Zurlo, Michele - Riley [Daughters of Circe 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Read online

  Shade had explained that wolves had a distinct dislike of humans and witches. Then Soren, the one man she trusted, the one man she thought she loved, had tried to sacrifice her sister.

  And now he was gone. He’d left two days ago at breakfast, and he hadn’t returned. She worried that he’d done something drastic to stop the demons that tormented him so mercilessly. She worried that he wouldn’t come back. She worried that he would.

  They needed him for this ritual. His energy would help fuel the transformation. But more than that, Riley felt a piece of her heart shriveling to nothing. The pain of his absence hurt. She stared out the front window, not really seeing the neat row of houses across the street or the way her neighbor, Cal, tugged at his dog’s leash to keep him out of a flower bed.

  “He’ll be back.” Teigh’s strong hands engulfed her shoulders and moved down her back. He had expert massage technique, and she didn’t want to stop him.

  “Or he’ll stay away until it’s too late, just to keep me safe.” Riley didn’t doubt her place at the top of Soren’s priority list. He loved Teigh, and he would love Caiden, but their relationship centered on Riley. She held them together. “Caiden will fade, and there will be nothing we can do about it.”

  He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his chest. “The demons won’t let him stay away. They’ll make him want your power. They’ll drive him to madness if necessary.”

  She hadn’t considered that possibility. “We’ve lost him either way.”

  Teigh shook his head. “Even if he is insane, we can heal him afterward. When he accepted this role, Soren knew he wouldn’t have an easy time of it. Circe, we all knew this wasn’t going to be easy. The alternative was to permanently lose our daughters.”

  He shuddered. Riley turned in his arms, seeking to console him. While they hadn’t talked about it too much, she knew he had seen the carnage up close and personal. All these years later, the wounds remained fresh. Losing fourteen of his daughters over the last three thousand years weighed heavily on his soul.

  “It’s not your fault, Teigh. You said the island was magical, that humans only found it after huge storms when they’d been shipwrecked. There was no reason to have elaborate defenses.”

  Some memories had returned to her. Lazy afternoons spent lounging naked on the beach with her three lovers. Visits to her father, the sun, that often ended badly because she refused to give up her human lovers to return home. Holding a daughter afloat as she learned to swim in the calm pool that formed at high tide. Thankfully, the massacre remained a distant nightmare.

  Teigh had been working with her as some of her powers returned. His were completely gone. He had given them all up soon after he made love to her. Being part spirit, he could do that. Soren couldn’t release everything at once. Teigh had advised her to take every opportunity to seduce him. That way, he wouldn’t notice the slow and steady transfer of power.

  And she had remembered her name. It didn’t change much. She still thought of herself as Riley, but she didn’t start when Teigh called her Circe.

  His lips slanted over hers, seeking comfort. Riley welcomed the tongue that swept through her mouth, tasting her flavor and teasing her senses. She knew it wouldn’t stop there. Physical sensation had been denied Teigh for too long. The man was ravenous, and his other lovers weren’t available.

  Too hungry to wait, Teigh tugged open her jeans and shoved them down. Her panties went with them. Riley didn't mind the rush, but the window behind her lacked a curtain. She mumbled a warning against his kiss. "Teigh, the bedroom."

  With a groan, he hooked her knees under his arm and lifted her while resuming the heated kiss. His cock pressed against her thigh, hard evidence of his impatience. Though he had a firm hold on her, she clung to him anyway. He provided the solace and the balm for the uncharacteristic neediness that gripped her since Soren had vanished.

  He lowered her to the bed, following her down and easing the fabric of his shirt from her fist. His tender gaze met and held hers as he lifted her hand to his mouth and brushed kisses over each finger. She could see the promise in his eyes floating behind all the assurances he knew wouldn’t lessen her worry

  Then something in her snapped. Need raged through her system. She kicked the jeans from where they stuck around her knees, shimmying them down her body and out of the way. At the same time, she opened Teigh’s jeans and used her hands to shove his down.

