Read Every Dawn Forever for Free Online Page B

it before wringing it out.  He approached her slowly, the folded wet shirt in his hand.  “Can I, Sydney?” he asked quietly.
    Humiliation burned in her cheeks, but she nodded, hissing as the cool cloth touched her feverish neck.  “Are you ill?”  Sterling asked.  His tone was rough, but tender as well.
    “My mate drugged me before he left me alone tonight.”
    All three growled.  When she’d heard growling in the past, it always frightened her because it meant that Byron was just seconds away from beating her.  But she wasn’t afraid now.  She understood that their growls were directed at her past, not at her.
    “What kind of drug?  Do you need a hospital?”  Orion demanded.
    Crux patted her skin with the cloth, soothing her fevered flesh.  Licking her dry lips, she said, “When he did it before, it would make me feel crazy with need.  It wouldn’t go away until I satisfied the urges.  If I denied them, they just grew worse.  Whatever he did to me is like that, but worse.  My whole body aches with need.”
    Crux tipped her chin up until she was looking at him.  The cloth lay pressed against her collarbone.  “Sydney, we’d never hurt you, I swear on my own life.  On all of our lives.  If you need help, if you need us in any way, then just say the word.”
    Orion moved closer.  “Do you want us to go out and stay in the SUV so you can have privacy?”
    She saw Sterling’s jaw clench, but he said nothing.  They were some kind of were-animal, so she knew they could smell her arousal.  Under their watchful gaze, she was starting to grow less self-conscious and more aware of how itchy her dress was and how good it would feel to touch them.  To have them touch her.  For the first time, the thought of a man’s hands on her body didn’t repulse her and fill her with shame.  But she didn’t think that it was just any man’s hands that would make her feel this way, it was Orion’s.  And Sterling’s.  And Crux’s.
    A tingle wove down her spine as she thought about the three men touching her.  She’d never dreamed of anything like that in all her years.  Was such a thing possible?
    Her breath came out in pants.  “Don’t leave, please.”
    “What do you want us to do?”  Orion asked.
    Need twisted through her and her eyes went out of focus for a moment.  Shaking her head until she could see clearly, she said, “Will you touch me?  Have sex with me?” She added hastily, “Just tonight, to help me through the drug?”
    Crux frowned. “We don’t have any protection.”
    She gripped his wrist.  “I’m on natural birth control, there’s no danger of me getting pregnant.  Please.  My body’s on fire.”  Shamelessly, she pleaded with her eyes, hoping they would take pity on her situation and help her.  She was aware she should feel humiliated, begging strangers for sex when she was still technically mated to Byron, but all she could think about was how good they smelled and how much she wanted them.  She’d never known compassion.  She’d never been touched tenderly.  And right now, she wanted that more than anything she’d ever wanted in her life. It seemed fitting to celebrate her freedom, and although she wished she wasn’t at the mercy of the drug, when she let her gaze roam down Crux’s muscular chest, she knew she wasn’t making a mistake.  She might only have tonight with them, but she was going to take what she could get and hold onto the memory for the rest of her life.
    Crux brushed his lips across hers and she gasped in surprise.  Had it really been six years since she’d been kissed?  She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed it until Crux’s soft lips were sweeping over hers.  The cloth was tossed aside and his hands touched her bare arms, his touch feather-light.  She shivered, her toes curling in her flip-flops.  She heard Orion and Sterling moving away and she leaned away from Crux’s lips and looked into his eyes.  Would he be mad