Twisted Slumber Read online

  Until tonight.

  6

  Aurora

  "Close your eyes, Aurora. Just feel me with you." Phillip threads our fingers and spreads my arms wide as he moves us together. "Wind in your hair, the world far below. This is as close to flying as a human can get without wings."

  "Well, there's always skydiving," I say, words tight.

  "That requires a parachute and a plane." His lips brush the sensitive skin of my ear and my body lights up like a sparkler. Blazing bright with fire and need. If I’m not careful, it will consume me.

  My feet feel like they're not touching solid ground and I’m weightless. It's surreal and terrifying all at once.

  "Don't be afraid of me. You never need to fear me." Phillip takes my earlobe between his teeth, and a moan escapes me. “Gods, how I want you, Aurora."

  My heart flutters. He can have me here and now. I don't care one bit who sees. I should. I should be worried about the world having a front row seat to my exhibitionism debut, but Phillip slides his hands across my arms and inward until his warm palms cup my breasts through the thin fabric of my silk pajamas.

  Wait.

  Why am I outside in my pajamas?

  In fact why am I here at all?

  "Phillip, what's going on?"

  He turns me in his arms, and I open my eyes, forgetting my confusion. His warm brown irises have changed to a molten unnatural shade of gold.

  "I want you so badly, Aurora. Can you feel my desire for you?" I can. His hard length is long and thick, pressing against my belly.

  "Then why are we waiting? I want you too."

  He grins, eyes flashing with lust. Then he crushes his lips to mine. It’s just as powerful as the first kiss we shared in the gallery but this time there's no hesitance. He is all urgency. Hunger and want.

  The sky above us sparks with lightning, a sickly green hue cast over the clouds. “We should get inside," I whisper.

  He answers by laying me on the soft mossy ground and kneeling between my thighs. Fat raindrops fall from the sky, drenching my pajamas and causing the silk to conform to my body like a second skin. My nipples press, hard and insistent.

  The white dress shirt he's wearing is translucent now that he's wet. I take no issue with that. He's my very own Fitzwilliam Darcy soaked and in a state of undress. I lick my lips and reach to unbutton the shirt the rest of the way.

  Phillip grins and helps me when my fingers fumble as the lightning blazes through the sky. A crash of thunder shakes the world around us, but we don't stop. Phillip rolls his hips, his erection rubbing that delicious spot I need him to touch.

  "Oh, God," I murmur.

  “You don't have to be quiet, princess. No one can hear you out here."

  He grips the waistband of my pajama shorts and slides them down my hips. I should stop him, anyone could find us out here. But I don't.

  His eyes are that strange sensual gold color again, and he doesn't take them off me. Even as he slides between my thighs and lowers his lips to my wet and ready center.

  Fuck it’s hot how his gaze doesn't leave mine. I buck and grab the soft grass under my fingers. My back bows the instant his tongue rolls across my needy clit.

  "Phillip!" I cry, my thighs tensing. His hands grip my legs and open me wide, baring me to him.

  "Gods, you're beautiful."

  I giggle. “You’re not even looking at my face."

  "True. But you are nonetheless beautiful. All of you." Then he returns his focus to my pussy, and I stare at the green lightning arcing through the clouds as Phillip steals me away with an orgasm that bursts through me, starting in my core and burning through all my nerve endings. I swear, sparks escape my body.

  I wake with a moan on my lips and my hands balled in the sheets. Breathing heavily, I sit up and run my fingers through my hair. These dreams are going to ruin me for real life. How am I going to face either of the two men who’ve taken over my subconscious?

  Phillip

  Standing in my office, I stare down at the paper that holds all my answers about Aurora and her family. How am I going to save her, to save everything, if she won’t trust me? If she won’t give her heart to me?

  I don’t want to trust my brother. How can I? My father seems to be under the spell of his mother. Some sort of magic no one can see. I can’t risk that with Aurora and Mal.

  The door to my study opens, and I am momentarily taken aback when I see Mal standing there. "What did you do to Gerry? He'd never let you in here without my express permission."

