“Great. I don’t.”
“We’re poly,” Cian explained. “You know what that means, right? Because I’m sure Akiva will draw you a diagram if needed.”
I glared at Akiva. I knew what polyamorous meant. “Yeah, Cian. I know what polyamorous means.”
“It means we hold the same expectations, and beliefs, for any partners we bring into our relationship. If you want to date Yuna, then do so. If you want to date Yuna and come into our house, that is absolutely fine as well.”
“I can still draw you a diagram,” Akiva offered. “If you’re coming in?” He raised a brow, hands still at my waist.
I gave it another moment of thought, then spoke. “Well as long as there are diagrams, I suppose.”
He grinned forcefully, swept past me, and tugged me up the stairs with Cian and Indra following.
“Come in,” Akiva invited. “Shoes off.” He glared at me, like I might break the cardinal shoes off rule in his house.
I held up my hands in surrender, toeing my shoes off-and my socks-and shoving them against the door with another pair of Converse.
“So how does this work?” I asked a bit nervously. Had they done this before with other people? Definitely. Channel Aveline the sex goddess, I thought to myself. You want this. They said they want this. You got this.
“This?” Indra questioned, pulling me into the den. A large black sectional sat against the wall, taking up the entire corner. The den itself was large, offering a lot more space than I’d originally thought. A tv hung on one wall, and the hardwood was smooth under my bare feet. Bookcases lined the far wall. The room was incredibly extravagant
While I hadn’t been looking, he’d half shifted. His ember-like eyes found mine, full lips parted slightly to reveal elongated canines.
“This,” I repeated, crossing my arms and giving the room another once-over.
“It works however you want,” Cian said patiently. “Within reason.”
“Within reason?” I wasn’t a parrot, but felt like it all the same.
“Remember what I told you at the club?” Akiva was there again, eyes bright. How could I have forgotten anything he’d told me at the club? Even when I was sure I’d been stood up, I couldn’t help remembering Indra’s hands on me, and how it felt to kneel between Akiva’s thighs.
One hand came up to brush my hair back and he rested his warm palm against the base of my throat. My pulse quickened and I sucked in a breath, anticipation creeping up my spine. “I told you that if you wanted to dictate the course of our actions, you’d have to earn it. So you can either try to earn it or you can tell me what you’d like your safe word to be.” Fuck.
When my breath caught, it wasn’t at all subtle. The lich’s grip tightened ever so slightly on my throat, just enough so I could feel it. I scoured my mind, finding it suddenly blank of safe word ideas. “Pasta,” I blurted out.
Akiva blinked. “Like what you had for dinner?”
“You put me on the spot.”
He grinned, but pulled his hand away. “All right. Pasta it is. We also use traffic lights.”
Akiva stepped smoothly to Indra and murmured something in the hellhound’s ear. Akiva’s lips brushed against the hellhound’s skin, and he chuckled as the two of them sank down onto the sofa.
Before I could wonder what was said, Cian was behind me, body a solid line against mine. “Half shift,” he breathed in my ear.
“What?”
He smiled. “My rules, remember?” His hands trailed down my hips, resting just above my shorts. “Unless you’re telling me no?”
I bit my lip and swallowed hard. Trying to dictate our actions to Cian seemed like biting off more than I could chew. Still, I wasn’t exactly dressed to half-shift.
“My shorts come up too high for me to half shift,” I mumbled, fiddling with the denim.
That didn’t seem to dampen his good humor. He stayed where he was, mouth close to my ear.
“Then let me help you with that.” His hands slid around my waist and he pulled my hips closer. I bit my lip, eyes fixed on his hands as he rucked my shirt up over my denim shorts and undid the two buttons slowly.
Helpfully, The vampire slid them down my thighs until they fell to the floor, leaving me in my black and white boyshorts and making me feel vulnerable under his gaze.
“You have a remarkable dedication to theme,” Cian teased, still flush against my back as he ran his fingers over the little pentagrams decorating my panties “And I believe I told you to do something, unless these are in the way as well…?” He tucked one finger into the waist of my panties and tugged suggestively.
It took me less than a second to half shift, my tail trapped between us.
“Good girl.” His lips found my cheek in a quick kiss. My ears twitched as he pulled away, breath tickling the short fur. Heat pooled between my thighs and I fought the urge to press my legs together to relieve the growing need there. His praise definitely had me warmer than I wanted to admit.
Cian sauntered to the sectional, sinking down into the black leather as he sat. He held one out to me invitingly, his smile edged with wickedness. I didn’t need to be invited twice. I walked to him, letting him pull me down onto his lap so that I could straddle his thighs, my knees pressed into the cushions.
Cian reached up, hands tangled in my hair as he guided my face down to his so that he could kiss me. He traced his fingers down my back, leaving my skin numb in the wake of his touch. Soon enough one hand was tangled in my hair again and his grip tightened just enough to burn pleasantly.
His other hand explored my body as his tongue swept over my lip, teeth following and pulling a whine from me. I was acutely aware of his hand on my hip, gripping at
