The Lion's Shared Bride (5 page)

“I’d be thrilled,” Aedan said, smiling impishly.

Nina stood up, her embarrassment and shock transforming in an instant to anger and fear. “I don’t know what kind of joke this is, but it’s fucking cruel and messed up,” she said. “I am not going to be part of some stupid cult that wants me to be married to two men at the same time. It’s sick. You could at
least
act like it’s not funny that I’m pissed off by this.” Nina could see the amusement on the two men’s faces, mingling with the arousal in their eyes. She let out an irritated squeal. “You know what? I knew this was a mistake. I knew it the minute I agreed to come here. You’re both assholes.” She turned on her heel and stormed to the front door, hurt and angry and confused, determined to not only leave immediately, but also report the two men, delete her profile, and have done with the site forever.

She gasped as Soren abruptly blocked her path to the door.
How the hell did he move so fast?
Nina checked, taking a staggering step backwards. Immediately, strong arms wound around her waist, holding her tightly against a muscular body. “I’m afraid I can’t let you leave until you calm down, love, neither of us can.”

Nina’s anger flared up, subsuming her sense of hurt and betrayal and confusion completely. She struggled in Aedan’s arms, kicking out with her feet, squirming, scratching wherever she could dig her nails in.

Instead of fighting her back or trying to force her, the tall, muscular man laughed. “Oh, Soren, we have to convince her,” he said, his voice full of desire and amusement.

Nina paused, realizing that as she struggled, Soren was watching her intently, the faintest of smiles curving his lips. “Go on—you can even bite if you want. Aedan can take it.” Nina let out an indignant wail, resuming her struggles in spite of the deep embarrassment she felt. She writhed and squirmed, growling angrily as she tried to break free of Aedan’s hold.

“I’m not going to do anything to you,” Aedan murmured lowly in her ear. “I’m just going to stand here holding you until you calm down, Nina. Whether you exhaust yourself or not, I’m not letting go until you’re calm.”

Nina struggled for a few moments longer, telling herself she was making a point, though with Aedan’s unflinching grip on her waist, she wasn’t sure just what it was she was actually proving. Finally, she let herself relax in his arms and as promised, they loosened around her gradually, though he didn’t quite let her go. For a moment, she considered the possibility of breaking out of his hold, running past Soren, and making her getaway but considering how quickly both men had moved to intercept her first attempt to leave, she didn’t have a lot of confidence in her ability to succeed the second time.

“Let’s just sit down and discuss this calmly,” Soren said, gesturing to the couch. “I promise we won’t laugh at you. I know it’s a lot to take in, and we were both really rude to laugh before but you just… you’re the perfect answer to the problem. And you’re so hot when you’re angry.”

“She smells so good, Soren,” Aedan said from behind her, his voice thick with desire. “Get her away from me before I lose my manners.”

Soren chuckled, but Nina felt her heart starting to beat a little faster. The fact that Aedan was sniffing at her neck and hair, was a little unnerving. The sound of his lust-filled voice, given that he was holding her so tightly, was also less than reassuring.

“I’m pretty sure Nina’s calmed down now. Nina, Aedan will let you go and you can sit down again, and we’ll talk.” Nina took a deep breath, once more considering the possibility of fleeing but feeling It would be useless.

“Fine,” she said. Aedan’s arms retreated from her waist and she turned away from both men, walking back to the couch. She sat down and almost resentfully picked up the mug of tea Aedan had brought her. She sipped at it in silence while both of the two men resumed their seats.

After a moment of silence that dragged on long enough for Nina to start feeling nervous again, Soren spoke. “Stay the weekend with us,” he suggested. “If you really hate the idea of being shared by two men, after that you can be on your way, and we’ll keep looking.” Nina licked her lips, considering the proposition.

“So it would be like a trial run?” She glanced at Aedan. He seemed to have regained some of his composure, the faint, charming smile still curving his lips.

“Pretty much that,” Aedan said, glancing over at Soren. “You can get to know Soren, and get to know me better.”

Nina took a deep breath and exhaled. “Can I get that in writing?”

Soren laughed, and Aedan’s grin broadened.

“Okay, if it will help you trust us, I’ll write it down.” Soren stood as he spoke and walked away, turning into a hallway. Nina felt an almost uncomfortable rush of hot and cold tingles as she felt Aedan’s gaze on her body. She swallowed, taking another sip of her tea.

“What is in this?” she asked, glancing down at the liquid in the mug. Aedan’s eyes glinted with amusement.

“Little of this and that. Cat mint, chamomile, and some vanilla— Soren orders it special.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You’re not going to regret spending the weekend with us, you know.”

