Chapter 21

We tottered out of the tavern.

“Asses,” I mumbled. “Kicking us out.”

Reed gave a naked Kahlo his long coat, but not before I glimpsed his…Oh, my. I tripped over my feet at how damn big he was even without being erect. When I glanced up, he caught me looking and smirked with a knowing look that said, it’s-all-yours.

My face burned, and I looked away.

Gage marched ahead, and we followed him along a windy road heading deeper into the town. A few torches lit the path, but no one else was around. “Thank fuck we booked our rooms at another tavern,” Gage explained.

“Well, that went south fast,” I said, hugging myself against the cool breeze. “What the hell happened in there? Why did you transform?”

Kahlo shrugged, walking in a crooked line. “Control is hard when intoxicated, baby cakes.” He slurred his words. “Plus, all that excitement of a fight got my tiger riled up.” He roared and broke into a laugh. Okay, someone had had way too much to drink.

I nudged Reed in the arm. “Clearly, you’re the only one with control.” I offered him a smile, but in response, his expression soured.

“I gotta go.” Without a response, he swung left and walked down a side alley, vanishing in the shadows.

I froze, my chest constricting. “Reed? What’s going on?”

“I’ll go after him.” Gage bounced on his toes, full of energy. “We’ll meet you both at the Old Reindeer Hunt tavern.”

Confusion twisted inside me, and I glanced at Kahlo, who leaned a shoulder against the wall of a tailor’s shop. He didn’t seem bothered with Reed taking off. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s move. I can’t carry or roll you to our room.”

I looped my arm under his, but damn he was so heavy. If we fell, he’d crush me. So we traipsed down a dark road between two buildings, the place stinking of garbage. “Ever since those two returned from Tritonia, Reed’s been acting strange. Have you noticed?”

Kahlo half-nodded, half-shrugged but kept his lips tight.

“I know something happened, but I don’t understand why he doesn’t tell me. I can help him.”

Kahlo sighed. “Baby cakes, ain’t nothing you can do to help him now.”

“What do you mean?” I tightened my hold.

“He adores you but doesn’t want you to see him struggling.”

Damn men and their egos. I halted at the corner of a cobblestone street with several burning torches lighting up the residential houses spreading outward. But maybe I was wrong about his reaction being about his sister.

“Is he worried about his sister? I am too, but we’ll help her. Did you hear the bartender…? A horned lion attacked them. That was the hooded man. He was here, so we’re on the right track.” That also meant Faye might be here, so I had to keep a low profile. Maybe I’d get a cape to conceal myself and my bag holding my hair.

“It’s not that.” He leaned to the side, and I pulled against his weight so he stayed upright.

“Then what? What the fuck is going on with Reed? Just tell me.” My fingers threaded with his. “Please, Kahlo.” I batted my eyelashes.

For the longest moment, he said nothing, then at once, unleashed a guttural sigh. “You know why he didn’t shift back in the bar?”

“Because he has more control than you and Reed?”

“Fuck that. He was dying to change—I saw it on him. But he can’t. He told me he sold his mane and shifting ability for your gargoyle spell.”

His words refused to process at first, but my body numbed, and my head screamed. “What the fuck? Why would he do that? I never…” I stumbled backward, my earlier meal threatening to hurl out. “Does he get it back?”

I studied Kahlo, pleading with him to say yes, but when he shook his head, my legs weakened beneath me, and I fell. My knees kissed the pavement, but I didn’t sense the pain. Not when tears swarmed my eyes. “He had no right,” I cried out, furious that he’d give up something so precious for me. Me! The hypocrite who’d always played it safe. Who’d refused to get close to the three men who intrigued her in case it didn’t work out. Yet they’d given their all and Reed had sacrificed part of himself.

I sobbed into my hands.

Kahlo was at my side. “Don’t cry. He’s gifted you with what he had because you mean so much to him.”

I raised my head, unable to stop the tears. “Why is he struggling then? He could barely look at me when he returned, and tonight being unable to transform must have killed him.” My heart splintered at what he’d given up.

Kahlo lifted me into his arms, cradling me against his chest, and yet I kept telling myself I didn’t deserve his affection. Or anyone’s. I was a nobody who’d burst into their world and brought chaos to torture them.

Luck has never been your friend.

The tears flowed because what did I offer anyone aside from danger and agony?

In Kahlo’s arms, I melted against his chest, his warmth engulfing me, and I closed my eyes. I never should have accepted Reed’s help to visit Tritonia. This was all on me…I destroyed everything I encountered. So how was I supposed to face Reed when he couldn’t stand being in my company?

