Will I feel like this forever now, or will the weight of it eventually lessen?
Turning my thoughts away from my grief, I fry up the veggies, with Mal loitering by me, and add eggs, and meat, then add in the rice. There are a couple of bottles of soy sauce and oyster sauce in the pantry, too, which I add for seasoning, and finally drizzle the whole pan with chili crunch oil and scatter on the green parts of the scallion.
Cain emerges, shirtless, rubbing at his still-damp hair with a towel. He’s so gorgeous, he literally takes my breath away, and I’m distracted from what I’m doing and pause just to stare at him.
He catches me looking and grins. “Something smells good.”
I bet he smells good, too.
“Thanks. I just threw together what we had.”
I dish up the stir-fried rice and hand the plates out to the men for them to eat on their laps on the couch. They eat like they’re starved, wolfing it down. I eat mine a little more slowly. I don’t think I’ve fully gotten my appetite back yet.
When I’ve finished, I get up to collect the plates.
“Sit back down,” Mal says, jumping to his feet. A lock of his black hair falls into his face, and he blows it away. “You cooked, so we clean up.”
“Deal,” I say with a smile.
He ducks down and kisses my mouth before picking up my half-eaten meal. He frowns down at it. “You didn’t eat much.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Wasn’t overly hungry.”
“Don’t go wasting away on us. We need you.”
Warmth blooms inside me at his words. They need me. I don’t think I’ve ever been needed before. The truth is, I need them, too.
As we all settle into a post meal chill-out in the living room, I notice Roman isn’t with us. Curious, I go to look for him and find him in the altar room. He doesn’t notice me at first, fixated on something he’s working on. His strong fingers smooth over a small piece of wood with sandpaper.
I step into the room. “What are you doing?”
He hides the object behind his back. “A surprise. No peeking, okay?”
I like that he’s making me something, so I smile and don’t push him. Realizing I need the bathroom, I take a break. By the time I return to the living room, I find Roman is back, sitting with the others, and he hasn’t got anything with him. Damn, I wanted to try to take a look. I could sneak around looking for whatever it is, but I’d never do that. He’ll show me when he’s ready. I retake my seat and shuffle in until I’m comfy.
As the men chat, their conversation and deep voices lull me. A wave of tiredness sweeps over me, and I yawn and stretch. It’s been an adrenaline filled day, plus the events of the past few days have caught up with me.
I stand. “I’m going to bed.”
Roman gets up as well, but Cain shakes his head. “Not tonight. Tonight, she’s mine.”
Roman glances between us all and nods his acceptance. “Fair.”
“One day, maybe I’ll get to be the prince.” Mal clutches at his chest as though mortally wounded, but his cheeky grin lets me know he’s joking.
Cain growls. “You can take tomorrow night, or any other night. Tonight, though, she’s all for me.” He’s still slightly drunk, I think, from the way his words are just that bit slurred.
I bite my lower lip, a shiver of excitement going through me at his possessiveness.
Cain takes my hand and pulls me up the stairs. We reach the bedroom, and he immediately pushes me up against the wall, bracketing me with his big body. I was right, he does smell good, all fresh from the shower and manly from whatever bodywash he used. My palms find the muscles of his back and shoulders and slide up to lace into the soft hair at his nape.
He ducks his head and kisses me with a light nip to my lower lip.
“I told my father I was going to marry you, right before my brother killed him.”
“You did?” My breath catches. “But—but what about the others?”
“We’re all going to marry you. All three of us. But my asshole father didn’t need to know that.”
