Page 105 of Beauty

Shim overwhelms me with the feel of my asshole clenchingaround him as he finally slides deep. If there’s discomfort, I don’t feel it. Ican only feel his pleasure as he presses in, the tightness making his ballsdraw up, curling in ecstasy.

It’s so tight. Tighter than ever since I’m packed with theircocks.

Shim pulls out almost to the rim while Lach presses up untilI can feel his balls against my flesh.

This is what I dreamed of. Both my men. My Dark Ones. Theyfill me, surrounded me, protect and hold me. For so long they were the dream Iretreated to, and then they were a reality I might have to flee from, but hereand now they are everything.

I ride them, pumping back and forth, accepting everythingthey have to give. I sink into them, their pleasure, their emotion, and givethem back my own.

Pleasure singes my spine, heats my skin.

I feel the moment Shim’s orgasm starts. It blasts through mysystem. I hear myself shout and the men move. Lach pulls me down, grinding intome. His pelvis rubs across my clit, sending shivers of pleasure, opening me up,enfolding my senses.

Lach shouts beneath me, and I feel the hot wash of hisorgasm filling my pussy.

We fall into a heap and I feel it. Both men reach out to me,opening themselves to the bond.

“Is tú mo ghrá,” they say in one voice.

I give them back the traditional words. You are my love.It’s what we would have said if our marriage was properly witnessed. “Istú mo ghrá.”

I reach out and grab the bond and fall headlong into chaos.

ChapterThirty-Three

Bronwyn

I watch my brother walk away. Am I Lach or Shim? Ican’t tell. They mingle together inside my mind.

Lach. I’m Lachlan. He worries about his brother, even at anearly age. He’s five, perhaps. And Shim seems so much younger to Lach. AndDuffy. Duffy is so small, far smaller than the brownies who keep the palacegleaming. How will they survive?

The world seems cruel, but even now he knows his place. Atroll struck him hours before, laughing and asking if the little prince canhandle a crowning. He whipped his tail around and smacked Lach in the head.Lach heard Shim’s cry. Lach managed to stifle his pain, but it was shared withhis brother.

We aren’t allowed to cry. Never allowed.

He picked up a chair, and only his mother’s presence stoppedhim from killing the troll.

So much rage in such a small body. Rage and anger and worryfor his other half. Shim is his better half. He must be protected at all costs.Shim is the one who contains their power to love, and Lach wants to feel that.

He needs Shim far more than Shim needs him. And Duffy needsthem both. He has to protect his brothers. Always.

The scene shifts and I feel Shim. I can tell the differencenow. Shim’s soul isn’t as restless as Lach’s, though now it’s heavy. So heavy.He looks down at the woman on the bed and his heart aches.

Why won’t she wake up? She looks pale, but nothing elseseems wrong with her. She needs a bit of blood. His mother is a vampire. Blood.That’s all. She needs to eat and then she will wake up and he can climb intoher lap. He’s getting too big, but Mother doesn’t seem to mind. Mother stillcuddles him close and sings songs and tells him stories. Even Lach likes herstories about her home plane. And Duffy loves the songs. He’s still smallenough for her to carry. Sometimes Shim envies his brother. He loves beingclose to his mother.

Why won’t she wake up? Surely she didn’t mean to go swimmingin the river. Everyone knows it’s dangerous. She didn’t fall in. She didn’tdrown.

She is the queen. Queens don’t drown. Mothers don’t drown.Mothers wake up and take care of their sons.

Shim looks back at the place where his father sits. He agedovernight, his hair going white the minute they brought Mother in, her heavydress dripping with water.

Who will take care of them?

He reaches for his mother’s hand and prays she will wake up.

My brain hurts. They bombard me, as though both speaking atonce. Lach loves his brothers and the palace. He loves running wild and knowingit will all be his one day. Shim loves the library and the books his motherbought from all over the planes she traveled to. He doesn’t want to be king. Hewants to be a traveler, but most of all he wants the princess. His princess.His playmate. He searches for me during the daytime and then one morning whenhe’s just past sixteen, he reads a magazine article. A DL from the vampiretablet his cousin sent him. He will be seeing his cousin Julian soon. Oh, he isso much more worldly and wise, and he thought Shim should study the plane hismother came from.

And there I am. A picture of a girl named Bronwyn Finn. Hisheart threatens to stop, staring down at the photo in vivid color. The girl Iused to be is wearing white and smiling, a daisy in her hair. She stands nextto two strong, dark-haired lads and two vampires, a young man and a slightlyolder girl. Bronwyn Finn, princess of the Seelie, is visiting her cousins theDellacourts.