  Teigh responded to her urgency. He lifted his hips to allow her to move his clothes out of the way, and he ravaged her mouth. By the time his luscious lips made it down her neck and to her collarbone, she had his cock positioned at her entrance.

  “Now. Please don’t wait.” She needed to feel him inside, to experience that fleeting peace being with him could bring. Only when she had them all together and safe would this anxious feeling leave.

  He plunged into her slick channel and set a brisk pace. Riley let her legs fall open. Wrapping her legs around his waist would only slow him down, and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want the fabric of their shirts between them, either, but she wasn’t willing to release Teigh long enough to lose them. He planted his hands on either side of her shoulders and increased his pace.

  The bedroom dissolved, and Riley barely noticed. In the back of her mind, she knew she was safe. Teigh’s attention didn’t waver from the inferno he was building so near her empty womb. So close to climax, she writhed beneath him, flexing her hips and clutching at his muscles and shirt.

  Hands caught her wrists and pinned them above her head. She looked away from Teigh and into Caiden’s clear blue eyes. He smiled in greeting and leaned between them to claim her lips.

  Riley had come to know Soren as a dominating lover. Even if she was positioned on top, she only controlled the actions he approved. Teigh liked everything. He liked to pound her fast and hard, and he liked to lie back and let her do as she pleased. Caiden had held her down last time, too. Riley didn’t have much experience with this kind of lover, but she couldn’t deny the thrill racing through her body as she struggled futilely against his hold.

  “Don’t come, Circe.”

  She pinched her brows together, confused. Teigh slowed his thrusts, and she made a sound of protest.

  Caiden drew a thumb between her brows, smoothing away her question. “My bed, my rules. Just because you don’t remember the rules doesn’t mean they’ve changed. Infractions will earn punishments, my sweet, for you and for Teigh.”

  Just like that, Teigh’s pace increased. Riley fought against the climax, but it washed over her, a jerky, violent reaction she couldn’t control. She cried out, and her pussy clenched Teigh’s cock, forcing a cry from him as well. He came hard, his semen jetting against her cervix almost as hard as his cock had pounded there moments ago.

  Her body trembled, and spasms caused the muscles in her thighs and ass to clench to the rhythm of her waning orgasm.

  Silk whispered across her wrists, still imprisoned above her head. She glanced up to find Caiden binding her wrists together. The long, rose-colored silk rope caressed her skin, but when she pulled, she found it to be a secure tie.

  Caiden looped the other end of the rope around something out of her line of sight. From nowhere, he produced more ropes. Teigh watched from the side of the bed, which seemed to be no more than a mattress on a pedestal, his expression expectant.

  Silk slid across her skin. He wrapped the rope around her body, forming knots at strategic locations. By the time he finished, her limbs had been secured to unyielding hooks hidden below the level of the soft mattress. Dozens of knots pressed against points in her body that Riley now recognized as erogenous zones. Some of them she knew about. Others came as a complete surprise. Any time she made the tiniest movement, several knots moved pleasantly against points that made her want to feel Caiden or Teigh or both of them fucking her.

  Hands on hips, Caiden stepped back and checked his handiwork, openly admiring the view.

  “Is
there a safe word?” Riley had never really tried this before. While she wasn’t sure as to the exact nature of Caiden’s kink, she wanted to know the ground rules.

  Caiden shook his head, but then he stopped and thought. “We’ve never needed anything like that, but of course, you’ve always had magic at your disposal to stop or undo anything you didn’t want.”

  “No pain,” Teigh said. He stared down at Riley, his gaze flickering to the different knots in the rope. “She doesn’t like pain.”

  “No, she doesn’t.” Caiden threw a wicked grin at Teigh. “That’s what you love.”

  Riley released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. It explained the ache in her chest. She definitely didn’t want things to escalate that far. “Then is being tied up punishment for coming after you told me not to? In my defense, Teigh made me do it.”

  Teigh laughed. “Circe, baby, that doesn’t matter except that it also earns a punishment for me. Your job was to refrain from having an orgasm.”

