Chapter 28
Reverie
Tanya waits just inside the narrow passageway when I return—arms folded gently, eyes soft, the crystal above casting lavender light across her dark hair.
“There you are,” she said quietly. “Your parents are settling into their space. Come on—let me show you where your Faction will be sleeping.”
My Faction.
The words hit differently now.
Heavier.
More complicated and infinitely confusing.
Tanya touched my shoulder—warm, steady—and led me deeper into a branching tunnel. It widened into a room half-lit by glowing crystal clusters embedded in the walls. Bedrolls have already been laid out—supplies stacked in neat bundles.
All five of my men are there.
Waiting.
Nathan rose first, his expression shifting from cautious to alarmed the moment he saw my face. “Nexi—” he breathed, quickly crossing the space.
Jet pushed off the wall behind him, eyes flicking over me in a clinical, terrifyingly quiet assessment. Oren’s shadows are already curling around his ankles, restless and sensing something wrong. Zeke and Zane look like they’re halfway shifted, jaws clenched, pupils narrowed.
Chloe stood off to the side with Oliver and Deshawn—but Pantar lifted his head, growling low, then nudged Chloe hard.
She blinked. “Oh—uh… right.” She made a gagging noise, then she grabbed Oliver and Deshawn and whispered, “We’ll… give you a minute,” before Pantar herded them out the opposite passage.
The door flap fell shut behind them.
I briefly wondered about Kharox and where he’s staying, but the room filled with energy, and I put my focus entirely on my men.
Dangerous.
Electric.
Every single one stared at me.
Nathan reached me first, his hands slid to my waist as if he was terrified I’d disappear if he didn’t hold on. “You’re shaking.” His voice sounded rough. “What happened?”
“I’m okay,” I lied.
Jet moved closer, eyes dark. “That’s not an answer.”
Zane inhaled sharply, his gaze snapped to my neck. “She smells… different.”
Zeke’s voice dropped. “Adrenaline. And something else.”
Oren’s shadows lashed the floor. “Who touched you?”
My breath stuttered. “I—”
But Nathan pulled me in, cradling the back of my head, his forehead pressed to mine. “Tell me you’re not hurt,” He murmured, voice shaking with barely controlled fire.
“I’m not hurt.”
Just haunted.
Changed.
Jet’s fingers brushed my arm—light, but a spark shoots down my spine like a live wire, as I remembered what it felt like to have his mouth on me.
“Someone kissed you.” He bit out.
My breath caught.
Zane growled quietly under his breath. Zeke instinctively reached for me but stopped himself, jaw tight. Oren’s shadows whipped so fiercely that the crystals flickered.
Nathan lifted my chin gently. “Reverie… who?”
Heat flashed through my cheeks. Through my whole body.
“Nathan—”
He cut me off with a kiss.
Not soft by any stretch of imagination and definitely not soothing.
Claiming.
His mouth took mine in a hot, hungry rush that stole the ground from beneath me. My knees weakened, and he caught me, slipping an arm around my lower back as if he’s been waiting—aching—for an excuse to hold me like this.
A sound escaped me—desperate, helpless—and the others reacted instantly.
Jet’s hand clenched my hip tightly. Zeke moved behind me, his fingers lightly brushing my neck. Zane’s touch on my spine sent a warm rush to my stomach. Oren’s hand rested on my wrist, and he pressed his lips to my pulse, checking that I’m alive.
Nathan pulled back just barely, lips grazing mine, breath shaking. “Tell us what happened…” he murmured, voice a low, dangerous promise…
“… after.”
His mouth crashed into mine again—and the world dissolved into heat, breath, hands, shadows, fire, lightning, ice.
And I fall into all of them at once.
Nathan doesn’t kiss me softly. There’s nothing gentle or sweet about the way his mouth claimed mine—it’s all heat and desperation, more of a collision than a meeting.
His hand fisted in my hair, tipping my head back just enough that his lips crashed against mine with bruising intensity.
His tongue swept into my mouth, deep, hungry, tasting me like he’d been starving for years. He groaned against my lips—a low, rough sound that vibrated straight through me—and the sound breaks something open inside my chest.
I kissed him back just as fiercely.
I missed this man… all my men with an ache that encompassed my entire soul.
My fingers gripped the back of his neck, pulling him closer, dragging him down into me, and our teeth clashed—sharp, electric—sparking a jolt of pleasure so sudden it tore a soft sound from my throat.
He growled at that… actually growled.
His other hand moved to my jaw, thumb stroking once before he positioned my mouth just how he wanted it, deepening the kiss until it felt like he was trying to breathe me deep inside him.
I felt a nip on my neck, and another hand unbuttoning my shirt and pulling it away from my body.
