Theirs to Claim Read online

  “Who am I?” he whispered against her neck, his lips sliding over her pulse.

  “Rion,” Zelina answered, panting as he thrust harder. The wet sounds of her body and the slap of his balls on her flesh were music to her ears.

  “Who is Rion to you?”

  She paused, not sure what he wanted. His hand left her breast, fingers curling around her neck until he held her face up and turned it toward him. Their lips were touching barely, his eyes hooded as he looked into hers. His other arm wrapped around her waist, holding him tight to her body. His hips slowed, instead grinding himself into her pussy and angling upward until he brushed over her G-spot. She screamed, the deep grinding more personal, more intense than his pounding before. Her eyes slid shut.

  “Look at me, Zelina. Look at me. Who is Rion to you?” he asked again, lips caressing hers with every word. “Tell me.”

  “Rion,” she began, catching her breath as he pushed deeper, using his thighs to push her legs wider apart. “Rion is my mate.”

  “Quin?”

  “Quin is my mate.”

  Every word she spoke, giving her answers to questions that seemed so important to him, was punctuated by a stroke. His hands, so strong, still braced her body to his. They were barely moving, but Rion was bringing her closer and closer to that elusive peak. This was as soft as Rion could be, as soft as his dominance would allow, and he was giving it to her, treasuring her as best he could. She could see it in his eyes, the strain around his mouth to hold himself deep, to soothe the strength of his thrust in short pulses.

  “Who are you?”

  “I am . . . Zelina,” she answered on a stammer, her breath soughing out as he moved.

  “Who are you to me? To Quin?”

  “Your mate.”

  His eyes closed for a minute, and Zelina felt the break of connection to the soles of her feet.

  “Rion—”

  “Do we love you?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. There was no way, in three days that seemed like one long night to her, that they could have fallen in love with her. It wasn’t possible. She didn’t believe in love at first sight. She didn’t believe that love truly even existed. The orphaned child she was who had never found “parents” who weren’t in it just for the money from the state, who actually loved her, couldn’t afford to. Finding Jezzie had been a test of wills and perseverance for them both. It had taken years before they’d realized they were kindred spirits and were more like sisters than any blood could give them the right to claim. Zelina didn’t believe in love. She refused to. Closing her eyes now, she held her lips sealed.

  Rion sat back, pulling her with and over him. She sat on his cock, her body held to his. His fingers tightened on her throat until she looked at him. His eyes were dark, swirling. He pushed harder into her, struggling to maintain his softness when his dominance wanted him to take what she wasn’t giving. As need clawed for him to make her submit to him, he fought it. Fingers shaking, arms thick bands of tensed muscle and steel, he fought it—for her, to give her time. Even as the golden glow of his wolf pushed through his eyes, it flickered back and forth to his green. He was trying desperately to give her a chance.

  Zelina saw the pain, the strength, the determination it took to do it. She heard the rustle of clothing and turned her eyes toward the door. There Quin stood, still, silent. The door was closed behind him, his shirt was off and his pants undone. Moisture soaked the front of them, and she realized he had been there for some time, that he was watching over the events in the bed, but had stayed apart, giving Rion his time, giving her time. The same strain she found in Rion was with him. Claws he couldn’t contain ripped at his pants under his clenched fists. He kept his eyes on Rion, poised to move.

  He’s protecting me. Protecting Rion from himself, she thought to herself. He was trying, with all his might, to give them both the time they needed, trying to give Rion the chance to balance himself and Zelina to accept them both. With a start, she realized that this had been planned, that Rion knew he was the rougher of the two, the needier of the two in his own way.

  “Alpha,” Rion whispered through their bond. Quin’s head canted slightly, his eyes sliding shut to mask the hurt.

  “We will not force you, Zelina. You, more than anyone in the world, are safe from us,” Quin finished for him.

  Rion stopped moving, his chest heaving against her back as he lowered his forehead to her shoulder. He released her, his fists falling to rest on the bed. Something was happening that she didn’t understand. She could feel them pulling away, putting their emotions behind walls one brick at a time. She recognized it. She had done so herself, so many years ago.

