My body hums like an overloaded wire, every nerve too sensitive, every muscle trembling with the memory of everything they’ve done to me. The nest is a wreck. Sheets soaked through, mattress crusted, blankets and pillows kicked halfway across the room. The air is so heavy with sex it clings to my skin even after they’ve bathed me twice.
But I’m not burning anymore. Not the way I was. The fever heat that had me clawing for them like oxygen is finally easing. Finally taking mercy on me. I can breathe without that edge of desperation slicing through my throat.
Finally.
I hate that fucking feeling.
A shaky sigh slips out as Beck scoots up behind me, big body curling around mine. He’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go. Hischest is solid against my back, heartbeat steady, and grounding. I think I’d float away without it.
“You with me, sugar?”
“Mmhmm.” It’s barely more than a breath, but it makes his arm tighten around my waist.
Ford’s stretched out in front of me, head propped on his palm, eyes soft and heavy-lidded. He looks as wrecked as I feel, hair damp with sweat, jaw shadowed with stubble. He smiles a little when I meet his gaze.
Not that cocky grin he throws at everyone else. This one’s just for me.
“Heat finally fading?” he asks as he reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
I nod, slow, because even that takes effort. My thighs ache. My hips ache. Hell, I think even my eyelashes ache. They’ve wrung me out completely, taken everything I had to give, and then kept going until I was nothing but raw nerve endings and instinct.
And I loved every second of it.
Hayes moves on the edge of the bed, adjusting one of the blankets over me like I’m breakable. Which… maybe I am right now. He sits, still fully alert even though his body must be screaming. His palm comes to rest on my foot, picking it up before he begins massaging it.
“You hurting anywhere, pretty girl?” The question’s quiet, but there’s steel under it. If I say yes, he’ll bulldoze the world until it’s fixed.
Just like he bulldozed me with that toy knot of his.
“No.” My voice cracks, and I try again. “No, just… just tired.”
Tired isn’t even the word. I’m broken. Melted down to nothing but soft edges and warmth. Every time I blink, my eyes want to stay closed.
Beck’s mouth brushes my hair.
“You did good, sweetheart.” His tone is pure praise, and stupid tears sting my eyes. God, what is wrong with me?
“Don’t cry,” Ford murmurs, leaning in to kiss the wetness before it can fall. “You’ve handled enough, Lo. Let us take care of you now. That’s all we want to do.”
“I…”
My throat closes. The words don’t come, just a flood of emotion so sharp it almost hurts. I want to say thank you. I want to tell them that I feel safe in a way I didn’t think was real, that the bond humming under my skin doesn’t scare me anymore. That it feels… right.
Instead, I make this broken little sound as I roll over and tuck my face into Beck’s hairy chest. He pulls me closer without a word, wrapping me up in his heat, and I breathe him in.
Ford scoots up behind me, pressing his forehead to the back of my hair. Hayes stays at my feet like a sentinel, his massaging hands never leaving me. He needs that tether as much as I do.
They all do.
The last of the frenzy is gone. No more sharp edges of need, no more frantic tearing at each other like we’re starving. Just this bone-deep quiet, full of their scents and their warmth and the kind of safety I’ve never once known in my entire life.
I think I whisper something. Maybe their names. Maybe just a sound. Doesn’t matter. Beck’s answering rumble vibrates through my spine, Ford’s mouth ghosts over my temple, and Hayes’s fingers keep stroking the soles of my feet, slow and steady, until the dark pulls me under.
Finally, I sleep.
Iwake up expecting… more.
More fever. More clawing desperation. More of that sharp, burning edge that had me begging like an absolute wreck.
