44. Sina
The sun was already creeping closer to the horizon before I’d even finished the chicken pot pie Nik had made.
I should have gone to bed. I should have taken Rafe up on his offer to sleep in his room. But when Harlow suggested a dog pile in the living room to watch a movie, I couldn’t pass it up. I loved being around all three of them together, even if Nik was somewhere else in the house ignoring me.
Jerk .
Being here with them felt too easy, too good to let it end so soon.
What if, in the light of day, we lost this carefree moment?
Harlow and Kiron took turns feeding me and making me laugh with their antics. I swear they acted like children sometimes with the way they argued and roasted each other.
Rafe just watched them, quiet and amused, rubbing my feet with slow, steady pressure. I’d been reluctant at first, but he hadn’t taken no for an answer, and by the time we shuffled into the living room I was practically dragging myself, only to collapse in the middle of the couch.
“Someone has to sit on the floor,” Kiron said.
“Not it,” Harlow shot back immediately, sliding in on my left and wrapping an arm around me like he’d claimed the spot by sheer speed alone.
I chuckled at the frown on Kiron’s face.
“Well,” Kiron said. “I can’t make Rafe sit on the floor. Seniority or whatever.”
Rafe didn’t comment, just moved closer on my right, draping a deep purple blanket over my lap and tucking it around my legs with quiet care. My heart melted as I glanced at him and he met my eyes with a small smile.
“Come on, Harlow, I’m like twice your size,” Kiron said.
Harlow just hugged me tighter against his chest, shaking his head.
“I could just toss your ass onto the floor,” Kiron added, actually sizing him up now, eyes flicking like he was mapping angles and leverage .
Harlow scoffed. “You’re all talk. Try it and I’ll bite.”
Kiron lunged.
Harlow yelped and reacted on instinct, darting sideways and dragging me with him so I ended up directly between them, my limbs tangling in the blanket.
I burst out laughing as Kiron skidded to a stop inches away. Close enough that I could see the way his eyes darkened, feel the heat rolling off him, smell leather and cinnamon. Close enough that I could have leaned forward and kissed him.
I was tempted .
His gaze slid from mine to over my head. “You can’t hide behind her.”
Harlow tightened his grip on me, peeking around my shoulder with exaggerated fear. “I absolutely can. All is fair in love and war, my friend, and right now I want Sina cuddles.”
“Coward,” Kiron shot back. Then his attention shifted to me. “You really going to let him use you as a human shield, Sina? I’m disappointed.”
The slight tilt to his mouth told me he was teasing.
I shrugged. “This is between you two. I’m staying out of it.”
Harlow laughed softly near my ear. “Too late, darling. You’re already in the middle of us.”
His hips flexed just enough that I gasped.
Kiron’s smile turned dangerous. “Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
His fingers darted in at my side. I squealed, jerking away as laughter tore out of me. “Kiron! Stop it,” I laughed.
“Hey!” Harlow cackled. “Hands off the shield!” He tightened his hold, effectively trapping my arms as I squirmed.
“You started it,” Kiron said, laughing like a maniac as he went in again, making me twist helplessly right into Harlow’s chest.
“I’m being hunted by a dragon,” Harlow said, clutching me tighter .
“You? What about me? Who will protect me?”
Kiron chuckled darkly. “I already caught you, didn’t I? You're already mine . But I make no promises about the little devil behind you.”
“He’s completely unhinged,” Harlow yelped as Kiron tried to reach around me to get to him. “I’m gonna diiie .”
“Yeah, Sina ,” Kiron growled playfully. “Protect him from me.”
“You’re both unbelievable.”
I was still laughing when Kiron finally backed off, shaking his head.
Harlow grinned at him over my shoulder. “She already defended the little fox from you this week. You really think she won’t add me to the list too?” He tipped his head toward me. “Right, Sina? You’ll protect me from the big, scary vampire?”
I blinked, breathless. He knew about Ghost?
Kiron snorted. “Careful, princess. Are you going to turn on me twice?”