  “As Alpha, I formally recognize you as our mate and Lunar of this clan. Fate has given you to us, and we cannot let it go. We shall always be mates. This shall never change. When you are ready to accept more, we will be here. It’ll be fun trying to convince you.”

  The sad smile didn’t reach Quin’s eyes and didn’t fool Zelina. This was ripping them both up to give her this choice, to give her this time. She was human. She didn’t understand what a mate meant to them, couldn’t fathom living a life where only one person was made for them and any before was only to pacify. What she did know was her mates were hurting, breaking in front of her, and only she could fix it.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Rion placed his hands on her hips to lift her away from him when she gripped his wrists. She curled her nails into him when he started to pull out of her. He froze behind her, breath hissing as his cock hardened inside of her. She tightened her muscles around him in response. His lips against her shoulder, he mouthed a word into her flesh. No sound came out, but she heard the word as if he had screamed it: please. It shattered what last resistance she had.

  “Come here,” she said to Quin, rolling her hips on Rion. His gasp was the only outward sign he made. She did it again and again until he gripped her hips. Quin walked hesitantly to the side of the bed.

  “Take those off and stand on the bed.” He did as she asked, removing his pants slowly, eyes questioning, but she didn’t answer. They needed this as much as she did, and she was going to make sure that it was everything they all could have hoped for.

  Quin’s cock stood long and thick in front of her. The head was nearly apple red with blood, veins sticking out along the shaft. She always loved that, always loved being able to feel come shooting out of a cock through the skin. Now she saw why she had always been partial to it. For this man. This mate. Her need to be dominated, controlled in bed linked her to Rion. She saw it as plain as day now. They were made for her and she for them. There would be no denying that now.

  “Come back to me, Rion,” Zelina whispered against Quin’s cock, tongue snaking out to taste his pre-come. Rion’s arms surrounded her, and he jerked his hips, thrusting again into her pussy. She clenched on him, gripping his wrist and then wrapping her hand around the base of Quin’s cock. She swallowed him down, tasting the musky flavor of him, moaning deep in her throat. She couldn’t possibly take him all in, but she would take as much as she could. Pumping and twisting with her hand, she bobbed on his cock, using her tongue on the sensitive underside of the head and hollowing out her cheeks.

  “Ask me again,” she said through the bond.

  Quin’s choked cry and Rion’s twitching fingers told her she’d finally said the right thing. Feeling they needed a little more of a push, Zelina took Quin’s hands and tunneled them into her hair, then braced her hands on his hips and dug in with her nails. His hips flexed uncontrollably as she used suction to push the head of his cock in and out of her mouth.

  “Ask me again,” she repeated to Rion.

  “Do we love you?” he finally said, voice strangled.

  “Yes. As I love you.”

  At T-minus ten seconds, the boys stood still. Time was frozen in the room. At five seconds, Zelina started moving on their cocks, gripping Quin’s cock harder to pull his hi
ps closer to her face. Rion’s dick twitched in her pussy as she pumped on him. At T-minus one, Zelina held on for dear life.

  Rion gripped her breasts, twisting the nipples and pulling on them until they were turgid peaks, his body blissfully slamming to her core, all attempt at softness lost. Quin’s fingers tightened in her hair, and his hips flexed, sliding his cock in and out of her mouth, his head thrown back and mouth open. She could see her two men burning with a passion only she could ignite, and Zelina was just too happy to oblige.

  “Goddess yes, Zelina, use your tongue. You like this cock deep in your mouth, don’t you?”

  “Pull tight, baby. Grip my dick. Do you like that? Hmm? Do you want me to fuck you harder?”

  “Lean your head back on Rion’s shoulder. Let me fuck that beautiful mouth. Wrap those lips tight. Fuck, baby!”

  Zelina closed her eyes, leaning back on Rion as Quin held her head with one hand and gripped Rion’s shoulder to brace himself with the other. His cock, now shiny with her saliva, fucked in and out of her mouth, his balls slapping her chin. Rion wrapped his arm from her waist to the opposite shoulder for leverage and slammed her body down on his thrusting hips with blinding speed.

