Three Trials Read online

  He only thrusts in three times before he’s ripping himself away and flipping me to my stomach in one harsh motion. A grunt rushes out of me, but then I’m lifted into the air by two sets of hands.

  When I come back down, my skin connects with warm, incredible skin, and I end up straddling one of them as his mouth fuses to mine. I’m so drunk on sensation that I can’t even discern the mouths kissing me from one to the next.

  My hands are tied behind my back before I realize it, and the man under me thrusts up, pushing inside me almost too easily. Something slick and wet trails around my backside, as the man underneath me fucks me to distraction.

  The sensations are different from this angle, especially with someone else behind me, running their lubed-up fingers down the path of my ass. I suck in a breath, breaking the kiss, as the one behind me pushes in just one finger.

  A groan passes out of the one under me when I start moving harder against him, desperate to have more of each.

  Hands tighten on my hips just before a much broader tip starts pressing into my ass. Definitely not a virgin there either, because virgins probably don’t love the bite of pain as someone works their cock into their ass.

  “I only feel two of you,” I say on a breathy, half-coherent tone. “Are the other two watching?”

  Hands come around to my front, as a voice comes to my ear. “Yes,” is all that’s whispered so softly that I can’t discern whose voice it is.

  The man behind me slides his hand up my throat as he starts fucking me in time with the man under me. The movements all feel so much more intense, packed inside me as I shudder uncontrollably against the powerful sensations.

  We move as one unit, drawing out the most pleasure, easily synchronized as though we’ve done this countless times. It’s like our bodies have remembered what our minds have forgotten, even if they’re not all technically in the same bodies.

  Such delicate care is taken not to hurt me, and our bodies writhe like sex and filth with a seductive, heady concentration. Their hands get more impatient, and I keep kissing one then another.

  I’m almost positive it’s Jude and Gage. Then those hands tighten and I’m certain it’s Kai. Definitely Kai. I can feel him.

  Nope. It’s Ezekiel under me. Has to be.

  For fuck’s sake, why can’t I tell them apart right now?

  A moan is torn from my lips, and swallowed halfway through when the one behind me wrenches my head back to kiss me, even as both their hips start moving faster.

  I can’t…It’s just too…I just can’t…

  I’m shattered in the next instant, the most powerful orgasm yet thundering through me with so much crackle and mind-numbing euphoria that I swear it feels like I’m floating.

  In all actuality, I’m collapsing into the arms of the man under me as the two of them continue to drive in and out of me with more frenzied, urgent motions.

  They come at the same time, both sucking in breaths as their hands tighten on me.

  I’m too groggy to really and truly fathom how long we’ve been at this when the one behind me slides out first. I wince from the sting of pain and sense of loss when he’s all the way out.

  Someone lifts me off the other one, and his cock is slowly dragged out of me as my pussy clenches from aftershocks, demanding to keep him in.

  Some rustling is all I hear as I’m gently laid on the bed, and someone starts untying my blindfold.

  “That wasn’t four of you, was it? Did Kai do those few pumps and move on like the selfish man he is, robbing me of my fourth experience?” I ask on a shaky, but certainly accusatory, breath.

  Four sounds of laughter comes as the blindfold falls away, and an amused Kai is hovering over me with an arched eyebrow.

  “Actually, we decided there should be a balance,” he says, leaning forward to nip my lips. “You wanted to see our expressions. We needed you not to know the first person inside you. So I’m taking my turn last to give balance.”

  At my confusion, he tips my chin up.

  “I took last instead of first. You now know I’m certainly not the first one inside you, but I’ll be the only one you get to enjoy experiencing you for the first time,” he says, brushing his lips over mine as he shifts himself to be right between my legs.

  My smile spreads as heat blooms across me. I’m covered in all things them, essentially marked forever.

  He grips my hip, and I lick my lips as I watch him grab his very hard, very large cock in his hand and strokes it once. It looks angry, almost throbbing with the desire for relief.

