Tangled Innocence (5 page)

She paused and licked her lips, but the others didn’t say
anything.

“I know I’m the little fish in the vast ocean of things that
aren’t human, but holding me back and thinking I’m not strong enough to take it
won’t help. I know I’m not a fighter or anything like that, not like what the
others have had to become when they changed into their own paranormals. I know
that. That doesn’t mean I’ll always be as weak as I am. No, weak isn’t the word
I want, but I can’t think of another. I want to learn about who I can become.”
She sucked in a breath. “And I want to become that person with you and Jace
along the way. I know it’s crazy, and I should wait to see what happens and
think of things like a human, but I’m not human. Right?” She shook her head, feeling
lost yet determined at the same time.

She took a deep breath then continued. “I’m not human, not
in the same sense that I was before the lightning hit. Treat me like someone
who has the potential to be something far greater than I am, and then I can be
by your side and take the future as it comes. Treat me like I’m less than you
by hiding things, and we won’t have a future at all.”

Dante was on her in a flash, and she gasped as, suddenly,
she was on his lap and he was sitting where she’d been just a moment before.
Jace had moved as well, sliding so he was thigh to thigh with Dante. The dragon
had his hands on her face; the bear, his hand on her hip.

“You are
not
less
than me. You never have been, and you never will be. I will tell you
everything, Nadie, but you can’t make me promise not to protect you.” She
opened her mouth, but he gave one sharp shake of his head, shutting her up.
“You can’t ask that. I will
always
protect you and Jace, just as Jace will do the same for us. That doesn’t mean,
though, that I’ll keep secrets. From here on out, if something happens, I’ll
tell you. I promise.”

Something flashed in his eyes, but she couldn’t quite tell
what it was.

Jace, however, seemed to have noticed it as well. “What are
you still keeping secret, Dante?”

Dante closed his eyes then shook his head. “That is
something we can discuss soon. I promise.”

Something was wrong, but she couldn’t tell what it was or
how to help. But if he said he would talk about it, like he’d said he’d explain
about the dragons, then she had to believe him. If she didn’t, then that made
her whole speech useless. There was no use in telling him that she’d trust him
for their future if she couldn’t trust the words out of his mouth right then.

“Okay then,” she said. “I trust you. You were being logical
before—or at least thought you were. I get that. But, damn, you should have
spoken to me. I forgive you for that though.” Surprise flecked his eyes, but he
didn’t say anything. “If I didn’t forgive you, then I couldn’t move forward.
I’m trusting you in this.”

He nodded, and she relaxed, only to realize she was sitting
on his lap, straddling him with his very rigid cock pressed against her heat.

She froze, then blushed as she became aware of how close
they were, how close they all were.

“Nadie,” Dante groaned. “Don’t give me that look. You’re not
ready.”

Jace squeezed her hip and a wave of weakness hit her like a
train. She gasped and swayed. The men kept her upright, and she tried to shake
it off. The weakness came in waves, never responding the same way twice.
Sometimes it would be worse when she was near Dante—and now Jace—other times
she felt it at home when she was alone. She sucked in a breath as she felt her
pain siphon off again.

Only this time she knew who was helping her pain.

She narrowed her eyes at the dragon who just blinked back at
her, not caring that he was taking her pain.

This would have to stop.

“I can’t help it, Nadie. I see you in pain, I have to help.
It’s my dragon.”

Well then, she’d just have to make sure there wouldn’t be
any more pain for him to take.

“I…you know I’ve never done anything like this before,
right?” she whispered, embarrassed as all heck, but if she wanted to have a
mature adult relationship, she would just have to get over it.

Dante tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. “I know, my
sprite. I know. We’re not going to do anything you’re not ready for.”

Jace slid his hand up her side. “We have time.”

Something deep inside pushed her to say her next words, and
she jumped on it. She shook her head at the men. “I don’t want to wait. I know
it’s crazy, but I want to move forward, and I can’t do that if we’re all
tiptoeing around the fact that I’m in pain because we don’t have the bond.” She
hit Dante’s chest and narrowed her eyes. “And you’re killing yourself trying to
keep me alive. I’m going to have words with you later on that.”

“Nadie, honey, what are you saying?” Jace asked, heat in his
tone, along with worry.

She glanced between them, meeting their gazes, and then
raised her chin. She might not be a temptress, but she wanted these two men,
and if she was going to jump off the deep end and find a future with them, she
wasn’t going to wait.

Not any longer.

She was tired of waiting.

She wasn’t human. She wasn’t the person she’d been before
the lightning. She wanted to be the person she was meant to be, not the person
she’d tried to be. She, Jace, and Dante were meant for something. She was sure
of it.

Damn the conventions she’d learned growing up. It was time
try something different.

Something more daring.

