He grinned again, then kissed me slowly. A silent promise in the way his fingers tightened at my hip and his forehead tipped against mine.
In the quiet that followed, wrapped in warmth and love, I reminded myself that even in the shadow of war, there could be moments like this.
Moments that were wholly ours.
Moments where the world could wait.
16
RONAN
The house had takenon a quiet, lived-in hum, settling around us as the night stretched on. Despite the place being new to most of us, I’d already grown comfortable here, hoping to overwrite the shadows Kieran’s family had left behind. The others seemed to feel the same.
Steele and Gabe were half-sprawled on the couch, their low voices reviewing our meeting earlier. Bastian hovered near the tall bookshelf along the living room wall, tracing spines like he might actually sit for a second, which we all knew he wouldn’t.
For a moment, it almost looked normal—dangerously domestic. The kind of calm that made you forget what waited outside. I turned back to the counter, laying out dinner supplies. A familiar pattern: the scrape of a knife, the smell of pepper and raw spice. Simple things that steadied my hands.
I took out the steak I’d defrosted that morning, and as I seasoned it, the comfortable quiet took on an edge—something electric threading beneath the calm. It pressed at the edge of my awareness like a change in air before a storm, subtle and charged. Maybe it had to do with Kieran and Niz; Creator knew most of the focus in this house was on them tonight…but this felt deeper than that.
Of course, the sounds from upstairs weren’t helping my concentration.
I ground salt between my fingers, sprinkling it over the steaks, and shook my head. The faint rhythm of Kieran’s voice carried through the quiet of the past hour, low and broken, filled with pleasure.
The kind of sound that made every muscle in my body tense, remembering the shape of her. It had been too damn long since I’d been inside her, too long since I’d held her with nothing between us.
Hearing her shout Niz’s name a minute ago lit a match to every hard-won bit of discipline I’d ever developed. I had no idea how I was managing to stay in the kitchen, knowing the idea of joining them wasn’t entirely off the table. But Niz deserved his time with Kieran to himself.
The footsteps on the stairs came sudden and unexpected; I hadn’t thought they’d be coming down so soon.
Conversation slowed to a stop as they reached the last few steps, the soft scuff of Kieran’s bare feet followed by the heavier tread of Niz behind her. Even after seeing him in human form so much recently, it still threw me off balance. I couldn’t deny that it had brought us closer, our bond—one formed long before I realized he was more than a creature I’d tamed—stronger than ever. He wasn’t just a companion anymore; he was a friend. A brother, even.
“Darling, I’m so glad you’re finally free,” Bastian sang out, head tilted toward the stairwell. “I was just deciding which of these books to use.”
Kieran blinked, and my gaze dragged over the oversized shirt she wore, hem brushing her knees. Fuck, she was perfection incarnate. “For?”
Bastian’s grin turned dangerous. “A stack tall enough to bend you over, for sure. Then again”—he gestured lazily upstairs—“your balcony might have the better view.”
Kieran muttered a curse, and it didn’t take me long to piece together what he was alluding to. Niz had taken her there—out in the open on the balcony. The thought of anyone outside of us seeing my Beauty like that twisted hard in my chest, but I forced it down.
Niz’s low rumble came immediately as he crossed to the kitchen island, sitting down in one of the chairs. “Don’t even think about it.”
Gabe chuckled. “What, is the balcony yours now?”
Niz’s eyes lit with mischief as Kieran shot him a look that promised trouble, her steps carrying her to stand beside me. I slid the steaks into the oven and started chopping vegetables, the rhythm of the knife steadying my hands.
“Well,” Niz drawled, “since we’re in the habit of claiming things… I heard someone down here thought he was the only one charting new lands.” His mouth curved into a smirk. “Consider this a friendly notice, Steele—that won’t be true for long.”
A flicker of tension moved through the room.
Steele’s head snapped up. “Is that so?” His gaze slid to Kieran, then to Niz. “While you were in there, did you still feel my cum inside her?” A beat passed, the corner of his mouth tilting. “Oh—wait.Sounds like you weren’t even allowed in.”
Kieran let out a breathy sound, half-gasp, half-laugh, heat rising up her neck. Looking down at her, she was clearly entertained and embarrassed, cheeks flushed, pupils blown wide—and damn if she wasn’t turned on.
Niz just laughed—quick and bright. “Allowed? More like otherwise occupied. But don’t worry, I plan to remedy that andmake sure it's theonlyexperience that stays buried in Kieran’s sweet mind.”
“This is…insane,” Kieran hissed, hiding her face against my arm.
I kept my focus on Steele, out of old habit and caution. The man was carved from pride and purpose, and both could cut. But Steele didn’t bristle. He leaned back, one forearm slung over the armrest as if he had time to spare.