  Mal snickers, coming inside and locking the door behind him before striding to the bar. He pours a liberal serving of scotch then brings the glass to me. Handing me the etched crystal he says, “You're gonna need a drink.”

  Without being invited, he settles in one of the club chairs across from my desk and kicks his feet up on the polished wood in front of him. "Now, I recommend you take a seat before we begin this conversation."

  I knock back the scotch in two long gulps, the alcohol burning its way down my throat and settling in my belly. Then I sit. "What? What could you possibly have to say?"

  "What if I told you Aurora is meant to be mine?"

  I sigh and stand, striding across the room and refilling my glass before filling one for him as well. "I'd say you don't know how to read a prophecy very well."

  "Did you miss the part where it says Dragon? Both of us are Dragons. Both of us are attached to her."

  “It says Dragon Prince. Me. You are not a prince."

  He smirks. "That's where you're wrong. Do you know who my father was?"

  Dread coils in my belly. "No one does. Your own mother admitted she can't be sure who your father was."

  "That's a lie. She just didn't want to admit it. My father is Ragnar, King of the Drakkon. "

  I sit up straighter, placing my glass on the desk. "He is long dead."

  "Yes, before I was born. But not before he made me."

  "This can't be true. There's no way to prove it."

  He smiles, then holds up an empty vial. "I beg to differ. The Siren Coven sleeps under this very roof. Once I test my blood with some of their magic, we’ll be able to tell."

  I pick up the phone, calling Gerry and asking him to bring the three witches of the Siren Coven to my study immediately. But in my gut I know he is not lying. I can tell just from the confidence in his tone, he believes this is true.

  In mere moments, all three witches are standing in my study, dressed in their robes, ready for bed, and very visibly annoyed.

  "What is this all about? We need our beauty sleep." Izzy has one hand on her hip, sass and annoyance written all over her.

  Malachi stands, grabbing the silver letter opener that was on my desk. In one smooth movement he slashes his wrist and collects blood in the vial. "My lineage. We need you to identify my father."

  "A bloody paternity test?" Helena asks. "What do you think this is? A daytime talk show?"

  "We will be in your debt," I say. "We need to put this matter to rest so Malachi will let the prophecy go and stay out of the way of me claiming my destiny."

  Mal hands the vial to Gwen, the first to put out her palm.

  Izzy looks at me and mutters, "I need a bowl."

  Behind me on the shelves I find a set of copper singing bowls. "With this do?”

  She nods. Then takes a bowl and pours the contents inside. The three of them link hands, and I can feel the power flowing into the center of the circle. It doesn’t take long. The blood starts smoking, and the gray wisps curl until they form the shape of Ragnar’s crest. Unmistakable. Malachi is the Prince. No. Not anymore. Now, he is a king. While his land was destroyed by war, his people decimated, his blood is just as royal as mine. Which means the prophecy could be about either of us.

  “Thank you, ladies. You've done a great service." Malachi doesn’t even try to keep the pride from his voice.

  They make eye contact with me, and I nod in dismissal. The three of them leave, muttering about the nerve
of royalty. When the door shuts firmly behind them, I turn my gaze on Malachi. "So you're really here to take her from me."

  "I'm here to see the prophecy through."

  "One will save her, and one is destined to be her end."

  "But which will she choose?"

  "In which of us will she find her doom?"

  Malachi bridges his fingers and looks at me. "As far as I can tell, there's only one way to keep the curse at bay. "

  "And what is that?"

  "We don't make her choose.”

  My brows furrow in confusion. What is he talking about? "You mean we both walk away?"

  He lets out a dark chuckle. "Oh, brother, no. The two of us share her."

  7

  Aurora

  My dreams have been increasingly intense and highly inappropriate. It's been difficult for me to look at either Mal or Phillip without blushing. Sometimes the things they say make me think they know what's been going on in my subconscious. But, would that be so bad? Especially after the last one.

  "You're thinking something dirty." Mal trails his fingers across my forearm as he takes a seat next to me on the plush couch in the library.

  "How do you know?" I don't squirm away from him. This time I demand touch and hope for more.