“Is this the place?” he asked softly, his breath washing across my face.

Opening my eyes, I stared at a wooden studded door with a sign reading, “Old Reindeer Hunt” painted in yellow across a wooden plaque. “Yes.” I untangled us and released myself from his hold. Maybe it was better for everyone if I put distance between us before I brought hell upon them. What if Faye and the psycho albino shifter turned up and took down all three men to retrieve me?

Smart idea. Staying means putting them in death’s path.

Kahlo opened the door to the tavern, and I stepped into a room with only half a dozen patrons at the bar in a room glowing from the fireplace. But I turned away and swung left toward the wooden staircase leading upstairs. Gage and I had booked the last two rooms available. Who would have thought this place sold out, but apparently many people traveled through the woods on their way into Tritonia and used Crosswind as their last stop before hiking into the next realm.

Upstairs, I dragged myself down the shadowy corridor dotted with paintings of horses and retrieved the bronze key from my pocket. Kahlo’s footsteps echoed close behind. Our room spread out before us with a large bed against the back wall taking up the majority of the space. To the left stood a writing desk and the bathroom, and in the opposite end stood a couch. This was the extravagant room, so I’d hate to see the cheap version.

Where was Gingernuts hiding?

“I’m going back downstairs for a moment.” Kahlo retreated to the door. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

Before I could respond, he left and shut the door behind him.

Now silence permeated the air. Yet my mind boomed with the harrowing dread of what Reed had done. My chest might as well have been splitting in half because everything hurt, and I hugged myself as I staggered to the window. I pulled back the curtain and found Gingernuts fast asleep on the windowsill. Outside, torches illuminated the streets, and I searched them for movement…for Reed. Had Gage found him? What were they talking about? Or did everyone blame me?

I scratched Gingernuts’ head and lowered the curtain to let him sleep. I took off my bag and released my hair, letting it tumble across the wooden flooring.

Kahlo had insisted Reed’s decision was a blessing from him, but I couldn’t live with myself knowing he’d no longer rule his pride. He’d lost the side of him he cherished. I didn’t remember pacing until Kahlo returned carrying a tray with a teapot, cups, and a plate of tiny cakes.

“I’ve got something for you.” His cheery voice was a saw cutting through my heart. He went out of his way to brighten my mood when I’d caused his friend to give up his shifter side.

“Why are you being so nice?” I asked.

He set the platter on the coffee table in front of the couch and patted the seat next to him. With no hesitation, I joined him because I longed to hear that everything would be all right, that somehow the mess I’d created could be fixed.

Kahlo gave me a cup of milk tea, and I selected a shortbread cookie while he studied his creamy slice of tiered sponge cake.

“I have no idea how to make things right.” I dunked my cookie into the drink and ate it in two bites, then washed the buttery sweetness down with tea. Setting the cup on the table, I toed my boots off and curled up on the sofa, facing Kahlo.

“Do you know what your name means?” He took several bites of his cake and swallowed without chewing.

“No idea.”

“It means ‘shining light,’ and you attract a lot of attention because people want to be near you. Reed knew exactly what he was doing, and for him to give up something so important says a lot. The man adores everything about you. I’ve known him for years and I’ve never seen him smitten this way with anyone.”

That earlier heaviness sunk deeper, and I hiccupped, my tears falling free. “That makes me feel worse.”

Kahlo shuffled closer and collected me into his arms, our bodies pressed side to side, my knees bent and leaning over his thighs.

“Knowing someone cherishes you makes you cry? Guess I better not share how I feel about you.” He clasped my waist, and I shivered, fully aware of how firm he gripped me. I wasn’t going anywhere because Kahlo’s presence eased the dread drowning me.

“Now, you’ve got me curious,” I said, well aware what I was doing and didn’t care. Like with Reed and Gage, Kahlo had me floating through the air, promising me ecstasy if I let down my guard. And right now I yearned to escape.

Flirt.

He smirked, his eyes undressing me. “From your delicious mouth to your delicate shoulders to your curvy ass, I’m enthralled. At our first meet, I felt as if my head constantly spun in your presence. Ever since, I’ve had only you on my mind.” Kahlo’s free hand swept upward along my outer thigh, halting at my hip. An electric buzz jolted through me to have such a powerful man entranced with me, his fingers pressing into my skin. Was he going rip off my clothes?

You sure do fantasize a lot.

Except with the hunger in his gaze, I doubted I alone shared this dream. “Oh, yeah? What else?”

My palms falling flat against his chest.

