Page 78 of The Reckoning
She hesitates, half turning, and that moment of hesitation, of second-guessing herself, is all I need. I close the distance in three long strides, catching her arm and spinning her toward me. Her small frame crashes against my chest, and the impact catches me off balance. We tumble to the forest floor, leaves and moss cushioning us. I catch myself at the last minute and brace my arm against the ground to keep from crushing her with my weight. We’re suspended in time—her beneath me, chest heaving, her blue eyes wide and sparkling, not with fear but a lingering excitement. Rain soaks us both, plastering her shirt to her skin, revealing every rapid rise and fall of her chest.
Using my hands, I bracket her shoulders, pinning her to the ground.
“Look at what I caught.” I pant, triumph surging through me like lightning. “A little rabbit.”
She bucks against me, refusing to surrender. Her knee comes up, nearly connecting with my groin before I shift my weight to block her. The struggle is intoxicating—her strength, her defiance, even knowing it’s futile.
“Shhh,” I murmur, using one hand to brush wet hair from her face. “It’s time for me to claim my prize.”
I pin her wrists above her head with one hand, using the other to trace the delicate line of her jaw, feeling her pulse hammering beneath my fingertips.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?” I question, lowering my face until we’re sharing breath. “For me to claim your ass, while my brother fucks your pussy?”
She struggles against my hold, but it’s nothing more than an act. I can see her nipples poking through the fabric of her wet shirt.
“Shhh, you don’t have to fight it anymore. You don’t have to worry about us fighting over you anymore. We want the same thing: you, and we aren’t willing to risk losing you again.” I whisper fiercely. “You’re ours, and we’re yours. Both of us.”
She relaxes against me, and I hear Arson approach, his deliberate footsteps announcing his presence. He appears at the edge of my vision, bruised and bloodied from our earlier fight, but his eyes are clear and focused on her. His chest heaves from both the run and at the way she looks so delicious and dirty for us.
“Looks like you’re the winner,” Arson says softly. “But that’s fine because while you claim her ass, I’ll worship her pussy.”
“Say it,” I demand, needing to hear it from her lips.
“No more running,” she breathes. “I’m both of yours.”
Fuck yes, she is.
I lower my mouth to hers, claiming what’s mine, what’s ours, as the forest bears silent witness to what was always meant to be. She tastes of rain and fear andours. I drink her in, savoring the moment when resistance melts into acceptance. Arching against me, she’s no longer fighting but seeking, demanding.
Even though I don’t want to, I break the kiss, pulling back just enough to see her face.
Her eyes are dark, pupils blown wide with adrenaline and desire. The chase has awakened something in her, too—something wild and hungry that matches the beast inside me.
The tension between us crackles like electricity before a storm. Years of separation, of longing, of broken pieces trying to fit back together. None of us is the same person we were before. We’re all scarred, all haunted, all hungry for something we can’t name.
Reaching for her hand, one I’m still pinning above her head, Arson laces his fingers through hers with deliberate slowness. The sight of it—his scarred knuckles against her pale skin—sends a jolt of possessiveness through me that’s immediately tempered by how right and complete this moment feels.
“The three of us,” I say, releasing her other wrist at last. “That’s how it was always supposed to be.”
She sits up slowly, forcing me to shift back onto my knees. The forest floor has left impressions on her skin—dirt, leaves, the texture of moss. She looks wild, untamed, like a creature born of the woods themselves.
I reach for her face, cupping her cheek with a hand that’s still trembling slightly from exertion and something deeper. “It only feels like this because you never thought you would get both of us to agree. You never thought we would give it all up so we could both have a piece of you. Some things are worth more than the need for revenge or blood.”
The rain has slowed to a gentle patter, filtering through the canopy in dappled patterns that play across her skin. For a moment, none of us move, suspended as we are in this fragile new reality we’re creating.
“You two are insane.” She shakes her head. “Absolutely fucking insane.”
Arson grins, that familiar reckless smile I’d thought I’d never see again. “Never claimed otherwise.”
I feel my own lips curving in response. “You knew what you were getting into.”
“Did I?” she challenges, but there’s warmth beneath the words now. “Did any of us?”
I lean in closer, my breath mingling with hers. “No. But this is our life, messy, bloody, full of pain and love.”
Her eyes search mine, seeking truth and certainty. I let her see it all—the hunger, the need, the love that’s consumed me for longer than I care to admit.
Arson’s hand slides up her arm and over her shoulder to cup the back of her neck. A gesture of comfort, of claiming. “We want you,” he murmurs. “Both of us together.”
