Lauren Hawkeye

Some Like It Wicked

Prologue

Aria’s irritation was a tangible thing as she entered Belladonna, the apothecary that she owned and ran with her twin sister Lorelai. The heat of the paper cups in her hands scalded her skin as the bell hanging above the door jingled merrily.

“What’s wrong?” Her sister’s voice was immediately colored with concern.

Though Aria was certain that not all twins were like Lorelai and herself, the fact remained that they had always been acutely attuned to one another’s moods and thoughts. And no matter how much Aria wasn’t in the mood to talk about it, today was no different.

She tried to school her face into nonchalance as she set the cup of Lorelai’s orange blossom tea and her own triple-shot latte on the counter. From the expression on her sister’s face, she suspected that the effect wasn’t quite what she’d hoped for.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Denying that she was upset was useless around the woman with whom she’d shared a womb. Lorelai might have been sweeter and softer than Aria, but she could be ruthless when she wanted something. “It’s nothing new, anyway.”

Hoping to change the subject, Aria nodded to the dried chamomile and lavender, the fresh sprigs of rosemary and spearmint. “Are you making more salve?” Wandering to the back room where they prepared their concoctions, Aria inhaled the aroma into her lungs, hoping the familiar scents would relax her a bit.

With the herbal smell, she caught an edge of something else—that burnt sugar smell of magic.

Turning, she raised an eyebrow at her sister. Though Belladonna did indeed provide magical services to those who knew to ask, they never added anything extra to the stock on their shelves.

“Mr. Garrison was in. His arthritis has been bothering him with all of the rain we’ve been having. He asked if there was anything else I could add to the salve to help.”

Aria watched as, flushed, Lorelai spooned the warm salve from the pot into a small tin. Though humans wouldn’t have been able to see it, Aria saw the faint blue glow emanating from her sister’s fingers as she added one final charge of magic to the salve.

“There.” Nodding, Lorelai set the tin aside to cool, then turned back to Aria. “Now. What’s going on?”

“I already told you, I don’t want to talk about it. Don’t be nosy.” Crossing her arms defensively over her chest, Aria tried to glower at her sister. Lorelai simply tapped her foot on the floor with impatience.

“I’m waiting.”

“Fine.” Scowling, Aria raked a hand through the sleek strands of her glossy chestnut hair. It swung back around her chin as if she’d never touched it.

Wondering how to phrase it, she opened her mouth, then closed it again. Wetting her mouth with another sip of coffee, she finally blurted it out.

“I haven’t had sex in almost a year.”

Lorelai’s expression didn’t change as Aria spoke, but Aria thought she caught the faintest flicker in her sister’s eyes.

“I see,” Lorelai spoke slowly, as if she didn’t really see at all. “Uh... I’m sorry?”

Aria couldn’t help but quirk the corners of her lips up in a smirk. “I’m just setting the stage here. Anyway, you know I have a hard time with the men in town.” Her smirk faded as she thought further.

Surely there was one man out there—just one—who wouldn’t be scared of her. It wasn’t as if she was a gorgon, or anything. And any idiot with half a brain knew that a witch was probably a safer bet than a human, bound by the threefold rule—any harm done would be revisited upon herself times three.

And there had been one man—one vampire, to be exact. But Declan Steele, her vampire lover, was long gone, and it was her own damn fault.

She shook her head to clear it of the thought. The past was the past. She just needed a man with enough balls to get her naked, scratch this itch and let her go back to normal life.

“Continue.” Aria was pleased to hear the frost that had entered her sister’s tone, irritation on her behalf. Still, she knew that Lorelai didn’t understand, not fully. They were twins, they made no secret of their magical heritage and they were co-owners of Belladonna, but Lorelai didn’t have quite the same troubles with the locals as Aria did.

Her sister was sweet of nature where Aria was fiery. Lorelai liked to please people, and Aria could not have cared less. Her sister even had the golden good looks of an angel, while Aria frequently changed her hair color and style. She also preferred torn denim, red lipstick and her ancient leather jacket to her twin’s floaty skirts and cardigans.

In other words, she scared the hell out of most people and Lorelai didn’t. And Aria didn’t care, except when it came to sex and men.

“There was a new guy working the espresso machine. Super tall, blond, just a bit of scruff. You know who I’m talking about?”

Lorelai nodded enthusiastically, hitching herself up to sit beside her sister on the counter. “I do. Oh, I do.”

“Yeah. So.” Aria drained her coffee and hesitated. This part stung. “He was into me. I know he was into me. He asked me what I was doing later. Then he asked my name.”

“Uh-oh.” Lorelai bumped her shoulder against her sister’s, and Aria felt the warmth from the touch streak down her arm. It helped...a bit.

“Yeah. I can see the wheels turning. Ding ding ding, he’s flirting with the scary Prescott twin. The witch.” Aria crunched the paper cup in her palm, wishing she was doing it on the idiot’s head. “And this is the worst part. He ran away.”

“He what?” Lorelai turned and looked directly at Aria, disbelief painted over her face.

“You heard me. He ran away. Scurried into the back without another word.” Normally Aria tried to laugh these situations off, but this one had been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

She was hurt. Not because she wanted that guy, specifically, but because she wanted some damn companionship. If it came in the form of some hot, sweaty sex, then so much the better.

She was lonely, damn it. And that was something that she wasn’t going to admit, even to Lorelai.

She saw the sympathy registering on her sister’s face. She really didn’t want to hear it. Lorelai knew better than to give platitudes about how it would all get better, but she still tried to soothe her sister’s hurt.

Aria wanted to hold on to her irritation, illogical as it was.

“Anyway, I just came to bring you your tea, not to cry on your shoulder.” Swinging her legs, Aria lowered herself down off the counter. “If you leave the tins out to cool, I’ll set them out on the shelf in the morning.”

“Aria...” Aria held a hand up, her emerald-green eyes sparking at her sister as Lorelai spoke.

“Please, Lori. Not now.” Her sister knew her well enough not to take offense at her curt tone. “I’m going to head to Harry’s for a few drinks, I think, then head home. Alone, most likely, but at least I’ll have had some beer to soothe the pain.”

Before Lorelai could protest any further, Aria waved her goodbyes and pushed out of the glass door of Belladonna. Yes, she’d head to Harry’s Bar and Grill, have a burger and some beer. And if she headed home alone afterward, she figured she’d rather keep her own company than be stuck with someone as spineless as the idiot from the coffee shop.

* * *

Lorelai watched Aria leave with a pang in her heart. She knew that Aria thought she didn’t understand, but she knew what her sister was feeling better than she’d like to admit.

Lorelai had wanted to be a teacher—specifically, a kindergarten or elementary school teacher. But the way in which parents held their children tight when either she or Aria was around had told her early on that, unless she wanted to move somewhere else and hide her magic, she’d better settle for another career choice.

And while she tended to scare men off less than her outgoing sister, it didn’t mean that any of them stayed around. When push came to shove, no one wanted to marry a witch, no one wanted to have children with one.

Her desire for true love couldn’t be solved with a spell. But, she reflected as she locked the front door of Belladonna and turned the sign around, her independent sister’s desire for some temporary companionship could be.

“A lust spell.” Cocking her head to one side, Lorelai thought for a moment, letting her intentions come to her. After the picture was clear in her head, she began to gather her supplies—a fat red candle, jasmine oil, dried strawberries and vervain.

She wouldn’t try to draw love to her sister, because that would be attempting the impossible. Nor could she create lust where there was none. But men—lots of them—had a healthy amount of that emotion when it came to Aria. It was simply a matter of removing barriers—both Aria’s and the man’s.

This spell would make the attraction burn hot and bright between Aria and the next man that she saw and was attracted to.

Mixing the herbs and the oil together in a small wooden bowl, Lorelai furrowed her brow and, after a brief surge of energy crackled through the air, lit the red candle with her magic. She paused for a moment as she thought of how angry Aria would be if she found out, but she shook it off.

Her sister deserved to get what she wanted, just once. And maybe it would give her enough confidence that next time, she wouldn’t need a spell.

Nodding, Lorelai cast her circle and began to chant the words that came flowing to the front of her mind.

“Do what ye will, and it harm none.” 

Chapter One

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

Declan Steele shook his head, forcing himself out of the near trance he’d been in as he stared across the parking lot of Harry’s Bar and Grill. It had been years since he’d been back to Salem’s Hollow, and he wasn’t entirely sure why he was back now.

He didn’t speak as his lover handed him the ebony cane that he now had to use to walk. But he did study Adam’s face, the golden skin, the expressive eyes, wondering how he’d been lucky enough to wind up with someone so patient.

“I can’t explain it.” Declan frowned as he felt something prickle his cold skin—the merest whisper of something that didn’t belong on the breeze. His first taste of blood had come from a human with the ability to see things she shouldn’t have. Since then he’d often had premonitions that couldn’t be explained.

One of those had been dogging his heels for the last week, telling him to come back to the town he’d never thought he’d visit again.

“I suppose the question should be, are you okay with this?” Declan narrowed his eyes, watching his lover carefully. He had been with the werewolf for nearly two years, knew him as well as he knew anyone.

Adam knew—had always known—that a piece of Declan’s heart still belonged to someone else. To a woman.

To a witch.

Adam smiled, and Declan saw the strength that had attracted him in the first place. He’d always been drawn to those with cores of steel, those like Adam.

Like Aria.

“I’m not threatened by the little witch.” Adam raked fingers through his coal dark hair, smiling the sexy grin that made heat tighten in Declan’s gut. “You know me better than that.”

