“Ezekial, you have the most control.” Kane keeps his voice low and level, no room for doubt.
“But you’ve spent the most time with her. Surely you’re more adjusted?” Ezekial presses, tone sharpening.
“Yet you were the one who raised a mental barrier. You held our darkness long enough for us to regain control.”
“But…” Zeek is losing, his brows drawing tight with frustration. “But you managed to flit.”
“And I wassecondsfrom doing something she’d never forgive.” Kane’s words grind out between his teeth and my eyes damn near pop. Judging by the silence, I’m not the only one shocked by Kane’s response. “My darkness pushed me to flit, but not to protect her. It wanted to…” He shakes his head. “To claim her.”
Toclaimher.
“My darkness was too close to the surface, and when I touched her.” He closes his eyes, and a chill runs through me at how unlike Kane that tiny action is. “I sensed Kacey, and that broke the… urge. That was the only reason I was able to leave.”
We’re all silent, but I’m locked on Kane, on the way his chest rises and falls a little too quickly.
Our little Red really has fucked us up.
“Breathe, Kane,”I murmur, only to him. I see him flinch in response to my voice, but then he listens.
After a few more breaths, he tries again, “Ezekial, your barrier, your light, without it, we would’ve lost ourselves to the dark completely. Without you, I would have… We would have…”
He doesn’t finish his sentence, but the rest rips through us anyway.
Take her. Bond her. She needs it. Needs us. Now. We can take turns. Touch. Taste. Bond. Claim.
I scrunch my eyes shut as violent, carnal images claw at me. All our dark urges tangling into one big, feral mess that has the shadows spiking towards us.
“Can wenottalk about that,” I grit, shooting the brothers a sharp look and lining up a shock to the ribs if necessary.
Zeek rakes a hand through his hair, subduing the thoughts with a mental block I feel press in place.
“Brother, I already showed you what happened last night,” he says, and I don’t miss the edge of distress in his tone. “I can’t do that again.”
I lean back in Zeek’s chair so far, so fast, I nearly fall off.
“What thefuckhappened last night, Zeek?” I look to Julien who also appears confused.
“She… I…” Zeek stumbles over the words, and my eyes narrow.
First Kane, now Zeek? What the fuck did our girl do that hastheEzekial tongue-tied?
Then he shows us. Just a snippet, just a tiny glimpse, but holy hell—
Red’s gorgeous eyes flutter up at him, all wide and doe-eyed, her back pinned to a door, pale skin flush, voice a husky rasp as she murmurs,“My lord.”
I topple off the chair, hit the floor with a thud, and stay there. “Fuck.”
Julien leans over to peer down at me.
“Fuck,” I mutter again, staring up at the ceiling and part of Julien’s face. “Zeek, I’m gonna need an extended cut of that.” I don’t move. Can’t. If my dick feels the slightest bit of friction, I’m done. “The full, uncut, director’s edition, bonus features included.”
“Which is why Ican’tstay again.” Zeek drops into the chair I’ve just fallen from while I stay on the floor beside him. “What if she does that again?”
“Ezekial, that memory alone proves you hold more control than any of us,” Julien chimes in. “The first night will have been the most difficult, but with more time together, it will grow easier.”
Zeek doesn’t look convinced. He’s glaring at his monitor, which I can see from the floor is very much off.
“I will try to feed,” Julien says again, moving towards the shadows. I’m about to stand and follow, when he adds in my mind:“Help him, Sai.”