“I want to feel the bond that I’m missing. I want to move
forward and find who I can be. I need the two of you to do that. I…want you
both. I don’t care what that makes me, but I’m not human. Not any longer. I’m
not going to conform to those rules.” Like she’d been doing her whole life. No,
she was ready to grow. Ready to grow with them.

She blinked at the shock on their faces. “Well, uh, that is
if you want me.” She winced. “If not, well…hell.”

Dante moved close, so close their noses touched, and she saw
the fire in his eyes. For a moment, she thought it was real fire and not just
the heat in his eyes that scorched her.

“Not want you? Not a chance in hell, my sprite. I want you.
I’ve wanted you in my bed, my life, my future since I first saw you. Don’t ever
think I don’t want you.”

Jace cupped the back of her head and forced her gaze to his.
The action left Dante’s heated breath on her neck and behind her ear, sending
delicious shivers down her spine.

“I want you, Nadie. I’m not gonna lie and say I’ve only been
thinking pure thoughts where you’re concerned. I’ve only known you in person
for a short time, yet I can feel you here.” His fist hit his chest, such a bear
thing to do. “That’s something that supersedes time. If you feel you’re ready,
then all you have to do is nod and let us take the reins.” He cupped her face.
“You’ve never done this before, love, so we’ll show you what to do, and we’ll
make sure you feel everything and love it all.”

She let out a shaky breath, knowing this was the moment
she’d waited for yet hadn’t had a clue what she’d feel when it finally came.
She wasn’t the Nadie who taught little children and wore the prim clothes her
parents wanted her to wear. She might not live with them anymore, but their
judgments and lectures still rang in her head. They’d never leave her memories,
her actions, as long as she still feared who she could be. She wasn’t the one
who never stepped out of line for fear of what was to come. The punishments for
stepping across the line were long gone. She had to remember that. She didn’t
want to be the scared Nadie.

She was the Nadie who would be bonded to a dragon and a
bear.

This was the Nadie she wanted to be.

This was the Nadie they’d show her
how
to be.

“Love me,” she whispered, and she was lost.

Nadie watched the rise and fall of Jace’s chest as he took
in her words and felt the same from Dante beneath her. She could still feel her
dragon’s breath on her neck, the heat of his body, and the jean-clad erection
between her legs telling her that at least his body wanted her. And from the
heat in his eyes she knew he wanted her as well.

Without speaking, Dante stood, his hands cupping her bottom,
taking her with him. She immediately wrapped her legs around his waist.

“You never have to ask us to be with you,” he whispered as
he carried her to the back hallway. His low rumble shot down her spine, and she
shivered. He grinned down at her, that glint in his eyes telling her that he
knew exactly how he made her feel.

She looked over Dante’s shoulder at Jace. He prowled behind
them, the grin wiped off his face. Instead, the hunger now there made her
belly—and some place much lower—clench.

This was really happening.

She was about to make love with not only the man she’d
crushed on for years, but the other man that, in her heart, she knew would be
part of her future,
their
future.

Dante climbed the stairs, her weight seemingly nothing in
his strong arms. Yeah, she would totally swoon at that later. They entered one
of the bedrooms in the back of the house, and she looked around, taking in the
dark, heavy furniture, the cream walls, and shades of blue.

He set her on her feet then pinched her chin, forcing her
gaze upward. The stark need on his face made all thoughts of décor and colors
beyond that of his eyes—and Jace’s—disappear from her mind.

His tongue darted out, and he licked his lips, letting the
metal of his tongue ring catch the light. She’d read enough and seen enough
gifs online to have an idea of what that little ball and bar would feel like
against her skin…and other places.

“I…I don’t know what to do,” she whispered then tried to
duck her head. Dante’s firm hold on her chin stopped the action, and she
gulped.

“Then let Jace and I show you what to do,” Dante said
simply.

“Um, I’ve seen movies and things…so I’m not as innocent as
you think.” If she were to put her hands up to her cheeks, she was pretty sure
they’d burn.

Jace let out a rough chuckle and came to her side. When she
hadn’t been looking, he’d taken off his shirt, leaving him bare chested with a
light dusting of blond hair.

She just about swallowed her tongue.

“What kind of movies have you been watching, Nadie Morgan?”
Jace asked, his voice teasing. “Dante and I here are pure and innocent, so I
have no idea what you could be talking about.”

Dante let out a snort, and Nadie rolled her eyes, finally
pulling away from Dante a bit so she could get a better look at both of them.

Both of
her
men.

“Pure and innocent? Really?” She blinked up at him and tried
to keep a smile off her face.

Jace pressed his lips together then put his fist over his
heart and nodded. “Yep. Totally innocent.”

Dante full out laughed, and Nadie joined in, the tension
releasing from the room like air from a popped balloon—just like Jace must have
intended.

