Chapter 59
EMBERLINE
“He’s fine,” Dante reassured me as we looked at Luca, passed out face-first in one of the spare bedrooms, still in his bloody clothes. “Won’t hurt him one bit. In fact, it’ll be good for him.”
I gave him the side eye. “Good to sleep in clothes soaked in the blood of his enemies?”
“Exactly.” My husband sounded proud. “Luca fought well tonight, Emberline. Handled himself like a soldier, didn’t panic, followed directions to the letter without complaint.” He paused. “Unlike his sister.”
“Well, I’m just glad he’s home in one piece.” I sniffed, ignoring his barb.
“And what about me?” Dante’s voice turned suggestive as he herded me out into the hall. “Are you glad I’m home?”
“You know I am.” I pressed my palm to the center of his chest as he backed me into the wall, his skin still so warm. “Very, very glad. I did try to lure you into bed before I was kidnapped, remember? But you refused.”
“A mistake I will not repeat.” He leaned down and kissed me, barely a brush of his lips across mine. Then I was flung over his shoulder, and all I saw was his perfectly sculpted ass as he carried me toward the bedroom.
Not a bad view. Not at all.
And there was something so… exhilarating about being carried like I weighed nothing at all. Maybe my independent, empowered side should be offended by this, but every other part of me fucking loved it.
I squealed when he tossed me onto the bed, bouncing across the mattress, trying to get my bearings. By the time I shoved my hair out of my face and arranged my face into an appropriately evil glare, he was naked in front of me, his cock hard between us, giving me no doubt about his intentions.
I grinned and licked my lips.
“Gods, are you trying to kill me, woman?” He groaned. “Look at all this blood. I’m taking a shower in that very nice, very big bathroom, and you are going to stay here.” He pointed his finger in my face. “I mean it, Emberline. When I come through that door, you’d better be right where I put you.”
I wrinkled my nose and stuck my chin in the air. “And if I’m not?”
“Then you’ll get spanked. Hard. Until your ass is red.”
All of a sudden, I was breathing hard, heat pulsing between my legs. Confused. Turned on. Was spanking… something I liked? Was I supposed to get this excited by the threat of being punished? Maybe there was something wrong with me.
He stared down, a wicked smile full of fangs. “Good girl. Now, be there when I get back.”
Those two words… I didn’t understand what was even happening right now.
Dante started the shower, stepping under the water, working shampoo into his long hair, white foam dripping off muscles, cut abs, and perfect hips. He left the door open, so I could see everything. I leaned back into the pillows and decided to enjoy the show.
When he turned to face me, I laced my fingers behind my head and settled in. I didn’t know what true happiness consisted of, but I couldn’t ever remember feeling so… full before.
I woke in the dark, on my stomach, my mouth bone dry, like I’d been snoring.
Shit. I sat up fast, scanning the room, heart catching on itself when I discovered not one, not two, but three vampires staring at me.
Fuck, I’d better not have been ugly snoring with my mouth wide open.
With a slight smile, Dante silently reached out a glass of water, and I drank the whole thing in one go. He had a towel tied around his waist, and the air in the room was still damp, so I hadn’t been asleep for too long.
“Is this an intervention?” I handed the glass back to him. “Because this feels like one. Or an interrogation, without the whips and chains.”
His smile vanished. Right. Probably too soon to start making torture jokes.
“We’ve been discussing your idea of us being a family.” Dante leaned forward. “And what to do about the three of us being in love with you. So, I suppose the question is… do you love Nico and Gabriel?”
Wow. Okay. So much worse than an intervention.
I opened my mouth, and he held up a hand.
“Before you answer, I know your heart, Emberline. Better than my own. All I’m asking for is the truth,” he urged gently. “And I’ll repeat your words back to you... ‘If this alliance cracks apart because we love each other, then we deserve to be turned into thralls’.”
Suddenly, this whole thing felt like a trap, with Nico and Gabriel watching me so intensely, like our futures all hung on what I said next. But Dante—all of them—they did deserve the truth. It was time to clear the air between us, so I took a breath, fingers twisting the covers.
“Yes. Yes, I love them, but I didn’t want to ruin everything.” Tears dripped from my eyes, and now I couldn’t look at any of them.
“I just… I didn’t mean to fall in love. With any of you.
” I tried to glare at Gabriel, but I ended up just looking pathetic.
“I was forced to marry you, then your brother stole me at the altar, and Nico was only supposed to be my bodyguard, but then I ended up… liking all of you. A lot. After growing up thinking you were these morally degenerative monsters…”
“Gee, thanks.” Nico rolled his eyes.
