Then she whispers, “You’re here.”
And just like that, we are.
CHAPTER 54
Ashlyn
I could cry.No, Iwantto cry. Happy tears, relieved tears, overwhelmed tears—I don’t even know. For weeks, I’ve felt them through our bond, but it’s never enough. Distance dulls it, makes it muted, like hearing a song through a wall. But now? Now, they’re here,reallyhere, standing in my doorway, breathing the same air, looking at me like they’ve been starving for me just as much as I have for them.
I shove my laptop to the side, barely registering the way it bounces on the mattress. My body moves before my mind catches up, launching across the room.
Xayden catches me effortlessly, like he’s been waiting for it, like he knew I wouldn’t hesitate. His arms wrap tight around me, his grip almost bruising, but I don’t care. Ineedit. I need to feel every part of him pressed against me, need the warmth of his skin, the solid weight of him, the reality of him.
He buries his face in my neck, inhaling deep. His lips press frantic, messy kisses across my jaw, my cheek, my temple—like he can’t decide where to land first. His scent—leather and citrus and something sharp, heady withwant—floods my senses,mingling with the others as they step into the room, surrounding me.
Jake’s hands slide around my waist, his chest solid and warm against my back. His scent is calming, grounding. He presses his lips to the side of my head, his voice a whisper. “Missed you, sweetheart.”
West steps in next, his hands brushing along my arm before gripping my chin, forcing my gaze up to meet his stormy eyes. “Tell me you missed us,” he says, his voice a low demand. His scent—smoky whiskey and almond—wraps around me, thick and intoxicating.
A shiver runs through me as I breathe them in.All of them.Their musks swirl together, sinking beneath my skin,claiming me all over again.
Todd is last, moving in behind Jake, his presence just as commanding as the rest. But where the others are hungry,aching, his touch is different. He tilts my chin toward him, his thumb stroking over my bottom lip. “You’re shaking,” he murmurs, his amber-and-sandalwood scent laced with something deeper, something primal. “We’ve got you, Ash.”
I let out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding.
They’re here. They’rereallyhere. And suddenly, two months apart feels like too damn long.
“I missed you,” I whisper, the words thick with emotion.
Xayden growls softly, his hands gripping my thighs. “Youfeellike you missed us,” he mutters, pressing me harder against his chest. “I cansmellhow much you missed us.”
My cheeks heat as my perfume spikes, their proximity, their scents, theirtouchsending my body into overdrive. I know they can smell it, the sweetness of strawberries and cream thick in the air, laced with something deeper—need.
West’s hands slide down my arms, slow and deliberate, his fingertips trailing fire over my skin. I shudder, the sensation making my breath hitch, my body already desperate for more.
“Still so damn responsive,” he murmurs, his voice rough with appreciation.
I open my mouth to argue—to tell him I’m not some starved, desperate thing—but the moment Todd’s hands settle on my hips, firm and grounding, the words dissolve on my tongue.
“You feel that?” Todd whispers against the shell of my ear, his voice low and deep, sending a fresh wave of heat through me. “Your body remembers us.”
It does.
Every nerve in my body hums as they close in, surrounding me in heat, in touch, in scent. I feel them—reallyfeel them—through our bond, emotions thick and unguarded. Possession, longing,love.
Xayden tilts my chin, forcing my gaze to his. His golden-brown eyes are dark with need, burning with something untamed. “Let us have you, Ash. Let us remind you who you belong to.”
I can’t think. I don’twantto think.
The answer is already on my lips.
“Yes.”
Xayden growls, sealing his mouth over mine in a kiss that’s all tongue and teeth, a clash of desperation and relief. West’s hands slip beneath my shirt, his palms hot against my skin, mapping the curves of my waist, my ribs, up?—
Todd’s fingers slide up my neck, tangling in my hair as he tugs my head back, breaking Xayden’s kiss only for Jake to replace it, his lips softer, teasing,so damn thoroughas he drinks me in like he has all the time in the world.
I moan into him, arching as West’s hands find my breasts, as Xayden’s teeth graze over the bond mark on my throat.
