Mates in Life and Death (11 page)

Linden didn’t know what to say to that. In the end, he didn’t reply.

They remained silent, just holding each other, until Willow ushered

him to go find Ash and Dan. But with his mates still away, Linden

decided to go to his room instead.

It was very strange to take in the mundane objects that had been

his reality knowing most of it just represented a part of a spell. The

bed he'd slept in for years, the floor that creaked when he stepped in

certain spots, the slightly outdated wallpaper and furniture—all of it

were so familiar, and yet, only lies.

Swallowing around the sudden knot in his throat, Linden went to

the bathroom. Out of the need to occupy his mind, he decided to take

a shower. He started the water, took off his clothes, and stepped inside

the cabin. But even as he cleaned up, the only thing he could think

about was that even the soap suds and the shampoo could be just a

figment of his deceived imagination.

Sighing to himself, Linden finished his shower and left the cabin.

After drying up and changing his clothes, he figured his mates

must've had time enough to finish their meeting.

Indeed, when he returned to the main room, Linden found the two

men engaged in a conversation with Grant Hart. He surreptitiously

made his way there and pulled his two mates aside. “Let’s go for a

walk,” he whispered.

It occurred to him Wolfram might send out a search party for

them, but he refused to live at anyone’s beck and call. Besides, Drew

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and the others were here. This was the only chance they had to make

sure their relationship didn’t fail this time.

No one seemed to notice them as they headed out. Drew caught

Linden’s eyes, but other than that, everyone ignored their departure.

They slipped out of the house and silently walked to the back of the

courtyard. They couldn’t go far, but Linden thought he’d choke in the

pressure of his former home.

They lay down on the grass, as far as they could go given the

situation. Linden leaned against an old tree. “I wonder if this tree is

even real,” he mused.

“Everything is as real as we believe it to be,” Ash answered. “You

know what Wolfram told us a little while back? That the feral who

attacked you never saw the town. He just saw a strange human

trekking through the wild.”

“Seriously? Why is it different with you?”

“It’s different because he couldn’t sense the souls,” Dan replied.

“His spirit only felt flesh, as ferals no longer have control over their

spirit. The rest of us, even Lucius and Clara, are spirit wolves, and the

few humans here—you and Andrew, that is—have some sort of

connection with us. This gives us a superior level of spiritual reach,

and that is why we saw Timber Lake in its enchanted form. The truth

behind the mask can only be seen by The Magistrate and those like

him.” He paused and caressed the side of Linden’s face. “But even if

that wasn’t the case, we’ll always be able to find you. Always.”

That thought encouraged Linden, and he smiled at his mates.

“How do you know what to say to make me feel better?”

“I’d have done anything, anything to save you this pain,” Dan

answered. “I’d die for you all over again if it would help heal your

heart.”

Linden didn’t speak. He just cuddled against Dan and closed his

eyes. Sandwiched between Dan and Ash, he felt safe. He was just

running away from reality, he knew it, but he wanted to pretend, for a

while longer, that he hadn’t lived in a ghost town for the past years,

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his mother still lived, and the Magistrate hadn’t sentenced him to

living apart from his mates.

He supposed he should be grateful. Wolfram at least showed some

openness to the possibility of a cure, unlike the D’Averams. But

Linden just didn’t want to think about any of it anymore. He was

tired, so very tired.

A soft, warm kiss landed on his mouth. Dan licked against the

seams of his lips and murmured, “It’s okay. We’ll deal with things as

they come.”

Strong hands came to pull his shirt out of his jeans. “Just relax.

Give us your pain.”

Tears filled Linden’s eyes, and he trembled against his mates. “I

don’t know if I can.”

Ash’s warm palms slipped under the material, making him gasp

with pleasure. “Don’t be afraid.”

Linden inhaled the comforting scent of his mates and forced

himself to comply. All these lies effectively served to crumble the

very fabric of his soul. And as much as he hated to admit it, he feared Wolfram would be right. He found a piece of himself echoing in the

eeriness of this ghost town, a part of his soul that never really healed.

It felt as if a barrier lifted off his eyes and heart. If before, he’d

acknowledged his past with only a distant sorrow—the sorrow he

experience through Dan—he now sensed his own. He remembered his

terror at being trapped within a body he could no longer control, his

desperation at his inability to reach out to Caesar. The physical pain

he’d suffered through meant nothing in front of that, in front of

watching a slideshow of his days from the abysses of his mind

without being able to live it. He’d seen the increasing strain on

Caesar’s face and had cried inside while he spat in his mate’s face on

the outside. So many things, so many memories, and they all

culminated with the night when Caesar had finally given up hope.

Linden tasted wolfsbane in his mouth, and his jaw ached at being

forced to eat the drugging plant. His body struggled, but his mind

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surrendered, tired of the fight. Even so, somewhere deep within his

consciousness, he saw them, the flames licking just at the outer sight

of his vision. Caesar was surrounded by fire, he realized. The thought

that followed automatically made him understand how he himself

somehow ended up in the same situation.

His survival instinct kicked in and tried to break free. He didn’t

want to die, not like this, not before he told his mate how much he

loved him. But then, the fire disappeared. Caesar must have lost

consciousness as well.

There was no pain when the flames consumed his physical body.

He didn’t feel any of it. But his spirit wept, knowing he’d be

separated of his mate, desperately reaching out and trying to cling to

Caesar. He failed, and he fell through the darkness and the shadow,

until everything turned into a lifeless, colorless void, an absence of

everything.

