I blink, startled by the directness, by the lack of challenge where I expected battle. In my world, nothing comes without conflict, without blood spilled. This acceptance feels foreign, almost suspicious in its sincerity.
Sam doesn’t stop, continuing with a certainty that leaves no room for doubt. “I’m not falling in love with Locke. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” His lips twitch slightly, a shadow of humor. “But if this is what you want. What you need, then I have to make space for that. For him.”
He turns to me again, appraising me with a look that sees beyond surface to essence. “He’s already proven he can protect you. Probably even better than I can. That. . .that makes him part of this. Part of us.”
Us. The word rings in the air like a vow, like a binding spell more powerful than any magic. I never thought I would ever be a part of anything beyond duty and court politics. All my life, it’s been me and Rue, and even then, we were thrust apart for myfather’s agenda, for the endless machinations of the Night Court. This though, this is what I want. What I choose. What I claim for myself, not what has been thrust upon me.
Then he turns back to Esme, his expression softening with something that can only be love.
“I want what’s best for you,” he says. “And he is. Just like I am.”
The silence that follows feels holy, sacred.
Esme rises slowly, crossing the small space between them. “You’re sure?” she asks, voice trembling with the magnitude of this moment, this shift that cannot be undone.
Sam steps forward and presses a kiss to her temple, the gesture tender and affirming. “I’m sure.”
Sam turns and sits back down in the chair by the bed and smirks, something knowing in his expression. “You want him, Angel?”
Esme steps back, eyes wide as she looks at him, surprised by the shift in his demeanor, then back at me. Her gaze is molten, full of promise and hunger. “I want you both.”
Sam shakes his head, a small smile playing on his lips. “Not tonight. Tonight, I want to watch you fall apart in his arms.”
I meet Sam’s gaze, and there’s a silent understanding between us, an agreement forged without words. We’ve reached the point of no return, crossed a threshold that will forever alter the course of all our lives. After tonight, she’s mine. No, she’s ours. Whatever comes for her at the top of that mountain will have to go through both of us first.
I stand, scoop Esme up in my arms and carry her to the plush rug in front of the fire. I strip her of her nightgown, revealing her smooth, deep brown skin, scattered with cinnamon freckles that seem to glow in the firelight. I worship her body with my hands, kneading her breast, lapping and tugging at each nipple reverently, my tongue teases, licking the sweet sweat from herskin. I trace every curve, every line, until she’s writhing beneath me, her breath coming in desperate gasps.
I can feel her arousal, smell her need, and it drives me wild. I slip a finger inside her wet heat, pussy leaking for me, then another, her essence coating my hand as I stroke her clit, teasing her, bringing her to the brink and then pulling back, again and again.
She whimpers in frustration, her hips bucking against my hand. “Locke, please.”
I smile, a dark, wicked smile. “Please what, Starlight?”
Her eyes meet mine, pleading. “I need you. All of you.”
I give her what she needs. I stand and strip out of my clothes, her eyes watching my every move as she drinks me in. Naked, I stroke my cock, the tip dripping with precum, but I hold back to Esme’s dismay. She writhes, letting her hands wander, palming her breast with one hand while playing with her pussy with the other.
“Sam. I think Esme doesn’t want to leave you out. Show our little warrior how hard we’ve made you,” I say, looking over my shoulder at the wolf. I can tell he’s on the edge.
“Please, Sam,” Esme pants, eyes trained on Sam as he takes his dick out and begins to slowly stroke himself.
“Spread your legs, Starlight. Let me get lost between your thighs, bask in the sweetness of your pussy,” I say, dropping to my knees and burying my face in her heat. With long licks between her folds, she bucks and squirms as I devour every inch of her, sucking her clit between my teeth, biting gently. She cums, her body convulsing, her cry of pleasure echoing through the room.
I don’t let her catch her breath before I’m sinking into her, my cock filling her completely, her body arching to meet mine. We move together, our bodies in sync, our breath mingling, ourhearts beating as one. The world falls away, and it’s just us, lost in each other, drowning in sensation.
Her orgasm hits her like a wave, her body convulsing around mine, her cry of pleasure echoing through the room. I follow her over the edge as Sam shouts her name from across the room. My release rips through me like a hurricane, leaving me shattered and whole all at once.
In the aftermath, we lie there, tangled together, our breathing hearts steadying. I hold her close, her body fitting against mine like it was made for me. I know, without a doubt, that I will never let her go.
Tomorrow, we face the trials. Tomorrow, we fight for our future. Tonight, we are here, in this moment, and it’s enough. It has to be. Because tomorrow isn’t promised, and I won’t waste a single second of the time we have.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ESME
Iwake to the slow rise and fall of Sam’s chest beneath my cheek, the steady rhythm of his heart a soothing lullaby that beckoned me from the depths of sleep. Locke’s arm is a possessive band around my waist, his breath a warm whisper against the nape of my neck. This is a sanctuary I never dared to dream of: a moment of peace in my life marred by turmoil.
I am the thread woven between two starkly different fabrics, yet here, in the quiet of the morning, we are seamless. Sam’s love is a grounding force, a deep well of unwavering devotion. Locke’s is a fierce blaze, a passion that burned through centuries of solitude. Together, they are my undoing and my strength.
