“I was just…I don’t know. I want things to work. But how? How is it supposed to work? There’sfourof us. You’re enough for me on your own. How am I supposed to just let another man into our bed?”
I almost laughed. Skye was so naïve in some ways, it really was endearing. But I could see her frustration was genuine. She really was worried about this.
“It wouldn’t be just another man, Skye. It’d be one of your Links. Wait, right? We’re talking about your other Links?”
Skye tossed her head back all the way in exasperation. “Why do you want me to hookup with someone else so bad?”
“Skye, baby,” I took her hand, then pulled her in close. “Your mom had two Links, right?”
Skye’s gaze darted to the side before she answered. “Right.”
“And they were happy?” I asked.
Her eyes shifted again, as if she were trying to think back to the past. “Mostly.”
There it is.
“Theyweren’thappy?” I asked slowly.
Skye blew out a breath. “There were a lot of arguments. Levi was kind of a hardass, but he seemed soft enough for my mom. Ben was just…kind of there.” She furrowed her brow.
I nodded. “Well, my family Chain is a mess, so I can’t comment there. But what we had growing up? Not the norm. Fully connected Chains arehappy.”
Skye nodded, but still didn’t look convinced as we made our way back to our spot in the sand. She flopped down onto our towel with a huff.
“So, what…we’re supposed to have…foursomes?”
I laughed a little too loudly, muffling it only when I noticed Skye’s slight flinch.
“If you want,” I replied, trying to remain serious. “Remember what you told me? The Chain dynamic is whatever we want it to be. SomeChains have orgies. I’m sure some are platonic, somewhere. And sometimes it’s like the Princess, where the Key plays favorites.”
“I wouldn’t have favorites,” Skye said, looking out across the water. “You’d all have to be equal, otherwise…that’s just weird.”
“I mean, I won’t tell anyone I’m actually your favorite.” I leaned back in the sand and stretched. “You won’t make it too obvious, I’m sure.”
Smug, male satisfaction winded through me at how Skye’s gaze moved down to admire my muscled chest. I breathed a sigh and closed my eyes before tilting my head back.
Then, there was a sudden tug on the back of my hair, pulling me into the sand. I gasped as sand flew into the air around us and Skye giggled.
“Oops,” she said playfully.
“Oops?!” I feigned outrage. “You just like getting me dirty.”
Skye gave me a slow, sultry smile before she looked away quickly. “Stop flirting with me, we’re on a beach out in the open.”
“The sun isliterallygoing down,” I said, throwing my hand out toward the sunset over the water. “No one’s going to see us.”
“Going to see us do what?” Skye asked, arching one of her perfect eyebrows.
I grinned, then shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Angel,” Skye practically purred at me as she leaned over to lay across my chest. My smile dropped. I gulped as her body pushed against mine, fitting against me perfectly. “Are you suggesting we do something naughty out here in the open?”
“Of course not,” I breathed. “I mean, unless you’re down. Then yeah. Hell yeah.”
“You mean this morning wasn’t enough for you?”
I choked on a laugh, shaking my head. “Of course it was,” I pulled Skye to me and she giggled. “You’re always enough for me.”