  Jude’s lips brush my throat as he comes onto the bed beside us. Ezekiel’s mouth goes to my breasts, and I grip them both, touching them as I watch Kai stroke himself.

  Gage moves above of me, bending to kiss me as that warmth continues to spread over my chest.

  “So fucking beautiful,” Ezekiel whispers against my ear as Gage breaks the kiss and leans back, his fingers trailing down my cheek.

  “More beautiful than Hera or Lilith?” I ask automatically, not even sure why I ask it.

  Jude snorts derisively, and I start to get my feelings hurt, until he says, “They can’t even compare.”

  A goofy girl grin spreads as I tell him, “Now you’re my favorite even though that was so fucking cheesy.”

  “Enjoy while it lasts,” Kai says to Jude, smirking as he draws my attention back to him.

  The other four move back just a little as Kai leans over me, lining himself up just right and raking the head of his cock over my very slick entrance.

  His eyes flutter shut as his jaw tenses, and I commit every feature to memory. Licking my lips, I watch as he works the tip in, and his muscles bunch as his eyes barely open, a hooded, sexy expression on his face.

  Inch by slow inch, he pushes inside me, more and more of that relief, pleasure, and indescribably hot patience on his face.

  When he’s halfway in, he suddenly thrusts hard, burying himself to the hilt. His eyes roll back in his head as his mouth falls open, and his sexy rumble of approval vibrates against me.

  It feels just as good as it has since the beginning, the fourth piece of my heart clicking into place as my soul is fed by the hunger and pure pleasure on his face.

  My hands go to his hair, keeping his head up when he tries to drop it. I need to see all of this. I want to drink it in.

  None of them ever looked as lost to sensation as he does when they were with the other women. My jealous nature appreciates that immensely.

  “Is this how you all looked?” I ask in awe as Kai stays still inside me like he’s savoring it.

  “Yes,” Ezekiel whispers close to me.

  “Now I wish I had thought to go last,” Gage groans.

  Kai is taking it slower, relishing the feel of me and allowing me to relish the feel of him as he draws back and slides in with an effortless ease, despite the snug fit, pressing against every nerve I have in a way that is almost too intense.

  I pull him down by the back of his neck, eager to taste his kiss while he’s lost like this.

  The second his lips touch mine, he devours me, kissing me as he grips one of my legs at the thigh and hikes it up. He uses his new hold as leverage to pull back and slam into me.

  A startled cry has me breaking the kiss as he raises up and sets a rhythm that has me arching toward him.

  Hands grapple me to the bed, pinning me in place as Kai starts working me over, taking me like he’s envisioned this hundreds of times and is on a mission to steal all he can from this moment.

  My eyelids try to flutter shut reflexively, but I force them open so I can watch each expression as it crosses his face.

  His eyes are burning a solid gold as he stares at me, unable to look away. My eyes screw shut, unbidden, when a pleasurably painful orgasm sweeps through, reminding my body I’ve received far too much pleasure for any one person.

  A hand grips my jaw, and my eyes fly open when Jude turns my face toward him.

  “Watch, comoara trădătoare
. Watch him so you know what you did to us,” Jude says as he turns my face back to see Kai.

  It’s like sweet anguish, as though the pleasure is so intense he’s straining to drain every ounce of it out. Then his hips slam into me one last time, and his entire body shudders as he grips me painfully.

  His eyes open heavily as he pants for air, staring directly at me like he sees me differently but still the same. I get it. Everything about each one of them now feels more intimate.

  He drops to me, kissing me so hard, as though rewarding me for my lazy part.

  My fingers tangle in his dark hair as I suck his bottom lip into my mouth and bite it gently.

  He groans and shudders again, moving inside me like he’s ready for another round.

  “Enough for now,” Jude says, even as Kai’s hips continue to move.

  I kiss him harder, not wanting him gone just yet. His hands fly to my hair, gripping it as he starts thrusting like he can’t slow down, desperate to feel another release.