  "Your lips. They part just slightly. Your eyes go a shade darker. Then, your fingers tighten just enough to show tension.” He's dipped his head so that his mouth is brushing my hair as he speaks, but I want more.

  "I'm tired of playing this game. I'm tired of feeling guilty." I turn toward him, taking his face between my palms and crushing our lips together. It's exactly as it was in my dream, hot and powerful, desperate and hungry.

  He grips my shoulders and pushes me away, his eyes that blazing unnatural green. "Aurora?"

  Disappointment coils in my belly, rejection stinging across my skin like a whip. "I… I'm sorry. I thought…”

  Getting to my feet, I rush out of the library, heels loud on the stone floor, but I don't hear his footsteps chasing after me. How did I misread the situation? Embarrassment wells in my chest before it reaches my eyes and I fight the flood of tears I don't want to shed. I’d been fooled by my own subconscious. He may be flirty, but he doesn't really want me. My body wants his, and Phillip’s.

  I head up the stairs in search of my room, still easily turned around. The castle is enormous. Taking long slow breaths, I swipe at the tears on my cheek and work to compose myself.

  I don't know exactly where I am. It feels as though this castle changes its layout on purpose to confuse me. But, the green light under a door at the end of the hall calls to me. I need to see what's behind it. My feet move forward as though I'm in a trance, my mind arguing, but failing to stop me. Arm outstretched, I reach for the doorknob, desperate for what I’ll find there. But I'm stopped by a strong, firm hand around my waist.

  "Stop, princess. That way is not for you." Mal’s voice in my ear brings with it a fresh wave of humiliation. But then he says, "I burn for you." And there’s such hunger in his words, I can't help feeling a tickle of excitement in my chest. He turns me in his arms, never letting me go. "I'm sorry. You caught me by surprise."

  I turn my head, unwilling to look at him. "It's…my fault. I've been having dreams. I got confused."

  His brows rising, he tips my chin up. "Dreams?" He smirks. “Of me?”

  I bite my lower lip and finally lock gazes with him. "You. And Phillip." His eyes go stormy at that. But then I say, “The two of you with me."

  Mouth slightly open in shock, he takes a beat before closing his lips and swallowing hard. "That is something you would want?"

  I toy with the hem of my shirt, not knowing how to respond. But, I already have one foot in this, what good would it be for me to bail now? I am in a fairytale castle, with two handsome men, and maybe I can have both of them, if only the one time. "With the right men."

  “Am I one of them?”

  I don't respond with words but instead, I nod slightly and my gaze trails across his shoulder behind him. I see Phillip standing at the end of the hallway, brows furrowed in confusion. Then Mal’s hands are in my hair and he’s shoving us backward until I’m pressed against the very door he didn't want me to open. He's hard and insistent. A groan from low in his throat sounds almost like begging as he claims my mouth. His hands release my hair, and he braces himself on either side of my face. I quickly steal a glance over his shoulder to see Phillip still standing there, heat in his gaze, hands clenched, and knuckles white.

  Sliding out of the cage of Mal’s arms, I take his hand and pull him with me toward Phillip. I can feel the pure tension between the two. There’s obvious dislike mixed with a strong rivalry with each other. But I have to try. I take Phillip’s hand and look from him to Mal and back. "One time. Both of you have me one time."

  Phillip’s eyes spark with lightning, but there's definitely fire inside those irises which are now burning a molten sheet of gold. Do everyone’s eyes change color? I've never experienced that before now.

  “Is this what you want?" Phillip asks, that handsome brow of his still furrowed. Am I hurting him? I don't want to do that.

  "I want both of you. I know that sufficiently. And I've never done anything like this before, but, I had this dream. This dream where you met me in the glen and we… I could still taste you on my lips as the dream changed and Mal took me. It…showed me some things about myself. It showed me things about what I really want.”

  Phillip nods, jaw set. Then he grips me by the nape of the neck, closing the distance between us. "Once." His mouth touches mine, and I melt into the kiss. My heart flutters anxiously, anticipating everything we are about to experience.

