Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 52 - Blurred Lines

Jadea

I lay in bed, Caden cradled on top of me. His head resting on my stomach, body tucked between my legs. He was fast asleep. My fingers deftly stroking through his short, thick blond hair while my mind whirled.

Adam was still tucked in the back of my mind, just out of my conscious thoughts. He was still running the perimeter. Trying to give Caden some time without feeling pressured or guilty for seeking such intimacy, and mercy, from me.

I was still surprised Adam was handling this so calmly. It made sense how he rationalized it. Though, I was still afraid of crossing a line.

True mates usually didn't like sharing each other.

Slowly, after a while, Caden woke up. His sleep hazed mind melding with mine.

I kept him at arms length within my thoughts, not wanting him to see exactly what I'd blocked from his mind.

Within his own memories, he felt the tell-tale signature of my magic and the tendrils of pain and despair seeping out from the edges of the spell. I couldn't make it completely disappear. Not like a controller could.

"Thank you, for whatever mercy you bestowed on me," he whispered, lifting his face to study me. He knew how hard it was for me to use my gifts in such a way. Not that it was hard to do the spells, more so it was hard on me mentally having to carry such burdens.

"For you, anything," I breathed back emotionally. Feeling so raw in the moment. There was nothing more I wanted for him than to be happy. He deserved that and so much more. Digging my fingers into his scalp, I pulled his face back down to my skin, holding him there so he couldn't see the pain reflected deep within my gaze.

Caden nuzzled his rough stubble over the bare skin of my midriff, knowing the kind of effect it would have on me. Heat curled through my body while his hands roved down my curves, touching my stomach and waist. Yearning for something that would forever be out of his reach.

Our minds melded when his lips caressed across my stomach, tongue dipping into the hollow of my hips. My grip on him changed, my mind being pulled into his while forbidden fantasies were etched into his thoughts. They dragged me, and subsequently Adam, under their infectious hold.

Teeth scraped as his hold shifted, while snippets of his fantasies played out.

It was the three of us, locked in a lovers' embrace, where I was held between the two of them... Hands roved... Mouths joined... Minds melded... All the while all three of us were connected in the most intimate of ways. All of us lost to passion and flame—

"Stop!" I commanded, pushing Caden from me. Knowing this was crossing a hard limit.

"Jadea! Wait!" Caden called out, worry and regret evident in his tone.

I didn't stop. I raced to the front door, needing to take to the perimeter to run away from those provocative images. To run off the heat and force all of these thoughts and feelings away.

The moment I yanked the front door open, though, I was forced to halt. Adam's large presence filling the doorway, blocking my exit. My heart was in my throat, my fearful gaze crashing with his fierce--yet thoughtful--expression.

"Adam?" I asked, confusion bleeding into my tone when he didn't move, didn't say anything. He was naked. Hard. Horney from being immersed in the fantasies Caden shared.

Hesitantly, I brushed his mind, needing to know what he was thinking and feeling. Surprisingly, he was not as opposed to sharing me with Caden. Not like he once used to be.

Circumstances changed. Mindsets shifted. Especially after everything all of us suffered through.

He understood better how Caden and I helped each other. How, while being his sub, he'd been able to center himself within me. Within my softness and continued patience.

He glimpsed Caden's tumultuous mind and deplorable youth. Why he ran from his alpha-hood at such a young age, and was so lost in the world until he'd taken his rightful place within the Draconian pack. Then, to have the rug ripped right out from under him again when his soul mate was just out of reach.

Caden had no one else to turn to. No one else who knew his past like I did. No one else he could blindly trust, other than me.

Adam knew Caden could figure it out on his own, but he felt compassion for the alpha based off his own life experiences.

"I know it is a deep-rooted curiosity, this experience," Adam admitted to as well. Within his mind, I saw how we discussed this possibility before. Not necessarily with Caden. Just another partner in general. How Adam was opening up to the idea of other partners to sate curiosities we both had.

"Adam, I don't want to cross a line," I stated firmly. I wasn't willing to lose him over this. My manipulation spells would allow Caden to move through life comfortably. And, hopefully, find someone else to fill that gaping hole of yearning within his chest.

It didn't have to be me.

"I am willing to give this a try, once," he stated. "Just to see if it is something I am okay with. If this is an experience both of us can enjoy." With the expectation things would stop if he, or anyone else, decided it wasn't okay.

Adam knew I was Caden's only lifeline in this instance. Even Ty wasn't someone he could turn to for this. Ty didn't know the extent of Caden's abuse. Didn't understand how deeply his wounds ran, or how this set back for him was soul shattering.

Yes, Caden was a Dom, through and through. He had taken control and mastered his life and emotions at a young age. He didn't like handing such control over, because to him it meant danger. While he could do this alone, Adam realized he didn't have to.

There was something about me Caden's alpha could inherently trust. With me, he knew he was safe. Which was why he had only ever submitted to me when he'd needed a reprieve from the burdens he carried.

It was a connection and vulnerability Adam could recognize and respect.

Caden needed that deeper connection now more than ever as he worked to live life without the possibility of ever having a true soul mate.