Nina held his gaze, some of her natural impertinence returning to her as the shock of their confession began to abate. “Are you trying to hypnotize me or something?” she asked.

Aedan chuckled. “I don’t believe anyone would ever be able to hypnotize you.”

Nina bristled. She knew she was only being perverse and contrary for the sake of disagreeing. “I was trusting enough to come home with you, wasn’t I?”

Aedan grinned again. “In your own car. By the way, Soren,” Aedan raised his voice, calling back towards the hallway. “One of us is going to have to get your car out of the lot sometime before it gets towed. Unless you don’t care about it getting towed.”

Soren came out of the hall and shrugged. “We’ll figure it out. Here we go.” Soren waved a sheet of paper, flourishing a pen as he came into the room and sat down. “An agreement stating that you’ll stay with Aedan and me for the weekend, with the option to leave on Monday if you don’t want to continue our arrangement.” Soren signed at the bottom of the sheet before handing it to Aedan.

Aedan made a show of peering at it closely before taking the pen from Soren and adding his signature. He grinned, extending it to Nina. Nina actually did read it, not wanting another shock after everything that had already happened that night.

The undersigned agrees they will stay together for one weekend of the following dates. If any of the three decide they do not want to continue the arrangement past the weekend, ending on Monday morning, there will be no attempt to uphold it. Each will be free to leave.

It held a few more details, which Nina glanced over without really paying it much attention. Soren was as good as his word. She signed.           

CHAPTER SIX

Aedan watched Nina intently as she read over the paper Soren had written out. All three knew that it wasn’t exactly legally binding but, he thought, it would make her feel better and after her reaction to finding out she would be shared by two men, it would be a good idea to regain some of her trust.

Nina folded up the sheet of paper and slipped it into her purse. Aedan glanced at Soren. “Shouldn’t we all have a copy?” Soren asked her. Nina shrugged, and Aedan almost laughed to see the way that she was transformed back into the woman she’d been at the café, no longer nervous.

“I’m the only one it really applies to. You both live here, and the only way it would be legally an issue is if you didn’t let me leave on Monday.”

Aedan grinned, feeling the stirrings of the change deep in his bones. He decided that come hell or high water, he was going to make it work between himself, Soren, and Nina—she was exactly what any Alpha could possibly want in a mate. He had already concluded that, whether or not Soren was compatible with her, she was exactly what
he
wanted in a mate. He could only hope she was able to manage the other revelation they had in store for her.

Aedan rose from his seat, walking slowly around the coffee table. The scent of Nina’s pheromones was driving him crazy with need. He could feel Soren watching him but for the moment, the only thing on his mind was getting as close to Nina as he possibly could. Aedan sank down in front of Nina, crouching where she couldn’t possibly avoid meeting his gaze.

“Should we get started, love?” he asked her lightly. He could hear the soft growl in his voice, knew that he would have to be careful—he couldn’t show her too much of his leonine characteristics. He would need to hold back, avoid scaring her. Nina’s cheeks turned pink, and Aedan breathed in the sweet, slightly spicy, slightly musk-laden scent of her rising arousal.

Before she could reply, Aedan leaned in, brushing his lips against hers softly. Behind him, his keen ears picked up the sound of Soren shifting in the wingback chair, the other man’s sharp intake of breath. Soren had apparently scented the woman’s pheromones, too. Even if he hadn’t already been attracted to Nina, Aedan knew that the particular scent of a woman’s arousal was difficult for an Alpha to resist. He’d had to learn how to curb his lustful desires as a lone male lion.

Nina started slightly, but Aedan took advantage of her surprise to deepen the kiss, letting his hands roam over the lush curves of her body. He swiped his tongue along her lips, and smiled against her skin as she opened her mouth. Aedan carefully pulled Nina to her feet, cradling her body against his as he continued to kiss her, probing her mouth with his tongue. He cupped her breasts in his hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. Nina moaned softly against his lips, the sound sending a jolt of white-hot desire through his body. He broke away from the kiss, panting slightly.

“God, woman,” he murmured lowly, pressing her against himself. “I am not going to be able to let you leave.” He lifted her up into his arms and glanced at Soren. “You coming?” Soren chuckled.

Aedan carried Nina away from the living room, taking her into the hallway. He heard Soren’s tread behind them as he made his way down the hall towards the bedroom he had taken.
We’re going to have to work out the logistics of this,
Aedan thought idly.
Maybe Nina could get her own room and take turns… or we could work out a chart.
He smirked, kissing Nina lightly on the lips as he kicked open his bedroom door.