“How about we take it from here and let you just feel?”
Dante asked as his hand traced up her side, his fingers tugging up her shirt so
his skin touched hers.

She gasped at that small contact then smiled.

Oh yes, this was so going to be amazing.

“We won’t do anything that you don’t want,” Jace said as he
came up from behind her.

She nodded then closed her eyes at his touch. She felt their
hands on her sides, their lips on her neck. Jace’s lips traced her collarbone
over her shirt while his large, calloused palm slid up her stomach to cup her
breast over her bra. A gasp escaped from her lips at the contact, his hand so
much bigger than hers yet so caring. So utterly sexy.

She’d met Dante so young and had been hiding her desires for
so long because of where she’d come from that she’d never had a man touch her.
Damn, she’d been missing out on so much, but she also knew if she hadn’t
waited, she wouldn’t have had the two men who would make everything mean so
much more than a touch here with her now.

She’d waited for a reason.

She just hadn’t known until right then what that reason was.

Dante’s lips were on her neck while his hand was on her
back, softly caressing. Finally, he moved so his lips brushed hers, and she
opened for him. It was not lost on her that he’d never kissed her more than the
whisper they’d shared the day before.

She wanted more.

She
needed
more.

His tongue lightly touched hers, and she moaned. He growled,
the vibration going right to her core, and then deepened the kiss. His tongue
ring slid along the roof of her mouth, the intrusion sexy as hell. He put his
whole body into the kiss, the hard line of his cock pressing against her belly.

Too soon, he pulled back and smiled, his eyes glowing with
the fire she’d seen before but had thought was just a catch of light.

“Your eyes…” she whispered, and he grinned.

“I’m a dragon, my sprite. I have fire in my blood, and right
now that fire wants you on that bedspread beneath me while I take you for your
first time.”

“Don’t forget me,” Jace growled playfully behind them, and
she turned to face him fully, her dragon’s hands still on her.

He leaned in and nipped her lip, the sting causing her to
moan before he devoured her mouth. Her men moved quickly then, stripping her
shirt from her body, the only time they would allow her mouth to be free from
one of them.

They took turns kissing her, their hands never leaving her
unless they were taking the clothes from her body. While one would kiss her
mouth, the other would trail his tongue along her skin. She could tell the
difference between Jace’s broad, flat tongue and Dante’s, with the piercing on
it, immediately and loved knowing who was who even with her eyes closed.

Dante moved away from her but kept his hand on her side. She
opened her eyes to see the two men staring at not her, but each other. No
matter how heated she got from their touches, the look just then scorched her
even more—or at least the thought that it would be the
three
of them. Jace grinned, and Dante moved forward. Their mouths
collided, their breaths panting. Nadie stood off to the side, but both men
still held her slightly, keeping her part of their embrace. They kissed each
other rougher than they did her, and she loved it. Loved the way their
relationship was unto itself and just as sexy.

Possibly more so because she got to be the observer and
enjoy it with them. Was this their first kiss? Or at least their first time
together like this?

Dante pulled back, his chest heaving, then moved back to
Nadie to kiss her again. She moaned, leaning closer, wanting his mouth on her
for longer, but he moved away. She was only alone for a moment before Jace’s
mouth met hers, and she opened for him. Her mind whirled, her body ready for
the next step as these two men took care of her.

“Did you like watching that, honey?” Jace asked, whispering
in her ear. His warm breath slid across her neck, and she shivered.

“Yes. Oh yes. Can you do it again?”

Dante slapped her ass, and she started. She turned to him,
and he grinned at her. It wasn’t a funny grin, but one so full of promise and
hunger that she about came on the spot.

Who knew a dragon’s intensity could do that?

“We’re going to do that and more, my sprite.”

She soon found herself naked between them, her breasts bare,
her nipples hard points against Jace as he kissed her. His hands were on her
ass, molding, caressing, sliding between her cheeks as he teased her. He still
wore his jeans but had undone the top button so she could see the crisp hair
there. The long—
thick
—line of his
cock bulged at the zipper. She swallowed hard at the sight of the crown of his
cock peeking above his jeans, as if it were too big to be confined.

Her bear went commando.

Nice.

She slid her hands up his back, letting herself fall into
the moment, ignoring whatever fears or insecurities she might have.

Jace lifted her up then turned so her back was to the large
bed in the room. He laid her down slowly then stood up. His blond hair brushed
his shoulders, and he ran a hand through it, pulling it back.

“Hell, look at you, Nadie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen
anyone so fucking perfect in my life. What do you think, Dante?”

She blushed hard, pressing her knees close together. Though
she’d used a vibrator on herself and had given herself orgasms, she’d never
been this far with a man before. Let alone two.