This was true, Declan realized, as he weighed the options for the final time. The supernatural creatures in the world had much more open ideas about sex and love than humans did. In the years since he’d turned, he’d been with men, with women, with other vampires, with werewolves. Adam felt the same, as had the woman who had once held his heart in her hands. But Declan had spent enough time among humans in the last few years, doing research for his report for the Council, that some of their uniquely human thoughts and feelings still clung to his skin like a mist.

“I don’t think I’ve been drawn back here just because of Aria,” Declan began, and as he spoke, he felt a tug in the direction of the bar. She was in there, he would have bet his long life on it. “Regardless, you have to know I still have feelings for her.”

Lots of feelings, ranging from throttling her pretty neck to thrusting between her creamy thighs.

Adam grinned at Declan, and Declan saw the whiteness of the wolf’s teeth flash in the artificial light of the parking lot.

“I’m looking forward to exploring those feelings. All of them.” Reaching out, Adam squeezed the fingers that Declan had clenched on his cane. There was more than just heat between them—there was caring, love.

Just as there had been with Aria, once.

Urgency worked its way into Declan’s gut as he searched the outside of the building, his eyesight keen as a hawk’s.

There was something else at play here, something besides Aria. Something that had drawn him here, and that the universe hadn’t seen fit to give him any clarity on yet.

But in the meantime, he might as well confront the little witch who had thrown him out of her life. The very air of the town seemed to pulse with her scent, and until he at least saw her, spoke with her, he wouldn’t be able to focus on much else.

Decision made, he jerked his chin in the direction of the bar. Adam’s eyes followed the movement.

“Let’s go.”

* * *

A pint glass of beer later, Aria was feeling a bit mellower. Who needed men, anyway? She had a credit card. She could buy a vibrator.

It would just be easier that way.

Lifting her glass to her lips, she drained the dregs of her drink and slid from her bar stool. She liked Harry’s, with its rickety tables, no nonsense menu and ancient jukebox that sat on the edge of a tiny dance floor underlain with horsehair. Harry never gave her any of the nonsense that so many people in the town did, but neither did he hit her up for magic.

“Thanks.” Nodding at the man in question, she slid a twenty-dollar bill across the bar. Her burger and beer wouldn’t come to more than ten, but she liked to leave a good tip when it was due.

She was shrugging back into her leather jacket when she felt tingles begin to dance across her skin. Casually—warily—she raised her head to look around the room.

She only felt that sensation when another supernatural being was around, and in the small town of Salem’s Hollow, Pennsylvania, she didn’t often come across one.

Her gaze was drawn across the room, to the tall, intimidating-looking man who stood just inside the door of the bar. There was no surprise on his face as the blaze of his bright blue eyes burned into her.

“Oh, hell no.” Aria prided herself on being tough and in control at all times. But as she looked into the eyes of Declan Steele, the man—the vampire—who had broken her heart, as she registered the heat that immediately crackled through her veins beneath his stare, she fought the urge to flee.

“Breathe, you idiot.” Shaking like a wet puppy, Aria noted the smirk that played around the corners of Declan’s eyes as she spoke and cursed herself internally. Damn vampires and their enhanced hearing, anyway.

Once she’d anticipated that he would hear things, see things about her that others wouldn’t. She’d fallen out of practice.

“Aria.”

Her breath caught in her throat as Declan began to move across the bar toward her. The music of the jukebox, the chatter of the other people around her all faded as, for one long, heart-throbbing moment the world around her ceased to exist. The air between them pulsed with a heat so tangible that it very nearly hurt her to look away.

She forced herself. Heat had never been a problem for them. It had been everything else.

“Declan. When did you get back to town?” Somewhat calmer, Aria took a deep breath and looked back at her former lover. He was as tall, dark and dangerous as ever, his licorice-black hair looking as though he’d just run his fingers through it, his eyes deep and blue. He was pale, as were all of his kind, but she noted the rosy flush on his cheeks that told her he had recently fed.

Jealousy was a blade in her belly as her hand lifted to the curve of her neck, the skin where he had once sipped from her.

Following the motion with his eyes, Declan cocked his head, taking her in.

“It’s good to see you, Aria.”

Instantly defensive, she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled.

“That’s...nice.” Her words were harsh, but truthfully, she didn’t know what else to say. Seeing him—a man who knew her better than she knew herself—was like a balm to her lonely soul.

Yes, he got to know you and then left. Even the snarky inner voice in her head couldn’t erase what Aria hated admitting even to herself.

You told him to go.

It was water under the bridge.

“Well, I was just leaving.” It wasn’t until she stepped back that Aria noticed that Declan was leaning on a cane. Her lips parted with surprise, and her eyes darted rapidly back up to his face.

“What the hell happened to you?” The cane didn’t diminish from the danger that Declan had always exuded. If anything, he made the polished stick of black wood look like a weapon capable of doing great harm, just by being in his hand.

But there wasn’t much that could permanently cripple a vampire.

“Silver. Nerve damage.” Something dark flitted across Declan’s face, but was gone just as quickly.

Aria hissed in a breath. She knew that silver was like kryptonite for vampires. When they’d been together, she’d made a point never to wear it.

She wanted to ask where he’d come into such brutal contact with it, and saw that he was expecting her to.

She swallowed the question. Five minutes in the man’s company and she wanted to pick up where they’d left off. Another five minutes and she’d be rubbing against him like an animal in heat.

“After I left, I worked for the Capitol for a while.” Declan’s words were flat, yet Aria saw a flash of anger in his eyes. The Capitol was the governing body for the supernatural creatures of the world. They left the creatures alone for the most part.

Unless they wanted something. Knowing about Declan’s precognition, it wasn’t hard to guess what they’d decided he’d be useful for.

“Let’s just say it was an occupational hazard.” His voice was wry, and took Aria straight into the past. He’d always been self-deprecating, and on his big, bad self she’d found it sexy as hell.

She still did. She’d had lovers since he’d left—human and supernatural, male and female. But none had ever made her passion burn as bright as the vampire had.

Declan made no attempt to hide his own blatant interest as his eyes slowly traveled up her body and then down. Her nipples puckered under his stare, and she felt heat gathering low in her belly.

“That’s a shame.” Damn it, her voice was breathless. What was wrong with her? She’d been feeling sexually deprived lately, sure, but this man had broken her heart.

Her traitorous hormones didn’t seem to care. They were flooding into her veins, reminding her of every reason she’d always found Declan so sexy.

Her lips were dry, and she licked her tongue over them for moisture.

Declan’s eyes followed the gesture, and she saw his expression darken.

“I wondered.” His voice was everything she remembered—dark, rich like chocolate. It sent shivers skating over her skin. “I wondered if it had all been a dream, what we felt for each other.”

Aria shuddered out a breath. She wanted him—no matter that he’d once left her, she still wanted him with an intensity that was frightening.

“The key word is felt.” Her voice was raw, and it physically hurt to step back, away from him. “Past tense. We were no good.”

“We were young.” Declan followed her, the thud of his cane sounding before his footfall. “But I never forgot you. Part of the reason I came back was you.”

“No.” Panic warred with delight in Aria’s gut.

“Let’s not overthink it.” With the hand not holding the cane, Declan reached out to touch Aria’s cheek, trailing his knuckles over her skin. A blaze of sensation followed in the wake of his touch. “Maybe this is what we both need.”

Aria closed her eyes, savoring his touch. Her body wanted nothing more than to shove Declan down on the top of Harry’s bar and have her wicked way with him.

What would it hurt, after all? She could scratch this itch with someone who knew her well enough to please her.

Only the palpitations of her heart reminded her that she might not survive him leaving a second time.

“No, Declan.”

The vampire’s eyes narrowed as, drawing her strength about her like a cloak, she pulled away from his touch. No matter what she felt in that moment, she couldn’t. “I value my sanity more than that.”

“Don’t you feel it, too?” His voice was as rich and delicious as she remembered it.

Aria still knew him well enough to see that Declan was warring with the same overwhelming need that was swamping her.

“I do.” She couldn’t lie—he would see right through it. “That was never the problem.”

“Goodbye, Declan.” These were words she’d never had a chance to say before. She couldn’t tell if she was relieved or devastated when she finally managed to turn away from him.

Despite all that had happened, she knew him. He was too stubborn, too proud to come back to Salem’s Hollow just for her. So why was he here?

Turning to walk around Declan, Aria found her nose meeting the hard wall of a solid male chest.

“Ow!” Shoving back against the offensive obstruction, Aria scowled up, even as she felt the tingling on her skin intensify.

“Apologies, little one.” The barest hint of a smile played across the lips of the man who had caught her wrists in his hands.

Aria felt her breath catch. Damn it, was the universe trying to torment her today? First Declan, now this gorgeous creature, whose fingers were hot around her wrists.

Nearly as tall as Declan, his skin was a golden brown that gleamed under the pale lights of the bar. His hair was the color of bittersweet chocolate, and his eyes only a fraction lighter.

She could tell that he was something more than human, but she couldn’t say what—though she ruled vampire out of the equation.

He wasn’t nearly pale enough. Also, she could see puncture marks on the cords of his neck, ones that she’d often had herself after a night with Declan.

Holy hell. What were the chances?

Aria backed up a step, looking from Declan to the other man and back again. Declan’s expression told her that he was waiting for her reaction.

“Aria, this is Adam Patel.” With the hand not clutching his cane, Declan reached out to run a hand over Adam’s biceps in much the same way as he had touched Aria’s cheek only moments earlier. “Adam is a werewolf.”

“And a guy who needs a drink.” Adam smiled at Declan, and the intimate curve of his lips, the puncture marks on his neck, the flush on Declan’s cheeks told it all to Aria. “Let me buy you a drink, little one, to apologize for almost breaking your nose.”