“You keep your distance from everyone, but you’re the kind who’d risk your life to protect others.” He closed in, his cheek grazing against mine, his nose against my neck, and he inhaled. A guttural rumble rolled through his chest, and my stomach fluttered with a thrill I’d only sensed in Gage’s arms.

Something about each of the three shifters in my life had me drawn to them. But I always pushed them away, like when I’d broken up with Gage. I was scared of them getting hurt, but it had never occurred to me that letting down my guard might be worse. That they’d prove how much they adored me. Little did they know, I desired them as much as the world depended on sunlight…They were my salvation, my existence. But I’d let Reed down, and how long would it be before I hurt the others?

A quiver traveled through me.

I was sick of running away, exhausted of living with fear, tired of being alone. Why couldn’t I have what I longed for? Right now, that was Kahlo, and not just for one night but for forever.

Kahlo’s mouth nuzzled my earlobe, and I tingled all over. Shoving aside all doubts and worries, I climbed over him, straddling my thighs over his lap. With my arms sailing around his head, I pushed myself against him. Mouths clashed, teeth clinking. Chest to chest.

He groaned, his body curling around me, and his hardness pressed against the apex between my legs.

“You sure you’re ready for this, baby cakes?” He breathed in my mouth, and hearing his guttural voice had me firing up.

“Fuck, yes. I’ve dreamed about you since I first saw you in the lion territory. Having your eyes on me made me so wet.”

His fingers crept under my shirt, finding flesh, digging into my back. His hips lifted, and his cock caressed me. “You’re mine.” He drew me closer. “Once I eat your sweet pussy, I’m not letting you go.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I kissed him again, harder and faster. His tongue swept with mine in a duel. He’d already worked open the cord on my vest along with the buttons on my shirt, then slipped them off my shoulders.

Breaking away, he lowered his gaze to my chest, his eyes grinning. He grasped my breasts, his palms grazing my nipples.

“Lay back for me, gorgeous.”

I lay at his mercy. He supported my back while running his lips ever-so-gently across my puckered nub. Arousal thrummed into me with rekindled urgency, titillating in the pit of my stomach. Taking his time, he took a nipple into his mouth, suckling on it. I groaned, fire sparking me from the inside out.

I rocked against his hardness, and watching him moan and enjoy me undid me.

He licked my boobs, making them bounce, and he continued to do so, covering me in his saliva. “Fuck, you smell so delicious.” Up on his feet in a heartbeat, he set me on my wobbly legs. “I need to see all of you.” He hooked his thumbs over the top of my trousers and underwear, tearing them down my legs, unbuttoning nothing. His strength stunned me, yet I still stepped out of my clothes, holding his shoulders for support.

Everything in me awakened with a desperation to be taken. Instead, Kahlo lowered to the floor, siting with his back to the couch. He tilted his head back on the sofa cushion and took my wrist. “Kiss me with your pink pussy. Sit on my face, baby cakes. Let me drown in your scent, in your juices.”

I buzzed with excitement and climbed up, one knee on either side of his head. I gripped the back to the couch and couldn’t believe I was doing this.

“Fuck yes.” He clasped my hips and pulled me lower, and the moment his tongue swept across my inner lips, I exploded with moans. I scrunched my toes as his fingers gripped my ass, and he sucked and licked every inch between my legs. Hearing a man like Kahlo get switched on by laying between my legs roused the inferno raging within. I was sure I’d explode.

Euphoria took hold of me, and when his tongue flicked my clit, I roared with a scream. His sounds were insatiable, his mouth intoxicating with no respite.

I rocked myself over his face, my whole body stirring with shivers, my pebbled nipples aching in all the right ways.

But when he drove my hips off his face, I moaned in protest, staring down at him. “Not yet. I’m almost there.”

He grinned, enjoying his teasing.

“I know you are.” He moved out from under me, and I moved aside, but his palm was already on my back, sliding downward. He pushed aside my hair. “Stay there for me. I need to get you ready.”

“For what? I’m so prepared.”

“Bend over for me and show me your ass.”

When his thumb traced down the crack of my rear, I gasped for air, suddenly super excited. “Oh, this is new.”

“You’re telling me your ass is still a virgin?” A finger swirled around my ass while others slipped lower.

I blushed, but right then, I was so turned on, I didn’t care. “Is that a problem?”

“Nope. Just more preparation if you’re willing.”

“You bet.”

And covered my ass with his wetness, then inserted a finger into each of my entrances. I arched my back, and I groaned loudly from the vibrating pleasure swirling through me. He pumped into me, faster, and I cried out. “Oh hell…feels amazing.”