Nathan’s tongue tangled with mine—slow at first, then harder, urgent, needy. His breath mingled with mine, hot and unsteady, as he devoured every inch of my mouth like it was a promise he’s waited too long to claim.
He bit my lower lip—sharp, deliberate—and I gasped again.
He answered that gasp by catching my mouth in another fierce, consuming kiss, so full of teeth and tongue and unrestrained want that my knees buckle—
—and he held me up as if he’d never let go.
A warm hand slid up my side—Jet. His touch is slow and deliberate, tracing the curve of my waist as if he were mapping out where he wanted to hold me next. His breath brushed my ear, sending a shiver through me.
“You’re trembling,” he murmured, low and rough. “Let us steady you.”
Before I could answer, Oren’s shadows curled around my ankles like a dark caress, and then his hand wrapped gently around the back of my neck. He tilted my head, forcing Nathan to break the kiss for a heartbeat.
Oren’s aqua eyes held mine—fierce, possessive, melting.
“You come back to us shaking and smelling like another man,” he growled softly. “We’re not letting you slip away again.”
His thumb stroked my pulse, and the touch is so intimate it makes my knees buckle.
Zeke caught me from behind, strong arms banded around my waist, pulling me back against his chest. His breath hit the side of my neck—cold, hungry, Draxon-dark.
“You’re ours, little queen,” he whispered. “Don’t forget that.”
Zane joined him, warm where his brother is cold. His fingers brushed my hip, then slid around to cradle my stomach. Their matching energy traps me between them—heat and ice, danger and devotion.
Nathan growled softly and dragged me back toward him, lifting my chin with two fingers before crashing his mouth into mine again. This kiss is different—deeper, reckless, full of tongue and teeth and desperation.
Jet’s hand slid up my spine, fingers splaying between my shoulder blades. “Breathe, Reverie,” he whispered against my jaw, placing a slow kiss there. “We’ve got you.”
Oren’s lips brushed my temple, soft yet trembling as if he’s barely holding himself together. “Don’t run,” he whispered. “Don’t ever run… because you won’t like what that brings out in us if you do.”
Zeke pressed a kiss to the base of my neck. “Or maybe she will.” He’s careful, reverent even, but I can feel his need to bite down.
Zane’s mouth found my shoulder, warm and hungry, his breath sent a pulse of heat across my skin. Even as Nathan’s kiss grew rougher, stealing my breath, my thoughts, my balance. His tongue tangled with mine, sharp and consuming.
All of them.
Touching.
Grounding.
Claiming.
Surrounding.
Hands on my waist.
Fingers tracing my hips.
Lips brushed my jaw, my neck, my breasts. Bodies pressed close, heat and magic vibrating in the air.
Their breaths mixed with mine.
Their abilities hummed against my skin.
Their presence became a physical force—tightening around me until I’m drowning in them.
Nathan broke the kiss with a soft scrape of teeth against my lower lip, leaving me dazed, trembling, breathless.
He rested his forehead against mine.
“Are you ready for us?” He whispered, voice wrecked with hunger.
I can only nod as he gently lays me on the bedrolls someone has pushed together.
Jet reached behind his head and pulled his shirt off one-handed. Damn! That man is sexy as fuck. His abs have abs.
“I love it when you look at me like that.” He growled out. “Like you’ll die if you don’t touch me.”
I hear clothes falling around the room, and I know things are about to get serious. I have a brief moment of doubt, wondering if I can handle all of these men, before I get distracted by Orens' shadows, which have snuck into my pants and underneath my panties.
Zane cupped my breasts, his thumbs stroking my nipples, and my back arched to give him more access. I feel Zeke slide behind me and position me where I’m leaning against his chest as he begins to lick my neck and shoulders with his tongue.
“Jet told us about his mark reappearing, precious girl. I expect mine to appear shortly.” Zane’s smile was pure filth as he traced the place where his mark still rested under my skin.
I close my eyes in pleasure as he takes my nipple into his mouth, almost cumming immediately when I open my eyes to see Nathan kneeling on my other side, with his mouth on the opposite nipple.
Oren’s shadows must feel like they’re losing my attention because they start moving over my clit in what I can only describe as a sucking motion. Between that feeling and two men at my breast and one at my neck, I began moaning and writhing with pleasure.
I hear a grunt and open my eyes to see Jet holding his massive dick in his hand, stroking himself as he watches his brothers pleasure me, the sight driving me higher still.
“That's the way, baby. Cum on my shadows. Cover them in your delicious cream before I put my cock deep inside you.” Oren’s voice is low and deep.
I feel a pinch on my clit and gasp as pleasure rockets through my body, almost causing me to pass out with the intensity of it.