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  Crux left as soon as Orion got home, and he found Sterling playing poker on his cell while Sydney slept soundly next to him.

  They had worked all week at the gym, their regular three to eleven shift, but after sharing the news of Sydney’s pregnancy with Dante, they’d all agreed that it wasn’t going to be good for her to work such strange hours for the length of her pregnancy. She didn’t seem to be able to sleep in late in the morning, which she said was an unfortunate product of her previous lifestyle in which she had to be up first or face serious consequences. He hoped that eventually she would be able to get over that, and sleep as late as she wanted to.

  In place of changing their hours entirely, after discussing things with Sydney thoroughly, they opted to change her hours from noon to five four days a week. Sterling was going to change his hours to match hers so that he was always with her, and he and Crux were taking alternate Fridays off work.

  He kept his voice low. “I’m going to set up things outside and fix an early dinner for us.”

  Nodding, Sterling whispered, “She asked if we could have steak for dinner.”

  Orion nodded and looked down at his mate as she slept, tucked against his brother. Her lashes cast shadows on her cheek and her mouth was parted slightly as she breathed deeply in sleep. He watched the rise and fall of her chest for a few moments and then left the room, shutting the door quietly.

  By the time Sterling got back from the tattoo shop, dinner was ready. Sydney was a bundle of excitement about the upcoming mating ceremony. As they ate their simple dinner of steaks with baked potatoes, Sydney asked about their family and they happily shared stories of their youth with her. He knew that his parents would love her. Not only because she was mating their sons, but because she was sweet and loving. He was looking forward to taking her down to visit his family in November.

  While Crux cleared the dishes, Orion gathered a paper sack from the counter and took Sydney’s hand, leading her back to the master bedroom. Putting the sack on the bathroom counter, he pulled out three clothing items and a bar of soap made from olive oil and rosemary.

  “Use this soap when you shower, sweetheart, even in your hair. Then dress in only these things and come out onto the back porch. We’ll be waiting for you.”

  He brushed a kiss to her lips and walked out before the urge to watch her undress and then help her shower overrode his desire to see their mating ceremony happen tonight.

  He changed in the spare bedroom into a pair of black trousers, leaving off shoes, socks, underwear, and shirt. The only other thing he kept on were the gloves. He found his brothers outside, the setting sun bathing the yard in amber.

  Torches had been set up to create a path from the back porch to a ceremonial stand. Around the stand, a circle had been created with the torches that he and his brothers now lit. A brick made of coal sat on an iron plate on top of the stand, and he set fire to the brick and took the black cloak that Crux handed him. His brothers were dressed exactly as he was. When he pulled the hood of the cloak up, as his brothers did, they looked identical. His sensitive hearing picked up the master bedroom door opening and he left his brothers on either side of the stand and moved to the steps at the bottom of the porch to wait for his mate.

  Chapter 15

  Sydney loved the rosemary soap. It smelled so good and felt luxurious as it melted in her hands. Once she was rinsed clean, she dried her hair quickly and dressed in a short black skirt, made of stretchy material, and a black satin corset. She noticed there were no panties or bra, but since Orion said to dress only in the clothes he’d left for her, she knew it was no accident that the items were missing. The last article of clothing was a black cloak, and she fastened it at her throat and lifted the hood to cover her head.

  Her heart pounded in excitement as she opened the master bedroom door and walked down the hallway, into the kitchen, and out onto the porch. The sun was nearly completely set now, and the torches in the yard drew her attention to her mates as they stood waiting for her.

  Orion spoke, “Sydney Karlin, do you come tonight to join our clan as our treasured bride and mate, of your own free will? Answer carefully, knowing this bond cannot be broken for all of eternity.”

  He held his hand out to her, waiting, and she said with a clear voice, “I do,” and walked down to meet him, taking his hand. He led her to the center of the ring of torches and left her in front of a metal stand, where a flaming brick sat on a plate that looked as if it were made of iron. Her men pushed the hoods off their heads and she did the same, finding herself standing across from Orion, with Sterling on her left, and Crux on her right.

