33. Leona
LEONA
Iwoke up with my head on Cas’s bare chest. An arm wound around my waist while a body pressed into my back.
I’d just woken up from a dream—more like a memory than a dream.
The night of Max’s twenty-first birthday party, after I’d sprung up next to Max and Cas’s table at the club and scared them both to death, I remembered squeezing between them.
I had said that I wouldn’t mind being in the middle of a Max and Cas sandwich.
I was right. All these years, and I was fucking right.
I grinned to myself. What a delicious sandwich it had been.
The arm around my waist tightened. Max’s voice murmured in my ear. “What are you smirking about so early in the morning?”
“You’re awake.” I rolled over so that I could face him.
His eyes softened while the corner of his mouth perked up. Just like last night, he looked so unguarded. The mask I’d grown accustomed to seeing on his face had melted away, leaving the playful yet cunning eyes I’d grown up with. “I’m awake.”
We stared at each other, unspeaking, until the smile slowly fell off my face. Still, his arm remained tight around my waist.
“What’s wrong?” he whispered, a crease forming between his brows.
I searched his eyes and then thinned my lips. “Are you…is everything okay?”
“Is everything okay?” His mouth hung open. “Okay, Leona?”
I swallowed.
A smile bloomed on his face. His arm pulled me closer while his free hand cupped my cheek. His thumb brushed my face, over the ridges of my scar, and my heart thumped within my chest. “That was the best fucking night of my life.”
I sucked in a breath. “Yeah?”
He dipped his head, taking my lips in a blistering kiss that had heat coiling between my legs all over again. “Yeah.”
Another pair of lips kissed the back of my neck, and I arched into Cas. “I thought it was pretty fucking incredible, too.”
Max drew his fingers over my bottom lip. “Why?”
“I just…” My eyes searched his face. “I don’t want you to pull away.”
He turned serious. Ducking his head forward, he kissed me and then touched his nose to mine. “I’m done doing that.”
My eyes watered. “Are you sure?”
After last night, after the truth, after everything, I wasn’t sure I could mentally survive if he pulled away. If he had changed his mind. My heart felt raw and exposed, and not for the first time, he held it in his hands. I just hoped this time he wouldn’t toss it away.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.” He closed his eyes for a heartbeat, and then they were back, locked on mine. “I’m so sorry, anima mia. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, and I still want to spend the rest of my life atoning for them.”
I’d already learned that people made mistakes trying to care for the ones they loved. My men and I had all done the same at one point or another. I’d already learned that it was easier to face the pain of our past when we had people who helped us. Max had been alone all this time, but not anymore.
I pressed my lips together to keep the tears at bay. “Okay.”
He smiled. A real, genuine smile. It made his face look boyish and sweet, like all at once the shadows had fallen from it and left only sunshine.
His hand trailed from my cheek down my neck, drawing goosebumps to the surface of my skin.
Behind me, Cas pushed closer, watching Max’s fingers explore the bare skin of my chest and torso.
I craned my neck back, needing to double-check that Cas was okay with everything that had happened. He had facilitated everything, but people changed when the darkness turned to light. Hearts closed and thoughts ran.
When I met his eyes, all I saw there was warmth and happiness.
“Let one thing be clear, though,” Cas said, with a sly smile on his face. Both Max and I looked at him with a question in our eyes. “I called dibs on wife first.”
“Hey, I willingly turned down wife to keep her out of harm’s way.”
“That’s your problem, not mine.”
“She wanted to marry me long before she wanted to marry you.”
“And then you were a colossal dick.”
“We’re working past that—”
I cut them both off by putting a hand on each of their cheeks. My engagement ring sparkled in the early morning light. “Duel for me.”
Both of them looked at me like I’d grown an extra head.
“Duel for my hand. With old-timey pistols. I will respect the results of a duel, and that is the only solution we have for this problem.”
Cas snorted and then immediately began tickling me. “You little—”
Then Max joined in, and the three of us dissolved into a massive tickle fight. Tears streamed down my cheeks while I shrieked at them to stop. After a somewhat involuntary kick to both of their lower regions, they let up. I caught my breath, relishing their warmth.
