"You get what I give you." I pulled him closer by his collar and kissed the smile off his face. He tasted like the wine and something sweeter. Surprise, maybe, that I'd met his challenge. His hands touched me immediately, restless and curious, tracing paths along my ribs, my waist, the curve of my hip. Every touch sent shivers cascading across my skin.
Lyrin hung back. I could feel his want like an ache in my chest, sharp and terrified and so intense it nearly took my breath away.
I held out my hand.
For a long moment, he didn't move. The others stilled, waiting. Even Vaelix stopped his restless exploration. The room held its breath.
Then Lyrin crossed the distance and took my hand, and the relief that flooded through the Tether was so intense it made my eyes sting.
"Tell me what you want," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I want you."
I kissed him slowly, carefully, letting him feel every moment. The press of my lips. The gentle sweep of my tongue. The way my fingers curled around the back of his neck, anchoring him to me. He hesitated at first, trembling, then he moved like a man who was desperate for attention, his hands gripping my waist like I was the only solid thing in a shifting universe.
Torvyn started working on the fastenings of my shirt before I could direct him, his fingers surprisingly deft for their size. I hadn't told him to. He'd simply seen what needed doing and done it.
Vaelix's hand caught my chin, turning my face toward him.
"You're thinking too much," he said. "Stop directing. Just feel."
He kissed me before I could respond, and I realized he was right. I'd been so focused on controlling this that I'd forgotten to let go.
I stopped giving orders. Let them move around me, with me. Let Kaedren pull me where he wanted me. Let Lyrin's hands find their own path across my skin.
It was terrifying. It was exactly what I needed.
Kaedren pulled me toward the cushions, two arms around my waist, the other two already working at his own clothing.
"You've been giving orders all night," he said against my ear. "My turn."
He pressed me down into the cushions, and I let him. Let him take control, let him set the pace. His four hands worked in concert,two holding my wrists loosely above my head, the other two exploring, stroking, teasing. Through the Tether, I felt his satisfaction at finally having me beneath him, at finally being the one to decide what happened next.
The others didn't wait for permission either. Torvyn stretched out beside me, his mouth finding my neck, my collarbone, the curve of my breast. Vaelix positioned himself on my other side, his clever fingers tracing patterns on my stomach that made my muscles jump. Lyrin knelt at my feet, and when his hands began working up my calves, my thighs, I shuddered.
For a heartbeat, I lost track of who was directing whom. Maybe no one was. Maybe that was the point.
I should have felt overwhelmed. Four of them, all their attention, all their hunger focused on me.
Instead, I felt held. Surrounded. Safe enough to surrender.
Fabric rustled and fell as clothes disappeared. Buttons released, leather unlaced. And then it was just skin and heat and the amber glow of the lights making shadows dance across muscle and scar tissue.
Torvyn's massive frame, chiseled like he'd been carved from stone, his chest broad enough that I could lose myself against it. Kaedren's four-armed warrior's build, lean and predatory, muscles rippling under taut skin as he shifted with barely contained energy. Vaelix's lithe form, deceptively strong beneath the pretty surface, all graceful lines and glowing blue skin. And Lyrin, tension written in every muscle even as he bared himself, his vulnerability making him somehow more beautiful than all the rest.
Beautiful.
All of them.
Mine. And I was theirs.
Torvyn's hand cupped my face, turning me toward him.
"Tell us what you want," he said.
"Everything." I smiled at him, at all of them. "But we're going to take our time."
Vaelix groaned. "You're going to kill us."
