Astrid Cielo (6 page)

Xavier's
dead body taunted him as he allowed his wolf to take over, the grief too
much.
 
His mates were gone.
 
His reason for living lay beside each other
with not a breath in their bodies.
 
Skylar cried inside as the wolf howled its own pain to the night.

Aspen
sat up in the bed her heart beating frantically and her body moving before she
could even assimilate the reason she was suddenly awake and running down the
hall of her house.
 
The howl of a wolf,
so sad it brought tears to her eyes and broke her tattooing heart reminded her
that she wasn't alone--at least in her house anymore.
 

A
door opened and she ran into a solid frame of someone who couldn't be mistaken
for anything other than male.
 
He caught
her before her buttocks hit the floor and she looked up into dark brown
eyes.
 
Just like that her folds dampened
and she wanted him inside of her.
 
Her
breath caught as the hand holding her waist tightened and brought her closer to
his heat.
 
Another howl rent the night
and Aspen's cougar scraped at the insides of her mind.

"Skylar,"
they both said in unison before heading towards the continuous howl of a
saddened wolf.

Why
were Skylar and Xavier not together?

Xavier
preceded her into the room, now quiet but for moans coming from the male half
shifted on the bed.
 
Aspen forgot
anything but her mate lying in such pain and pushed past Xavier to get to
Skylar.
 
She crawled into the bed with
the thrashing male and cupped his cheek.
 
He settled with just her touch and his eyelids fluttered open to reveal
his troubled green eyes.
 

"Aspen?"

Before
she could answer, he'd pinned her to the bed his mouth taking her lips before
she could protest.
 
Aspen gasped and
Skylar took advantage, his tongue delving deep within her mouth.
 
His hands touched her everywhere igniting
equal parts desire and panic.
 
Aspen
whimpered when he pulled back, his teeth grazing her bottom lip.

It
was too much, too fast.

Aspen
pushed at Skylar's shoulders to no avail.
 
He didn't budge.

One
moment Skylar was there, his mouth and hands exploring her body and the next he
was absent, Xavier holding him from her.

"Hold
on, Sky, you're scaring her."

"Xavier?"

Aspen
balanced herself on her elbows and watched as Skylar turned to take Xavier's
lips in a desperate manner.
 
Xavier
relaxed into Skylar, a low growl coming from Skylar as he left Xavier's mouth
to nibble on his neck.
 
Xavier sighed and
wrapped his arms around Skylar's waist, his hands cupping Skylar's
buttocks.
 

Aspen
gasped at the naked state Skylar was in, and she wondered how she’d missed
it.
 
The more she watched, the wetter she
became.
 
She was surprised at her
reaction, having never thought she'd be turned on by watching two males.
 
Her heart rate picked up again and she longed
to join them, but something held her back.
 
Aspen trailed her hand down her body when Xavier leaned his neck to the
side to give Skylar better access, and her hand stopped on her distended
stomach, evidence of Skylar's and her passion.

She
closed her eyes and scenes of that night filtered through her mind.
 
His mouth.
 
His tongue.
 
Him deep inside of her.
 
Him leaving.

Aspen
opened her eyes and dark brown eyes captured her gaze.
 
She couldn't look away from the intensity in
Xavier's eyes, nor the lust.

"Touch
yourself, Aspen," Xavier said, his voice laden with desire.

Aspen
bit her lip and stopped herself from following his command.
 
She'd never been so aware of her state of
dress before.
 
A simple t-shirt that
barely covered her panties still felt like too many clothes--and yet not
enough.
 

Skylar
stopped nibbling on Xavier's neck and turned.
 
Aspen couldn't stop her eyes from traveling down his well-muscled body
to his cock, long and dripping with his need.
 
Aspen licked her lips in remembrance of his flavor.
 

A
hand wrapped around his cock and glided over the flesh she'd been ogling.
 
Her eyes shot to Xavier who winked at her
before nodding down toward Skylar's cock.
 
Aspen watched as Xavier slowly pumped Skylar's cock from root to tip,
gathering his desire and spreading it over the head and over the shaft on a
downward stroke.
 
Aspen squeezed her
thighs together, and bit her lip to keep her moan from breaking free from the
small delightful pleasure that shot through her.

"Don't
stop, baby," Skylar said between his teeth.

Xavier
bit Skylar's neck and Skylar moaned.

"What
happened?"
 
Xavier whispered into
Skylar's ear.

"No-"

Xavier
bit down on Skylar's earlobe.
 
"The truth Sky."

Skylar
growled and Xavier smiled at Aspen.

"Come
here, Aspen."

Aspen
slowly rolled off the bed and walked toward the two males.
 
Mates
.
 
Aspen shook her head, denying what her cougar
told her.
 

"Don't
you want to know why he howled in his sleep, Aspen?"

Aspen
nodded.

"Tell
her Sky."

Skylar's
head dropped and his shoulders slumped.

"It
was just a bad dream."

Aspen
stepped forward until her belly brushed Xavier's now still hand.
 
She cupped Skylar's cheek and brought his
beautiful green eyes to her own.

"Tell
me, please," she whispered.

Skylar
nuzzled her hand, his hand capturing her other arm and twining their fingers
together.

"I
had a nightmare where I lost you.
 
I lost
both of my mates."

"We're
right here, Sky," Xavier said with a kiss to Skylar's shoulder.

