Chapter 37 Jasmine
He stayed.
Both brothers are still asleep. Ezekial’s arms are wrapped around my waist, soft breaths tickling my ear. Kane’s beneath me, my cheek and hand on his chest, hearing the steady thrum of his heart.
Kane stayed.
After I—
The memory scorches me. The way he melted, how his hands sought me as if starving, kissed like he wanted to drown in me.
But he wasn’t himself. Not really.
He came to me broken, lost in the same darkness that dragged Ezekial under, and I—
I fucking kissed him.
A sick feeling curdles in my stomach.
Did I take advantage of him? After everything he told me about his past….
How could I do that to him?
I felt his pain, how desperately he needed to be grounded, and instead of comforting him, I…
The sickness builds, and I suddenly feel too hot. My skin’s too tight.
I don’t know what last night was—if it was a mistake, wrong, something more—but the only thing I do know is that…
Is that…
I don’t want to leave.
I don’t want him to leave.
I don’t want either of them to leave.
“You’re thinking so loudly, ana mea.” Ezekial’s sleepy voice slips into my mind. Low, raspy and ridiculously erotic.
My eyes fly open. “You’re awake?”
“We are.” And Kane’s morning voice is just as lethal—the rasp, the grit.
Ezekial’s arms tighten around me, Kane’s hand lingers on my hip, my cheek against his bare chest.
At least I won’t have to face them when I say what I need to.
“I need to apologise.” The words tumble out in a breath. “I’m sorry about last night. What I did.”
Silence, and… confusion.
Oh no.
Do they not remember? Is that what happens when they succumb to the dark?
Fuck.
I puff out my cheeks, releasing a slow breath as I ease myself out of their touches and sit up. I stare straight ahead, at the bedroom door, refusing to look at them.
“I’m sorry if I went too far.” My fingers tighten around the cover. “If you don’t remember what happened, I can show you. But I swear, I did what I thought would help—”
“We remember.” Ezekial’s voice is soft, pleased even.
My heart skips as I turn to look at him. He’s watching me through half-lidded eyes, silver and sleepy, but there’s no disappointment in that gaze. Only hunger. Wonder. The warm trail of his fingers against my right thigh confirms it.
A hand settles on my left hip, cold and firm, using just enough pressure to pull me back down beneath the covers.
“We remember everything,” Ezekial murmurs, eyes fixed on me.
“I need reminding.” Kane’s voice rumbles.
I slowly turn to him.
His dark gaze studies me, every inch of my face, before dropping to my lips. His other hand lifts, fingers threading into the back of my hair with a revere that feels… new.
Dangerous.
I lay completely still, staring at Kane, at the soft hunger in his dark gaze that never leaves my mouth. He leans in, just enough to graze my lips with his breath.
“Remind me,” he whispers.
But he doesn’t move any closer. He leaves it to me to take this step.
There’s no doubt this man controls the dark, because one look into his obsidian eyes, and I fold.
I press my lips to his. And Goddesses, the way he melts.
I feel his slow surrender, the way his brows pinch, the softest frown of disbelief as his lips move with mine so slow and gentle—hesitant, like this isn’t real.
His hand slips from my hair to my spine, pulling me closer until we’re chest to chest, breath to breath.
And then Ezekial.
His arms slip back around my waist, his mouth grazing my throat, trailing up to my ear. “You have the power to ground us,” he murmurs as Kane’s kisses deepen. “And make us feral.”
His hold tightens, pulling me back, closer to him. Kane growls—a low warning, before claiming my mouth again, harder. Hungrier.
Ezekial laughs unbothered, amused. “My brother can be a bit possessive,” he murmurs against my cheek. “Struggles with sharing.” His fingers brush my ribs. “We’ll teach him.”
Kane’s hand slips lower, dangerously low, and I squeeze my thighs together, trapping it. His frustrated growl hums through me, then his tongue is in my mouth, stealing my breath, and I struggle to keep my legs together.
“But he’ll listen to you,” Ezekial breathes in my ear, knuckles brushing the underside of my breast. “He’ll always listen to you.”
But the problem is… I don’t want him to stop. I don’t want either of them to stop.
That realisation is both freeing and terrifying.
If we keep going, if we become bonded… how would I feel about that? How would they?
The thought cuts through the haze. Kane must feel the shift because his consuming kisses slow. Not in disappointment or rejection, but restraint, like he’s giving me time to breathe. Proving he can.
The sound of rustling also fractures the moment. “Quietly, Sai. Don’t startle—”
“MORNING, FUCKERS!” The door slams open, crashing into the wall.
Power snaps through the room. The brothers jolt upright, shadows surge, metallic crackles blind, and a shimmering barrier forms before I even breathe.
