I nudge him with my elbow, hitting metal plates. “You shouldn’t call him that anymore,” I whisper. “He’s basically your husband…and he’s almost definitely listening.”
“Hey, I didn’t sign up for that part,” Kye murmurs. “But if that’s really what’s happened here, he’s just gonna have to get used to it.”
Kye’s fingers crawl down my stomach, toward my abdomen, already starting to vibrate. I sigh, my breath disturbing Ryker’s hair as Kye’s finger finds my clit, setting a low resonance that seeps into my veins. My thigh is still draped over Ryker’s hip, and I feel his cock twitch between my legs as he stirs.
“Fiona…” he groans.
His eyes open, and I find the same silver I recognize—not the strange, swirling colors from last night. Ryker palms my breast, and I curl against him with a sigh.
“I figured you’d have had enough last night,” Kye teases, and I can feel him thrust between my legs. Fuck, I’m already sowet. “But you’re just getting started, aren’t you?”
Ryker slides inside me so quickly that I’m barely able to register it’s happened before he starts slowly thrusting, rolling my nipple between his fingers. I bend my head back and Kye kisses me softly, his lips and tongue on my pulse. “I didn’t expect this part,” he says. “The part where I want all of you. Not just…shit.”
I gasp when I realize there’s a hand between us, gripping Kye’s cock.Ryker’s hand. Nereus is still sleeping blissfully behind Kye, his back to us—maybe awake, maybe listening, but not getting himself involved. Kye’s still playing with my clit, his touch rough now, demanding. “Come for me, princess,” he says. “Come on Ryker’s cock and I…”
“He likes to talk, doesn’t he?” Ryker chuckles.
I want to respond with something sassy, but I’m not exactly capable of speech right now. Ryker’s ribbed cock is plunging deep into me, drawing out, thrusting in again. He’s in no hurry to make me come, or to come himself, and his hand on Kye’s cock has the same slow, deliberate pace. I reach back to tangle my fingers in Kye’s hair, and I kiss him hard as Ryker brings him closer to finishing.
Is this going to be the rest of my life when the war is over? An eternity with these gorgeous men…
We come together like that—nothing extra, just the three of us making love in the early morning light. I let myself escape into the stolen moments of bliss in the aftermath, Ryker pressing kisses to my temple while Kye snuggles into my back.
I want to snatch all the memories I can for the battle ahead.
—
I drift in and out of sleep through the early morning, finding bodies, hands, breathless kisses. And I can’t say I’m ready when someone finally comes to get us, a handmaiden carrying clothes for each of us and a platter of fruit and pastries. In the little cove at the back of the palace, surrounded by pillows, we settle in for what I wish didn’t feel like a last meal…but does.
“So where did you run off to in the middle of the night?” I ask Taln, sipping the sweet tea the Merati favor. I’ll never get over not having coffee—maybe something to figure out once I have a whole palace—but the tea is okay. “I woke up and you weren’t here.”
“Couldn’t sleep after dawn broke,” Taln replies. “I roamed the corridors for a while, took a walk on the battlements to get some fresh air.”
I reach out to grab his hand, and feel a spark that wasn’t there before: the Elixir bond. He’s always been the one to carry the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, and I’m sure he was already thinking about what’s to come.
“Will you wake me next time?” I ask quietly, running my thumb over his knuckles.
He raises my hand to his mouth with a smile, brushing a kiss over my fingers. “Of course.”
“So I guess now’s the time for the honeymoon,” Kye says. “Any plans in mind?”
Orion’s head cocks in confusion, but I snort. “Hm…I was thinking we go on a little cruise, lead a rebel force onto a planet, take out an evil queen?”
“Not exactly my idea of a good time, but whatever you want,” Kye says.
I wish making light of it made me feel better, but it doesn’t. I can already feel the apprehension building in my chest, and the others seem to sense it as well, getting just a few inches closer to me. “We’ll do this together,” Nereus says. “The war council is this afternoon–we’ll make a plan that ensures all our safety.”
“Is that really going to be possible though?” I ask. Cressida’s words echo in my head:Don’t get too close to them.“I just…I can’t imagine losing any of you.”
“We’ll be stronger now, immune to Lamia’s psychic attacks,” Ryker says. “It will be alright. I promise.”
He isn’t lying to me. He really believes we’re all going to make it out of this unscathed. “And don’t forget that we have a whole army of Homeworld refugees, and soldiers from Triton seeking revenge for Lamia’s attack.”
“Although onlyhalfof them can come with us given the threat of Calypso,” I mutter. “Fucking Xanthos…”
“The odds are in our favor,” Orion says. “We have a solid plan. I’ve been part of more than a few assassination plots, so you can trust I have the expertise.”
“See?” Kye says, nudging my shoulder. “You’re alien married to an expert killer, and he wouldn’t lie to you.”