“You’re so wet, baby cakes.” He inserted two digits into my pussy, his thumb still in my rear, pumping into me so hard, I rocked back and forth. When a third pushed into me, I exploded on the inside. I convulsed, shaking so hard, I couldn’t tell where I started and where I ended.

Kahlo withdrew, and I collapsed onto the couch, clutching my thighs tighter. But he hugged me from behind, running his fingers down my stomach.

“You’re killing me.” I writhed against him, sweat pooling between us. He walked us to the bed, lay me onto my stomach, then rolled me over. He pried my knees apart. “Touch yourself. Show me how you flick that pussy.”

Gulping for air and buzzing as I still floated on my last orgasm, I watched him drag his shirt up and over his head. I slid my hand down my stomach, over the small amount of drenched hair, and to my inner folds.

Kahlo’s gaze never left mine as he stepped out of his boots and dropped his pants. Standing there naked, he took his huge cock in his fist, stroking it once. Heavens, he was massive. And yes, no wonder I needed preparation to take him into me.

He clasped my ankles and raised my legs up against his chest as he closed in. His grabbed my hips and lifted me to meet his dick with ease. His tip pressed forward, gliding into me, and I tensed.

“Don’t keep me out. Relax. I won’t hurt you.”

With a deep inhale, I let myself fall under his spell and opened myself for him. He slithered in deeper, stretching me. I fisted the bedsheets, groaning, loving the sentinel of him opening me. When he patted my clit with a finger, I drowned under his lovemaking. He thrust forward, and I cried out with anticipation. Sliding in and out in slow motion, he rubbed me so deliciously on the inside that my libido twisted, strangling me with desire. The agony of needing more, the heightening surge of sexual thrill, escalated.

He held on to my hips and hammered into me faster now and picking up pace. My world trembled as I moaned with each thrust.

“Fuck me like you own me.” The words came out because I wanted him to take me every which way.

Unrelenting, he pounded into me even faster. The slaps were songs to my ears, and I lost myself in a world of carnal desire. I jolted back and forth over him, my insides growing tighter, more tense. And at once, he pulled out, leaving me empty and barren. “What are you doing?”

His sexy laughter had me following him as he climbed into bed and lay on his back. “Come,” he demanded, and gods, who would have thought having him control me would turn me on to no end?

I rolled over and crawled toward him as he lay on the bed on his back, his dick erect and sticking up, waiting for me. I slid my breasts over his thighs, pressing his hardness between my cleavage, eliciting a deep rumble. I buzzed all over at his reaction. On hands and knees, I stared down at him and kissed him, tasting myself on him, needing to have him. The groan in his throat was the sexiest sound I’d ever heard.

When I came up for air, he smirked, tugging on my nipples, and I softened as the earlier arousal rose so fast, it stunned me.

“Get on top, but face away from me,” he said. “I want to take you reverse tiger-style.”

“Is that a real thing or did you just make it up?” Already I turned away, driving my hair off the bed and climbing over his hips.

“It’s real to me.”

I positioned a leg over him before sitting on his shaft. “Shit, you’re massive.”

“And you love it.”

“Yes, I do!” Leaning forward, I held on to his knees and raised myself up and down over his cock, my wetness coating the insides of my thighs. From his spot, he massaged my inner walls, skimming something inside me, provoking a new sensation.

Riding him quicker, I caressed myself on him. He kneaded my rear, stroking my other hole, and it wasn’t long before he slid a finger inside, then two. The tightness only drove me faster toward the edge.

“That’s it,” he purred. “Fuck me hard, baby cakes.”

Sweat dripped down my back, and I couldn’t get enough as I rode him. He wriggled under me and slipped out. I readjusted to reclaim him, but his tip nudged my other entrance instead, and I groaned. Excited and ready.

He opened my cheeks and in slow motion pressed himself into my ass, the sensation covering me with excited goosebumps. I panted, loving how much the pain turned me on, the widening. And he rocked my hips back and forth.

“Kahlo, I can’t hold back anymore.” The more he thrust me, the more I shuddered, and at once an orgasm swooned within me, claiming me at the core.

He grunted behind me as he pulsed within me. Together we soared with pleasure. I clasped him tight, thrashing as excitement burst through me.

At last, he pulled out of me, and I collapsed on the bed, heaving for air, shivers wracking my body.

Kahlo shifted about on the bed from behind me, the mattress bouncing until he joined me and drew me into his arms. “You’ve just broken me,” he whispered in my ear. “I can never be with any other after that.”

And those words alone had me smiling so wide, my cheeks hurt. Nothing else mattered in those moments of utter bliss except my determination to embrace the three men and never push them away again. I had to show them they meant the world to me.