“Where will I procure old-timey pistols?” Max mused.
“I bet Ryu knows a guy,” Cas answered.
“Ryuji will just shoot me and be done with it. Not fair.”
“The family can vote on it,” I offered. “Who will they choose? Cas, and his dibs? Or Max, and his declaration of eternal love?”
Cas shook his head. “Oh, no. No, no, no. If we bring it to a family vote, everyone will call dibs. We all want to marry you, and I can’t duel everyone.”
“Have more faith in yourself, my devoted bodyguard.” I pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. “Now that your torture wounds are almost healed, you might surprise yourself.”
Max grimaced. “Sorry.”
“My knee will be eternally fucked up, so I deserve a handicap if we’re all going to fight,” Cas declared. “No, wait, this isn’t fair! I have had dibs the whole time. I picked out that ring!”
I grinned. “We’ll see. Maybe we can buy a politician to change the marriage laws so we can all get married.”
Max nodded solemnly. “It would only be fair.”
“I bet Obi has a contact.”
I snorted. I bet he did.
There was a soft knock at the door. It popped open, and Wynn poked his head inside. “Everything all right in here?”
A contented smile spread across my face. “Yeah.”
Wynn opened his mouth to respond, but Ryuji bodied his way through the door, followed closely by Ciel.
Ryu crossed his arms over his chest while he appraised the three of us cuddled up in bed together.
Obi was missing, but my gut told me he was somewhere working. Which is what we needed to be doing.
“Well, well, well,” Ryu said. “Am I to understand that you got over yourself and fixed what you broke?”
Max sighed, but it was paired with a smile. “I hope so.”
“Did you make her come on your cock?”
Max’s eyes widened and his mouth gaped.
“Yeah,” I responded for him with a grin. “And he’s pierced.”
Ryu’s arms dropped to his side. “What? He has a dick piercing?”
I nodded, trying to hold in my squeal of delight. “It was awesome.”
“I want to see it,” he said as he stalked over to the bed.
Max pulled the sheets up, hiding himself. “Fuck no.”
“I’m going to see it eventually. Come on,” Ryu said, grasping at the sheet.
“Get the fuck out of here,” Max replied, pushing him away.
Cas laughed, leaning back on the bed and bracing his hands behind his head. “I saw it.”
Ryu gave up and turned his attention to Cas. “Oh, yeah? Describe it.”
Cas shook his head. “You’ll have to be patient.”
“Why are we talking about my dick?” Max asked. He looked at Wynn and Ciel. “Is this normal?”
Neither of them had an answer. Just an exasperated shrug.
“We have to compare,” Ryu said matter-of-factly.
Max looked at me as if I could somehow do something. I giggled instead. “Just remember, you wanted this. Begged for it, actually.”
Ryu’s eyes bugged out even farther. “Begged? Why did you guys decide to hide away in here instead of doing it out in the living room? I would have watched.”
Max rolled his eyes, but his arm looped around my waist and he pulled me on top of his body so I straddled him.
I bit my bottom lip as I felt his cock twitch between my legs.
His hand threaded through my hair at my nape, and he pulled me into a deliciously heated kiss. “I’ll beg for you whenever you want.”
“Mmm, now that I like to see,” Ryu said. “Keep going.”
“Also, have you seen his tattoo?” I added because I just loved stirring the pot even more.
Ryu’s nose flared. “Why are all of you hiding this shit from me?! Where is the tattoo? Is it on his cock, too?”
I burst out laughing. “I’m sure you’ll see it one day, Ryu.”
“Not if I can help it,” Max quipped. “Now, go away.”
Ryu let out an annoyed sigh. “If you’re not going to fuck while I watch, or show me your dick piercing or your tattoo, then it’s time to get up. We can all have an orgy on the big bed later.”
Max broke our kiss with a disappointed sigh. “Why?”
“We’ve got something for you outside,” Ryu started. When I raised a suspicious eyebrow, Ryu continued. “Not for you. For him. And for Cas, if he wants. But mostly for Max.”
The three of us exchanged confused looks. “What is it?”
His grin was feral. “The gauntlet.”