7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

The real celebration was that night as the snows fell, blanketing Old Town.

Gray would never forget standing in the parlor of the manor house when Settie brought Ames back to them.

The Quelling girl stood there, shyly, while Settie lugged her trunk into the room and slammed it down. She wasn’t happy. “No one ever told me that after a thousand years of life, I would be moving my squad’s luggage around as much as I do. You can deal with it from here.”

Midj was in the kitchen, cooking of course, when she ran out into the parlor. “Ames! Ames! Ames!”

The goblin girl tackled the dark elf, pulling her down, until both were on the floor.

Yellow went crazy, barking and whining and licking both Midj’s face and Ames’s face, tail wagging like crazy.

Rynn burst into tears, crying into her hands.

Pinch stood back, arms crossed, glaring at them all.

Gray didn’t know what to do. Should he comfort his bonded, tell Pinch to get that nasty look off her face, or rescue the goblin and the Quelling girl from Yellow’s dog germs.

Settie sighed and help. She pulled Yellow away. By that time, Ames had gone up and went over to Rynn and held her, cupping her head gently.

The two clung to each other.

All his bonded said was, “Amaranthis.”

Ames, who had tears on her face, whispered back, “Rynnanatha.”

It was all that was needed.

Gray couldn’t stop himself. He went over and held them both. He felt it, right then, that he would have no trouble—no trouble at all—bonding with them both. Life had forged chains thick enough to hold them together forever.

Rynn touched Ames’s face. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

Rynn swallowed hard. “I…you were dying…I picked up the ball. I shouldn’t have. We didn’t mean in the end. It was meaningless. I should’ve been there with you, at the end.”

Ames’s smile was impish. “But it wasn’t the end. Don’t you see, silly girl? There is no end. There is just change. You didn’t know. I didn’t know. And I know everything.”

The Quelling girl left them and approached Pinch.

The fae frowned. “Don’t look at me like that.”

Ames took Pinch’s hand. “I hated you. I attacked you. I hurt you. Because I was so afraid of seeing you, in this house, with us. I so afraid that your fire would burn my heart all away.”

“The ice that burns,” Pinch said in a thick voice. “I remember. It was just after Culling Day when I was running with Squad One. I didn’t think too much of you before that. Then, when you jumped me, I couldn’t help but admire your unhinged insanity.”

“I have hinges.” Ames sighed. “I have maybe two many hinges, and so many doors inside of me, and I sometimes hide away in the words, and sometimes I find a door and cry behind it. But not tonight. Not tonight. I hope you are neither too hot nor too cold. I hope you are just right.”

Pinch’s jaw muscles clenched. She was trying not to cry or lash out or do all the things that might push them all away. She seemed in agony. In the end, she whispered, “I want to be just right.” Then she glanced away. “The goblin has been cooking all day. We should eat.”

Ames nodded. “Tonight is the night to savor life.” She turned and gave Gray a long, smoldering look that left him a little breathless.

Rynn even gasped a little because she saw the heat in that look.

They ate, they laughed—even Pinch—thought she was still wary. Months of training and hardship had made Squad 23 a tight group of friends, and it was going to take some time for Pinch to find her place among them.

Gray was surprised that Settie stayed for the meal. It was a chicken cutlet, pounded flat, breaded in spices and cracker crumbs, and then fried in a spicy oil. To go with it, Midj had cooked up tiny cheesy dumplings in a rich sauce. The little dumplings were so doughy, but she had fried them as well, so they had a crispy outside. To go with the meal, she had added a pickled cabbage and some greens cooked in bacon fat. It was an enormous feast with an apple crumble for desert.

Midj, of course, enjoyed it more than anyone else, though the competition was stiff.

Settie left after she’d eaten, saying she had a headache. Gray doubted that. He thought she was feeling uncomfortable with Tomi staring at her in wonder. It made sense. Tomi’s love of history had been transferred onto the ancient dragon woman who had watched Caelvarum burn.

The kitchen was so warm—from the fire in the oven, their bodies, and their laughter. Outside, the blizzard had totally hidden the world from them, but that was just fine. They were comfortable in their little home…but even more comfortable was their friendship.