“No, thank you.” So Declan had a new love. Well, that was fine. She certainly hadn’t been a saint in the years since they’d parted.

But she was unsettled by the heat that crackled between them still...the heat that pulsed among all three of them.

Never again. She couldn’t feel hurt like she had when Declan had gone again. She didn’t think she’d be able to survive.

“I’m going now.”

“Stubborn as always.” This was Declan, but his voice held exasperation instead of amusement. From the corner of her eyes Aria saw the two men exchange a glance.

“This is the one?” Adam’s voice was quiet, but he didn’t seem to be trying to hide his words.

“She always has been.” Declan spoke in barely more than a whisper, and Aria wondered if she’d heard right.

Rubbing her hands over her face with embarrassment, Aria wondered if there was a graceful way to exit a situation like this.

“Don’t leave yet.” Though Adam was a stranger to her, something in his expression as he smiled down at her pulled at her in a way similar—and yet kinda different—from the way she felt when Declan looked at her. “I’d love to spend time with the woman Declan speaks so highly of.”

That was enough. Aria’s nerves snapped.

“Why on earth would you want to spend time with your lover’s ex?” She wasn’t bitter, not exactly, but she was certainly perplexed. She’d thought—hoped—for a brief moment when Declan had said he’d come for her. Hoped that there was some way to erase the past and find her happy ending.

He had found someone new. It was his right. But since she knew he couldn’t have come back just for her, it seemed like a slap for him to come to her, to tease out these feelings that she’d thought were long buried.

It angered her to have them brought to the surface. Turning to Declan, she drilled her finger into his chest.

“You have a lot of nerve, coming in here to proposition me when your lover is barely out of earshot.” Declan blinked as if she’d managed to catch him off guard, and she felt the same surge of satisfaction that she once had when she’d managed to do the same.

“I wasn’t trying to proposition you.” His voice was mildly amused, and as Declan exchanged yet another glance with Adam, Aria felt her cheeks begin to burn with mortification.

Had she read the entire thing wrong? Was she burning up for him while he felt nothing?

Heart in her throat, she took a step toward the door. Her upper arm was caught in the cool grip of a vampire’s hand, and then she found herself hauled against the unyielding chest of the same.

“Something told me to come here this week. I think you know me well enough to know that I wouldn’t have come if the tug came just from you.”

She’d already known that, but hearing it from his lips stung. She glared.

“I had to see you, because I knew if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to get you out of my mind. But I find that I like where your mind’s gone.” The words were dark, hot.

Aria saw the intent in his eyes. She felt like she could protest, but didn’t have to work very hard to quiet it.

She wanted the kiss. She wanted it bad.

When Declan’s lips met hers for the first time in three years, she felt as though she’d had the wind knocked out of her. He blew cool air between her lips, giving her his breath, before he deepened the soft brush of lips and claimed her mouth with a possessive nip on her lower lip.

Aria moaned as Declan’s tongue traced the seam of her lips, then slid inside to dance with her own. She stiffened, fighting it, before her body took over and she wrapped her arms around his chest as his fist tangled in her hair, tugging gently.

Then, as quickly as it had started, the kiss ended. Declan released her and stepped back, leaving Aria panting and needy.

“I think we all might get along.” Declan’s words were thick. With heavy lids and swollen lips, she looked up at him, then at Adam, who stood nearby, watching them with hunger evident on his face.

“You mean...” He couldn’t. It wasn’t unheard of in the supernatural community to have more than one partner at once. But when they’d been together, they’d been so consumed by one another that it hadn’t been a consideration.

No. No way. This was the worst idea on the face of the planet.

But...she was burning, badly. The idea of having not just Declan, but both men sent power surging through Aria’s veins, crackling into magical energy in her fingertips.

If Adam was there too, then how hard could she fall for Declan again? His new lover’s presence would be a constant reminder to keep her guard up.

She was so hot, the ache between her thighs growing so that the thought was enough to convince her. She would enjoy her time with them, enjoy the mind-blowing sex that she knew Declan was more than capable of.

Then she’d go back to her normal life, the way she always did. It hardly seemed fair, but that was just the way things had to be.

“All right.” She was sure that she was imagining the flash of triumph that she saw in Declan’s eyes.

No matter what he said, she couldn’t believe that he’d come back here just for her. No doubt running into one another was just a coincidence that he’d taken advantage of.

Well, she was going to take advantage right back. Here was a man—men, actually—who weren’t afraid of her. She didn’t have to hide any part of herself, and that was something rare.

Smiling slowly, sensually, Aria licked her lips and looked first at the familiar face of Declan, then at Adam, the face she didn’t yet know by heart.

“Where are you staying?” 

Chapter Two

Declan felt his fangs prickling through his gums as soon as Aria acquiesced. As it always had, the submission borne from her strength was a heady rush.

But he also got a jolt of energy as she spoke, and he knew that her decision had clicked something new into the future. Hard as he tried to reach for it, he still couldn’t see what it was.

“We’re staying in the motel across the road.” Declan looked at his lover, saw anticipation on Adam’s face. It made shivers dance up and down Declan’s spine.

He was about to be with the only two people who had been able to reach past the feelings that had been frozen so many years ago, when he’d turned. The very thought made his cock hard.

But as they stepped outside the bar, and the noises of the jukebox and the chatter of the inebriated faded into the night air, another blast of energy pushed against him, this one strong enough to shove him back a full step.

“What the fuck?” Declan’s injured leg dragged on the ground as he righted himself, instantly shoving Aria behind him as he pulled the hidden sword from his cane.

“Declan!” Aria’s voice was a growl as she shoved back at him. In his peripheral vision he saw blue light crackling from her fingers, knew he’d startled her enough to activate her magic.

From behind them Adam growled, and though he didn’t shift, Declan saw the other man’s hair stand up on end.

“What is it, Dec?” Adam sniffed the air and looked puzzled. “I’m not getting anything.”

Aria looked between the two men, suspicion painted over her face.

“I don’t know.” After a long moment, Declan straightened and let his muscles relax. Adrenaline still pumped through his cold flesh—he didn’t understand what had just happened.

“I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was the jolt that happens when I get a premonition, but it was...stronger.” Way stronger, he though with a trickle of unease. Almost sentient.

And now it was gone.

“Dec?” Aria eyed him warily. He wondered if she knew she’d fallen into the old habit of shortening his name.

“Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” Declan caught Adam’s eye and understanding passed between them. They would discuss what had happened later, and in the meantime they would be wary.

But the danger seemed to have passed, and with it Aria’s resolve. He could see the need to flee skittering over her skin.

“Aria.” He deliberately layered his voice with the dominance that she’d once responded to.

“Don’t pull that shit with me, Declan.” She looked at him sharply, her features twisted into an irritated scowl.

“I’m not doing anything besides being myself, Aria.” He softened his voice, aware of Adam standing on Aria’s other side. She seemed to become of aware of it too, and shivered. “And a moment ago you wanted me, wanted us. Are you backing down?”

He watched as her spine stiffened, as he’d known it would when he dared her. He saw the pulse that beat beneath the line of her jaw increase. He struggled to keep himself in control, when the sight mesmerized him, fragile butterfly wings beating beneath translucent skin.

He remembered what she tasted like. He wanted to taste her again.

“I’m not backing down from anything.” Her voice would have seemed controlled to most, but Declan heard the slight breathiness of arousal. “Let’s go.”

With a saucy swish of her hips, Aria sashayed across the dull gray parking lot, her ass swinging in a way that had Declan’s throat going dry, though he’d fed off Adam only hours before.

“The Capitol?” Adam asked in voice that had gone half wolf at the sight of Aria’s swaying hips. His words were tight with both need and concern.

“I don’t know what they would want with me here.” A phantom pain ran through Declan’s injured leg at the very thought of the governing body. To leave the Capitol was death, but he’d been free of them for over a year.

He looked after Aria. He and Adam should simply leave, before anything became more complicated. But he couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that he was where he was supposed to be.

Aria looked back over her shoulder then, her green eyes bright in the moonlight. She cast a wicked smile at Declan and Adam, and Declan’s fangs descended the rest of the way through his gums.

“Coming, boys?” Her voice was a growl, the come-and-get me tone that had always driven him crazy.

He wanted her. He needed her. And he didn’t have to look at Adam to know that his lover felt the same way.

Striding across the parking lot, his cane scraping on the asphalt, he grabbed Aria by her shoulders and pulled her in for a hot, hard kiss. He heard her sharp intake of breath, watched her eyes go cloudy.

“You’re the one who’s going to be coming, little witch.” He couldn’t help but grin at the snarl that passed over her face. She’d always been such a fascinating bundle of contradictions. “Let’s go.”

* * *

Aria’s heart pounded a wicked tattoo against her rib cage as Declan swiped his key card through the reader on the motel room door. As the door swung open, he gestured for her to enter ahead of the men.

She did, her sharp eyes taking in the room and noting several details despite her nerves.

If she channeled her magic, she could see the lingering remnants of two separate threads of energy in the room—the deep blue of Declan, and a golden yellow that she thought was Adam.

The streams of energy were concentrated over the king-size bed, and threaded through with tendrils of crimson.

Crimson energy was highly sexual.

She didn’t need to guess what had happened here.

“You said she always overthinks things, Declan.” Closing her eyes, Aria heard the door to the room close with a click. Adam’s voice was as yet unfamiliar to her, but she was attracted to it regardless, its husky rasp reminding her of the burn of whiskey in the throat. “I think she’s doing it right now.”

“We’d better make her stop it then.” Cool hands—Declan’s hands—pressed flat overtop of Aria’s belly, pushing her back against a wall of rigid heat.

“If she changes her mind, I just might die,” Adam said roughly.