  She shifted, ready to argue her case, but a knot dug into her clit and another stimulated a point just below her rib cage. Instead of words, she only managed a gasp.

  Caiden smoothed her hair away from her brow and pressed a kiss to her temple. “This is your punishment for coming. If I merely wanted to restrain you, I would have done so. With the way the knots are placed, every move you make will resonate through you like a lover’s stroke, but none of it will bring you to the point of completion. While you’re enduring this, you’ll watch Teigh take his punishment. Even if you were inclined to lie perfectly still, this diversion is guaranteed to make you wiggle and squirm. You do love to watch, my darling. I would never deprive you of the sight of Teigh struggling to not come as I whip him.”

  The columns lining the little patio shifted, moving a little closer together. More silk rope appeared in Caiden’s hands. He crooked his finger at Teigh, who smiled and moved into position. He held his wrists toward Caiden, and he waited patiently while Caiden secured the rope to them. Before too long, Teigh held his arms out to the side. Caiden tied the other ends of the ropes to loops on the columns, revealing their true purpose.

  The speed with which Caiden secured Teigh amazed Riley, though given how quickly he had tied her up, she shouldn’t have been surprised.

  Without warning, the proportions of the patio shifted, and Teigh moved closer. Riley didn’t have to crane her neck to see him. She could relax while she watched. Admittedly, she had no idea as to the extent Caiden would take things. She hadn’t grown up in a vacuum. She knew there were different degrees of bondage and that each masochist had a unique preference for pain. However, she had never seen it done.

  In the back of her mind, she knew she had witnessed this spectacle before. When her powers were returned to her, the memories would be right there, too. Even in her ignorance, the sight of Teigh bound so tightly, his substantial muscles straining against the ropes that stretched his arms and legs to the point where he couldn’t move at all, made her pussy weep in anticipation.

  A feral gleam lit Teigh’s brown eyes. Candles appeared all around them, casting shadows that jumped and twitched over his dark skin. He looked even larger.

  The first sharp smack echoed through the blackness of the night. Riley had no idea where they were or what was around them. The world had shrunk to include only the mattress, the ropes, the columns, and her lovers.

  Teigh’s expression didn’t change. Behind him, Caiden swung again. The blow landed on his thigh. Riley hadn’t seen the first one to know where it hit. Once again, Teigh didn’t react.

  She did, though. With each resounding crack, she flinched. The knots from the elaborate latticework binding caressed her skin and dug into those strategic and erotic places Caiden had pinpointed. Moans and little pleas squeaked from between her lips.

  Caiden swung again and again, rounding Teigh’s body so that he blocked Riley’s view. The instrument in Caiden’s hand turned out to be a leather paddle. Caiden worked his way down Teigh’s chest to his legs. When he stepped away, the flickering candlelight showed a ruddy undertone to Teigh’s mocha skin.

  Anticipation marked the lines of Teigh’s body, and his cock had thickened, hardening to half-mast. “More,” he said. “Use the crop.”

  With a flick of Caiden’s wrist, the paddle changed to a riding crop. He tested the handle in his hand, adjusting his grip until he found one that seemed to please him. A little leather square flapped from the end of the long rod.

  Riley wondered whether the smaller surface area would hurt more or less. Teigh had already taken much more than she would have been able to endure. Where she would have been sobbing for mercy, he only demanded more. The fact he requested a specific instrument didn’t escape her notice. If Caiden was in charge, why was Teigh allowed to call the shots?

  She didn’t have too much time to wonder. Caiden tapped the leather square against Teigh’s pectoral muscles. Teigh’s lips pressed together. While he had yet to lose his temper with Riley, she recognized the signs of frustration turning to anger. The ropes wrapped around her body hadn’t driven her that far yet, but she didn’t have the benefit of experience to know where this was heading. Teigh did.

  Caiden openly reveled in not giving Teigh exactly what he wanted, and Riley realized this was part of the punishment. Caiden knew exactly what Teigh wanted, and he refused to deliver.

