Thirty-Two
Ember
"Come here," I grumbled, pulling Micah closer on the bed, and he chuckled as he complied.
Don't start without me! Cam exclaimed in my head, making me grin.
We wouldn't dare , Micah told him, then leaned up on his elbow to press his lips to mine.
I can hear you kissing , Cam growled, and I heard him clattering around the bathroom, his movements rushed.
Well, then you should hurry up, shouldn't you? Micah teased, and I couldn't help snickering at the growl of frustration that came from the bathroom.
Why are you teasing him, princess? I asked as I slid my tongue over his lower lip, cupping his waist so I could pull him closer.
Micah's breath hitched, and I wondered if it was because I'd called him princess. The pet name suited him well, and it'd felt like the right moment to call him that. But maybe he only liked it when Cam did?
Micah slid closer, and I groaned when I felt his hard cock press against my abdomen.
After our wonderful date, we'd come back home and cuddled on the couch for a while, all four of us. Then I'd made everyone dinner, and after watching some TV, we'd turned in, Cam, Micah, and I in the master bedroom, and Kai in the guest room just beside ours. We'd told him he could join us whenever he was ready, but I knew it would take a while. He'd been here for less than a week, and the trust he'd shown in us so far was already a lot more than I could've hoped for.
Cam had asked him if he wanted us to refrain from being intimate without him, but he'd waved it off, saying he didn't mind at all. He'd offered to let Micah read his mind when Cam had kept asking, which had assured everyone that he meant it.
So now Micah and I were making out as we waited on Cam to get done freshening up.
After the first time Cam and I had sex with Micah watching, we'd been intimate a few more times. We'd shared handjobs, and there had been the night before we found Kai, when I'd been inside Cam while Micah was inside me. Just thinking about that night had me leaking in my pants, and Micah moaned, probably seeing the images in my head.
"Is that what you want, Ember? You want me to fuck you again?" Micah's voice was a rough rasp against my lips, and I groaned as pleasure raced down my spine, making my cock leak in my boxers.
While I was vers, Micah was very much a top, while Cam was also vers, though he seemed to prefer to bottom more often than not. I wondered what Kai liked, and how well he'd fit in our dynamic. I had no doubts he would fit—he belonged with us—but I couldn't help imagining him here with us instead of one door over.
"I'm here, I'm here," Cam mumbled as he joined us on the bed, dressed in just a loose pair of sweatpants. He threw himself on Micah's other side, and Micah pulled away from me to claim his lips in a searing kiss.
I watched the two of them, turning on my side as I trailed my palm over Micah's torso, sliding my fingers under his shirt so I could touch his warm, smooth skin and toy with the ring looped through his belly button.
I want Kai here with us , Cam said through the link, and I sighed.
"Me too," I agreed, glancing at him as his green eyes peered at me. "But we have to give him time to be ready. This isn't something we can be impatient about."
I know , he said, even his mental voice coming across as grouchy. Doesn't mean I like it. He's our mate. He belongs here with us. In our bed .
I agreed with Cam wholeheartedly, but we couldn't force Kai. We had to wait for him to be ready. He'd been through a lot in a matter of days, and he needed time. It didn't help that he couldn't sense our bond the way we could.
"This doesn't feel right, does it?" Micah asked when Cam pulled away from his lips, and Cam sighed as I nodded.
"Yeah. It wasn’t like this when we didn't know Kai, but now that he's here..." Cam trailed off, but we both understood what he was trying to say.
Before we'd discovered Kai, our final mate had merely been an idea, and it hadn't bothered us when we'd been intimate together. It was the same when they hadn't met me, and while they'd asked me about it, I didn't begrudge them their relationship. They'd been together for years, and I would've never expected them to stay celibate for me. Just like Kai didn't expect us to be now.
Still, it felt different now, with Kai just in the room next door. Not like we were doing something wrong, but like something was missing. Like he was missing.
"Do you want to wait?" I asked them both, and they shared a glance before meeting my eyes, and then nodded together.
"I don't know why it feels different this time. Maybe because of how close Kai is? I don't know, but I wanna wait. My dragon feels restless with him all the way in the other room."
"At least we're all in the same house," Micah pointed out, and Cam sighed, smiling softly at him.
"Yeah, that's true. Kai seemed like he enjoyed our date today. Do you think he has feelings for us yet?"
Micah shrugged, his dark eyes flickering from me to Cam. "I haven't read his mind, if that's what you're asking. But yeah, I think he had fun. And don't forget the kisses."
Before we'd turned in for the night, we'd all—with his permission—given Kai little pecks on his lips. They'd been barely long enough to call them a kiss, but for a few precious seconds, I'd pressed my lips to Kai's feather-soft ones.
"Hopefully, Kai will be ready to be ours before long. But until then, we're going be good and patient," Cam declared, while Micah and I shared a look.
We both knew the only thing Cam lacked was patience. I just hoped he didn't do something he'd regret.
