I take a deep breath, my gaze flitting between his lips and his eyes. He’s so beautiful—how did he get more beautiful in the space of a few hours?
I close the space between us and plant a soft kiss on his lips. He returns it with fervor, his lips parting so our tongues can spar in his mouth. But I pull away, despite the action making my cock throb. I don’t want to talk about my feelings. I want to pin Nereus against a wall and fuck him as I wrap my hand around his cock and jerk him off.
But there’ll be plenty of time for sex, and I’m trying to talk instead of quieting my feelings with sex and booze.
I gasp as I pull away from him and Nereus’ eyes shine. “I wouldn’t deny you,” he says. “If you wanted me…”
“I know.”
“But I’ll only do it after you speak to me,” he says. “And we have a thousand years to explore each other’s bodies.”
I laugh, trying to ignore the anxiety I feel spreading through my body. “If we survive this war,” I say. “If Fiona is successful. This plan is scaring me. And…”
“What?”
“This morning, Ryker gave me a handjob,” I say. “While we were having sex with Fiona.”
He smiles. “Did you like it?”
“Yes,” I say. “But I wish it had been you. Is that cheating? I don’t want to cheat on you. I love you.”
“Cheating?”
“You know, like betraying you.”
“Kye, that was not betrayal,” he says after he thinks for a minute. “Ryker is your mate. They’re all your mate.”
“Right. And I can…feel the pull to them, I guess. The tension. It’s like this deep affection tinted with lust. But that’s not how I feel about you, or how I feel about Fiona. It’s…I would die for all of you. But with the two of you, I would throw myself in death’s way without a second thought.”
Nereus’ expression sobers as he looks at me. “You’ll never have to, Kye,” he says.
“Not while I’m in charge,” Fiona’s crisp voice says from the entrance of the dining room. I didn’t expect her to be here so early, and she looks like a vision. But it’s not the same as it was during the ceremony. She looks tired, scared. I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that it’ll be okay, but I can’t.
I don’t know if it’ll be okay. I don’t even want to think about it.
I stand up to walk toward her, and she walks softly to me, extending her arms to put her hands in mine. “But you shouldn’t have to protect me,” I say. “I wish you didn’t have to.”
“Don’t forget, Kye; you’re protecting us, too,” Fiona says. “I might be leading the charge, but without you, none of this would be happening. Without you, Lamia would…she might have other victims.”
A shiver goes down my spine. “You’re right. You’re right,” I say. “I’m being selfish. If I can stop her from having other victims, I should. You two are the most important people in my life and I’m terrified of losing either of you.”
“You won’t,” Nereus says. He walks toward me, wrapping his arms around my waist and placing his head against my shoulder. “You don’t have to worry about us. We’ll go through this together.”
Fiona closes the space between us, and her hands are on my waist, her head tilted against my chest. “He’s right,” she says softly. “You will never have to deal with any of this alone again. And we’ll always be there to protect each other.”
I lose myself in their scents; Fiona’s floral and sweet, Nereus’ sea salt and jasmine. They’re warm and soft against me, and for the first time since my accident years ago, I finally feel something change inside of me.
Things feel like they’re going to be okay.
Just as long as we stick together.
As long as I have these two on my side.
I just…we have to win. I can’t even contemplate the idea that we might not.
I refuse to think about what that would mean.
So instead, I lose myself in their embrace, and our heartbeats fall into sync.