I groan and mutter a few questionable things under my breath and then manage to release him and touch myself. And it’s good—I certainly have developed an aptitude for self-mating—but it’s not enough.

“Am I your Lady Bianca?” I murmur petulantly while writhing and groaning.

“Yes, you are,” they both answer.

My forehead truly knotted, I push, “Does that mean I get to do what I want?”

“Of course, it does,” Pennie answers, his voice husky.

I’m grinning as I quickly move, watching their wide eyes as I do what they clearly didn’t expect. I climb onto Pennie’s back, realizing instantly that his ridged spine will work perfectly for what I have in mind. Straddling him, my clit against his ridges, my flesh directly in contact with his sheen, I begin to rub and undulate against him while emitting sighs and cries I’ve never made or heard before—not even in porn.

When I squeeze Pennie’s shoulders, he understands and resumes thrusting into Bastien, whose moans grow lower and rougher as we all move together.

I reach for Bastien’s hand and when I claim it, I feel a breeze that wasn’t there before… a breeze created by the sudden, intense fluttering of Bastien’s feathers.

A moment later, I understand what’s happening—we’refloating. Bastien’s feathers lifted us from the bed, his delicate feathers powerful enough to lift himself, Pennie, and me.

Absolutely giddy, I blurt, “This is amazing!”

When I lean and catch sight of Bastien’s eyes, I discover his shock. “Never before…” His emotions overwhelm him. “I never knew what my feathers were for… but theydoserve a purpose. But only with you here, my Lady. Only with you.”

I want to ask why but I don’t want to distract from this moment with words, when our bodies can answer all our questions better than our minds ever could. Our bodies know this moment is right, that it’s perfect and meant to be fully lived.

I desperately want to hear Bastien reach his climax and I want to ride Pennie’s back until he’s ready to ride me.

And that’s exactly how it goes.

Floating, Bastien’s soft whimper precedes a powerful intake of breath, while Pennie roars his release inside Bastien. I meet them in ecstasy with raspy whines and finally collapse on top of Pennie, already needing more in a deliciously insatiable way.

Chapter17

Pennie

The feeling of Lady Bianca’s bare chest against my back, her pelvis still grinding against my ridge… I have no words. I’ve connected with others during my long life, but nothing I’ve experienced has ever felt like this.

I see it in Bastien’s eyes, the awareness of what has changed for us. Bells are ringing that can never be stilled, because we’ve now experienced the spark that has eluded us for so long. I love Bastien and he loves me. I love Archie and Nico. But there was always something missing for us and the way she’s sliding against me, using my back to unabashedly seek her pleasure… it’s just all so clear. She belongs with us.

And we’reliterallyfloating here, Bastien still smug about a Taran’s version of flight, something apparently only possible in the company of his true mistress. The peace radiating from him is so beautiful and well deserved.

“Please, Pennie,” Lady Bianca whines, “I need more. I need you inside me.”

Yes, she’s delightfully and insatiably aroused in just the right way.

“Hold on to me, my Lady,” I command.

She grips my shoulders, while Bastien lowers us back to the mattress. I kiss him slowly before leaving his body and standing, carrying my Lady to the pool, of course.

Bastien follows and watches as I descend the steps, my inner fire heating the pool within a second. Bianca moans loudly when her body is submerged in the thick liquid.

“It’s not water,” she muses, sounding well into a drunken state.

“No, it’s not. It’s the product of melting a very special kind of gem with a level of fire only created by my kind. I can survive without this pool, but life is much more agreeable with it.”

She hums. “I have to agree… it feels amazing against my skin.”

“Wait until you see how soft your skin will be after,” Bastien says to her.

“Aren’t you coming in?” Lady Bianca asks Bastien, who is now seated on the edge, right behind where I’m about to sit.