“Relax. Always so fucking dramatic.” Sai’s voice drips with amusement, no apology in sight as he strolls in, and what a sight it is.
He saunters in with a lazy predatory swagger, charcoal joggers riding low, markings snaking around all those hard lines and down to that wicked V. When I do manage to drag my eyes up, I notice a tray balanced in one hand.
His smirk sharpens when his gaze finds me. “Morning, baby.”
Julien trails behind, with a sigh and slight smile, all casual and elegant with one hand tucked into a pocket of the same sinful pants, but black. The last time I saw Julien without a shirt on, he was chained and bloody… Now.
Goddesses. Damned.
There isn’t a single blemish on that smooth, dark skin. It’s all warm, deep brown and even with the hard muscle rippling with each measured step, it looks so soft.
“You fucking idiot,” Ezekial growls, breaking my focus as the metallic shadows disperse.
Sai, unbothered and smug, sets the tray down on the side table before sliding onto the bed, laying stomach flat, but propped up on an elbow, resting his chin in a hand as peers up at me.
“Did you sleep well?” His voice, even soft and sweet, holds an edge of sin, eyes twinkling with specks of sapphire mischief. “Dream of me?”
My pulse is still racing. From the abrupt entrance but also the fact that not one of these men have something covering the top half of their bodies.
I swallow. “Why did you do that?” I ask only Sai, narrowing my eyes.
“I could feel you panicking…” My face softens, just a little, then he grins. “We made breakfast.”
“I made breakfast,” Julien corrects, easing onto the bed at my right. Even sitting, those muscles are on full display. “Sai moped.”
“I put eight pieces of bread into the toaster, Jules,” Sai scoffs, shaking his head.
I laugh softly, sinking back into the pillows, still trying to catch up and not look at their bodies too obviously. Kane was just devouring my mouth, Ezekial murmuring devotion in my ear, and now… breakfast.
Kane’s still sat up, body tense, jaw tight, shadows lingering around him. He’s braced like he’s preparing to stand or… flit.
“Stay?” I say, now only to him.
He flinches, I don’t know if the others notice, because I’m only looking at him. He turns to me, and I try to make what I hope is a pleading expression. When his eyes soften and his body relaxes, I smile.
Ezekial shifts beside me. “We need to talk about last night.”
Now I tense, gaze darting to Ezekial with flushed cheeks. “Right now?” I whisper.
He frowns, then something clicks and he chuckles. “Not that part.”
“Before we discuss any part of last night.” Julien reaches for the tray, placing it on the bed. “You need to eat.”
Ezekial groans. Kane says nothing.
“We agreed to eat every Friday. It’s now Sunday.” His gaze is intent on both brothers, but they remain silent.
Sai reaches for the coffee pot, filling a mug and offering it to me with a large grin.
I take it with both hands and a grateful smile. “Thank you.”
His grin fades into something darker. “Call me a good boy.”
I glare at him, but his smirk just curls back, slower, filthier.
Ignoring Sai, my eyes trail over the tray of food while the silent standoff between the brothers and Julien continues. Eggs, toast, fruit. Normal things, comforting food that smells incredible. But no one reaches out.
A deep rumble sounds in Sai’s chest and my stomach suddenly feels too light, but as I look at him, I realise it wasn’t directed at me.
“Zeek, Kane, come on,” Sai pushes, “you missed Friday, you just went feral, and you’re still way too close to the dark.”
Another disgruntled sound comes from Ezekial, but neither brother denies his words.
Then Sai’s voice softens as he turns to me. “You too, Red. Not that feral doesn’t suit you.”
I smirk despite myself, then look back at the food. It looks and smells amazing, but I’m not hungry. Can’t actually remember the last time I felt real hunger.
Not for food anyway…
The only thing I hungered for, was to continue what we’d just started. And if Julien and Sai wanted to join…
“Mon ame, if you eat, they will follow.” I peer over my coffee at Julien, pretending I was having civilised thoughts. “They have not eaten for weeks. Please.”
Weeks? As an empath, emotional manipulation almost always works on me, and when it’s aimed at my bonds, it’s impossible to ignore. Julien’s soft eyes are just another blow.
I place my mug on the tray, and grab a piece of buttered toast. Not missing the cocky smile from Sai that I’ve chosen what he’s ‘made’.
Then I say to the brothers, “If I’m eating, then so are you.”
Julien and Sai share a smug look as both brothers immediately take something from the tray. I hum my approval, before taking a bite.
“Why aren’t you eating?” I arch a brow at Sai.
His eyes darken. “What I want isn’t on the tray, baby.”
I frown. “Then go get it?”
He smirks, eyes dropping to the cover. “In front of everyone, Red? What about our friendship?”