I narrowed my eyes at both of them. “You’re both insane.”
“True. But I’m alive. Thanks to you. And I plan to keep it that way,” Harlow said cheerfully, kissing the top of my head while still hiding behind me.
“Can we watch a movie now?” Rafe asked calmly.
All three of us looked over at him at the same time—and then burst out laughing. I shook my head, still smiling. My cheeks hurt at this point. He’d been so quiet I’d almost forgotten he was there. Almost .
I shifted to Kiron, spreading my legs slightly and tapping my thigh. “You could sit on the floor and rest your head in my lap?”
Kiron’s mock glare vanished, replaced by something warm and openly pleased. That look had lust stroking down my spine.
Harlow, on the other hand, pouted. “ Aw, no fair. I wanna be between those legs, Sina . ”
The growl he added sent a shiver straight through me. Fucker. He’d done that so many times now, you’d think I’d get used to it. I never did . That feral edge always stoked the small flame of need that lived just under my skin whenever I was around these men.
My men. My monsters.
Kiron didn’t hesitate. He took the invitation with a soft sound of approval and eased down onto the floor between my thighs, forcing my legs wider to accommodate his broad shoulders. He lifted my legs, settling them over his shoulders bringing him closer to my core. A soft gasp left me.
I bit my lip, a blush warming my cheeks as my body betrayed me, painting a far less innocent version of what this could be. I pushed the thought aside, but it lingered, pulsing low and warm.
Kiron leaned in, resting his cheek against my inner thigh with a contented sigh that sent another jolt straight through me. It wasn’t sexual. Not really. Just… intimate . Familiar.
Possessive and animalistic in a way that made my pulse trip over itself. My fingers slid into his short hair without hesitation, dragging my nails slowly through the strands. He groaned softly, the sound low and pleased, and the vibration of it traveled straight through me.
I very deliberately did not look down at him.
I focused instead on the television as Rafe flicked through Netflix, though the screen might as well have been blank.
The room felt warmer. Thicker . My body hummed with a restless awareness, every nerve tuned to the solid weight of Kiron between my legs, the steady heat of him pressed where I was suddenly far too aware of myself.
Rafe’s free hand rested along the back of the couch, fingers slipping into my hair and kneading gently at my neck.
Slow. Knowing. The kind of touch meant to calm but my breath hitched instead.
My heartbeat picked up as his thumb brushed just beneath my ear.
The symmetry of it—his hand in my hair, mine in Kiron’s—made something low and needy unfurl in my belly.
On my other side, Harlow tugged me closer, his arm snug behind my shoulders, grounding and possessive all at once.
His free hand traced lazily up and down my arm, leather brushing my skin in a way that was almost absentminded.
Each pass left heat in its wake, a whisper of sensation that built instead of faded.
My breath sharpened with lust. Shallow. Faster. My heart was racing now, loud enough I was suddenly certain they could hear it, could taste the shift in the air as my body betrayed me. A sweet, heady warmth bloomed low and insistent, spreading through me until it was impossible to ignore.
It was Harlow who moved first, that gloved hand sliding from my arm to my neck, fingers closing firmly, just enough to command my attention.
“Did you need something from your mates, darling?” he growled.
Oh fuck. That sexy as fuck growl he did…
Rafe’s grip tightened in my hair at the nape of my neck, just a subtle pull that sent a shock from my pebbled nipples to my core.
Wetness pooled immediately. The delicious sensation had my fingers clenched in Kiron’s hair without permission.
And this time the sound he made was rougher, dragged low from his chest like he’d been caught off guard.
Whatever Rafe’s touch did to me sent pleasure skating through my nerves, heat blooming low and insistent until it was impossible to pretend I was still watching the movie.
The room felt too small. The air too thick.
And then I moaned, my chin tipping back. Harlow’s thumb pressed lightly beneath my jaw, tilting my face toward him .
“Careful,” he murmured, voice dark and pleased. His grip tightened in warning. “You keep making sounds like that, and you’ll summon your monsters.”