Arching back into Adam’s heat, Aria slit open her eyes to look at Declan. If she’d had any doubts about his desire for her, she no longer did. His fangs were fully extended, something that only happened when he was hungry or aroused.

She knew he was well fed.

“I don’t want to think.” Aria gasped as Adam’s hands stroked up from their grip on her hips to cup her breasts.

She pressed back against him and felt the hard ridge of his erection in the small of her back.

“Adam, take her coat off for her.” Declan leaned his cane against the wall beside the bed.

Aria shifted restlessly as Adam’s hands left her breasts to peel the leather down her shoulders. He then gripped the hem of her T-shirt in his large hands and lifted it up and over her head, leaving her torso naked but for her bra.

“You’re still wearing too many clothes.” Declan’s words were muffled a bit because of his distended fangs, but she still heard him and tensed with anticipation. Adam pulled at the fabric of her bra until her breasts popped free, pushed upward by the garment caught beneath them. He caught their sensitive tips in his fingers, rolling her nipples slowly as Declan pulled at the button and zipper at the top of her jeans, shoving the material to the floor.

“Still no panties.” Dropping to his knees before her, the movement somewhat stiff because of his injured leg, Declan grinned up at Aria, who was arching into Adam’s caress. “It’s good to see that some things never change.”

“Hopefully your skill at this hasn’t.” Her voice was tart, but inside she was shaking. Declan’s words were teasing, but his touch...Adam’s touch...made her feel special. Cherished, even.

Behind her Aria heard Adam chuckle as she challenged Declan.

“You’re going to eat your words, sweetheart.” Aria’s heart melted a bit as Declan used the words he once had. She refused to let it show on her face.

“We’ll see.” Aria gasped as Adam slid one hand down her torso, over her rib cage and to the heated, naked space between her legs. It had been so long since she’d felt any touch but her own there that her knees buckled.

“Easy.” Declan caught her by the backs of her thighs, then ran his lips over the seam where her belly met her leg.

“Oh!” Aria couldn’t swallow the cry as, with sure fingers, Adam parted her labia. His other hand continued to play with her breasts, moving between one and then the other, teasing the nipples until they had hardened to the point of pain.

“I’m dying to taste you again.” Declan flicked his tongue over the curve of her belly, then over Adam’s fingers before sliding through her heated folds.

Aria jolted at the touch. With Adam pressed against her from behind, she had nowhere to go.

“Still so responsive.” Not bothering to tease, Declan suckled her clit into his mouth, his tongue swirling and his fangs grazing the sides.

A rush of liquid heat surged between Aria’s thighs. For one vague moment she felt as though she should be embarrassed, but then she remembered how Declan had always loved her taste, likening it to sweet honey.

Inhaling deeply, she pushed her hips forward, wanting more of his delicious touch.

“That’s my girl.” Wrapping his lips around the tight bud, Declan began to suck, causing Aria’s entire world to rapidly become focused on the burning space between her legs.

Every muscle in her body tightened as she waited for the inevitable. Declan had always been able to make her come faster than she could even do for herself.

“I want you wrecked tonight, baby.” Drawing her to the edge of the orgasm, Declan stopped sucking to thrust his tongue into her slick folds. She shuddered, crying out as a hot, hard burst of pleasure shot through her body. She ground back against Adam as she came and felt the slickness of his arousal against her spine.

“Aah.” Aria found herself lost for words as sensation washed over her. She sagged back against Adam, trembling. In front of her, Declan rose to his feet, weaving his arms around her waist.

Surrounded by two hard male bodies, Aria felt an emotion that she couldn’t quite put a name to click into place.

She liked it.

“Off.” Impatiently she worked her hands in between her body and Declan’s and tugged at his belt. “Too many clothes.”

Reaching behind, she ran her palm over Adam’s hip. He rocked forward, pressing his erection into her bottom.

“Patience, little one.” Adam chuckled as he spoke, his hands tracing lightly over her spine. Aria bit her lip. If any other man had called her that, she would have been extremely irritated. In this situation, though, it seemed strangely right.

She barely knew the man, but she’d been born a witch, and she couldn’t deny the energy that was flying hot and fast around the room.

Closing her eyes, she decided to just let it take her where it would.

“More.” She reached behind her back to undo the clasp of her bra. Adam’s fingers nudged her aside, undoing the hooks and sliding the garment down her shoulders slowly, his touch sure.

“As the lady wishes.” Stepping back so that she could see his full length, Declan left Aria in the cradle of Adam’s arms and lifted his shirt up and over his head.

“Damn.” Aria whispered the word and saw the resultant tug upward of Declan’s lips. She didn’t care that he’d heard.

She was too busy looking at the hard ridges and planes of muscle that made up his torso. She’d deliberately buried the memory of his gorgeous body deep in her mind after he’d left, but now she drank in the sight.

Declan raised an eyebrow at her as his hands came to rest on his belt buckle, and Aria nodded, her mouth dry.

“More.” Declan undid the buckle of his belt, then pulled down the zipper of his worn jeans, the noise of the zipper a harsh metallic rasp in the air.

Behind her Aria could feel Adam’s muscles tighten, just as her own were, as Declan slid his jeans and briefs down over his lean hips. He stood naked in front of them, the impressive length of his erection pointing toward the ceiling.

“So hot.” Aria was momentarily disconcerted at Adam’s words when she realized that he was speaking of Declan. But she found she wasn’t jealous. And her body yearned to be between the two of them, on the bed, and the need overcame the strangeness of the situation.

Clearly both Adam and Declan still wanted her, even though they obviously lusted for each other as well.

“Your turn.” Declan reached for Aria—she noticed that he only stumbled a bit when the distance was short and his cane wasn’t present. Sitting himself on the edge of the bed, he pulled Aria down onto his lap, facing forward and waiting for Adam to disrobe.

The werewolf obliged with a cheeky grin. Aria had met shifters before, but never a wolf—they didn’t tend to congregate in Salem’s Hollow. Fascinated, she watched as Adam quickly divested himself of his clothing. He was shorter than Declan, not as lean, but every bit as ripped. His caramel-colored skin gleamed in the warm light of the solitary lamp, emphasizing the lines of his muscles.

“You okay like that, Dec?” Adam gestured to Declan’s leg and Aria, horrified at the thought that she might be hurting him, tried to stand. Declan banded his arms tightly around her middle, holding her in place as he nuzzled his face into her hair.

“I’m much better than okay,” he said hoarsely. Aria squirmed on his lap as his hands slid over her breasts, her belly and down to clasp her hips. When his fangs grazed the skin of her neck, right in the place where he had once loved to taste her, she arched her back and moaned.

She found herself a little bit disappointed that he didn’t bite.

“Declan. Adam. Please.” Aria didn’t know how much more teasing she could take. It had been so long, and she wanted them both so much. She reached out for Adam’s cock, which was thick and long and already damp at the tip. “No more teasing. I want it fast. I want it now.”

Before either man could argue, Aria bent at the waist and sucked the tip of Adam’s cock between her lips. His groan rent the air as she ran her tongue beneath the crown, then nipped with her teeth. His taste was warmer than Declan’s, more redolent of musk, and she found that she wanted more.

“Declan.” She writhed on the vampire’s lap. He anticipated her need. Lifting her hips momentarily, he pressed his length to Aria’s wet slit and slid inside, moving slowly so that she could feel every inch stretching her flesh.

“Goddess, that’s good.” Aria spoke around Adam’s erection. With the pleasure of Declan inside of her came a sharp bite of pain on flesh that had been so long unused, but she liked it.

“Aria.” Declan’s voice was husky as he clasped her hips in strong hands and urged her to rock back and forth. The movements caused her mouth to slide up and down the length of Adam’s shaft, and she held her breath as he slid deep down into her throat.

“Declan. She’s so beautiful.” Adam’s voice washed over Aria as she let the pleasure take her over. Looking up through the tangle of her lashes, she saw the werewolf’s head thrown back in need, the cords of his muscled neck standing out in sharp relief.

He was the beautiful one, him and Declan both. If Aria hadn’t felt secure in her own skin she might have been insecure in that moment.

With two gorgeous alpha males looking at her like she was a goddess, though, she thought that that would be a bit ridiculous.

“Lie down, Dec.” Adam’s voice was thick with desire as, with a great groan, he pulled his cock free of Aria’s mouth. Aria wasn’t sure what he planned to do, but as Declan lay back on the bed, his feet still flat on the floor, she began to have an idea.

Her nerves began to hum with anticipation.

“Brace yourself.” Aria’s pulse quickened as Adam placed his hands gently on her shoulders and eased her back until she lay flat on top of Declan, his cock still embedded inside of her. The new position changed the angle at which Declan penetrated her, and she gasped as the head of his cock hit a sensitive area deep inside.

“Aah...” When Adam clasped his cock in his hand and began to brush it through Aria’s slippery folds and lower, she couldn’t stop the flinch, despite her arousal.

“I’m not sure how I feel about that.” She couldn’t form a more delicate way to put it. “I don’t know if I want you...there.”

Beneath her, she felt Declan vibrate with laughter. The movement caused an interesting friction where their bodies were joined, and she propped herself up, her elbows on Declan’s chest, as she looked up at Adam with wide eyes.

The grin he gave her was wicked and unapologetic.

“I don’t intend to put my cock there.” Adam’s voice was full of wicked intent. Aria frowned as he prowled over her. Where on earth else would it go?

“Holy goddess!”

Adam ran his cock along the exposed length of Declan’s before pressing the slick head against Aria’s opening. One thrust of his hips and the tip of his member had worked its way inside of her, pressed tightly together with Declan’s erection, and filling Aria so tightly that the pleasure and pain mixed and she saw stars.