  “Play with my balls, baby. That’s right. Roll them. Harder.”

  “Goddess, your pussy is good. So good, baby. You’re so wet, so hot. Tell me you love my cock. Tell me you love me fucking you.”

  “I love your cock. I love you fucking me. Harder, Rion. Fuck me harder.”

  “Lick them. Suck them,” Quin demanded, pulling his cock from her mouth and replacing it with his balls. She sucked each globe in her mouth, playing with them as he pumped his cock for her. She watched his hand move, her clit growing tight at the visual. The skin twitched around the pike as she watched him, leaking pre-come down the shaft to ease his motions.

  Rion, not to be outdone, lifted her legs by the knees, keeping her spread. He leaned back on the bed, Quin stepping with him, until he was propped on pillows. Planting his feet on the bed, he held her open as he forced his cock harder in her pussy. Quin slid his cock back into her mouth, gripping the headboard and fucking in downward strokes.

  “Play with your pussy, baby. We want to hear you scream.”

  She did as asked, not caring who gave the order. In this moment, the men were one and the same, racing toward the end and claiming their mate for all time. There was no boundary between any of them now that she had let her guard down, and Zelina marveled at the difference. Quin bent over and brought her fingers to his mouth, then sucked on them and coated them with his saliva. Those fingers she then slid down her body and swirled over her clit. As she circled the bud faster and faster, her hips jerked uncontrollably.

  “Fuck yes!” Quin moaned as her mouth grew tighter. Her inner walls clenched with each of her strokes, and Rion could only moan under her, pushing harder and faster.

  “Make me come. Make me come. I want to come on your cock!”

  Rion fucked her harder, faster, his preternatural speed adding what no man in the human world would ever be able to do. Making a C with his fingers in front of Zelina’s mouth to stop him from going too far, Quin became a blur as his otherworldly speed had her spiraling toward orgasm. Zelina moaned around them, shifting into tiny screams as her clit grew harder under her fingers. Lifting her other hand, she rolled her nipples between her fingers, pinching harder as the pleasure elevated. She screamed pleasure shooting through her bloodstream until she was nearly blind, deaf, and dumb to the world.

  “I’m coming, Zelina. I’m coming. Swallow it down, baby. Swallow it.”

  “Zelina. Zelina. Hurry. I’m coming. Come on, baby. Come for me.”

  Rion pushed her hand away and replaced her fingers with his. He pinched her clit, and her world faded as she screamed her release, muscles tightening until she felt she would snap. Quin shouted over her, body going stiff, a vein standing out in his neck as rope after rope of come exploded in her mouth. He pulled back to keep just the head in when the thickness in the center of his cock swelled. Under her, Rion let the knot swell inside her until every little movement sent pleasure streaking through her and his come bathed her. When they finally relaxed, she didn’t have much energy for anything except to plant a kiss on Quin’s thigh and then Rion’s mouth on the way down. She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The pounding at the door made this the second time in a row that Zelina was forced awake after spending most of her night rolling in the sheets with her mates. She was lucky enough that she worked from home as a translator, or she would be fired. She just couldn’t bring herself to care. Her mates were the Alpha and Beta of the South Texas clan, and if she understood correctly, there was no reason for her to work unless she wanted to. Be still her beating heart, it just kept getting better and better.

  Continued pounding on the door took her out of her thoughts and dragged her out of bed. The “Open this door for the VPD!” stopped her. Her crazy-ass friend had actually called the fricking cops! Was that woman out of her damn mind?

  Stalking to the door, Zelina wrenched it open to blast the cops to the moon. When she saw Ethan and Jake standing there, her ire spiked. No, Jezzie had done much worse. She’d brought the two guards from her building in cop costumes. She was standing in between them with her jaw hanging open. When Zelina realized that Ethan and Jake were doing the same and looking her up and down, she got the eerie sensation that she’d forgotten to grab a shirt. Looking down confirmed it.

