The whole room was lit with soft light from flickering candles, and it had a very wedding night kind of feeling to it. Up around the ceiling I caught the glow of the pixies. "Aww, did you two decorate for us? You're the best."
Trost balled up their little fists and vibrated with joy so hard they passed out and floated gently like a feather into the furs. Freunde laughed and laughed, then flew down, picked up Trost, tossed them over their shoulder and gave a little wave as they flew away out the door.
"They've made it romantic for ya, lass. If I was less of an idiot, I'd have thought to do that while you were talking to my mother." He pushed a curl behind my ear and then tugged on another one, all the while staring at my hair, but seeing nothing.
Was my big, bad Viking feeling shy? I was the one who was worried about what we were about to do. Or what I thought they wanted from me. "I don't need romantic."
Although, it wasn't like I knew what I was talking about. I was nervous about, well a lot of things. They'd all both said and shown me they thought I was beautiful, but after a lifetime of being told I wasn't, I was still a bit nervous about letting them see me without this big skirt that hid the size of my hips and butt, or the sleeves that hid the flappy bit under my arms. Maybe I could just keep them focused on my breasts. Guys liked big breasts and I had those for sure.
He scoffed. "Need it or not, you deserve it."
Tau lifted my chin with one knuckle. "We have only the bond and our bodies to give you now, but when this is all over, and the kingdom is yours, we'll give you a proper bonding ceremony with flowers and a banquet, and all the gifts your heart desires."
I didn't have the same faith that they did that I could overcome this horrible queen. Somewhere along the way I'd finally decided to throw my lot in with theirs. If we didn't win, the human world I left behind wouldn't miss me much. I trusted that Drosselmeyer would take care of my father.
If we did have a chance to change their world, that was a more righteous than being a lonely hausfrau.
"I don't think I could handle falling in love and then losing you. What if I'm not up to the task?"
Maybe I didn't need to know that right now. What mattered more was that they wanted to be with me, I had all kinds of crazy, jittery, lusty feelings for them. Back home, I would never even consider kissing more than one man. I'd already kissed five from this realm and regretted nothing.
Zucker ran his thumb over my bottom lip, staring at it. "Do you think we'd give you up then? Go off and find ourselves another chosen one?"
Yes, that's exactly what I thought. Perhaps if I just told myself, it was more about the magic that this bonding was going to provide me and that it wasn't about real intimacy, I could squash down the feelings I didn't understand, and frankly feared.
"Wouldn't you? To save your realm?"
Could I give my body to four men and not care about them? No. Because each of them had already found their ways into my heart. Which was crazy. I'd known them for a hot minute, not a lifetime.
Unless I counted the stories that Drosselmeyer had told me when I was a girl. I hadn't thought about the silly children's stories for such a long time. Not until he'd whispered that they were all true. Had his fables truly been about this realm and these men?
Strong hands grabbed my shoulder and spun me. Nuss stood so close I could feel both his warmth and his cool breath. Tiny crystalline snowflakes hung in the air around his head, but there was fire in his eyes. "You break my heart with your questions. I have loved you since the day we were all born. I didn't know how much until I saw standing among the mundane people of the human world, hiding the light within you so that others might shine. You don't yet love us, but never doubt the feelings we have for you."
Nuss pushed his good hand into my hair and brought his mouth slowly down to mine, watching my eyes. He thought I would flinch away, but his passion had emboldened me too. When his lips were close enough, I stood up on my tiptoes to go the last ten percent of the way and kiss him.
I'd never been bold in anything but dancing before, but I found myself wanting to be more than who I was, here and now, with these four men. I didn't know if it was this place, the possibility of being more than what I ever thought my life was meant to be, or just that I could experience something with a man... these men, that deep down I wanted, but would never have admitted.
His kiss was both sensual and needy at the same time. He didn't pressure me to open my mouth to his tongue, instead his tongue teased my lips, asking me to take this a step further. There was no way I could possibly deny what he was asking for.
I breathed him in, not just his kiss, but so much more. I felt like he was asking to touch my soul, and it felt so incredibly good. I could live the fantasy, the one where not just one, not just two, not even three, but four...and maybe even five men, worshipped me. Me.
They wanted to. Even I couldn't deny the lust in their eyes, the need radiating from them, including the bulges, I couldn’t miss, in their pants.
"Fuck me," Leb groaned. "I never thought I'd see a snowflake getting it on. If you two don't let us get in on some of that action, I'm gonna have to go over here and come all over my own hand."
I thought Nuss would break the kiss when he, like me, realized there were others in our bubble. But he didn't. He deepened the kiss even more, slowly backing me up into them. I was surrounded by four huge, warm bodies, and I was melting.
Not because I was forced to, but because I wanted. I wanted this more than anything else in my entire life. I wasn't willing to break the kiss, so I reached out and grabbed whoever was closest and pulled them to me. Someone pushed their way down to the crook of my neck, and someone else nibbled their way up to my other ear.
Nuss groaned and withdrew and pulled away just far enough to press his forehead to mine. "Tell me you feel this connection, not just between you and me but all of us."
"I do. I've never felt anything like it before."
"And you never will with anyone else, because we were fated to be together." He slid his hand around my waist and found the zipper to my dress and gave it a tug. "Your body joined with our, your mind, one with us, your life forever intertwined. This is what will bring both the magic back to your life, and to our realm."
He pulled the zip down, loosening the bodice. Zucker pushed one sleeve down, and Tau the other until it pooled around my waist. The top had been constraining enough that I hadn't worn anything under it on top and now my chest was bare to them. I held my breath, waiting to see their reaction.
Nuss's gaze never wandered down even a centimeter. But he took one of Zucker's hands and placed it over one breast, then motioned with his fingers for Tau to give him his hand and did the same, pressing Tau's hand over my other breast. "Our bond is what will bring out the inner strength you've been forced to suppress for so long."
