Knowing now how that makes them feel, the ache… They’d be willing to feel like that... forever?
“No matter how hard I try...” I start, but their reactions crash into me. Pure and aching, thick with expected grief.
I’d planned this part of my speech, to let vague words and drawn-out pauses punish them.
But now… I don’t want that. I don’t want to hurt them. Ever.
“I can’t imagine a life without you in it.” I look at each of them: Julien, Ezekial, Sai, and then Kane. “All of you.”
And just like that, the cold ache ebbs away.
Chapter 13: Jasmine
Stunned into silence, Sai wastes no time extracting himself from Kane’s shadows, dropping his head—face first—into my thighs.
“Fuck.” His hands lift to rest on my calves. “Thankfuck.Thank the fucking holy fuckness. Whoever the fuck is up there.”Then he starts moaning muffled things in what sounds like Faeish.
I know I shouldn’t let him touch me. Not yet, not after everything. But goddesses, I’ve missed it.
My fingers clench around the edge of my chair, because if I don’t, I know they’ll end up buried in his soft curls.
“Are you sure?” Kane’s voice is so light, filled with… disbelief. He can’t accept what I’ve said, can’t process it or what it means.
But I know what he’s really asking. I hear the whispered shadow beneath those words as his stormy eyes lock with mine.
Even me?
I could nod, that would be enough. But no.
“Yes, Kane.”I need him to hear it. And he needs it too.
That seems to wake him, and the others.
“Get off her.” Ezekial reaches for Sai, but an electrified barrier erupts, sparks crackling in warning.
There’s a low growl from Ezekial. “Sai, you need to ground yourself.”
“I am grounded,” he mumbles into my legs, lips right above my knees, meaning the vibration shoots straightup. “I’m so fucking grounded right now, I’m practically the floor.”
I laugh, and Sai lifts his face until his chin rests upon my knees, staring up at me with icy-blue admiration. “I never thought I’d hear that sound in person again.”
“You might not hear it again if you don’t move.”I flick my gaze to the men surrounding us to make my point clear.
They’re all tense, still, and their frustration is bubbling, spiking with…. jealousy.
A dangerous emotion. Almost as potent as rage.
“Off, Sai.”Ezekial again, but rougher.
But Sai doesn’t even blink, ignoring him completely.“But don’t I look good down here?”His smirk is small, but wicked.“Because you look so fucking good from this angle, baby.”
I forgot how dirty Sai can make his internal voice, the soft rasp caressing my mind like the fingers on my legs.
It’s so distracting, that when flickers of metallic light erupt, morphing into a loop around Sai’s neck and yanking back—I jolt, and my knee smashes up, into his mouth, with a horrific crack.
Still on his knees, Sai grapples with the coil leashing him. “You prick!”he snarls, glaring at Ezekial.
“You weren’t listening,”he responds, then internally. “Behave like a dog, I’ll treat you like one.”