“Oh. I don’t...I don’t think...” Adam began to withdraw, and Aria whimpered. It wasn’t an entirely comfortable sensation, but the razor sharp slash of pain was edged with dark pleasure.

“Go slowly, Adam.” Declan wrapped his arms around Aria’s waist from beneath her. He traced fingers over the plump undersides of her breasts as Adam again began to work his way inside of Aria, not stopping until both he and Declan were sheathed to the hilt.

For a long minute all that Aria could do was struggle to accept the physical sensations that were rioting through her body. Heat crackled through her veins when Declan lowered one hand from her breast to strum over her clit, his touch slow and sure.

“Yes.” She barely recognized her own voice, escaping from between her lips before she had time to think about what she was saying. “Yes. This is what I want.”

A groan escaped both men as Adam pressed his hips forward. At the same time, Declan thrust upward. Neither man could move very much, but the tiny slide of the cocks inside of her made tight coils of need spiral deep in Aria’s gut.

“Fuck.” From beneath her Declan brushed a damp kiss over Aria’s shoulder. “You’re so tight. So good. I don’t know how long I’m going to last.”

“That makes two of us.” Sweat beaded Adam’s brow as Aria bowed at the pleasure of another small thrust inside of her tight heat.

The two men timed their small movements, moving into her at the same moment, pushing until Aria felt certain that she would explode. Then they would recede, just enough for her to catch her breath.

Her need coiled ever more tightly. She needed something, just something more to explode.

As her body tightened, Adam slid his hands down to her opening. Pulling the skin of her labia taut, he nodded at Declan, who increased his pressure and pace on Aria’s clit. In less time than it took to her inhale, the pleasure crashed over her, an out-of-control blaze that made her scream.

Though her haze she felt Declan’s fangs scraping over the tender skin in the spot where her neck met her shoulder. She knew what he wanted, but even through her need she wasn’t sure she could give it to him.

“Drink from me, Dec.” Adam bent lower, causing a second series of ripples to riot through Aria as he offered his neck to Declan.

Aria was trapped in the middle of the dense, dark bliss as Declan sank his fangs into Adam’s neck and began to suckle. Adam groaned, stiffened, then pushed all the way inside of Aria’s heat. The smell of musk scented the air as Adam came, and rich red blood dripped down onto Aria’s shoulder as the movement pulled Declan’s fangs from Adam’s skin.

Declan slowly laved his tongue over the spilled drops. The rasp of his lips on her sensitive skin made her shudder, and the small movement sent Declan over the edge. She felt him shoot inside of her, and a final shudder racked her body.

Though she knew that it wouldn’t last, Aria allowed herself to be held, to be pulled tightly against hard male flesh as they all collapsed in a spent heat on the bed.

It felt so good, felt so right that she didn’t want to think about what was to come.

She just wanted to bask in the bliss, and worry about returning to the reality of her own life later.

* * *

Hours later, Aria awoke feeling as if a brittle cold had seeped into her bones and was there to stay.

It wiped away the sweet glow from her encounter with Adam and Declan in an instant, turning the delicious warmth into shards of ice. Sitting up abruptly, she raked her fingers through her hair and looked around, her heart pounding wildly. She could see the energy in the room, Adam’s aura, Declan’s, the crimson haze of sex.

Something else was there too, but try as she might, she couldn’t see it.

Magic crackled in her fingers as she crawled to her knees, careful not to disturb the men who lay on either side of her, one cold as ice, one hot like a flame. Declan, she knew, slept like...well...the dead. Adam, she had no idea, but his animalistic snores told her that he was deeply asleep.

Crawling to the edge of the bed, she pulled the sword from Declan’s cane, a backup to her sometimes unreliable magic.

The sensation that she wasn’t alone, that something was watching her faded as quickly as it had come. Before Aria could blink, she knew, somehow, that she was once again alone.

Adrenaline coursed through her body as she looked down at the slumbering men. Her belly did a slow roll as she studied the lean lines of Declan’s face, a face she knew so well and yet seemed new to her all over again.

What had happened between the three of them had been more than sex. She couldn’t deny it. But she couldn’t think when she was around Declan and, more than that, the energy that had woken her had left her shaken. It had left an oily residue in the air, one that she could all but smell.

The energy hadn’t appeared to her until Declan had reappeared in her life. It was tied to him, but she was shaken enough by the tender, steamy encounter that she needed to clear her head before she questioned the men.

Warily Aria shifted on the bed. Declan, she knew, was well able to take care of himself—he’d been a soldier, a warrior, many times over his long years. Adam, she wasn’t sure about, but his rigid bearing spoke of military training.

Still, she wasn’t comfortable leaving them, vulnerable to the dark energy as they slumbered.

She closed her eyes and drew her desire to her mind’s eye. Unlike her sister, Aria rarely used words spoken aloud to channel her magic, preferring instead to rely solely on intention and will.

She pictured Declan and Adam sleeping soundly, so deeply that they did not wake as she slid from the bed, dressed and left the motel. They wouldn’t wake unless a malevolent energy made its presence known.

The surge of power in her fingertips, and the resultant blue light, told her when she had tapped into the stream of power.

Waiting a moment to make sure that the spell took hold, Aria then performed the actions she had envisioned. Once she was dressed she raked her fingers through her now messy bob of chestnut hair and turned to indulge in one final look at the two men.

She could see the energy trails of both, swirling together in a sensuous dance. Hers was there too, because sex entwined spirits.

The fact that she could physically see her energy twined in the rope that bound the two men was something she needed to think about. She wasn’t upset, exactly, that Declan had found Adam—the supernatural were sexual creatures, and needed the comfort of skin-to—skin contact. And she’d long ago accepted her part in their breakup.

He might have left her, but she’d pushed him until he did.

But if he left her again, could she survive? Could she turn away now that she’d experienced the tenderness of the man she’d once loved, and another man as well?

She needed to think. And she needed to do it alone. 

Chapter Three

The chill of the fall air outside the cocoon of the motel room added to the desolation that Aria felt. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her leather coat, she strode down the sidewalk to her motorcycle, which was still parked in the now-empty lots of Harry’s.

As she pulled her helmet from the storage beneath the seat, something that felt like a million tiny needles showered over her skin. She stiffened, waiting to see if the now-familiar sensation passed.

It didn’t. Inhaling deeply, she discovered the scent of something otherworldly on the air, something that wasn’t werewolf, vampire or magic.

The blow struck from behind, causing pain to explode through her skull as, caught off guard, she fell to the sidewalk. The concrete kissed her skin, and she could smell blood—her blood—hanging on the air.

“Stop!” She didn’t have a chance to picture what she wanted as, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a blur of gray rushing at her again. Throwing up her arms, she managed to catch the blow there and save her face.

Rolling away quickly, she sprang to her feet and whirled to face her attacker.

Her mouth fell open when she saw that it was. She didn’t know what it was. It had the form of a person, but was misty and gray. It didn’t look like a solid entity, though it had certainly felt like one when it had hit her.

“What do you want?” Aria tried to distract the thing as she pictured the gray thing disappearing, and the sensation of safety surrounding her.

Her magic sparked fitfully, and Aria knew it was because she couldn’t focus.

The gray thing didn’t respond, just swung back and forth fretfully...stalking her, Aria realized. There was something off about the being.

There was no sense of sentience. It was as if this creature was no more than a shadowy zombie, programmed to do only one thing.

“What do you want?” Aria repeated herself, and there was still no reply—there wasn’t even a sense that the creature had heard her, let alone acknowledged her.

This was her chance. Drawing everything that she had into her will, she pictured the scene again, and this time the heat of her magic streamed blue light from her fingers.

The gray mass charged at her again, swinging its ghostly fists as she lifted her hands and willed the streaks of blue light to make the creature disappear. With a great roar and the stench of burning flesh it did, fading away to little more than remnants of smoke.

As her heart pounded in her chest, Aria scrambled backward, still crouched at the ready, the light of magic still streaming from her fingers.

“What the fuck just happened?”

Aria groaned. From behind her she heard the crash of the motel room door slamming open, and recognized Declan’s voice.

Casting a new spell had clearly broken her previous one. The men were awake, and they were not impressed.

“Aria.” Declan was at her side before she could blink, and his arms were around her, pulling her tightly. Her heart skipped a beat. This—this touching without lust—this made her want all kinds of things that she couldn’t have.

She batted his arms away, then crossed her own over her chest.

“Are you all right?”

Aria could see the wolf in Adam as he crouched, sniffing the air. He growled, the sound more animal than human, and a shiver skated over her skin.

“I’m fine.” Her magic was still giving off feeble, last-minute sparks from her fingers. She saw Declan glower at it, then at her, and she knew that she’d been caught.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” Declan was nothing if not alpha, and his male pride was quite clearly wounded at the thought that she had run out on the pair of them.

“Leaving.” Her words were defensive. Like you left me before, her brain silently added, a knee-jerk reaction before she could stop it. From the way Declan’s pale brow furrowed, she knew that he’d made the connection.

“I don’t recognize the smell.” Clearly frustrated, Adam rose to his feet, scrubbing his strong hands over sleepy-looking eyes. “It stinks of dying flowers, and it’s not something I’ve scented before.”

Dying flowers. Aria frowned, not sure what to think of that.

“It looked like a person, but...not.” Suddenly weary, she fisted her hands in her hair and tugged lightly. “I don’t think it was fully...I mean...it was like it was attacking on instinct. I don’t think it had any thoughts of its own.”

Declan caught her chin in his hand, and his vampire vision scrutinized the skin of her face, which was thankfully unmarked.

Her elbows, knees and forearms were another story.

