“He was afraid that we’d get sick of each other. That even with all the space in the house, we’d get annoyed with being on top of each other and so he was determined to make sure we each had our own separate place to decompress on our own.”
“We don’t get tired of each other,” I said.
He smiled, pressing his lips to mine again. “We don’t. But sometimes I think he’s still worried we will.”
My brows knit together. “Why?”
“I think because his parents didn’t stay together. Their harem was only five deep, but they couldn’t stand being so close all the time. I believe Arat’s biggest fear is that we’ll split if we find ourselves in forced proximity too often.”
Frowning, I said, “I love being around you every single day. I would never get sick of it. My biggest fear is coming home but someone else not making it. What if the last thing I told them wasn’t how much they meant to me? What if I didn’t remind them how much I love them?”
Zilan suddenly righted me in the pool so quickly that my arms flailed as I tried to find my equilibrium. I hadn’t caught my breath from my heart slamming in my chest when his mouth covered mine. Kissing me fiercely, his fingers digging into my back.
“Right now, we all have that fear,” he said into my mouth, his hands dragging down my body to move my legs so they'd wrap around his waist. “But know that our biggest priority will always be making it out alive. Together. All of us.”
“Yes,” I agreed. The word sounded choked.
But there were things out of our control. When the sun rises and falls. The breeze and the vastness of the ocean. Who we fall in love with. The type of storm you’re born as.
When it’s time to die.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
Zilan cupped my face in his hands as I clung to him. “We’ve cheated death already, and our Nephilim will be on standby. Wewillmake it out together, Bronte. Do you understand me?”
While his words were fierce and assuring, I didn’t miss the fear in his eyes. The way they glistened with unshed tears that he refused to acknowledge.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I nodded.
“We will come home when we’re done. When we’ve accomplished our goal of striking a devastating assault, however that might be. All twelve of us. And we’ll sit together in one of these pools, right on top of each other, and finally laugh our terror away.”
“Not in separate pools,” I said.
He smiled, shaking his head. “Never in separate pools. Because we belong together. We’re better together. Being apart is never an option. Something that Arat has come to learn. And you will, too.”
“I know that—”
“Yet you keep thinking about losing someone.” He wasn’t wrong. But hearing the words spoken out loud felt like a punch in my heart. I gasped, trying to catch my breath. “We won’t, Bronte.”
“How do you know that? How can you be sure?”
“Because it’s not an option. We all come out alive or we all die in there. That’s it. There is no in between.”
His words were harsh and yet, they felt somewhat freeing. I laughed, and it sounded a little hysterical, even hearing it bubble out of my mouth. It continued to fill my ears as I gripped Zilan tightly. Wanting it all to go away. Needing desperately to skip ahead into the future and after the incident has finished. Whatever the outcome might be.
Zilan was right. It had to be an all or nothing. Any other option wasn’t worth living through.
His mouth covered mine, swallowing my hysterical laughter. While Zilan always kissed me hard and claiming, there was something rougher in it right now. His hand tangled in my hair tightly, holding me firmly there as he kissed with teeth and tongue. His other hand went down my chest, over my stomach, around my back, and up again. Feeling me everywhere.
“I need inside you,” he said, giving away that he wasn’t as calm and confident as he let on. I nodded, and he shifted me around him, letting the water buoy us from going under as he moved to bring his cock to my ass.
His mouth sought mine again as I gripped his shoulders under my hands, ready for the sting. It came as he shoved inside, not being slow or careful as he normally would. I grunted into his mouth. His hand gripped my thigh, allowing him the position he needed. His other wrapped firmly around my waist.
“I love you,” Zilan said, dropping his mouth to my neck. His bites on my skin were hard, making my dick twitch every time his teeth sank into my flesh. “I loved you the second our eyes met, Bronte. I’ll always love you.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him to me. His embrace tightened, though his bites continued. As if he were marking me physically so that even if death took us, they’d see that I belonged to someone. No one else could have me. I was marked so thoroughly that death itself couldn’t touch me.
“Love you, too,” I said, choking on my words. “I can’t be without you, Zy.”
