Special thank you to a 0range for being more than just a beta reader. You're also an excellent evangelizer for book series' I should read, and a really good cheerleader for my silly little writing projects.


I supposed it wasn't so different; I'd been bonded to a prince basically from birth, but the idea that the now King and meyaah Liessa were about to do this with me was still a heady feeling. But as I stared over the river, waiting for them, I was trying to figure out what exactly felt so different about this moment.

Maybe it was just that it had always been a hypothetical possibility that I might join with Cas and his eventual mate, but now it was with a woman who wasn't hypothetical, but who was real, and who I loved, too. Not in exactly the same all-consuming way Cas loved her, but it was no less venerational, no less adoring. I hadn't lied when I told her I would do anything for her.

Maybe it was that I hadn't really expected Cas to become King, even though he'd always had the disposition for it. And the way he'd come to be King, not just because of Malik being unable–or perhaps unwilling–to return to Atlantia and take the throne, but also because Cas had married a literal fucking Primal goddess, whose blood usurped any Atlantian claim, before he'd had any idea she was anything but mortal with a trace of Atlantian blood.

Maybe it was that it was now Poppy who I was bonded to, whose will I felt, whose voice I could literally hear in my head, rather than Cas. The bond with Cas had been different, somehow less intimate, even though we'd had 200 years together and I loved him in a way that I was sure would never change. The bond with Poppy was so new, and yet it was…well, Primal. So much bigger and older than us.

I guess it was all these things that made this moment feel so potent. Even though, on some level, nothing would change after tonight, everything would change, and that was hard to wrap my head around.

I heard their soft conversation as they approached and ducked under the blanket of purple foliage. I turned as I stood and waited for them.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to sleep the night away," I teased gently, expecting a reaction from Poppy though it was Cas who replied.

"I have a feeling she'd stab me if I allowed that," he smirked at her.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," she said glaring at Cas. I couldn't help the smile on my face.

"It's okay. I didn't mind waiting. It's beautiful here. Peaceful." I looked up at the clear sky. It was everything we could hope for, for this moment, and I'd needed that time to gather my thoughts anyway.

"Are we alone out here?" she asked quietly.

"No one will get close to us," I answered.

"We're being guarded?"

"By the wolven," Cas said. "They're not close. They won't hear or see anything, but they will make sure no one gets too near us."

She hesitated, before asking if they knew what we were out here for.

"Would it bother you if they did?" I asked. I knew it was different for her than for Cas and I. We'd grown up with fewer taboos than she had, different expectations on our shoulders. I felt a dart of anger at how she'd been raised, believing that not only was touch off-limits to her, but she shouldn't even want to be touched, as though such a human desire was a shameful thing she should endeavour to leave behind. And that she'd believed her scars made her less than anyone who'd remained unmarked by life broke my heart. She was more, always.

"It doesn't," she said softly. Truly, it was a little awe inspiring that she'd overcome so much of that damage already, that she'd learned to own her body again, and to see her scars as I did, as I knew Cas did, as a sign of what she'd survived, never a detraction from her beauty, both on the surface and so much more than skin-deep.

"They see it as a great honor to protect such a tradition," I told her honestly.

"Oh," she blushed, and I swallowed hard. "I'm glad they approve."

Cas smiled and kissed her. "I thought you'd like it here, with the river and the wisterias."

"I do."

"Good." He paused for a moment. "Going to ask you again. Going to ask you a lot. You want to do this?" They stared at each other, and she nodded.

"We need to hear you speak the words, my Queen," Cas said, pressing close to her ear.

"Yes, I'm sure," she said, as she shivered a little.

Cas unhooked her cloak, with the ease of a practiced lover, who'd undressed their beloved repeatedly.

"We can stop this at any time," he reassured. And we would. If Poppy was anything less than certain, showed any hesitation, then we'd stop. I knew Cas wouldn't let that happen, and neither would I.

"I know," she whispered, as his hands found the tiny straps on her shoulders. I was tense with anticipation, even though I had seen her naked before. Though not like this.

I tried not to smirk as I remembered her throwing herself at me that day she'd awoken, when Cas and I fully expected her to be vampry. She'd launched herself at me, fully naked, and though it had been a thoroughly inappropriate moment for it, it had turned me on anyway. Then holding her as she fed from Cas and rode him had been…well, an intense experience, one I'd thought of more times than I cared to admit.

"Nothing will happen—absolutely nothing—that you don't want to take part in. No matter what you think we may want, or what you feel from us." Cas kissed her jaw, and her breathing caught just a little. I drew closer to them, feeling a pull that was nearly magnetic, not sure if it was entirely my own feelings, or a little of Poppy's will coming through too.

