Malachi climbs onto the bed on my other side.
We are missing one, and I will get him back. I have no doubt about that, because anything less is unacceptable. But for now, I give myself permission to let down my walls and give voice to the fears I had before I died and since I came back.
My hands lift, skimming across Hart’s chest, then one settles on Malachi’s arm, the other on Nash’s shoulder.
“I missed all of you,” I whisper.
The teasing mood shifts to something darker but steadier.
Malachi presses a kiss to my temple. “We missed you.”
Hart’s forehead rests against mine. “Don’t die again.”
“Not planning to,” I say. “For the record, death is overrated.”
Nash huffs a quiet laugh. “Good.”
They don’t look at me as if I’m a burden like all the others do. They stare at me like I am the center of their world, like I hung the stars in their unique sky and wrote a future that is inevitable.
“I need you.” Three words, but not the right three. I shake my head and take a breath. “I love you.” I stare at each of them, making sure they understand my heart is for all of them, not just one. I could no sooner choose between them than between a variety of decent sausages. The parallels aren’t lost on me.
“We love you,” Hart utters as his throat bobs. I kiss it, hoping to soothe the stress away with my lips. And just like that, the mood shifts to sensual, inevitable, and undeniable. I am in love with four knights. My heart is shared but not divided, and for some unfathomable reason, they love me in return.
Nash shifts, crawling to the head of the bed. He grasps my arms and pulls me backward so my back rests against his naked chest. I glance up with questioning eyes. He traces my lips with his thumb. “Don’t look at me like that, Daphne,” he groans. “I only have so much restraint.”
“So why restrain?”
Hart leans back on his knees, pulls my panties free, and guides my legs open before trailing fervent kisses along the inside of my thigh. I squirm, my breath catching, but my gaze doesn’t leave Nash’s. I need him as much as the others. Have I not shown him I accept him? His darkness, whatever it is, doesn’t scare me.
“I need Theo, at least the first time.”
Hart nips my skin, making me jolt, but I don’t give into the distraction, not yet. “Why?”
“Because,” Nash says as heat covers my nipple and Malachi’s warm tongue drags against the sensitive flesh. “He’s the only one strong enough to stop me if I go too far.”
Is there such a thing as too far when it comes to us? I don’t believe so. He wished me back to life. Can’t he see that his love for me defied the Idols? But if he needs Theo, I won’t push him. Not yet, anyway.
I suck in a breath as Hart’s mouth reaches my apex, and he doesn’t hold back as he licks a path from my clit to my entrance with an indecent groan that makes Nash’s eyes flash crimson. He leans his head back and holds his breath.
My hand cups his cheek. “Look at me,” I demand. He shakes his head. “Nash Stirling, you will look at me this instant, or I willleave you with blue balls for an eternity while you watch your three brothers take their pleasure in my body.”
His lips twitch, then he rewards me with his glorious gaze.
“Better. Now, if you take your eyes off me once tonight, I will tie you to this bed and tease you relentlessly without release while your brothers put their sausages anywhere they want.”
Nash tweaks my nipple in warning, making me jerk and Hart groan.
“Anywhere?” Malachi murmurs, lifting his brow in question.
My mouth pops open as Hart’s tongue goes lower, and my mouth forms an O of understanding. The sensation is unbelievable, but I can’t deny a little trepidation skitters through my veins. However, I know in my heart they would sooner die than hurt me, so I put my body and my pleasure in their hands.
“Anywhere,” I whisper, my hips jerking at what Hart is doing between my legs. Who cares when it feels this good?
Nash’s gaze travels the length of my body. Between the way he’s looking at me—like he could devour my soul and still want more—the naughty forbidden places Hart is pushing his tongue against, and the way Malachi teases my breasts, I’m on fire. Needy, greedy, and oh so ready for anything and everything these gorgeous males want to do to me. Dowithme. Because this isn’t a passive activity or relationship. They know that, and they aren’t threatened by it. In fact, they embrace it, all of it. Every chaotic moment, every misplaced word, and every single tempo they make me feel like a queen.
Pleasure licks at my spine, and the bands inside snap tighter as Hart pushes my body toward its enviable crescendo. I suck in a breath, and my hand slides into Hart’s hair, tugging on the strands, demanding the friction I need to topple me over.
Hart surprises me when he complies, and then I’m flying high and Nash’s mouth covers mine to swallow the scream of pleasure that everyone in this tavern would hear. But Hart beingHart, pushes boundaries. I squirm away when the sensations become too much.
