“Astalle,” Altair whispered. “Come back to me.” He rubbed soothing circles into her skin, murmuring reassurances and calming words into her ear. Iyana’s rage fell away, leaving only the pain behind. She sobbed and spun in Altair’s arms to bury her face in his chest. He held her closer, stroking her hair gently, allowing her to cry. A rumble in his chest told her he was talking to the other men, but she couldn’t bring herself to listen. Altair gently pulled her face out of his shirt, drying her tears with his thumbs. He pressed a soft kiss on the top of her head. It was quiet around them. Not only Zane and Talon had gone, but all the patrons—half-eaten plates of food abandoned.
“I woke up, and you were gone,” Iyana said, sniffling.
“I’m sorry, my star. I, uh…I needed some fresh air.” He looked ashamed and rubbed the back of his neck. Iyana assumed he had been claustrophobic. “Did you eat the breakfast I left you?”
“I did, thank you.” She pieced herself back together, brick by brick, taking a deep breath and wiping away the rest of her tears.
“I told Talon we’d meet with him in his room. Why don’t you head up there and I’ll get Emmeric and Kaz?”
“No, I’ll get them.”
Altair raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t want to be in the same room ashimwithout you there. And it will give me some time to compose myself.”
Altair’s face softened. He ran his thumb along her lower lip. “You possess more than enough magic now to kill him before he could even draw his sword. But, of course, love, I’ll be waiting for you.” He kissed her chastely before leaving. Iyana had wanted to sink into his embrace and shut out everything else that had happened in the past ten minutes. She thought about dragging Altair back to their room and ignoring the Zane issue altogether, but instead she pulled up her big-girl pants and went to find her other friends.
Emmeric
He couldn’t breathe, but for the best possible reason. Sheets tented above Emmeric, his head buried between the thighs of a beautiful woman, listening to her sweet moans of pleasure, her fingers tight in his hair. So when a knock sounded at the door, he was all too happy to ignore it. Kaz, however…
“Come in!” she called.
“What? No,” Emmeric said in a panic. He tried to clamber out of the bedsheets, but Kaz gripped his hair harder, tugging him back to her center.
“Don’t stop,” she moaned.Absolutely not,he thought as the telltale click of the door opening echoed through the room.
“Oh!” He heard a woman gasp in the doorway. And, oh fuck, it was Iyana. Now he really struggled to free himself, while Kaz did her best to try to keep him where she wanted him. He could only imagine how it looked from Iyana’s perspective. Probably like a dying fish on dry land, flopping around, searching in vain for a water source. Meanwhile, Kaz was the picture of calm, although Emmeric couldn’t see her face. She didn’t even seem out of breath.
“What’s up, sweetcheeks?”
When he finally broke free, he saw Iyana standing in the doorway, wide-eyed. She gave him a once over, blushed, then covered her face with her hand. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’re having a group meeting in Talon’s room with aspecial guest.” Then she turned on her heel, slamming the door shut as she left.
“What thefuck, Kaz?”
“What?” She crossed her arms over her bare breasts. “I just did you a favor.”
Emmeric almost choked. “A favor?”
“Yes! Now she’ll be consumed with jealousy and realize she was in love withyouthis entire time. She’ll dump the glowing bastard. You’re welcome.”
“I really doubt any of that will happen.”
“Stop being such a pessimist, grumps. Bare minimum, she’ll incorporate you into her reverse harem. I’ll volunteer to join too. It’ll be fun!”
Emmeric shook his head but smiled. “You’re crazy.”
Kaz matched his grin. “Maybe, but you like it.” She poked his chest. “As much as I hate to cover up this work of art, we should probably go see who our special guest is.” Emmeric grumbled. He desired nothing more than to stay in bed for another week, alternating between sleeping and fucking. But he hauled himself out of bed, dressed, and walked the short distance down the hall to Talon’s room.
Opening the door, Emmeric stopped in his tracks, Kaz bumping into his back with a littleoof. “Oh, shit,” he muttered at the sight of Zane, Geoff, and Gordon all crammed in the small room.
“I know who you are,” Kaz said, peeking over his shoulder. Which was Emmeric’s cue to hustle her inside. The room was cramped, so Emmeric and Kaz were forced to stand, leaning against the door. Talon and Zane sat side by side on the bed, their thighs pressed together. (There wasdefinitelysomething going on between the two of them.) Altair sat in the only chair with Iyana on his lap. She sat stiff-backed, staring daggers at Zane, but the star seemed mostly unaffected. Emmeric noticed he kept a hand on Iyana’s hip, though, almost as if he needed to hold her back. Honestly, Emmeric wouldn’t blame the woman one bit if she felt she was owed some retribution. The bulky twins sat on the floor by the dead hearth, knees tucked to their chests.
“Em! Great to see you, man,” Gordon said. There was no room for proper embraces, so he nodded to the three newcomers, then introduced Kaz to everyone.
Zane leveled his gaze on Kaz. “You’re the shifter.”
“Oh, the prince is a clever one,” Kaz purred. “How did you figure it out?”