"We expect nothing," I told her. Not that I didn't have all kinds of hopes, but if she wasn't ready, now, or ever, it wouldn't change a damn thing, wouldn't change how I felt about her, and I knew it wouldn't change how Cas felt either.

"I know. I'm safe with both of you."

"Always," I confirmed.

"And forever," Cas said, his lips still against the skin of her jaw. He slid the straps down her arms, as her eyes closed. I slid my breeches down my hips, as Cas did the same, before I stepped closer again beside Cas and just a step back from Poppy, near enough to feel the heat of them both radiating into the warm evening. I couldn't take my eyes off Poppy though, her pale skin in the moonlight glowed in a way that had nothing to do with the eather under her skin. I was already hard, and I hoped that wouldn't make her feel too awkward. She was just so godsdamned beautiful. She shivered a little, and her nipples tightened, as Cas leaned in and kissed her mouth gently.

"You can open your eyes whenever you're ready," he whispered to her, her eyes still tightly closed. He moved back a half step from her, to stand beside me.

She seemed to steel herself, and then opened her eyes, looking at Cas first. As she turned her gaze to me, I met her eyes, shot through with so much silver in this light, it was hard to imagine she had ever looked mortal. Anything. I would give her anything. I mean, she was meyaah Liessa, and Cas' heartmate, and for those things alone, I couldn't imagine what I wouldn't do for her, but it was more than that too. Protecting not only her life, but her happiness, her well-being, making sure she could always laugh, could always smile at Cas that way, could always ask more damn questions. It felt imperative, but not in the same way as the Primal notam, not because she willed it, but because I loved her, plain and simple.

Her eyes slipped from mine, and I watched her look me up and down. She'd seen me naked before too, but not since the feelings between us had changed, deepened. Never when I'd also been looking at her naked, and I felt just a brush of nerves as she looked below my waist, hoping she took my erection for the compliment it was, and not any expectation on my part that this had to become sexual. Cas glanced at me and winked, and I rolled my eyes at him before he turned his attention back to Poppy.

"Always so curious," he murmured. She blushed and looked back at him quickly, embarrassed to be caught staring.

"Shut up," she admonished, but there was no anger behind it. There was heat, certainly, but not from irritation. I smiled as she continued staring at Cas' face.

"I'm ready," she said.

A flutter went through my gut that caught me off guard: nerves. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt them this way. Cas stepped closer to her, holding the dagger we would need since neither Poppy nor I had fangs. He met my eyes, lifting his eyebrows subtly. After hundreds of years, I could read his face as easily as if he said the words; you ok?

I nodded once and stepped forward, my body pressing against Poppy's, her shoulder against my chest, and my dick brushed her hip. She started a little at the contact. Fuck.

"Sorry. It's just that you're beautiful, and I'm, well," I paused. I could feel my face heating uncharacteristically. I really didn't want to make this uncomfortable for her. "I'm trying to behave…appropriately."

"It's okay. Your…" she seemed to struggle with what to say, "physical response is only natural." She blushed, and I tried not to think about her saying the word cock. Her coy euphemism alone was enough to make me twitch.

Cas looked and me, then at Poppy, and bit his lip. I could smell a fresh wave of arousal from both of them, and I bit back a groan.

"No help whatsoever, man," I admonished. Asshole knew exactly what he was doing, like he couldn't help himself. He laughed lightly before addressing Poppy again and running through the order of the Joining itself.

She nodded at him. Cas touched her cheek softly. "You need to speak the words I told you."

She asked Cas if the joining was his will, and it struck me how much this sounded like the vows that were sometimes exchanged at weddings. He confirmed and held her hand, as she turned her gaze to me. I took her hand as I told her it was my will. As I pressed our joined hands to her chest, near her heart, it was like the air around the three of us charged with something more. Like the mist in the Skotos, except it remained clear and cloudless, the sky endless and full of stars overhead.

Casteel kissed her. "I love you Penellaphe Da'Neer, from this moment to your last moment."

She shivered, then whispered back, "I love you Casteel Da'Neer, from this moment until our last moment." Her eyes flicked to mine, as if to remind me she loved me too. I hoped that she saw that same love reflected in my gaze, maybe even felt it with her abilities in that moment.

Cas made a small cut near his heart and stepped up against Poppy's front. He reached a hand for my shoulder, and I placed my hand against the back of his neck. Poppy shook a little between us as she stretched out to cover the cut on his chest with her mouth. Cas jerked a little at the contact, as Poppy drank from him. His eyes met mine, and I could see the lust, the strain in them. I smiled gently at him. His head fell back as he groaned. The scent of her arousal became thicker in the air, as he told her that was enough, even though it was evident on his face that it would never be enough for him. She kept drinking for a moment, seeming lost in it.