“Why were you leaving?” Avoiding his stare, Aria looked over his shoulder to where Adam stood. Her eyes moved to the bite marks that marred his neck, and she felt as though her heart was being squeezed by a giant fist.

Aria shrugged off Declan’s touch, shaking like an angry bird, though she was more unnerved by the tender touch than angry. She didn’t answer, didn’t know how to express what she was feeling.

“I’m going back to Belladonna. I want to make sure that Lori’s okay.” Aria didn’t make it five steps when she found herself scooped off her feet and dangled ass over teakettle, her stomach pressed into Declan’s shoulder.

Rather than kick and scream, which she knew from experience that he’d enjoy, she growled, the sound full of the wrath of woman.

“Save it, sweetie.” Adam fell in beside them, protecting Aria’s exposed side as, together, the two men broke into a supernaturally fast run down the street, Aria bouncing over Declan’s shoulder the entire time.

“We told you why we were back here. We’ve had a taste of you now, and we’re sure as hell not letting go.”

Wrathfully, Aria stared at the fantastic view of Declan’s ass, which was at eye level. Declan had done what she couldn’t—had acknowledged the intensity of what had happened between the three of them.

But she wasn’t the only reason Declan was back. And until he told her more, she would hold her heart close.

* * *

“What the hell?” Aria heard her sister’s exclamation as she was carried upside down into the closed shop, accompanied by a werewolf and a vampire.

Still, Aria didn’t miss the quick flicker of glee that sparked in Lorelai’s eyes as she no doubt saw the sexual red energy threads binding the three.

“It’s a long story,” she began, glowering at Declan as he slid her down his body.

She tried to ignore the lust that ignited as she felt the skin-to-skin contact.

“I’d love to hear this, too.” Adam crossed his arms, looking just as irritated as Declan, and Aria blinked in surprise.

She’d been so lonely, how on earth had she wound up with two pissed-off alpha males in her company? She was so not in the mood to deal with even one right at the moment. She was edgy and emotional, and she couldn’t quite quell the nausea from her race down the street at vampire speed.

“It’s a story I’m happy to share with my sister, after the two of you leave.” Aria pointed at the door, and neither man moved so much as a whisper. Frustrated, she cast a look at Lorelai, who was staring at Adam in disbelief.

“Do you really have to hog both of them?” Aria was darkly amused to see Adam shift uncomfortably beneath Lorelai’s frank perusal. “Obviously I’d never go after Declan, but this one? Hello.”

“Lori!” Her twin wasn’t often so frank, but then, these two were fine specimens of manhood.

“And I didn’t have a choice. They’re sort of...a package deal.”

Lori furrowed her brow

“Oh.” Understanding seemed to dawn, and Aria felt her cheeks flush scarlet under her twin’s frank perusal. “Well, that worked better than I had intended.”

Lorelai’s eyes widened as the words fell from her lips. Knowing her twin as she did, Aria narrowed her eyes, honing in on what her sister wasn’t saying.

“What did you do?” Her words were a whisper, but one she knew that the two men would pick up on.

Whatever it was, she knew that she did not want them to hear it.

“Could you two please go somewhere else?” She thought of the shadowy gray figure and felt her pulse speed up. She wanted them to go so that she could talk to her sister, but she was a little bit afraid of being left alone.

It seemed to be the story of her life.

She thought that they would refuse, but Declan instead inclined his head to one side, his version, she knew, of an enthusiastic nod.

“We’ll be right outside.” She only hoped that that was enough distance to put a damper on Declan’s vampire hearing.

As soon as the men left, she whirled on her sister, her finger pointing accusingly.

“I smell roses. I smell strawberries and jasmine. A lust spell, Lori? Am I really so scary that my own sister thinks I can’t get a date?” Anger trembled through her, as did disappointment. She would forgive Lorelai, she knew that already, because her sister never acted with anything but the best intentions.

But now she understood why the two men were so focused on her. They were being compelled by a spell. None of it was real.

Trying to fight through a crushing depression, she looked her sister square in the face. Lorelai was eyeing her warily.

“I only wanted to make you happy.”

Aria heaved a sigh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I know.” She was more disappointed than she wanted to be, knowing that the two men—especially Declan—weren’t acting of their own accord. “I’m pissed, but let’s talk about it later. “

“Why are you all scratched up?” Seeming grateful for the distraction, Lorelai reached out and ran tentative fingers over her sister’s cuts. The worst of them were still tacky with blood.

“Have you ever come across any mention of a gray, shadowlike creature in any of the books?” In the back room of the apothecary the twins kept all the volumes of their family’s history, the diaries, the Books of Shadows.

“What kind of gray shadow?” Lorelai had paled at the words, and Aria knew with a sinking sensation in her gut that she wasn’t going to like what she heard next.

“It looked like a person. But it was more of a mist...and it wasn’t sentient. I’m sure of it.” Aria resisted the urge to press her fingers to her temples as Lorelai uttered a curse.

“One of Gran’s diaries mentioned the exact same thing.” Lorelai tugged on the length of her ponytail, the golden curls springing back as soon as she released them. “I don’t remember which one, though. Let me look.”

“It’s from the spell, isn’t it?” They’d never been able to keep secrets from one another.

Lorelai shook her head stubbornly.

“It can’t be. We’ve both cast thousands of spells and nothing like this has ever happened.” Lorelai looked as though she might cry when she looked at the blood on Aria’s arm.

“I think it might be, Lori.” She couldn’t sugarcoat it, not even to save her sister’s feelings. Her intuition was telling her that this creature was cued into her specifically, and she had a sinking certainty that it was an unwitting result of the lust spell.

“Let me go look through Gran’s diaries.” Lorelai set her chin, as if she knew that her sister would argue. “If I made this mess, then I need to clean it up.”

“No.” Aria’s voice was firm, and she made sure that it was loud enough that Declan would be able to hear her outside. “I don’t want this thing anywhere near you.”

“It would be best for you to go upstairs, Lorelai.” Declan was in the room so quickly that Aria blinked, startled. Once upon a time she’d been used to the speed with which he moved, but it had been so long. “Go to bed. We’ll talk again in the morning.”

“Do you think she’ll be safe up there?” Aria asked.

Lorelai grumbled and insisted on at least dragging the box of Gran’s diaries out of the back room. She placed a stack of them on the counter for Aria and the men to flip through.

“We’ll be able to hear her.” They’d also be able to reach her in time, Aria knew, if anything happened. Or at least, Declan would—she didn’t know about Adam.

The werewolf entered the shop as Lorelai passed through the door to the stairwell which led upstairs to the apartment that the twins shared. He paused to lock the door behind him, and to draw the blinds over the glass.

In his hand he held a coffee cup from McDonald’s, the only fast food joint in the small town.

“I thought you might need a boost.” He handed the steaming cup to Aria. The heat seeped through the thin cardboard to singe her fingers.

She was floored by the thoughtfulness of the gesture.

The reserves that she had built over the years began to melt.

“Did Lorelai have any insight into your assailant?” Declan raised an eyebrow at her, and she squirmed under the intensity of his stare.

She wanted him again, damn it. She wanted them both, even though she’d just had them.

She couldn’t have them. They didn’t know what they were doing.

“She remembered a mention of something similar in one of my Gran’s old books.” Aria gestured nervously to the pile that Lorelai had left on the table. Aria recognized the look in Declan’s eyes.

He wanted her, too.

She didn’t know if she had the strength to resist him.

“Did she have any idea of why?” One look at Declan’s face as he crossed the small space between them told her that he already had a pretty good idea of the answer, and she wondered how much he had overheard with his vampire hearing.

She couldn’t, just couldn’t, admit that her twin had cast a spell to get her laid.

“It’s to do with a spell.” Aria kept her tone deliberately vague. She was distracted as Declan stalked the remaining distance between them, then lifted her onto the counter.

With one quick movement he’d unsnapped her jeans and his own and was pressing his cock against her entrance. She was already hot and wet, and all of her common sense fled as, without any warning, he seated himself inside of her.

“Declan!” Aria’s voice echoed off the walls of the shop as she clung to his shoulders and looked over his shoulder at Adam. After what had transpired between them, she knew it was ridiculous to feel embarrassed that the werewolf was watching.

“Don’t stop on my account.” Though the werewolf continued to chew on his late dinner, he watched with avid interest as Declan caught Aria around the waist and began to thrust, hot and fast.

“I just can’t get enough of you.” Declan’s fangs extended as he set a merciless pace. Aria’s fingers slid from his shoulders to claw at the counter, trying to find something, anything, to grab on to. “I never could.”

Though her heart quickened with guilt, she was too far gone into the pleasure to do more than moan as Declan brought her to a quick, brutal climax with the press of his thumb on her clit. She felt him flood inside of her himself, his tongue swiping over the tips of his fangs as he came.

Panting, Aria winced as Declan slid from between her legs. What the hell had that been?

She blinked in amazement as Adam filled the space Declan had vacated. He pushed inside her more slowly than Declan had, his passage eased by the vampire’s pleasure.

“Declan.” With wild eyes Aria looked at the man who had once meant so much to her. He was zipping his jeans, but possession sparkled in his eyes.

Mine, he seemed to be saying. You’re both mine.

Aria barely had a moment to catch her breath before Adam began to move, seating himself inside of her again and again with long, hard strokes.

She came before he could even move his hand between her legs, her flesh so sensitive by that point that every little move was painful and still full of pleasure.

As her flesh clenched around his cock, Adam thrust one last time and grunted, his heat filling the depths of her belly.

Aria’s elbow knocked one of her Gran’s diaries off the counter as Adam withdrew from her heat. Flustered, she slid from the counter, straightening her hair, her clothing as she bent to retrieve it.

