Page 49 of Magic Hunted
They were keeping their distance. It would be difficult for any shifter to keep away from their mate, let alone alphas who saw their mate as their full completion.
But that’s what they’d always done. Theyhadlistened to me. It wasn’t just now they were asking me to trust them. They’d altered their behavior and put my needs above theirs from the moment they’d forced my Change.
Dias smiled as he waited for me, his hand never lowering. His face transformed when he smiled. He looked younger. Carefree. There was a hint of Brais in that smile. In the way lines fanned from the corner of his eyes and suddenly I was that terrified little girl on the day of the Choosing again. Brais had known he was my mate yet he hadn’t said a word. Simply held his hand like Dias was now and waited for me to accept him.
My feet shifted to the water, warmth covering my toes when I stepped in. A moan ripped from me at the heat, every muscle tensing with the need to immerse myself in the pool.
“If you make another sound like that again, I’ll have to forgo my bath and wait for you outside with our elf guard and I can tell you we are not best friends,” Savvas said.
I gasped, seeing the tent in his pants and the tense look on his face. That made my mind up and I scuttled into the water. Dias clasped my hand and guided me deeper. He turned me, pushing me backwards until my knees hit a ledge, then helped to lower me onto a seat so that water lapped my shoulders.
Water picked at the sheath, heavy over my frame and was so deliciously warm it was an instant mistake to still wear it. Then my gaze locked on Ashir as he stepped out of his pants, grabbed the basket and stepped into the water, his whole body gloriously on display.
Even if I wasn’t their mate, I’d have to be blind and half-dead not to be wholly aware of them. They were absolutely perfect. He stepped toward me, his eyes never leaving my face as he left himself on display. His thighs bumped his thickening cock before he strode into deeper water and it was stolen from my vision. He set the basket next to me on the ledge, his pecs dangerously close to my face.
I clenched my thighs when my clit throbbed, but that only made it pound harder. Gods, this bath was going to destroy me. I should get up and get out, but my legs lacked the strength to take me to the shore and away from them.
I tore my eyes from Ashir’s perfect chest to see Savvas shuck his pants. I think he may have waited until I’d given him my attention. He stepped out of the pooled material and toward me, wading until the water lapped his hips and the top of the delicious V was visible before the water stole the sight away.
He leaned over me, his arms encasing either side of my head, to rest on the bench behind me. The breath stuck halfway in my throat and my lips tingled as he bent down. He plucked a bar of soap from the basket, a smirk curling his lips when I realized he was teasing me. “So, where would you like me to start washing you?”
A giant pulse shot through my body, sending a tingly thread from my core to my breasts. “Huh?”
His smile deepened as he dipped the bar of soap in the water and lathered it between his hands. “Tell me where you want my hands on your body, Haera.”
Slick heat slipped between my folds. The feel of the wet sheath around me was restricting, but I was still grateful for the cover the wet material offered.
“Let’s start with your hands.” Savvas deposited the soap on the ledge, picked up my hand and massaged the suds between my fingers as though he could read my mind. “I have to hand it to the elves, this little bathing hut is actually pretty good, given the hut they locked us up in.”
His fingers slipped through mine. He worked his thumbs into my palms, giving my hand a massage while he cleaned me. Ashir picked up the soap, working up a lather before he scooped up my other hand.
“Sit forward, magic,” Dias said.
“What?” I looked dumbly at Dias as he collected a jug I hadn’t seen on the ledge built into the wall of the hut.
“I’m going to wash your hair.” Dias cupped my neck. My head fell back automatically and my eyelids fluttered closed as Dias scooped up water and wet my hair, taking pains not to wet my face. I heard the jug clink back on the shelf. A floral scent drifted over me as his fingers slid into my hair and massaged. A second dangerous groan slid up my throat as his fingers worked their magic. My lips parted and I think I drooled from the corner of my mouth as Dias worked the suds through my hair.
“If you keep making sounds like that, we’ll need to fight the whole elven contingent away from her,” Dias said.
My eyes shot open to be filled with smooth skin and rugged muscle. I slid my attention to their faces, my gaze tangling with the three of theirs.
“Whatever it takes to keep her safe,” Savvas said. His clever fingers worked up my forearm, gently stroking and massaging.
My nipples beaded. They’d be fully visible where the material was stuck to my chest, but not one of them dipped below my chin. Ashir moved up my arm and slid over my shoulder. His touch was gentle. They all touched me as though I was porcelain.
“Head back,” Dias said. I tipped my head back as he washed the suds away. He dipped his fingers into one of the jars Shanyirra had packed, heaping purple gel into his palm before working it back into my hair. The floral notes of the substance drifted around me again.
Savvas finished washing my arm and wiped the suds off. A layer of grime disapeared, leaving squeaky clean pink skin. He picked up my foot, letting it rest on his thigh under the water as he slid the soap across my skin. He circled his thumbs into my heel and I barely held back another groan when he worked the muscles in the arch. I had no idea anyone touching me under my foot could feel like this. I slumped against the ledge of the pool, lethargy weighting my limbs leaving the way for something more languorous to ease through me.
Suddenly the dress was too heavy. Too clingy. My skin too contained. As though of their own accord, my fingers curled around the hem of the sheath. I lifted the material over my hips, working it around my waist. My core throbbed as arousal built and I needed more than the gentle touches they were giving me.
“Do you need this off?” Ashir said.
“Yes. Please.” I had to get it off me, now. My clit pulsed. I needed to be touched righttherewhere I ached. I knew I had more willpower than this. Knew on a level that this should stop. That them touching me would lead to a place I didn’t want to be but when Ashir helped the wet garment over my head the knowledge turned to dust, my body almost combusting with need.
My breasts ached, my nipples tender. I knew they could make me feel good. I’d let them touch me intimately before. An insistent voice started up in the back of my mind, reminding me of everything I’d told myself. The reel of arguments I upheld in my mind.
I focused inwards, feeling the dark space within me that was still there. There was no sign of their soul-lights. Nothing to persuade me that what I felt was anything but me. No bond making me want something I didn’t. No fate luring me in.