"If you don't stop, this will stop right here and end in a very different kind of joining," he said, as if it pained him to say. She lifted her mouth off him and he looked down to meet her eyes. He looked like he might combust, and moaned, the hand on my shoulder flexing. "Behave, or you're going to make Kieran blush."

"Yeah, that's exactly what's going to happen," I deadpanned. I met Cas' eyes, as Poppy and I shifted a little, so I could reach the cut on his chest, her ass now held firmly against my leg. As I pressed my lips against Cas' chest, I realized I could feel slickness against my thigh, where Poppy now quivered. As if knowing she was turned on wasn't hard enough, but gods, feeling it was something else. Cas twitched again as his blood flowed into my mouth. The taste was tart, fresh, and I felt my senses open, as I sucked gently. Against my closed eyes, I felt him sharing a memory; Poppy was in that bright blue dress, the one she'd been wearing on the beach when they had watched Lyra and I. But in Cas' memory, she was on her knees before him, her big green eyes watching him through her lashes, intent clear on her face. Cas' heart sped as his hand tightened on me and the memory drifted away. I lifted my mouth from him. Cas grumbled as his eyes met mine.

Between us, Poppy turned to face me, never losing contact with us. She looked up at me, her lips shining, and I felt like my heart might stop. Fuck. I turned my head, both to break the eye contact, and give Cas room to reach me.

He leaned in, pressing Poppy tighter against my cock, and it was all I could do not to moan at the contact. There was a moment of pain as Cas' fangs sunk into my skin, but when he began pulling against me, it turned into a twisting pleasure that tightened my balls. I'd shared pleasurable moments with Cas, but this was different, profound in a way it had never been between us.

Cas pulled his mouth away, and Poppy stretched up and in, almost immediately replacing his mouth with hers, and I felt her shake and sway a little, before she began pulling against my skin.

The last time she'd fed from me, when Cas was still too weak to be that for her, I'd teased her, bringing forth the memory of Cas feeding from her in Spessa's End. Cas had been so on edge, he hadn't trusted himself not to take too much, and she was, as far as we knew then, mortal. I'd kept a hand pressed against the pulse in her neck as he drank, and the moment her arousal hit the air, Cas had growled and pressed the both of us against the wall. The memory of her, helplessly grinding her ass against me, as Cas ground into her, had featured in more than one fantasy of mine since. He'd lifted her legs around his waist, changing the angle of how she pressed against me, and I'd thought for a brief, wild moment that I might lose it if she kept rubbing against me that way. I'd had to tell Cas to stop then—we hadn't really known how much would be safe to drink from her then—but I'd gone to my chamber, leaving them to work out their shit, while I took care of the ache they'd inspired in my cock. The way her eyes had flown to mine when I showed her that memory, she clearly hadn't realized at the time that I was affected by any of it. I'd wanted to tell her it didn't take an empath to be affected by the electricity that had flowed between them.

But it was already hard enough to maintain control right now as she pulled my skin between her lips so this time, I tried not to think about anything, not even the sensation of her hot mouth against my throat, her breath coming out in pants through her nose, as our hands pressed into my chest. She suddenly giggled a little, and the sound went straight to my groin. Her breasts pushed against me, and she seemed to pull even harder against me, before she moved her lips away.

She trembled a little as she turned back toward Cas, but then, I think I was trembling a little too.

"You okay?" Cas asked her, breathlessly. She nodded mutely, and I couldn't help my smile.

"Need to hear you say it," I said, surprised at how shaky my voice sounded too.

"Yes, I'm okay," she whispered.

"I'll have to bite you twice. It'll be" Cas paused, "intense." Like all of this wasn't already. I squeezed her hand in reassurance.

She dropped her head back against my chest, and the view—looking down over her peaked nipples, her breasts exquisite in the moonlight—could not have been more perfect. I looked back up and met Cas' eyes. They were wide, as if he couldn't quite believe this moment either, but he inclined his head to me, asking ready? I nodded, and he leaned down to her throat. His head lifted immediately, away from the punctures he'd created, moving to the other side of her throat to drink. I pressed my lips to her neck, and her back arched between us. I groaned, as Poppy gasped in a way that made my cock twitch.

I supposed for Cas, this was normal, drinking from her, but blood wasn't typically something I had any interest in. Her blood, though, was nothing like what I'd tasted in battle, human, Atlantian, vampry or otherwise. Her blood was almost effervescent, and just a little sweet. It was overwhelming, a kind of tingling radiating out from my mouth, down my body, and through my limbs. Like the first sip of sparkling wine, but stronger, more vital.

