this.” Lucius growls and shakes his head. “I will not let my brother be compromised. I won’t.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Leon’s voice is strained, his eyes wide in exasperation. “No one is being compromised here.”
“You’re in heat. You’re not going to have a choice in a minute.”
“I already made my choice,” Leon retorts. “I wanna stay here. With both of you.” He averts his gaze at the last second, his cheeks glowing bright red.
Lucius recoils, and his gaze immediately flies toward me. When he looks back at Leon, his face is a mixture of conflicting emotions. “You’re not thinking clearly. You can’t...not...”
“Why can’t he?” I retort, butting in a little too quickly.
Both of them fix their gaze on me, and the intensity of their twin stares makes my heart pound.
“He’s not a child, Lucius.”
“You, stay out of this.” Lucius narrows his eyes before looking back at Leon.
“Lucius, stop!” Leon gasps, shaking his head in anger. “Just stop already. I’m capable of making my own decisions. I know what I want. I’ve wanted it for a long time. It’s...it’s why I backed away before.”
Lucius swivels his gaze toward me. There’s something in his eyes that I haven’t seen before. Jealousy? Anger?
“I didn’t think you’d understand.” Leon takes a step toward Lucius and places a hand against his naked chest. “I didn’t think you’d be able to accept it.”
“I still don’t understand,” Lucius admits. “What are you saying, Leon?”
Leon takes his twin’s hand and slowly leads him closer to the sofa. He smiles softly at me and holds out his other hand.
My pulse is pounding as my fingers touch his.
Leon gives my hand a squeeze and smiles softly. “I feel like I’m being torn in two,” he says, shifting his gaze between us. “Lucius, I’ve known you my whole life. We’ve gone through so much together, but since you came back from college, something’s been different. I’ve wanted more. That night in the living room, I was ready to give you everything.”
My jaw drops as I finally understand what I’m witnessing.
“Candor, I haven’t known you as long, and that’s why the intensity of my feelings for you scares me so much. I never thought I’d feel as strongly for anyone as I do for Lucius. But from the moment we met, I’ve been drawn to you. This deep, inexplicable force keeps pushing me in your direction.”
I swallow hard, keeping my gaze locked on him, not wanting to miss a second of this conversation.
He takes a deep breath and looks down at the floor between us. “I can’t choose between you two. I don’t want to choose. Even thinking about it makes me feel like I might die. You’re both so different, but you’ve both captivated me.”
The racing of my heart is almost terrifying. My breath is shallow, rushed. I didn’t dare to hope that he felt anything for me. The scent of Leon’s heat fills the room, amplifying all the sensations pulsing through my body—including the ache in my cock and the gnawing need to claim the omega standing before me.
“You want...both?” Lucius looks toward me as if expecting to find me equally baffled.
My cheeks flush, and my dick jumps as I recall my fantasies. Claiming both of the twins, or being claimed by them, are scenarios I’ve played out in my mind far too many times.
“I’ve never wanted to share you with anyone.” Lucius’s words are low as he turns his attention fully back to Leon. “When I learned about the work you were doing...before...the very thought of another alpha touching you like that made me sick with jealousy. I wanted to find them, threaten them to stay away. I wanted to hide you from the world and keep you for myself. Claim you over and over until we passed out from exhaustion. I wanted to let the whole world know that you were mine and mine alone.”
His jaw tightens, and Lucius looks sidelong at me.
“I don’t know why, but you’ve invaded my dreams, Candor.” Lucius doesn’t sound entirely thrilled. “Every dream I have of making love to Leon, I find you there as well. Every time I picture myself with him, you’re there too and I...” His voice trails off and he clears his throat. “I still don’t know exactly how I feel about all of this. Only that, I can’t shake the image of the three of us together. Something about it feels right in a way that nothing else ever has.”
“I thought I was going