It smelled like love.
Like safety.
Likehome.
22. Same With You
Seri
Casimir deposited me on the center of our enormous bed with surprising gentleness given his obvious urgency. The mattress dipped as Koa knelt at the foot of the bed, his hands wrapping around my ankles to remove my sneakers and socks one by one. His touch lingered, thumbs pressing into the arches of my feet in a brief massage that made me sigh with pleasure.
As Zane’s hands moved to his belt, I held up one hand.
“Wait.” The word came out reed-thin. My palm pressed against Casimir’s sternum, feeling the jackhammer pulse beneath warm skin. “I want… I need to…”
They froze instantly, three pairs of eyes snapping to my face with varying degrees of concern.
“What’s wrong?” Casimir was already looking me over as if to check for injuries.
“Changed your mind about royal impalement, sweetheart?” Zane’s eyebrows climbed toward his hairline.
“Which is perfectly fine if you did.” Koa shot him a glare.
“No.” I shook my head, my cheeks heating as I gathered my courage. “No, I just… I want to try something different.”
“Different how, beloved?” Koa asked gently.
I scrambled to sit up, my heart pounding in my ears.
“I just… You’re always… ” My fingers sketched helpless patterns in the air. “Touching me.Thoroughly. And I love it, but it doesn’t give me a chance to, um, do the same with you.”
“Bat’s bones,” Zane choked. “Are you suggesting—”
“You want to explore us?” Casimir’s voice was sharp, and I dropped my eyes to my knees.
“It’s only fair, right?” I mumbled.
“Fair?” Zane growled. “What’s fair about me busting a nut before I ever bury myself inside your sweet—”
“We don’t have to!” I quickly backpedalled and curled in on myself. “I was just curious.”
“Curiosity is not wise for you to cultivate, Serafina. It will only ever end in tears for you.”
Arabesque’s taunt echoed through me, tearing away the small bit of confidence I’d had moments ago. Then, more devastating, a different voice, rough and feral.
“Seems it’s your lucky day, little dove. Stay awake and count.”
And my body jerked involuntarily with the phantom pain of what had followed.
“Forget it.” My bottom lip quivering, I plucked at Steve’s hem, feeling miserable now and wishing I could disappear. “I wouldn’t be any good at it, anyway. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’d just disappoint you. Maybe even hurt you. It was a stupid idea.”
Thwack!Casimir’s palm cracked against Zane’s shoulder with a sound like a gunshot.
“Ow!”
“Fix it, menace!Now!”
And Zane dropped to his knees in front of me, his fingers hovering over my foot like it might shatter.