Rynn was the one who finally pulled him away from the table. “I’m so very sleepy,” she lied to their friends. “My soul is so shredded!”

Tomi rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, you’re the one who just loves sleep. I don’t think you want sleep tonight. I think you want something else.”

Midj made a face. “Don’t talk about it, Tomi. It makes it so awkward.”

Rynn was blushing. “I’m leaving to, wash up, you know, and it is late. And I am tired. And…”

Ames got up suddenly, grabbed her arm, and led her out of the kitchen.

Midj’s mouth dropped open. “Uh, that was unexpected.”

Pinch gave Gray a withering look. “You are a fucking idiot if you don’t follow them.”

“Wait! What?” Midj said, clearly shocked.

Tomi nudged him. “Don’t be a fucking idiot.”

Gray left the awkwardness of the kitchen while Tomi laughed and Yellow barked . He knew something was going on, he just didn’t know what it was.

Gray knew. And the lust gave him mana.

*

Gray closed the door to his room behind him.

Both Rynn and Ames were on the bed. Both of them were dressed. For now.

“What are we doing?” Gray asked.

Ames answered. “It’s not just raining, it’s snowing outside. Here, it is warm, and we’re going to be enjoying the warmth here. With all three of us. I think you felt it. I did. Did you, Rynn?”

Rynn nodded, her smile a bit too big, stretching her blushing cheeks. “I did. I don’t think you’re core will have any trouble. I don’t think mine will either. It’s a risk, but it’s one I’m willing to take.”

Gray didn’t know what to say. He had so many questions. “But Rynn, are you that way?”

“What way?” Then she got it. “Well, I’ve had thoughts. I think most people do. I’ve always thought Ames was pretty, but I have to admit, it wasn’t until I felt your lust, with all the kissing you did, that I started to take those thoughts seriously. I think I’ll like it.” She paused. “No. That’s not right. I think I’ll love it.”

Ames leaned and kissed Rynn’s neck. “Because you chose lust over envy.”

Rynn’s moaned. “Lust is much more fun. But Ames, have you thought about it?”

“I have.” Ames got off the bed. She went to him. “There was a serving girl in the castle, and she was kind to me. She had a need, and I helped her. My body had only known pain. She helped me understand pleasure. And while I loved her, I still had the desire to explore a man. Then I met you, Gray. And then I met you.”

“What about being bonded to the serving girl?” he asked.

“We teased and teased and then did

She gently kissed his ear, then his jaw, and this lips.

Before he knew it, he had the tall, thin woman in his arms, smelling her, tasting her, as their kiss deepened. She sucked on his tongue, moaning. She grabbed his hands and put them on her hips. He squeezed them but soon moved to cup her small, perfectly sized ass.

Before he knew it, he was grinding himself against her as she melted into his arms.

He’d lost track of time—he’d basically stopped thinking at all—when Rynn joined them.

“It was some kiss,” she said. “Can I have a turn, Ames?”

“With me or your man?” the Quelling girl asked.

Rynn corrected her. “Our man.” She pulled Ames away from Gray. “Let’s start with you, my sweet, sweet Amaranthis.”

Gray watched them kiss, and he felt the mana swirling around them. Rynn glowed with a golden color he was used to, but Ames’s normally midnight blue mana had brightened to the prettiest of azures. It was like he could see a little of her darkness being melted away by the lust.

Rynn turned from the Quelling girl to Gray, and kissed him. He smelled his sweet bonded, but he could also detect Ames’s muskier scent on his beloved’s face.

It drove him wild. He scooped Rynn up and brought her over to the bed.

She stripped off her shirt and shimmied out of her pants. Her underclothes followed until she was naked.

He turned to Ames and kissed her while he slipped a hand into her shirt. Her little breast filled his hand, her nipple pushing against his palm. It made him growl.

A very naked Rynn slipped to the floor and helped the Quelling girl out of her pants.

A second later, Ames was naked. She didn’t have the white hair between her legs. It was smooth there, and her nipples were tiny and stiff. Her mana marks were on either side of her belly button—spiky stars of ink several shades darker than her skin.