Aedan turned Nina around in his arms, letting her fall carefully to her feet facing him. He cupped her face, bringing her lips to his and kissing her with rising hunger. She smelled and tasted so sweet, so irresistible. His hands moved along her body, lingering at her full breasts, her trim waist, down to her hips.

Aedan broke away. “Soren, are you going to get in on this, or just stand there watching like a perv?”

Soren snorted, and Aedan glanced over his shoulder to see the other man moving closer. Reluctantly, in spite of his comment to Soren, he knew that the moment would be flawed if he didn’t invite the other Alpha to participate. He stepped away from Nina.

Aedan watched, heat building up in his body, as Soren moved past him, closing the distance between him and Nina. The other man let his hands fall to Nina’s waist as he leaned in slowly. Aedan shivered slightly. Soren pressed his lips to Nina’s, his hands gliding around to the woman’s back, pressing her body to his.

Aedan suppressed the flare of impatient jealousy that rushed through him. He would have to learn to share; he might as well start now. He took a deep breath, feeling a mixture of possessive need and lust simmering in his blood as he watched Soren deepen the kiss with Nina.
Apart from wanting to screw her brains out myself, this is actually pretty hot to watch,
he thought, taking another deep breath to force some patience into his mind.

Soren broke away from the kiss gradually, pulling back and looking down into Nina’s eyes. “You realize,” Soren murmured, his voice barely loud enough for Aedan’s preternaturally acute ears to pick up, “that we are both going to do everything we can to make sure you absolutely can’t bear to leave.” Aedan smiled slightly with amusement as he saw Nina nod dazedly.

Aedan stepped forward, not quite putting himself in between the two but turning Nina’s face so that he could claim her lips with his own once more. Her tongue tasted like a combination of herself and Soren—an oddly erotic mix of flavor and scent that drove away all ability for Aedan to think.

He broke away from her lips, barely parting. “You can help, you know,” he told Soren, his hands already moving along the fabric of Nina’s clothes, seeking the best way to strip them off of her. He found the hem of her blouse and tugged it up, along her ribs, up to her breasts. Aedan pulled back from the kiss, blinking to adjust his vision to the yellow light of his bedroom. Nina lifted her arms over her head and he guided the blouse along her limbs, tossing it aside. Soren was working at the zipper on her skirt. Aedan chuckled lowly as the other man took the opportunity to lean in and kiss Nina once more, even while his hands worked the fabric of her skirt down over her full hips.

“Hey,” Nina said, breaking away from the kiss. She frowned slightly, glancing from Aedan to Soren. Aedan could barely take in the sight of her slightly irritated expression; he was too busy letting his gaze trail over her nearly-naked body, her breasts barely concealed by thin, lacy fabric, her panties darkened slightly at the front—telltale sign of her arousal. She crossed her arms over her chest and Aedan shook his head sharply to clear it. “I shouldn’t be the only one getting naked here,” she told them both, raising an eyebrow challengingly. Aedan smirked.

“This is about convincing you to stay with us, love—getting you naked and getting you off repeatedly is the strategy.”

Nina pressed her lips together, looking from Aedan to Soren once more. She shook her head. “If I’m going to stay with you two, you should be focused on giving me what I want. And what I want is the two of you naked.”

Aedan glanced at Soren, amusement warring with the very real need to possess Nina. He began to unbutton his shirt. Soren moved quickly, tugging his own tee shirt over his head and tossing it aside. Aedan tugged the fabric free of his arms, letting it fall to the floor. He reached down, watching Nina as she watched him and Soren, and unbuttoned and unzipped the fly of his jeans. As he pushed his pants down over his hips and to his knees, he glanced at his fellow Alpha.

“Does it seem at all strange to you that she said jump and we immediately did?” Aedan asked. Soren, kicking his legs free of his jeans, paused and grinned.

“Kind of a dilemma, isn’t it?” He glanced from Nina back to Aedan. “We do have to convince her to stay but she has to know her place in the relationship at the same time.” Aedan looked at Nina, smiling slowly.

“My place in the relationship?” Nina brought her hands down to rest on her hips, looking at both men without a shred of fear in her eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, you two need me more than I need you. I’m the one in charge.”

Aedan licked his lips. He glanced briefly at Soren, silently checking for permission. A flicker of assent in the Alpha’s eyes was all he needed. Aedan moved quickly, closing the distance between himself and Nina. He lifted her up and tossed her carefully onto his bed, launching himself after her. Nina gasped as she fell amongst the blankets, her eyes widening. Soren was only a few heartbeats behind them, climbing into the bed on the other side, his hands immediately moving to Nina’s body.

