Chapter Twenty-Six #3
“Do I look as though I've manifested a shadow affinity?” He snorts, giving me a sardonic look.
I fold my arms across my chest and glare at him. “Did you do anything that's going to get us all in trouble?”
“Doubtful.” His smirk grows wider. “Though that loathsome male is unlikely to be talking anytime soon anyway.”
Dohwan's head turns as Eunho steps out of the shower, water droplets trailing down his chest as he wraps a towel around his waist. When Dohwan looks back at me, his grin turns predatory.
I barely have time to register what's happening before he lunges forward. A shriek escapes me as he grabs me and tosses me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, carrying me back toward the bedroom.
The breath whooshes from my lungs as my back hits the mattress. “You absolute—”
Dohwan's mouth crashes against mine before I can finish, his calloused hand cradling my jaw like I'm made of spun glass.
I bite his lower lip in retaliation, tasting copper and smoke, but he just growls and deepens the kiss until my fingers tangle in his still-damp hair.
The bed shifts as Eunho's warmth settles behind me, his breath hot against my shoulder when he nuzzles aside my shirt strap with his nose.
“Stop—” I gasp when Dohwan finally breaks the kiss, his thumb swiping across my swollen lips. “You can't just—”
“Can't what?” His voice rumbles like distant thunder as he brushes a wild curl behind my ear. The gesture feels obscenely tender coming from those battle-scarred hands. “Defend what's mine? Hunt down every bastard who ever made you feel less?”
Eunho's lips find the pulse point beneath my ear. “Should've let me torch his car,” he murmurs against my skin.
I squirm, heat crawling up my neck. “I don't need—”
“Need?” Dohwan's laugh sounds frayed at the edges as his palm slides under my sleep shirt. “You think this is about what you need?”
His thumb circles my nipple through the lace of my bra, the contrast between his gentle touch and blazing eyes making my stomach flip.
Dohwan's thumb stills against my breast. “You want to hunt your mother?
Fine. Want to duel every bigoted elder in Ruby Hall?
I'll hold your coat.” His other hand slides down to grip my hip, possessive and grounding.
“But don't you dare tell me to stand aside when some spineless worm from your past comes crawling back.”
Eunho's arms tighten around me. “You're ours,” he says simply, like it's the first immutable law of the universe.
The admission hangs in the air between us, fragile and terrifying as a soap bubble. Dohwan's gaze flicks to Eunho over my shoulder, some silent communication passing between them before he captures my mouth again. This kiss feels different—softer, aching with something that makes my chest hurt.
Eunho's lips find the shell of my ear. “We love you,” he murmurs, the words slipping into my veins like molten gold. “Haven't you realized that yet?”
Dohwan breaks the kiss to press his forehead against mine again, his breathing ragged. “Obviously.”
A wet laugh escapes me. “Obviously?”
His eyes blaze with banked fire. “You didn't think I'd volunteer for permanent guard duty out of civic pride, did you?”
Eunho nips my earlobe. “Took him three days to realize it wasn't just the mate bond. I knew the second those marks appeared on my skin.”
I open my mouth, but the words crystallizing in my chest steal my voice.
Their scents wrap around me—charred cedar and smoldering amber—as familiar now as my own reflection.
The way Eunho's thumb absently strokes the inside of my wrist when he thinks I'm not paying attention.
How Dohwan always positions himself between me and any unfamiliar fae, even now.
“Oh,” I breathe.
Dohwan's smirk falters. Eunho goes very still against my back.
I fist my hands in Dohwan's shirt, tugging him closer. “Say it again.”
Eunho's laugh vibrates through me. “Love y—”
“Both of you.” My voice comes out raw. “Together.”
Dohwan's throat works as he glances at Eunho. When he speaks, the words sound dragged from somewhere deep and rarely visited. “We're yours. However you'll have us.”
Eunho's hand slides up to cover Dohwan's where it still rests against my breast. “Always figured we'd end up sharing,” he says lightly, but his fingers tremble against mine. “Didn't expect you to be the glue, firecracker.”
The last fragile resistance in my chest shatters. I surge upward, catching Dohwan's mouth in a searing kiss as I reach back to tangle my fingers in Eunho's hair. Their twin growls of approval ripple through me, Dohwan's hands scrambling to push my shirt up as Eunho's palms skate down my thighs.
“Say it,” Eunho murmurs against the nape of my neck.
I bite Dohwan's jaw, tasting salt and smoke. “Yours.”
Dohwan's fingers still on my waistband. “And?”
The truth bursts from me in a laugh that's half sob. “Mine. Both of you. Obviously.”
Eunho's delighted chuckle gets swallowed by Dohwan's kiss as they descend on me—a study in contrasts, Dohwan's controlled hunger versus Eunho's playful greed, both harmonizing into something that feels just perfect.