Gray couldn’t stop looking at her, this new woman with them. When he’d bonded with Rynn, he thought she would be the only woman he’d ever be with again. It was the ultimate commitment, but he hadn’t minded the sacrifice. He loved her more than this next breath.

Now, however, they were going to be including another woman in their bond, a woman who had come back from the dead to be with them.

Ames cupped his chin and lifted his head. “Am I okay, my sunshine?”

“More than okay,” he breathed.

Then he sucked in a breath.

Rynn and freed his sex from his pants and was sucking gently on it.

Ames kissed him, and he moaned into her mouth. His hand went to her naked ass, so soft and squeezeable. She moaned into his mouth at her touch.

Then she hissed as Rynn went from Gray to her, licking her between her legs.

“Heaven,” Ames whispered. “This is heaven, and I didn’t even need to die.”

“So never do that again,” Gray chided her.

Ames let out a shriek. “I can’t wait! It’s too good, but I want to know! I have to know!”

She went to the bed threw herself on it, spreading her legs. “Take me and make me yours, Grayson Fade. Bond with me until the end of time, both of you. I want to feel what eternity feels like. I got a taste in the ocean of souls, but I want more!”

Gray was more than ready. He stripped off his shirt while Rynn climbed into bed with the Quelling girl.

Both of them gazed at Gray, their eyes going from his face to his cock.

“He’s so handsome,” Ames said. “We’re so lucky.”

“So lucky,” Rynn said, sucking on Ames’s neck while she explored the dark elf’s body with her hands.

Gray got between Ames’s legs. A second later, he had slipped into her, all the way in.

The Quelling girl gasped. “Oh, it’s so big in me. So very big. If you touch me in that special place, Rynnanatha, you’ll give me a bit more heaven.”

“Who doesn’t want more heaven?” Rynn giggled.

She reached down and gently rubbed the Quelling girl’s button.

Ames arched her back, “Oh, it’s happening…happening with both of you.”

She gasped, over and over, and Gray felt her pleasure squeezing him. Her core reached to him, and he fed it with mana—he had plenty to spare. Her blue magic was all around them, making the air crackle around them.

Rynn moaned as she pressed her face against the side of Ames’s head. “I felt that. I can still feel it. It’s happening to me too.”

It was too much for Gray. Ames felt too good. He began to thrust in and out of her, getting closer and closer. Rynn rose up to kiss him, clinging to him, as she again found her ectasy. Ames was doing something to her with her fingers—Gray couldn’t see what, but he could see down into his bonded’s core. His glowing a bright gold color—there was a blue there, but it wasn’t coming from Rynn, it was coming from him.

His core was spinning with his golden light but taking in Ames’s blue light as well. The closer her got to coming, the bluer his core became. It was spinning off of him and traveling directly into Rynn because of their bond. It was the three of them, merging souls, creating that connection that time couldn’t touch.

And then, Gray was pushed over the edge. He shoved himself as far into Ames as he could. He fell forward, kissing the Quelling girl, even as Rynn sobbed with pleasure against him, grasping her, nails digging into his skin. She was lost in a climax even more powerful, they all were, the lust traveling through their connections, leaving them all breathless.

Rynn was the first to giggle, and then Ames joined in, until they were all laughing.

It had worked.

Rynn pushed her sweaty face against his. “That was worth all your stolen kisses, Grayson Fade.”

“I can do you one better, sweet Rynnanatha. “That was worth death, all the pain and death, in all world. But can we do it again?”

Rynn kissed her. “Again and again, my sweet Amaranthis. Again and again.”

The bonding had worked—he felt Ames’s joy and her excitement and it was nearly overwhelming. She felt things so deeply! It was a bitter irony that she had spent much of her life being tortured. It hadn’t numbed her; it had made her unbelievably sensitive and now he felt that.

Rynn did too. She looked into Ames’s eyes, the laughter gone. The elf girl started to cry. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry…for what the world did to you.”

Ames brushed away the tears. “No, no more rain. Just sunlight. Just Gray’s sunlight forever.”

Gray kissed both of the women. “I’ll try to be sunlight. I really will try my best.”

It was all he could say.

And then the kisses again turned into something more.