Then he’d blinked at me when I’d giggled at him.
Now, my belly full, my mind shutting down, my body aching in the best way, a stray thought drifted back to me.
“I can’t believe Eluned does with Foster what we just did with each other,” I said, the thought still bewildering to me. “I can’t believe she’d enjoy it.”
“Trust me, menace, she’s not experiencing anything like what we just did,” Zane scoffed.
“What do you mean?” I raised my head from Koa’s shoulder to look at him.
“Fozzy Wozzy isn’t exactly the gentle type. He’s not into aftercare or cuddling or sweet nothings.” Zane shrugged a little. “It’s just fucking to him. Hard, fast, and rough. No strings, no emotional connection. It’s notlove,treasure.”
“Oh.” I processed this, remembering Eluned’s gleeful cruelty, the way she’d sometimes lick her lips when Arabesque punished me. “That actually makes better sense.”
“How so?” Casimir asked, propping himself up on one elbow to look at me.
“Eluned always did enjoy pain. Not just causing it, but I think she likes feeling it, too. Last winter, she deliberately held her hand in the fireplace, just to see how long she could keep it there. She laughed the whole time.” The memory made me shiver, and Koa pulled me tighter to his chest. “Do you think she wants what we have with Foster? Or is it just another game?”
“Some people get off on power, Seri. Or pain. Or both.” Zane’s thumb brushed the mark he’d left earlier on my inner thigh. “But whatwehave? This fire? That’s not something you play at, sweetheart.”
“What about Amabel?” Koa asked. “Is she the same freaky-deaky as her sister?”
“Amabel doesn’tseemto feel anything.” I shrugged and snuggled more into him. “But sometimes, I wonder if she just won’t let herself.”
“What do you know about Austin Cho?” Casimir asked.
“Not much. He arrived two days before I left. Seemed like a nice guy,” I said with a yawn. “I wanted to warn him, tell him to leave as he carried my suitcases to the car.”
“Sleep, baby,” Koa murmured when I yawned again. “We’ll save the questions for tomorrow.”
Humming my thanks, I kissed his chin, then reached down and threaded my fingers through Zane’s where they rested on my hip.
As I drifted off, surrounded by their heat and heartbeats, a sliver of pity cut through me for Eluned. Whatever she and Foster shared, I knew that it held none of the warmth, none of the tenderness, the four of us shared. No matter how exquisite pain might be for her, it could never compare to making love with someone who cherished your heart as much as your body.
As for Amabel, I pitied her, too. Courage wasn’t about maintaining control rather than giving in to pleasure. Sometimes, courage was letting yourself be loved—loudly, messily, and thoroughly—by three men who’d raze kingdoms to keep you safe.
12. Wrapped Around Her
Casimir
The rhythmic sound of fists meeting the heavy bag filled the crisp morning air, punctuated by sharp exhales. Koa had been at it for nearly twenty minutes now, his movements precise, controlled, but carrying a tension that hadn’t bled out, no matter how many times he struck.
I exchanged a glance with Zane, who stood beside me stretching his arms over his head. He hadn’t cracked a joke in the last half-hour, which told me just how much Ko’s outburst from the night before was still weighing on him. It wasn’t like Z to let things fester, but then, it wasn’t like Ko to say something like that.
The fact that he had, and meant it, sat like a stone in my gut.
We’d given him space last night, but neither Zane nor I had been able to let it go. Not when we’d learned that, for years, our brother had believed himself a weak link. That he thought he had to compensate just to be enough.
It was bullshit.
And we weren’t letting it stand.
“So, Koko.” Zane dropped his arms and rolled his shoulders before stepping forward. Ko grunted, but didn’t stop punching. “You, uh, got anything else you wanna unload on us?”
“What are you talking about?” Ko finally slowed, catching the bag on the return swing to steady it.
“I’m talking about the way you broke my jaw last night, which took nearly half an hour to heal by the way, and the fact that you apparently think you’re some kind of liability because you don’t have magic,” Zane scoffed, crossing his arms.
“It’s not that deep.” Ko’s hands tightened on the heavy bag, knuckles still red from training.