  The ceremony moved quickly, as Orion cut a small lock of his hair and encouraged her to do the same, wrapping them around a sprig of rosemary that he caught fire and put into a small bowl. After they chanted in a language she didn’t know, they brushed her skin with the rosemary ash, promising that they would love her for all eternity. When they had all marked her skin with ash, Orion dumped the contents of the bowl onto the flaming brick and a small domed lid was placed over the plate, extinguishing the fire. The torches were extinguished by Sterling and Crux and when they returned to Orion and her, Orion said, “What we’ve vowed this day, no creature can undo. You are ours forever, Sydney, mas karda enai liro. Our heart is complete.”

  They lifted their faces to the sky and howled. The sound was one of passion and possession, and her wolf growled in her mind for her mates. Sterling swung her up into his arms and carried her towards the house.

  They moved down into the den, Sterling placing her gently on her feet. She turned around in a slow circle, taking in the den’s transformation. The main room had been completely altered. Panels of dark fabric hung from the ceiling, blocking out the furniture and creating an intimate space in the center of the room. Soft lights glowed through the fabric, giving enough illumination for her to see her men clearly.

  Orion came to stand in front of her, undoing the clasp of the cloak and handing it to Crux. “This is our den, Syd. Down here, it’s just us. Just our clan and the love that we share. We’re going to finish our clanning ritual by sharing blood and marking you, and then we’re going to make love together for the first time.”

  Sterling dropped to his knees next to her and pulled the skirt down her legs. She stepped out of it and watched as her mates stripped their pants off and stood before her, naked and proud.

  They moved into the center of the open area where a thick, plush rug cushioned her feet. They went to their knees in front of her and she joined them. They began to remove their gloves, revealing tattoos on the ring fingers of both hands. She leaned forward and looked at the tattoos. The tattoos on their left hands all matched, as well as the ones on their right hands.

  Orion cleared his throat. “Hyenas don’t do traditional wedding bands. The tattoo on our left hand is all of our names and our vow to you as your mates. And the tattoo on our right hand is our clan ring; a vow to each other that we will keep you and our children safe.”

  Crux put the gloves away behind a curtain of fabric and handed his brothers something. They opened their hands and revealed rings, which they placed on the fingers of her left hand.

  Orion cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. She could feel the heat of his body against her as his erection bobbed between them, then he slipped behind her and reclined on one arm, pulling her gently backwards until she rested against his chest. Sterling gathered her hair in his big hand and moved it off her shoulders, capturing her gaze with his as Crux eased her legs apart and settled between them.

  Orion kissed her ear. “Crux is going to make you feel really good, sweetheart, and then we’re going to mark you with our fangs. Are you ready, Sydney? Ready to be ours forever?”

  She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. For the last six years of her life, fangs had meant only brutality and pain. Opening her eyes slowly, she looked down into Crux’s eyes and saw the depths of his love for her. She knew without looking that Orion and
Sterling’s eyes would hold the same look, as if she were the most precious, important person in the world to them. Because she was. Her past slipped away from her once more and she linked her fingers with Orion’s. “I’m ready.”

  She held Crux’s eyes as he kissed up the inside her thigh, until Sterling tilted her face and kissed her. His tongue thrust into her mouth, demanding, taking, as his fingertips framed her face as gently as if she were made of glass. The dichotomy of his touches, both hard and soft, made her mind spin. Orion’s mouth found her neck, where his tongue and teeth teased her skin.

  While Orion and Sterling kissed her, Crux spread her open with his thumbs and stroked his tongue up her pussy. She groaned deeply, the sound muffled by Sterling’s tongue. Her hips shifted slightly, urging Crux to do it again. And again. He licked up one side of her pussy and then the other, slowly, as if he were savoring her like some fine wine. His tongue swirled around her clit, probing the throbbing flesh until her body trembled.