  “I said enough,” Jude bites out.

  “Let him. She likes it,” Ezekiel says from beside me, moving to watch my eyes as Kai fucks me like he can’t stop.

  “She can take as much as we can give,” Gage says, smirking as he steps back, taking in the scene like he wants to watch.

  Kai is stilling again, already coming. My orgasm total for the day has been met, so I don’t feel gipped that I don’t get another one at the end.

  Kai’s body goes lax on top of mine as he lazily he kisses me with appreciation, his weight crushing down on me.

  “If he got two turns, then I vote I get mine later,” Ezekiel points out.

  “After mine,” Jude drawls.

  “Or mine,” Gage says.

  Kai grins against my neck like he’s enjoying this. My legs wrap around his waist, and my arms go around his shoulders like I’m hugging him to me.

  “Whoever is my next favorite will get me again. For now, I’m sexually sated but completely physically hungry,” I tell them, running my lips up Kai’s cheek.

  If I continue lying here, basking in all this intimacy, I’ll blurt out something stupid. I’ve learned men hate that.

  Giving them no warning, I go phantom and zap myself to the kitchen.

  From messy to clean within a flip of a switch, I set about my new task.

  I grin when I hear them all follow, siphoning in here behind me. And I don’t even care whose arms go around me or who kisses my cheek as I start cooking for five.

  It’s the first time since I started my lonely, anonymous existence that I finally feel whole.

  Chapter 16

  “Well, this says the Devil’s seven children spread their dark influence when needed or when imbalanced. One guess as to which of the seven deadly sins I am,” I state blandly.

  “Wrath,” Ezekiel pipes up, staring over at me like he expects a treat.

  “You don’t get to be my favorite by answering rhetorical questions,” I immediately fire back.

  He rolls his eyes and mutters something petulant, and I grin because I think I just embarrassed Mr. War.

  “Found the origins book,” Gage says around a mouthful as he walks into the kitchen with a burrito in one hand and an ancient, possibly priceless book in the other.

  The two look very odd paired together.

  He tosses it to Jude, who catches it midair and starts reading from beside me.

  “Read it aloud, jackass,” I tell him as I eat one of my ten burritos.

  Told you I was starving.

  Kai snorts. Jude glares at me.

  “Please,” I add with faux sweetness as I bat my lashes.

  He rolls his eyes, working to hide his smile that he really doesn’t want to give me.

  Some things never change.

  He gave Lake that smile, but I don’t bring her up. The house is still in disarray because of my death—which is highly empowering—but clearly they’ve only started to heal from her betrayal.

  I’m just happy she’s dead and that Jude killed her for me.

  That’s better than any smile. I’m the Devil’s daughter, so it’s okay to be insane like that.

  It’s the universal excuse to all my issues now. That’s the upside.

  Jude blows out a breath. “It says we’re four parts of one balanced compass, and essentially the metaphorical needle shifts toward whoever is needed the most for the compass holder.”

  “I’m guessing that’s me,” I say with a frown. “I forced you all to be my balance or whatever after giving you that piece of my balance?”

  Suddenly, the seven remaining burritos don’t look as tempting because my stomach starts to sour.

  “I don’t think so,” Jude says distractedly as his eyes scan the next page, apparently reading ahead silently.

  “Aloud,” the other three all snap at him.

  “For fuck’s sake, you read it,” Jude growls, shoving it at me.

  Pushing my unwanted plate back, I take the book, go back to the first page and start reading it where he left off.

  “Lucifer needed four soldiers to divide four treacherous, dangerous powers between. Power that, if seduced by greed, could lead to the world’s ultimate demise,” I read aloud.

  The words on the next page take a moment to rapidly shift through fifty or more languages before finally settling in English.

  “Since greed was not one of her impurities and she was bored, Apocalypse decided to remove this burden from him and tasked it to herself. As the world grew, she became in need of more power without disturbing her balance, and four soldiers that strong could provide that balance infinitely through time.”