Kai
I was drowning again, and the water was ice cold. I could feel myself freezing, feel my blood turn to ice as I sank deeper and deeper into the dark blue water.
I tried to swim up, to call on my seal to save me, but I didn't have my coat. Without my coat, I was nothing.
I didn't want to die. I wanted to fall in love with my mates. I wanted to feel their love for me, to be wrapped in their arms. I didn't want to die.
There was a hand in the water, reaching toward me. I tried to raise my arm, to swim up to grab that hand, but no matter how hard I pushed with my feet, I couldn't reach that hand.
I jerked upright with a gasp, my heart thundering in my chest as my teeth chattered. I still felt like I was surrounded by the icy water, and I was having trouble breathing.
Glancing around the empty room, I struggled to my feet on autopilot.
In a blink, I found myself standing in the doorway of my mates' room, my eyes on the three forms curled around each other in the middle of the big bed. They looked so warm. So safe.
I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself, yearning to be surrounded by their comforting warmth. They'd asked me if I'd like to sleep with them. Why hadn't I said yes then?
"Kai?"
I jumped, then met Ember's gaze, the blue somehow still bright in the almost-dark as he leaned up to peer at me.
I took a hesitant step inside as Ember watched me, and then he held a hand out to me.
This time, I had no problem rushing across the room to grab it, and he pulled me onto the bed as if I weighed nothing.
"Slide in," he murmured, and I did as he said, slipping in under the comforter between him and Micah.
Micah mumbled in his sleep, then threw an arm over my stomach, pulling me close.
Ember settled the covers over us before wrapping his arm around me as well, and my shivers subsided within minutes, warmth suffusing me as the scents of my mates surrounded me.
"Better?" Ember asked in a low voice, and I nodded, not wanting to wake Micah or Cam. Would they mind my presence? Would they be annoyed that I'd crawled into their bed after saying no when they'd invited me?
"Hey, everything's okay. You're always welcome here, Kai. Did you have a nightmare again?"
I nodded, then turned my head so I could press my face in his chest. He was shirtless, and his chest hair tickled my skin, his scent thick and comforting as I took a deep inhale. He was so warm, so blissfully warm.
"Sleep, my sweet Kai. You'll feel better in the morning."
I hummed against his skin, letting my eyes fall shut. I was surrounded by a dragon, a phoenix, and a telepath. No one could get to me here. I was safe.
When I woke up the next morning, I was still surrounded, but it felt different. Blinking my eyes open, I realized why when I found Cam where Ember had been last night.
Micah was still on my other side, and they must've been communicating through their minds, because they looked like they'd been awake for a while. Had they stayed in bed because of me?
"Hey, Kai. Good morning!" Cam greeted, bright as ever, and my cheeks flushed as I mumbled the greeting back.
They gave me some space so I could sit up, but stayed close.
"Ember's making breakfast," Micah said, and Cam grinned.
"That man is spoiling us rotten with all his amazing cooking skills."
"Are you okay?" Micah asked when I hadn't said anything, and I nodded as I tried to find the right words.
"I'm sorry. About..." I waved at me in their bed, unable to phrase it properly.
"Why are you apologizing? Do you know how ecstatic I was to wake up and find you? My dragon was practically dancing in glee!"
I eyed Cam as I wondered if he was telling the truth or just saying it to make me feel better.
"He's right, Kai. We told you you're always welcome here, and we meant it. We weren't just talking about sex, you know. If you need cuddles, you're welcome to join us. If you want to be held, we're your guys. Whatever you need, we're here for you. Always."
When was the last time someone was just there for me? For me to lean on, for me to ask help from?
Tears filled my eyes as I realized the answer: never. In all my life, no one had ever offered to just hold me until I felt better, or to help me solve my problems. I was more than 200 years old, and in all that time, no one had ever been there for me.
No one except my mates.
"Kai?" Micah asked, and the worry in his voice just made my heart ache more. But it was a good ache, the kind of pain that told me I was healing, that I wouldn't have to hurt anymore because my mates would take care of me.
"Thank you," I said in a choked voice, then threw myself at Micah, reaching behind me until my hand found Cam and pulling him toward me until he got the message and draped himself over my back, sandwiching me between them. There was still one part of us missing, but he must've heard our conversation from the kitchen, because in the next moment, his warmth was at my side, his torso pressing against my arm as he pressed a kiss on top of my head.
"You're safe with us, Kai. And you're loved," Ember murmured, as if he could see right into the center of all my insecurities. I buried my face against Micah's neck as I clung to them, the three men who'd changed my world in the span of a few days, who'd made me feel like I wasn't alone for the first time in my life.
We sat like that for a long time, long enough that my tears dried up, though I still held on to Micah, not wanting to let go of the warmth and safety that surrounded me.
Micah sucked in a sharp breath, and I pulled back, worried. His eyes weren't on me, though. They were focused on a corner of the room that had nothing but shadows. Shadows from which a black cat slinked out, her ears twitching as her green eyes watched Micah.
Saaya was back from Ravenshire.