  Mal whispers into the hall, “Shall we take this somewhere more private?"

  Phillip scoops me into his arms, not breaking the kiss. He must move forward, but I don't watch what where we’re going. All I can do is go, but soon I will be in their arms, bringing my fantasy to life.

  We must be in Phillip's bedroom, the damask curtains and rich tapestries lining the walls are proof that this room is fit for a prince. Low lighting warms the space, making it appear almost as though everything were lit by candle light. But I can't focus on the scene around me, not when I have two handsome men at my side, both ready and willing to make me theirs. It's all been leading up to this. My dreams, my brief encounters in real life with each of them. And their rivalry.

  "Are you sure you want this, Aurora?" Phillip asks, trailing his finger across my temple and down until he reaches my shoulder. The sensation of his light touch sends shivers racing across me, all while heating my blood as well.

  "Yes," I say on a sigh as I lean into him, begging for more.

  Mal sidles up until he's nestled against me. His big body is just as domineering as Phillip's. Both of them are nearly overwhelming and exactly what I need. "I'm game if you are." He's not talking to me. He's addressing his step-brother, his enemy, his competition. But Mal has accepted that I want them both, and I think he is going to be the one that puts this all together.

  "I said I was. One time. Then she makes her choice." The tension in Phillip's shoulders betrays his worry, worry that he's not going to be the one I choose. And honestly, I'm not sure who it will be either. It's possible I may lose both of them after this. But I have to try.

  "You have me here, willing, ready. Are you going to spend all our time together fighting over who will get the prize at the end?" I have to work to disguise the frustration in my voice, but I need them to know that this is hard for me. All of it.

  "Consider it done, Princess." Phillip says before sliding his finger under the strap of my gown and slipping the small piece of fabric off of my shoulder. In no time, my silky dress falls to the floor in a wisp of fabric, leaving me in nothing but my delicate lingerie. The sound fills the room, even though it should be nothing more than quiet. Silk doesn't weigh that much, after all. But my senses are on high alert. Every movement, every touch, every ragged breath fills my
head and raises my awareness of what's happening right now. Everything burns a little bit brighter with the two of them so close.

  Their eyes are aflame as they both stare me down. Mal smirks and unbuttons his black shirt, revealing a toned chest with a sprinkling of dark hair and a tattoo I hadn't seen in my dreams. A dragon, dark and deadly, etched into his skin directly over his heart. I reach out and trace my fingers across the lines of ink, and as I inspect them further, I see the ink isn't black. it's an iridescent sort of color, something I didn't think was possible when tattooing the body. It's almost like oil in water, the colors faintly shining like magic. "This... This is amazing."

  He shudders, a soft groan falling from him. "Your hands on me…”

  I wait for him to finish that statement, but he doesn't. Instead he tugs me to him and crushes his lips to mine. I moan into his kiss and let him take me, and where Phillip carried me down the hall, Mal pulls me into his arms and strides toward the large bed. He doesn't lay me down though. He sets me on my feet before stripping the rest of the way until all he's wearing is a pair of black boxer briefs. The straining bulge between his thighs makes me a little nervous. I'm not inexperienced, but I've never had two men at the same time.

  "Well, you said to get started. That's what I'm doing. Off with your clothes, Aurora."

  I glance at Phillip, still fully dressed in his suit, still looking slightly uncertain. "Phillip, I want you both. I don't want him alone, I don't want you alone, not the first time." Not the only time.

  Phillip shucks his suit jacket and lets it fall to the floor, a gesture I didn't expect from him. I had thought he was the kind of man who would neatly lay his jacket across a chair, perhaps fold his trousers and keep everything just so. It makes me happy to know I was wrong. He goes to work unbuttoning his crisp white shirt, letting that fall to the pile of clothing that we've created as well. And my eyes narrow as I see the same tattoo across his chest, only this one in gold ink, still shining, still magical, and very confusing. I'll have to ask him about that later. Is it a brand? Is it something to do with his royal bloodline? I'm not sure. But right now all I want to focus on is him and Mal and this bed.