Chapter 82: Chapter 81: Open wide, little dancer. Take me deep
"Absolutely not," Damian said firmly. "We’re not conducting experiments until we understand the risks."
"What risks?" Damon challenged, still holding Eve’s face. "She did it once already and came out fine. Better than fine....she and Silas have some kind of bond now. I want that too."
"You don’t even know if it works that way," Damian argued. "The connection might be specific to Silas. Or it might have formed because she accidentally invaded his dream rather than entering intentionally."
"Only one way to find out." Damon’s thumb brushed over Eve’s lower lip, his eyes darkening. "What do you say, little dancer? Want to take a walk through my dreams? I promise to make it worth your while."
Eve’s mouth went dry. The thought of experiencing Damon’s dreams....wild and violent and utterly without restraint....was both terrifying and thrilling. "I don’t know how I did it the first time. It wasn’t intentional. I just... woke up and I was there."
"Maybe your subconscious knew Silas needed you," Damon suggested. "His wolf has been going crazy waiting to claim you. Maybe your succubus nature responded to that need and pulled you into his mind."
"That’s actually a reasonable theory," Silas admitted reluctantly. "Cain has been very vocal about wanting her. If Eve’s powers are developing to serve her survival needs, dream-walking to the brother most desperate for her would make sense."
"Then it should work with me too," Damon said. "I’m plenty desperate for you, Eve. Trust me."
Damian pinched the bridge of his nose, a gesture Eve had learned meant he was fighting for patience. "Even if we agree to test this....and I’m not saying we are.....it wouldn’t be tonight. We need preparation. Research. Elder Markov’s input on safety measures."
"Fuck safety measures," Damon said cheerfully. "This is Eve we’re talking about. When has she ever taken the safe route?"
"When her mates demand it," Damian shot back. "And I’m demanding it now. No experiments until we have more information."
The two brothers stared at each other, an argument brewing in the charged silence. Eve could feel the tension rising, the alpha dominance playing out in the set of their shoulders and the challenge in their eyes.
"Stop," she said quietly, and surprisingly, they both did. "Fighting about it won’t help. Damian’s right that we need to understand it better before trying to force it. But Damon’s also right that the only way to learn is through practice."
She took a breath, gathering her courage. "What if we compromise? I’ll try to intentionally dream-walk tonight, but with safeguards in place. Elder Markov can be contacted first thing in the morning to consult. And if it doesn’t work naturally, we don’t force it."
Damian considered this, his tactical mind clearly weighing options. "And the safeguards?"
"You stay with me," Eve said. "All three of you. If something goes wrong, if I can’t find my way back or get stuck somehow, you’re right there to pull me out."
"How?" Damon asked. "If your consciousness is in my head, how would they pull you back?"
"The mate bond," Silas suggested. "It’s already connected us on a deeper level. If Eve is in danger, we should be able to feel it through the bond and use it to guide her back."
Damian looked unconvinced but thoughtful. "It’s still risky."
"Everything about Eve is risky," Damon pointed out. "She’s developing powers faster than any succubus in recorded history. She’s bonded to three alphas when most can barely handle one. She’s the lost heir to a supernatural throne with assassins already tracking her. Risk is our new normal, brother."
The truth of that statement hung in the air. Everything had been risky since the moment Eve’s binding spell broke.
"Fine," Damian finally conceded. "We try it tonight. But at the first sign of trouble, we’re pulling you out even if it means waking you forcibly. Agreed?"
Eve nodded. "Agreed."
"Good." Damian’s hand settled on the back of her neck, possessive and grounding. "Now, let’s discuss what happened in Silas’s room. I want details."
"You said I smelled like him," Eve said cautiously. "I showered."
"Not that thoroughly." Damian’s nose brushed against her throat, inhaling deeply. "I can still smell him on your skin. In your skin. He came inside you."
It wasn’t a question, but Eve answered anyway. "He didn’t mean to. He was trying to pull out, but he lost control for a second."
"Just a second," Silas confirmed. "But it was enough."
"Hmm." Damian’s hand tightened on her neck....not painfully, but enough to remind her who was in charge. "And you let him. Even knowing it would upset the balance we’ve maintained."
"I wanted it," Eve admitted. "Wanted to feel him like that. Wanted to be marked by him even if he couldn’t give me his bite yet."
Damon made a low sound of approval. "Honest. I like that."
"I don’t like that she went behind our backs," Damian countered. "Even accidentally. Even with extenuating circumstances." His gray eyes pinned her in place. "You’re ours, Eve. All of ours equally. When one of us claims something new, the others should be present to claim it too."
Eve’s heart raced. "What are you saying?"
"I’m saying that if Silas gets to come inside you, so do Damon and I." Damian’s voice dropped to that dangerous purr that made her knees weak. "Right now. Together. So that you smell like all of us again, not just him."
Heat flooded through her, the hunger rising instantly. She’d fed from Silas extensively less than an hour ago, but her succubus nature was already demanding more. Would always demand more.
"I can do that," she breathed.
"Of course you can." Damian’s hand slid from her neck to her throat, his thumb pressing against her pulse. "But this time, we’re doing it our way. Not gentle like Silas. Not restrained. We’re going to fuck you until you can’t remember which one of us is which, until you’re so full of our cum that it’s dripping down your thighs, until every inch of you is marked inside and out."
Eve whimpered, and Damon laughed.
"She likes that idea," he observed. "Look at her pupils.....blown wide. And I can smell her getting wet already."
"Strip," Damian ordered, releasing her throat. "Everything off. Now."
Eve’s hands trembled as she pulled off her clothes, hyperaware of three sets of eyes tracking every movement. When she was naked, Damian circled her slowly, inspecting her like a general surveying troops.
"Silas left marks," he noted, fingers brushing over a hickey on her breast. "But not his bite. Good. That restraint deserves acknowledgment."
He turned to Silas, and Eve saw something pass between them.....a moment of understanding, of respect between brothers who’d spent their lives sharing everything.
"You can watch," Damian told Silas. "Since you started this. But you don’t touch. Not until Damon and I have balanced the scales."
Silas nodded, moving to his usual chair in the corner. His eyes were already dark with desire, his wolf clearly riding close to the surface.
Damian’s attention returned to Eve. "Bed. On your back. Legs spread."
