Blood Knot (22 page)

A climax with a man’s cock in her anus was utterly different. It was staggeringly intense. Almost frighteningly so.

And the thought occurred to her as her body locked and pulsed through the waves of powerful orgasm: If climaxes with a cock in her anus were strong and so where climaxes with a man’s cock in her pussy…what would they be like with a cock in each?

Then her body unlocked and she could breathe and Nial was groaning through his own deep, hard climax as his fingers dug into her hips. The thought and the moment was lost as he clutched at her and drew her down to the rug to recover for a few moments before they cleaned up, and began all over again.

The first of the summer light was starting to show in the sky when Nial flipped Winter onto her back to catch her breath and circled her breast with an indolent finger, his head propped on his elbow. “Not sleepy yet?”

She considered it. “No.”

“
You’re not adjusting your biology?”

“
No.”

“
Hmmm…” He smiled a little. “Your jet lag is my bonus, but you will crash hard in a few hours.”

“
Probably,” she agreed.

He rolled her gently onto her side and lifted her thigh so it rested over his hip. It exposed her cleft and she shivered.

“
I am curious,” Nial said and eased his cock into her.

Her pussy tightened. Even though he did not thrust once he was inside her, she could feel the walls of her vagina undulating around him.

Winter licked her lips. “Curious about what?” she asked. Her voice was used, dry and husky.

Nial kissed the corner of her mouth. His hand was still playing with her breast. “Did you enjoy Sebastian’s kiss?” he asked softly.

She jumped, as Nial must have known she would, for his body held her still until she settled once more.

“
Did you respond to it?” he added.

With Nial inside her, his hand on her breast, there was no way to hide her reaction, the increase in her breathing. No way to cover up her panic.

Nial lifted his head to look at her. He smiled a little bit. “I’ll make it easy for you, Winter.”

“
How?” she whispered.

He brought his lips close to her ear. “I adore Sebastian’s kisses, too.”

Images flashed through her mind. Sebastian and Nial together, as she had painted them in her imagination. Locked together, straining for release…or in quieter moments like now, sharing softer emotions. Kisses. Caresses. Swift build up of arousals to mutual climaxes driven by their hard bodies.

The swift cascade of images rifled through her mind like a waterfall of cards, almost too quick for her consciousness to grasp. But the effect was instantaneous and unpreventable. She groaned and arched, her eyes closing and her nipples marbling into hard, erect stubs under Nial’s fingers. And she could feel her pussy clenching hard, milking him.

He drew in a short, quick breath. “Ohhh…you like that idea, don’t you?” His voice was rough with his own delight. He turned her onto her back and rose above her, his eyes glittering. And he drove into her with hard, fast strokes. Winter curled her leg over his hip, encouraging him. Something like a feral growl emerged from the back of her throat.

“
Harder,” she demanded. “Faster.”

Nial slid his hand under the back of her neck and lifted her head up closer to his. His canines were extended. “Come for me,
dilecta
.” His lips brushed against her neck. “Scream for me.”

Almost as if he commanded it, her climax struck. And so did Nial, his fangs slicing into her flesh with the precision of a surgeon.

And her climax exploded through her body like a subterranean depth charge.

Winter screamed, a raw, deep sound that hurt her throat and gave vent to the almost overwhelming pleasure slamming through her. She felt Nial’s cock pump in her as he came, brought on by her own quivering pussy. She clutched at Nial as the waves of the orgasm ripped through her like surges of a tide, helpless under the power of it.

Until she lay limp against his arm.

Sudden exhaustion claimed her. Her eyes would barely open.

“
Tired,” she whispered.

“
So…you do have limits,” Nial murmured, his own voice rough and used. She felt his lips touch her temple. His cock had slipped out of her body at some point while she recovered. Now he picked her up and laid her on the sofa. “Sleep. I think you will be able to, now. Sebastian and I will scout the building and let you rest.”

She wanted to protest, but couldn’t. She didn’t have strength.

Nial dropped the blanket that had been hanging over the arm of the chair over her, and put a cushion under her head.

She reached for his hand. “Wait.”

He crouched down so that his eyes were level with hers.

Winter held up his hand a mere fraction of an inch. “Calluses.” She had noticed them on and off all night and just now had put it together. “You were a house slave. When did you hold a sword long enough to get them?”

All the happiness in Nial’s expression melted like snow in spring. Until it disappeared, Winter hadn’t realized how much lighter and carefree he had become. Now his face closed over. He settled on the rug and lifted his other hand—the right hand—to look at the heavy calluses at the base of his fingers.

“
I was a house slave until I was sixteen and began to grow taller and was soon higher than every man on the estate. The master at arms bargained with the slave master over a game of dice one night and the next day I was his. Two days later we marched to join the main Roman army just east of Augusta Taurinorum and that was the start of my military life. I learned how to use a sword as I marched and when we met the Lombards outside of Taurinorum, I learned more.”

“
That’s conscription,” Winter whispered, forcing her eyes to stay open.

Nial shook his head. “I was a slave. I already belonged to another. I went where they told me to go.” A ghost of a smile touched his lips. “But now, perhaps, you begin to understand the scars on my back. Even then, I looked for a way out. I was not a docile slave nor was I a willing soldier.”

The sun pushed through clouds, dazzling Winter. She groaned and shut her eyes.

“
The windows are polarized, but I could not resist an apartment that greeted the sunrise. It was too poetic.” He touched his lips to hers. “Sleep…”

She wanted to add something and struggled to remember what it was. But sleep was slipping over her much too quickly to sort out the thoughts.

There were other dim thoughts that rose briefly to the surface of her mind, but not strongly enough to stir her emotions before sinking back down.