Aedan lifted her up slightly, unhooking the clasp of Nina’s bra and guiding the fragile thing away from her body, casting it aside without any concern for where it landed. In the same moment, Soren was tugging the woman’s panties down, nearly ripping the delicate fabric in his haste but Aedan watched as he checked himself, just as aware as he was that it wouldn’t be good to frighten her.

They took turns kissing her on the lips hungrily, and Aedan’s mind flashed involuntarily on the image of lions sharing prey on a hunt. He smiled as he broke away from Nina’s lips to nip and nibble along the column of her throat, moaning lowly when he heard her startled sounds of pleasure, muffled by Soren’s eager kiss. His hands wandered over her body, occasionally coming into contact with Soren’s hands as he teased and caressed Nina, cupping her breast and rolling her nipple between his fingers until she began to writhe. Aedan pulled back slightly, taking a deep breath. His cock was throbbing, aching with need.

He glanced at Soren. “You should go down on her first,” he pointed out. Soren hesitated for a moment, his head tilting slightly to the side in a silent question. “She knows me better than you—you should remedy that a bit, don’t you think?” Soren chuckled, nodding slightly before he began to kiss a trail down from Nina’s lips.

Aedan brought his mouth back up to Nina’s, his hands wandering over her body still, deftly avoiding Soren as the other man worked his way downward. Aedan reached down between Nina’s thighs, drawing the pads of his fingers along her sensitive skin and stopping just barely as he reached her slick folds. He moaned, his hips moving instinctively, pressing against her body as he felt how hot and wet she was. It wasn’t fair Soren would get to taste her first, but he told himself that he would get to actually feel her body first. There was plenty of time to taste her.

Nina writhed and twisted, moans leaving her lips, her body heating up to nearly match the normal high temperature Aedan knew his own body radiated, the telltale sign of his other, animal nature. He brought his hand reluctantly away from her soaking pussy as Soren’s body shifted, knowing the other man would be between Nina’s thighs in a moment. Aedan focused his attentions on her upper body, devouring her moans, nipping sharply at her bottom lip, along her jaw line, nibbling down to her breasts. He buried his face against her skin, nuzzling her, marking her with his scent as he sought first one nipple and then the other with his mouth.

Aedan rocked his hips against Nina’s body, breathing in the musk-laden, spicy-sweet scent of their combined pheromones as the fragrance thickened the air around the bed. Nina seemed to have given up all thought of controlling the situation. Words—praise, pleas, incoherent cries—left her lips as Soren began to work her with his lips and tongue. Aedan heard the slurping, hungry sounds of the other man sucking and licking. He brought his fingers, still slightly damp from Nina’s drenched labia, up to his lips and tasted them
. It was no wonder Soren was enjoying himself so much
, he thought with an envious smile.

In a matter of moments, he felt Nina’s body tensing, heard the catch in her breath as her pulse raced. She moaned out, a delicate shudder working through her arms as she twisted and writhed mindlessly underneath him. He held her tightly, kissing her neck and lips, murmuring compliments in her ear as her orgasm rocked her. The scent of her fluids was driving him out of his mind with need; he absolutely had to have her. He glanced down, watching Soren finishing her off, the other man’s bright eyes nearly glowing with pleasure as he lapped up Nina’s fluids as if they were the finest cream.

Before she even had time to completely recover, Aedan was moving; he pulled her up, kissing her briefly on the lips. “Was that good, pet?” he asked her, giving her cheek a playful lick. Nina nodded, her dark eyes fogged over with satisfaction, her lips curling into a dazed smile. “You’ll like this next game even better.” Soren shifted on the bed, moving to recline among the pillows, legs spread in front of him. Aedan grabbed one of the other pillows, pulling Nina around, gently positioning her on her unsteady knees and then pressing her shoulder down until she sank onto her elbows. He grinned at Soren. “Just like a kitten,” he told the other man. “Wants nothing more than to play, this one.”

Aedan slipped behind Nina, taking a moment to appreciate the curve of the small of her back, the fine, sharp bones of her shoulders, the full roundness of her ass, just begging to be touched, grabbed and caressed. He watched as Soren carefully guided his cock towards Nina’s mouth, murmuring what he wanted her to do. “After all,” Soren was telling her, “it’s only fair, right?”

Aedan pushed his hips up against Nina’s ass, spreading her legs a little wider with his knees. He moaned, closing his eyes a moment as he felt her wet heat pressed against the front of his boxers. Aedan slipped his underwear down, too impatient to even take it off all the way. He guided the tip of his cock up against Nina’s slick folds, teasing her for a long moment, rocking his hips and brushing all along her labia, barely swiping her clit.