  His fingers pushed inside her and curved upwards, zoning in on the spot that she’d not known had even existed until her mates had shown her. They unlocked the secrets of her body easily. Crux sucked her clit into his mouth and deviled the place inside her that made her body feel like molten lava rushed through her veins, and she fell apart. Her legs slammed into Crux’s shoulders as she arched her back against Orion, wrenching her mouth from Sterling’s to cry out her pleasure. Stars danced behind her closed eyelids as Crux drove her forward towards another precipice of pleasure with his talented fingers and mouth.

  As pleasure thundered down on her, she was dimly aware of three low growls just seconds before her mates sank their fangs into her skin. Orion and Sterling each bit down on her neck, and Crux lifted his mouth from her swollen flesh and bit into her thigh. She didn’t cry out at the pain, which in the haze of her pleasure was only barely noticeable, but she did dig her nails into Orion’s hands as she writhed between them.

  They each swallowed some of her blood and then extracted their fangs, licking the wounds with soft, sure strokes. The marks that remained from their fangs would scar, thanks in part to the saliva from their mouths as they tended her wounded flesh with care. The last shivers of her orgasm released her and she sank, boneless, against Orion, who stroked his tongue up to her ear and chuckled low.

  “Are you still with us, sweetheart?”

  “Oh yeah,” she whispered in a rough voice.

  Peeling her eyes open, she saw the mark that Crux had made on the inside of her left thigh. Crux sat back on his heels, one hand lightly rubbing her knee, his cock hard and ready for her.

  “You’re ours now, Sydney. Forever,” he said, solemnly.

  “I already was,” she promised.

  She pulled herself up to her knees with Crux’s help, Orion and Sterling’s hands supporting her because she felt so relaxed.

  She captured Crux’s face between her hands and stared into his jade green eyes. “Make love to me. I want to be yours in every way.”

  Chapter 16

  Crux’s heart thudded in his chest as he stared into Sydney’s beautiful face. Her skin was flushed with passion and dewy with a light sheen of sweat. He could still taste the sweetness of her climax on his tongue.

  He wanted to remember her in this moment forever. When she trembled from pleasure, her eyes bright, and her chest heaving. He might have stood there all night staring at her, if Sterling hadn’t pressed a plastic tube of lubricant into his palm and brought him back on track.

  He kissed her, tipping her chin up so he could deepen the kiss. One of her hands locked onto his shoulder and he felt her shiver.

  “You’re so beautiful, baby.” He actually felt his eyes sting with tears, and he blinked them away and cleared his throat. He so didn’t want to wuss out right now.

  Orion turned her slowly towards him so that her sleek back was to Crux and he swept her hair over one shoulder and let his eyes roam down her body. She had the most perfect ass, with two little dimples at the top. Orion kissed her and stretched out on his back on the thick rug, bringing Sydney down on top of him. Her legs parted to straddle his, as he bent his knees to make room for Crux.

  They’d never shared a woman like this before. They’d had opportunities to play at threesomes and foursomes over the years, but it had always been a kind of reverent thing for them. Something to be reserved for their mate alone. Now he was glad that they were doing this together with her for the first time. A first for all of them. The first of many nights of pleasure and happiness.

  Brushing his hand down her spine, he watched as she lifted herself enough to take Orion’s cock into her pussy, easing down slowly. Her head dropped forward when their bodies were flush together and she moaned softly. Crux moved behind her, flipping the cap on the lube and coating his fingers with it. He rubbed the lube around with his thumb to warm it as he kissed her bare shoulder.

  He glanced at Sterling, who was sitting on his heels next to them, and he cupped Syd’s face and kissed her. Crux touched her anus with the well-lubed tip of one finger and she tensed. Sterling growled slightly and appeared to kiss her harder, distracting her with his mouth. It worked. Her body relaxed and he began to rub slow circles against her tightest place, working in just the tip of his finger. Orion helped to keep her distracted by cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples as Crux worked one finger into her completely. He slipped his finger in and out of her several times, slowly, waiting for a sign that she was ready to keep going. When she shifted her hips back to meet him finally, he knew she was, and he began to work a second and then a third finger inside her tightest place.