“Holy goddess.” It had fallen open to the page with a pencil drawing of the shadowy figure.

Her Gran had always taught her that there were no coincidences in the world. This page was important.

With trembling fingers, she held it out so that the two men could see.

Declan looked at her, his face expressionless.

“There are no coincidences.” His words were low, but she realized at once that he was repeating something she’d often said to him.

“No, there are not.” She turned the book back to face her, reading aloud.

At times a spell will multiply by three, despite the practitioner’s intentions. When this occurs, there needs to be darkness to balance the light, a payment for the pleasure. In my experience, this took the form of a man, a demon of sorts who nevertheless had no mind to call his own. His purpose was to track the one who benefitted from the spell, to eliminate him or her. To erase one is to erase the other. Though this shadowy figure seems to threaten, he is, at the bottom, simply the universe’s way of again balancing the scales.

“Shit.” Aria could think of nothing else to say.

“Indeed.” This was all that Declan said in reply.

“Should we...I don’t know. Should we go hunt it down?” She’d be damned if she was going to let some shadowy by-product of a spell haunt her. With a pang she realized that killing it would mean that the spell would be broken—Adam and Declan would realize that they didn’t actually want her.

They would leave.

It was the right thing to do. Apart from the fact that she couldn’t live with a demon stalking her every move, she couldn’t live her life as a lie.

Although neither of them had told her why they were really here. And she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

Swallowing thickly against the flood of emotions that the realization brought out, Aria looked up when Adam stepped in front of her.

The werewolf sniffed the air and nodded.

“I don’t think we’ll have to go hunting. I think it’s going to find us.”

Chapter Four

Declan studied Aria in his peripheral vision as the three of them made their way down the street to the town’s only all-night, non fast food diner. He’d thrown her off-balance when he’d placed her on the counter and touched her, but he’d meant to do just that.

It wouldn’t be long before she realized that her sister was wrong, that a demon birthed from a spell wasn’t what was hunting them. He wouldn’t be at all surprised, in fact, if she’d already figured it out.

But he knew her better than she thought, even after all these years. If she discovered why he had really left her, that he’d sacrificed his freedom to save her, she’d rip out his hair strand by strand.

He’d always loved her violent side.

He’d have to tell her eventually, he knew. And she’d never forgive him for the decision he’d made. Because when the Capitol had come to him three years earlier, when they’d told him they required his precognition services, they hadn’t given him a choice. If he refused, those he loved—namely Aria—would die.

If she’d known, she would have insisted on coming with him. And the Capitol would have sucked her dry, feeding on her magic until only a brittle shell remained.

So he’d left. And now, because his senses had pulled him back toward her, he had placed her in danger once again.

This time was different, though. This time he wouldn’t leave.

* * *

Sitting in between a vampire and a werewolf did nothing to diminish Aria’s lust.

The last thing she’d expected after they’d found her Gran’s diary was to be dragged to Stella’s, a diner she’d come to since she was a child. But Adam hadn’t been able to track the scent of the demon.

“I can smell it, all around, but it doesn’t lead anywhere.” His frustration was apparent and made Aria long to stroke her fingers through his hair. “And I need a decent meal if we’re going to be facing down a demon.”

Aria hadn’t wanted to leave Lorelai alone, but Declan had pointed out that the demon was attuned to Aria and no one else.

“It’s going to come after you. Lorelai will be safer away from you.”

Aria knew better than to argue with him. Declan was alpha to the core and would never dream of leaving her in danger, and she could already tell that Adam was cut from the same cloth. So here she was, picking at a plate of French fries while Declan sipped from his flask on one side of her, and Adam ate everything on the menu on the other.

“How are you holding up?” A faint residue of scarlet painted Declan’s lips as he sipped from his metal flask. His eyes watched her every move. “You’re not eating.”

“I don’t normally eat a meal at four in the morning.” Her tone was waspish and she knew it. Willing herself to calm down, she managed a tight smile. “I’m fine. I’m more irritated than anything.”

Her nerves were humming because of the overbearing presence of a vampire and a werewolf. The reappearance of Declan in her life had aroused all of the longing she’d once had, and though it might have just been the result of their sexual encounter, Aria didn’t care for the idea of being without Adam, either.

And she was terrified that none of it was real. It wouldn’t be a sudden surge of knowledge for them, but she knew that they would wonder why they had taken up with her.

“In all of this drama, we haven’t had a chance to talk to you about why we came for you, Aria.” Screwing the cap back on to his flask, Declan reached across the table and caught her hand in his. He looked at Adam as he did, and though the werewolf was busy inhaling what appeared to be his third steak sandwich, he nodded in agreement and understanding.

“You didn’t come for me.” The words were out of her mouth before she thought them through, and though she cringed inwardly, she pressed on. “You weren’t disappointed to see me again, but I wasn’t the reason you came here.”

“True.” Declan spoke slowly, and Aria felt her heart sink as he confirmed what she had said.

“Why?” Dropping all pretenses of spunk, she rested her cheek on her hand, suddenly weary. “Why not just leave things as they were. We were doing all right.”

“Adam and I met not long after you and I parted ways.” Declan began, reaching for Aria’s hand.

She pulled away.

“I always knew that there was a piece of his heart that I could never have,” Adam added, shoving his empty plate away and fixing his eyes on Aria’s face. “Because it belonged to a woman he’d once known. He was determined to get back to her someday, once he’d fulfilled what the Capitol wanted from him.”

Aria felt her thoughts stutter as she turned that knowledge around in her head.

“Wait a minute.” She saw Declan’s eyes fixed on her face, saw the truth in them. Fury began to rise inside of her. “You told me you left because vampires needed to roam.”

“I left because the Capitol would have killed you if I’d refused their demands.” Declan’s voice was steady and full of strength. Aria ground her teeth to keep from shouting obscenities. “And you can hate me for it. But I would rather have broken your heart and still have you alive than the alternative.”

Aria’s mind whirled.

“It wasn’t your choice.” Hot, angry tears clawed their way through her throat. “I would have chosen to fight at your side.”

“They wouldn’t have allowed it.” Declan said flatly, slamming his palm flat on the table. “They didn’t allow anything. Complete obedience or death. Though they told me they’d let me go someday—told Adam the same thing—I began to see that they never would.”

“Declan’s precognition was too valuable to them,” Adam’s voice was full of suppressed rage. “And so were my connections to the wolf packs. But it’s how we met, how we decided to escape. If we died trying, well, we figured we were better off.”

Aria’s mind whirled as she tried to take in the influx of information.

“But why come here?” Turning, she looked Declan square in the face. “If you left to ensure my safety, that seems like a waste of effort.”

The men looked at each other, and Aria found herself wanting to smack their heads together. It was as if they had their own nonverbal language.

“I had one of my premonitions,” Declan’s voice was low and determined. “And it drew me—us—here.”

Hope was a wild thing curling inside of Aria’s chest. Could it really be?

“So...in theory, we destroy this spell creature, and we can...can...” she couldn’t spit out the words.

Declan’s face was set and serious.

“I think there’s more than a spell creature, Aria.”

Aria frowned and looked from Declan to the werewolf, who had finished his steak and was now guzzling what appeared to be a pint glass of orange juice.

Realization clicked. “You think the Capitol has found you. That they tracked you down after you escaped.” Panic rose in a dark cloud, and she tried to stand. “Lori!”

Two large, masculine hands gripped her, one hot, one cold, pulling her back down to the table. Two pairs of hard eyes—soldiers’ eyes—stared at her.

“Lori will be safer if we’re not there.” Adam spoke flatly. “And you’ll be safer if we are.”

They were talking in circles, and Aria had had enough. She’d had one hell of a day, her emotions were a mess and a demon was stalking her.

“Spit it out already.” She slammed her hands on the laminated tabletop. The movement jolted her glass, and cold water sloshed over the side, wetting her hand.

Declan raised an eyebrow at her. She glowered back.

“We’re not leaving you. Not until the Capitol has fallen.” Aria’s mouth fell open as she looked from one alpha male to the other. Anger rose, hot and fast, as she realized that they had planned this all out for her, just as Declan had made life-shattering decisions for her three years ago.

Fury painted her vision red.

Standing, she hissed when Declan laid a hand on her wrist.

“Touch me again, and I’ll give you a hex that will make your cock fall off.” Though she was certain that he would follow her, she climbed right over him and out of the booth, stomping her way to the washroom that was located at the back of the restaurant.

She slammed the door shut behind the small, single stall room and leaned back against it, her heart pounding a rapid tattoo in her chest.

“This sucks.” Aria had never been one to cry, not if she could help it. But this—there was nothing she could do about this.

Declan had tried to save her with his leaving, but she couldn’t get past the fact that he’d made the decision for her. A decision that wasn’t the one she would have made herself.

She knew her lover, and suspected Adam wouldn’t leave Salem’s Hollow—wouldn’t leave her—until she was safe.

She’d be damned if she was going to tie them to her like that when they already had each other, though if she was honest with herself, she wanted them both, wanted them willingly back in her life.

Sometimes Fate was a bitch.

Once she could breathe again, she crossed to the cracked porcelain sink. The pipes groaned and the water spurted out, tainting the air with the scent of minerals. Rinsing her face, she ground her teeth and understood what she had to do.

Closing her eyes, Aria inhaled deeply and pictured the creature she had seen earlier, the gray, ethereal shape. She focused her intentions, and at the same time channeled her energy into her fingertips.

She wasn’t afraid of a shadow creature. Wasn’t afraid of the Capitol. They were the organization that ruled over the supernatural creatures of the world, true enough, but she refused to believe that they couldn’t be beaten.

Especially not with rage filling her blood.