Skylar
cupped Aspen's chin and bent to take her lips.
 
Aspen sighed into his mouth and let go.
 
She put the past away, at least for a moment.
 
She'd been so lonely for so long and once
more she was going to place herself out there.
 
The need for love was too much to deny.
 
Skylar's hands grabbed her hips and pulled her farther into his
heat.
 
She jumped at the feel of a hard
muscled body from behind her.
 
Hands
moved her hair to one shoulder and lips caressed her neck.
 
The dual sensation was amazing.
 
Hands moved pulling her shirt up and Skylar
released her mouth for the shirt to be pulled over her head.
 

A
moment of panic took over the desire pulsing in her veins.
 
The last time he'd seen her, she'd had a flat
belly.
 
Now her belly was rounded with
the baby that grew there.

"My
God you're beautiful."

Skylar
cupped a breast with one hand and splayed the other over her baby bump.
 
Aspen relaxed against Xavier's chest when he
cupped her other breast, all the while his mouth caressed her neck.
 
As one they rolled her nipples between their
fingers and Xavier caught her when her legs gave out.
 
He picked her up as though she weighed
nothing and settled her on the bed.
 
Aspen's breath caught in her chest at the way the two men looked at
her.
 
Unrestrained a purr broke forth
from her throat and their eyes widened.

"Sexy,"
Xavier said crawling over her.

Unlike
Skylar, Xavier still wore
loose
sleep pants, but his
muscled chest was on full display.
 
Aspen
smoothed her hands over his chest and down his abdomen.
 
Xavier nudged her head to the side and
nibbled on her neck.

"W-what
are you doing?"

Xavier
swirled his tongue around her pulse and pulled away to look in her eyes.

"We're
going to make love to our mate."

"We?"

"I'm
still here, Aspen," Skylar said to her right.

He
lay reclined on his side, his head propped on one elbow as though they were
having a random conversation.

Xavier
resumed his ministrations to her neck, this time not stopping at her collar
bone.
 
Aspen arched her back and Xavier
laughed his breath teasing her already distended nipple.
 
This teasing was killing her, but she still
held back.
 
What was she supposed to
do?
 
With Skylar it had been quick and
all-consuming, but Xavier seemed happy just to nibble her slowly until she
burned up in the inferno he created.

His
mouth closed over her nipple and she cried out.
 
His mouth was pure sin as he flicked his tongue over her nipple, scraped
his teeth gently across the bud, and sucked it deeply into his mouth.
 

Torture at its finest.
 

Xavier
switched breasts, his attention to this one no less pleasurable.
 

"Open
your eyes, Aspen."

Aspen
opened her eyes and Skylar was there, kneeling at her head, his cock jutting
from his body.
 
She licked her lips
wanting to taste her mate again.
 

He's
not my mate.
 
If he were he wouldn't have
left.

Xavier
lifted himself to sit on the opposite side of her, his hand caressing her
belly.
 
Skylar's hand brushed the
distended abdomen.

"It
doesn't matter whose baby this is, Aspen.
 
It's ours and we'll all take care of it together."

Aspen
slapped their hands away, her anger igniting at Skylar's words.
 
She scrambled from the bed and stood at the
foot of the bed with her hands on her hips.

"You son-of-a-bitch.
 
How dare you think this baby is anybody's but
yours?"

"Aspen-"

"Don't
you Aspen me, Skylar.
 
You would know
it's your baby if you hadn't left!
 
Left
me
like...like you didn't even want me."

Aspen
bit her tongue, hard, the taste of blood and the bite of pain not enough to
stop the sob that tore from her throat.
 
Months of anguish, longing, and loneliness crashed over her and not for
the first time she couldn't hold the emotions at bay.

Skylar
stared at her, his face a mask of horror, only making her cry harder.
 
Xavier acted first pulling her into his
embrace and cradling her like a child.
 
He rubbed soothing circles over her belly and rocked her gently back and
forth, words pouring from his mouth that she couldn't comprehend between her
tears, but they soothed her all the same.

The
steady beat of his heart coupled with his nonsensical words soon lulled her and
she welcomed the sleep that beckoned to her.

***

Xavier
breathed a sigh of relief when Aspen's tears stopped and her eyes closed in
restful slumber.
 
It was tearing him and
his wolf apart knowing that his mates suffered and he wasn't sure what to do
about it.
 
The fight with Sky he'd had
earlier only made him feel worse.
 
He
stood up still cradling Aspen in his arms and looked at Sky's defeated form
sitting on the foot of the bed.
 
His
shoulders, always proud slumped as though in defeat as he cradled his head
between his hands.

"We've
really done a number on each other, haven't we?"

Skylar
looked up his green eyes glowing in the muted light of the bedroom.

"I
was confused...I never-"

"I
know, Sky, but she doesn't.
 
She's hurt and
it's going to take a lot of begging to make up for what happened.
 
Let's start by going to bed, and thinking of
ways to make sure that she knows we're in this for the long haul.
 
You're going to be a father, Sky.
 
It's time to start making amends now, so that
you can be the father this baby deserves."

"We."

"We what?"

Skylar
stood up and placed a small kiss on Aspen's temple, then took Xavier's lips in
a hot kiss.
 

"
We
are going to be fathers.
 
She's your mate too and this baby will be
just as much yours."