Warm arms pulled him out of his dreadful memories, the casket of

death fading into the gloom of the past. He didn’t recall much of what

happened after that, and by rights, he should have never remembered

it at all. But this place, he knew, this place kept the darkness inside

him at bay, at least until the truth about it emerged.

Linden sobbed while his mates rocked him gently. “Shhh… It’s

okay, beautiful,” Ash said. “We’re here now. Nothing’s going to hurt

you. Never again.”

Linden soaked in their attention greedily. He hated being so weak,

but he couldn’t help it. Still, he tensed slightly when Dan pulled away

a bit and began to undo the buttons of Linden’s shirt. “W–What?

What are you doing?”

“Loving you,” Dan replied. “Don’t be scared. Just let go.”

“But… they will see.” It was a half- hearted protest at best, and

Linden himself knew it.

He felt Ash nod behind him. “Yes, they will, and we won’t care.

No one can tell us not to love you, not even the Magistrate.”

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Linden wouldn’t have protested if his life depended on it. He

allowed his mates to disrobe him, slowly, with such gentleness that

his fears began to melt. Each touch reached out to a deep, visceral part

of him, soothing his hurts.

For a little while, the caresses remained almost platonic, but soon,

the gentleness turned carnal. Ash and Dan shed their clothing as well.

Linden had a distant thought he’d have very much liked to be around

his naked mates all the time, but not with others around. Not that it

mattered now. Their touch felt too good, their hands on him too

skilled.

The bushes shielded them from the view in the house a little, but it

didn’t give them real privacy. Even so, Linden surrendered to his

men, allowing them to do as they pleased. His flesh molded after their

hands, and Linden wished to imprint them within him, so that no

matter what, they’d never be parted.

Ash tweaked his nipples, making shocks of pleasure sweep

through him. Dan’s lips met Linden’s in a languorous, hot kiss, and

Linden moaned as his lover wrapped his erection in a tight fist. All

the while, Ash’s lips began to travel down Linden’s back, following

his spine and up to the curve of his buttocks. When Ash separated his

ass cheeks and thrust his tongue inside his most intimate spot, Linden

arched against Dan and let out a cry. Forbidden sensations took hold

of him, emanating from his ass to his cock and all over his body.

With anyone else, Linden might have considered it disgusting, but

with his mates, it was just as beautiful as their first kiss. An odd

comparison to make, but Linden couldn’t be expected to think when

Ash and Dan touched him. He could only be thankful that he'd taken a

shower before coming to see them.

He rubbed against Dan, at the same time trying to push into Ash’s

face. His kiss with Dan grew wild, greedy, a meeting of mouths that

held all the essence of their shared passion. The hairs of Dan’s chest

made contact with Linden’s nipples, teasing them with a light, ticklish

bite.

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When the kiss broke, Dan’s tongue licked over Linden’s neck,

biting very lightly but without breaking the skin. Linden would have

liked to make their bond complete, to have Dan and Ash claim him,

but he knew they couldn’t do it. But they still had the union of their

flesh and emotions, and they’d never lose this, not while Linden still

had breath in his body.

“Please,” he cried out, “fuck me.”

Ash’s mouth left him, and his body slid against Linden’s back.

Dan moved lower down, his tongue leaving a trail of fire over his

chest and abdomen. Ash lifted Linden’s leg, and Linden nearly

whimpered when he felt his mate’s cock nestling in the crease of his

ass.

When Dan’s mouth enclosed his dick, Linden felt his synapses

burst with erotic energy. Dan bobbed his head up and down his shaft,

licking, nipping, and moaning with such enjoyment Linden would

have thought his mate was the one having his dick sucked. He’d

almost have thought it couldn’t get any better than this, but then, Ash

pushed inside him, slowly, gently, the burn reawakening the soreness

he experienced from their earlier lovemaking.

From this position, the penetration was shallow, but for Linden, it

brought a whole new level of pleasure to the fore. Both his mates

moved so slowly, as if Linden were a porcelain doll that would break

any moment now. The strangest thing was that Linden agreed with

their assessment. He felt like he would, indeed, shatter into a million

pieces, and it would be up to his mates to pick them all up.

Ash’s cock massaged his prostate, and the lazy pleasure

swallowed Linden whole. Dan’s skilled mouth worked him and sweet

fingers rubbed his perineum, making a whole set of different

sensations course through him. In delicious motions, they took him to

new heights of ecstasy, holding him tight, never letting go.

When his orgasm came, it took him completely by surprise. Like

an eruption from a sleeping volcano, it burst through him in waves of

cleansing fire. On and on, his climax went, until he thought he’d

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surely die if it continued. He felt Ash fill him with liquid heat and

almost sobbed when another explosion sapped him off all energy. In

spite of his dazed eyes, some miracle made it possible for him to see

Dan take his cock, swallowing his cum. It was an amazing sight, so

beautiful and erotic that, in and of itself, made Linden’s orgasm

continue like an unstoppable wave.

In the aftermath, Dan licked him clean, making his sensitive nerve

endings sizzle with renewed desire. Ash’s cock left his body, and he

moaned, needing more. Ash flipped him on his other side, and before

Linden knew it, his second mate slid in. He gasped, his body

accustomed and addicted with the delicious penetration in only a day.

Dan took him just as gently as Ash, whispering soft endearments in

his ear. Linden had a brief flashback of a moment when they’d done

the exact same thing in their previous lives, but it melted in the

background of his mind. They were different people now. They’d

start something new together and defeated the evil that separated them

in the past.

His second orgasm was like a spring breeze bringing renewed life.