Eris
After we clean up, I sit at the edge of my bed while Kieran pulls his shirt over my head. It’s soft. Worn. Smells like cedar and heat and something that reminds me of how he’s always trying to anchor me.
“You’re not just… mine,” he says carefully, as if he’s choosing each word with intent. “You fit us. All of us. Please tell me you feel how right this is.”
He crouches in front of me, brushing my hair back with his knuckles, eyes dark and steady as he waits for my reply.
“I feel something…” I admit. “But I haven’t put a name to it.”
One corner of his mouth curves into a grin he’s visibly fighting. “Yeah. I figured.”
I tilt my head, studying him. He isn’t asking for reassurance or staking a claim. He’s stating the rules of engagement, drawing a line between all three of them or none of them.
“So, you’re wanting to name things now?” I ask lightly.
He shrugs. “Only the things that are already there.”
I exhale a soft laugh through my nose. “You’re lucky I’m in a generous mood.”
“I don’t think luck has anything to do with it.” He presses a kiss to my knee, unhurried, then stands. “Come on. If we stay in here any longer, they’re going to assume we either killed each other or forgot they exist.”
I don’t say it out loud, but the truth hums against my tongue, ready to spill from beyond my lips.
They would assume wrongly.
I can’t kill them.
Not if I get to keep this.
Not if they’re mine.
I follow Kieran down the hall and into the open expanse of the converted warehouse. Sometimes I forget it’s not an actual loft, but from Roo’s digging, she found out that Silas and Jace used to live in The Lofts on the north side of Crimson Bay before they burned down.
I haven’t brought it up, mostly because I already know why the fire was started and who the target was, though that was before Roo and I became members of the Maldonado world.
This loft is quiet.
I don’t look at them as I walk into the kitchen and grab a bottle of water off the counter. They’ve started keeping some out for me since I prefer them room temp.
It’s sweet shit like this that makes me almost forget their eyes are burning holes in my back right now. There’s no hostility, so I take my time, grabbing a plate from the cabinet to cut up strawberries.
I turn to the fridge and catch their attention.
Jace sits at the kitchen island, mug frozen halfway to his mouth, eyes dragging down my legs with zero attempt at subtlety. His expression is assessing, and maybe even imagining himself in Kieran’s place, though it isn’t out of jealousy.
Silas is worse.
He doesn’t move at all, bracing his hands on the back of a computer chair like he’s holding himself in place. The focus etched on his face is unmistakable: jaw tight and gaze sharp enough to cut.
I don’t apologize.
I just grab the strawberries and go back to my task of an evening snack.
“You could have waited for us,” Jace says eventually, voice rough in a way he doesn’t bother hiding.
“Could have,” I echo, pulling a knife from the block, as if this isn’t the most charged moment of the day.
Kieran steps up behind me, shirtless and unbothered, as he reaches for a bowl in the cabinet. He’s unapologetic as he invades my space, looking like he won something he never expected to claim.
Jace snorts softly. “You look pleased.”
“I am,” Kieran says without hesitation, and I turn to face them.
“And Eris?” Jace’s gaze flicks back to me. “Are you still dripping? Or are you satisfied?”
“Both.” I meet his eyes, a smug smile stretching slowly across my lips. “Why don’t you check?”
The silence that follows is heavy with possibility.
Silas steps closer, setting something on the counter before leaning in on my right, close enough that I feel the heat of him, close enough to make a point without touching.
“Careful,” he murmurs. “You’re tempting a situation.”
“Isn’t that the point?” I tilt my head. “A little morsel of sugary goodness for your sweet tooth?”
Kieran moves behind me, fingers brushing a few loose tendrils of hair off my shoulder. Jace closes the distance from my left, caging me in.
For a heartbeat, I think this might be where it happens, the kitchen counter becoming a roller coaster with no safety rails. No pretending to steer the cart on the tracks.
Jace breaks first, smirking. “Not here.”
I glance at him, eyes narrowed. “Why not here?”
“Because I want time.” He leans down, lips brushing my ear. “And I want privacy. And I want to hear you say you can’t wait anymore.”
A shiver runs through me as Kieran kisses the back of my neck. Silas’s thumb brushes my jaw. They’re all so close… So fucking restrained.
Then they step back just as quickly as they began.
Together.
Like men who know exactly what they’re doing.
Predators with patience.
I sigh and roll my eyes, taking my bottle of water and strawberries to the couch so I can curl up in the corner while they work. Once they’re all busy, and I sort of look like I’m doing something productive on my laptop, I open the app.
Eris:
What happens when I want all of you at once?
Locke:
Then you won’t have to ask twice.
The response is almost immediate, and I don’t bother trying to guess who sent it.
For the first time since Daniel, since the four-way break-in at my apartment, since the lie that started all of this…
I smile as if I’m not waiting for the other shoe to drop.
I’m just deciding how sharp I want my heels when it does.