through his cold flesh—he didn’t understand what had just happened.
“I’ve never felt anything like that before. It was the jolt that happens when I get a premonition, but it was...stronger.” Way stronger, he though with a trickle of unease. Almost sentient.
And now it was gone.
“Dec?” Aria eyed him warily. He wondered if she knew she’d fallen into the old habit of shortening his name.
“Whatever it was, it’s gone now.” Declan caught Adam’s eye and understanding passed between them. They would discuss what had happened later, and in the meantime they would be wary.
But the danger seemed to have passed, and with it Aria’s resolve. He could see the need to flee skittering over her skin.
“Aria.” He deliberately layered his voice with the dominance that she’d once responded to.
“Don’t pull that shit with me, Declan.” She looked at him sharply, her features twisted into an irritated scowl.
“I’m not doing anything besides being myself, Aria.” He softened his voice, aware of Adam standing on Aria’s other side. She seemed to become of aware of it too, and shivered. “And a moment ago you wanted me, wanted us. Are you backing down?”
He watched as her spine stiffened, as he’d known it would when he dared her. He saw the pulse that beat beneath the line of her jaw increase. He struggled to keep himself in control, when the sight mesmerized him, fragile butterfly wings beating beneath translucent skin.
He remembered what she tasted like. He wanted to taste her again.
“I’m not backing down from anything.” Her voice would have seemed controlled to most, but Declan heard the slight breathiness of arousal. “Let’s go.”
With a saucy swish of her hips, Aria sashayed across the dull gray parking lot, her ass swinging in a way that had Declan’s throat going dry, though he’d fed off Adam only hours before.
“The Capitol?” Adam asked in voice that had gone half wolf at the sight of Aria’s swaying hips. His words were tight with both need and concern.
“I don’t know what they would want with me here.” A phantom pain ran through Declan’s injured leg at the very thought of the governing body. To leave the Capitol was death, but he’d been free of them for over a year.
He looked after Aria. He and Adam should simply leave, before anything became more complicated. But he couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that he was where he was supposed to be.
Aria looked back over her shoulder then, her green eyes bright in the moonlight. She cast a wicked smile at Declan and Adam, and Declan’s fangs descended the rest of the way through his gums.
“Coming, boys?” Her voice was a growl, the come-and-get me tone that had always driven him crazy.
He wanted her. He needed her. And he didn’t have to look at Adam to know that his lover felt the same way.
Striding across the parking lot, his cane scraping on the asphalt, he grabbed Aria by her shoulders and pulled her in for a hot, hard kiss. He heard her sharp intake of breath, watched her eyes go cloudy.
“You’re the one who’s going to be coming, little witch.” He couldn’t help but grin at the snarl that passed over her face. She’d always been such a fascinating bundle of contradictions. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Aria’s heart pounded a wicked tattoo against her rib cage as Declan swiped his key card through the reader on the motel room door. As the door swung open, he gestured for her to enter ahead of the men.
She did, her sharp eyes taking in the room and noting several details despite her nerves.
If she channeled her magic, she could see the lingering remnants of two separate threads of energy in the room—the deep blue of Declan, and a golden yellow that she thought was Adam.
The streams of energy were concentrated over the king-size bed, and threaded through with tendrils of crimson.
Crimson energy was highly sexual.
She didn’t need to guess what had happened here.
“You said she always overthinks things, Declan.” Closing her eyes, Aria heard the door to the room close with a click. Adam’s voice was as yet unfamiliar to her, but she was attracted to it regardless, its husky rasp reminding her of the burn of whiskey in the throat. “I think she’s doing it right now.”
“We’d better make her stop it then.” Cool hands—Declan’s hands—pressed flat overtop of Aria’s belly, pushing her back against a wall of rigid heat.
“If she changes her mind, I just might die,” Adam said roughly.
Arching back into Adam’s heat, Aria slit open her eyes to look at Declan. If she’d had any doubts about his desire for her, she no longer did. His fangs were fully extended, something that only happened when he was hungry or aroused.
She knew he was well fed.
“I don’t want to think.” Aria gasped as Adam’s hands stroked up from their grip on her hips to cup her breasts.
She pressed back against him and felt the hard ridge of his erection in the small of her back.
“Adam, take her coat off for her.” Declan leaned his cane against the wall beside the bed.
Aria shifted restlessly as Adam’s hands left her breasts to peel the leather down her shoulders. He then gripped the hem of her T-shirt in his large hands and lifted it up and over her head, leaving her torso naked but for her bra.
“You’re still wearing too many clothes.” Declan’s words were muffled a bit because of his distended fangs, but she still heard him and tensed with anticipation. Adam pulled at the fabric of her bra until her breasts popped free, pushed upward by the garment caught beneath them. He caught their sensitive tips in his fingers, rolling her nipples slowly as Declan pulled at the button and zipper at the top of her jeans, shoving the material to the floor.
“Still no panties.” Dropping to his knees before her, the movement somewhat stiff because of his injured leg, Declan grinned up at Aria, who was arching into Adam’s caress. “It’s good to see that some things never change.”
“Hopefully your skill at this hasn’t.” Her voice was tart, but inside she was shaking. Declan’s words were teasing, but his touch...Adam’s touch...made her feel special. Cherished, even.
Behind her Aria heard Adam chuckle as she challenged Declan.
“You’re going to eat your words, sweetheart.” Aria’s heart melted a bit as Declan used the words he once had. She refused to let it show on her face.
“We’ll see.” Aria gasped as Adam slid one hand down her torso, over her rib cage and to the heated, naked space between her legs. It had been so long since she’d felt any touch but her own there that her knees buckled.
“Easy.” Declan caught her by the backs of her thighs, then ran his lips over the seam where her belly met her leg.
“Oh!” Aria couldn’t swallow the cry as, with sure fingers, Adam parted her labia. His other hand continued to play with her breasts, moving between one and then the other, teasing the nipples until they had hardened to the point of pain.
“I’m dying to taste you again.” Declan flicked his tongue over the curve of her belly, then over Adam’s fingers before sliding through her heated folds.
Aria jolted at the touch. With Adam pressed against her from behind, she had nowhere to go.
“Still so responsive.” Not bothering to tease, Declan suckled her clit into his mouth, his tongue swirling and his fangs grazing the sides.
A rush of liquid heat surged between Aria’s thighs. For one vague moment she felt as though she should be embarrassed, but then she remembered how Declan had always loved her taste, likening it to sweet honey.
Inhaling deeply, she pushed her hips forward, wanting more of his delicious touch.
“That’s my girl.” Wrapping his lips around the tight bud, Declan began to suck, causing Aria’s entire world to rapidly become focused on the burning space between her legs.
Every muscle in her body tightened as she waited for the inevitable. Declan had always been able to make