Not until a voice she registered as Sebastian’s spoke clearly in a soft hush nearby.

“
This is taking it a tad too far, Nial. You honestly expect me to work with her lying twelve feet away, half naked on the sofa?”

“
You’re exaggerating as usual.” Nial’s voice was equally as soft. Winter didn’t know how far away the two of them were, but she had the feeling it was further than the twelve feet Sebastian had given. He
was
exaggerating, just as Nial had accused him. Some sort of odd acoustic was allowing her to hear them—again.

“
She’s perfectly covered up,” Nial continued. “The page three Sunshine Girl shows more flesh.”

“
You know that’s not my objection, Nial.” Sebastian’s tone was tight. Controlled. Even at the low tones they were using, Sebastian sounded pissed. “Damn it, you play this game as if I don’t have a clue what you’re doing—”

“
Keep your voice down,” Nial said curtly. “Winter didn’t sleep much last night.”

Sebastian gave a choking laugh. “You think I don’t know that? I didn’t lose any hearing capacity when she changed me, Nial.
She
got no sleep last night? It’s been a damn long night for all of us!”

Silence.

“
I wasn’t aware of that,” Nial said at last, speaking slowly.

“
Is that an apology?”

“
For enjoying myself?”

“
I should know better.” Sebastian sighed. “Well, it helps, knowing you didn’t deliberately arrange to have her draped across the leather looking so satiated and delectable just for my benefit.”

“
You’re trying to make this all about you again, Sebastian,” Nial replied. “I did it for purely selfish reasons.
I
wanted to be able to look up and see her draped there and remember the night we just spent. Why else would I not take her upstairs to my far more comfortable bed?”

“
Glad to hear you admit to your utterly self-centred ways at last.”

“
Now, if you only you would, Bastian.”

Winter had heard enough. She turned over, snuggling down deeper, letting sleep take her again.

This time, when she woke, it was because of the delicious smell of hot pancakes, bacon and coffee, along with warm maple syrup.

Her stomach protested angrily and she sat up with a hungry moan. “Please tell me some of that is for me?”

“
Half of it,” Sebastian said. He sat the end of the breakfast bar, a coffee mug in his hand, a fork in the other. “But you’d better hurry, I’m still hungry and you did steal my bread in Ireland.”

Winter tried to wrap the blanket around her, but there was too much of it.

“
Here,” Nial said from behind her.

She turned. He was holding out a royal blue silk robe that had to be his. He passed it between her and Sebastian, holding it like a shield, which allowed her to drop the blanket and slide her arms into the robe. Nial closed it for her, pulled her closer to him by his grip on the front of it, and kissed her. “Good afternoon,” he said. “Enjoy your breakfast.”

“
You’re not staying?”

He shook his head. “Too tempting,” he said shortly. “Especially the coffee.” He pushed a cell phone and wallet into a light jacket and put it on. “I have an appointment with one of our hopeful contenders. I apparently have a legal crisis only he can fix and have snagged myself a meeting at one-thirty.” He backed up a few steps. “Sebastian has agreed to behave himself.”

Winter tilted her head and turned to look at Sebastian, who rolled his eyes. “I’m sure I can take care of Sebastian,” she told Nial, as he pressed the button for the elevator.

“
I know you can,” Nial replied. He stepped into the elevator as the doors opened. “Don’t be too rough on him.”

Sebastian snorted.

Winter settled onto a stool, leaving one empty between her and Sebastian, and reached for the remainder of the bacon and pancakes. She had to roll the sleeves of the robe up her arms to do it. They were much too long.

Sebastian pushed the syrup toward her. “You like it sweet, I remember.”

“
Not always,” she replied. “But this morning, yes. I’m betting this is the best maple syrup in the world and it’s irresistible, warmed.” She poured it over her pancakes and began to eat with gusto.

Sebastian poured a cup of coffee and placed it in front of her. “I need to apologize for last night.” He sat back at the end of the bar and folded his hands flat on the marble.

Winter was too hungry to stop eating, but she borrowed one of Nial’s habits instead. She lifted her brow at Sebastian.

“
The kiss. The confession. You shouldn’t have had to put up with either of them.”

Winter hurriedly swallowed her mouthful. “Did Nial say something to you, Sebastian?”

He grew still and his expression wary. “Why do you ask that?”

“
You used almost exactly the same language as he did. ‘Kiss.’ ‘Confession.’ And the idea of burdening me with them.”

Sebastian grimaced. “I can’t have an honourable thought of my own?”

Winter relented. “I’m sorry. That’s unfair. Perhaps all the conspiracy theories around here are rubbing off on me.”

Sebastian shrugged and picked up his coffee cup again. “It’s the profession we’re in. It spills over.” He sipped. “Finish eating, then I’ll show you where we’re up to. I’ve got a blueprint of the Flatiron building for you and Nial built profiles of our five candidates this morning.”

They slid easily and seamlessly into professional talk as she ate. It was almost like the last year had never happened and Winter could feel herself relaxing back into the old roles she used to play with Sebastian. The old friendship.

It felt good. It felt so good.

She lingered at the bar after she had finished eating and knew it was because she didn’t want to break the spell. Then she hurried through her shower, mentally laughing at herself because she was hurrying get back to playing at being the old Winter. Winter and Sebastian, team mates once more.

She even dithered over what to wear and in the end settled for what she always wore when she was at her apartment and planning a job: black low rise yoga pants that gave her maximum flexibility, and a black stretch tank top. Until now, she hadn’t been aware of how many inches stretched between the hem of the top and the band of the pants. She was tempted to wear a bra under the top, but she never had before and Sebastian would notice—what would it say to him if she wore one now?

How had she been so oblivious about her choice of clothing before?