Talk about coming out of her shell.

Dante came and stood beside Jace and raked his gaze over her
body. Unlike Jace, though, he’d taken off
all
his clothes.

Nadie swallowed hard and broke out in a sweat—the
oh-my-God-I-get-to-have-sex-with-both-of-them
kind.

Dante’s tattoos weren’t just on his arms but on his hips
too. The same dragon tribal symbols that she couldn’t wait to lick. Though
Becca had thought otherwise, his nipples weren’t pierced.

However, as Nadie’s gaze lowered, she sucked in a breath
because, though his nipples weren’t pierced, his cock was.

Why hello, Prince
Albert
.

“You’re fucking amazing, Nadie. I should have been telling
you since the day I met you how much I want you. And I see your eyes on my
cock. You want me to take out my piercing? It’ll feel really fucking good when
we’re making love, but since this is your first time, I don’t want to have that
as an added pressure.”

She shook her head then leaned up on her forearms so she
could get a better look. Jace shucked off his pants as she did so, and she
blinked.

“Jesus,” she whispered, and Jace threw his head back and
laughed.

When she’d first thought about the fact she was going to be
mated with a bear and a dragon, who were also really freaking huge in real
life, she’d been worried about only what she’d have to stand on to kiss them.
She hadn’t really thought about how, um, proportioned they were.

Jace was thicker, and Dante was longer, but either way,
Nadie knew she was one lucky girl.

“Nadie?” Dante’s voice broke her from thoughts of exactly what
she’d be doing soon.

“You can keep it in,” she said and blushed. Okay, she really
needed to stop blushing when she talked about sex. She might be a virgin, but
come on.

They didn’t speak, but moved as one. Dante came between her
legs, his hands on her knees. She let out a breath then let him spread her
thighs. Jace came up to her side and kissed her softly, her tension melting
away. Her dragon’s tongue on her pussy forced a gasp out of her, which Jace
swallowed as he kissed her harder. Her bear’s hands came to her breasts,
plucking her nipples before he moved to suck one gently into his mouth.

Her body bowed off the bed as Dante’s lips brushed against
her heat. He spread her with his fingers and latched onto her clit, his tongue
ring applying an extra pressure and sensation that had her panting. Both men
worked her, Jace playing and sucking on her nipples while Dante licked, sucked,
and nibbled on her pussy, clit, and lower lips. She swallowed hard, unable to
keep her mind straight on who was doing what other than she knew she had to
come.

Now.

He speared her with his tongue as Jace bit down on her
nipple, the dual sensation too much for her, and she came in a rush of pleasure
and temptation. Her head fell back, and she didn’t know how much time passed
before she opened her eyes and found Dante above her, his face close to hers,
his body between her legs.

He licked her lips then kissed her, the taste of herself on
his tongue surprisingly erotic. He pulled back too soon, and she whimpered.

“We’re going to complete the bond, my sprite,” he whispered,
his voice gruff. “In order to do that, it’s not just me with you, then Jace
with you. Do you understand that?”

She blinked, trying to clear the fog from her orgasm, then
looked over Dante’s shoulder at Jace, who stood at the end of the bed, the
tension in his body straining from the look of corded muscle.

“You mean you and Jace as well.”

Dante nodded. “Is that going to scare you?”

She cupped his jaw and shook her head. “Why would it? It’s
beautiful. The two of you with each other and then with me? I see nothing wrong
with that. It might not be normal for others, but I know this will work for us.
I uh…just don’t know the order.”

Dante snorted, his body shaking with laughter. “Oh, my
Nadie. I’m going to make love with you, then Jace will. Then Jace and I will
decide who gets to dominate first,” he said then looked over his shoulder and
growled. “We’ve yet to decide whose beast is on top.”

Nadie giggled, surprised she could find anything funny while
she was naked beneath the man she’d fallen for and in need of both men in the
room to fill her.

“Who says you have to decide? Can’t you just take turns?”

Jace barked out a laugh. “See, dragon? Nadie understands
what you don’t. There won’t be submitting for any of us. Not even our sprite
here. I can picture her leading us by our cocks and having her way with us.” He
raised a brow. “Doesn’t that sound like a damn fine plan?”

Dante rolled his eyes, the brow ring moving as he did so.
“Fine, I see I have no control here.” He lowered his head and nipped her lip.
“Ready, love?”

She licked her lips, soothing the sting where he bit. The
laughter was gone now, just heady anticipation of what was to come.

“Ready, my dragon.”

He smiled at her endearment then moved his hips. The tip of
his cock breached her, and she stiffened under him, the sharp pain not as bad
as she thought it would have been, but still stinging. Jace was on the bed in a
flash, hands on her breasts, flicking and arousing. She melted, letting Dante
go deeper.