Though my eyes had fallen closed as I drank, I opened them when I realized there was a light against my closed eyelids. Poppy was glowing all over, her breathing ragged, as her skin seemed to emit the moonlight back out into the world. My eyes fell closed again as the taste of her enveloped me once more. Her skin was soft and so smooth under my lips, and her throat moved gently as she made a soft sound I felt all the way down my body. Her blood felt and tasted like pure power, and this was the thing I'd smelled on her in New Haven, when we hadn't known what she was. This ancient dominion that coursed through her, filling her with eather.

Her ass pushed against my thighs and I realized she was moving between us. I laved my tongue against her throat one last time and released her neck. The scent of her arousal filled my nose, nearly as strong as the taste of her blood, and I whimpered a little as I felt my own need joining hers.

Her foot slipped in the grass and I slid my leg forward between her legs to keep her upright. Her damp heat met the flesh of my thigh. She ground down against me. Gods, I wanted it to be my cock.

Cas lifted his head from her throat, looking as dazed as I felt. Lust filled his eyes as he looked down and saw how she still glowed all over, and that she was rocking her hips harder against my leg.

Her hands tightened and she started to move faster. With a small jolt, Cas lifted her just enough that my cock slipped into the space between my leg and her body, and suddenly her wet warmth was pressed against me fully. She paused for only a second and then continued her slide, her slickness coating me. The feeling was practically unbearable.

Her eyes fluttered open, and I knew this could be the moment she found control and stopped. I'd respect that if she didn't want to continue, but fuck me, would it be hard to do. She looked into Cas' eyes, then looked back at me, and the lust I felt was reflected there, and every part of me seemed to hum with the goodness of this moment.

"Yes", she whispered. I couldn't help shaking a little as Cas kissed the back of the hand he held. I did the same.

"Fucking unworthy of you," Cas barely ground out, and then he was kissing her, hard, and my hand skimmed down her body and back up before I palmed her perfect breast. She moaned as her eyes closed again. Cas' mouth was on her throat as I pinched her nipple between my fingers, just enjoying the feeling of her sliding against me.

Suddenly Cas' mouth joined my hand at her breast and all three of us groaned at once. I let go of her hand and she wrapped it back around my upper arm. Cas sucked my fingers and her nipple into his mouth, pulling hard. My dick twitched at the feeling.

"Fucker," I grunted. Cas laughed, but it turned into a growl as Poppy's back arched between us. Her hips had stilled, and I skimmed my other hand to her hip, urging her to rock against me. She did and gods, it still felt so good, her warmth, and the soft friction between our bodies.

Suddenly I urgently needed to hear her come against me, on me, around me, nearly as much as I needed air to breathe. I slid my hand around the front of her hip, down the crease of her thigh and towards her sex. I let my fingers brush her clit, settling and then gently beginning to circle. Her breath caught. Cas' mouth moved away from where my other hand still kneaded her breast.

"Wouldn't want this one to get lonely," Cas said, as his head moved to the other side of her chest.

I slid my fingers down her folds, and the tip of my finger slipped into her heat. She sighed and I slid further in, while the heel of my hand gently rubbed against the apex of her thighs.

"Oh gods," she panted, the sound like the sweetest music I'd heard in a long time.

"You're going to start praying?" I asked, my mouth hovering against her neck.

"Maybe," she said breathlessly.

Cas laughed, his head lifting to hers as he caught her in a kiss again.

"What would you pray for?" I asked, pressing my cheek to hers.

Between kisses from Cas, she tried to ask me what I'd asked.

"He asked what you would pray for," Cas said as he finally withdrew from her mouth. "I think I know." He winked at me.

When she withdrew from my finger this time, I added another, filling and stretching her softness. I tugged her earlobe with my teeth and I laughed a little as she gasped with the sensation. "I bet you do," I said, meeting Cas' eyes, "but I want to hear her say it."

"I can't believe you're asking questions. You of all people."

"This is the only time anyone else gets a chance to ask a question," I teased her. I pressed my teeth firmly against her shoulder. "What would you pray for?"

Cas answered when she didn't: "For something that could bring you more pleasure than a finger? Or two? Or do you want a tongue between those pretty thighs of yours?"

I flattened my tongue against her shoulder where I'd bitten, then pulled my head back, meeting Cas' eyes again. He grabbed her hips, fingers wrapping around her ass as he guided her hips to keep going, keep seeking that pleasure against me that she was so desperate for.

I leaned into her again. "Or would you pray to come?" I whispered.