  I look up, confused. “I thought Lamar said I was balanced and you four weren’t.”

  “Yeah, all the children are—apparently not as well as you, but still balanced. However, they still have to maintain that balance. Needing more power means needing a counter balance,” Ezekiel tells me. “Hence the reason Lilith offers a gift with a curse. Cain has his methods, along with the rest. This is saying you found a way to grow stronger and balance yourself with little maintenance.”

  I push the book away, not wanting to read more, and Gage picks it up to start scanning its contents.

  “So I stole you and somehow tethered you to me to help me keep this balance,” I say quietly.

  This morning’s incredible rendezvous now seems…cheapened. And wrong. Even with my new universal excuse for the wrong things I usually enjoy.

  “No,” Gage says, smirking as he starts reading aloud. “Apocalypse wanted four strong, fiercely loyal men in her harem who couldn’t be recycled during one of her brothers’ tantrums or stolen when one of her sisters decided to take new lovers.”

  “Not helping,” I say with a tight smile.

  “But she chose four of the most damaged men in the underworld who could no longer exist inside a mind without madness,” he goes on. “To keep balance.”

  “That makes no sense,” I point out.

  “They were already too imbalanced. In other words, you were able to give a gift with no strings attached, because of that imbalance. You were the only one who had to sacrifice anything, because they’d—we’d—already suffered too much,” Gage patiently tells me.

  “I still don’t get it, and it’s starting to make me feel like an idiot,” I say on a sigh while running a hand through my hair.

  Kai starts explaining. “When you’re a resident of hell, you can’t repent. You can hold only a certain amount of impurities—usually it’s a very high threshold. But if those impurities tip the scales, you’ll start going mad. Much like humans, only on a much more volatile and dangerous level.”

  “Once you start going mad, there is no turning back,” Jude goes on, frowning. “At least not that I’ve heard of. It’s why we try to keep balance. If you preserve balance, you maintain balance within yourself. Affecting the balance of the universe without consideration for the balance will drive you mad.”

  “Okay…” I draw the word o
ut, looking around at them.

  Gage continues reading. “These four were deranged, scarred from hell’s black heart where they were kept when they couldn’t be recycled.”

  Kai groans, pushing his own food away. “We were in hell’s black heart?” he asks incredulously. “No one leaves there.”

  “Hell’s black heart?” I ask, lifting a finger as though I’m asking a question in class.

  I suppose I’ve never really attended class.

  “It’s a place where they send the ones they can’t recycle. Madness keeps that from happening, because there’s no mad monster Lucifer wishes to create. There’s a chance the imbalance would just force them to cease to exist, but they seem leery of that option. So hell’s heart is where you’re left chained, alone, and forgotten for all eternity.”

  “That sounds terrible,” I say as a chill slithers up my spine.

  “Hell is not supposed to sound like an inviting kingdom,” Jude reminds me. “Unless you’re royalty or upper level, it’s actually quite the fucking opposite. Some spend centuries being brutally ripped apart as their soul takes a new form. That alone can drive one mad in a different way.”

  Gage keeps reading, and I try not to interrupt this time.

  “The four had been lost to hysteria, left alone, and chained in the dark chambers where the only sounds were their own screams or those of the souls who just wanted to die, but couldn’t. Because they were eternal now.”

  He swallows thickly.

  “The nightmares,” Ezekiel says quietly.

  “We thought they were a vision of the future, when really it was just an echo of the past,” Kai says on a groan. “We’ve been chasing away a fate we’ve already endured. All that paranoia for nothing.”

  “What?” I ask, but they ignore me as Gage continues reading.

  “Apocalypse found the most damaged men she could. The ones who needed this relief with desperation. The only way to save them was to give them the power that could tear apart the world and shatter the balance completely if anything went wrong.”

  “That doesn’t sound smart,” Ezekiel says with a grin, looking over at me. “We were mad.”