that her body required nourishment to help replenish her reserves. She’d expelled so much today, more than she likely ever had before. And now her spirit required supplemental nutrients from her mates.
Technically, some blood would help.
But I preferred her body’s suggestion instead.
“Aflora?” Kolstov breathed, his pupils dilating as her sensual energy rolled over him. He, too, would be craving life after being so close to death.
All of us were.
A hum stirred among us, one simmering with desire and yearning—a yearning only our heart could appease. Our Aflora.
Kolstov breathed her name again, reaching for her as she opened her eyes.
“Kols,” she whimpered, her instincts taking over as she practically collapsed on top of him. Her body molded to his, her mouth claiming his.
My blood heated in response, her power a seductive pull that left me useless to stop her.
Bow to the queen, her essence whispered.
And so I bowed, my soul hers to command.
Vitality surrounded me, my earth essence humming all around us.
We’d created life.
Renewed a destroyed soul.
Stirred energy into a being who deserved so much more.
Fire flourished through my veins, my powers all mingling together in a culminating moment of rightness, with Kols at the heart of it all.
I kissed him as though my life depended on his, because it did. I’d tied us all together, rooted my soul in each of my mate’s beings, ensuring we were forever connected.
A circle of life in its truest form.
We might not have planned for this to happen. We might not even really like each other. But it didn’t matter. We belonged to each other now, and would for eternity.
“Bite me again,” I whispered, begging Kols to finish our connection. I’d felt his mating bond snap into place with Zeph, and I wanted to experience the same. I needed to belong to Kols just as much as he belonged to me. “Please, Kols. Please bite me again.”
He lifted his hand, his fingers threading through my hair as he secured his grip. Then he pulled my throat to his mouth, his incisors piercing my skin on a delicious wave of ecstasy I felt all the way to my toes.
Somehow, we were all still dressed.
A miracle, considering the inferno heating my skin.
I wanted to be naked.
To mate my men.
To experience lust in its primal form.
Unzip me, I begged Zeph. Unzip my dress. Please.
His amusement touched my thoughts. I do love it when you beg, pixie flower.
But rather than force me to repeat myself, his fingers went to my spine, drawing the fabric down to expose my bare back.
The dress had been too tight to wear anything comfortably beneath, a fact I was now very pleased about. Because it meant I had nothing else to remove.
Except the zipper ended near the base of my spine, leaving me far more clothed than I wanted. Off. Get it off me. Please, Zeph.
I chose him because I knew he required control.
The others would do whatever I asked.
But Zeph would do what he preferred.
Fortunately, he agreed with me being naked, because he ripped the gown the rest of the way, then tugged on the straps, breaking them with ease.
I breathed a sigh of relief, the cooler air a welcome touch to my senses.
Then Zeph drew a palm up the back of my thigh. I knew it was him by the warmth and measured course of his movements, his hand both a caress and a brand against my overheated skin.
Kols released my throat on a groan. “Fuck, it’s weird having you in my head.”
Zeph chuckled as he bent to kiss my shoulder, his touch drifting higher to the growing dampness between my thighs. I sat astride Kols’s hips, placing my center directly over his growing arousal—an arousal Zeph could now feel since he’d slid his hand between us. He knelt behind me, his heat a welcome blanket against my back.
“Kiss him again, pixie flower,” he whispered. “I don’t think he’s had enough of your sweet mouth.”
I shivered at the dominance in his tone, my nipples beading against Kols’s button-down shirt as I kissed him just like Zeph demanded.
My essence coated his tongue, my blood tying us together on the final level that married our souls.
Four mates, I thought, sighing as all their spirits mingled with mine.
I’d somehow bonded them all on the third level as an Elemental Fae as well, missing only one final culminating act. One that would require another Elemental Fae to administer.
Later.
We would do that later.
For now, I needed them to fulfill another need. One I felt rivaled in