Josie fell asleep with Cam’s knot still inside her. He held her to his chest with reverence as he swiped his finger across her new bond mark.
Ben and I had made space for them to have their moment—at least, as much space as we could give them in this too-small bed—but now we both squished back around them.
“Are you sure this isn’t a dream?” Cam asked quietly, looking at us with bewilderment in his eyes.
“If you had been awake during the drive, you wouldn’t be so confused. No one else drives like that,” Ben whispered with silent laughter. “I thought we were going to die in that van.”
“Don’t tell her that. You’ll make her upset,” I said quickly, but I couldn’t stop my wide grin.
“How does the bond feel?” Ben asked, pressing a soft kiss on Josie’s arm. She sighed in her sleep.
“Incredible. Fuck, she loves so hard. I can feel how much she loves all three of us.”
Cam sounded as emotional as I’d ever heard him. He cupped the back of Josie’s neck with one hand, the other firmly planted on her ass. A piece of hair had fallen in his face and he twitched, trying to move it without letting go of Josie. I smiled and brushed it off his face. Cam leaned into my touch and the tenderness of it broke my heart open.
“I missed you both so much,” I said, a lump in my throat. Part of me felt the old urge to conceal my feelings, but life was too short and I knew they would never reject me for being vulnerable.
“Me too,” Cam said gruffly.
Ben sniffed and we both looked at him. He looked like he was on the verge of tears again. Cam shifted slowly, moving one of his arms from Josie and putting it around Ben’s shoulders, bringing him close. I reached my arm across the three of them, wishing it was long enough to gather them all up close to me.
We lay together like that in silence. I started to doze off when Cam spoke.
“Are we really going to let her come on this mission with us?”
Ben and I looked at each other and burst into stifled laughter.
“I was wondering when you would break,” Ben said.
“Lasted longer than I expected,” I added, wiping tears of laughter from my eyes.
Cam scowled. “So you’re okay with it?”
“Are you going to tell her no? Leave her here while we go?” Ben asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Never leaving her again,” Cam said fiercely as he tightened his grip across Josie’s back.
Josie’s face was turned towards me and I saw the twitch of a smile on her lips, telling me she was awake. I brushed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
“She’s more than capable of coming with us,” I said, even though it made me anxious to think about her in danger. But I had learned my lesson about trusting my mate—if she wanted to come, I wasn’t going to underestimate her. “Fuck, she could probably take down the government single-handedly. And we’ll all be together and protect each other.”
Cam grumbled, but I could feel how fucking happy he was through the bond, and I know Josie could, too. He shifted and she let out a little whimper as his knot loosened and slipped from her. I was mesmerized as their combined fluids poured onto the sheets. It was so fucking hot.
“How’re you doing, baby girl?” Cam murmured, pressing a soft kiss to her temple.
“So good,” she said, shifting so she could lick Cam’s bond mark. His sharp intake of breath told me how good it felt, and I felt a small tendril of jealousy. I wanted to be that connected with her.
Josie’s stomach rumbled and she blushed, curling in on herself. I tilted her chin towards me and gave her a gentle kiss. I hated that she felt embarrassed by her body’s needs. I fucking loved her curves and couldn’t stand thinking of her being denied food or feeling too stressed to eat.
“I think I saw pancake mix in the pantry,” Ben said. “Let me make us some.” He leaned over Josie and planted kisses all down her spine and then one on each butt cheek before getting up. She wriggled her ass and I cupped it with my hand, squeezing it hard.
“You don’t have to make me anything,” she said as Ben headed into the kitchen.
“I’m hungry, too,” I said. It was the truth, and I knew it would make Josie more comfortable.
“There’s clothes in the storage room. What do you all want? There are gray and black sweatpants here and t-shirts,” Ben called out.
“Gray sweatpants,” I shouted back, making Josie giggle.
