“But I still love you.” She bit back a sob, then shifted her body toward Grant.
“It’s not the same as before. But at least it didn’t burn out completely.” Lance moved closer. “We wouldn’t feel anything at all if it had. It’s enough to build a life on, right?”
“Instead of a life filled with the connection?”
Duncan was right again, but she wouldn’t tell him so. Instead, she buried her face into the hollow of Grant’s neck and shut her eyes. If only she could shut out the pain as well. She still cared for them, but the vibration, the all-encompassing craving was gone.
“I’m so sorry.” She swallowed back a sob. She wouldn’t add to their hurt by crying.
She still loved them, but it was as though she’d taken the best of their love and thrown it away. Biting back a sob, she clutched Grant and gave them a silent apology. If they didn’t have the connection any longer, she’d spend her life making it up to them.
Then a new sensation began, moving like an iceberg that would slowly make its way down the mountainside. It left her feeling cold, bereft, alone. She sought Grant’s warmth and pressed her body as hard as she could against his.
And still the sensation continued, with a tingling in her toes that spread through her skin. She attempted to ignore it, thinking it would envelop her in such an intense coldness that it would take the last bit of feeling she had for them away, but she couldn’t. It was insistent, uncompromising as it flowed through her.
She moved her leg on top of Grant’s, putting her pussy against his flesh. He squirmed but didn’t make her move away.
Heat. I need their heat.
She needed their heat to fight off the cold.
And yet, the longer she lay there, her eyes closed, her heart hurting, the tingling kept moving, inching slowly up her body. A new vibration started in her fingertips, and she curled her hands, pushing the tips into Lance’s arm and reaching to find a new hold on Duncan.
She gasped as her pussy clenched with need. Opening her eyes, she lifted her head to find them staring at her. Amber flecks filled their eyes.
All at once they were caressing her, murmuring words of love and devotion. With each touch, the coldness melted away, replaced by warmth so comforting, so invigorating that the chill she’d felt had no chance to linger. She let them place her on the floor, unthinking, silent, accepting whatever they wanted to do to her.
Grant bent over and pressed his lips to hers. His tongue skimmed the seam of her mouth as he circled a fingertip over her nipple. Lance bent to bring her other nipple to his mouth.
The cold tingle was gone, replaced by a rush of desire that brought a moan from her and juices flowing between her legs. Duncan eased her legs apart and kissed her pussy lips, then slicked his tongue over her to drink her juices.
“It’s not gone. It’s…changed. Better.”
They murmured their agreement and continued to trace their tongues and hands over her. The connection that had been so animalistic, so insane, had morphed into a different kind of bond, a stronger hold that would keep them together at a deeper, more soulful level. They had changed, but the invisible tie that held them had changed, too, growing more powerful with the coming of the new day.
She loved her men without bounds, but it was her alone, and not the power of an amber moon that sustained her love. And they loved her with the same, unending passion.
As the shaft of sunlight grew wider, her men claimed her, first one then the next riding her, bringing her to heights of orgasmic thrills unequaled by any before. It was more than she could have ever dreamed of, more than she could have ever believed existed. As the last climax shuddered through her body, the men gazed lovingly down at her.
“Tell us that you’re our mate.” Grant brushed a strand of hair away from her face.
“From today until the end of us.” Lance brought her palm to his mouth and kissed it. “Tell us.”
“We claim you, Christy Smith. Do you claim us?” Duncan’s dimples smiled down at her.
She studied them, her three handsome lovers, and gave them her answer.
Epilogue
“I still can’t believe you said no.” Duncan flopped onto the end of Milly’s couch.
Christy set the beers in front of them then handed Grant the bottle of wine. No matter how long she lived in Forever, she’d never learn to like the taste of beer. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Duncan, it’s been a month. Get over it. I told you why I said no.”
Grant chuckled, uncorked the wine, and poured her a glass. He still opted to drink beer instead of joining her. “She wanted more time to get to know us and our town. That’s why she said no when you asked her if she claimed us. After what she went through, I couldn’t blame her.”