  With a yelp, Zelina slammed the door, rushing to grab Rion’s T-shirt and Quin’s button-up. Her underwear was nowhere to be found, and she wasn’t putting those nasty things back on anyway. They probably had blood on them from her attack. Improvising, she grabbed a pair of tighty-whities and cuffed them at the top. So armored, she went back to the Three Stooges at the door.

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “That’s a great way to accept friends who came here worried about you,” Jezzie huffed. “And who the fuck did that!” she yelled, pointing at the mate bites, one on each shoulder that would never heal for the rest of her life, which her shirts now hid. They didn’t hurt or bleed. They were more like tattoos now, to mark her as a mate. Zelina decided to ignore that question. Jezzie pushed past still-staring Doofus One and Doofus Two and pulled Zelina into a breathtaking hug. “I thought I was going to lose you, Z.”

  “I told you I was okay, J. I wouldn’t lie to you about that.” Zelina sighed, hugging her friend back to her chest. The reassuring scent of papaya from Jezzie’s hair was like coming home. Some people thought of Grandma’s baked cookies. Others thought of Mama’s home cooking. For Zelina, home had always been Jezzie and her papaya-scented hair cream. That is, until she found her mates. Now they would also be home to her, and Jezzie would have to become a part of that.

  “But you wouldn’t give me an address. You know I would worry until I actually saw you.”

  Growls at the door, behind Ethan and Jake, stopped Zelina from asking how the hell they had found her as she popped around Jezzie and into the hall. Standing there were her two mates, bristling with anger and staring at the two men in uniforms at their bedroom door. Zelina was sure someone had summoned them when the cops came. The shifters of the compound were trying to pass themselves off as human, and no one would have touched them for fear of exposing their secret. Zelina also knew that Jezzie would have sprouted off about her, and those who knew she was the Lunar of the clan would have let them through. Coming here had been a stupid mistake the three of them hadn’t even known they’d been making.

  “Rion, Quin, this is Jezzie, Ethan, and Jake. Remember I told you about Jezzie.”

  Rion never took his eyes off his brother, but when Quin looked over at him, relaxing marginally, she knew that he had told him about the phone conversation that had started the most amazing experience of all their lives.

  “Ah, Jezzie, Zelina’s best friend. I apologize. We were worried something was wr
ong when we saw two men at our door and not you. Forgive us. I am Quin.” Quin bowed gracefully to her, and her friend had the nerve to giggle. She actually giggled.

  “So you must be Rion, Z’s boyfriend,” Jezzie said to Rion, removing her eyes from Quin for only a second.

  Zelina felt herself get hot before she realized it. She walked over to her mates and stood between them, grasping a hand in each of hers.

  “Part right, J. But, they are both my boyfriends. Welcome to our home.”

  “Well, I think this is our cue to leave. Everything looks all right here, J. See you all later. Um, you guys have a safe night, and don’t hesitate to call if you need something.” Ending with that, Jake and Ethan hightailed it out of there like cartoon characters.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “You gotta be shitting me!”

  “Jezzie, look—”

  “No, Zelina.”

  Jezzie stopped her, raising one perfectly manicured hand into the air. Her thick hair fell around her shoulders in perfect layers, the coal-black color mesmerizing against her lighter skin. Snapping brown eyes, though, told Zelina it wasn’t the time to admire her friend’s usual chic style.

  “Zelina, less than a week ago, you had no boyfriend. I was setting you up on dates. Brian disappears. Like really disappears. So do you. Then I find you three days later with one boyfriend, get you tracked down—and you don’t want to know what I had to do with Geez the Sleaze to do that—just to find you butt-ass naked. Now I find out you have two boyfriends. Right . . . This makes sense to someone, so that someone better explain what the hell is going on to me.”

  Of the two of her mates, Zelina was surprised to see Rion be the one to step forward. She was at a complete loss for words. There was much she wasn’t sure she could tell her friend, and she didn’t know how to answer her questions without leading to more. She was grateful one of her mates took that off her shoulders. Something else to chalk up to the beauty of mates—she really didn’t have to face the world alone anymore.