you.”

  “What’s with the biting?” she gasped.

  Jay chuckled as he approached them on the bed. “It’s an old-school thing. Some dragons bit their mates to mark them and also because the bite drives you mad. Like the most pleasurable itch you can imagine. Makes you want them all the time, at least, at first. Or so legends say. Half the time we don’t really know why Dragonea do the things they do.”

  “The bite’s for real, and it does drive you insane.” Cade gave her a nip, and she squirmed under him. “See?”

  “Maybe we can hold off with the whole biting thing for a while.” She gestured between the three of them. “This is more than enough for a girl to contend with. I don’t know how your poor human playthings survived you guys.”

  “They weren’t our mates. Didn’t feel the same to them. Or to us.” Cade nibbled her ear, and as he did, he shocked the shit out of Jay when he pulled him into them and took hold of his cock, which Jay had just freed.

  “Here, gorgeous. Open wide.”

  Cade presented Gwen with Jay’s dick, and for a moment, Jay felt as if he ought to apologize or something for the male’s bad manners, but Gwen grinned and reached for him. She brought him to her perfect mouth, and the moment she sucked him in, he lost all his concerns about manners.