a small, beautifully wrapped gift box on the table in front of me in our apartment on Avalon. “It’s been quite a year.”
Today is our actual anniversary. We had a small dinner party in one of the castle’s more intimate dining rooms with our friends. Now, after changing out of our dress clothes, we’re sitting at the walnut table in our modern all-white kitchen. The apartment I grew up in has recently been renovated to accommodate Ash—bigger shower, bigger furniture, bigger fridge.
“It hasn’t been boring. That’s for sure.” I flash him a smile. “You needed me to come along. Add a little spice to your life.”
“You needed me, too. You needed me to teach you how not to take yourself so seriously.” His hazel eyes and his smile are teasing. “And you needed me to fuck the attitude right out of you.”
“You think you succeeded? Fucked the attitude out of me?” I bite my bottom lip and toy with the white satin ribbon on the gift box.
His eyes drop to my mouth. “It’s a work in progress.”
“Can I open my gift?” I grin at him.
“Go ahead.”
After untying the ribbon, I lift the top off the gift box to peer inside. I take out the deck of playing cards I find and furrow my brow. “Umm. Thank you?”
“Paper is the old-school gift for the first wedding anniversary.” Ash takes the unopened box of cards from my hand and taps it on the table. “Want to play a game?”
He knows I can’t resist a challenge. “What kind of game did you have in mind?”
“Strip poker.” He unpackages the deck of cards.
“What are we playing for? What are the stakes?”
His eyes turn serious. “You know what the stakes are.”
“I do.” My voice is a whisper as I press my thighs together under the table. The stakes are high—accepting his dragon into this marriage. I can’t continue to keep Archer at bay—I’m shortchanging us all. He’s a part of Ash, and until I accept him, there’ll be a distance, a wedge between us.
When I almost punched a one-way ticket to the great beyond, my biggest regret was not fully embracing Ash’s dual nature; not opening myself up to Archer. Over the last six months, Archer and I have grown a lot closer thanks to the mate bond. It’s not that I don’t want to fully commit to him. I do. But something is holding me back. I don’t want to feel as if I’m cheating on Ash.
Ash describes himself and Archer as flip sides of the same coin—they share the same body, but they each have their own unique personality. Because I wouldn’t want Ash to be with anyone else—ever—it’s hard for me to reconcile having sex when his persona isn’t in the driver’s seat.
Ash senses my reluctance and knows the root cause of the problem. Most people don’t understand me, but he sees right through the walls I put up. He knows what’s in my heart—the things I want but am afraid to admit, even to myself. Ash is my ride or die. I would never choose anyone over him. With the card game, he’s giving me a way to have both him and Archer without having to choose.
The prospect of letting Archer in is both exciting and scary, but it’s time. It’s not my style to forfeit, though, so he’s going to have to earn it fair and square.
“If I win, Archer takes the lead with you. His life force will be closest to the surface.” Ash’s voice brings me back to the present and makes sure there’s no misunderstanding.
“And if I win?” I ask.
He opens his hands out wide. “Whatever you want.”
“You’ll relax on being so overprotective. You’ll treat me as an equal and let me fight my own battles.”
“I’m not overprotective. I’m just protective, and I already said I would try.” Ash’s tone is low and thoughtful. His word is his bond, and he doesn’t like his honor being questioned. “You’re the most important thing in the universe to me. My highest priority. That will never change.”
“Then let’s play.” I glance around the apartment for any extra articles of clothing that might be lying around. A little help in case I get off to a slow start. I spot the Lucite box containing the iron crown I wore during the recent photo shoot for our official anniversary portrait. The simple crown had originally been worn by the first enchantress in my line. She was a warrior queen and wore the crown into several battles. Crossing the apartment, I remove the crown from its container and place it on my head. It’s a bit much with my well-loved jeans and T-shirt, but I hold my head high as I sit back down at the table.
Ash laughs, seeming to know exactly what I’m doing. “We’ll play Texas Hold’em. Ever played?”
“Refresh me on the rules.” I used to play poker late into the night when I lived in residence my first year of university, but he doesn’t need to know all my secrets.
“I’ll talk you through it. And to keep it interesting, how about the winner of each hand gets to tell the other what to take off?”
“Sure.” I don’t plan on losing.
Ash cuts the deck and shuffles the cards using some fancy hand maneuvers, never taking his eyes off me. The confidence in his handsome face and the deftness of his hands cause a flutter low in my belly. He deals two cards to me and two to himself. “You can look at those.”
I pick up my cards. Two queens. Sweet.
He deals us each two more. “Leave those facedown for now.” Ash then lays three cards faceup on the table between us. A queen, a ten and an ace. “The three cards in the middle are called the flop, and we can both use those cards.”
“Gotcha,” I say, happy with the two queens in my hand and the third queen in the flop.
“Now you can trade in the two cards you haven’t looked at for new ones or keep what you have.”
“My gut is telling me to keep the ones I have.” I hold my cards close to my chest. Ash’s gaze slowly moves from my face, down my neck to my boobs. I feel it like a caress, and my nipples instantly harden. Focus, Nina.
“Always go with your gut. I’m going to take new cards.” He does and then places another card faceup on the table between us. It’s a jack. “This card is called the turn.” He lays another card on the table. “And this is the last communal card and is called the river.” It’s a king. “You can look at your facedown cards now.”
