“I know.” I let out a breath, not stopping my gentle exploration of them. “But I can’t.”
He grabs my hand before it can dip too low, threading his fingers through mine and bringing them to his lips. He plants a kiss to my knuckles, and I can feel his lips curving in a wry smile. “Try a little harder.”
I turn toward him, hoping he can see the pout on my face in the shadowy darkness. “I have tried. I think I need help.”
“Help falling asleep?”
“Help getting tired.”
Dare chuckles behind me as I say the words, his hand skating over my stomach and across my rib cage, grazing the underside of my breasts. “She’s got a point. Maybe we could all use a little help getting tired.”
Archer makes a noise in his throat, and for a second, I think he’s going to protest again or tell us to try counting sheep or something. But instead, he releases my hand and palms the back of my head, leaning closer to me until our lips meet.
Warmth floods me, spreading out from the place where our lips are connected. As I sink into the kiss, Dare moves closer on my other side, curling his body around mine. His hands roam over me, palming and squeezing my breast as his lips graze my shoulder. The darkness of the room is like a cocoon around us, and I lose myself in the feel of my mates, my body moving between theirs as I try to press more of my skin against them. Dare’s cock presses against my ass, and I can feel Archer’s length throbbing against my stomach when I move my hips forward.
I don’t know how long we stay like that, groping and kissing each other in the darkness, but I’m flushed with arousal by the time Archer breaks away from me. He rolls me onto my back and crawls down my body, settling between my legs as Dare traces the shell of my ear with his tongue.
I squirm as the pleasant tickle of Dare’s wicked tongue sends sparks down to my clit, and when Archer presses his lips to the inside of my thigh, I whimper. He works his way up my leg slowly, teasing me as Dare kisses me deeply. When he reaches the aching spot between my thighs, he bumps his nose against my clit, making a little zing of pleasure shoot through me.
He drags his tongue between my folds, and I let out a heavy, hungry sigh as Dare rests on one elbow to look down at me. I expect Archer to lick me again—my body is taut and ready for it—but instead, he draws back. I glance down at him as he tilts his head up to meet my gaze.
“Can I ask you a question?” he murmurs.
I nod, practically holding my breath. I don’t know what kind of question he would want to ask while he’s nestled between my legs like this, but I won’t deny him. He’s my mate. He can ask me anything.
Archer’s green eyes glint in the dim light. “Have you ever touched yourself?”
Dare makes a low noise in his throat, and I suck in a breath, my cheeks burning.
Yes. I have. It seems like a million years ago, so far removed from the life I have now—the person I am now. But some nights, wrapped in loneliness and darkness, I would slide a hand between my legs and bring myself the only kind of peace I could find.
My gaze flicks up to Dare, who’s watching me intently, before I look back down at Archer again.
“Yes,” I whisper.
“Will you show us?” His voice has a slight rasp to it, and his face is still close enough to my core that I can feel the warmth of his breath as he speaks. “Show us what you like?”
My face is so hot I’m sure Dare can see the redness painting my cheeks even in the darkness. It’s not that I’m ashamed of having touched myself. But the idea of doing it in front of these men, of letting them see me—of showing them—makes my whole body burn.
I swallow. “I like it when you guys do it.”
Archer nips at my inner thigh, growling softly. “That’s good. I’m pretty sure I can speak for all of us when I say we like that too.” Then he lifts his head again, crawling up my body until he’s hovering over me, his face next to Dare’s. “But we want to see you do it this time. We want to see what you like.”
He’s speaking for Dare, but the look in my darkly handsome mate’s eyes lets me know Archer was right to include him in the “we.”
I stare up at them both, biting my lower lip until it stings. My heart is beating hard and fast in my chest. I don’t know why the idea of them watching me like this feels so dirty and terrifying at the same time, but I’m sure if I say no, they won’t push me. They’ll find some other way to make me feel good.
But…
“Okay,” I murmur, the word a little husky. “Turn on the lamp.”
Archer moves so fast that I’d laugh if I weren’t too distracted by the feelings bouncing around inside me. Nerves. Excitement. Arousal. He flips on the bedside lamp, bathing the room in a soft yellow light. Dare and he end up on either side of me again, both men kneeling on the bed near my legs.
We’re all naked, and although I’ve gotten much more accustomed to being undressed in front of my mates, I feel especially bare right now.
I feel… exposed.
“You can’t laugh,” I say, even though the warning is unnecessary. I know neither of them would do anything to make me feel stupid.
“Never,” Archer promises, and the heat in his eyes lets me know that he doesn’t find this remotely funny.
My heart beats harder in my chest, pounding so violently that I’m pretty sure it’s shaking my rib cage. Slowly,