  By the time she was ready, his cock was straining so hard that he was surprised it hadn’t ripped away from his body on its own. He’d never been so hard or so turned on as he was right now, with his mate writhing between his fingers and his brother’s cock, her needy panting filling the den like the sweetest music.

  He pulled his fingers from her body, put on a condom, and quickly covered his cock with lube, hissing at the temperature which did nothing to cool the ardor that was roaming through him. He pressed the head of his cock to her ass as she leaned forward slightly, bracing one hand on Orion’s chest and gripping Sterling’s cock with the other. He felt Orion shift and slip out of her channel, and Crux pressed slowly into her.

  Her cry was muffled by Sterling’s cock, which was now gliding in and out of her mouth, and Crux watched his own cock disappear into her body. He was so hard he knew he wouldn’t last long, not when she was so tight and hot around him. Squeezing her hips, he closed his eyes and pulled out of her with the same slowness as her pussy was filled by Orion, and then quickly set up a rhythm to drive them all to a joint climax that would secure their mating bond.

  Her body began to tighten on his, and he knew that she was close to coming. He increased his thrusts into her, being careful not to hurt her tender body. His balls drew up tight against his body and he forced his eyes open to see that his brothers were straining to hold back their climaxes as well. She jerked and cried out around Sterling’s cock and her body locked down on Crux’s cock like an iron fist and he lost control. Thrusting into her a few more times, he emptied deep inside her, his mindless shouts of pleasure mixing with his brothers’ as they completed their mating.

  He eased out of her body quickly but carefully, moving to one side and reaching behind the fabric to the kit that he’d put together to take care of them. After disposing of his condom, he pulled out cleansing wipes, cleaned Sydney’s body of the lubricant, and then tended to himself as Orion held her against his chest and Sterling rested on his side next to them. Both of his brothers wore big grins as Sydney lay sprawled out on top of Orion like her body had lost all its bones.

  He opened a cooler from behind another length of fabric and pulled out four bottles of electrolyte solution. As he passed one to Sterling, a drop of icy water hit her back and she hissed.

  With a grin, he took one bottle and touched the edge to one of the cute d
imples on her ass and she bucked her hips with a groan. As he slid the bottle up her spine, her back bowed and her head dropped down to Orion’s chest.

  “Fuck, you’re going to make me come the way you’re writhing on me, sweetheart,” Orion said through clenched teeth.

  Sydney laughed and lifted her head, brushing her sweat-damp hair from her face. “That’s not such a bad thing. But next time, I’d like you to be in my ass, okay?”

  At Orion’s surprised look, she darted a glance to all of them. “We’re going to do this again, right? We’ve got twenty-four hours and you promised to love me in every way. Every way.”

  Crux cracked the lid off her bottle and handed it to her. “We did promise, brothers.”

  “And we’d never deny our mate anything,” Sterling said, lifting his bottle to his brothers in a silent salute.

  * * * * *

  Sterling could almost feel when the twenty-four hours was over, as if a spell had been cast over them and was now broken. They were all dead on their feet, having gotten little sleep over the course of their mating time, but he loved the bone-deep weariness that settled over him. It was worth it, when he picked up his mate and she sighed and cuddled into him.

  He carried her upstairs and straight to the master bathroom. He hadn’t realized until that moment why the garden tub was such a great idea. It was Orion’s idea, inspired by the epic-sized tub in Dante’s clan’s home. Crux turned the faucet on as Sterling leaned against the counter and tried not to crack his jaw as he yawned.

  Her warm hands turned his face towards her. She smiled. “My poor baby. So tired.”

  He growled and kissed her palm. “It’s worth it to have loved you so well.”