"I think that's definitely it," Cas replied.

"I don't think I like either of you all that much at the moment," she responded, her frustration escaping with a growl.

"You're a terrible liar, meyaah Liessa. I know that's not true. I can almost taste just how much you like us at the moment," I said, biting my lip.

"That's your overinflated ego."

Cas claimed her mouth again, before breaking the kiss to tease her again.

"I think he just wants to hear you say an inappropriate word. Cock. Aroused. Come. You'll make his night." He wasn't wrong. Something about a dirty word from her mouth was unbelievably hot.

"I think it's you who wants to hear it," she cooed back.

"That would not be a lie," Cas laughed. He met my eyes and we both stilled. "Tell us what you want, my Queen." Everything we'd been doing stopped, and Cas and I both waited for her response.

She said nothing but grunted in frustration at the loss of sensation.

"What do you want?" I asked her, my voice rough with need.

"I want to come. There," she growled out. "Are you happy?" Fuck. Hearing her say that was everything I'd hoped for. Not just the word, come, but her telling us what she wanted was just…hot. This was the same woman who'd been taught not to long for affection, for touch, let alone to ask for pleasure.

"Fucking thrilled," Cas growled.

"And then some," I added.

Cas kissed her as somehow we moved as one to the blanket beneath us. I remained pressed close behind her, my dick still covered in her. Cas pressed against the front of her body. He nodded at me, and I guided my cock to slide slowly into her body, and gods, the tight, silky heat of her was everything.

For a moment, the sensation of her wrapping around me was so good, I thought I might come before I even got to feel all of her, but I fought it. She moaned as she tilted her hips back and enveloped me. I knew I couldn't last long with all the teasing we'd already done and how amazing she felt around me but I didn't think she would either, so I set a fast pace, my hips meeting her ass with a filthy sound. She rocked with me, all hot, slick suction, and her skin against mine. Her breathing was uneven, and she was making these little desperate sounds that she couldn't even be aware of, but they were my new favourite thing.

I could feel release gathering low in my body, my balls pulling in tight as I lost any sense of rhythm and just let my body pound against her. I was senseless with it. When I felt her body quake and shudder against me, I couldn't hold back any longer, coming with a long groan as I held her hips tightly against my own, shaking in pleasure.

After a long moment, I slipped out of her, but ran my hand from her breast, skimming over the dip of her waist, the swell of her hip, down her thigh, and pulled her leg back over mine, so she was open to Cas. She mewled with pleasure as he pressed against her, and began to fuck her.

The sounds she made, their rocking motion against me, and the knowledge that she was ready again for more pleasure, more of us, was enough that I was hard again in moments. My cock pressed against her ass and it was sweet torture.

I ran my hands over her body, letting myself feel her skin under mine. My palm flattened against her stomach, sliding up to her breast, where I pinched her nipple between my fingers, and she arched her back into it. Cas' movements against her sped as she made a long, stuttering sound of pleasure and stiffened between us again. Cas followed her into his release, groaning as he pulsed against her.

Her breathing had barely slowed, when Cas sat up. His eyes were still glazed, bright gold. He motioned to Poppy and gestured at me with his fingers and his tongue, what he wanted. I sat up, and gathered her into my lap, as Cas moved with predatory intent to settle between her thighs. Her head fell back against my chest as his mouth met her soft flesh. I was selfishly wanting to see her come again, and this view was perfect and obscene and beautiful.

Cas' dark hair between her legs, his eyes looking up at both of us every so often. She squirmed, and my dick paid close attention, the feeling of her velvet skin against me once more. Her hips began to roll with intent as she chased release again, and my head fell back, but I wanted to watch her, her breasts rocking, her soft belly undulating. Her left thigh began to shake and I held her tighter, rolling my body with hers, putting just the right pressure on the head of my cock.

Suddenly, her body went tight and then began trembling and Cas went even more wild against her, devouring her pleasure, and the sight of it, the sensation, the sounds, it was too much, and I came again, pushed up against her back. It took a long moment for her motions to slow, before Cas finally lifted his head.

"Honeydew," he murmured.

He moved to lay back down, taking her from my arms, her face pressing against his chest, and I laid down beside them. Cas tugged on my hand, drawing me closer, and I pressed against Poppy once more, leaning my head against Cas' shoulder.

After a long moment, Cas sighed and looked in my direction. He kissed the top of Poppy's head, then pressed his lips to mine, gentle and chaste, and smiled, both dimples visible in the moonlight. A deep sense of peace settled over me, like nothing I'd ever felt. The three of us, laying here together, felt like how the world was supposed to be.