  As he had with the paddle, Caiden peppered Teigh’s body with taps. Finally, Caiden flicked the crop extra hard, and a crack shot through the air. Teigh moaned loudly, and Riley jumped, jerking against the ropes. A fresh gush of cream rushed to her pussy. She whimpered for more, knowing full well Caiden had no intention of delivering additional stimulation until he decided to do so.

  Caiden rounded to the back of Teigh, once again revealing the long muscles cording his entire body. His erection, large and thick, bobbed and strained, seeking the caress Caiden denied.

  The staccato rhythm of the crop continued. Riley watched Caiden’s arm rise and fall. Teigh relaxed into the beating as if he was being massaged. Suddenly, the crop sang through the air, cutting it with practiced precision. Teigh’s body jerked, and he cried out.

  The style of the assault changed. Each new blow whistled, and Teigh cried out loudly, not bothering to temper his volume or control his reaction. Riley’s body flinched and moved, but soon she wiggled and writhed to both prolong and flee the unique torture of the knots she couldn’t escape. Ragged breaths ravaged her throat. The bindings didn’t stimulate enough to push her over the edge. If Soren was here, he would…

  Riley pinched her eyes closed against the sadness that washed through her body and soul. Soren wasn’t here. While they played around, he fought demons only he could see. As if she willed it, the rope binding her slackened and fell away. She wiggled free and sat up.

  Caiden’s questioning gaze penetrated deep. Riley couldn’t meet it for long. From the corner of her eye, she saw him release Teigh. The two of them settled on each side of her.

  Angry marks crossed Teigh’s back, and most of his skin retained a deep flush from Caiden’s rough treatment. With a tentative hand, Riley touched his skin. He smiled encouragingly, and a shiver ran through him when her finger crossed a light welt.

  “The marks will fade in a few hours.” He captured her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “We should make the most of them before they disappear.”

  She rushed to assure him that she understood. “I know this brings you pleasure. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Her mouth opened and closed as she searched for the right words. She didn’t want to chastise them for what they were doing, but her soul cried out for Soren to join them. While she had no problem engaging in this kind of play with just the three of them, Soren’s absence didn’t sit well with her.

  Caiden must have sensed her problem. “If Soren was here, he would have alternated sitting on the edge of the bed teasing you and standing in front of Teigh, teasing him. He doesn’t care to dish out the punishments, a
s I like to do, but he doesn’t hesitate to take advantage of the situation.”

  Tears pricked her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “Those demons have him, Caiden. He’s alone and miserable, and I don’t know how to help him.”

  Caiden slid his arms around her and pulled her close. She rested her cheek against his chest, and he kissed the top of her head. “I wish I could offer some words of wisdom, my darling, or some reassurance that it’ll all turn out for the best. I have a deep and abiding faith. It has carried me through the millennia without you, and it only grows now that I hold you in my arms. It’s all I have to offer, and I give it freely.”

  Hands caressed up and down her back, but it wasn’t until lips kissed a line along her shoulder that she realized Teigh had added his caresses to Caiden’s. Ever since Soren left, she had sought this kind of physical comfort from Teigh. In his arms, she could forget for a little while. Perhaps having both of them would work twice as well.

  “Make love to me.” She lifted her head and locked gazes with Caiden. “I know this isn’t what you planned, but it’s what I need from the both of you right now.”

  He nodded, and one hand slid up her back, stopping when he cupped the back of her head. A million feelings pinged through her body, but something in his demeanor commanded the bulk of her attention. She didn’t feel bad, or like she neglected Teigh, because she knew Teigh felt the same pull. With Caiden there, they both automatically ceded control to him. She knew their submission would only be deeper if Soren joined them.

  Of course, she didn’t know whether Soren would top Caiden or the other way around. It seemed to her that neither of them would countenance another dominant personality for long.

  At her core, Riley knew she called the shots. All three men would fall over themselves to see to her needs. She had only to ask. She used that now because she needed them both to hold her, to love her as only they could.