“Come and get me, asshole.” Aria’s voice echoed off the walls as she invited the creature to her. “If I can’t handle a little shadow demon, I don’t deserve to call myself witch.”

It took a moment before the whoosh of energy came, before she registered the out-of—place scent.

Decaying roses.

Her muscles tensed as she raised her head but saw nothing in the mirror. She didn’t trust her eyes—she could sense the demon.

She whirled, pressing her back to the sink. The thing hovered just inside the door, the size of a large man. She again sensed the lack of awareness from the creature.

Something wasn’t right. If the Capitol had sent something to get Declan back, or to hurt her in hisplace, surely they would have sent something more than this. This demon was dark, but it was as if it had been cued for one purpose only—to kill her and restore the balance altered by Lorelai’s spell. As it slid slowly, threateningly toward her, she tried to channel her magic.

Focus, she told herself. She would take care of this, of what she was suddenly sure was indeed a by-product of Lorelai’s spell, and deal with whatever shit the Capitol threw down after.

She’d accepted the need for balance, even if it meant giving up Adam and Declan. But she wasn’t the one who was going to die to accomplish it.

As she’d done outside the motel, she pictured the demon disappearing. A few sparks danced from her fingers in the direction of the creature, but the stream of power that she was trying to reach for eluded her.

Tendrils of fear began to wind their way around her muscles as her bravado disappeared and she realized that she might very well be in trouble.

“Fuck this.” Taking a precious moment to close her eyes against the threat, Aria tried to pull her magic toward her again. A short burst exploded from her fingers, slamming the creature back against the bathroom door, but it wasn’t deterred and just kept coming.

Blast, slam. Blast, slam. Aria could feel her energy draining, and it became harder to channel even the small bursts of magic.

She tried again to pull her power to her, and with her heart in her throat realized that she was drained. She had nothing left.

The creature reached for her, its arms outstretched, and Aria feinted to the side to avoid its grasp. Her foot looped behind her ankle, and she fell hard onto the tiles of the floor, jarring her spine painfully.

She shrieked as the demon turned and bent, those fingers inches away from brushing her skin.

The door exploded open, half of the door frame coming with it. A massive silvery wolf leaped into the small room, its muscles bunching with power. It flew at the demon, jaws open wide, lethal-looking teeth glinting in the neon light.

Declan was in the room a fraction of a second later. Aria was in shock as he drew a dangerous-looking blade from the hilt of his cane. His movements graceful despite his injury, he swiped the blade through the air once, twice.

As the possibility of losing him again slapped her hard in the face, Aria was faced with a hard truth.

I still love him.

Before the demon’s shadowy head separated from its body beneath Declan’s blade, Aria felt power blast through her. Raising her hands, she sent a wall of her magic careening toward the demon. It slammed into the creature—through it—and the thing floated upward before bursting into eerie amethyst flame.

The rest of its form quickly followed suit, tingeing the air with the smell of flowers.

Declan was at Aria’s side, lifting her into his arms before she could even process what had happened. With his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, he kissed her over and over again.

Something was wrong with that, but her mind was too full of Declan, and she couldn’t think what.

“Thank you.” She managed to mutter when her lips were finally free. “I...I was running out of steam.” It galled her that she hadn’t been able to handle the demon on her own, but she had her life, so she wasn’t about to complain.

“If you hadn’t run away from us...” Declan’s words were a growl. Remembering why she had run, Aria looked away from the probing blue beam of the vampire’s eyes.

A silvery wolf rubbed its furry head beneath her hand as they all turned to watch the lavender remnants of the demon dance on the air.

“Aria.” Declan buried his face in her air. Shaken, Aria leaned into him, savoring the sensation of his solid body beneath her fingers. “Please. Let us stay. All of us, together.”

Joy leaped through her. It was tinged with fire. Fire...heat...her warm feelings faded as an inferno of pain swept through her body.

Movement in the corner of the room caught her eye and she jerked, turning to see a great purple serpent, its teeth sinking into the tender flesh of her leg. Her magic sparked fitfully in her fingers, but she’d used it all vanquishing the shadow creature.

“Dec...Adam...” She could feel toxins moving through her as the snake, the symbol of the Capitol, a symbol that was familiar to every supernatural child even if the workings of the mysterious group were not, worked through her body. She watched, as if from outside of her body, as the werewolf howled with rage and slammed the snake into the ground. As she fell, the last thing she saw was Declan, his own throat bared to the fangs of the snake, as he slashed his sword at the beast.

The snake, with an impossibly human look on his evil face, lowered his teeth to Declan’s neck.

“No!” The scream came from Aria, and yet not. Her body became stiff as a board as something she had never felt and couldn’t describe slammed through her, taking over her body, suffusing her with heat.

“Love is the strongest magic of all.” The voice that came from her throat was hers, but sounded as if a hundred of her were speaking at once. The heat of magic pushed through her entire body, but it was more than she’d ever felt before, ripping through her flesh, a wash of crimson that began a wall of flame. She screamed, her eyes rolling back in her head as the flame—her energy—incinerated the snake whole.

She collapsed to the ground as the snake disintegrated, then disappeared as if it had never been there at all.

* * *

Minutes passed. Or maybe it was hours. Finally Aria felt the touch of a cool hand on her cheek, looked up to find Declan staring at her with amazement.

“What the hell was that?”

“I don’t know.” She turned to see the last moments of Adam’s shift, the silver pelt disappearing from view and leaving golden skin for her to eye.

Lots of naked golden skin.

She should have been exhausted. Confused. Terrified.

Instead she felt like a goddess, full of power and life. And a pleasant hum worked along her skin when she saw that Adam had a massive erection.

“Goddess.” She inhaled sharply as she saw it.

Adam grinned. “Fighting gets wolves excited.”

She choked on a protest when he fisted his cock in his own hand and stroked once, up and down.

Aria cast a nervous glance over her shoulder at the splintered door frame. Neither Adam nor Declan seemed at all bothered by the idea that someone could walk in on them at any moment.

“Declan worked his vampire mojo to clear the restaurant.” Aria jolted at the searing heat of Adam’s skin as he pressed up behind her. His cock jutted into the small of her back, and she couldn’t hold back a moan.

“Guys, this hardly seems like the time...” Her words were lost as Declan dipped his head to suckle her breast into his mouth through the thin cotton of her T-shirt. Her back arched and she cried out at the sensation.

Something wasn’t right about this...the thought was hovering just below the surface...

It surfaced.

“You were serious? That if the threat from the Capitol was gone, you would still want me?” Aria’s body tensed as she blurted out the question. Both men halted their movements, and Aria looked up to see a hint of confusion on Declan’s face.

“Haven’t we already said so?” His hands were cool against the skin of her stomach as he tugged her shirt up and off her head, then pulled her bra down below her breasts.

His fingers began to strum her nipples, and Aria had a hard time following the conversation.

“The Capitol will never stop coming, Aria.” Adam made short work of her jeans, shoving them down her hips until they fell to the floor, binding her ankles. Placing his hand flat on her back, he pressed gently until she was leaning forward a bit at the waist.

She shuddered at the feel of four hands on her skin.

“But I’ll never leave you again. We’ll never leave you.” Declan scraped his fangs over her neck, a mark of possession, and Aria felt her last reserves crumble. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Adam in the long term yet, but she liked him and was attracted to him. Relationships had been built on less, so she was willing to give it a try. “But I won’t take the decision away from you again. I need to hear you say it, Aria. Will you be with us?”

Adam rubbed his fingers through her wetness, then slid the liquid through the division of her ass cheeks.

“What...” Aria’s body tensed as Adam’s finger pressed against the pucker of flesh. She felt like she could protest, but the dark pleasure she felt as he worked a damp finger into that forbidden tightness excited her unbearably.

“Aria.” Abandoning her breasts, Declan undid his own jeans. Bracing his injured leg, he lifted her easily with his vampire strength, pressing his own erection to her damp cleft and filling her in one thrust.

“Goddess!” The angle allowed him to seat himself deeply inside of her, and Aria saw stars. She twined her arms and legs around Declan, clinging tightly as he began to move, forcing Adam’s finger to work in and out of her as well, relaxing the tight ring of muscle.

“More.” Aria’s arousal soared fast and hot, like the flames of a fire. She tilted her pelvis forward, pressing into Declan’s cock, but she still wanted—needed—more.

“Answer us.”

Aria inhaled sharply as she felt Adam withdraw his finger, then work the head of his massive erection between her lower cheeks. She arched her back, silently begging for more, but the werewolf held himself still. “Damn it, Aria, you owe Declan an answer, at least.”

Aria closed her eyes and tried to focus on the question. Adam’s free hand splayed over her stomach, stroking the skin there in a feathering motion, and she squirmed and sighed with delight.

This—this felt so right. Now that the spell had been broken, she had everything she wanted within arms’ reach.

“Please.” Neither men gave her what she wanted, and she huffed with exasperation. She knew what she would do—there was no other choice for her. But she also knew that it would not be easy—this relationship would be full of strange dynamics, and having to keep not just one, but two alpha males in line would surely test her patience.

“Yes.” As soon as she spoke Adam began to press forward, entering the impossibly tight channel with painstaking slowness. “Oh. Oh.”

Adam groaned as slowly, finally he hilted inside of her. Aria felt impossibly full, to the point of pain, and yet nothing had ever felt more right than the two of them with her.

“Yes?” Declan pulled back to look into Aria’s face, and she met his brilliant blue stare with her own emerald green one. If she looked over her shoulder, she knew that Adam’s golden eyes would glow with the same intensity.

She smiled at the man who had never relinquished his hold on her heart. It was a wild risk, but it was one she was willing to take.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll try.

* * * * *

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Copyright © 2013 by Lauren Hawkeye

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