Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 55964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 280(@200wpm)___ 224(@250wpm)___ 187(@300wpm)
“You really think they could refuse you anything? Not to be crude, but have you tried asking on your knees?” She arches an eyebrow at me.
I laugh, because she has an excellent point.
Perhaps all I need to do is ask at the right time after all.
Fifteen
And so I ask.
Not on my knees. Discreetly, of course, so they don’t feel something is upsetting me. When I get upset, all of them pace and get fussy.
I decide Ossev is the best one to approach, and so I wait until I’m in the garden one morning, pulling up a few weeds. Apple is at my side, pouncing on one of the rocks and then racing away again, and Ossev gazes at me as I kneel on a cushion, my hands in the dirt.
“Are you certain you enjoy this?” he asks, leaning over to watch me work. “I have watched humans tend to plants many times in the threads, but I do not yet grasp why shoving one’s hands into the dirt brings feelings of pleasure.”
“It’s the satisfaction of a task completed,” I tell him, tossing aside a long, slender weed. “Of taking something that’s out of control back in hand once more. I like tending to my plants and knowing that they’re taken care of. A bit like how the three of you like tending to me.” Reaching down, I stroke one of the tiny leaves that have been slowly but steadily unfurling. “Speaking of the three of you, may I ask something?”
“Of course.” His gaze is on my fingers, his expression mild, and I wonder that he can’t guess at my thoughts. Are they quieter outside of the tower? It’s an intriguing concept.
“Do you like sharing me with your other Aspects?” I sit back on my heels, brushing my fingers free of dirt.
“It does not bother me.”
“But you do not touch each other.”
He blinks up at me, gaze focusing on mine. “It does nothing for us. There is no pleasure to be found there. If Zaroun or Neska touches my hand, it is as if I am touching my own hand. I would much rather touch yours.”
Interesting. I want to point out that self-pleasure can be very enjoyable, but if it’s not something they are comfortable with, I won’t press the issue. I can’t help but notice that they call each other by the names I’ve given them, and that gives me a great deal of satisfaction. Perhaps they will eventually see themselves separately, as I see them. Linked but still unique. “I like you touching me,” I say carefully, and then give him a suggestive smile. “I should like if all three of you touched me at once. Is such a thing possible? Can you leave your posts all at once?”
“Time is fluid,” Ossev says, expression thoughtful. “If something urgent were to occur, we could hold it in place until we are there to observe and guide.”
Is…that a yes? Or just him contemplating things? When he continues to give me a mild look, nudging at the dirt with one bare foot, I decide to prompt him again.
“Do I need to schedule time with the three of you?”
“Time is fluid,” he says again, a puzzled expression on his face. “What are you asking?”
I sit back on my heels and clasp my hands in my lap, trying to seem composed and yet serious. “I would like for us to have dinner together.” When his smile broadens, I clarify. “All three of you with me. Will that be a problem?”
“All three?” He tilts his head, as if confused.
“I am bound to all three of you,” I say, continuing. “I want to establish that I am serving all three of you. I want to spend a lovely evening with dinner and conversation—again, with all three of you—and then I would like for us to go to bed together. All three of you. In bed. With me.”
Ossev just blinks at me.
“Is that…doable? Or will that be a problem? I don’t want to be selfish and cause issues with your webs, because I know your jobs are extremely important and take priority over my needs. But I would like that…” I brace myself, deciding to be firmer in my request. “No, I would love that. I need it.”
“You need it?”
I nod again. It’s hard to describe. How do I tell them that I need to serve all three of them at once to feel as if I’m truly filling my position? That I truly am their anchor? Right now I serve one of them at a time, or sometimes two. It doesn’t feel as if we’re all truly joined, as if we’re all a cohesive unit. We feel like four separate units that sometimes pair up.
And I crave the intimacy of being possessed by all three of them at once. Of no one being left out or left wanting. It needs to be all of us, together.