I pick up my cards. An eight and a jack. That gives me a full house with three queens and a pair of jacks. I smirk as I put my cards on the table.
“A full house. Queens high. That’s a good hand.” Ash lays his cards down—two kings, an ace and a jack. “But it’s not going to beat my full house. Kings and aces.”
I go to remove my crown. “Nice try, Princess. Take off that bra.”
Doing the trick every girl learns as soon as she starts wearing a bra, I take it off without removing my T-shirt. “Hand over the cards. My deal.”
He hands me the deck, checking out my hard nipples through the thin cotton of my T-shirt. “I can’t wait to get you naked. The things I’m going to do to you. It’s been so long.”
My cheeks flame, and my insides clench as I shuffle the cards. Ash never breaks his promises. “We’ll see. I’m just getting warmed up.” Wet and warm.
Several hands later, I’m sitting at the table wearing nothing but my crown. I take it off and place it on the table after losing the final hand.
“It’s time to pay up.” Ash stands and reaches over his head to pull his T-shirt off in a smooth, one-handed motion. “You have a terrible poker face, Princess. You give everything away with your eyes.”
My mouth waters at the sight of my half-naked husband—tanned skin over granite-hard muscle, sexy shifter tattoos and low-slung jeans.
He comes over and lifts me out of my chair. I wrap my arms and legs around him as he lowers his mouth to mine for a long, slow kiss that makes me ache for him. “I don’t care whether you got the green light from Sofie or not—you’re my prize, and I’m claiming you.”
“I want that, too.” I’ll tell him tomorrow that there isn’t going to be any more waiting.
Ash gives me another kiss, his tongue sliding against mine. “Archer’s going to take the lead now, Nina. I’ll be here the whole time. Just like he’s always here.”
“I’m ready.” I nod up at him.
His eyes bleed from hazel to gold, and the muscles of his shoulders and arms bulk up around me, signaling Archer is in control of Ash’s body.
Ash opens the mate bond. I’m right here.
I know. I’m not afraid. I want all of you.
Archer kisses me hard, demanding my full attention.
I match his fierceness, returning his kisses with demands of my own.
The wood of the table is cool on my bare back as Archer lays me down on it. When I unwrap my body from around his, Archer spreads my legs and gazes down at me. The handsome face I know so well has none of its normal flirtatious charm, but instead displays a brutal beauty anchored by an untamed glint in his eyes.
To the victor go the spoils, Ash says as Archer bends down and places a single kiss on my clit.
I’m the one who’s winning. I get both of you, I reply, arousal clouding the mate bond from both sides. They say sex is all in the brain. When you share a mind connection with your mate and his dragon, it’s doubly true.
Archer steps back and walks slowly around the table toward my head like a tiger stalking its prey. Leaning across my body, he cups my ass in his huge hand and lifts me into a standing sixty-nine position. With his face between my legs, he uses his whole mouth to devour my pussy.
My eyes close as rapture rockets through me. Wanting to give him the same pleasure, I undo his pants and push them and his underwear down over his hips and the bulging muscles of his thighs.
Archer is more vocal than Ash and moans in enjoyment as he sucks and licks my clit, taking what he wants. But I know Ash is still here with me; his presence is unmistakable. I’d know him anywhere.
I take my husband into my mouth and work his base with my two hands. His cock jerks in response to my touch. Swirling my tongue around the head of his engorged cock, I taste his precum as it beads to the surface.
Archer smacks my ass, the warm sting ratcheting my desire up to the breaking point as his tongue circles my entrance.
Knowing I’m on the cusp of losing control, I pull back to release his dick from my mouth, and it slaps up against his stomach. Grabbing the muscular flesh of his hips, I hold on with both hands as I come for him, the orgasm rippling out from my center like the water in a still lake after someone throws a stone.
As I catch my breath, Archer lays me back down on the table, my legs dangling over the edge. He moves between my legs and grabs my butt again with one hand while he fits the head of his cock to my soaked opening, not quite crowning inside of me.
My knees come up to hug his hips, and my pussy tries to suck his length inside. “Yes.” I answer the silent question burning in his familiar golden eyes.
He pushes forward and we both gasp. The tension has been building between us for so long. Our combined pheromones and heavy breathing fill the air as he holds still inside me, both of us prisoners of the ecstasy.
Placing one hand on my shoulder and the other on my opposite hip, he roughly anchors me in place and begins thrusting hard and deep. My back arches off the table in delight. As Archer goes to work on me, his guttural groans harden my nipples and drench my core even more.
There’s no doubt about it—my husband’s cock and my pussy were made for each other—puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. But while Ash likes to play with me until I’m begging for it, Archer is not slow or playful. He seems to want a good, hard, no-nonsense fuck. I have the best of both worlds.
Archer suddenly jerks me toward him so my butt is off the table. He continues his pounding rhythm, riding me like he stole me, and driving me toward the promised land. The whisper of Ash’s magic brushes across my mind, and as I look up into Archer’s face, his eyes melt from golden to hazel. Digging my fingernails into his wrists, I come again looking into Ash’s eyes. Then he buries his face in my neck and grunts on a final hard thrust as he comes with me.
I love you, Seraphina. Archer’s gravelly voice is reverent.
I love you, too, Archer. It’s taken some time, but the words come easily because it’s true.
Ash and Archer are intrinsically linked; a part of each other in an essential way.
They both belong to me now.
And I belong to both of them.
The three of us are one.
