We’re all here. All of us. And she’s in the center of it.
I drag my gaze away from the line of her shoulder, the way the blanket dips just enough to suggest more than it reveals.
Control. I’ve always had control. I’ve relied on it. But tonight… tonight, it feels thinner than it should.
Alette shifts beside me, just slightly, and the movement sends a ripple through the bed, through all of us. My body reacts before my mind has time to intervene. She’s too close. And not close enough.
The contradiction is maddening.
I turn my head just enough to look at her again, slower this time, letting myself take in what I’ve been trying to ignore.She trusts us. All of us. She let us stay. She chose this.
A slow, aching possessiveness twists beneath my ribs at the thought, deeper than the heat simmering beneath my skin.Mine.The word surfaces unbidden.
Not in the way humans mean it. Not possession. But something just as powerful. Just as dangerous.
My gaze flicks briefly to Cassius, then to Oberon beyond him, then back again, the silent understanding passing between us without a word. We are all thinking it. All feeling it. And none of us are pretending otherwise anymore.
“How are you feeling?” Cassius’s voice steadies the room, calm despite everything. He’s always had that way about him, like the sea before a storm… serene at first, but brimming with potential energy.
Alette fidgets, her fingers twisting in the blankets “I… I think I’m okay,” she says, her voice barely above a whisper, uncertainty lacing her words like a fragile thread. Then she looks up at him, her blue eyes wide and uncertain, and I can see the vulnerability there. “Actually, I think I could have sex with more than just you. Is that normal?”
The question hangs in the air, heavy and potent. My heart skips a beat, my ears straining to catch Cassius’s response. He tilts his head, his expression softening, and I can’t help but feel a pang of envy.
“After being with a fae, it is,” he says gently, his voice soothing. “When our females have more than one partner, theirbodies… change. Their drives adapt to accommodate us. It’s natural.”
The way he speaks, with such calm assurance, only amplifies my frustration. I glance at Oberon, who leans back against the bed with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable but his jaw tight. He’s quiet, but I can feel the tension radiating from him.
Ashton, on the other hand, wears a smirk that doesn’t reach his eyes, the arrogance masking a vulnerability he’d never admit. I know them well enough to see through their facades. Oberon is simmering, the fire in him barely contained, while Ashton’s bravado feels like a mask, hiding his own insecurities.
Cassius’s gaze shifts back to Alette. “Who do you want next?” he asks, his tone gentle, devoid of pressure, as if the choice is entirely hers.
Alette’s eyes widen. She shakes her head. “I don’t know,” she admits softly. “Who would be best?”
The question hangs between us. Not uncomfortable… but significant.
No one answers right away.
Oberon is the one who breaks the silence. “Sylvian.” My name lands with quiet certainty.
Alette’s gaze flicks to me, her breath catching slightly.
Oberon leans back just enough to meet my eyes, his voice lower now, but no less firm. “You have the control for it.”
It’s not a suggestion. It’s a decision.
Cassius nods once in agreement. “You’ll be steady,” he adds.
Ashton huffs softly behind me, but he’s not disagreeing. “And you won’t scare her off,” he mutters.
There’s a faint edge of humor there, but truth underneath it.
My jaw tightens slightly. Because they’re not wrong. I would exercise all the control and gentleness in the world to make sure I don’t hurt Alette.
There’s still uncertainty in her expression, but trust threads through it too, and something deep inside me shifts hard enough to feel.
I exhale slowly. Then shift toward her. Alette looks up at me, her eyes wide, searching. There’s something in them that tightens my chest instantly. Not just uncertainty. Trust.
I shift closer on the bed, bracing one arm beside her, my other hand coming up to her face, my thumb brushing along her cheek, slowly. Touching her soft skin. Memorizing every line of her face.
