“I mean the goat, named Gary by the way, seemed comfortable enough in his presence. Apparently, the last time Bronn murdered someone was three whole diurnals ago, and that was a troll terrorizing the village, so it was warranted. Absolutely no grannies, girls in red, or pigs were injured or ingested.”
Hart tosses his leather gloves onto the small table and studies the bed like it’s an opponent he’s considering sparring with. “It’s big enough for all of us.”
“It’s a feat of magic if you think about it,” I add. “Going against his predator nature to become an upstanding tavern owner.”
Nash’s eyes roam over me, slow and heated. “We’ll make it work.”
My skin warms under the weight of their attention. It’s different from before—less desperate, more… certain. Like we all know where this is heading, and no one is pretending otherwise. They’re also starting to believe I’m not about to disappear into the stars and leave them bereft.
Malachi pushes away from the door and strolls closer, his gaze playful but dark beneath the surface. “You said you could accommodate us.”
“Theoretically,” I whisper as Nash moves behind me.
Hart lifts a brow. “Theory becomes practice around you.”
Accurate, and I won’t apologize for pushing boundaries.
Malachi hooks a finger beneath my chin. “You’ve been talking about sausage all diurnal.”
Heat floods my cheeks. “Inside thoughts you shouldn’t be eavesdropping on.”
“Exactly where sausage should be—inside,” Malachi adds.
“Is it warm in here?” I wonder as I fan my face. “Maybe Bronn heated the chamber intended for a pair of guests, and now that there are four of us, it’s too hot to handle.”
Nash’s hands snake around my waist, and he tugs my back against him. And oh my Idol babies on a sticky stick, he is hard.
He plucks at the ribbons on my bodice, allowing my breasts to spill free. His movements are slow, deliberate, and sensual. “You’ve also been squirming against me in the saddle since midday.”
“That was for practical reasons,” I say. “My back hurt.”
Nash leans closer, his breath brushing my ear while covering my stomach with his hand. “And now?”
I swallow. “Now it’s something else.”
Malachi’s lips curl. The big bad wolf might lurk in this place, but I have no doubt that these three men are far more deadly and dangerous.
Malachi’s lips caress mine, soft as a feather, teasing, gentle. It’s not enough. I need more. More skin on skin, more teeth, more everything.
My hands wrap around his neck, and I flick my tongue against the seam of his lips. He groans and opens for me, allowing me to deepen the kiss until I’m dizzy.
My dress drops to the floor in a swish, and Nash scrapes his teeth along my throat down to my collarbone, causing a cascade of pleasure that makes everything inside of me clench with feral need.
I’m surrounded by male heat, hard-earned muscle, and the swirling combined scent of wood smoke and leather unique to my knights. I could pick them out in a smell test of a hundred men, blindfolded.
“What do you want, Daphne?” Malachi murmurs.
“All of you,” I admit. “By my side for eternity.”
Hart sheds his clothes. It’s not meant to tease the way he pulls them off, but it does all the same. He pushes between his two brothers, his hands gripping my hips before throwing meonto the bed. I giggle in delight. This is the kind of manhandling I can get on board with.
Hart covers my body with his, and his hands cradle my face to keep our eyes locked together. “We’ve always been by your side, Calamity.”
My heart stumbles at the quiet sincerity beneath his rough voice.
Nash slides onto the bed next to us and brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. “You’re safe, and we aren’t letting you out of our sights ever again.”
Safe. Wanted. Claimed in ways that have nothing to do with crowns or swords or prophecies.
