With my things bundled into my arms, I hurried back across the ice to my cottage, opened the door as quietly as I could, went through to the kitchen where my washing machine was and threw everything but the skates inside. I could wash them tomorrow. While I was at it, I threw in the clothes I was wearing. And then I put my soaked skates in the cupboard with the other shoes and coats and clutter and hoped they would dry.
I dressed in dry clothes, and I managed to get into the bed without waking either of my men. Sonny gave a low moan and then let out a long sigh of contentment. I pressed against him, feeling his long, lithe form and the soft skin, the warmth of his body.
As gently as I could, I wrapped my arms around him. My hand brushed against Declan’s chest and I wanted to let my tentacles out so I could hold him as tightly as I was holding Sonny. I went to sleep fighting the urge to wrap my men up completely.
Chapter 11
Sonny
Iwas drowning. The water swirled around me and weighed me down and, no matter how I fought against it, I sank lower and lower, away from that bright circle of light.
My lungs burned.
I whimpered.
The cold water was all around me, the lake suddenly vast like an ocean, and speckled lights danced in a circle around me, taunting me.
I was going to die here. This was it.
I wanted to scream but my lungs didn’t work, too filled with water.
My body twitched as I thrashed and kicked, trying to get to the surface.
Then I felt them.
Those long, dexterous tentacles wound round me, encircling me completely.
They were warm and comforting, tracing over my skin and winding around my arm and my chest. I breathed deeply, suddenly certain I was going to be okay.
As the tentacles encircled me, I was no longer in the water. I was on a boat, basking in the sun, my body warm and glowing in the heat, the cool breeze ruffling my hair.
The little suckers on the tentacles pressed against my skin, surprisingly hard, and I relaxed into their hold. They had me.
As long as I was wound in these tentacles, so warm and gentle and all-encompassing, I was safe.
Chapter 12
Declan
Iwas warm and content when I woke.
A murmuring beside me dragged me further into consciousness and I blinked in the unfamiliar surroundings. It was dark with barely any light filtering in through the window on the other side of the room, more a grey square against the blackness of the bedroom.
My memory filtered back to me slowly. We were in Erik’s cottage, weren’t we?
I turned my head and could just make out the shape of Sonny lying against me, his fair hair shining starkly against the greyness of the room.
He twitched and murmured.
That was when I felt him press against me. All down my body, Sonny was pressed as close as we could get. He was huddled into my side, my arm around him. My arm had gone numb, actually.
And someone else was there. Erik. He was an indistinct form behind Sonny, a mass of limbs and blankets.
I took a deep breath and reminded myself that all three of us were safe. We were all alive and here, which is what mattered.
I felt safe, too, wrapped up tightly in blankets and arms. Sonny’s arms seemed to surround me completely, wrapping around my body and keeping me securely in bed, despite the three of us only just managing to squeeze in.
Those arms moved, a long, sinuous slide against my exposed arm and the little patch of skin above my trousers where my t-shirt had ridden up, soft and erotic. And they kept moving. Sonny’s arms were longer than I realised, and more flexible.
