Regret still clings to his expression, and my chest squeezes. I hate seeing him groveling when it was the queen who pulled all the strings. “Thane. Please stand up.”
He looks like he’s still torn up inside, but he nods slowly. “If that is your wish,” he says.
When he lifts to his feet, his hands tentatively reach for my hips, and I move closer to him, wanting to reassure him that I’m all right. He wraps his arms around me, and he leans down, pressing his forehead to mine. “For you, my mate. Anything for you. If I could take you from these games now, I would.”
His voice is so tortured that it makes my heart crack, and I move my head, pressing my lips to his. His hands stiffen around my waist, and then, as if I’ve given him the reassurance he needed, he kisses me back like he’s been waiting an eternity for my lips. I melt into him, but it’s not long before he’s pulling back again. Pouting, I tug at his dream clothes, but he shakes his head.
“It’s not me you need tonight, mate,” he rumbles.
I don’t understand what he means at first. Not until he turns his head, staring at where Knox has been watching us silently.
“You’ve grown stronger when you’ve been with each of us,” Thane explains. “Knox told us who you are. That you’re our same mate from before. The one he found by entering your dreams. Our current theory is that the queen’s curse didn’t kill you, but it did impact you, and somehow being with us is removing that curse. Knox is the final piece.”
“But—” I start, not wanting to let go of him.
“You nearly died multiple times tonight,” Thane says, not letting me finish. “And I won’t…wewon’t survive losing you. Spend these precious moments with Knox. You need access to all your shadow powers when you compete tomorrow. You won’t be as powerful as an immortal, or as powerful as you would be if webonded, but it might just be enough for you to survive what the queen throws at you.”
I lick my lips. I shouldn’t be nervous. I remember Knox treasuring me, and he was everything a girl could ask for. But those memories of the past are still conflicting against the new memories I have now.
Knox must see my indecision, because in a few strides, he’s beside Thane and pulling me to him. Knox stares at me like he’s looking at his whole world right in front of him, and my doubts slowly fade.
“Let me do this, Shade,” Knox says. “You must survive. Thane’s right. You need your powers. It pains me that I didn’t do this for you some time ago.”
My lips tremble. “But what if it doesn’t work? What if the curse doesn’t get removed, and I’m not strong enough to survive these games?”
Knox’s eyes darken, and he tightens his hold on me. “Then I will remember the taste of your lips as I turn this world to ash.”
Well, holy freaking smut gods.That shouldn’t do it for me. If anything, I should be suggesting that Knox seeks the therapy he clearly needs seeing as that’s his plan for solving his problems if I die, but he presses his lips to mine, and I’m lost to the kiss. Eventually, he moves his mouth from my lips, kissing a trail down my neck.
“I’ve hated myself from the moment I left you those years ago,” he whispers, and it’s not until he says it, that I realize just how much the thought had been weighing on me. The memory that he’d left me. His words hang in the air, and I don’t answer straight away. I understand why he left now. He had thought he was doing it to keep me safe, and to stop us from losing the war. It’s obvious he’s regretted it ever since. And even though I understand the risks of the prophecy, I can’t stop myself from whispering, “Never again, Knox.” Because these men are mymates, and now that I have all four of them, I can’t stand the thought of living without them.
Knox nods, and his serious gaze bores into me. “Never,” he agrees. He says it like it’s a promise, and I believe him.
Another thought occurs to me then, and I turn my attention to Thane.
“Is this okay?” I ask him, looking between the two men. “I mean, I know I’m fated to both of you, but I have no idea how this is supposed to work. I don’t want to come between you.”
Thane and Knox share a look, and they’re smiling when they turn back to me.
“We used to share women,” Thane explains, “but when Knox found you and he thought you’d died…”
“I couldn’t look at another woman again,” Knox finishes. “Thane was the only one I could love romantically.” As if to prove his point, he leans forward, capturing Thane’s mouth with his.
I blow out a long breath as they kiss in front of me, and moments pass before they both pull away, turning to me again.
“But you are the one who completes us,” Thane says, coming closer and sliding his hand around my back. That’s the only answer they give me before Thane is devouring my mouth. I can taste Knox on his lips, and Thane kisses me until my lungs burn for air. Finally, he releases me, moving back to give us space, and Knox takes his place again.
My mate brushes his fingers along my cheek, and fire and ice trail wherever our skin touches. “You are the one we’ve been missing, my love. The only one who can make us whole.”
There’s such emotion in his voice that it makes my heart hurt. When his lips crash against mine, I don’t hesitate to kiss him back. The man tastes me like he never intends on letting me go again, and when his hand grips the back of my head, I moan into his mouth. The memories of Knox and me together have been taunting me, and it feels so right to be in his armsagain. So damn right to have his fingers in my hair, and his hard body pressed against me. Steel and citrus. I want to feel the way I did all those years ago, when Knox made me forget the world. When he made me believe there could be more for me. When he showed me that I was loved. Thane, Galen, and Raith have been showing me that in their own ways, but it’s different when I’m with each of them. And Knox makes me feel like even death couldn’t come between us.
Our clothes disappear, and I grin against his lips as he pulls me flush against him. He curls an arm around my back, and when he leans me down, a plush mattress appears beneath me.
“Well, that’s handy,” I mumble, glad that we’re in my dream and not in the forest.
A scene materializes around us, and the darkness we’d been standing in fades away as a familiar bedroom comes into view. The bed beneath us has roses patterned on the quilt, and I giggle, remembering all the memories we’ve made on this dream bed.
My head falls to a pillow, and Knox moves between my legs. He slides the tip of his hard cock along my center, and I gasp, already too sensitive.