“After believing my uncle’s lies, I discovered I not only liked you, but I respected you, and then you disappeared, and everything got complicated, and now… here we are.” None of them said a word, and I dropped my head.
Oh gods, I had ruined everything.
The mattress sagged, and arms went around me, along with the woodsy smell of amber. Gabriel tucked me to his chest as though I was the most precious thing in the world, which just made me cry harder.
This was awful. Terrible. A disaster.
“I love you, too, bella. Do you remember that night we first met? When you were debating stabbing that knife into my heart? I don’t think I’ve ever been as infuriated and enthralled by anyone in my life. And then I discovered how brave and fierce you were, and that was it. I was head over heels.”
I buried my face in his shoulder. Gabriel Dominico did not fall head over heels in love with anyone, least of all me.
“Except I did,” he murmured against my cheek.
I realized I must have said that out loud, and I was seriously going to go into hiding forever.
“I’m in love with you, Emberline, and I don’t have a single regret except that I didn’t tell you sooner. So, the question is… what are we going to do about this?”
“I don’t want to hurt any of you,” I said miserably. “And no matter what I do, it seems like someone always gets hurt.”
“What if it didn’t need to be that way?” Lips ghosted across my head. “What if the four of us found a way to make this work? The family you want, all of us together? Could you love all three of us?”
“I already do.” I couldn’t bear to open my eyes. “I love all of you, and I can’t stop. I’ve tried. I’ve tried so hard, but the longer we’re together, the worse this gets, and I can’t fix it.”
“We don’t need fixing.” The bed dipped on my other side, and Nico was there, leaning in so I couldn’t hide.
“What we have is perfect, just the way it is. We love you. You love us, and happiness is as simple as that. Family is as simple as that, the four of us, together, loving each other honestly, not caring about what anyone else thinks.”
Wrapped in Gabriel’s arms, staring into Nico’s eyes, it almost sounded possible. This future they dangled in front of me, like a golden carrot. Happiness and love and all the men I cared for together under one roof.
Too good to be true.
I eased out of Gabriel’s arms, swallowing. “But I’m married to Dante.”
“And we’ll continue to be married,” Dante growled possessively from where he sat, “until death do us fucking part. But we’re offering you the family you want, tesoro.
A family that will protect you and love you and keep you safe.
None of us has ever had a real one, so let’s build our own. What do you say, Emberline?”
“You’re all… fine with this?” I scanned their faces. “Just a few days ago, I thought everything was falling apart, and now…” I bit my lip.
“Let’s just say we’re working our way through our reservations.
” Dante knelt beside the bed and took my hands.
“We pulled our heads out of our asses and realized we had it all wrong. You are the heart of us, Emberline.” My husband’s eyes strayed over to Nico, and they shared a secret smile.
“You are the tie that binds us together. Without you, we are nothing.”
“A king without a queen,” Gabriel murmured, pulling me back into his arms.
“A soldier without something to fight for.” Nico kissed my knuckles, exactly as he had in my dream, and the breath stuttered out of my lungs.
“And a fighter without a purpose.” Dante smiled, a real smile that made him look young. Carefree. “Loving you is the only thing that makes me whole. Everything pales in comparison to what I feel for you.”
“Yes.” I nodded, wondering if I’d lost my mind. “Yes, I want to make this work.”
“Good girl,” Dante murmured, watching my face as I shivered again, my nipples hard, every inch of me sensitive, aware.
Aware there were three vampires in my bed, two of them on either side of me, I let myself imagine—just for a second—how this worked.
All I could picture was them unleashing a storm of tongues and lips and fingers on my body and… I blew out a long, shaky exhale.
“We’ll go slow,” Nico said gently. “You tell us what you like, and we’ll continue. You tell us to stop, this ends. This is all about you, Emberline. Especially this first time.” He pressed his lips to my shoulder, to the mark that was still there. “All about you.”
“I’m going to watch.” Dante released my hands and slid back into his chair, his erection tenting the towel to astronomical proportions. “Now do what my brother says, and let them make you feel good, la mia bellissima moglie.”
Something broke loose in my chest and soared.
Nico nibbled at my lips, urging my mouth to open for him. A gentle, probing kiss, one meant to worship, not take. His fingers slid into my hair, cradling the back of my head, while Gabriel’s arms tightened to hold me in place.
Had they done this before? Did I care?
Nope. Not when I felt treasured, protected, like I was right where I wanted to be, and everything was finally perfect.